by Ann Raina
“Older.” She wanted to lie, but could not. Ranien’s eyes told her he would smell a lie miles against the wind. “He lives in the depth of Emerald Green.”
“Hmm.” Ranien’s face contorted as if he had tasted something sour. He licked his lips and worked the rake from one hand to the other before asking, “Do you know how long he has lived there?”
“No. It could be many moon phases. I can’t tell.”
“Was he satisfied with his life?”
“I think so. We stayed only for a short while with him, so I cannot tell for sure.”
Ranien took a deep breath.
“I once had a brother. He went into Emerald Green and never returned.” He waited for her to reply, but Rayenne kept her lips sealed. “He left us because the corporations would not listen to him. He said there were intelligent life forms in the woods, but no one wanted to believe him.” He shook his head, sighing. “My mother said he got lost. She mourned him for a long time.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“That man looks like me, you say.” Ranien looked over Rayenne’s shoulder into a distance only he could see. “When he started wandering the woods, we all thought he would go mad like so many others. Those who returned were sick and suffered from nightmares. They talked about strange things and we all knew that once that virus infected a man he could not be saved. But Thannis came and went and we never had the feeling that he acted differently.” He smiled sadly. “If you don’t count his obsession with the creatures roaming the woods.”
Rayenne smiled, her heart hammering against her ribs. All of her training about how to deal with suspects or witnesses had not given her advice on how to get information on friendly terms.
“Was there a strong resemblance?” Ranien took up again.
“Yes.” Rayenne saw the pain in Ranien’s eyes and felt sorry to have bothered him. “I thought he might be your brother or uncle.” She smiled an apology and went back toward the paddock to stroke the B-horses.
When she turned, Ranien had abandoned his barrow to follow her.
“Did he look happy where he was?”
Rayenne thought that was an unfair question. No matter her answer, Ranien would be disappointed. She exhaled, gnawing on her lower lip. Bunty blew air against her chest, his way of asking her to go on stroking. She rested her hand on his neck.
“This man, Thannis, was a kind of wise man. He was…healthy and he seemed to like where he lived. I can’t tell you more as my time with him was short.”
“Are the Horlyns bad beasts? Do they truly kill men like many say?”
“I have not seen one attacking a man, but they are fearful to look at. And they are dangerous, no doubt.”
Ranien tilted his head, squinting at Rayenne while his lips curled to a knowing smile.
“You’re telling me that the Horlyns would not kill the men who venture into their woods? Is that right?”
Rayenne felt the urge to lie, but could not.
“That’s right, yes.”
“So, then let me rephrase it. Where did all those people go, who did not return from their travels?”
“There are other dangerous beasts in the woods. It’s not by the Horlyns alone that a man might get killed.”
Ranien grunted something Ray did not understand. “You do not want to tell me more, is that right?”
Again, Rayenne wanted to twist her tongue not to spill out what she knew. Yet the man’s behavior was that of an eager, interested child. His eyes were innocent. She considered it a shame to lie to him.
“Ranien, please, I don’t want to bother you with things you…maybe don’t want to know.”
He laughed a little, rolling his eyes, before he got serious again.
“I’ve never met anyone who has crossed Emerald Green and survived without losing his wits. Well, that is, besides me and my brother. Maybe there are some others I do not know of. However, my brother was a man of great wisdom and strength. When he went away—and I say that he went away as he did not just go poof into thin air—I had already left our home town. He had been obsessed with saving the woods and whatever lived there. He even continued his crusade when our parents were sick of it. I had the choice to leave, they did not. But Thannis would never have been happy again if he had just quit fighting.” He stared at her pleadingly. “So if you know something, just some news about him, I would be glad to hear it.”
“By all means. Ranien, how did you come here, on this estate, to Sananda Wang?” she blurted out. “I would never have expected to meet someone like you here!”
Ranien’s eyes widened and he stepped back as if a furious wind had caught him. He even flailed his arms. Rayenne laughed—she couldn’t help it. He looked too funny as he mimicked fighting a strong storm to get back to her. When her laughter dropped to a chortle, she repeated her question.
Ranien cocked his head and ran a hand through his hair, searching for words. When he spoke, his voice was soft, almost reluctant.
“We all go down some strange paths in our lives, don’t we? Just look at you.” He did not wait for her reply, but continued after a moment of reflection. “Back then—I cannot truly recall when—I left my family to find some adventure. Don’t laugh, I mean it. After all, Thannis had no intention of staying home, either, right? Well, I thought, I should be away from the rural landscape, from the small huts, the childish problems of day-to-day life. And more than anything, from a brother who urged me to share his crusade. I wanted to see something different, try what life had in store for me. Everything seemed better than the never ending conversations about sowing, harvesting, lumbering, and the complaints by my brother that the lumbering had to stop or we would all die.”
“He really said you would all die?”
“He was convinced that the beasts in the forests would attack if the exploitation did not stop, yes.” Ranien nodded emphatically and opened his waterskin once more. “Do you want some? It’s a hot day.”
“No, thanks. Please, go on.”
