by T J Muir
At home, Diya would have been forced to behave in a more seemly manner. Proper, polite, controlled. She found this boisterous mood a little unsettling. She glanced at Jaresh who seemed unaffected. So this must be normal. Acceptable. At least she didn't need to scold them for misbehaving. She’d worked so hard to find a working peace and she’d hate to ruin it with a wrong word, especially in front of their father.
Feeling like an intruder on their private moment, Diya got herself some breakfast and a cup of tea. She felt like she should try talking with Jaresh, as they were both excluded from the rapid conversation currently taking place. I never did thank you,” Diya said.
Jaresh looked up, surprised. “What was that? Thank me?”
“For stepping in, that day in the village. With Zaylin.”
Jaresh’s brow furrowed and then it cleared, showing recognition. “Oh,” he shrugged. “Just Zaylin. He gets mouthy when he drinks too much.”
“Well, I appreciated it. I wasn’t sure how to handle him.” Back home, she would have hollered for the house guard or local constables. Zaylin would have remembered his manners very quickly and afterwards he might have been forced to present himself for a formal apology. Now, weeks later, she admitted to herself she had been the tiniest bit afraid.
Jaresh didn’t act like his help was anything exceptional. No bragging, no ingratiating comments. She watched him from behind her mug. The man’s good looking enough. But not really my type. What was her type? Well, Jedda. But before that, she supposed she had always liked the arrogant type who owned any room they entered and thought themselves superior to the world. This man seemed anything but that, what with his shirt half tucked in and his jacket that looked like a farm hand had been wearing it for chores. His clothes were very well made but it was like they weren’t a matter of concern. He felt— comfortable with his dark hair that had reddish highlights and his dark blue eyes and thoughtful expression.
She must have been staring because Ash broke the silence, looking over the twins’ heads. “Where did you meet Jaresh?”
Diya smiled at the courtesy. “Well, we haven’t met, exactly. We crossed paths one day when I was in the village. Ben’s cousin was giving me a difficult time and Jaresh,” she said, stressing his name and glancing sideways at the man, “stepped in and got Zaylin under control.” She smiled at Jaresh deliberately as if to demonstrate what good manners looked like.
The warm smile he returned caught Diya’s notice. There was no calculation in it, no sizing her up and no attempt to win her over. Was this what it felt like not to be known as So'har? Was all of the attention and flattery at home because of my birth? She knew she was pretty and had always liked the attention. Suddenly now, Diya felt caught off guard. This man didn't want anything from her or expect anything. It was the same with Ash, she supposed, except that was different since he was old enough to be her father.
“It was still very generous and gallant of you,” she said, insisting on making an issue of it.
“Pssht,” Jaresh said, shaking his head. “All in a day’s work. Think nothing of it.”
“You sound like you know Zaylin?”
Pasha piped up with a response before Jaresh could speak. “He’s from Dunwood. It’s a small town. Everyone knows everyone.”
Everyone laughed and the awkward tension was broken.
Esha nodded emphatically. “Isn’t that the truth.”
She turned away to get the tea kettle from the manak-jir covering up her moment of confusion. From behind, Jaresh answered, “Yes. I am from Dunwood. But most recently I've been staying with the Asha-Kajar in Isha-kor.”
“Oh, yes? That’s only a day's ride, isn't it?” She tried to remember anything about the area Jaresh had mentioned but couldn't. Jedda was the one who collected details like that. “Isha-kor? That is unusual. Why there?”
“Closer to two days, hard riding,” he said. I’ve been studying with the Asha-Kajar.”
“It looked closer on the map,” she said, surprised.
“The map doesn’t show the roads very well, hilly and windy. Nothing is as straight or close as it looks on the map.”
Diya nodded, tucking that information away for future reference. “Are you a priest?” she asked, surprised that Jaresh didn’t look anything like the priests from Tatak Rhe.
“Just an intern,” he said, shaking his head.
Diya had no idea what that meant. “An intern? Are you studying to join the priesthood?”
