Elin furrowed her brow and raised her eyes to the ceiling. “But why are we here?”
“Don’t you remember?” Jesse grimaced. “It was so awful, Mom! Why’d you try and swim that river? If Dad hadn’t jumped in to save you, you would’ve been swept all the way to the sea! It was pouring, and freezing, too. Father carried you, so I had to carry all our heavy luggage until we found this place!” The words were still spilling out of his mouth when he heard the door open behind him.
“Jesse, lower your voice. I can hear you even outside.”
Jesse turned to see his father holding a tray laden with wooden dishes. The aroma of freshly baked fahko and warm milk reached Jesse’s nostrils.
“Ialu,” Elin whispered. Ialu nodded, then placed the tray on the floor.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked. Elin just stared at him without answering.
“Can I eat now?” Jesse said, unable to wait any longer. Ialu nodded.
The fahko had been drizzled with honey and soaked in warm milk. Jesse took a bite, and the sweet taste of milk and honey spread through his mouth.
Ialu handed Elin a bowl, and she took it without a word. The two of them began to eat in silence. Jesse was dying to know what they were thinking, but sensing that he shouldn’t say anything, he focused on his breakfast instead.
When they had eaten the last crumb of fahko and drunk the last drop of milk, Ialu stacked the bowls quickly on the tray and slid the door open. Sunlight poured into the room. It was a lovely day.
Elin blinked in the light as though waking from a long dream. Then she stood up suddenly.
“Mom?” Jesse said in surprise.
“Stay here,” she told him absently and followed after Ialu.
“Stay here?” Jesse grumbled to himself. “She’s got to be kidding!” He tiptoed to the door. His parents were on the other side. Their voices were too low for him to hear, but he caught the words “Yojeh” and “Toda” and “Royal Beasts.” They talked tensely for a long time. Then his father said something in a harsh tone, and his mother’s voice broke off. Neither of them spoke after that, and his father’s footsteps receded into the distance.
It was quite some time before he heard his mother move. He scuttled away from the door just as she opened it. He looked up at her, red-faced, ashamed to have been caught eavesdropping, but she didn’t seem to see him.
“Where’s Dad?” he asked. “Did he go to take the dishes?”
His mother blinked, as if his voice had jolted her back to the present. “Yes,” she said. Then she took a breath and shook her head. “He went to the capital to do some shopping.”
Shocked, Jesse frowned. “But we just went to all that trouble to escape from there. Why would he go back? That’s so dangerous! The soldiers are looking for us, aren’t they?”
His mother placed a warning finger to her lips. “It’s all right,” she said quietly. “The soldiers won’t catch him.”
Jesse raised his brows doubtfully. “Why? Because he was a Se Zan?”
His mother’s eyes grew round. “Who told you that?”
Jesse sighed, exasperated. “Mother, I’m eight years old, you know. I’m not a child anymore. Dad told me everything. Everything! Like how he met you. And how some bad guys are trying to make you use the Royal Beasts. And that they tried to catch us so they could make you do what they say.” He wanted to show her he knew everything so that she wouldn’t leave him out of the conversation anymore.
A mixture of emotions crossed her face as she gazed at him. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Finally Jesse couldn’t stand it anymore. He grabbed her hands and swung them back and forth. “Mom, why were you gone so long? Where were you? What were you doing?”
She pushed the door open and leaned against the doorframe. In the garden of the main house, hens bathed in the warm sunlight and scratched lazily at the earth, pecking at the ground. Far in the distance, a lone figure worked the fields.
“I was visiting different Toda villages,” Elin said. She pulled Jesse to her and ruffled his hair. “I’m sorry I was gone so long. I know you must’ve missed me. The Aluhan commanded me to go. I couldn’t tell anyone because my work involved the Toda.”
“The Toda? Can you heal sick Toda, too?”
“If it’s not serious, yes, I can.” She paused, then added, “My mother was a Toda doctor.”
“She was?” Jesse gaped at her.
