by Bridie Blake
She giggled. “Better than a Goddess.”
She frowned at her. What could be better than a Goddess?
“I am the keeper of the one you seek. If I deem you unworthy, you will perish before me.” The girl picked up a twig and smiled. “Will you play with me?”
“Don’t you have to test me?”
The little girl stuck out her bottom lip. “It’s been years since I’ve had someone to play with. No one has made it past the creatures that guard the path up here.”
“You mean the cat and the centaur?”
“You killed the cat.”
Had they expected her to just lie there and allow herself to be eaten by the creature? “It attacked me.”
“The cat lives. It comes back to life each time. Your regret over killing it allowed you to continue,” she explained. “Then you chose not to attack the centaur, even though you’d just been attacked by another creature.”
“The centaur did not threaten me so why would I harm it?”
“He’s handsome isn’t he?” The little girl smiled. “Others attack him because they think that to pass our tests they must defeat everything. That is not our purpose. You did not attack, and you did as he instructed so you continued.”
“What was the fog supposed to do?”
She clapped her hands excitedly. “That one’s my favorite. You are stripped of your sight, your ability to breathe and your magic, if you have it. You’re told that your weapons are not needed. Everyone gives up. The panic sets in, and it takes over. They scream, they curse, they threaten. If they stayed calm and used logic they would see the way out. You ran first, but then your sense kicked in.”
“So because of that I am worthy?”
“One man ran through the fog just as you did, but he drew his sword and charged at my cave.” She pointed to the corner. “His bones lie there.”
“So I’ve passed then?”
She rolled her eyes at Tempani. “No. First we must determine if your heart is just.”
“How?”
“Answer me one question. Are you ruled by your emotions?”
Tempani thought about it. Did she allow her emotions to sway her decisions? She believed so. The weather reacted to her moods. That was a telling sign, wasn’t it? But then again, hadn’t she been learning to control her emotions? Reign them in and listen to her mind more?
If she had allowed herself to be ruled by her emotions wouldn’t she have stayed with Nic in Fenella? She had chosen her duty over her heart. But her duty to unite this kingdom was also something she felt passionate about. That was not all mind. If it didn’t have her heart, she wouldn’t have been able to commit to it.
She frowned at the girl. “Yes, I am ruled by my emotions.”
“I do not believe you. Had you been solely ruled by your emotions, your answer to me would have been immediate with no thought process. I watched you work through the answer. Weigh it up in your mind. You consider things before you act. Not all the time but the ability to do so is there.”
“So that means I’m the next true Shiasa.”
“Not so fast. The question was purely for my amusement,” she giggled. “Remove your shoes and stockings.”
Tempani eyed her warily.
“Hurry up. I don’t have all day.”
She did as she was told and removed her boots and stockings.
The girl pointed to the cliff above them. “Climb that.”
“With no shoes? My feet will bleed.”
She grinned. “That’s the point. Blood will pour from your hands and feet and will mix with the slain blood of your people who were murdered here and the tears from your First Shiasa as she wept for her people. Only then will you be a Kalaowin once more. And only then will you understand the people you wish to lead. You will use no magic. Or weapons. Your triumph must be a result of the strength of your mind and body.”
“How will I know if I’ve triumphed?”
“You’ll know.” She turned towards the bushes and clapped her hands in delight as a wood nymph poked her head through. “Now I have someone to play with.”
Tempani shook her head as she walked away. She wasn’t sure she liked the keeper of the dragon.
—
Back at camp, Rando was worried. He paced back and forth, tossing up whether to go after her or not. It was all well and good for Chae to let her slip off into the night, but it was on Rando’s head if something happened to her. He had fought against some tough opponents, but he would gladly go another round with them than be chewed out by their leader if something happened to her.
“We have to go get her.” He stalked over to where Chae and Madoc were practicing hand to hand combat.
Chae rose from where he had just been dumped by Madoc and wiped the sweat from his brow. “I promised her we’d give her a chance. She needs to do this.”
“And if she gets hurt? Or killed? Then what?”
“We can’t protect her forever. At some point she needs to stand on her own. She has chosen to do it now, and we need to respect that.”
“Chae’s right,” Madoc said as he patted Rando’s shoulder. “She is stronger than we all give her credit for. She is the one leading this cause. We must follow her decisions.”
“My orders are clear,” he said. “I’m going after her.”
“Just give her a few more hours,” said Chae. “If she’s not back, then I’ll go with you.”
Rando stared at him for a moment and then sighed, conceding defeat. Everyone in that family was as stubborn as the next.
—
Tempani winced as she reached above her with her bloodied hand, grappling for a firm hold. Once she had it, she brought her leg up and pulled herself up. Despite the cooler weather up here, she was drenched in sweat. Her clothes clung to her body, her hair wet and heavy against her back. She inched higher and higher, yet the cliff, much like the path earlier, seemed never ending. As soon as she thought she was close to the top, it seemed to grow higher. Perhaps this was the test - keeping her sanity against an impossible task.
