by Dana Davis
The Zark middling steered her into a hut. The air inside was surprisingly cooler than the oppressive heat outside, and the place smelled of wet dirt and herbs. The woman pointed to a small stool. “Sit.”
Wren stood in the doorway and nodded. Then she pointed Henny to the wall and the girl stood silently watching. Adelsik sat while the middling mixed herbs and water into a wooden mug. Camlys adjusted the bow and quiver on her back, took a place next to Henny, and crossed her arms, while Tsianina stood just the other side of the doorway, her face unreadable. Both the Gypsy servant and the island woman were almost as dark as the Zark people, but their builds couldn’t have been more different. Camlys towered over all the Gypsy women here except Wren and her gray eyes stood out against her dark features. Tsianina stood no taller than Adelsik and was thin despite her well developed curves. The Zark woman’s short body looked frail and worn and undernourished.
When Wren joined the stranger, Adelsik studied the hut. It was small and thatched shutters were open to allow the sun inside. Mud sealed the thick wooden beams together, and bunches of dried herbs and flowers hung along the walls near the windows. A woven, straw mat, large enough for two adults, lay on the dirt floor near one wall. Despite the sparse decor, the hut was welcoming, even cozy.
The middling crossed to Adelsik and pushed the wooden mug into her hands. “Drink.”
The mixture smelled awful and Adelsik looked to Wren.
“It’s all right. She’s a healer. The herbs should help your aches.”
The Zark healer crossed her arms and gazed down at Adelsik, who felt like a child on the small stool. “Drink.” One dusty brow went up.
Had she not known better, she would have sworn the woman was a Gypsy. How dare a middling speak to her in that tone. She longed to berate the Zark woman but pushed that thought deep inside. She also wanted to inspect the mug for cleanliness. However, Wren wouldn’t tolerate rudeness, and Adelsik didn’t need a lecture on that matter. The drink tasted worse than it smelled and she forced it downed in four gulps, four too many in her opinion. Her face betrayed her, though.
The healer mimicked her expression then laughed. “Good.” She slapped Adelsik’s arms twice.
The hut rang with laughter from her kin, and in a few heartbeats Adelsik’s head didn’t seem as much a problem as before. Danger still pricked at her senses but she didn’t think it had anything to do with these people, something else she couldn’t explain.
A horn, much like the sound Thad once made with a beach shell, sounded outside and the healer stepped to the doorway. “Eat.” She motioned them outside.
Adelsik wasn’t hungry but she walked toward the wooden tables in the center of the square. Small piles of what looked like dried animal dung burned on clay plates in the center of each table, and the pungent smell made her wrinkle her nose. There was also a slight perfume scent in the air, mixed with something she didn’t recognize. Torches scattered around the perimeter also burned with the scent. The smell was strong but not too offensive, and given long enough, she could probably come to ignore it.
“At least the blood insects are gone.” Henny smirked.
Adelsik realized she hadn’t swatted at the things since they arrived near the huts. “I think whatever is in those keeps the insects away.” She motioned to the torches.
“I wonder if they would trade.” Longing touched Henny’s voice.
Adelsik chuckled as she sat between Tsianina and Henny on the curved bench with Wren and the Zark healer across from them at the round table. The wood was smooth with simple animals carvings along the table’s edge.
She fingered a carved owl. “This is very nice.” And she meant that. The decorative table would fit nicely even in a proper home. Too bad they were out in the open with blood insects waiting for a fresh meal and wolves somewhere beyond the trees. She wondered what comforts Zarenia’s quest would find tonight and she fought a sigh.
The Zark healer smiled but Adelsik didn’t know whether she understood or not. The villagers conversed in their language as most took seats at various tables, all round with curved benches. A few, probably guards, stood closer to the lake and began pacing the village, spears in hand. The Gypsy guards crouched not far from them, quivers and bows still on their backs. None of the Gypsy servants seemed interested in sitting at the tables. Instead, they studied the activities around the Zark settlement.