Jaresh laughed, rich and deep. “By the gods, no. Just studying the shells.”
Diya looked back and forth between Jaresh and Ashok. “Oh. So you’re working with Ashok because of your knowledge of the shells?” she asked, thrilled that she had figured out that tiny bit of mystery.
“More or less, yes,” Jaresh said. “Or, I will be, starting now.”
“His insight has been invaluable,” Ashok added.
“Is the Isha-Kor shell really dying?” Esha asked. “What did you find out?”
“Okay, that’s enough questions for now,” Ashok said, pushing his plate away. “There will be plenty of time to tell you about the trip.”
“Everything?” Esha asked. “I wish I had gone with you then I’d be able to learn so much more.”
“Later,” he said. “I promise. But I should go and say hello to your mother. How has she been?”
“She’s been pretty good,” Pasha said. “She hasn’t had one cold the entire time you’ve been gone.”
Ashok nodded, looking relieved. From the look of concern on his face and the softening around his eyes when he asked about Jinna, Diya guessed that he loved his wife deeply. “Okay. You two--”
Just then Tilly charged into the room and threw herself into Ashok’s arms with more enthusiasm than Diya had ever seen from the child. She wrapped her small arms around his neck and clung to him tightly, eyes scrunched tight and a deep satisfied look on her face.
“Well, it looks like we’re going to have a fun day. I’ll tell you all about my trip and you can tell me about your school-work.” Then he looked up, changing his tone as he looked up at Diya. “What if you take the day off? Go do something fun. I'd like to spend some time with my children.”
A day off? What would she do? She had no friends here. She barely knew anyone besides the local seamstress, baker and delivery man. When did I become so dull? “Ummm,” she began. “Thank you.”
Esha piped up, looking back and forth between the two of them, “Why don't you and Jaresh go down to the village? Or you can both go for a ride up the back ridge.”
Ash took up the thought, “It's really pretty out and the weather is nice, even for you,” he said, smiling. “I know how Marrick is when he visits now. A few years in the south is all it took for him to lose his tolerance for the cold. Fortunately, you missed the cold weather but even still, it can take a while to get used to the change.” He turned to Jaresh. “Would you mind showing Diya the area?”
“Not at all. It would be my absolute pleasure. It's been a while since I've been able to enjoy the sunshine.” Again he gave that warm smile. Diya couldn't tell if he was just being kind or if he genuinely wanted to spend the day with her. At least in Tatak Rhe, she knew it was all superficial flattery.
“You'll need warmer clothes. Do you have riding clothes?” Ash asked, shifting Tilly so that she sat more comfortably on his lap.
“I do. I even have my own horse,” she said, feeling proud. “And Pasha has taught me how to ride.”
“Well,” Pasha said, glancing back and forth. “At least she doesn't fall off anymore.”
“Oh, remember when she landed in the mud,” Esha exclaimed, leaning around her father, laughing.
“Or the time when the saddle wasn't tight enough?” Pasha responded.
“Okay, you two,” Ash said, putting an end to their gloating. “Go change and get your bows. And bring me your schoolwork to look at as well.” Saying this, he gave each a gentle push to get them in motion. Without a look backwards, the twins dashed out.
“Well, it is true,” Diya, blushed. “I have had my share of falls.”
Ash waved a hand, dismissing her embarrassment. “Everyone falls. And that from Pasha is about as close as you might get to a compliment.”
Diya smiled. “Well, learning to ride has been a fun experience— even if my backside still hasn't forgiven me.”
The two men laughed but Diya sensed that it was friendly laughter and nothing more.
“I'll just go change and meet you back here in a few minutes?”
“That sounds perfect.”
She stood up to leave, realizing she never did get any breakfast. She noticed a plate of sweet rolls and sausage on the side table and swiped a roll, stuffing the sausage into it quickly as she dashed out. She was actually a bit excited to have something to do.
“Oh, I'll want to talk to you later,” Ash called out after her. That sounded ominous but at the moment Diya was more excited about going out for a ride with someone her own age.
