Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (13 page)

I realised I did not know what
species she was. I knew she was of the Fae, but I was coming to realise that
the Fae was as broad a classification as saying an animal or a plant. She
looked over at me. She was of the Qupari. They were fierce warriors who have
fought for the good of Fae and Man alike since before the Severance.
 
I could feel her pride at this.

Embarrassment flooded through
me. “I have just realised something. I named you as some sort of a pet. I did
not know then that I would ever be able to communicate with you in this way, so
I named you, but then afterwards, I never asked you what your true name is! I
am so sorry; I meant no offence.”

I tried to sense what she felt
about it. As far as I could make out, she had accepted the name I had given her
as her own. It almost seemed like I would have had to name her once she became
my bond partner. I felt a bit better for it, but I could still not believe I
had not thought of this earlier.

Without any explanation
necessary between us, Markai went away so that I could try to call her again.
Having learnt my lesson from before, I cleared my mind and simply thought of
the connection between us and called her name as if she was standing next to
me. I could immediately feel her response and when I opened my eyes, I was not
surprised to see her sitting next to me. Clearly, I had done better this time.

Markai’s sharp ears warned me of
footsteps approaching and her nose told me of a faint smell of flowers. My
heart skipped a little as I looked around and saw Aliana coming towards me.

She took my breath away. She was
wearing a long red dress with intricate beadwork along the modest neckline and
hem. Her hair was loose with a gazania tucked in behind her right ear. She
walked so gracefully she seemed to float towards me.
 

She smiled softly. “I thought I
might find you here. With the, ah, excitement last night, I did not get a
chance to congratulate you.
 
I heard that
you were leaving again soon.”

She was looking for me. My
stomach gave a flutter at the idea and at the same time, my embarrassment at
the ‘excitement’ from the previous night was colouring my cheeks. I returned
her smile and tried to answer in a light tone while avoiding saying anything
about the night before. “So that is common knowledge now, is it?”

She sat down next to me and
started picking at the grass. With a small mysterious smile she said, “Well you
know, a few well phrased questions to the right people will get you all sorts
of interesting titbits. Where are you heading then?”

I raised my eyebrows innocently.
“So your well phrased questions don’t get you all the answers.” I was surprised
to see her blush lightly. I pretended not to notice and continued, “We are
going to Medirea. We are leaving tomorrow.”

She cocked her head to one side.
“We?
Who is lucky enough to travel with you?”

I barked a laugh. “I highly
doubt Brant would agree with that sentiment.”

Her mouth formed a small circle
and she started laughing. “Um, yes I see what you mean. You may want to sleep
with one eye open with him anywhere near you.” I nodded my agreement.

She looked out over the lake
musingly. “I hear Medirea is a beautiful city. Great old buildings, they say
some dating back to merely five hundred years after the Severance. I have
always dreamt of seeing it.”

“I am sure you will get to see
it someday,” I replied.

Her lips went into a pout and
she gave her head a shake as if to dislodge an idea. She sighed prettily. But
then, I thought everything she did, she did prettily. “I suppose.” Her face
brightened. “You must bring me back a keepsake from your travels. Oh, promise
me you will!”

I laughed at her eagerness.
Holding up my hands, I said, “I promise.” She gave me a serious look and
nodded, apparently satisfied that I meant it.

She rubbed her hands together to
rid them from the grass she had been picking. “I should head home before Mother
starts wondering where I am.” She took the flower from her hair and put it
behind my ear. She hesitated a moment and then quick as a heartbeat gave me a
light kiss on my cheek. She grinned.
“For good luck!”

My mouth nearly dropped open.
Luckily, I managed to control my face, but before I gathered enough of my wits
to respond, she was striding away. I could feel a blush creeping over my cheeks
and I was glad she did not see it.

For the first time since she had
sat down, I realised that Markai was still there. A low rumble was coming from
her throat, but there was no mistaking it. She was not growling, she was
chortling….at me. “Well, I am glad I could offer you some entertainment.” I
said dryly. This simply managed to raise another chuckle from her. I shook my
head. I sat there for a long while running through in my head everything she
had said. Why had she even been asking about me? Perhaps she just happened upon
the information and then made it seem like more than that. Women certainly
could be strange.

I suddenly realised that the sun
was already red against the horizon so I stretched and completed Shea-Rin. My
body flowed through the forms so naturally now that it seemed I had been doing
this since I was born, or that perhaps I had been born for this. Afterwards, I
lay my clothes on the shore and had a quick swim.

As I strolled back towards home,
I started thinking once again on what I had been reading. I shivered. I
certainly hoped that I had a long time yet to prepare and figure out just
exactly what it was that I was supposed to do.

I headed to the dining hall and
as expected found the brothers already there.
All except for
Jamber.
Missing one meal with us could have been coincidence; two I was
sure was deliberate especially since I was leaving on the morrow. I collected
my food and sat down with the rest. Prea was speaking. “…saw him today.”

I looked a question at him. He
gave his head a small shake. “Jamber has been avoiding us all, even Jench. I
just do not understand it.”

Guilt formed a pit in my
stomach. This division was my doing. Nothing had ever before driven a wedge
between us, but now this… “I knew he was upset with me, but why would he be
avoiding you as well?”

Jench frowned. “This is what we
don’t understand. We were working together today, but his scowl did not once
leave his face and he hardly said two words to me all day. Any mention I made
of his mood only made him mutter under his breath about lies. I was starting to
think that perhaps he thought that we had known all along about Markai.”