Middling children sat on the ground beneath trees, while several women served the food on wooden dishes. The cook, Silbie, also delivered plates rather than joining her kin at the table. That disturbed Adelsik. A Gypsy servant was expected to provide for her kin but these were middlings. How Wren and Finlor could allow kin to perform such demeaning tasks baffled Adelsik. She gave Wren a concerned look and started to say something but the returned gaze put an end to any objections.
The meal was plain, consisting of fish, vegetables and some type of flat bread, but Adelsik wasn’t very hungry. She used her rag to wipe sweat away and forced herself to eat one serving of the unsavory food.
The Zark women who had brought the meal cleared the dishes into elaborately woven baskets and trotted to the lake, balancing the baskets on their heads. Even the elderly women did this. Silbie stayed behind and washed tables. The trotting women fascinated Adelsik. She was certain she would never have any talent for such an endeavor. She also would never voluntarily do such mundane chores, no matter how intriguing, unless threatened by one of her kin.
The men were invited to sit inside a circle of large, smooth stones, and the healer beckoned the women to follow her to another stone circle. Wren and Finlor nodded to each other as the groups separated. The twins seemed distraught as to which group to follow but Finlor sent them with the Zark guards.
Once the women arrived at the circle, the healer instructed them to sit. She sat cross-legged on the ground and waited until all had joined her.
Adelsik fought a groan as she felt the dirt beneath her. No matter how many times her kin forced her to sit on the ground or floor, she didn’t think she would ever get used to the behavior. She had been raised by a well-bred family, a middling family of course, but fine things always surrounded her. And a proper woman never sat on anything but a nicely padded chair. Gypsies shouldn’t do this, yet they did, even in the Land of the Goddess.
The Zark healer accepted a mug from a young woman, who couldn’t seem to keep her eyes from Adelsik, and took a sip before she passed it along to her right.
Each drank and soon the mug was in Adelsik’s hands. After a warning look from Wren, she lifted it to her lips and smelled nothing. Water. Cool water. Just like they had at the meal. The thought of putting her lips where others had been disgusted her. She drank a tiniest amount she could possible take and still call it a sip then passed the mug to Henny.
When the mug was back in the Zark healer’s grip, she held it above her head. “Sisters.” She seemed determined to speak so her guests would understand, even though her accent forced Adelsik to strain to make out what she said.
The village women repeated the word with enthusiasm. Have we just been accepted into Zark society? Despite the welcome, she couldn’t help but squirm at the feeling of danger. Her eyes followed Henny’s gaze. A few of the women who served the food and cleared the dishes had returned, but they didn’t enter the circle. They stood just outside the stones and varied in ages from the very old to those barely out of childhood. Servants perhaps, though Adelsik couldn’t distinguish them from the rest of the Zark.
Silbie stood alongside them and Adelsik gave Wren another concerned look. She didn’t like seeing the woman treated in this manner. But Wren narrowed her eyes and shook her head. The message to leave things alone was clear and Adelsik glanced at Silbie once more. The servant didn’t seem upset in the least, so she relaxed, somewhat anyway.
Her head snapped back to the healer when the woman howled. The other Zark women did the same and the healer motioned to Wren. The Gypsy threw that white head back and howled, looped bra
ids swinging. Quite naturally, in Adelsik’s opinion. She hesitated a heartbeat before she imitated her kin, at Wren’s insistence. These middlings were insufferable! Sitting on dirt. Howling like wild animals. A similar commotion came from the men’s group and the Zark women laughed.
“Brothers!” the healer called as she lifted her mug in a toast to the men.
“Sisters!” came the reply from Bin’zark, the fellow they’d met on the road.
Conversation followed in Zark and Adelsik found it impossible to understand anything. Tsianina had already acquired two friends, young women who accepted her right away, probably because of her dark features. The island woman was always stuffing flowers above her ears and seemed to enjoy sitting on the ground. In fact, it came quite naturally to her.