Gazing down at her son, Elin felt a pang in her heart. She and Ialu had hidden their pasts from Jesse all these years, telling him nothing about themselves. She was wondering where to begin when the door of the main house slid open. The farmer’s wife stepped out, bearing a bamboo basket. It was packed so full of potatoes that Elin was sure they would start rolling off the top. At that moment, a chicken darted past, squawking loudly as it ran between the woman’s feet. Startled, she lost her balance, and the basket tilted. She gave a little shriek as the potatoes rolled and bounded every which way. Before Elin could move, however, Jesse had run to her side and begun picking them up, using the hem of his shirt to hold them.
“Why thank you, dear,” the woman said. Jesse dumped the potatoes he’d collected into the basket, and Elin hurried over to help.
“Are you feeling better?” the woman asked, peering into her face.
Elin bowed. “Yes. Thank you so much for all your kindness.”
The woman shook her head. “Not at all. We didn’t do anything. My, but you gave us such a fright! You looked so pale and weak. We worried about you all night.”
“I’m so sorry to have troubled you. Would you mind if we waited here until my husband comes back?”
“No, of course not. Please stay. Your husband kindly gave us a small gold piece before he went off. He said he’d be back by evening.” She glanced at Jesse, who came running up with a potato retrieved from some distance away. He looked in high spirits. “Thank you, boy. Guess I’d better get on with this now.”
As she started to walk away, Elin called out, “Are you going to peel them?”
The woman nodded. “That’s right. See that little pool by the spring? I’m going to peel them over there.”
“Then let me give you a hand. And I’m sure my son can at least help wash them.”
“Are you sure? That would be a real help.”
The spring water was cold, and the surface of the pool was littered with green leaves torn off in the storm. While Jesse scooped them out, Elin began helping with the potatoes. The woman washed them deftly, chattering all the while about how she was going to boil and mash them to make potato dumplings that she would sell in the city. Elin listened with one ear, making appropriate responses here and there, but her thoughts were focused on her conversation with Ialu.
After they had brought each other up to date, she had told him what she planned to do. All expression had vanished from his face. He didn’t move a muscle, even when she explained her promise to Seimiya. She had guessed how he’d react if she told him that she was going to the Afon Noah. That was why she’d decided not to wait for them at the house in the capital.
“Are you planning to leave Jesse motherless?” he said. His voice was calm, but she could tell he was furious without even looking at his eyes. “What do you really care about?” he asked. Then he had turned his back on her.
She grimaced. He knows full well what I really care about. But he just couldn’t accept her decision.
Jesse had climbed into the pool of water, tucking the hem of his long shirt into his sash at the front and back to keep it dry. Elin looked at his slender limbs. He was still so young. She couldn’t take him with her into the mountains. Even in spring, it would be a rough journey, and she might be traveling where there was no trail. As Ialu feared, there was a good chance she might not come back alive. But if she was going to go to the Afon Noah, if she was ever going to find the Valley of the Kalenta Loh, now was her only chance.
As things stand, Ialu, these fetters that bind me will trap you and Jesse both, for life.
I can’t do that to Jesse. Even if I die on the way, at least you and Jesse will be freed.
She bit her lip. If she was going to go, she had to go now. Ialu wouldn’t be back until evening. It was time.
She breathed shallowly, watching Jesse. He was so engrossed in gathering leaves that he’d forgotten about washing potatoes. She tried to stand, but her legs refused to budge. She felt again the warmth of Jesse’s arms around her neck and his cheek pressed against her face. How would he feel when he realized that she’d left him?
She stared at her hands, unable to move.
* * *
At sunset, Ialu still hadn’t returned. Elin smiled reassuringly at her anxious son and told him his father would be fine. But when he failed to show up by the time they went back to the shed after supper, she worried something had happened.
It was close to midnight when she finally heard the clip-clop of hooves and the creak of wagon wheels. She slid gently out from under the blanket so as not to wake Jesse and opened the door. The moon had set, and the sky was lit only by the stars. A lantern hung from the roof of a large covered wagon, and in its light, she saw Ialu climb down from the driver’s seat.
