I pulled a bucket of soapy water over to him and began to wash his furrowed skin, enjoying the feeling of the cloth in the rhythmic motion: scrub, scrub. What would it feel like to have skin like that?
Was that a whisper? Who has secret conversations inside elephant stables? Maybe everyone but me. What would you talk about in a stable? Not politics, surely. Illegal activities? That sounded more likely. I slowed my cleaning down to a silent, gentle scrubbing, just enough work to pretend I was busy if someone caught me, but quiet enough to hear. I craned in the direction of the voices, every muscle tense.
“I can’t,” a feminine voice said. “It is against my honor.”
“But it’s our last chance. After this we go with her to the High Tazmin’s court. We’ll be under the gaze of too many to ever try again,” a masculine voice replied.
It was someone who would be travelling with me! A slave? I crept around the side of Alsoon towards where the voices came from and tried to peer between the slats of the stall walls. Something was glittering. Polished metal. I pushed up to look through a different set of slats. A buckle! Yes, the person was in armor. It was definitely one of my guards, but which one?
“I wish I could,” the feminine voice said again, low and sultry. In that tone it took me a moment to realize…was it Jakinda? Talking like that to another one of my guards?
I tried to get a closer look, slipping along the side of the stable wall, but Alsoon wrapped his trunk around my waist affectionately, and my foot struck a water bucket. Splash! I bit my lip, hopping up and down on one foot. Sweet Penspray, that hurt!
Jakinda gasped. “Someone’s here. We must go.”
Their footsteps retreated and I was left alone with my overly-affectionate friend.
I love you, too. I said to him with a sigh. Nothing interesting ever happened at the Silken Gardens and the one time it did my chance to hear about it was spoiled.
Alsoon’s thoughts clouded with images of me scrubbing behind his ears.
Fine, you old sop, I agreed, wetting the cloth to clean them again. What was Jakinda up to? Perhaps, if I watched her carefully I could discover which of my guards was her secret lover. If that’s what was going on. Strange to think that such a hard woman had any kind of lover at all. It put her in a whole new light.
Without warning, the earth tremor started and the world around me shook. I held tightly to Alsoon and closed my eyes. Was this just a ripple before something worse came along?
The time in the stable was the most interesting thing that happened for days. My longing to leave only seemed to fuel High Tazminera Amandera’s desire to drag her heels. On the third day she made me sit with her, insisting I keep my hands folded in my lap.
“Don’t look so eager every time I mention Al’Karida, Tylira. You’d think that you were the top of your class the way you act,” she said as she sat at a tiny golden table and wrote a note. Who sits and writes the same note all morning without turning the page? Her handwriting was impeccable, but at this rate it would take her longer to write to whoever that was than it would take to just get on an elephant and ride to them in person. “I don’t know why you were approved for this next step when you were so far behind. I have half a mind to take your training in hand myself along the journey so that you don’t disgrace the High Tazmin.”
Amandera carefully adjusted the filmy silks of her wrapped dress. They clung delicately to her perfect curves and trailed in the breeze, giving her a graceful air. I have never looked that good in a sarette. When we left the Silken Gardens I would be able to wear a filmy, mid-rift baring garment all I wanted just like Amandera. In the eyes of the world I would be considered grown and I could wear grown woman’s attire. Strange to think of myself as a grown woman.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s a good idea, don’t you agree?”
My mouth opened. Had she still been talking while I was drifting in my thoughts? I shut my mouth quickly and Amandera sighed.
“I was saying that I’ll take your training in hand personally on our journey. It seems you could use a firmer hand.”
The blood drained from my face. Things were certainly going to be less boring – but not in a good way. I could have screamed if I thought it would do me any good.
“As you say, Tazminera,” I said. Maybe, if I pretended to go along with it I could find a sneaky way out of things. Tearing up pillows and speaking my mind hadn’t done me much good the last few days. Perhaps I should try a subtler approach.
After that she made me practice my meditations in front of her for the last two days that we stayed at the Silken Gardens.
“Your problem, Tylira,” she said after my second failed lesson in her presence, “Is that you run too hot. You lack self-control. That is where we will start along our journey. I have a few little lessons I will teach you in how to control your emotions.” It sounded awful. “They are far too gentle with you here. I think that away from these padded walls I will have the chance to either make you finally useful or break you entirely.” That sounded much worse. She smiled sweetly, “Lets both hope that you become a fast learner.”
Mother, why did you have to go and leave me? And why aren’t you there with my other ancestors. If there was anyone I needed now it would be you. What would she have done in a situation like this? I wished I knew. She brought me to the Silken Gardens when I was six and I only saw her twice a year on holidays. I always wondered what she did when she left here, but all my sisters’ mothers brought them here, too. Had she wanted to leave me here? I’d always thought she chose this, but what if she was just like me? What if she hadn’t been really given a choice at all? I wished she was here to tell me – or at least to suggest to people that they’d better treat me kindly or she’d pound them into the dirt.
“We leave tomorrow. Don’t look so sulky. It makes you look low born.”
