Chapter 2: Aunt Yuka's house of healing


Balsa brought up Alika on the horse's back and walked at her side.

"Why?" Her daughter asked.

"Because, I don't have really space between my legs and my stomach with the baby, if you know what I mean."

"Oh ok."

"As I'm pregnant, I'm not supposed to ride a horse. It could be harmful for the baby.

"I understand…"

They reached the border between Yonsa and Musa before nightfall. It was marked by two crude stone forts on either side of the road at the top of the mountain pass. Relations between the two clans were good and the guards merely watched travelers pass through while they grazed their goats. They gave Balsa directions to the nearest inn, and that night, she slept indoors for the first time in a long while. Used to wrapping herself up in a shiruya – blanket used in Yogo – she sleeping on the floor with her daughter by the hearth as they often did in Yogo. Balsa found it strange to lie in a rough wooden bed against the wall under a heap of musty smelling straw.

The next morning, they ate breakfast at the inn and then set out to find Aunt Yuka, who appeared to be well-known. The innkeeper told them that Yuka ran a house of healing in the valley near the chieftain's village, about an hour's journey from the inn. She mounted Alika on the horse's back. On the way, Balsa saw a woman harvesting gasha from the thin dry soil in small plots shored up by stone retaining walls. Once again she was struck by the poverty of her native land.

"Do you still love this place even it's very poor?" She inquired to Alika.

"I still love Kanbal, even if it's poor!" She brightened. "I feel if I have already live a past life here…"

"So much the better."

Balsa's lips stung, chapped by the strong, dry wind. She rode over a low hill and looked down into a wide, gently sloping valley. She could see the chieftain's hall perched on a rise to the north and, in the foreground, a market about the size of Sula Lassal. Set apart from both of these was a group of building surrounded by a low stone wall. That, she realized must be her aunt's house of healing. As she drew nearer, Balsa began feel like she had seen this place before. Perhaps her father had brought her when she was very small. When she saw a branch of a yukka three overhanging a black stone wall, she was suddenly sure of it. The tree was laden with red fruit, and birds flitted from branch to branch, chirping merrily. The sweet smell of ripe Yukka drifted toward her on the wind. She dismounted her daughter and was gazing absently up at the branches when someone moved on the other side of the wooden gate. A short elderly man with a rake in his hand stood staring at them.

"Is this the house of healing?" Balsa asked.

"Yes, it is." he replied with a nod. "Are you ill or is the little girl?"

"No, I'm not a patient. I'd like to meet Mistress Yuka."

The assistant looked doubtfully at the two spears, as if unsure what to make of her, but at the moment, a plump, sturdy woman of about fifty appeared at the gate. Her salt-and-pepper hair was tied back, and she wore a soft woollen robe. Balsa instantly recognized her black brows, firm chin, and dark brown eyes.

"I'm Yuka Yonsa. Did you wish to see me?" the woman said calmly.

Balsa's heart began to pound. All though of caution vanished when she saw her aunt's face.

"Aunt Yuka, it's me, Balsa. Karuna's daughter."

The woman looked at her strangely, as if she had difficulty understanding what Balsa said. Then her face grew stern and she spoke quietly but forcefully.

"Who are you, and why do you use my niece's name?"

Yuka had last seen Balsa when she was six. She could not be expecting to find that child in the face of a woman already turned thirty. Balsa looked her straight in the eyes and spoke quietly and deliberately.

"I'm not using anyone else's name. I am Balsa."

Her aunt's eyes wavered.

"But that's impossible! Balsa died when she was only six years old."

Balsa felt as if she had been punched in the chest. She had expected something like this, but hearing the words from her aunt's mouth still hurt.

"Did you see her body?" she asked softly.

Her aunt grew visibly paler.

"No, how could I? She fell into an artesian well. She was swept away underground and–"

"Aunt Yuka," Balsa interrupted her abruptly, "you see the branch on this Yukka tree? I don't know how old I was, but I remember falling from it and breaking my arm."

Her aunt's face turned chalk white and her lips trembled. She pressed them together and looked searchingly into Balsa's face. With a shaking hand, she brushed back her hair.

"Lusula, Goddess of Dreams," she murmured. "Is this a waking nightmare?"