The night wind was chilly, making the heat of the day seem like a dream. Pulling her collar close, Elin walked over to Ialu, who was tying the reins to a large tree. He raised his head when she reached his side. “It’s a big wagon, but Yantoku wouldn’t hear of me refusing. He sold it to me for half its value, saying it was his gift to us.”
“How is he?” asked Elin, recalling the kind face of Ialu’s childhood foster brother and fellow carpenter.
“Good. They have a child now.” He went behind the wagon and pulled out a fodder pouch. Seeing this, Elin went over to the pool by the spring, filled a large bucket with water, and brought it to the horse. Judging by its muscled body, it had probably been a workhorse. It seemed sturdy and good-tempered. When she placed the bucket beside it, it snorted and slurped the water thirstily. Once the horse was done, Ialu placed the fodder bag over its neck.
Something about his movements made Elin pause and look at him closely. The horse shifted slightly, exposing Ialu’s face to the lantern light. “Ialu!” she exclaimed. She placed a hand on his forehead. It was beaded with sweat and burning hot.
“The fever’s not that bad,” he said, shaking his head listlessly.
“Because you jumped into the river—”
He shook his head again. With a grimace, he loosened his sash and exposed his midriff. “It would help if there was some clean water to wash this with,” he said.
Looking at his skin, Elin gasped. A dark red line circled his abdomen, as though something had dug into his flesh. The bruising spread all the way up to his ribcage.
“It looks like it was made by a rope,” Elin breathed. With a shock, she realized what must have caused it.
“Come into the light,” she said, pulling him toward the lantern. She probed the wound, and he winced when she pressed her palm against his ribs. Frowning, she chewed her lip. The wound was already festering in places, and his ribs might be cracked. “Did you buy some medicine?” she asked.
“It’s in the back.”
Elin climbed up into the wagon. Opening a wooden box filled with medicine, she scanned the labels and picked out some ointment and cloths. She handed these to Ialu and jumped down. “There’s a well behind the shed,” she told him. “Sit here while I go and get some water.”
With a nod, Ialu rolled up his sweat-drenched top and threw it into the wagon. When Elin returned, he was sitting on the ground with his back against a wheel. Elin took down the lantern and placed it nearby. Kneeling down beside him, she soaked the cloth in water and gently washed the wound.
In one spot, the weave of the rope stood out starkly on his flesh. Tears filled her eyes, blinding her. She brushed them away with the back of her hand, but still they fell as she washed his wound.
“I was thinking the whole time,” Ialu said hoarsely. “Trying to see if there wasn’t some way the three of us could live together in peace.”
His voice was the only sound in the blackness of the damp night. “I was thinking that when we met up, the three of us could escape somewhere far away. I thought we might make it if we could disappear into a town where no one knows us.”
His voice faded, and a hush fell over Elin’s skin. After some time, Ialu spoke again. “Elin, today the palace issued a proclamation to the rulers of every domain in this kingdom.” His voice was barely a whisper. “It called on them to find us; to take us into custody and bring us to the palace. Whoever succeeds will be generously rewarded. But any domain that fails to notice us hiding there will be held responsible and punished severely.”
Elin listened with her head bowed.
The net that surrounded them was closing in. No matter where they fled, no matter where they might try to hide, the relentless gaze of the people would seek them out. She put a hand to her face and closed her eyes. They could never escape, not unless she gouged out these green eyes of hers.
“I thought of living deep in the mountains where no one comes,” Ialu murmured. “I thought maybe the three of us could stay hidden in some remote mountain stronghold.”
If it were just the two of them, maybe they could have, Elin thought. But she couldn’t subject Jesse to such loneliness. Slowly, she shook her head.
Ialu sighed. “Yes, you’re right. We can’t do that. It would be too hard on Jesse. And too dangerous. We’re being hunted by the Lahza as well. If they attacked us in the mountains, no one could help us.”
