Tears of War (11 page)

M
aleena hesitated, trying to decide if it might be better to stay close to Nydara. She didn’t want to go against their customs; there was too much to talk about and learn from them. She sensed disregarding their ways would be a grave insult so she followed Avendala to the group of women waiting. One woman watched her come toward them with more interest than the others. Her eyes were a startling cornflower blue.

The red bracelets on her arm clicked as she held out her hand, palm up. Her other arm cradled a sleeping infant. “I am Angeni, the Shama of this camp.”

Maleena placed her palm on the woman’s hand, suppressing the twinge of envy she felt at the sight of the infant. She had a bondmate and a dragon who laid eggs, but Dragon Riders were not a fertile lot. It might be fifty years or more before she held a babe of her own. “I am Maleena. The silver dragon is Nydara. I don’t mean to be rude, but you have blue eyes. Is that common among the Ke’han?”

Angeni smiled. “No, Maleena, rider of Nydara. Blue eyes come only to Shamas; those who can work magic and talk to the spirits.” Angeni’s smile faded and she closed her eyes.

Maleena felt a tingle wash through her. Angeni gasped and pulled her hand away, her eyes wide. “You have been to Maiadar. You have done more than pass through it; you have touched it. You have a connection to it.” Her eyes went to Nydara. “Old things come again,” she looked back at Maleena, “and new things surface.”

Puzzled, Maleena asked, “What do you mean new things? How did you know I have passed through Maiadar?”

“I am a Shama. It is part of my magic. I have heard of those who passed through Maiadar, but I have never heard of one who touched it. You touched it—connected to it—before you ever passed through it.”

Memories of the battle by the lake filled Maleena. In her mind, she saw the massive silver ghost of Emallya’s dragon, Rylin, hanging above the lake, water streaming off her gleaming scales in the morning light. “Yes, once. I pulled the spirit of Nydara’s mother from Spirit Lake.”

Angeni’s eyes went wide. “New things surface. Spirits are supposed to remain in Maiadar. That is their world when they leave this one. There is not supposed to be a path back for them. Yet you were able to connect with a spirit there. You can still connect with them; I can feel it in you. Some of the spirit’s energy and power clings to your aura. Is there anything in your human histories that say something like this has happened before?”

Maleena shook her head. “No, even when the Ka’ti was searched, there was no reference to it.”

“You see,” Angeni smiled, “new things surface.”

Avendala placed her hand on Angeni’s arm. “Come, sister, the others would like to meet Maleena.”

The infant cradled in Angeni’s arm stirred and let out a little cry. She made shushing noises and held the baby to one ample breast. The babe immediately quieted and latched on. She smiled when she noticed Maleena watching. “This is my youngest son, born less than two moons ago. His name is Etu.”

Maleena gazed wistfully at the infant. “He is beautiful.” And though his skin was dark purple and tiny horn buds were already showing on his hairless head, she didn’t think him any less beautiful. He looked like he should for his people.

Another woman introduced herself as Algoma. A baby with chubby legs and black hair that hung to her shoulders gazed at her from where she sat on Algoma’s hip. Algoma introduced the child as Nidawi.

Each woman was introduced, although many hung back. Not Maleena learned because of reticence, but due to the strict hierarchy of the camp. She found herself sitting around a small fire with the five highest status women of the camp. Avendala, Angeni, and Algoma who was the mate of Hakan’s second, though Angeni outranked her because she was the Shama. The other two were Avendala’s grandmother, Pamuya, and a younger woman named Aponi

Children played and moved about the camp with total disregard for the status of their elders.

Avendala’s infant daughter, Adsila, crawled back and forth between the fire her mother sat at and where her father sat with the men, pulling up on them and crawling into their laps. Maleena watched with amusement as the chubby baby less than a year old interrupted her father’s discussion to crawl onto the massive warrior’s lap. The child popped her thumb in her mouth and snuggled into him.

