Lunamae

by April Sadowski

  “Well I didn’t think so,” Lunamae said soundly, obviously not realizing the boy had almost called her mother the name for a female dog. We walked back to our house silently, but not before Lunamae asked to visit Marcus again tomorrow. I didn’t have much of a choice but to say yes. I had to watch her and if I denied her request I would have to hear her whine for the rest of the day which was not something enjoyable. She practically skipped the rest of the way home.

  The next day we did the same routine—going to the cook house to request a meal and then working on the tapestry while we waited for it to finish. There were other ladies in the sewing room so we didn’t openly discuss what we were doing and had done the day before. I figured I could tell my mother at night when we were all home.

  “That Gaius character,” one of the ladies, Brynna, started. “Do you think he has a wife back in Kyrie?” Brynna was about the same age as my brother Logan and she had always been a helpless romantic. Unfortunately she was a little pudgier than others so I don’t know how well she would do at attracting a man, but she did have a pretty face that compensated for it.

  “I would hope not,” another called Morwenna said. “Poor thing.”

  “Rather handsome man like that—would be such a waste to let him die here,” a woman near Lunamae said. It looked like that was Tegan. She was a conceited sort. I saw Lunamae’s face turn a lighter shade of pale.

  “Who said anything about dying?” I said (loudly too, I might add). “No one is dying.”

  “No one survives long in the dungeons either. Dear,” Tegan said, overly sweetly.

  “That’s what you think,” I said defiantly.

  “That is what I know,” she retorted. I got up, furious, and stomped out of the room, Lunamae following. She roughly shut the door behind her.

  “They won’t really die, will they?” the girl asked me, worry conquering an otherwise complacent face.

  “Not if we see to their survival,” I said with a sigh. “It isn’t as though we can tell the maidens that.”

  “I don’t like Tegan,” Lunamae said coldly. “I wish my mother would get rid of her.” She followed me to the cook house and we gathered the food and started our way back to the keep.

  “I need to go ask one of the servants for a large amount of hot water. If you could follow me until I find one …,” I said, my words trailing off as I noticed Lunamae was as well. “Where are you going?”

  “I figured that they might like something nice to drink too. I was looking for lemongrass to add flavoring to their water,” Lunamae said, looking around the sides of the keep. The plant was used mainly in decoration around the village.

  “You’ve kept the knowledge from your years of following Talfrin around,” I said proudly. “Good job.”

  “Yes, yes. Can you hold my plate while I gather some?” she asked me, although not waiting for an answer because she loaded hers on top of mine before I could speak. “Thanks.” When she had a few strands in hand she took her plate back and we went in the keep. Luckily there was a servant there dusting so while they went to get hot water we went back down to the dungeons. When we arrived, we told the guards of our business and saw to the prisoners. As before, Marcus was served most of the food.

  “So is your father important?” Lunamae asked him while his mouth was full. He didn’t really seem to notice that he was still eating and replied,

  “All the Dominars are important.”

  “Why did you come here then? Shouldn’t you be at home?” she questioned.

  “Because, my dear girl,” Gaius interjected while Marcus ate more. “He would like to become an ambassador rather than a Dominar like his father. He would like to use his status as an enabler to be more at the same level with those he is initiating profitable conversation with.”

  “Oh,” Lunamae mumbled. The servants came down with the hot water and I told Lunamae that it would be best if we departed for decency. She nodded and handed over the lemongrass to Gaius who took it with appreciation. Apparently they have lemongrass in Kyrie because he knew what it was.

  We decided to continue our work on the tapestry instead of going back to the house, so once emerging from the depths of the keep we turned and made our way up the tower staircase. When we arrived in the sewing room, Lunamae changed her mind.

  “I want to do something more exciting,” she said.

  “Like what?” I asked curiously.

  “Oh I don’t know. Perhaps we could see what Logan is doing or check up on Talfrin’s progress in labeling bottles,” Lunamae answered. Talfrin had gone through his inventory of dried herbs and was working on the sorting and labeling of them for sale.