Some left the circle but Wren and Camlys stayed so Adelsik did too. She sat and watched the strangers and their facial expressions, in an attempt to follow any conversation. That became tiring so she turned her attention to Henny. The two chatted about the weather and lack of insects, anything benign, while Adelsik contemplated the best way to get Wren aside and tell her of the prickling danger. When offered, she took a handful of dark nuts the servants presented. Henny popped one into her mouth and Adelsik waited for her response.
The youngling smiled and her eyes widened as she ate another. “These are delicious. What are they?”
Adelsik put one into her mouth and was about to chew but it melted, leaving a sweet, rich flavor on her tongue. She had never tasted anything like it and immediately ate another. These would be worth trading for. Disappointment filled her when the last of the tasty things were gone.
She leaned close to Wren. “What are those?”
The white-haired Gypsy shrugged. “I haven’t the slightest idea. They are delicious, though.”
“Do you think we can get some before we leave, Cousin?” Henny said.
Wren raised a brow at the youngling. “We have other concerns, girl.” She smiled. “But I’ll see if they’re up to a trade.”
Henny grinned. She seemed back to her old self now that the insects didn’t assault them.
Yelling brought the women’s attention to one of the huts and Adelsik and the others stood. A woman screamed something in Zark and shook a broom at an adolescent boy. A girl, about fifteen or sixteen, stood in the doorway with tears streaming down her cheeks. The Zark healer made her way to them, along with two men, the largest Zark men Adelsik had seen, though they weren’t much taller than she. The middling woman explained something to the onlookers and soon the boy was hauled to the lake and dunked several times.
“What’s going on?” Adelsik said to Wren.
“I’m not certain but I think the boy and girl aren’t married.”
“What does that—“ Adelsik stopped herself almost immediately and nodded her understanding.
The girl and boy hadn’t been in their respective circles. And Adelsik didn’t remember seeing them with the servants. Her eyes drifted to the girl, who now pleaded with the woman. That got her a short lecture then hauled to one of the tables.
Finlor, Tak and the guards made their way to Wren. The Elder had a devious grin on his face. “Seems there’s to be a wedding today.” He eyed the lake. “As soon as he’s recovered.”
The dripping boy stood between two Zark men, looking thoroughly chastised. A woman stepped in front of him and chanted in Zark, then reached up and placed something around his left ear that shimmered in the sunlight. The men walked him to the table where the girl stood. She also had something looped over her right ear now, something gold. As Adelsik got closer, she saw that the gold thing looked much like a bracelet but fit snuggly around the girl’s ear. Many Zark smiled and nodded, as though something pleased them. Village women straightened the girl’s clothing and placed a wreath of fresh, blue flowers on her head.
How did they make that so fast? Adelsik wondered if hasty marriages were common here. Or perhaps this whole demonstration had been planned. The girl and boy didn’t seem shocked in the least by the behavior around them.
Adelsik stood where instructed and watched with interest. The ceremony was abrupt, with a few words from Bin’zark and the healer, followed by words from two women, presumably the mothers of the young bride and groom. The mothers exchanged wooden bowls and hugs. The bride and groom said nothing the entire ceremony but both looked pleased, and the boy seemed to have made a miraculous recovery from the lake dunk. As a response to the healer’s wave, the two were escorted to a small tent set apart from the huts. After the young couple ducked inside, the flaps on the tent were tied shut and a large wreath of blue and red flowers placed on a pole just outside. The Zark inhabitants separated and went about their business.
Henny eyed the tent then the Elder. “That was—what was that?”
Elder Finlor smiled. “That, my girl, was a Zark wedding.”
The Gypsy hunters and guards chuckled and nudged each other.
Henny frowned. “Are they always that abrupt? I mean, there didn’t seem to be any preparation.”
“The Zark are always prepared for a wedding, young one. When relations have begun between two people, haste is preferable among them.”
Henny’s cheeks grew crimson and she gave the Elder a sheepish look. “Oh.”
“Don’t embarrass the child, Finlor,” Wren chided. The two chuckled.
But there was something in both voices that drew Adelsik’s attention. She leaned close. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you notice the smallest child’s tunic?” Wren said. “The embroidery?”
