CHAPTER 10 Obi and Ilena's First Date

When Obi returned to Ilena's suite, his arms were loaded. Hue let him into the main room and he requested Rio open the door out to the courtyard. She wouldn't have really done it for the stranger she couldn't see behind the tall pile of things, but the voice who complained was the right voice. When he came back in from setting things out under the tree, he told them to let him know when the dinner cart came, and disappeared into Ilena's room. When it arrived, he pushed Ilena, wearing one of her pretty dresses, out of the room in her wheelchair and out to the courtyard.

The wheelchair didn't really like to roll in grass very well, so he left it at the edge of the patio and carried her to the blanket he had laid out under the tree. There, he made her lay down, but he propped her up on her side with all the many pillows he had brought with him, saying that it should be easy enough to eat on her side. When she asked why she had to eat laying down, he only said that he wanted her to rest because he was going to make her work hard later.

As Leah and Rio brought them dinner plates and called the three in the upper office to come down to eat, Obi opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses, setting one carefully next to Ilena. Then he shooed the aides all back inside. They smiled to each other as they went. An intimate picnic dinner looked like a date to them.

"I know it's your policy to only drink what someone else hands you," Obi said to her, "so I'll be pouring tonight. I could only get one bottle, but I think we should be alright."

"It would be okay if you drank most of it," Ilena said.

"You don't like it?" he asked.

"Ah, no, it's fine, thank you. I just don't mind not having it. After all, I was only really ever given it when I had to drink too much of it in order to put the men under the table. While it was fun for Marcovik, it became too much of a bother for me. I'm afraid I've rather learned it is a duty, rather than an enjoyment."

"Mmm...well, I would hope you are willing to enjoy it with me, rather than have it be a duty to drink when I do." Obi frowned slightly

"Well...as long as we don't compete any more, like last time, I should think I could learn it."

"Was that a competition? I thought I was just learning your personal preferences."

"Was that what it was? I'm sorry, I couldn't tell."

Obi was quiet for a while as they ate, then he asked, "You said before that you killed one man with a knife, but that you weren't allowed weapons. Where and when did you learn to fight, and with what methods?" His suggestion to Thayne of the reward of sparing for Petroi had made him think of the question.

"Ah, my first lessons were in Tarc, when I would get into fights with the boys. The first time I saw a pair of them fight, I was surprised. I'd never seen people fight before, like that. So I watched them closely. Petroi was surprised I wasn't stopping them and was so interested. He talked to me later and I asked him to teach me. After that he started to train me with the knife, but I wanted to learn what the boys knew, the hand-to-hand combat, too. He wasn't thrilled with that. He thought they'd figure it out pretty quick that I was a girl. But after I picked the first couple of fights, and he hauled me off to scold me, I hit him. It was the only time I've ever tagged him, to date." Obi looked at her in amazement.

"He wasn't expecting it. When he came to himself and found me on the ground under his hands, he cried. That surprised me. It hadn't hurt, as he'd only just thrown me to the ground and held me down. I hadn't realized how much stress he was under, trying to protect me by himself in a foreign land, knowing I was the last of the Polov's, and him still only a teen. I was still pretty clueless then." Ilena swirled her wine in her glass and took a sip.

"I can imagine how he felt," Obi said.

Ilena nodded. "Well, so after I properly apologized and promised to look after him better, I made him promise to teach me how to fight so that they wouldn't know I was a girl. When he was satisfied, he let me go back out and fight with them again. But he wouldn't let me pick fights meanly. I had to challenge them properly. He taught me that speed was my advantage, being the lightweight of the group, and I focused on that, though I also increased my strength as I could."

"When we made it to Farmor, your father caught me practicing with the blade. That was actually what made him banish me from the main house. He took the blade away then, but I found others. He didn't know since I wasn't where he could see me. I also continued to challenge the boys there, for a while anyway, until they wouldn't accept any more because I had become too much of a girl. When Marcovik started keeping me with him, the boys who had been bullies, and remembered my fights, went to him and told him I was dangerous to his life. He didn't believe them."

