A Place To Bloom

Apology

We spent the afternoon in the great field outside the wall with those of us skilled in archery coaching those of us who weren't. That was until Daren was summoned back inside.

Borel, Faren, and Gino took that time to talk to a pair of native women who'd chosen to graze their goats beside the edge of the forest nearby, while Rock and Ales spent the time wrestling. Ales had to stop and soothe the wound at his side, then gathered with the others around Jezi while he taught them some local dirty jokes. Jame and I had taken to goading Malchuk to show us what kind of range he could get out of his Imperial Army longbow—around two-twenty, but if you tried to go beyond that it just didn't offer the draw.

Eventually Daren came back and gave us all a mouthful. We hung our heads in shame for a minute and then spent the rest of the day doing what we were supposed to be doing.

Evening came, but I would have to wait to see Miyani again.

Two days.

Where they sent her, I was not told. But, I should hope to see her in two days.

And hopefully, she would be alive.

I tried not to think about it.

Dinner was some lumpy brown mash with bits of caramelized tomatoes and onions that desperately cried out for salt. That was served with plain brown rice that was also devoid of salt, and to the side were green leaves sauteéd with bits of chopped red stuff and I think slivered almonds, and altogether dripping in oil. Jame went to the kitchen to ask for salt for the table but was sent back empty-handed.

As we gathered, we tried to piece together what the alarm earlier might have been about. Kelint had been stationed a few towers down and saw someone come in through the front gate. "It was a train of them, like some entourage or something. They had some creature—it wasn't a vita'o—some other kind of giant lizard tethered to a carriage. And this thing was covered in bright red mesh with jewelry and beads and shit, and I couldn't see anything inside. There were two of those, and on each side they had six warriors walking a perimeter. We let the whole lot of them through the gate."

Gino looked at Jezi. "You ever seen anything like that before?"

The Tobori kid nodded. "Ti. Yes. This is someone very important from one of the tribes."

Jame spoke up. "Tribes? You mean like the people we're at war against?"

"Yes," Jezi nodded.

I shared my own experience, hoping to add some clue to the stew. "Four of those enemy warriors came into the medical ward carrying two of our guys on stretchers. Both our guys had their right hands lopped off, maybe a couple hours before. No bandages, nothing."

Jezi looked up at me with hopeful green eyes, gesturing to his right shoulder. "Did you see any tattoos?"

"Yeah," I answered. "It was like a cloud with two lightning bolts coming down. Three of them had that, and the other guy didn't have anything."

Jezi nodded. "That one is the mɪwe'iʃi. They control the region east of here beyond the river bend and north towards the mountains; the pass from Saen runs directly through their territory..."

Faren looked up, scanned the ceiling, and lifted a finger. "So... at the Lake of Doom, that region, that guy Hoden said don't mess with them; he called them 'true believers?'"

Jezi nodded. "Sounds right. They have always hated us, even since before the war. Right now, they are very, very powerful. But... I have never known them to take prisoners."