Doira'Liim (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga) (34 page)

     It was time to let the others know of the situation. One of their own had turned against them. One of their own was lying in union with the enemy.

                                                        Chapter 24: Comings and Goings

     Lao'dahn walked at a brisk pace toward the small dugout that housed the Sage woman. After Taetylona's defiant attitude a few days before, he had taken it upon himself to speak to the other men of the
Lat'sa'val
. Leadership of the group of men was determined on a case by case basis. If a dispute broke out over land or resources within the clan, then three men of the
Lat'sa'val
were put forth to act as a ruling voice on the matter. The remaining men would then vote on which of the submitted men would act as the leader for the said issue.

     All matters of unrest or upset were handled in this fashion. If a member of the clan was suspected of disobeying the edicts of Esuval or, in some way, hindering the progress of the clan as a whole, a vote would be issued on which man of the
Lat'sa'val
would act as the judge and jury.

     Lao'dahn had spoken with several of his brothers over Taetylona's supposed usefulness. He had withheld his true intentions for having visited her and instead only divulged that he had sought her help in finding his attacker. Never once did he mention his suspicions that the marksmen had been Talliea or that he had managed to leave the area with an arrow as evidence.

     The other men had listened to him with open minds and after a day of deliberating, had agreed to speak with the Sage woman and reevaluate her contributions to the clan as a whole. With them having finally reached the Northlands after so many summers in the open and wide world, several of the men had already voiced similar sentiments in regard to Taetylona. When they had still been in the south, Taetylona had been an invaluable well of information. Through her, the men of the clan had always stayed one step ahead of their enemies and kept enough resources to ensure their own clan's survival.

     Now, having been in the mystical forest of the north for over two months, the men of the
Lat'sa'val,
with no known enemies to speak of in their new home, thought it long overdue to see about a complete social reform for the clan.

     Taetylona, the Sage woman, seemed to them to be the best person upon which to start their radical new reform.

     Lao'dahn neared the old woman's home and a smug smile spread over his lean face. Taetylona had sought to be his equal when he had visited her. She had played coy and treated him as if he were a child! In her defiance, she had made him leave that day without the arrow he'd kept. How dare her! Luckily for him, Taetylona had seemed content to remain to herself after his departure and so he knew the arrow was safe and away from Markahn's prying eyes. That was enough.

     "You are to come with me at on --"

     Lao'dahn stopped mid-sentence upon pulling the oiled flap from the doorway entrance of the Sage woman's abode. The fire pit held no life and only ashes could be seen to his eyes. He looked around the walls, where before there had been animal parts and mammal teeth, hides of leather and bird feathers, and an assortment of other oddities he'd never cared to commit to memory, and noticed only hardened rock and dried mud. The dugout was empty, void of all life save the wrinkled woman who sat on the ground to his left.

     He studied Taetylona curiously. She kept her eyes locked on his but said nothing at all. Three small pouches, two on her right hip and the third on her left, lined her waist while a medium sized leather sack was secured over her back with a thin cord of knotted rope. The shawl she always wore was wrapped around her shoulder and over it, an old weather beaten cloak hung down the front of her chest. Taetylona's messy head of dark hair looked to have been recently braided and no longer appeared as unruly as it normally did.

     Did she know he had come for her? Did she know she had been summoned before the
Lat'sa'val
? "Going somewhere?" Lao'dahn asked snidely.

     Taetylona stood up slowly and squared her broad shoulders. "I believe you already possess the answer to that question. Why you would feel the need to express it completely baffles me."

     Lao'dahn took a step forward and thought to finally give the old woman her due, his hand balling into a fist, but he stopped himself and took a calming breath. He could not show up to the Clan Circle with Taetylona carrying a black eye. It would only hurt his cause and make the woman a martyr figure to any other women in the clan who thought as she did.

     Grabbing her roughly by the arm instead, he yanked Taetylona out of her dugout and into the cold, high sun. "I told you this would be brought about and you would have no one to blame but yourself," he said as he began to lead her to the center of the camp.

     A large ring of rock and stone had been laid out between the eastern and western fire-pits. It was known as the Clan Circle. Every Esu clan eventually placed one in their settlements, its purpose being to make decisions and judgments before the rest of the clan in as public a setting as possible.

     Today, the Clan Circle would be where Taetylona would be judged. The
Lat'sa'val
would all stand at the western side, beneath the large stone building still in construction, while the rest of the clan members would spread out around the circle in an arc. Lao'dahn led Taetylona to the center of the Clan Circle and moved to take his place with his brothers.

     "Sage woman," Haldynn, the man who had been appointed to act as speaker for the
Lat'sa'val
, began.

     Taetylona looked around at the men and women she had known for most of her life. There was not a one of them of whom she had not helped or aided in some way over the years. She watched them as they watched her. Was that pity in their eyes? Anger? Disgust?

     She shook her head slightly and took a deep breath. It did not matter how they felt about her. None of them were aware of the events that were to come and nothing she could say would make a bit of difference to any of them. She wondered how the almighty and self-serving
Lat'sa'val
would take the news that creatures of myth and intrigue were lurking just beyond the rim of the forest. Would they laugh at her if she told them? Call her lost to the whims and fantasies of her old mind?

     She felt a pity of her own for them. None of them were aware of how much larger the world around them was. None of them could imagine the things she had seen, the things she had been shown. They lived their lives from day to day without ever contemplating if there was a deeper connection to everything.

     The women were oppressed, the men their oppressors. Free thought was frowned upon just as much as free will. How could a people thrive when they were locked and bound by their own punctilious set of beliefs?