It was at this time that Alika took off her face of the "skirt" of her mother and watched her great aunt, with curiosity. Yuka looked at her in return. She ignored what was this feeling, but this little girl who held a spear had the same childish face of her niece at the same age.

"Who... is that?" Yuka asked.

"This is Alika. My daughter."

"Your daughter... she really looks like at..."

Alika winced and put her face in her mother's cloak; feeling too scanned and closed her fists firmly in her mother's clothes.


Yuka led Balsa and her daughter into her living room and asked them to wait while she saw to some patients. Balsa took place on a two-seater sofa and her daughter joined her. It was a comfortable room. The polished stone floor was strewn with sweet-smelling dried grasses, and a breeze bearing the scent of yukka fruit wafted through a window larger than those in most Kanbalese homes. Red embers glowed in the hearth, and a gleaming saucepan hung on the wall inside the wide inglenook fireplace. In the middle of the room stood a table covered in a thin green cloth. A single book lay on top of it. Bunches of herbs hung from the rafters in the ceiling, swaying in the breeze.

"It reminds me Daddy," noticed Alika.

"It's true, I was thinking too."

"She's your Aunt, Mommy?"

"Yes, she's Aunt Yuka."

"She's nice?"

"Obviously."

"She doesn't seem at first, and you were anxious at a given moment..."

Balsa smiled.

"She hasn't seen me since I was six years... but, the fact that you have shown your face may be due to change her opinion about me..." Alika hold suddenly her belly. "Sweetie, do you have a stomach ache?"

"No... well, maybe a little."

"Are you nervous?"

"No... There's a strange atmosphere here. I feel too much energies; it makes me upside down…"

Her mother smiled and pressed her shuddered daughter against her and together they waited Yuka. They heard footsteps approaching, and they looked toward the door. Her aunt entered, bearing a tray containing some baked sweets and two handleless of lakalle and a glass of lakoluka for the youngest.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she says uncertainly. "Fortunately, there were fewer patients than usual today…"

Yuka offered the glass in front of Alika and the cup in front of her niece.

"Why don't you tell me your story now? You can take your time."

Balsa took the cup that her aunt offered. A hint of fragrant spices filled her mouth with the first sip, stirring a memory so familiar it made her nose sting with unshed tears.

"I know this flavor. My father used to give me this when I caught a cold."

Yuka breathed in sharply. She looked at Alika's mother and nodded.

"Really? Then perhaps you are Balsa after all. Karuna and I had developed this recipe when we were studying together at the academy in the academy in the capital. It's made from a combination of spices that warm the body and it's an excellent cold remedy."

Balsa stopped drinking, seeing that Yuka was still watching her daughter with interested eyes, whom hadn't moved a single hair; her head was still bent and watched the drink before her eyes.

"What's wrong , Alika? There is no danger, you can drink properly."

"Is she shy?" Yuka asked.

"Sometimes," She stroked her daughter's back and stretched to take the glass. "You don't want to taste it, honey?"

"Well..." her daughter said only.

"Too bad, I'm going to taste it before you."

Balsa raised the glass to her lips under the follower's eyes of her child and sipped, still reviving some memories. Her daughter reached over and took the glass and imitated her.

"That's the way we must doing to force her to taste something new."

"Mommy!"

"Mom teases you. You know that. And because I love you."

Alika took a pinched air, making laugh both adults.

"Did someone rescued you after you fell into the well and were swept away by the current?" Yuka began.

Balsa shook her head. "I never fell down a well. But before I tell you my story, tell me what happened to my father."

"My brother was killed ten days after... after you disappeared. The old serving woman found him lying slain at the back door when she went to work that morning. The palace guard claimed that it was the work of thieves. The house was a mess, as if a storm had passed through it."

Balsa closed her eyes briefly. Alika took the opportunity to take some baked sweets discreetly. Balsa opened them and asked in a quiet voice:

"Did you see his body?"

"Yes. I was staying in an inn in the capital because I was worried about Karuna. He was so despondent over your death. I wanted to stay at his house, but he absolutely refused, almost as if he knew that he would be attacked. Yes, I saw my brother's body, and ever since I've wondered what really happened. He had two injuries. One was a deep slash that ran all the way from his left shoulder down across his stomach. Any robbers who have given him a wound like that would have left him for dead. Yet they still cut his throat. When I saw that, I know that whoever did it wasn't planning to rob him. This last stab in the neck made absolutely sure that he was dead."

