Wow. My computer broke as soon as I moved into my new dorm, and I temporarily lost access to all of my fanfictions. Sorry for the delay! (By the way, is anyone as excited as me for Battle Magic?! Ten more days!)
But I was completely blown away by the response in the past two weeks. Thank you all. I hope I live up to your expectations. Thank you GreenQueen615 for following me, and to Tamorapiercefanatic for your review on Suitcases and Man of the Family. To Rianna Hunter for her follow and Salazarfalcon for both following and favoriting! And thank you Mistrali for your detailed reviews on many chapters. It meant a lot to me that you took the time to comment on so many. Thank you .Scarlet07 for following as well. Lastly, thank you all, anyone who reads this fanfiction. It means so much to me.
Without further ado (because there's been so much of it already!) On to the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! T.T
Lark-Daja Debt Day
Timeline: After Daja's Book, before Briar's Book.
When Daja opened the door, the usually friendly girl was frowning. "I can'-Lark. Hello."
She leaned on the doorframe, carefully blocking the dedicate's view of her room. "Is it important, because I'm in the middle of something…"
"I believe we both know that it is." Lark answered solemnly, but her dark eyes sparked with mirth all the same. She framed them with two fingers and dipped into a curtsy.
The idea that Lark would bow to her, even in jest, made Daja very uncomfortable. On today of all days, she was reminded of how things would be in a Trader household, and an adult submitting to a child was simply not done. "Please don't do that."
"I was wondering if you would mind allowing me to join you."
Daja blinked. Shifting feet betrayed her confusion. "You're Living Circle. You don't believe in Trader Koma and Bookkeeper Oti."
"I don't think that Mila would mind. She knows that I dabbled in other religions before dedicating myself. And Bookkeeper Oti is like an old friend."
The girl hesitated. That didn't seem like the most respectful way to talk about a goddess. Maybe Lark thought she could get away with it because she didn't worship Oti. Daja bet she could get Lark to leave if she wanted.
But hadn't she just been upset about being alone for the ceremony?
Sliding out of the way, Daja was letting Lark in when saw Tris watching from her room. The redhead pushed against the connection in their minds, but Daja shook her head and closed the door. Tris was her saati, but she didn't know Tsaw'ha ways yet, and today would hurt too much to explain. Tris could hunt down Sandry if she wanted to know so badly.
When Daja turned back, Lark was paying respects to the little altar Daja had set up.
"I didn't know you knew about Debt Day."
She spoke in Trader, just to see what Lark would do. A bit of stubbornness made her rigid. This was a Tsaw'ha holy day. She would speak in Trader if she wanted to.
"My troupe traveled with Caravan Qurilta for over a year." Lark answered in the same language without missing a beat. "I remember my friend Yazmín was upset because the Caravan refused to move until their ceremonies were finished." She smiled at the memory. "You'll have to show me if the Blue Traders worship any differently than the White Traders."
Daja found herself smiling; though she knew that today she should be sad and stiff in memory of the family she'd lost at sea. Debt Day wasn't really a celebration anyway, more of a reparation for any forgotten obligations.
The holy day was not a celebration, like the Solstices at Winding Circle. Debt Day was the day each year Bookkeeper Oti looked over her accounts, and tallied who owed what among the Tsaw'ha. Traders everywhere tried to fulfill any debts they may have incurred over the year, and apologized to their gods for any slights they may have missed.
Lark murmured the prayers with her, only fumbling once or twice. She'd even brought a small amount of money for the altar, an offering to atone for any vows left undone. Daja watched carefully, trying to see if Koma and Oti didn't approve of lugsha attending to their needs, but nothing untoward happened.
It wasn't until Daja had snuffed out the candles that Lark perched on her bed. The woman's cat-like face was tilted towards her suraku.
Feeling suddenly almost embarrassed, she sidled into Lark's way, blocking the suraku from sight. "I… thanks for that." She had been dreading performing the ceremony alone.
"It was nothing. Polyam wrote us saying Tenth Cavaran Idaram will be here for the next holiday. She made sure gilav Chandrisa added Winding Circle to their route. But I thought you wouldn't want to be alone for this one. It is so important to your people."
The girl swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat. It had only been a year since Third Ship Kisubo…since she'd been declared trangshi. Then, she had been forbidden to participate in the ceremonies. Now, two months into her new status with Tenth Caravan Idaram, the grief somehow seemed fresher.
She played with the scarlet armband Lark had made for her. "You still didn't have to do it."
Lark stood and approached her cautiously. Lark had always been good at reading the turmoil in her charges. "Well, I did have an ulterior motive." When Daja looked at her, confused, she gestured at the suraku, "I wanted your family to know that you won't be made to forget their ways. You'll still be able to celebrate the Tsaw'ha traditions. Rosie and I appreciate other cultures. And," she added, nodding towards her door, "If you don't want to tell us, I think you have a few saati who might be interested in learning."
On the other side of the door and in the corner of her mind, Daja could hear Sandry explaining the idea of Debt Day to Tris and Briar as she practiced her weaving. Maybe she could tell them herself. After all, they weren't completely kaqs.
Lark smiled at her. "I'm off to go prepare dinner. I'll leave you to the rest of your celebrations."
That night, before eating a dinner of traditional Trader food Lark somehow knew to prepare, Daja told the other three her favorite stories of Trader Koma and even some of the Debt Day prayers. Distracted as she was, she missed Lark slip into her empty room and bow deeply to her family altar.
"I'll take care of her," she promised the two candles meant to represent Daja's parents.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think, and requests are always welcome!