Somewhere in the distance Elin heard the call of a bird, thin and shrill. Then it died away. Feeling Ialu’s hand on her arm, she looked up. His calm eyes held her own. “Do you think by going to the Afon Noah you can change this?”
Trembling, Elin drew a breath. “I don’t know. Even if I find the Valley of the Kalenta Loh, who knows if they’ve followed the same lifestyle for centuries or kept the old records? And even if they have, there’s no guarantee I can find anything that will convince the Yojeh and the Aluhan to give up their plan.”
She closed her eyes tightly. “It’s just that it seemed the only way left. The only way I could free us from this hopeless situation. And the only way I could…”
She swallowed the words, unable to continue, but Ialu murmured, “The only way you could avoid using the Royal Beasts as weapons?”
She nodded. Tears welled behind her closed lids and slid down her cheeks. For a long time, neither of them said anything. In the quiet darkness, Elin felt reality sink slowly to the bottom of her chest, like dust settling to the ground after being stirred up into the air. She had tried to race forward, shutting her eyes to all the impossibilities. Having lost her momentum, she now saw clearly that it was an impossible dream.
“You can’t go to the Afon Noah alone. You know that,” Ialu said quietly. “There are checkpoints set up along all the main roads. And who knows what traps have been laid by those who work for the Lahza. They were able to find our house and attack me. If they’ve infiltrated our troops, some of their agents might be posing as soldiers.”
Elin nodded. A shudder ran through her as she recalled how they had abducted the Toda Steward without anyone suspecting. The net laid by the Aluhan was in plain view. But she had no way of knowing the extent, or even the nature, of the one laid by the Lahza.
“I could go with you, but we can’t take Jesse. We would have to leave him with Miss Esalu. Shall we do that?”
Elin raised her face, then shook her head. “No. I can’t.” A quietness filled her breast. The shining white path that had stretched into the distance vanished. In its stead, she saw before her, clear and distinct, the dirt-colored road that she had to take.
“I guess this is as far as it goes,” she said. The figure of a Royal Beast soaring in the heavens flashed through her mind and was gone.
“Yes. This is as far as we can go,” Ialu said. He moved his hand from her arm to her head and pulled her toward h
im. Elin pressed her cheek against his chest. His voice came to her, muffled by his body. “In my life, I’m so grateful for these last ten years.”
Tears flowed from Elin’s eyes. She couldn’t speak.
These last ten years. Yes, how glad she was to have had them. Somewhere inside she’d always known that it couldn’t last, yet still she’d been happy.
And now those days had come to an end. A new life would begin. Listening to the beating of Ialu’s heart, she closed her eyes. Gradually, something filled her, like the tide flooding in. She must do what she had vowed never to do. This was the path that lay before her. But she would have had to confront it sometime anyway.
Behind her closed lids, she saw snow-tipped peaks. Whatever had happened beyond those mountains long ago had changed the lives of every generation—the lives of her and her mother, of Seimiya and Yohalu. The catastrophe that had started all this—what had it really been? What would happen when Royal Beasts covered the skies and swooped down upon the Toda hordes?
Concealed by her mother’s people and the Yojeh’s ancestors, the answer now lay buried beneath the sands of time. If she couldn’t ask the Kalenta Loh to tell her what that was, then she had only one choice.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. I must find the truth for myself. She must unravel the secrets of the Royal Beasts and the Toda with her own hands, using everything she had learned so far.
In the depths of her nostrils, Elin smelled once again the Kiba she had dissected in that cold, clammy cave; saw the fallopian tubes, deformed by the tokujisui, and the unfertilized eggs that had taken the life of their mother without bringing forth new life.
At the end of this search, maybe all she would find would be the cruelty of the human herd. But if she never found out and simply let the flow sweep her along, when the battle raged, she and her family would die just like those Kiba with the mistakes of the past buried inside them. Many people—and many beasts—would die, without ever knowing the reason.
She couldn’t let that happen.
The Beast Warrior Page 24
