Azaria (9 page)

When he saw Fahim drag Azaria away from the frenzied crowd, he turned around and forced his way out of the throng of people and followed the crowd's perimeter until he reached the far side of the Ta'araki shelter, where he stomped through the back entrance, unannounced. As he came in he heard Fahim instructing Azaria to stay seated inside the enclosure and wait for her to come back. Azerban glared at her, but Fahim avoided his gaze, exiting the enclosure with Takur following her.

"Are you alright, Azaria?" he asked, kneeling in front of her.

"Yes, father, I'm fine. But why did Fahim bring me in here?"

"I’m not sure," he replied honestly. “But I will find out. Don’t worry.”

Outside, Fahim again addressed the crowd. "Before you are dismissed, Takur and I ask all to grant Azaria and her hearth space for the next few suns. Go now and feast. Celebrate the gifts the Ta'ar have provided you. But do so in an ordered manner. And give breadth to a young girl who has already received too much attention this sun." With that, she returned to her shelter.

"How are you doing, girl?" Fahim addressed Azaria, ignoring the icy stare of her father.

"I'm fine, Ta'araki,” Azaria answered.

"Good." Fahim spoke in a voice as gentle as Azerban could remember hearing from her. "Azaria, you’ve been granted a special title from the Ta'ar. You’ve earned this honor because you’ve provided hope and inspiration to your people. Do not take it lightly. Much will be expected of you in the seasons to come. You must live up to the fate the Ta'ar have endowed upon you. If you need guidance, I will always be available. Do you understand?"

"No, Ta'araki, what will be expected of me?"

"We will speak of that when the occasion arises," Fahim said. She looked at Azerban and added, "As the situation requires."

"But-"

"Azaria, do not worry yourself. For now, enjoy the accolades which you’ve earned. You will receive much attention - perhaps more than you desire - but do not fear. The extra attention will ebb and things will return to much as they once were. Be strong and make your father proud."

"Yes, Ta'araki. Of course. I... I will try."

"Good!" Fahim stared at the young girl for a long moment before asking, "This is the first summer you’ll be performing your work duties at the Great Temple, is it not?"

"Yes, Ta'araki. I’ll be leaving for the Temple when Luna fully wakes."

"Good. It’s important work and I think you’ll enjoy it. The other girls will look to you for leadership. Are you prepared to take on such a role?"

"I didn't know-" Azaria started.

"Of course you didn't. But you should expect many surprises in your life. Do not think on it. Lead by example, Azaria. If you work hard and with honor, the other girls will follow. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Ta'araki, I think so...”

"Good. Join your mother now or your friends. You can exit through the back. I think your father would speak with me."

"Okay thank you, Ta’araki. Goodbye, father," Azaria said. She embraced him, trembling slightly and then hurried through the back exit.

Azerban followed his daughter, peeking his head outside to make sure she didn't linger, not wanting her to hear the conversation to follow. Inhaling deeply of the cool night air helped suppress his rage before entering again. Employing the techniques Fahim had once taught him, he moderated his tone and approached her. "That was quite a ceremony."

"It was quite a sun," the co-leader of the Ta'araki responded.

"You expect too much of her. She’s too young to handle the responsibility you’ve forced upon her," he said, aware of his accumulating anger.

"Perhaps you underestimate your daughter."

"What do you expect of her?" Azerban's voice was rising, he was already losing control.

"I expect nothing."

Finally he dropped all pretense, opting to address the subject directly instead. "What are your intentions toward her?"

"Intentions?" Fahim allowed her voice to rise to match his. "My only intention is to fulfill the wishes of the Ta'ar, as I’ve been charged. Do you accuse me of something else?"

"What then, are Their intentions, as you see them? What do you want with my daughter?"

Fahim's voice rose to its full pitch. She would not be cowed by her underling. "Do you question the Watchers, Azerban? The Givers of knowledge and prosperity. Do you object to Their decree? Do you reject Their gifts? Do you discard all They have given us?" She saw his right hand tensing into a fist. "Do you intend to strike me down and declare yourself First Ta'araki, Azerban?"