Alika became livid, suddenly dropped her cookie she was eating, on the floor. She saw spirits, and she met Karuna in spirit mind once. The first time was under the form from which he was killed, a king of flashback in one of her dreams. Other times, Karuna was in his normal body. Now she understood why. Yuka placed a hand over her mouth, sorry.

"Mom... I understand why now..." she murmured while Balsa was surrounding her arm around her shoulders. "My nightmares...

"I'm sorry, I almost forgot that you were here..." Yuka apologized.

"No, that's okay... continue please."

"Are you sure?"

The little girl nodded her head positively, leaning her cheek against the top of her mother's chest. Yuka took deep breath and Balsa spoke.

"Jiguro said that if you saw the body, you would be sure to notice something wrong. And he feared it might put your life in danger."

"Jiguro?" Yuka said sharply. "You mean Jiguro Musa?"

Balsa was surprised at her tone of voice. She spat out the name as if belonged to a poisonous insect.

"Yes… Jiguro saved me. He raised me and helped me to survive."

"You know," Yuka confessed, looking shocked and confused, "I still feel as though I'm caught in the middle of a bad dream. Your tale is like a twisted maze."

"Really?"

"Yes. Jiguro Musa was a fool, a complete idiot that caused terrible suffering to all of us from just plain stubbornness. I'd know him since we were children and I felt so betrayed when I realized what an idiot he was. It's true he had a stubborn streak even when he was young, but I never thought he'd do something like that."

"And what do you think he did?" Balsa asked as she sucked in her breath.

"If I'm going to tell you, I guess I had better start with what happened before that. You see, Jiguro and Prince Rogsam never got along. Everyone who lived in the castle knew that. Even though he was the youngest of the Spears, Jiguro displayed outstanding skill, and he was the best of the king's martial arts instructors as well. He never let the princes off easy, but worked them just as hard as everyone else. Prince Rogsam was older and cunning too, but Jiguro frequently beat him soundly in practice. You could feel the hatred between them." She sighed. "Prince Rogsam was a deceitful, despicable man. But still... I don't know if you remember anything about succession in Kanbal, but the heir doesn't automatically succeed to the throne when the king dies. He must first be recognized by all nine of the King's Spears. Only when they pledge allegiance to him is he accepted as the legitimate heir. At the coronation, all the Spears gather around and touch his head with their gold rings."

"Interesting, I didn't know that."

"Jiguro was considered a great hero. He was invited to attend the Giving Ceremony when he was sixteen, and all the Spears recognized him as the best warrior among them. Though he was a man with few words and never boasted, he did have a strong sense of pride. Once he made a decision, he never wavered."

Yuka's niece nodded.

"But the man who would bring misfortune on the heads of others for the sake of his own pride and stubborn was nothing but a fool."

Alika took some sweets and a sip her Lakoluka before continued to listening the story of Aunt Yuka who explained the betrayal Jiguro and he stole the gold rings, a pride for each Spears-wielder of the nine clans and it was a symbol linking the royal family to the nine clans. And to prove their loyalty to the royal family, each clan has sent their best spear against Jiguro praying god Yoram to not talk to him when they went to kill him. Balsa realized that the Spear hadn't hunted them for fifteen years because their families had been taken hostage, but to prove their loyalty to the King Rogsam!

"You were too young to have known, but Karuna, Jiguro and I were great friends from the very first time when we met in the capital."

"Really?" Balsa smiled.

"Yes."

The spear-wielder told at her turn the whole story of her side until Yuka understand gradually.

"I always wondered about my brother's death, but your story reminded me several things that bothered me. When King Naguru died, Karuna became very strangely. He was in such a hurry to bury the body, hoping that no other doctor will see his body and wanting to avoid a decline. It was unseasonable warm that day, so others people just accepted what he said. But I knew him well, it seemed unusual. I also wondered why Jiguro disappeared three days before the King passed away, almost as if he knew the king was going to die. And I couldn't understand why, even if he was planning to revolt, he fled the country without telling Karuna and me the truth... it seemed so out of character. The day after he disappeared, my brother told me you had drowned. So many strange things were happening – it seems like heaven and earth had turned upside down! I had just decided to ask Karuna what on earth was going on when he was killed."