Her foot scraped along the next hold, and she bit her lip to stop from screaming out in pain. And then she heard it. A plea for help. And then a blood curdling scream as a life was lost. There were cries. Frantic as they begged. As they prayed to the Goddess to spare their children’s lives. She shuddered and wanted desperately to hide away from the noises. Block them out with her hands but that would mean letting go.
As her blood mixed with the blood that was shed on these cliffs, she heard their final moments. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, and she knew when the first one touched the surface for that’s when she heard the First Shiasa’s reaction. Tempani felt what her ancestor did. Her heart ached so terribly that it felt as though it would burst. She wanted to stop, but she pushed on. Her cries echoing with each inch she moved up the cliff.
This was her test. They were testing her ability to control her emotions. She wondered if she should try to stop her tears and show them how strong and unfeeling she could be. Prove to them that she was worthy to lead the people. But then she remembered Dimpa’s words. She was not to be ruled by her feelings but not be emotionless. She could feel pain but not let herself cower from it.
With this running through her head, she surged up that cliff with a renewed energy. Her tears still fell, her feet and palms still bled, but she was focused - focused on her goal of being the Shiasa.
She reached her hand up and felt a flat surface. She tried not to get her hopes up that she had made it in case this was a trick and there’d be more to climb. She shivered as she gripped the stone above her. With a grunt she swung her leg up and over the ridge, using her arms to bear her weight and with one final effort pulled her other leg up. She rolled onto her stomach and kissed the solid ground beneath her. The tears she cried were no longer ones of anguish but of pure relief. She had made it to the top.
She crawled over to the edge and looked down, but all she saw were clouds. She had climbed so high that
she saw nothing beyond the white mounds. Exhausted, she rested her head on the ground and closed her eyes. What was she supposed to do now? The girl had told her she would know if she succeeded, but she didn’t know what to expect. The Shiasa didn’t wear a crown so it’s not like one would appear magically before her eyes.
I’m better than a crown, a soft voice echoed in her mind. It was female. And she sounded young, yet her voice carried a wisdom that Tempani could not describe.
She opened her eyes and found herself peering into a pair of dull yellow eyes. Panicked she scrambled to her feet and almost screamed at the massive form standing over her. She had never seen a dragon before, but in her opinion this one was the most beautiful dragon to ever exist.
Its scales were blue in some areas and green in others, and they shimmered under the glare of the sun. Its pale yellow eyes were wide and filled with wisdom. Its ears were small and not dissimilar to a cow’s ears. It was smaller than she imagined, but it still stood at least twenty feet tall.
“What’s your name?” Tempani asked.
Aidis.
“So, does this mean I’ve passed the test? Am I the rightful successor to my grandmother?”
In response the dragon dropped down to its knees, allowing her to climb onto her back. She ran her hand over the scales as she climbed aboard, nestling herself behind her neck.
Now we return to your people.
“Wait!” Tempani shouted as the dragon took flight. “Can I check on the girl? Your keeper?”
She felt the dragon’s shrill laugh inside her mind, and she shrank against her neck at the sound of it. It was eerily similar to the girl.
The girl is my essence. She rides with us.
“I hope you’re not as annoying as her.”
She cringed as Aidis laughed again. As a young one, I was that annoying but it was fun, which is why my essence will never age or change.
Tempani shivered as they flew down through the clouds. She laughed to herself as she remembered that as a child she had thought clouds were solid. That if she could she would fly up and sit on them and they would be as soft as a pillow.
She squinted her eyes against the force of the wind as it rushed past them. Her skin pulled tight against her face, and her hair flew behind her as they hurtled down. Riding a dragon had seemed a very romantic thought or something straight from a fable yet it was so far from that. Her breaths were short and sharp, her icy cold hands holding on as she kept her mouth closed. She didn’t want to risk a bug flying into an open mouth. She guessed it would take some getting used to.
“Can you just put me down close by? I don’t want to scare them all.”
Where is the fun in that? We’re going to make an entrance.
Aidis slowed as they moved closer and let out a roar so loud that Tempani had to cover her ears. They landed with a gentle thud in the middle of the camp’s clearing.
All around her, people screamed. They shouted for her grandmother, who came running out ready to fight off the danger. She came to a halt when she saw the dragon. Her eyes travelled up until they rested on Tempani. Grandmother and granddaughter stared at one another until Tempani raised her eyebrow and smiled.
“There’s no doubting it now, old woman. The dragon has chosen to protect me. I am your true heir.”
“That may be,” she croaked. “But you are still not one of us. You cannot lead a people you don’t belong to.”
She belongs. Her blood mixed with the blood of your first tribe. Her tears fell with those of your first leader. She has joined her people once more, and I have joined her. Now you must.
The ferocity of the dragon’s voice reverberated through her grandmother. The older woman stood tall as her body trembled from head to toe. It would be taking the full force of her Power to stand strong against the dragon.
Tempani slid off her back and stood in front of her niska. Her muscles screamed at her to lie down but she would not show her grandmother she was hurting. “I want to be the Shiasa. Let me prove to you that I can do it. Let me earn their respect. And yours.”
“You came here expecting to follow me,” she muttered. “You did not deserve it then. You may prove your worth to us. Now, you have earned that.”