"Fahim. Azerban is no man of violence. He only wishes enlightenment of the Ta'ar's plans."

Azerban pivoted to the dark corner from where the new voice had come and saw Takur shuffle forward. In his rage, he didn’t even remember Fahim’s mate entering with her.

"You don't intend to strike my mate down, do you Azerban?" the old man laughed, patting him on the arm.

"Of course not, Ta'araki." Azerban straightened, inhaling deeply again to calm himself.

"Eh eh eh," Fahim croaked. "Of course he doesn't. Azerban, join the celebration. Enjoy the honor bestowed upon you this night. Your daughter is waiting. I'm sure she needs you now more than ever," she added with a smile he found too disturbing to return.

Takur's wrinkled hand was resting upon his bicep. Azerban laid his palm atop it and nodded. "Perhaps I’ll make sure Azaria is safe.”

---

Daneel was pleased when Azaria suggested they finally break away from her parents. She'd been worried she'd be stuck with them all evening. In truth, she didn't know what she'd do if Azaria didn't want to go off by themselves and had started contemplating the best strategy for getting herself away. There were friends to laugh with, music to dance to, boys to flirt with and poison waiting to be drunk - and if they waited too long, someone else might drink the brew, or even worse, some other girl might flirt with those boys. But all of the excuses that had come to mind sounded trivial, in light of all her friend had been through. She had to stay with her, it was the right thing to do. She had finally resigned herself to it, when unexpectedly, Azaria had told her mother she thought they'd be all right by themselves for a while. Zephia had consented and now all that was left was to figure out what to do first.

The crowds had held back while the girls ate with Azaria’s family. Her oversized Ta'araki father had that effect on people. But now that she and her friend had left his sheltering presence, the curious hordes were gaining courage again. Daneel noticed several small groupings of young men eyeing them as they wandered hand-in-hand. Several women also noticed the lovely young woman was no longer in the presence of her unreasonable mother. But the most courageous turned out to be a flock of children. Azaria saw them coming however, and decided on a different tactic. She flapped her arms out wide, and ran straight at them, yelling threats of bringing the real Bird-Men down to get them if they didn't stay away. To her surprise, the strategy worked. The children ran off screaming in terror. Daneel and Azaria laughed profusely at her antics, especially when they noticed one of the children she'd scared off was her own little brother.

Even more astonishing was the fact that her display worked on more than just the children. The ambitious mothers who only moments before had inched toward her, now stood firmly planted, their faces twisted into scandalous knots of disapproval.

Daneel was the first to stop laughing long enough to pose the question. "So what do you want to do, Bird-Runner?" she asked, her playful tone dripping with mockery.

"Be quiet, girl! Don't ever use that name," Azaria said.

Daneel laughed, "Sorry! I won't again, I promise. I just had to say it once."

"I want some poison. Let’s fill our fists. Let's go find some fun!" Azaria said.

Daneel nearly tripped in shock. Azaria’s declaration was completely out of character, but then again, it’d been an especially unusual sun. "Now that's more like it! I know just where to go. There's a table at the back where all the boys are gathered. I think I saw Dogahn and Tiriz over there, and a bunch of other boys."

"Perfect," Azaria said. "Let's go!"

Fermented drinks had been masterfully crafted and merrily drunk for millennia by the humans who inhabited the earth before Azaria's people. No one remembered who was first given this particular knowledge, but the Ta'araki liked to credit the Watchers.

Nor did anyone fully understand why certain vegetation took on magical properties when properly prepared, or why the Great Earth Mother had provided such a resource in the first place. They did understand though, that the special drinks were a valuable commodity with many medicinal applications and when consumed in proper quantity, the resultant effects could be wondrous or the consequences of improper actions taken under its influence horrendous. What most people agreed on however, was that consumption should be moderated, especially among those as young as Azaria and her friends.

