Andromeda's hangover passed within a day. Once they were back at camp, the incident seemed to be forgotten about—at least by Sonam, who no longer seemed to hold a grudge about it. They took stock of what they had, and in the following day, Sonam took Tshering, Andromeda, Hira, and a couple of others into the village.
They walked a little ways before finding a well-worn trail with tire tracks on it. Soon after they arrived, a truck did as well to give them a ride. It was much faster than walking on foot. The camp hadn't been set up that close to the village.
It had been awhile since Andromeda had been in a town or village, and wasn't hidden away from sight. The last couple of times had ended when her power got out of hand. She wasn't so concerned with that now than she was with blending in. She looked very different from Galahdians—anyone could see that. She would be unwelcome, just as she had been at camp.
When the truck stopped in front of a simple store, everyone jumped out from the bed. Everyone else seemed to have their own objectives to coming to the village. It was a nice change from the camp: a glimpse of civilian life.
"Tshering, see if you can find news of any sickness. You know what to look for," Sonam instructed. "The rest of you, restock what we need and listen for other news. And relax and visit. We don't make these trips often."
Everyone else scurried off with their tasks. Andromeda stayed where she was, assuming she was not included in "the rest of you" for how he explicitly didn't look at her. He did so once everyone else was gone.
"Come with me," He said simply, walking along the dirt road towards the northern end of the village.
From the store, most of the village could be seen on either end of the dirt road, but there were some other buildings behind those on the opposite side of the road. Most buildings were houses, a mix of one- and two-story homes. There were a few modest-sized ones, but many more smaller buildings. They all had white-washed siding. Andromeda didn't know if there was a rule in the village that all buildings had to look the same, or if all of the buildings had been built at the same time. They all looked to be houses, but there had to be more public spaces than just the store.
Plenty of people were out and about. She didn't pay too close attention to what they did while she followed Sonam, yet it seemed that several people watched them go by. He did not acknowledge them and their unasked questions; he was impatient to get to their destination.
Sonam led her past several houses. They finally entered a small yard lined by a short fence with boards spaced out. Some planks needed to be replaced. Instead of going into the small two-story house, he went around to the backyard, following the sound of small voices.
Three figures were around a small garden. The two shorter ones, a boy and a girl, were standing while a woman, their mother, was kneeling in front of the plants. Getting closer, Andromeda recognized that they were speaking Galahdian, but at an advanced level that she had yet to understand.
Grinning, Sonam stepped forward towards them and said something in their language. The three were startled to be snuck up on, then quickly got over it. The children ran and crashed into him. Their mother followed, being more reserved. She eyed Andromeda, standing a couple of steps behind Sonam.
His grin was not the same one Andromeda had seen before in camp; before, it had been a humored one, when he found something amusing. This grin was of relief. She hadn't thought Sonam had a family.
He hugged the children tightly for a long moment, then let them go. He embraced the woman once she was close enough, kissing her cheek. The children took notice of Andromeda standing awkwardly nearby. They stared at the foreigner, too young to know better. She guessed that the boy was around nine-years-old, and the girl was six.
Sonam turned to her, switching to the common language while still keeping an arm around the woman. "This is my wife Bulan, our son Narayan, and our daughter Malai."
"It's nice to meet you," Andromeda did her best not to stammer.
"This is Andromeda," Sonam explained to his family. He glanced at his wife, letting his arm drop. "I've taken her under an oath."
Bulan frowned at that. She had an average build, and the same amount of age lines on her long face as Sonam, but for different reasons. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face as she worked. Her eyes were notably sharp as she looked at him.
The children somewhat resembled their parents. Narayan had his mother's long face, but his slightly shaggy hair was brown. He was starting to become gangly. Malai still had the softness of a young child, with a rounder face. Her dark hair hung just past her shoulders.
Andromeda found them both unnerving. Though they didn't look anything alike, she kept thinking back to the children she had met in Tenebrae last winter, when she had been trying to escape the Empire. They had been around the same ages as these two. The children in Tenebrae had taken Andromeda to their grandmother to fix her wounds. In return, she had healed their mother of the Starscourge.