Ilena smiled a wolf's smile. "They finally had to prove it to him. After I'd thrown four of them, he stopped it, and asked me what I would do with a knife if I had one. I looked at him and suggested he try it and see. He was still very naive - he actually tossed me one. The bullies managed to grab me, interrupting my aim, but I put that scar on his head and nicked his ear. He cuffed me to the ground, but didn't doubt those men anymore, and he forbade my ever having a weapon from that point on. If he ever thought I was getting out of hand, he would beat me in an actual battle to remind me I couldn't win in a fisticuff against him."

Ilena looked thoughtful. "Though, I never fought against him very hard and let him win fairly quickly. I knew he'd kill me without even knowing he'd done it, and I wasn't interested in that. I think he knew it, too." She shrugged. "He knew I was still practicing, though, even though it was a stick I used. He didn't mind me knowing how to protect myself, I think. When he learned I'd killed his top man to become the top person in the house, he wasn't surprised, though he was surprised I'd had to go that far. The bullies we still had with us hadn't sided with that man. They'd held their peace. I think to them, I was already what I became that day, and they wanted to see him die. They were the quickest to obey when I gave orders, and I never had to punish them."

Obi looked at her thoughtfully. "How many of them have you placed into the underground network?"

Ilena took a sip of her wine, then looked at him, her eyes very dark and wild. "All of them. And all of the ones who came after that were sufficiently loyal."

Obi shook his head. "Would I remember any of them?"

Ilena paused. "Yes," she finally said. "But you aren't ready for that yet."

"Why not?"

She looked down and traced her finger on the blanket. "Because you are currently punishing the person who will teach it to you."

"Mmm..., well, I'll learn one thing at a time, then." He looked away from her for a moment, then looked back at her. "Have you practiced learning the sword?"

She didn't look up at him. "When would I have had the opportunity to do that?"

He heard a thing in her voice he had never heard before, though it was very slight. His skill was good enough that not a drop of wine spilled on the blanket. He was on top of her, one hand forcing her to look at him, the other reaching for her dominant hand. She looked at him the wild darkness still in the backs of her eyes. They were giving away nothing, but her hand did. He released it and felt the shoulder muscles in her back. "Why? Why are you learning the sword?"

Ilena looked at Obi soberly. "There is one man who must die at my hands."

"And this man is so strong you need to use a sword?"

"Yes."

"Then how can you hope to defeat him?" Anger began to rise in Obi.

"Obi will not allow me to fight him alone."

"You wanted to have me as your partner so that you would have sufficient strength?" The anger snuffed as fast as it rose.

Ilena nodded. "It's one of the reasons."

"...Who is it?"

"You already know."

Obi released her and sat. "Haaa... I think you will let Master decide how he'll die. That is his to plan, not yours."

She looked at him, then lowered her eyes. "I understand."

Obi looked around the picnic blanket. It looked like they were pretty much done eating. "Ah, but it would still be okay for you to practice the sword here. I've had to learn it since coming to Master. It's a thing necessary to learn to follow him."

Ilena looked back up at him, her face still passive, but he thought her eyes were more accepting. "Finish your wine. We have another thing to do." He collected up the plates to move them off the blanket and finished the last of his own wine, then put the cups with the plates. Deciding he would practice, he used the short-distance code to ask Rio and Leah to come clean up the picnic after they had left.

"Not too bad," Ilena commented. "Try this," she showed him a slightly different way to form the sounds. "The dialects individuals speak with make the form change. You are trying to learn to speak it from people who have a different dialect from you. If you can remember that form, you should come out clearer."

Obi tried to use the new form, giving the same original order he had before. Then he tried listening closely to see if he could hear from this distance. He was surprised when he actually could. But then, the door was open and they were talking directly to him. "Does it really make such a difference to be in line with what is being said?"

"It can. When Leah was standing watch with me, she learned to stand directly across from my location so she could hear me." Obi nodded. Then Ilena creased her brow. "Obi, why is there a horse being left at the gate?"

"Ah, he's here, then? I'll be right back."

Obi stood smoothly and went to the Cat gate. He took possession of his horse and brought him into the courtyard. Ilena pulled herself to sitting as they walked up to her. "Help me up, Obi. I should meet him standing."