     Life for all of them was nothing but duty and strict adherence to a god whose original divine plan had been long forgotten to the annals of time. They were all children, and that fact showed in their blinding ignorance as they gathered around her.

     "Sage woman," Haldynn spoke again after a moment. "Taetylona." Looking up into the stocky man's dark brown eyes, Taetylona smirked to herself and finally acknowledged him. "Yes?"

     "You have been summoned henceforth to stand before the rest of the clan in judgment. Your worth to the clan shall be brought into question and--"

     Taetylona inhaled deeply before sighing in agitation. The
Lat'sa'val
were too long winded for her tastes and she was needed elsewhere. She wondered if the men of the Order enjoyed listening to the sound of their own voices or if they were just deliberately trying to waste her time.

     Holding up a hand, she silenced Haldynn and looked around at the people she had shared her life with but had never been able to call family. "Let us give haste to this gathering for that is what we all truly wish. It is cold and I, for one, wish not to watch my breath freeze upon the wind."

     Several gasps sounded around the Clan Circle. Lao'dahn appeared furious while several of the other men looked to their fellows for a proper reaction. Haldynn, his age showing in the grey lining the sides of his head, looked first to the right and then the left trying to ascertain how best to proceed. An outspoken woman was something the men of the Esu had very little dealings with.

     "That quietened matters," Taetylona muttered to herself also looking around. Bringing her eyes back to Haldynn and the ruling
Lat'sa'val
, she began speaking once again.

     "I believe, given that my judgment was most likely mete out before I arrived, that we can skip the formalities." She turned and looked at each individual face staring back at her and continued. "None of you desire me to remain among you," she said and looked back toward Haldynn and the
Lat'sa'val
, "and none of you wish to test me, for you know not how to handle an animal free of chains."

     Lao'dahn moved forward and stuck his chest out. "This is why you are being judged, woman! You forget your place and--"

     "Hush, boy," Taetylona hissed. "Your need for acclaim leaves you looking as if a fish out of water." Taetylona dismissed Lao'dahn and returned her attention to Haldynn. "I have been judged by all of you as you all have been judged by me. We each find the other lacking. So, banishment a second time, hm?"

     Haldynn appeared infuriated, the situation having spun completely out of his control. "Y-yes. The other men and I have decided your value to the clan no longer--"

     "Yes, yes. I know. A fairer punishment could not soon enough present itself to me," Taetylona interrupted again. She stood tall in the center of the Clan Circle and let her eyes sweep across the gathered one more time. Words were no longer needed as they would have fallen on deaf ears anyhow. Stepping over the large stones resting upon the snow that made up the Clan Circle, she walked up to Lao'dahn and paused.

     "You got what you wished, boy. I wonder how this decision will look when viewed at a later time." Lao'dahn opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped when Taetylona moved a hand under her cloak and quickly brought out the arrow he'd left. "You left this and now I find that I have need of it. Thank you." With that, Taetylona lifted her other hand and began to walk away.

     Before Lao'dahn could protest or reach for the arrow, the Sage woman dropped her hand and a sudden and intense cloud of smoke assaulted his eyes. He coughed and swung his hand in front of his face to clear the air. When the smoke faded, he noticed the other men and women also coughing and trying to clear their eyes.

     Haldynn took a step forward and watched as the mysterious smoke rose to the cloudy sky above. Lao'dahn followed his eyes before looking to where Taetylona had been.

     She was gone! There was no sign of her, nor even any footprints in the snow. Where had she disappeared to?

     "I will organize a search party. We will find the old wretch and bring her back--"

     "Why?" Markahn, who had been silent during the whole affair, asked Lao'dahn.

     "Why? Because she --"

     "Enough!" Haldynn said in a clear and stern voice. "Enough! Let the old woman be on her way. The snows will sooner reject her than embrace her. We are free of her burden. Our focus needs to be on the clan and on this settlement. Taetylona is no longer our concern."

     Markahn nodded and cast a dark and angry look in Lao'dahn's direction. Unspoken words passed between the two men as the small gathering slowly began to disperse. Lao'dahn stood alone long moments after the others had returned to their work and their homes. Once again, matters had not come to pass as he had intended! Once again, Taetylona had made a fool out of him! She had taken the arrow with her and for what purpose, he did not know.

     He turned and looked into the forest where Taetylona had departed. First Talliea and now her! His plans were not coming to effect as he had hoped. Talliea had been missing for over a month with no sign of a return. Markahn was growing suspicious of him and now Taetylona had left, which was what he had wanted, but the old woman had left on her own terms and, in the process, made a mockery out of him and the men of the
Lat'sa'val!

     As he stood in his own rage, he let his mind think upon his ultimate goal: claiming Talliea and usurping Markahn's hold on her. Unlike everyone else, he still believed she was alive. How, was another question, but that was unimportant. He realized he was going to have to begin searching for her in unexpected places. He had been wrong to seek out locations Talliea had previously visited. The woman wasn't stupid.

     Yes, he had to expand his search, drag her back to camp screaming and kicking, challenge Markahn, claim Talliea, and finally have his way with the defiant and feisty woman!

             
                                                        *  *  *  *  *  *

     "Yes, you are."

     "No, Ari, I am not. I do not see what you see."

     Arizira sighed and looked at Talliea with a quirked eyebrow. "Are all Esu women as stubborn as you?" she asked. Talliea smiled, the gesture making her even more beautiful, before replying, "No, you are lucky in having met me."