Doira'Liim (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga) (33 page)

     "I am holding you, Tah-li," she whispered back, her nose and lips softly grazing any part of Talliea's face she could reach. She felt Talliea's nose settle in the hollow at the base of her throat while the arm around her waist wound its way to the small of her back.

     "Sleep well,
failira.
"

     No more words were spoken. Arizira held Talliea's body close to her own while Talliea finally allowed sleep to overtake her. The snow outside became a storm and soon, all the forest was covered in a hushed veil of pristine white.

                                                        Chapter 23: Tahlet Vahllah

     Arizira reached over her shoulder and skillfully removed an arrow from her quiver. Nocking the arrow with a blurred speed, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, brought her elbow level with her sternum and took aim. Talliea sat not too far away watching the exercise with avid interest. There was something about the way Arizira stood that fascinated her. The way her body was so taut, yet so relaxed, seemed to Talliea to be as if a fluid form of art. Arizira's shimmering silver-blue eyes were fixated on her intended target and the level of concentration apparent in them also held her in rapt attention.

     She watched every minute movement Arizira made. She watched how she spread her feet apart, the way she held the end of the arrow and the bowstring with two gloved fingers, and the way every line and curve of her body was poised and ready to make a perfect shot.

     Holding her breath, Talliea looked far to her right. In the distance, pinned to a grand pine tree, was Arizira's reserved target. She wondered briefly how Arizira planned to hit something so far away, but the thought was lost a moment later when the sound of sudden movement caught her attention.

     A distinct
phewt
sound ripped through her ears as Arizira released the arrow from her bow. The feathered projectile sailed past her in a blurred dim before disappearing into a thicket of trees. Talliea stood up, the excitement from watching her companion still causing her heart to beat quickly, and looked in the direction the arrow had flown.

     "Did your arrow land true?"

     Arizira smirked at her, the confidence giving Talliea's question an answer, before lowering her bow to her side. She looked into the copse of trees some three to four hundred feet from their location and turned to gaze up at her friend.

     "Of course," she said simply, her smile growing.

     Talliea squinted into the trees ahead and noticed Arizira's arrow square in the middle of the target they had chosen. The tattered remains of her skirts flailed in the gentle breeze while the arrow in the center of them caused her to laugh.

     She watched Arizira reach for another arrow and, just as deftly, nock it in the longbow. "The lower portion this time?" Arizira asked, looking over her shoulder.

     Talliea sat back down on the rock she'd been occupying and shook her head, all the while trying to hide the insistent giggle she felt bubbling in her throat. "I believe this demonstration of your skill to be an actual ruse in which you have endeavored to make that  particular old garment completely useless."

     Arizira, her bow level and her body once again taut, relaxed for a moment and lowered her arms. Looking back at Talliea, she pretended to contemplate the accusation before nodding and pursing her lips. "I believe your words to be a truth. I held no favor with your skirts."

     Again, Talliea laughed and the sound was both light and carefree. She watched Arizira for only a moment before a second arrow caught her eyes. As before, the arrow landed exactly were Arizira had intended.

     "You are very good," she commented, stuffing her gloved hands under her arms for added warmth. The day was not yet at its zenith and, though the cold winds were still proving to be a bitter friend, the sun was high enough in the sky to keep the two women more comfortable than disagreeable.

     Arizira smiled her acknowledgement of the compliment, dimples adorning each cheek, and looked up into the cloudy sky above. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply of the cool and crisp air around her. "Tell me more about you," she said after a moment, her head lowering and her eyes opening once again. "What does Tah-li like?"

     Talliea wrinkled her brow and shrugged. "I am not certain of what you mean."

     Looking around the two of them at the white landscape with towering evergreens, heavy with snow and pine needles, sharp rock croppings and various bushes, twigs, and leaves, Arizira returned her attention to Talliea.

     "What makes your heart joyous, Tah-li? For me, it is the forest and Her cycles. It is the perfection of that which is around me. What gives you this feeling?"

     Talliea blushed and lowered her eyes. She knew of the feeling Arizira was describing. It was a feeling of peace and serenity. It was a feeling of complacency and relief. Glancing back up into her friend's eyes, she finally replied, "I-it is silly."

     Arizira turned fully around so that she was facing Talliea. The sound of squirrels scurrying in the trees above her came to her ears and she smiled. "Nothing you say is ever silly. Tell me."

     Talliea took a deep breath and let her eyes follow the movements of a doe and her fawn as they hurried through the thick trees ahead of her. Thinking back on a different time in a seemingly different life, she let herself remember moments from long ago.

     "When I was a child," she began, catching Arizira slightly off-guard, "I remember war being the companion to my people they did not wish to alleviate themselves of. The Southlands are not like this place, Ari. They are barren and without the sounds of life. Skirmishes were a constant as all the clans fought for resources. Our settlements were the pinnacle of our achievements, yet the cost for such grandeur was evident in the lack of vibrancy our homes held. Instead of helping one another, each clan tested the mettle of  its neighbor until a victor was named."

     Talliea looked up at Arizira before continuing. "We were depriving ourselves of life, eagerly walking toward death, yet our pride was a misleading foe. Do not ask of the politics of the situation. I was young and, as a woman, the full extent of the wars was not my place to know. I will say that the Esu people were locked in a civil war for many long years. It was that war that led us here to the fabled forest of your people, Ari."

     Arizira said nothing. She had not heard Talliea speak so much about her people the entire time the two of them had known one another. Often, she had wondered what had caused the mythical dark skins to suddenly appear before her people, but she had never ventured to ask, believing the information too delicate a subject.