He helped to lift her and stood as her support, his arm around her waist, her's around his shoulders. "Fenrier, this is my partner, Ilena. Ilena, this is my other partner, Fenrier."

Ilena looked into Fenrier's eye until the horse blinked and turned his head away from her. She held out her hand and he put his nose under it. She patted his nose and he snuffled at her shirt then lightly pushed Obi with his nose. He pet Fenrier fondly, then carefully set Ilena back down to sitting. "He likes to run, but I think he'll be gentle for you."

"What?" she looked up at him in surprise.

He took Fenrier's bridle and pulled on it straight down. "Down Fenrier. I can't lift her that high." Fenrier was a fairly tall horse and Obi would rather the horse do the work. Slowly, Fenrier folded his front legs, then his hind legs, and knelt down in the grass. Obi lifted Ilena up again and helped her hobble over to the saddle. Fenrier watched them carefully, learning by Ilena's gait and Obi's support of her that she was wounded. Obi seated her on the saddle side-saddle, both legs on the one side. Then he told her to hold on and supported her as best he could. "Up, Fenrier," he commanded.

Normally horses have to scramble hard to rise from a kneeling position, but he managed to do it fairly cautiously, to not spill his master's precious person. He was used to having the red-haired girl ride him, of course, so two passengers weren't a problem, but this one smelled of Obi, where that one never did. And, she had known how to greet him. Once he was up he wanted to shake, but he resisted. She was properly balanced, but she was also not secure. He settled with shaking his head and neck. Ilena patted him on the shoulder. "You did that very well, Fenrier. Thank you." He was pleased with the praise and looked back at her, his eyes seeming to say, you're welcome.

Obi put his foot in the stirrup and swung up to sit behind Ilena. That was a new thing for Fenrier, too. Normally Shirayuki sat behind Obi. Obi held the reins in one hand and kept Ilena securely balanced with the other, not that he needed to. He could feel she was already perfectly balanced, but he knew she would tire soon enough. He directed Fenrier to head for the Cat gate. They smiled at Dale on the way through the first doorway. He smiled back. "If you're gone by the time we get back, let Frederick know we'll be arriving the same way," Obi told him.

Dale nodded. "Have fun," he said.

Ilena smiled her thanks.

The gate guards let them out and Obi headed up the rolling hills, keeping Fenrier at a slow walk. Obi didn't really have a destination in mind, just closer to the forest and to a point where they could turn and look over the castle and city, so he just let Fenrier pick his footing. He could feel Ilena relaxing in proportion to the distance away from the castle they were and the amount of time she'd been on the horse. It was the same for him. They travelled in silence for a while, just enjoying the feelings of peace and freedom that came over them.

Ilena did spend some time looking at the layout of the land as they went. It was her first time to really see it, after all. Then she just relaxed into Obi and watched the sky for some time, breathing in the late spring evening air. Finally she sighed. "Fenrier really does like to run, doesn't he? He's being very good, but I can feel the power beneath the surface, waiting to come out when he's asked. It makes me wish we could let him run. I haven't been able to feel that exhilaration for a long time, at least not when I could just enjoy it."

"Mmm," agreed Obi, "but we can do that another time when you're more recovered. I've been thinking about it. You said you weren't allowed to help with or ride the highland horses, but you still did, didn't you?"

Ilena grinned, remembering it. "Yes, I did. As I said, I was always getting into trouble. It became my favorite thing to do, to steal a horse and ride off with it, as fast as I could go. Once, I even managed to keep it for a week. That was fun. After they gave up, we just wandered all over. Every once in a while, I'd stop and lay down in the grass and look at the sky. The space there is so big, I could feel completely lost, or at one with it all. Of course, I wasn't lost, even though all I could see was the grasslands. All the horses know where their own herd is. Once I got hungry enough, I gave the horse it's head and we were back at camp in about four hours. I slipped off it far enough out that it and I were back in our places for nearly three hours before anyone noticed we'd come back - well except Petroi and Nana. I'd gone to find them first thing since I knew they were already worried, though I'd warned them ahead of time I was going to stay out as long as I could that time."