Diya raced upstairs and rifled through her things for her riding clothes, steel blue leggings, midnight blue shirt and her sea silk vest. That would look good with her black boots and jacket. She paused at the mirror, straightening her collar. Then she remembered the bit about her being uppity and cringed. Determined not to worry about her appearance, she grabbed her coat and headed back downstairs with a speed that the twins normally used. At the foot of the staircase she remembered the roll still in her pocket, but he would be waiting so she shoved the thought from her mind, to deal with later.
She found Jaresh out on the veranda. His legs were stretched out along the stone balustrade and he was leaning back against the house with the lazy ease of a cat. He opened his eyes and smiled, as though he could have lazed there all day but he seemed equally pleased to see her.
“The cook packed lunches for us and gave me this to give you,” Jaresh said, handing Diya a sausage roll and a hunk of cheese. “She said you hadn't had breakfast and that you should eat something.”
That wasn't quite the way Diya expected that Korina had said it, in her head but she smiled at the gesture. “Thank you,” she said, blushing, tearing off a small piece and popping it into her mouth, careful not to get grease on her hands or clothes.
“So, where would you like to go?” he asked as they approached the barns.
The comfortable walk came to a halt as Diya stopped in her tracks. She looked around, as though something in the expanse of hills and green would reveal itself. Then she looked back at Jaresh and shrugged. “I really don't know. I don't know anywhere or anything in the area. I mostly stay here except for the occasional trip to the village with the children.”
Jaresh's head tilted, eyes squinting, but he looked at nothing in particular. “I know. How about riding out to the yfa chirrik? Seeing that could be exciting.”
Diya looked over her shoulder in the direction where she knew the shell was. Then she looked back at Jaresh, not feeling excited. She half-shrugged, doing a bad job of hiding her complete lack of interest. She had seen more than enough shells in her life. Every so’harat had its own shell. She had drawn a number of them for her art class. They were an interesting bit of shape and color when she had been drawing but beyond that, they didn’t hold much interest. “Okay. No yfa chirrik,” he said, reading the expression on her face. He looked surprised though, watching her through narrowed eyes. “I know, near the shell are some old ruins and some caves. The legend says the ruins are from the Tarish— long before the Chanmyr settled the area.”
That sparked her curiosity. “Something older than people? Now that sounds interesting.” She had heard about the Tarish before but didn’t know much about them. She thought they were the Faenyr gods. She knew there was a connection between the Faenyr and the Tarish but that was all.
“Ruins and caves it is,” he said, laughing.
CHAPTER Twenty-six
It didn’t take long to get the horses ready and head out across the back fields. The mud on the ridge slope had mostly dried out now, making the trail pleasant. It felt good to spend time with Chiyu and, also, to not have to keep a watchful eye on the children. Even though they were better riders than she was, even Tilly, Diya knew from her time with them how quickly things tended to happen such as Pasha pulling a prank or Esha taking off with a wild idea or even turning around to find that Tilly had silently disappeared. She hadn't realized until now that most of her days out with them were mentally exhausting.
After a while, the trail widened enough for them to ride side by side. “This is a logging trail,” Jaresh commented as she drew up alongside.
“So logs are dragged out through the woods?”
He gave a short laugh. “Well, I hear that they had tried once to convince the logs to walk down to the river by themselves but it didn't work very well.”
That made her feel foolish. “Not everyone knows where logs come from or how they are moved.”
“Sorry,” he said, sounding sincere. “I forgot that you aren't from here. So yes.” He gave a small bow in his saddle. “Loggers cut down the trees and use teams of horses or oxen to drag them to the river. There they can be floated down to the mills for cutting into boards. It’s quite simple if you were to actually see the process. There, at the mills downriver, they become all sorts of things, from houses to furniture to... wooden spoons,” he grinned.
That made Diya feel a little better. She looked up the trail, imagining teams of oxen dragging trees through the woods with leaves flying left and right, tickling the oxen’s ankles, tree roots getting in the way.