Aponi, a very young woman newly mated to a high-ranking warrior, cooked thin flat bread on a heavy stone, while Pamuya set a pot of cold stew from the night before on the fire to warm.

Maleena looked about the end of the canyon. It didn’t look like a permanent residence. “Do you stay in one place long?”

Pamuya answered in a deep, raspy voice. “Except for one permanent settlement on the eastern coast, the Ke’han are nomads. We always have been. For most of our history, it was necessary to follow the food and part of our tradition. After Galdivan, it became necessary for our safety as well. Whole camps were rounded up by him and his foul shadows.”

“We never stay more than a quarter turn of the moon in any one spot,” Avendala added. Aponi served Maleena a bowl of thick stew and several flat breads. Maleena waited to eat. There were no spoons and she wasn’t sure the proper way to eat it.

Angeni came to her rescue. “You tear off a bit of flat bread and use it to scoop the stew out. We cannot eat until you have taken the first bite. It is rude to eat before the guest has begun.”

Who would have thought they would have so many customs and traditions? She tore off some bread, scooped stew up with it, and put in her mouth. Pamuya nodded in approval and everyone around the fire began eating. The flavors in the bread and stew were unfamiliar yet delicious.

Pamuya watched her, the fire casting flickering light across her time-withered face. “Why do you not show your breasts?”

Maleena nearly choked on her food. After clearing her throat she stared back at the old woman. “What?”

Pamuya gestured to the other women at the fire. “Only girls too young and women too old to reproduce, like me, cover their breasts. Women who can bear children proudly display their breasts to show their status. How can your people know you are healthy and able to bear children if you do not bare your breasts?”

A look of sympathy flashed in Avendala’s eyes. “You can bear children?”

“Yes, I can. Among my people, it isn’t considered appropriate to show our breasts like that.”

“How strange.” Avendala shook her head. “You and your…bondmate,” she said the word slowly as if unsure of its meaning, “are the first of your kind we have actually met.”

Although unable read their thoughts, she still felt their sudden unease. “How do you live so close to Calladar and never meet any of the people there?”

“We stay on the move and are very careful to shield ourselves. We are lucky to have a powerful Shama. Not all of them are capable of the kind of shielding she does. She makes it so we cannot be seen. Others though, they have had encounters. We are often confused with Kojen and the border people have wiped out some camps completely.”

The sun climbed higher in the sky, spreading its light into the canyon. Angeni looked at her. “How did you know we were here? And how did you know we are not Kojen? Your mate was ready to cut us down, I could feel it.”

“Though we are very different, our magic must run along the same lines. I use Spirit magic. I sensed it when your shield went up and though I couldn’t find you through it from a distance, once we got closer, I sensed you.” Maleena glanced across the canyon to where Mckale sat with the men. He struggled to come to terms with the new knowledge of these people. She felt the conflict in him. These people had always been too close to Kojen and long standing prejudices fought with acceptance. “Mckale grew up in Calladar. He was a Border Guard, as is his father and others in his family. I think it was an ingrained reaction.”

She turned back to Angeni. “I grew up being pushed away by everyone in my village for my differences. I’m used to looking at things differently. I try to understand before I judge. I’m not perfect, but I do try. I knew there was something different about you because I could sense your emotions. Kojen do not have emotions, only blood lust.”

A mixture of sadness and revulsion filled Avendala’s eyes. “The Kojen are not natural. We once captured one and tried to reason with him, and show him our ways. His mind was beyond understanding. He was as willing to kill us as he was anything else. Other camps have tried as well. Each attempt was met with failure. Angeni was the only woman allowed to get close to him so his mind could be examined. Even then, every man in the camp was there to protect her.”

Angeni glanced at the slender, curved sword hanging from Maleena’s belt. “I see you have been taught to fight. Our women do not learn such things. We do not go into battle.”

Maleena glanced around at them. “None of you know how to defend yourselves?”

Pamuya shook her head. “Our men ensure our safety.”