Yuka looked Balsa's spear. Balsa tells her that Jiguro had forged the spear for her when she was only ten years. How cruel life had to follow her niece against her will.

"Ah, Jiguro. How well you raised and protected Balsa? I can hardly believe it. To think a blunt and awkward man like you could have raised a little girl, all on your own..."

"You're right. There was never a man so unsuited to raising a girl as Jiguro. No wonder I have no idea how to be feminine," she laughs.

"It's unfair to blame it all on Jiguro. You were born tomboy who put the boys to shame. Karuna used to say you must have left something important behind in your mother's womb."

"This is something I've forgotten; I think I offered my feminine side to my daughter who is a good mix of tomboy and feminine," Balsa said, stroking Alika's hairs.

"That's right, Mommy?"

"I think so. You're much more feminine than me, but you have my tomboy temperament."

"So finally," Yuka said. "What are you going to do? Do you intend to clear Jiguro's name?"

"What can I do?" she smiled sadly. "Even if I want to take revenge, Rogsam died, and frankly, I don't see much point in dredging up that plot now. I came back to heal an old hurt that I had been too afraid to confront..."

Twilight created a deep shadow on Balsa's face, while her daughter's face was illuminated by the setting sun.

"And because Alika was so eager to discover Kanbal. You should have seen her a few years earlier; she doesn't stop to asking me how was Kanbal, the Kanbalese lifestyle, what we ate here and customs..."

"Do you spoke to her in Kanbalese language?"

"Yes, I spoke her, sometimes... there's no doubt that I need to retrace a bit my past to remember few words, but I had the opportunity to speak her in Kanbalese few times."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, of course?"

"How old is your daughter?"

"Seven years."

"Seven years and carrying a spear?" She surprised.

"Yes. Some have the talent and she has. Besides, I have to tell you my latest adventure."

"Chagum-Niisan?" Alika brightened.

"That's it."

Balsa explained that she had been asked to be the bodyguard of a New Yogo young prince, Chagum, who carried the egg of a sacred Spirit and his father, the Mikado, wanted to kill him to keep the prosperity of the royal family. And the funniest thing about it: Balsa was really happy to protecting him even though it was extremely dangerous and a frightening job, and she finally realized that it wasn't such a bad way to live.

"Until then, I never really cared how I lived my life... until the birth of my daughter, for sure."

"You were aged about..."

"Twenty-three years old."

The room was dark now she could barely make out the face of her aunt in the dark. A small noise attracted their attention and they noticed that Alika fallen asleep, force to listen Yuka telling stories. The aunt stood up and brewed embers. Balsa rose slowly at her turn, caressing her back and closed the window. The space cleared when Yuka circled by lighting the candles. She turns a look at her niece.

"Now I understand why you came back. I feel like I've lived through twenty-five years in a single day."

They smiled at each other.

"We haven't run out of things to say, but I for one am hungry. Can you give me a hand? We'll some supper."

While Balsa approached a little more, Yuka stopped.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Are you pregnant?" Yuka questioned her.

"Oh, yes."

"How many months?" Her reacts was suddenly a tone alarmed.

"Well... six months."

"And you've been through all the mountains of northern New Yogo Empire in this state?"

"Yes, I don't see where the problem is..."

"It's not very good for your health, you know. And for the baby."

"I wonder why you are so worried about me, even Alika is worried. But I swear that I'm fine. And I don't feel hurt anywhere."

"Even in your lower back?"

"I'm strong. There's only my belly that become roundness, but the rest, I swear I keep it in health."

Her aunt sighed, still not confident, but she decided to place her trust in her niece. Yuka had no other help than a gardener and an assistant trainer. Together, they made a pot of Laroo, with meat and gashas cooked in milk and seasoned with fragrant herbs. The hot stew was delicious, especially since the bitter cold of the night had fallen. They put the table and laid dishes. They observed that Alika seemed asleep.

"Should we wake her?" Yuka asked.

"It always works when the food looks good."