“Come on, this is a perfect stretch to have a run,” he said, kicking his dapple grey horse into a canter.
The sudden motion caught her off guard. “By the gods!” she swore, scrambling for her reins as Chiyu began to prance. Silently thanking Pasha for all those grueling lessons, she nudged Chiyu who immediately broke into a run, trying to catch the grey. Once her panic subsided, a wave of exhilaration flooded through her. Chiyu had a smooth even stride and, once she found that rhythm, Diya relaxed and even nudged her horse to go faster until she caught up with Jaresh then the two mounts began their own competition to be in the lead.
The slope leveled off and the pair slowed to a comfortable slow canter that followed the ridge line. It was a nice open area that had a broad view. She could see the shell off to their left and she used it to orient herself.
The horses were both heaving, but not hot, as they drew back to a walk. This could not be soon enough for Diya who could feel the wobble and burn in her legs. There was no way she was going to let Jaresh know that though. Once they were back to a walking gait, she quietly dropped her feet out of Chiyu’s stirrups and let her legs stretch. Fortunately the trail they were on began to wind back down the far side of the ridge so she knew there would be no more mad dashes to inflict further pain on her tired legs.
The air on the north side felt a bit cooler and damper but not uncomfortable. Massive pine trees and some grey barked trees with dark red leaves were on this side. The area felt wild, like no one ever came this direction. Were there bears here? Jaresh didn't look worried so she let out a breath and enjoyed the ride.
The horses pulled up in a small but unremarkable clearing and Jaresh swung his leg over the horse’s back and hopped down. By the way he moved, Diya guessed he had been riding horses for his entire life. Diya followed, trying to mimic Jaresh’s dismount but was considerably less graceful about it. To make it even worse, her knees buckled slightly when she landed.
“I guess it's been a while since I've ridden for more than a little way,” she said with a half laugh. Or ever.
As if to put her at her ease, Jaresh stretched out his own legs before pulling the reins over his horse's head and leading him up a narrow trail on a steep ravine. “Once we get past this low area, we can mount back up. But especially at this time of year, a lot of trees have come down and there can be a lot of places with low clearance.”
“Low clearance?” she asked.
Jaresh waved his hand over the top of his head. “This tall,” he said, “versus this tall.” He raised his hand higher to indicate the difference in head clearance when sitting on a horse.
“Oh,” she said. Even though she hadn’t grown up riding, she knew the trails and roads in the south were maintained clear of obstructions. This wasn’t even near a town, she realized. No one was going through the woods to clear all of the trees that had fallen down and blocked the trails. Diya just nodded, grateful for her respite off of Chiyu. But by the time they were through the narrow section, she was working to catch her breath. Jaresh forged his way upwards as though he was walking on level ground. The man plowed up the narrow pass as though he did it daily. Diya grabbed onto her horse’s noseband to keep her steady as she trudged her way to the top.
The narrow pass flattened out and opened up enough that they could ride side by side. Diya looked around, a sharp wall rose up on either side covered in growth.
“So where are the ruins?” she asked.
“Look around. This is it.”
“What?” She had expected crumbling buildings and broken pillars, abandoned belongings scattered around empty fountains. Not— this.
“Look closer. These were all used. Once.”
Diya tried to use her artist's imagination but it did no good. The tangled mess of growth and foliage refused to organize itself into any semblance of civilization.
“This, where we are walking, was a plaza or an esplanade. The ravine we came up was once stairs.”
Now that she thought about it, the entire climb upward had remained at a perfectly consistent angle. Could that have been an ancient stairway? How old would it have to be for them to get completely overgrown and buried?
She walked along beside Jaresh, trying to force things to transform into objects her mind would recognize. Was that lump of grey stone a guard house? Maybe it was a fountain? Her curiosity sparked and she bent to investigate. Part of her brain wanted to prove Jaresh wrong. She pulled at the moss and weeds, yanking them up and tossing them aside. It didn't take long before she could tell that there was smooth stone underneath.