I bowed respectfully, and just barely managed not to stick my tongue out at her. Low born? Really? Amandera married the High Tazmin as part of a treaty negotiation with the Aradivia Kingdom. That backwards place was less than a quarter of the size of Canderabai. If we were going to compare bloodlines mine was far superior.
I left for my rooms and furiously packed my things into two large cloth bags – only what I absolutely needed – and my money into my small leather purse. My sisters filed in to wish me good luck and say their goodbyes. My throat felt thick as I wished them good winds and fair suns in all their days. I actually hugged Sarin.
“You’re lucky to get to go to Al’Karida,” she said. “Did you forget? If you leave tomorrow you’ll get there just days before the Great Sounding and see all the celebrations! I heard that they party for a full week before the Sounding and there’s dancing and celebrations in the street all night and music and costumes and parades.”
I sat down on the edge of my bed. I had completely forgotten about the Great Sounding. Could this be why Amandera had been taking so long here? Was she planning to arrive in time to enjoy the festivities? It didn’t sound like her. Was she the celebrating type?
“Did you forget?” Sarin asked. “I suppose you might have. It only happens every seven years, but I’m sure I would like to see it someday. All those fine young heroes racing through the Dawn Gate to find the Teeth of the Gods!”
I had an instant visual image painted in my mind of shirtless young men racing out of a wide, shining gate. I was going to get to see it myself. Well, unless Amandera tried to prevent it. It sounded like something she’d try to prevent.
“I can’t wait!” I said. Whatever happened, I decided, I was going to see that race.
“Like I said, you’re lucky. Blessed by the Gods. It should have been Lashawnelle’s turn to train with the High Tazmin’s tutors, but somehow they chose you. And everyone knows that you have no proper connection to the Common. No magic at all, really. It’s a shame that it’s you.” She put her hands over her mouth as if it were a mistake that all that slipped out, but she paused, waiting to see my reaction.
I
did my best impression of Amandera, and said haughtily, “Who are we to judge the reasoning of the High Tazmin?”
Really? One last jab to remind me that I was beneath them all? After that she made an excuse to leave. It’s a heavy thing to know that no one loves you. No one, but Alsoon, I reminded myself.
That night I dreamed of riding elephants towards the horizon. Out there somewhere were all the adventures that I longed for, and somehow I would slip the noose they’d set for my life and I’d live those adventures. Maybe I really would ride Alsoon all the way to where the land met the sky. Or maybe I would finally find my connection to the Common and discover that I was more talented than anyone could ever have imagined. In my dreams it was all possible.
5
Palanquin
I should have known that leaving on a journey with Tazminera Amandera wouldn’t be as easy as saddling up the elephants and riding off down the road. I patted Alsoon’s neck from my seat on his saddle and then readjusted my bundles in the side bags for what was probably the twelfth time. Alsoon shifted irritably as he always did when he had to wait. The proverb said, ‘Look to the elephant and know patience,’ but the wise man who spoke it had never met Alsoon.
I know, boy.If she were any slower there would be lichen growing on her.
My guard had fanned out on their own elephants around mine, their orange and white head wraps and black boiled armour and harnesses declared them to be mine. They were ready to protect me at a moment’s notice, but their mounts seemed as restless as Alsoon. One elephant stomped his foot so violently that one of the slaves cursed and dodged to the side, dropping his bundle. I looked off in the distance. If I didn’t see it happen then Javeron, the slave master, wouldn’t have to punish him.
“Why are we bringing so many slaves, Jakinda?” I asked.
Jakinda leaned towards me from her own elephant. He eyeballed me and snorted. Dust glittered on the early morning sun beams as they filtered through the palm trees. Out there somewhere was freedom if I could find a way to get it without angering the High Tazmin.
“They are now your retinue honorable Lesser Tazminera,” she said.
I jerked slightly. Lesser Tazminera? I cocked my head in a question, tracing the nine stars tattoo along my left arm with the other hand as I thought.
“Perhaps no one told you, but upon leaving the Silken Gardens you are now a Lesser Tazminera and as such you have been gifted your own retinue as well as your guard, our mounts, and five hundred devlin gold pieces. We serve at your command under the authority of the High Tazmin. Any honor you achieve will be our honor. Any dishonor you bring down upon us will be ours to bear.”
I sucked in air through my nose, fighting to keep my face still and expressionless. No one had told me to expect this. Suddenly the jasmine and heleroia flower scents in the air smelled so much sweeter. It didn’t matter that I was a failure at finding my connection. It didn’t matter that Amandera was planning to run my life. I was a Lesser Tazminera now. I had my own riches – a chance perhaps to negotiate what I wanted.
“Don’t let it get to your head,” Amandera said, appearing from around one of the elephants as if she were a jinn materializing out of smoke and air. “It’s only a name and some trinkets, nothing of importance.”
I wouldn’t look at her. I studied the waiting ranks of my retinue and hers instead. She wouldn’t see me blush. My fingers traced the tattoo. It rose up slightly from my flesh and the trail of the stars and swirls were easy to follow. A mark to remind everyone of my lineage and place – ninth among daughters.
Nothing had changed. Not an elephant or horse had moved since I looked around the first time. Wasn’t it just like Amandera to think it didn’t matter that fifty elephants, one hundred soldiers and eighty slaves should just stand in place until she was done being pompous?