Tempani looked up at the dragon. “Release her.”
As you wish, she said before taking to the sky once more. Call when you need me.
Tempani turned back to her grandmother and grabbed her just as she began to crumble to the ground. “Come on, old woman. Let me show you what I can do.”
—
“Round them up,” Hallam said. “We can secure them in the dungeons until we know what to do with them.”
“This is ridiculous,” Otto interjected. “There is not enough room in the dungeons to house them all.”
“A camp then,” he said. “Lord Ricton, are you able to secure an area so no one can escape?”
“Of course,” the older man said.
“We’re not rounding up the Kalaowins,” said Nic. “They have done nothing wrong.”
“They killed my brother. Your father!”
“One man did,” Nic corrected him.
“I’m suggesting this for your own safety. You’re my nephew. I’d hate for any harm to come to you.”
“We will not hunt them down like animals. The man responsible has been killed and that should be the end of it.”
“He was acting on orders. You heard it for yourself.”
“We’ve been over this Hallam. She is not responsible for this.”
“She has bewitched you.”
Nic shook his head in disbelief. “This discussion is over. I have made my decision, and it is final. Let’s move onto other business. Where are we at with the coronation?”
Hallam glared at Nic from across the table. He had thought Nic would want revenge for his father’s death. That he would see Tempani being behind it as the ultimate betrayal, and he would seek her out at all costs. But his nephew was so blinded by what he thought was love that he would do nothing about it.
Hallam would just have to find another way to rid the kingdom of the Kalaowins. And inept kings.
—
Tempani set about showing her people that she was worth following - that she wasn’t so different from them despite being raised with the Kamaris. She got up the next morning at dawn and followed Keer to the clearing where the warriors trained. He glared at her as she stood in formation, but she ignored him, instead focusing on the woman in front of her.
She missed a few moves as they made their way through their hand to hand drills, even falling over once. But similar to her weapon drills, once she got into the rhythm she was able to keep up. This is what Nika had been training her for.
She tried to suppress a smile when everyone grabbed their bows. And she thought she’d never have to use one. Then again, she wasn’t planning a war back then. Back when she was training with the men at the convent, she hadn’t thought about holding back. She had wanted to impress them with her skills and needed them to understand that she would fight alongside them. As much as the Kalaowins respected warriors, she didn’t think it wise to try and show them up on her first training session. So when she strung her bow and let loose along with everyone else, she misfired slightly so her arrow would miss the mark.
Keer smiled wryly as she loosed again, and it once more fell short of the mark. He called a halt to the training and moved to pick up his spear. He walked over to Tempani and stood opposite her.
She gulped. He wanted to be her sparring partner? This wouldn’t end well.
He whistled sharply and without giving her a chance to ready herself he swung down. She stumbled out of his way as his spear whirled past her. She lifted her sword and blocked him just in time. He came at her again. And again. He moved so swiftly that all she could do was block his advances. There was no time to strike him.
He whistled once more to call a halt to the session, and she had never been so relieved. She bent over, resting her hands on her kn
ees as she tried to catch her breath. She had thought she was good with a sword, but after that attempt she was having serious doubts. Had her men just made her believe she was good?
He walked over to her and offered her a drink. She gladly took the skin from him and gulped down the water.
“You are Kalaowin. We fight to the death. Train harder.”
Unable to speak through her heavy panting, she nodded.
“You have good technique. Don’t misfire on purpose again.”
She hung her head, ashamed to have been caught out. She would try harder. She would practice with her men in the evenings and train with the Kalaowins in the morning. She was determined to be good enough to be seen as a warrior as well as their Shiasa.
That afternoon she helped with dinner preparations. She did as she was told and ignored their laughing as she fumbled her way through it. As a noble lady, she had never needed to prepare her own meals, and on the road Thara had done it for them. She had no clue what to do. But she persisted. And even though she burnt the rice she was proud of her first attempt.
She wandered around, trying to talk to as many people as she could. They weren’t very receptive, and she found it difficult getting any of them to talk beyond the exchanging of pleasantries. When the tenth person in a row gave her nothing more than a grunt, she sighed and gave up, returning to her friends in their little patch of the camp.
“Not going well?” Colbert asked as she sat beside him.
“I don’t know what else I can do. I am training and cooking with them, talking to them. But nothing is good enough.”
“You’re trying too hard,” Bhatia said.
Madoc rolled his eyes. “You think any effort is too much.”
“Well I managed to join your little group, didn’t I?”
“If you say so,” he muttered.
“Bhatia’s right,” Darby said as he hobbled over. Dahlia rose quickly and offered him a hand. “The Kalaowins expect their leader to be just that. A leader.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“No you’re trying to be one of them,” he explained. “Kamaris want their leaders to be amongst the people, but Kalaowins expect a healthy distance. When you are Shiasa, you will need to counsel them and your word will be law. By mingling with too many of them, they can claim favoritism if something doesn’t go their way. By all means, train with them. The fitter and stronger you are, the better your chances of survival at the end of all this. But once you become the Shiasa, your fighting days are over. You need to stay alive until your heir is of age; otherwise, the line ends with you.”