She took the bowl and blew on the smoke so that it moves towards the face of her daughter. She stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes slowly, then more when she saw the bowl in front of her.

"We eat!"she exclaimed, making Yuka startle by jumping up and coming to join them. "I was so hungry!"

"But... you have eaten full of baking sweets and you still hungry?" the doctor wondered.

"Alika's a stomach on foot," helped Balsa "This is impossible to satisfy her hunger.

She smiled at her daughter, who had already started eating without even daring to ask what was in the meal.

"Especially if there is meat in the meal," Balsa added.

"She will find winter harder."

"How so?"

"In autumn and winter, when the nights get longer, we eat only two meals a day. A late breakfast and an early dinner. The majority of Kanbalese people do this to save their oil lamp."

"And you do that, Aunt Yuka?"

"No. I treat many patients and because I am a doctor, I have a very easy salary. So I only eat when I'm hungry or feel the need. "

"Mom always taught me to not waste food," Alika out by putting a spoonful of her meal in her mouth. "I kept thinking about the Kanbalese people... so I try to not waste anything."

"But you're not trash either," Yuka reminded her.

"Hum..."

They still talked, summarizing their conversation until there is confusion between the two women. Yuka said that Jiguro was killed by Yuguro – the younger brother Jiguro – while Balsa said he'd died of an illness and she had seen making his last breath and was at his side when it was arrived with Tanda and Torogai. The atmosphere of the room earlier warm then became cold and heavy.

"Could the plot have run deeper than you thought?" The aunt murmured.

Alika continued eating and grimaced due to the atmosphere of the room. She decided to change the course of the conversation, drawing attention on her.

"Um... sorry to bother you," she interrupted while the two women watching her. "I get a little lost with all these stories... You are Mom's aunt, aren't you?"

"Yes, at least I hope so."

"Don't worry, Mommy always tells the truth! I found you look like a lot! Both of you."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Now that you mention it... it's true. Ah yes, Balsa, I remember that I wanted to ask you something about your daughter."

"Go ahead," her niece insisted.

"This small honey must surely have a daddy somewhere?" An amused smile blooms on the lips of her aunt. "Are you married?"

To begin to response at her question, Balsa showed the back of her left hand. No ring was there.

"I hope it doesn't change your vision about me or Alika that I'm not married and have a child, and in addition, I'm pregnant, right?"

"No, I wondered only."

"We have already had a conversation about that with my daughter. She was made treated: " bastard" there's a year, but I'm not noble, and his father, my childhood friend Tanda, a Métis Yakue isn't noble either. He is from a good family; he is also a physician and apothecary. He lives in New Yogo Empire, in a small easy refuge. So I told her she was rather a free child."

"Does she bear your last name in this case?"

"Yes. Yonsa."

"I see. It goes very well with her name. And she also wields a spear."

"I can show you a demonstration!" the child smiled. "I'm very good!"

"My dear, I think isn't the suitable time. You run the risk to getting a mess and secondly, it would be better for you to keep a low profile with your spear during an indeterminate time... Until problems get resolve," Balsa stopped her.

"Problems?"

"Long story, but can you do this for Mommy? Please... and for your little brother or little sister."

"Okay," she sighed plunging her spoon into her bowl. "Just for him or her... and for my Mom."

"That's nice."

It was quite late at night, but Yuka and Balsa were too agitated to sleep. But not for Alika, which began to hammering the nail on the couch and fell asleep several times in the middle of a conversation.

"It's been hours since the midnight horn blew. We should go to bed soon," Yuka said. "Your daughter seems tired."

"It's true."

"We have already prepared your bed in the guest room."

"I'll take care soon, but until then, you should tell to the gardener I met this morning to keep the silence too, I'd rather not get you into any trouble."

"What are you saying?"

"Oh no, I just want to take some precautions."

"You're six months pregnant; I doubt anyone would want to hurt a pregnant woman, right?"

"So... well, I think we'll drive this child to bed."

Balsa took Alika, still asleep, in her arms and Yuka led them to the guest room where all of their suitcases had been put down and Yuka wished them a good night. Spear-wielder put the spear of her daughter under the bed and dressed her for the night without even wakes up her. She changed at her turn and lay, sticky Alika against her.