"Were you punished?"

"...It's actually a rite of passage for the boys, one of them, anyway. Not getting caught meant I was no longer a child, but a young man. It was after that I was allowed to sit in the family council meetings to listen and learn, like all the young men. The Lord kept his eyes on me that whole first week of meetings I showed up. I finally decided it was because he was surprised I had come back at all and wanted to sit in the meetings, since I was such a ruffian, but I think now it was also because he found it intriguing that a girl could do it, and he was surprised I had wanted to be in the meetings so badly. They wouldn't let me in before then and I'd been asking. But he also, in the end, knew exactly why I wanted to listen in."

"After leaving, I thought back on it and decided that appraising look, which he gave me on more than one occasion, was him deciding that he wanted me for himself even more. In the last month before we left, we travelled slower than we had before. I think he was trying to decide whether he was going to keep me after the year or let me go. I was getting pretty angry by then, and nearly challenged him myself. Only the grandfathers stepping in and sending me out saved me, I think. Petroi wouldn't let me go back after that until the last time I saw him. The Lord was probably provoking me on purpose so he could have a few private meetings before the year was up to see what his council could be talked into. Well, that and he likes to see how far he can push me. It was the beginning of my training to patience, that year."

Ilena was looking north, towards Tarc as she spoke. Now she turned away, and leaned her head on Obi's chest, but she didn't say anything more for a while. He moved his hand from her shoulder to her head, and kissed the top of her head. Then he ran his fingers down her hair, measuring it's length as he did so. The touch seemed to help her calm somewhat from her memories. He had to resist a sudden urge. "I'm glad he didn't keep you, in the end," he said calmly. "You had a lot of things to do here. I think you would have been wasted as a Tarc woman."

He could sense she smiled. "I think that's what he decided, too. I'd already done so much in that one year, he wanted to see what else I would do." She sighed and looked up at the sky again. "Honestly, I think he's delayed coming into Wilant just because he's been entertained by watching and pushing me. I'm old enough now, and he isn't getting any younger either. He won't wait much longer." She paused, then hesitantly said, "I wouldn't mind if he waited forever. I don't want to ever see him again, but he's had too much time to rule over Tarc and Selicia already. It's time to see he is gone." She turned to Obi again and buried her face in his chest this time. He could feel her trembling slightly. He held her to him again.

"What is it?" he asked her gently. Her hand came up slowly and grasped his jacket. He understood. She was afraid. "It will be alright. Master will protect you, and so will I." She nodded, but it was a while before she moved again.

Turning her head, she asked, "Obi, why have you given me this night?"

He smiled. "I was thinking that Miss Kiki and Mister shouldn't be the only ones to have a date tonight. That wasn't quite fair, I think." She pushed off of his chest and looked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry I didn't have any oranges, though. Just dates." He grinned a lop-sided grin at her.

*Pft!* Ilena put her hand to her mouth, covering the sudden laugh.

"Like," he pointed to the woods, "I want to take you to the woods so we can run the trees." He pointed towards the city. "And I want to run the roofs with you, and take you to some of the places I like to go, and take you to the Black Cat so they can shower you with affection, while I watch you be Mother the whole night. And I want to take you places you want to go."

Ilena looked back around to him. "I would like to do those things too. But there are other places I would like to take you, that are different." She looked back towards the north. "I would like to take you to see a peaceful Tarc," she looked northwest, "and a cheerful Selicia." She looked west. "To see the brilliant Lyrias again and share the places we both know and love together." Her gaze continued southward, "I'd like you to show me southern Clarines and the sea coast. When I am with Mistress, I can feel the faint call of Tanbarun, whispering it, too, has things to show me." She looked over the castle, now. "But right now, the call that is strongest is the one that pulls me to Falcon's Hollow. Will we go now, after Miss Kiki is gone tomorrow?"

Obi had been watching her face as she talked of the pull she felt for the spaces she loved and called home. Her glow was brilliant, yet she was content to sit his wrist and wait for his word. He reached up and pet her hair again. "Yes, we will go soon. Your hatchlings wait for you. Even I can feel them calling for you."