    Now, however, Talliea was speaking to her of matters she never could have guessed. Walking over to where the other woman sat, Arizira seated herself next to her and snuggled against her side for extra warmth. She was quiet and silent and allowed Talliea time to organize her thoughts.

     "There were whispers in the air that other clans had left for the Great Trek before our own. We know not whether any of the others arrived here safely or not. It was a time of sorrow and despair, Ari. Even being a child, innocent to the ways of the world, I always knew that matters were more than they seemed. I remember leaving the walls of our settlement when I was around my ninth summer. I became lost and soon was turned around. I walked for ages with nothing but the brown and dead earth beneath my feet to keep me company. As the sun was retreating, I caught sight of a flower not far from where I was."

     Arizira watched a small and wistful smile shyly come across Talliea's face. The other woman was lost to the tale she was recounting.

     "A flower," Talliea repeated. "How could something survive in the waste my people had made of the land? I walked toward it and it was white, pure as winter snow, with small, purple, crescent-like shapes appearing over the petals. I thought it was beautiful, magical. There was only the one as far as I could see. I remember sitting down next to that flower, my heart no longer carrying the weight of my misgivings, and thinking that there was hope left for those that sought it.

     "Not long after the sun left the sky, a group of
Lat'sa'val
found me. They said Taetylona, the Sage woman, had divined my location. I picked the flower and took it with me as we returned. The following sunrise, I showed Taetylona what I had fonud."

     Talliea paused and turned her head toward Arizira. Their eyes met and soft and easy smiles graced their lips. "What did the Sage woman say?" Arizira asked.

     "She said the flower was a sign. It forecasted what was to come. The flower was named
Tahlet Vahllah
."

     Arizira lowered her brows and shook her head. "This word does not...I-I can not see this word, Tah-li." Talliea nodded and took one of Arizira's hands in her own. They sat together for a quiet moment. "
Tahlet Vahllah
is an older Esulan word. There are not many who speak it as its dialect is viewed as more archaic than useful. Taetylona taught me some of it after I discovered the flower."

     "What does this word mean?" Arizira asked.

     Looking into pale blue eyes, alight with a soft white glimmer, Talliea smiled and replied, "
Tahlet Vahllah
means remover of sorrow. After my discovery, the one thing that brought me joy, that made my heart rejoice, was flowers. As we neared this forest on our journey, I noticed flowers of every shade and always it brought back to my mind
Tahlet Vahllah
."

     Smiling, Arizira reached up with her free hand and brushed a strand of Talliea's hair away from her eyes. The story had made her appreciation of Talliea grow all the more. She could not imagine living in a dead and barren landscape like what Talliea had described. How could a group of people exploit their environment so? With the Esu being in the valley, and the possibility of more soon to arrive, was her beloved forest in danger of becoming like the Southlands?

     "Ahmanae?" Talliea's voice brought her from her thoughts. "Hm?" she replied.

     "You asked me what brought me happiness?"

     "Yes," Arizira responded softly. "It is still
Tahlet Vallah
, yet instead of presenting itself in the form of a flower, my remover of sorrow is now in the body of a woman." Talliea paused, wanting to ensure she held Arizira's full attention. "You," she said. "You are my
Tallet Vahllah
now, Ari. You bring me happiness and remove my sorrow."

     Instead of responding verbally, for words could not adequately translate the feelings in her heart, Arizira leaned forward and tenderly kissed Talliea's lips. The other woman reciprocated slowly and turned her head to deepen their embrace. The cold around them had caused both of their lips to chill but their kiss was quickly changing that. Arizira's right hand settled against Talliea's neck as she rubbed their noses together and slipped her tongue inside her love's mouth.

     A small moan left Talliea's lips and she let herself scoot closer so that her own hands could wrap around a slender waist.

     Arizira pulled away slightly, trying to control the overwhelming passion she felt for Talliea, before giving in again and reuniting their lips once more. Talliea's story had touched her heart. It was another piece of who she was as a person. Being her Tahlet Vallah and knowing how strongly the other woman was feeling for her, was a powerful and heady sensation for Arizira. She had worried that Talliea would be unable to feel for her the things she herself felt. Her insecurities over Talliea's upbringing had very nearly killed the birth of their feelings for each other and yet, all of that no longer seemed to matter.

     Despite the odds and their own fears, despite the fact that their peoples were enemies of old and their union would most likely never be accepted, the two of them had still found one another and grown closer over their time together. They had each been drawn to the other for reasons neither of them could explain. The force between them could never have been denied. It was too strong.

     As if it had always been meant to be.

     Lightly peppering Talliea's lips with small pecks and nips, Arizira finally pulled herself away and smiled. Her lips and tongue tasted of fresh mint. She watched Talliea run a tongue over her own lips and savor their unique taste and knew she, too, was experiencing the flavor of mint.

     With their heads still close together, Talliea reverently trailed her fingers over Arizira's collarbone and whispered, "My
Tahlet Vahllah
, my Ahmanae."

     Arizira chose not to reply right away. She held Talliea close to her, the hand that had been on her neck moving to cradle her head, and let her lips brush across the shell of Talliea's ear. Sighing happily, she finally whispered back, "Always."

                                                                      *  *  *  *  *  *

     The observer watched the two women and felt a hot ire rising from deep within them. How could she? the observer thought. How could she do this? Did her people mean nothing to her? She was sacrificing everything for...for the enemy? The observer could barely fathom, let alone reconcile, what they had just witnessed. It had made them sick. They knew the information they had been withholding for so long was finally ready to see the light of day. No longer could the observer keep such treason to themselves.