“Thannis was convinced of every word he said. That’s why he ran everywhere and tried to talk to politicians and corporation owners. When everything he did resulted in nothing, he vanished.” Ranien’s expression changed to pain about a great loss. “I expected him to come back, so I spent no time thinking about him or searching for him. I wanted to live my own life. Only later did I hear that he had not returned. Then there were more reports about missing people. It was rumored that the woods had a bad spirit and would swallow people.” He shrugged, trying to cheer up. “Maybe my brother had spread those rumors. Maybe it was his weapon against the lumberjacks. I cannot tell. I just know that the corporations had a hard time hiring lumberjacks in those days.”
Rayenne waited and stroked the B-horses at her side.
He took a deep breath and smiled at her.
“That does not clear up how I got here, right? Well, the big city and I, we did not get along. I had hoped to find luck—instead, I ended up on the street, bereft of my great dreams. I was just a small sapling, trying to find light among tall trees. I don’t know how I got into a bar somewhere in the lower districts of Belson Park. I drank, talked, and suddenly there were two gentlemen inviting me to a ride. I had nothing better to do so I agreed.”
“You went with some strangers? Ranien, you’re much bolder than I thought.”
He smiled broadly about the compliment.
“I met the lady and she asked me if I was free to work for her. The garden, she said, is vast, but there is nothing in it.” He looked around, proud like a father regarding his children. “I was dumbfounded for a moment. I knew so much about plants, their growth and what they needed, and out of nowhere she offered to fulfill my greatest wish.” He sighed deeply. “The lady has given me much more.”
Rayenne read more behind the smiling, happy façade and opened her palms to him.
“I suppose she did not only offer you wheelbarrows and rakes and seeds to plant that garden.”
“Ah, Ray, this
woman has a very special way with men.” He wiped his face and ended with another, helpless laugh. “She took me in—in the true sense of the meaning. She made sure that I did not miss anything. And then she said that she wanted to learn everything I knew about the wonders of the forest, plants, and animals.” He smiled as if looking back into a dream. “And she taught me much, very sensitive knowledge.” He cleared his throat while Rayenne tried to keep a pokerface. “She was eager to gain knowledge. You cannot imagine how quickly she understood connections. I had spent half my life in the woods and my parents knew a lot about herbs, roots, pistils, about animals and their dependence on each other. So I shared my wisdom with the lady and received a life I had only dreamed of.” He tried to hide the shadow of sadness, but Ray had already seen it. “Of all the things I had learned, she was interested most in the various potions. Early on the settlers had started to test what the woods gave them.” He wiggled his hand. “With more or less success. I remember my father puking his life out after he tried some Balvani-roots. We cooked them afterwards for two days, then they could be eaten.”
“So you taught Sananda about herbs and how to use them.”
“And much more,” he added, sunken in the memory. “She was such a good student. Very giving.”
Rayenne felt the hair on her neck stand on end. The dreamlike expression hinted at more than lessons in the garden. What had you expected, stupid girl? A game of cards? In her mind she saw them making love amid a bed of flowers with Sananda asking questions about how to kill effectively and Ranien answering with a sermon about the beauty of nature and the art of brewing tea with herbs.
“So you enjoyed her…affection.”
“Oh, yes. I enjoyed every hour of our meetings. And her affection, if you want to call it that.” He woke from his reverie and took a deep breath. “See, I’m still here. The gardener.”
“And keeper of lore. Do you still meet with her?”
“Sometimes. She comes out here, sits here with friends, talks.” He used the rake to sweep some leaves that had dared to venture between a group of blue flowers. “And she always praises me for my good work.” He hesitated, the rake in both hands. When he looked up, there was urgency in his eyes. “Could you find that place again where Thannis lives?”
“No, I don’t think so.” She watched Ranien’s face fall and took the chance that beckoned. “But Sajitar, the man I came with, he knows the ways through the woods. I’m sure he would find the village once more.”
“Village? There is a village?”
Rayenne clenched her teeth, angry about her stupidity. She had not wanted to tell about settlers living with the Horlyns.
“Only a few people. Thannis is one of them.”
“So Sajitar is able to orient within Emerald Green and you are not.” Ranien put his tongue in his cheek, frowning. “Sajitar is a troublemaker. He came and he went and left the rest in misery, not caring what happened to them.” He looked at her as if to search her heart and soul. “Please, do not tell me that you trust him.”
“He told me he wanted to leave and that Sananda would not let him go.” That, she admitted, cut the truth thin, but she would not tell Ranien about the crimes Sananda had committed. “That’s why he left secretly.”
Ranien still shook his head.
“He left her devastated. She undertook much to get him back, and all of the employees feared her in those days. She was utterly unhappy and spread it on everyone like bad fungus.”
Ray did not dare doubt Sananda’s behavior aloud. It was impossible to imagine how that cold and calculating woman would be mad with sadness about one lover gone away. To Ray, Sananda had only been furious about Sajitar because he had dared to bluntly show her that she could not own everyone. Sadly, Rayenne had felt her fury like others before her.
“Now he’s back,” was all Rayenne said.
Ranien grimaced. “Yes, so I heard. He was brought in and everyone whispered about the lady’s special lover.” He paused, thinking. After a while, he looked up again. “Are you a friend of him?”