  “You think labeling bottles is exciting?” I laughed.

  “Well no, but I don’t want to weave anymore today,” she mumbled.

  “When I was your age I didn’t want to either. You will need to be skilled in it eventually. I suppose if you try at least a few days a week you’ll be fine,” I said, relenting. Lunamae smiled in satisfaction.

  “So does that mean we can do something else?” she asked.

  “When is the last time we went riding?” I inquired. She shook her head and started to run our house to get changed. I followed her yelling,

  “Running is not ladylike!”

  We got dressed in our riding gear. We both were wearing trousers, blouses, and riding hats. With the length of our hair it would be too long to wear down so we pulled it up into our hats. It also helped keep down matted or tangled hair. We went to the stables. My father wasn’t there but I noticed him across from us in the ironsmith’s shop making a few new tools.

  “What are you two up to?” he shouted from the forge. We walked over to where he was and watched as he worked the billows and took some metal out of the forge with tongs and then slammed it on the anvil and started tooling. It made more sense to walk over than to shout back.

  “We are going out for a ride,” I stated. I looked down at myself. “Can’t you tell?”

  “Be safe,” he said, worry was evident in his voice. “How far do you plan on going?”

  “Not far,” I said. “I think it would be a good idea to collect some herbs. We will stay close to the King’s Pass where it is safer.”

  My father nodded, hammering on a piece of metal. “That would be a sound idea. How long are you going to be out?”

  “We want to be back for the midday meal. Lunamae is just getting restless being cooped up in the keep working on that tapestry for Angharad,” I said. We waved goodbye and went back to the stables. I picked a solid brown mare called Leedaheden and Lunamae chose a gentle pony they called Schoeveo who had a beautiful white and brown coat. I had ridden Leedaheden before and she always took my lead well. We urged the horses out of the village grounds and over the Humble Bridge. We made sure the horses were equipped with packs for us to store the herbs before we left. With all our years of learning herb lore from Talfrin we were quite adept at recognizing beneficial plants and so in no time at all we had collected an ample amount of herbs.

  I decided to put some eventually in my herb chest in the house and I thought it would be a good idea for Lunamae to add to hers as well. We had given her the chest last year for a Winter Feast gift.

  We headed off for the midday meal and then after that we decided to get the herbs prepared for proper drying. We had our evening meal and went to bed. I wondered how many more days would be like this. How long could my aunt keep those Kyrians imprisoned?

  Chapter 5

  A Visit to Fanarion

  In the autumn of Lunamae’s thirteenth year, 388 in the New Orindan Calendar, her mother decided that we should all journey to the southern region of Fanarion into the capital city of Midonia and meet the king and queen there before Lunamae was given to another family for raising. I would miss her but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t see her anymore. My aunt was scheming. Lunamae was getting older and was a prime age for engagement. We had always been in good trade relations but nothing solidified an allia
nce like a marriage. Because of the issue with the Wuriven, Angharad did not want to have her daughter marry a neighboring clan unless she absolutely had to.

  My father and mother helped with the preparations. Logan had taken over the duties of the cordwainer as Myrvin had some arthritic issues that couldn’t be eased by Talfrin’s many poultices. It made me proud to see Logan making his way in society. His work was revered and many traders coming into the village bought his work over other clans. It seemed like all the shoes I had seen lately had his seal.

  Another bit of good news was that Logan and the maiden Brynna were courting. She didn’t seem to mind him having one arm and he didn’t seem to mind her having a little extra weight. He would say it was all the more to love. Personally I thought everyone in the village could use a little insulation for the winter coming up. Since our summer was so mild I was worried that we would have a terribly cold one.

  I knew Lunamae was both excited and sad. She had grown quite fond of Marcus who was now fifteen and she wouldn’t be able to have her daily chat with him once we left. I would sit in a corner of the dungeon and listen to them talk to each other like old friends. I could tell that other bonds were forming.