She turned to look at him quizzically. "Hatchlings? It's Children, Obi." He just looked at her. "Oh, I was being like that again, is it?"

He nodded. "But, it's okay. You've become very obedient. We can do all of those things someday. We just need to continue to be patient and wait for the opportunities to come."

Ilena looked at him, appraising him. "You are considering it seriously, aren't you?" He let his eyes answer for him. She finally looked away with a sigh.

As he pointed Fenrier back to the castle and got him moving, Obi had a thought. "Ilena...you say that Marcovik kept you by his side at all times. You have only mentioned one time being in Lyrias with him, very early, yet by what you just said it sounds like you have been there frequently. And George told of a time you came to see him, when he finally called you. And when I was collecting the witnesses, one of the Children who live in the area around Falcon's Hollow told me that you have regular rounds for meeting with them, and that I would understand it when I became Father. I think I would like to understand that now."

Ilena continued to look toward the castle and didn't say anything for a time. Then she said, "Obi, how could I have been in multiple places at the same time?" It was asked in her teaching voice.

Obi looked at her in surprise. He thought to the only other examples he had. "You had doppelgangers, too?"

Ilena looked back over her shoulder at him. "Something like that." Then she faced forward again and wouldn't answer any more.

Obi shook his head. It was more than that, but she wasn't ready to tell him. Even now, she still had her secrets that she kept. He was tempted to pinch her, but he didn't think it would help.

By the time they were back through the Cat gate, Ilena was definitely tired. Obi got down from Fenrier, then helped her down. Ilena wrapped her arms around his neck while he held her around the waist. Her left leg wouldn't hold her at all, and the other trembled. He was glad he'd placed Fenrier so that when she was down he just had to turn her and settle her into her wheelchair. She held out her hand to Fenrier and thanked him. The horse nuzzled her, wishing her good night. Obi whistled for the boys upstairs and sent the first one that showed up to take Fenrier back to the castle stables., then he wheeled her into the suite.

There was only one small light in the main room, though the door to the maid's room was open a bit. "We're back. You can lock up," he told them, not bothering to be loud. They already knew, after all. When they entered Ilena's room, there was already a hot bath drawn. Obi smiled. One of the boys had probably been up in the tree watching them and told Leah when they were on the way back.

Rio walked into the room. "Master Obi, will you please let me see to her bath tonight?"

Obi paused, then nodded. He actually also wanted to rest. He wheeled Ilena into the bathroom, then walked out to her bedroom, closing the door behind him. It wasn't really right for him to play that kind of nurse anymore, anyway. Not that he had since the last washtub bath she'd had just before the Lord's Court. And then he had only been the muscle to lift her from bed to tub to bed again, just like the previous time.

As he walked past the wardrobe, he took down the salve. She would need it tonight, and likely later as well. Riding, even side-saddle, was strenuous. She was practiced, but her muscles were still weak. He sprawled on the settee and waited for them to be done. He wondered how Thayne was getting along with Petroi. He should have started the initial testing right about now. Obi thought about Petroi for a moment. It wasn't just a problem with Petroi. Obi hadn't really had a good first impression of him, either. It helped to hear Ilena's stories about him.

For a young guard, he'd tried very hard in very difficult circumstances with a very difficult girl child. And given that she still liked to get herself into trouble - to go rolling off the cliff - it wasn't surprising that Petroi found it difficult to trust her judgement without some of his own understanding. In a few days, when he and Thayne had finally bonded, Obi would need to go and spend some intensive time with them both. Then he would ask Petroi to tell him more, and Obi would tell Petroi about his own experiences with the Princess Falcon, from before and now. Then, maybe, they would be able to start over.

He wondered if Petroi knew the details behind the stories of her collection of the witnesses. She'd been missing from his life, other than in reports, for as long as she'd been missing from Obi's, and longer. Would those stories help Petroi? Maybe he could loan the book to Thayne as part of his reward system to Petroi. He made a mental note to get it copied, then wondered vaguely if he was really ever going to get the unabridged version.