“Yes.”
“Did he treat you better than he did the lady?”
“Yes.”
“That implies that you know how he treated the lady, and I truly doubt he shared that with you.” He smirked, but when Rayenne did not comment, he fell silent, watching a flock of birds circle over a bed before they settled down to feed on the corn Ranien had distributed. “He was taken to the western wing. It is not one of the best rooms she has to offer, but he will truly understand he has fallen from grace, at least for a short while.” His glance was mocking. “He could have stayed. He had everything. He would surely be at her side right now if he had not deserted her.”
Rayenne pondered whether Ranien was jealous or just angry for the sake of Sananda’s happiness.
“I don’t think that he wants his old place back. He’s a prisoner now, Ranien, and he wants nothing more than to get away.”
“Again.” His dark eyes held a sparkle she did not understand. “She wants him, he does not want her. Where does that leave them?”
“Love allows making choices, not prisoners.”
Ranien took a deep breath as if slapped. He flinched and Ray feared she had unintentionally gotten too close to the truth.
“If you want to get away,” he continued quietly, “you have to look the other way.”
“What does that mean?”
“You do not know where you are, though you thought to know the landscape. Is that correct?”
She nodded.
“So you have to change the angle of your perspective or you will not find a way out.”
“There is a possibility to find a way back to Belson Park? Don’t you have to go underground or some other secret way?”
Ranien gazed across a large flower bed with two identically cut bushes in its center. Behind it, two men of Sananda’s guard patrolled. After a while, Ranien concentrated on Ray again.
“I planted trees around. Some have yellow leaves on one side and dark orange ones on the other. Why is that so? And the Ulani-bushes grow more than ten feet in some places, but hardly three in others. Why is that so?”
“You say I shall search for anomalies?” He but looked at her. Ray was frustrated. “Come on, Ranien, give me more than just some hints. I’m not good at riddles.”
“You better get around the place or you will not find a way out of here or there.”
With that statement, Ranien took his rake and went back to push the wheelbarrow in the opposite direction. The guards followed him with his eyes, but left him alone.
By taking care of the B-horses every day, Rayenne searched for chances to meet with Ranien again. He was always outdoors, planting, cutting, raking. She heard him talk to the grass and thought him a poor soul, but he looked happy, content with his life. Every waking moment Rayenne thought of Sajitar, her father, and her brother, and her happiness was reduced to nil.
Ranien recognized her and when they were alone in the garden, he pushed his wheelbarrow close to where she stood. “Still here?”
“It’s the wrong question, Ranien,” she replied sadly. “I need to find a way to free Sajitar first before I even think about leaving.”
Ranien flinched, drank from his waterskin and turned to where the guards were on patrol.
“Did you get in trouble because of our conversation?” she asked.
“They asked me questions, yes.”
“And what did you tell them?” She was alarmed. She hadn’t wished Ranien to get into trouble, nor did she want Sananda to become aware of their conversation.
“I bugged you with my immeasurable knowledge of the garden. Is that not true?”
His mischievous grin eased her mind immensely. So there was more to him than met the eye. She let out her breath.
“Did you expect me to tell the whole truth?” He was astonished. “I would never. They are like grass. They grow, they gain color, but they never shine. They are never pretty. And they are only u
seful as fodder.” He shrugged. “These men just do their duty without thinking. Sometimes dangerous duty, but mostly dull.”
Rayenne looked out for the guards and suddenly realized that they wore the same kind of uniform Saji had described in one of his visions. So he was right that Sananda’s men fought the Horlyns to find Larolydis.
“Will you help me free Sajitar?”
The blunt question clearly stunned him. He opened his mouth to reply but just shook his head. A guttural sound escaped him which could not be interpreted as agreement.
“Ranien, I need your help,” she pleaded. “You have been around here, everywhere. You said so. And I want to help Sajitar.”
“Now, I do not.” He regained his composure. “You ask too much. I am not made for adventures. I found that out long ago. I like to live the way I do. There is nothing I desire. So, no, I cannot help you.”
“Listen, Ranien, I did not deliver Sajitar out of free will or for money to Sananda. She kidnapped my father and brother somewhere in Belson Park. She sent me a video of my brother tied up like a criminal. She had him whipped and what else I cannot tell. Her message was very clear. She would only let them go if I brought her Saji. I did.” She took a deep breath. “But I still don’t have any sign from them. And I won’t get it if I can’t get out. They might still be in danger. And Sajitar is in danger if he stays here. I can’t leave and I can’t stay. So I need your help.”
Ranien had half-turned when she asked, “Would you like to see your brother again?”
He grimaced, lowering his head. She felt him torn in half and hated herself for being cruel to a man who had gained happiness in his life.
His shoulders sagged. “You want to kill me, Ray.”
“No, I want you to aid me so Sajitar can aid you. It’s a deal that will make both sides happy. And besides, there’s so much more to see in the woods than here. Imagine many of the plants you see here, growing much bigger in the woods. And there’s a much greater variety. You have seen it before. How can you be content with a garden if there are forests out there to explore? You can reunite with your brother and stay amid the largest of all woods on Belthraine. Isn’t that tempting?”
