Savage Flame

Chapter 3

The night before the wedding, Alaz-Vahşi followed her sister out to the Fjord, where Altantsetseg's twin brother, Borjigin, and their middle brother, Enkh-Amgalan, were found packing their belongings away into their ship, their movements like shadow, the waning crescent their only light. Borjigin's odd gray eyes gleamed in the moonlight as his youngest sister came aboard to assist him. "Düü." She smiled at the familiar name spoken by Altantsetseg's twin, a tender terminology that meant younger sister.

"Ah," she responded. Older brother.

"Düü. Come assist me." Alaz-Vahşi turned to help her sister move trunks into the belly of the ship, her more muscular figure moving with ease. Out of her siblings, Alaz-Vahşi̇ was the strongest, both physically and in spirit. Her height surpassed Enkh-Amgalan's, but surrendered to the eldest twins.

Altantsetseg pulled off her head-cloth to reveal her unbound black hair, the fjord breeze combing through her scalp. The woman sighed with relief, inhaling the water's comforting scent. "I am glad to leave this king" -she spat with distaste- "and his horrible land."

Enkh-Amgalan, who always saw the best in people, countered, "You just hate European men-"

"All men," Alaz-Vahşi̇ finished with a smirk. "Except my Ahs." Altantsetseg wickedly grinned.

"Hence why you are marrying him and not me!" Borjigin's gaze grew serious and deadly.

"Eev commanded us to do his bidding. Düü, your role is especially important."

"Father explained everything to me," Alaz-Vahşi̇ said, squaring her shoulders. "Now, you must go."

"Düü." Her sister caught her younger sister's arm and gently pulled her into the circle of her siblings. Unwrapping the young woman's robe and displaying her back, each of the siblings placed a hand upon her scarred skin. Chanting in an eerie warble, her siblings' eyes began to glow and an intricate tattoo of a garuda appeared, outlined in gold. When the ritual was complete, Altantsetseg re-clasped her sister's long jacket at her left breast. "May the garuda protect your soul."

"We will send word," Enkh-Amgalan conveyed, his hand gently pressed against Alaz-Vahşi's back to remind her of their connection.

Once her siblings' ship silently departed the harbor, Alaz-Vahşi straightened her spine and pressed onward into the village towards the castle beyond.