“But why?”

The old woman’s hand made a sweeping gesture across the women of the camp. “We are the future. One man can sire many young ones if need be, but we can only carry one at a time. It takes ten turns of the moon for a Ke’han woman to bring a babe to birthing. Only we can carry the next generation in our bodies; bring them into this world; feed them through infanthood. Among our people, a woman’s place is one of honor. Our safety and happiness is always placed above a man’s. Any one of the men would die for us. We have no need to go to battle. All that would do is get many women, the holders of our future, killed.”

Maleena turned that over in her mind. Many of the women in her world didn’t fight either. Serena hadn’t been allowed to. It wasn’t something that was done in Lowden either. Kirynn had begun learning the use of weapons as a toddler, and Taela learned young as well.

But in the areas where it wasn’t acceptable for women to learn, it wasn’t because women were the future. It seemed more like the men were afraid to have women on equal footing. Some places valued women and their contributions more than others. And while the Ke’han women didn’t learn the use of weapons, it was obvious it wasn’t because they were considered less than the men.

“Besides, we have Amara to protect us women,” Angeni said.

Avendala sucked in a breath and shot Angeni a sharp look. Angeni gazed back at her. “What? These people mean us no harm. They have introduced us to their dragons. It is not right to keep the secret from them.”

Maleena glanced from one to the other. “Who is Amara and why must she be kept a secret?” Was that what Nydara sensed?

Avendala turned to Maleena. “Amara is like a dragon in some ways.”

“A dragon?” Maleena stared at them, her eyes wide. She felt the tension in Nydara and Tellnox. Mckale glanced her way, no doubt sensing her unease.

Angeni nodded. “Yes, but not like your dragons. We call them Nagas; or Nagi if they are female. She cannot fly but can breathe fire. Nagi are strongly connected with water. Amara is our water finder and our protector. Docile and sweet, she only becomes aggressive if we are threatened and cannot defend ourselves. Nagas are strongly connected to the earth; they are metal and mineral finders.”

Questions flooded Maleena’s mind and she took a moment to sort them out before speaking. “Why is she a secret? Where does she come from?”

Avendala took deep breath. “She is kept secret so those who may attack us are not prepared to defend against her. She has eliminated several bands of Kojen. Amara and others like her live on the far eastern coast, where the ocean meets the desert. There are not many. As far as we know, they have always been there.”

“How did you get her to bond with you? Did you have to hatch her?”

“That takes a strong Shama like Angeni. Their nests are impossible to find, but it does not take Hatching to bond. When we found Amara, she was already half-grown. Angeni is strong enough to connect with Amara. It took almost a full turn of the moon to tame her, but once tamed, they are bonded completely to us and are safe to leave unsupervised with even the youngest of the camp.”

Maleena searched her memory of the stories Emallya had told. Never had she mentioned this. The Ka’ti had nothing in it either. “I wonder why no one has ever known any of this.”

Pamuya scooped the last of her food from her bowl and set it aside. She popped the bite in her mouth and chewed slowly before answering. “Before the War of Fire, before Galdivan came to this place, since the beginning of time, the Ke’han have kept to the desert. Considered wild tribes of beasts by your people, we were left alone in our desert. There are none of your cities or people on the far side of it. In all but one place, the sand runs right up to the ocean; there is no reason for your people to cross to it.”

She cleared her throat and shifted to lean back against a large pillow before continuing. “For many generations, the Ke’han rarely came this far west and your people rarely went beyond where the grass gives way to sand.

“Many years before Galdivan’s cursed mother was even born, we began to explore further west. There was a time when food was not as plentiful. Your people and mine stayed well away from each other, as if an invisible line had been drawn in the sand. It was not until Galdivan came along and turned everything into chaos that we began to run into your people. After many encounters where we were mistaken for Kojen, we learned to keep our distance. Many Ke’han camps refuse to go this far west, but there are herbs and medicines that grow only in this area. So some of us still come.”