“You’ll be riding with me, Tylira. Leave that beast with your guard,” Amandera said over her shoulder, lifting her sarette daintily so that her gold-slippered feet could be seen as she tiptoed over the dust and around the horse and elephant refuse.
“He’s not a beast,” I said. As if I would ride with the High Tazminera of better-than-you on my very first day away from the Silken Gardens!
Amandera stopped and spun around with the grace of a dancer to look at me, hands planted on her hips.
“If we are going to deal with your disgraceful lack of skill in magic, then we will need every moment of the journey. You will ride in my palanquin.”
I sat up a little taller and stiffer, but I didn’t budge. What was she going to do? Drag me along?
“Better go,” Jakinda said. “I have orders to haul you over my shoulder and carry you if you don’t go on your own.”
“I thought you were my guard,” I said, trying to give her the look my teachers always gave me when I’d said something churlish.
“In this case I’m guarding your dignity.” Jakinda sighed. “As long as we are with the Tazminera her authority supersedes your own - even with your guard - we are ultimately the High Tazmin’s vassals.”
I blinked back tears. Did I know a curse strong enough to express how I felt about this? Why didn’t they teach us good curses in the Silken Gardens? I would have liked to shove Amandera into the palanquin and then drop it off a cliff and let it bounce all the way to the bottom splintering to nothing and breaking every bone in her body.
“Your loyalty is touching,” I said, clipping off the end of every word. I climbed down Alsoon and followed Amandera, weaving through the long chain of my devoted retinue. Their voices were quiet and they refused to meet my eyes. Since their clothing was in the livery colors of the Silken Gardens and the High Tazminera, they all looked somewhat alike so I had no focal point for my fury and humiliation.
I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth until it bled. It was just my destiny that on the very day I was given the name Lesser Tazminera I was sent for like a slave to do Amandera’s bidding. And who would have thought that it would be so hard to hurry in this sarette? No wonder grown women always looked so dignified. They had to walk slowly just to move in these things! I hated them. I hated everything about being an adult.
Her elephant was kneeling under the load of the palanquin when I arrived and I climbed up his side and into the golden box. There were two seats inside. Amandera was already in one, holding a tiny golden tea pot. Filmy azure curtains streamed in the breeze and surrounded the palanquin like the wings of a butterfly. Once they were closed we would be able to see out, but no one would be able to see inside.
I sat in the other seat, my back to our driver, facing the caravan behind us. My heart sank. Was I going to have to watch a dusty caravan train on my very first journey while everyone else got to look at the inviting horizon ahead of us and dream of Al’Karida? Maybe this was all part of Amandera’s strategy to train me to control my feelings. She should try harder. Right now she was only helping my ability to envision creative ways to punish her. I bet those filmy curtains would look amazing tied around her ankles while she hung upside down banging her head against the side of the elephant the whole way to Al’Karida.
“Stand,” Amandera ordered, and the driver sang to our elephant who slowly rose. The golden box barely tilted as he stood. What had Amandera done to train him to be so careful? “I will use the same training methods on you, and soon you will be as perfect as the elephant.” Had she read my thoughts?
“Your offer to train me is so gracious, High Tazminera, but I would prefer-” I began.
“Silence! You will speak when spoken to.”
Or what? What could a tiny woman like Amandera do to me?
My hand burned with shocking pain. I cried out as I clutched it to my chest, turning it this way and that to look for the source. I had not touched anything hot. Had I been bitten by a snake or an insect?
“If you learn well, you might be able to do that to your own enemies,” Amandera said. Her! She did that to me! Already the pain was lessening. “For now it will be a way for me to
remind you that I prize excellence.”
Amandera took out a tiny silken pouch and opened it. Sweet herbal scents filled the palanquin as she added it to the teapot. Had she heated the water with her connection to the Common?
“I will allow you to start with a simple meditation,” Amandera said. Tension in my shoulders eased. “With one small addition. Assume the position.”
I folded myself into a meditation pose and threaded the heart stone out of my hair. I felt the familiar lump in my throat as I looked down into the clouded surface. Why couldn’t it light up and clear away like every one of my sister’s stones had? Amandera’s stone glittered red and clear on her forehead like the wet blood of one of her slain enemies and here was mine, dull as dust and I didn’t even know what color it wanted to become – if it would become one at all.
“Stop staring at that stone as if you can clear it with your mind. You are weak and useless. You need more motivation, which is why I am going to slowly heat that heart stone. When you connect to the Common, I will remove the heat. Until then it will get hotter and hotter. Drop it, and tonight when we camp I will make you run around the camp twice. Understand?”
“Yes,” I said.
A call rang out from the road ahead. I looked over my shoulder, craning to see who was there.
“Where are you going?”
“Al’Karida.”
“Can we join your caravan for safety along the way?”
“I’ll bring you to the Captain of the Guard. He will decide.”
I tried to catch a glimpse of the new people, but I couldn’t get a good view of them, just the edges of horses and packs and dark cloaks.
Teeth of the Gods (Unweaving Chronicles Book 1) Page 3