  The Kyrians were in very good health since we had been monitoring them daily but we were worried about leaving them for so long without help. I asked my mother to find one of the maidens that would be trustworthy and sympathetic to make sure their care continued. She suggested Brynna’s family. Brynna had an apartment in the keep but she had a younger sister that was about ten so she visited her often. In addition, they were going to be Lunamae’s new foster family. The chief dame considered Brynna and her family very trustworthy and knew she was capable of finishing up the girl’s learning.

  I still hadn’t found male companionship. Because of the battle, there wasn’t really anyone in the village my own age. I didn’t want an old man and I didn’t want a child. Perhaps this trip to Fanarion would open up courting opportunities for me as well. Being twenty-four I was edging out of the age of proper childbearing.

  “Have you packed everything?” I asked Lunamae who was sitting next to me in the loft. It was early morning on the tenth day of Aust. We decided that this would be the best time to go because we wouldn’t have to worry about storms as much. Logan had made us leather bags for our journey as something we could use to pack extra things that wouldn’t be included in our traveling chests. We were both already dressed and Lunamae decided she wanted to also wear an apron—heaven knows why. I suspect she wanted to engage in needlework while we traveled to make the time pass more quickly but I thought that would be a little dangerous with all the jerking of the horses.

  Lunamae tousled her hair and drew out a strand. “All but my comb,” she replied. “Where is that blasted comb?” She crawled around and I couldn’t help but giggle.

  “You are sitting on it.”

  “Oh,” she said, plucking it from the wooden planks.

  “Would you like me to arrange your hair?” I wondered. While the journey was going to be made with us in a coach, it was so much easier to travel with our hair out of the way. My mother, aunt, Lunamae, and I would be in the coach and Father was going to be steering it. They had planned a course to Bexweth Abbey, Harper Wood, then down south to Moir Awin where my aunt was going to pay her respects to Chieftain Leofric’s family. Then we would head south to Terrinia in Fanarion and then travel through the Oycos forest. We would go west after that and enter the city of Midonia. I expected it to take at least five days so we made sure we had plenty of fresh clothes. I looked back at Lunamae, who was deep in thought. “Lunamae?”

  “I’m thinking about how I’d like it done. Can you do a Felyn plait? I saw your mother a few weeks ago with one and it was lovely. Perhaps one on each side of my head and then connect it at the nape of my neck so it forms into one? Or you could follow it in bands above my forehead. That would be pretty.”

  She handed me her comb. “Very well.” I took the comb in hand and began untangling her hair. My mother didn’t often do her hair in the style of her kin but it was always special when she did.

  “You’ll do mine too?” I asked Lunamae. It was something she enjoyed doing, experimenting with different hairstyles using me as a model.

  “Yes, of course,” she replied as I tugged on a stubborn knot.

  “I think you are due for a haircut. It’s getting unmanageable at this length,” I stated. She just huffed. I knew she preferred her hair as long as possible but she didn’t want to be walking on it. It would be troublesome that way. “Do you mind if I take off a few inches?”

  “I suppose,” she said mournfully. I took out a pair of thread cutters and began working on her hair, making sure not to take off too much.

  “How much longer are you two going to be?” my mother called from below.

  “We are doing our hair!” Lunamae shouted back.

  “We need to get everything situated and meet Angharad at the keep to depart soon. Don’t tarry too long,” my mother said. I watched her through the floorboard cracks; she was carrying out a chest with the help of Logan who had decided to open his shop a little later today—after we had all left. They headed outside to load it up and Lunamae whispered to me.

  “Do you think I should give some to Marcus?” she cooed.

  “Give some of what?” I inquired.

  “My hair, silly,” Lunamae said as I finished trimming and began work on the braids. It was rather simple in design, only three braids that started behind her ear and as I added hair on either side of the braid, they worked their way on the left side of her head to her neck.

  “You do realize that we are going to Fanarion to find you a suitable husband, don’t you?” I asked with a smile. I couldn’t help but grin at Lunamae’s veracity.

  “But I don’t want to marry a stranger. I want to marry someone I love and cherish,” she said. “I like Marcus.”

  “You are being foolish,” I warned, working nimbly on the other side of her head.