Wilm gave his head a shake. “He
was there at the feast last night. Having seen our reactions he must be half
blind if he thought any of us had known about it.”

I grimaced. “Jench, I am sorry.
I had pretended that you were in on it with me. Maybe he took that as true.”

Jench pulled his mouth into a
tight line. “You have nothing to apologise for. Even if I had known about it,
what does it matter? We are not five still to tell each other every detail.”
The others nodded their agreement.

Suddenly, Jench grinned. “Where
did you get the flower?”

It took me a moment to realise I
was still wearing Aliana’s flower. I could not stop a smile from spreading
across my face. “I met Aliana today. She gave it to me for good luck for
tomorrow.” I left out the kiss only because I was not certain what it had meant.

They all smiled at this. Of
course, they knew of my affection for her. They also knew that she had never
shown me anything more than friendship.

Prea mockingly made his voice
flat and serious. “You do realise Master Aken that a girl does not just give
her flower to any man.” This brought uproarious laughter from everyone and a
few stares from other people in the hall. Wilm’s laughter stopped abruptly and
his face dropped. He was staring past me towards the entrance of the hall. I
looked around.

Brant had just walked in and he
was twirling a flower with his fingers.
A gazania.
His
face was even more arrogant than usual if that was possible. My heart still
dropped though. What were the chances that this was coincidence, that he did
not get that flower from Aliana? Looking at his face, I decided no chance at
all.

I turned around again to find
their faces as sombre as I was sure my own face was. I pulled the flower from
my ear, only just managing to keep myself from snatching it away angrily.

The awkward silence lasted a
little while with Jench putting in, “Well at least she came to you first.” I
tried for what I hoped was an easy smile, but it felt strained to me. I saw the
same smile reflected on Jench and Prea’s faces. Wilm was staring daggers at Brant.

Prea ignored Brant’s presence
pointedly. “When are you setting off tomorrow?” I shrugged. “Late morning, I
guess.” I was about to add a comment about travelling with Brant, but I did not
want to ruin the mood again. The conversation turned to lighter subjects.

Eventually, Jench and Wilm left.
Once I was alone with Prea, I broached the subject of Jamber again. “Do you
know if Jamber has become friends with Brant?”

He snorted. “You must be
kidding? No, Jamber is no great fan of Brant. He has always made his dislike
for him clear. What makes you ask?”

I shrugged. I did not want to
seem like I was too concerned with it. “I just saw them talking together. I
must admit, it did not seem overly friendly. I think it is the first time I
have actually seen the two of them having a conversation though,”

Prea sniffed. “Have you asked
him about it?”

I shook my head. “I did not want
to stir up any more trouble between us. I really do not understand why he is so
upset about this.”

He just shrugged. “You know
Jamber; he gets upset about small things. I would not concern myself too much
over it. He will get over it.”

I pursed my lips together. “I
hope you are right.”

As soon as I opened the door to
my house, a sticky sweet smell assaulted my nose. Moma was making jam with
Lilana’s help.
 
She only ever scrunched
her snowy hair up into a bun when making jam.

Lilana was animatedly telling
her about her friend who likes a boy who was in their letters class. She wore a
tolerantly amused smile and rolled her eyes at me over Lilana’s head. I
laughed. Lilana turned around when she heard me and the smile faded from her
face.

“You didn’t tell me you were
going away, Kadin,” she said accusingly. I took her by the shoulders. “I am
sorry. It all happened so fast and I was dreading telling you, because I knew
you would be upset.”

She looked up at me with her big
eyes. “It sounds like you will have such an adventure. Can I come with you?”

I smiled sadly at the hope that
flared in her eyes. “Sorry Lil, it will be too dangerous. Moma would kill me if
anything happened to you.”

She shrugged out from my hands.
She looked over at Moma who shook her head. “He is right. It is too dangerous.
Besides, you cannot leave your lessons yet.”

She looked at both of us with
defiance glittering in her eyes. “Someday, I will have my own adventure and I
won’t let either one of you come along.” She crossed her arms over her chest
and a pout formed on her lips.

I ruffled her hair. “Of course
you will. So tell me. Is it just your friend who has a boyfriend or you as
well?”

Her face went bright red. “I do
not like boys. They smell and they always think they are funny when they are
not.” I laughed and was happy when she joined in. I did not want to leave with
any bad feelings still in the air. I sat down at the kitchen table. Well after
the jam was done, we still chatted over a pot of tea. Lil eventually fell
asleep in her chair and I carried her off to bed.

I closed her door quietly behind
me and walked back into the kitchen to find Moma with a sombre expression. She
was pacing up and down, but stopped abruptly and looked at me seriously. “Are
you ready for this Kadin?”

I gave a tight nod. “I may not
know what I will find and what I will have to do, but I do know that I am as
prepared now as I will ever be.” Subconsciously my hand had gone to the hilt of
my sword.

Moma gave a small strained
smile. “I believe you are ready.” She paused a moment as if deciding whether or
not to speak. “Just remember Kadin, people keep their enemies closer than their
friends. Watch your back and do not lightly accept or trust an alliance whether
new or old.” She was only a small woman, not even reaching to my shoulder, but
she carried herself in such a manner that you felt as though you were looking
up at her. I knew she was speaking of Brant.

“I will be careful.”

She reached up and patted me on
the shoulder. “You better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day for you.”

I bent down and kissed her on
the cheek. “Good night Moma.” She gave me another pat before going into her
bedroom. I spent some hours after that studying the Book of Remembrance.

The chills running down my spine
had nothing to do with the cool evening air.