Adelsik shook her head. She’d been watching the ceremony, not the children.
“I saw,” Henny said. “Looks like a map.”
Finlor and Wren both raised brows at the youngling and Adelsik studied her former clan sister. So, Henny had obeyed her and paid attention.
Tsianina stepped close and almost startled Adelsik. The island woman always did that, crept up unheard. She should have been a hunter. “The embroidery is much like those of my root elders. I could find out the meaning, if you like, Cousin.” Her dark eyes focused on Finlor.
“Yes. Find out as much as you can but don’t draw suspicion. The last thing we need is for the Zark to turn. They’re harsh on traitors.”
As if the Elder had called for a lesson, the two men who had dunked the boy now held a Zark man between them, a man in his middle years, even shorter than most, with his round belly propped up by his short breeches. The entire Zark clan followed them around the huts to an area near the garden, and the Gypsy kin trailed after. Adelsik hadn’t noticed before, since they were hidden from the lakeshore, but near a fire pit stood two wooden stocks.
Bin’zark lifted the top half of one of the stocks and the captive’s arms and head were thrust into the curved cutouts. He closed the top, trapping the man’s appendages, and secured the thing with some type of lace. Adelsik didn’t think that could hold anyone and she wondered why Bin’zark hadn’t used a lock. A woman stepped to the captive and yelled at him before she picked up a stick and smacked him square on the forehead. He said nothing as she walked to the vacant stocks, where she voluntarily put her arms and head in place and waited for Bin’zark to tie the lace. He then placed a wreath of yellow flowers on each of the captive’s heads. These wreaths weren’t as delicate as the blue one the girl had worn for her wedding but Adelsik thought them pretty, nonetheless.
The villagers began to laugh and point at the couple in the stocks. A woman brought a pail and poured water on the man’s secured head. He coughed and spat but said nothing. A man did the same to the captive woman. She didn’t look up, just kept her eyes on the ground and let her wet hair fall around her face. That’s when Adelsik got a whiff of the wet wreaths. They smelled like most of the barns she’d been in and she held her nose. Henny made a sound of disgust and clamped her nose shut with her fingers.
Bin’zark stood between the two captives and raised his arms. All became quiet. “Brothers. Sisters,” he said in h
is thick accent, after he stated something in Zark. “This man, Cib’zark, steal from Jon’zark and Rel’zark.” One hand motioned to the nearby couple, who had poured the water to activate the nasty smelling flowers. “He steal.” Bin’zark motioned for a woman to give him something. After a heartbeat, he held up two snap beans and looked toward the Gypsies as though demonstrating for a class, then he gave the beans back to the woman. “Punish now. Until sun go to bed and rise again.” The Zark whooped and clapped sticks together before Bin’zark dismissed them.
“I don’t understand,” Henny said. “If the man stole beans, why is the woman punished?”
A voice from behind said something in Zark.
Adelsik and the others turned to a graying woman with a necklace of dried leaves. She pointed to the woman in the stocks. She repeated her words and clasped her hands together.
“They’re married?” Wren asked. “Husband and wife. She is his wife?”
The woman slapped Wren on her arms a couple of times. “Yes. Wife.” Her smile revealed deep creases around her mouth and several missing teeth. She made her way toward the huts.
Elder Finlor smoothed his chin. “In Zark, it pays well to know what your bedfriend is up to.”
“But that’s not fair,” Henny said in an exasperated tone. “She shouldn’t be punished for what her husband does.”
Wren placed a hand on the youngling’s back. “May not be fair by our beliefs but the Zark don’t seem to have a problem.” She nodded to the stocks.
The woman captive didn’t appear the least upset with anyone except her husband. In fact, several women had gathered around her and seemed to be taking instructions. One of the women nodded, walked to the stocks that held the thief, and poured dirt down his tunic. After he hung his head, she went back to his wife.
Tsianina sniffed and fingered the tops of her ears. “They accept punishment to get forgiveness from their clan. Stealing from your clan brings shame to you and your family. Everyone must ask for forgiveness.”