Her people had no way of knowing of the detrimental, long-term effects of heavy consumption on their bodies, but they did understand loss of judgment was a primary characteristic of those within its hold. Children were allowed small amounts of the brew during special occasions and those close to adulthood were allowed to experiment freely. Inappropriate behavior was not tolerated and would lead to immediate curtailment for the night and perhaps longer, depending on the severity of the infraction.

Of course, those same young adults understood all this better than anyone. Many of the boys spent the better part of their young lives conceiving of ways to get together away from the adults with poison in hand.

Daneel led Azaria around the many bonfires to an area away from the heart of the festivities. A swarm of young men were gathered around several gazelle bladder bags filled with the special feast drinks, the drinks the Natu called scorpion's brew or scorpion's poison or often just poison for short. Off to the side, a throng of girls chatted amongst themselves, giggling and trying to attract the attention of whichever boy they had their eyes on. Azaria noticed several of them were watching Dogahn. She walked straight up to the group of boys and asked one of the ones holding a bag to fill her cup.

"Hey, Bird-Runner! Why don't you show us how you fly?" said a boy from Swan Camp who'd recently become a full-fledged hunter, feeling supremely confident and thinking himself clever for coming up with the line.

"That's very funny, Bachtur," Daneel said, not laughing even a small amount. "Did you think of that by yourself?"

Bachtur apparently already had enough poison in him to dull any embarrassment he might have felt. "Yep, all by myself. Sorry Azaria... But congratulations! That was quite a race."

"Thanks, Bachtur. Can I have some poison?"

"Sure. If you dance with me. And maybe later we can fly off together to some place a little less crowded."

"We'll just use this one here," Daneel interrupted, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. She picked up one of the other bags lying on the table.

As the two girls laughed together at Bachtur's dreadful attempts at flirting, Daneel filled Azaria's fist. "Fill me up again," Azaria instructed after downing the poison in a few quick gulps.

"Whoooop! Azaria's getting stung tonight!" Daneel yelled.

"Whhooop!!" all the other young men around the table joined in, all their eyes now on the desirable young girls who'd joined them, especially the one who'd just recently gained an unprecedented amount of status and seemed to be in a mood for fun. Some of the girls who'd been hanging back approached, mustering their courage only after watching Azaria and Daneel capture so much attention.

"So Azaria, we're all wondering. What made you jump?" Jarem asked, another newly minted hunter. Although she didn't know him well, Azaria found the Fox Camp boy much less annoying than Bachtur. He talked without slurring his words and seemed sincere.

"It was the only way to beat Yumineh," she answered, looking directly at the tall girl standing back behind the girls who had rambled over. She flashed the Fox Camp girl a broad, friendly smile, trying to gain some sense of her mood. "Yumineh, you deserved to win. You're the better runner," she added with another smile.

Yumineh stared at her for a long moment before responding, "No, you finished first. You won." There was almost no emotion in her voice. Azaria couldn't detect any hint of her feelings one way or another.

"So what was it like?" another of the boys asked. "How did you know you’d make it? Did it feel like flying?" Everyone was crowding around her now, eager for anything she might share.

"I don't know. I've never flown. But I was definitely scared. For a moment I thought I'd jumped too far and was going to land in the shallow part of the river."

Despite her admission of fright, most everyone was staring at her in amazement, including Daneel. She hadn't wanted to pester Azaria because she knew how much trouble she’d been having since the end of the race, but she had a thousand questions she also wanted answers to. Bachtur, however, wasn't impressed, or at least didn't want to admit to it. "It wasn't that great. I'd have done it also," he boasted.

Dogahn had had enough of watching the other boys flirt with Azaria. "Why don't you do it now then, Bachtur? We'll wait for you here and you can tell us all about it when you get back." He was rewarded with laughs from the entire group, especially the other young men. He stepped up to Azaria and greeted her warmly, "Hey!"