Ilena and Rio finally came out of the bath. Obi watched them, finding their interaction rather cute. Rio fussed over Ilena, and Ilena preened in it. Once Rio had Ilena in bed, she walked to the wardrobe and looked for the cream. Not finding it, she looked around the bed and the nightstand. Finally, in her searching, she looked over at Obi. Obi looked at her. Rio sighed in defeat. "Master Obi, please?" He shook his head. She sighed again. "Please, be good tonight, Master Obi, please." Then she turned to finish cleaning up.

Obi raised an eyebrow. "That was two please's, Rio, three if you count the first one."

"Yes, Master Obi, it was," her voice was firm. He didn't answer her.

Ilena had been watching their exchange. Now she smiled. "I'm glad you like him, Rio."

Rio looked at Ilena affronted, then she looked rueful. "Well, he is just like you. It's hard not to."

"In what way?" asked Obi. He'd heard it before, but was wondering what Rio saw.

Rio looked at him distrustfully. "You both keep trying to roll off the cliff. And every time I snatch at you, you turn and smile the happy side of the coin at me. But when I turn my back for even a moment, the worrisome side shows it's face, and I have to go chasing after you again."

"Me, too, Rio? Really?" Obi said surprised.

Rio looked at him, her lips pursed. "Oh, yes, Master Obi. You, too."

"Well, I shall have to consider that then," Obi said to her. "Though...it isn't likely to change any time soon, I suppose."

Rio sighed as she reached for the door handle to leave. "No, I don't suppose it will. Please be good tonight, please." She left, closing the door behind her.

Obi looked at Ilena. "She said it again."

"She must really mean it, then," Ilena said to him mildly.

Obi stood and went to her side. "It is rather difficult that I can't at least sit on your bed. Could at least that be allowed?"

"Will that lead to further allowances, Obi?" Ilena asked. "I tend to think it will," she added.

Obi sighed. "Very well." He still applied the salve himself though, gently rubbing it into the muscles at her left hip. He could tell that it was overstressed a bit, as it trembled under his fingers, then finally relaxed after it was warmed. "It looks like you will have a permanent battle scar," he said to her, "though it is faint."

"Mmm…," she said, her eyes closed, relaxing. "It could be worse."

"True," he said. He closed the jar and covered her, then put the jar away in the wardrobe. "Do you want to go see Miss Kiki off in the morning?"

"Yes, that would be nice," Ilena said. "Is Master Zen supposed to come meet with us then, too?"

"Yes, but I think it will be after. Perhaps we'll all walk back here together."

"Mmm...is Mistress going to be involved in it also?"

"Well, probably not the usual meetings, but this one's to talk about her, isn't it?"

"True." Ilena echoed him. "She should be here. I wonder what Master has decided to do."

Obi didn't know, so he didn't answer. He leaned over her and kissed her on the forehead. "Tomorrow is soon enough to find out."

"Thank you for the date, Obi. It was good to finally be outside. It's been a long time."

"You're welcome." He brushed the back of her hand with the back of his, then trailed his fingers along hers until they parted. "Good night." He blew out the candle on the night stand.

"Ilena," he said in the darkness, not moving, "are there people who hate you enough to send assassins after you?"

"Why?"

"Did I see one just now outside the window?"

"Well, I suppose there are some, if they knew who I was and could get past the guards. But if you throw that dagger at Henry, I will be very sad. He's just doing what he was told."

Obi sighed. "Henry, you can't pop up like that. I come from the underworld, remember - kill first, then ask questions?" He could just make out Henry's apology. As he made his way in the dark to his settee, he added, "Rio, I'm not going to do anything, except go to sleep where I'm supposed to. Please go to bed, both of you." The answers he got back were satisfactory enough, but he knew they would keep watch until he and Ilena were asleep anyway.

He was about to settle onto the settee, then remembered he hadn't visited the bathroom himself, and could also probably use a good cleaning. He sighed. "Check that. I'm going to my room after Ilena falls asleep." He plopped down on the settee, irritated with himself.

Ilena giggled. Obi leaned his head back and smiled. ...In the end, he fell asleep before he could get over there.