Sephtis

42. Empty.

The forest is quiet between our two villages, and I miss the howling of the wolves. The earth is also silent, as if something ominous holds all life in its clutches. Eleutheros knows I am uneasy, and holds my hand as we walk.
The moon is full, and it's silver rays drench the path we walk on, and turns the shadows blue and grey about us. It is so bright, we can see each and every leaf that has fallen before our feet, each twig and each stone. Our soft footfalls upon the earth are the only sounds, and our breathing, for it is a long way to Eleutheros' true home, and we are walking fast.  He carries his bundle slung across his back, and will not admit that it runs painfully on his cuts which are not yet wholly healed.

He is a warrior again, talk and strong, on his way home. But every now and again he looks at me, and his smile is all warmth and tenderness.

"You will like my people," he says. "My father is old now, but he is still full of life, and he got himself a young wife last winter, to warm his bed. I know you will be welcome there, Sephtis. My father is a peaceable man, gentle and homely. We are farmers and herdsmen, following the great ways of the old, and our cows are the finest in these mountains. We spend more time beating iron into plough blades than into swords."

"Did it grieve you to leave your peaceful home and live with the warriors of a king?" I ask.

" I grieved at first, but I grew to honour Droug and his people, even if I only knew him in his weakened days. And I like fighting, when the foe is equal to us. Do not frown so, my heart. I shall become a farmer, and only do battle with the earth, and with milking buckets and brutal cattle."

I laugh and we continue to walk in silence. Easy in each other's company.

We walk all the next day, and it is nearly nightfall when we see Eleutheros' village. I see grassy pastures and a wheat field, basking in the orange glow of the setting sun. There is no mighty moat about the houses, only a stone wall, topped with wooden spikes. There are no skulls on them. As we arrive a gate is taken down, and boys and girls drive out the cows that have been kept in their cools sheds during the day. The herd pours out, bellowing and lowing, and shying away from us. The children wave and shout greetings to us when they see Eleutheros, and I am amazed to see the young boys wings on full display, even though they are not in flight. Eleutheros waves back and takes my hand in his again, and we go through the gates, and into the village.

It is smaller than Droug's, but there is more room between the houses and wall, for they have more animals to protect during the day. A woman comes out of one of the houses, sees Eleutheros and I, and runs back inside, calling out to someone else. Then, with cries of delight she runs to us, and hugs Eleutheros close. He kisses her on the forehead, and they stare at each other for a time, smiling.

"What has happened to you Eleutheros?" She asked, suddenly serious. "What has put these scratches on your hands and body, and that hurt under your eye? What was it, that has made you unable to show your wings? I think they are not battle scars."

They are," he says with a laugh. " I did battle with a wolf awhile ago, while there was a great poison in my body. " he turns, and puts an arm about me. "Come Sephtis, and meet my sister."

She too, greets me warmly, hugging me close, and I am able to smell the herbs in her hair and garments. She kisses my cheeks, and doesn't seem to care that my hair is blue, and my rank below hers. We hear a glad shout, and an old man comes tottering over to us, his wings are tattered and frayed, dull in the soft light. Eleutheros runs to meet him. They clasp one another, and Eleutheros picks him up, spinning him round in a circle, and kisses his bald head. All the village is here now, to meet us.

Eleutheros' father, whose name I learn is Ashoka, beams at me, and embraces me. I am over whelmed by the delight and welcome of this place. It is all a blur: a child brings me a bowl of warm milk to drink, and another brings me a gift of blue berries, while all about us chickens flap, and dogs bark. A woman presses a beautiful scarlet girdle into my arms, and another gives me shoes. Eleutheros is also lavished with gifts, and after awhile, seeing that I am confused, and speechless, he takes me into his fathers house.

It is quiet in here, and bright with the roaring fire in the hearth. His father makes us sit on low stools, and bring us fermented berry juice to drink in horn cups. I am thirsty, and he fills mine thrice before I feel satisfied. I relax, tired because we haven't slept all night nor all day. It is so very restful here. I smile at Eleutheros over the rim of my cup, and he looks at me with so much love that I am dazzled by it. Moonlight from a window streams across him, lighting his hair into the color of molten silver.  Fine he is, so very fine.
I drink from my cup, and listen to his voice.

"And I will marry her soon," he is saying, "as soon as she gives me her word."

His father chuckles. "Then I had better prepare one of the fattened calves for the wedding feast."

A woman standing behind him looks at me, her eyes soft. She is not much older than I.

" This place will bewitch you with its charm, Sephtis. It did me, and I married old Ashoka here." She says with a light laugh, but her eyes are empty, and drill into mine.

There are many people in the room, and I forget the hidden meaning in the girls words as, and, after awhile Eleutheros tells me all their names. I cannot remember many of them. I notice the young women of blue, and green hair, but I do not feel kinship with them. Their hair is glossy and long, and I am ashamed of my short locks. I see a young man, of Eleutheros' age, watching me, and his wings are a glorious shade of red and orange, his eyes are hungrily watching my back.

Ashoka's new wife, Ayra, takes me for a walk out to the fields, and I am grateful for the fresh air, though the moonlight dazzles me and makes my head ache, I should not have drank so much. Ayra chats easily, non-stop, like the ravens the shelter from the hot sun in the castle ruins. As we walk through the pastures, the cows watch us with their huge, soulful eyes. I giggle, for I cannot imagine Eleutheros milking them. Ayra, thinking I amused by what she says, is spurred on to tell more entertaining stories of her family and this place.

I enjoy her company, for no woman has talked to me like this before. I shelter my eyes with my hands from the glowing moon, and pay more attention to her.

"And that is what my sisters were like," she says. "What is your family like?"

"I...I am the only child of a fallen King." I say carefully, unsure of my words.

Her eyebrows rise, and she looks impressed.

"A leaders daughter you are, no wonder Eleutheros wants you so. You are of high standing in your village."

"That is not why he wants me." I whisper softly.

Ayra laughed slightly, "I know that, by the way he looks at you," she says slyly. She then is quiet, rubbing her shoulders with her hands, her brow furrowed as if a war wages inside her head, her lips pulled tight with unspoken words. I feel uneasy, and am about to ask her what is wrong when she smiles suddenly, her teeth bright and flashing, but her eyes dull and weighted with secrets, empty, like earlier.

We continue our walk, and she shows me the river that runs at the bottom of their fields, and where the best places are to fish. I enjoy the clean grasses, and open fields. And I am glad that Ayra's face is happy once more, but her wounded eyes are forever blazed in my mind, and I try to shake my unease away. For is this not a good place?