  Lunamae sighed with frustration. “Why can’t things be changed? Why does my mother have to follow tradition?”

  “Because alliances and treaties are what keep us alive. It connects us to our neighbors,” I explained, twirling my finger around a lock of hair. I was nearly done with the sides and began to twist them around her head in a band.

  “Kyrie is a neighbor, sort of,” Lunamae said.

  “There are clans nearby that would be more suitable,” I urged. “It would be different if we traded with Kyrie but we don’t. Not since the battle. Now I’m done with your hair, try to finish mine before we go.” We sat in solitude while Lunamae worked on my hair, attending to it gently. When we were all ready to go, we carefully carried our leather bags with us and put them in the sitting area of the coach.

  “Can I go say goodbye to Marcus?” Lunamae asked me. She was of the age where she could be let wander unattended but in the dungeons I didn’t feel it would be a good idea. I nodded to her and motioned her forward so she could lead the way.

  When we entered the cell block Lunamae took out a bit of her hair she had stuffed in an apron pocket. “Marcus?” she whispered. I heard yawning in a corner. The other prisoners were still sleeping.

  “Lunamae, it’s you? I thought I wasn’t going to see you before you left.”

  “I told you I would see you every day I could,” she answered softly. She passed the lock of hair into the cell. Marcus took it gently.

  “Your hair?” he wondered, his voice still in a hushed whisper. It was good he was whispering because over time his voice had deepened quite a bit.

  “Yes, a gift for you. I will instruct the maiden who will be caring for you when I’m gone to give you a piece of paper and some ink and a quill. Write to me how you are every single day and I will read the notes when I get back. Then it will seem as though I haven’t ever left.” I could tell from her voice that Lunamae was beginning to develop tears. She wasn’t the only one.

  “That is ve
ry generous of you,” Marcus said, his voice shaky. “You had better leave before your mother catches you down here. Return to me quickly.” Marcus said but not before he reached out for her hand. He kissed it through the bars and continued to hold it as long as he could before we walked away.

  We headed up the familiar stairs and walked out the main level, making sure we found Brynna first. I did stop for a moment to notice the tapestry on the opposite wall—the one Lunamae had finished for her mother. It wasn’t nearly as large and grand as the one the maidens had crafted, but it was a gift from daughter to mother and it spoke volumes.

  It was hard seeing Lunamae in this state. She was so naïve, thinking that she could marry whoever she wanted. Marcus and she had no future together. For heaven’s sake, he was a prisoner. Chief Dame Angharad would have to first release them and then she would have agree to a joining. That was about as likely as Chieftain Leofric coming back from the grave.

  We walked towards the coach where my mother and aunt sat inside. My father was on one of the horses and a guardsman on the other that led the coach. There was quite an entourage on either side, ahead of, and behind the coach. We were helped in and my aunt asked curiously,

  “What were you doing in the keep?” she demanded. “You were both supposed to be here ten minutes ago.”

  “We wanted to say our farewell to Brynna,” I said, thinking up an excuse. “She is courting my brother, remember? We had grown quite close.” Angharad nodded in acknowledgement and motioned my father to start the journey.

  “So do you anticipate a marriage between the two?” the chief dame asked my mother who was taken off-guard.

  “Why, I had never thought of that,” she revealed. My mother had just celebrated her fortieth birthday not long ago but her face was still smooth. She only had a few wrinkles around her eyes and along the sides of her mouth. She often smiled and laughed with the maidens of the keep while keeping Angharad company.

  Angharad began detailing her plans. “The moment it is mentioned, you must come see me so we can arrange something proper and formal. The monks at Bexweth have been far too quiet. I would like to get a few over to do a blessing on the couple, administer the ceremony, and bless their house. They should have a house, now that I think of it. I should have the master builder start on one. Of course I couldn’t tell them that. I would keep it a secret.” I listened for a time as they both talked amongst themselves but the sound of the horses couldn’t keep me awake for long. Before I knew it I had drifted off to sleep and Lunamae with me.