In the same night, Ardyn had tracked her down and found out. The whole village was burned to the ground—much like Andromeda's home had been, when she had been just a little older than Narayan—all because she had demonstrated the ability to heal Starscrouge. Only one person in the whole world was supposed to be able to do that. What that family had seen as a blessing, the Empire had seen as abhorrent. They blamed the incident completely on Andromeda, of course. No one had survived. She had just been trying to help and to go home; she hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt.
"Andromeda." Sonam was suddenly next to her. She slightly jerked her head, noticing the children going into the house with Bulan through a back door. "We're going inside for lunch."
She followed after them, ushered along by Sonam behind her. Once inside, she continued to follow Bulan to the kitchen. Narayan and Malai went into a bathroom to wash up. Bulan washed her hands in the kitchen sink.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Andromeda asked sheepishly. Bulan's expression outside made it clear that she was not happy with Andromeda in her house.
"No," The older woman answered, revealing that she did know the common language as well. "Just sit at the table."
The table was the only piece of furniture that separated the kitchen and tiny living room. The house was cramped; if Sonam was a leader of a rebellion and had a family, Andromeda would have expected a house that was a little bigger. At the same time, her family home hadn't been much different in size, and had sometimes been inhabited by more people.
She took at seat as told. There were six chairs in all at the table. It was two more than needed for the family, but perhaps they often had guests.
"Plates are in this one." Bulan told her, closing a cupboard door. She pointed to a drawer. "Silverware is in here."
Narayan and Malai came into the kitchen then, and were quickly given things to put on the table. The table was soon set for everyone with the children helping. Sonam appeared just as they finished, taking a seat at the head of the table. The children and Bulan also settled at the table. They then began preparing their own sandwiches.
"Help yourself," Sonam mentioned to Andromeda.
He was very different now that he was at home. He was far less intimidating and in command here; he was laid back and calm. Sonam was less direct and serious like he was at camp. His home was less orderly and strict as he ran the camp. The only similarity between the two was the bare minimum use of table manners.
Andromeda did as told. Sonam directed a question to Narayan and Malai in Galahdian, which she roughly understood that he was asking how school was. She understood the initial responses of "boring" and "okay", but the rest of the conversation was lost on her. Andromeda listened along anyway, even if she couldn't understand what was said.
Narayan turned to her with a question without switching languages. She was caught off-guard; she hadn't expected to be addressed, and in Galahdian. She tried to understand what he had said. The conversation at the table paused, waiting on her.
Sonam spoke up for her, thankfully switching to common. "She doesn't know our language. She's been learning at camp, but she has a long way to go."
Narayan and Malai only stared at Andromeda again. It was likely they hadn't met anyone who wasn't Galandian—or Imperial. That someone didn't understand what they were saying must have been baffling to them.
"Andromeda is from Tenebrae," Sonam continued, answering Narayan's question. "She's only been in Galahd for a couple weeks."
"Are you gonna stay forever?" Narayan asked.
"Did you meet the princess?" Malai asked at the same time, sharing his need to know these things.
Though they had spoken simultaneously, Andromeda had been able to understand them. She wasn't sure how to answer his question—she wasn't sure if such a thing was allowed. Malai's question was easier to answer.
"I met Lady Lunafreya once, in passing," Andromeda replied. Her answer pleased the girl.
"What's that mean?" She asked.
"It means we didn't get to talk for very long. I didn't get to know her. She's probably forgotten it by now."
Bulan looked to Narayan. "She will be working with your father so long as he keeps her under oath." She turned to Sonam at the other end of the table. "Did you explain that to her?"
"I hadn't thought to," He admitted. "I only explained that she was under protection. That was the most important concern."
She shook her head. "No one has made an oath with a foreigner before. It's not something we do anymore. How can you expect her to know what it all means?"
Sonam looked uneasy at her questions. There was more to this oath of protection than he had told Andromeda. She had to wonder why exactly he had brought her to his private home. She had thought they had a more professional relationship. It was a surprise that she was allowed into the villages with the chaos she could summon—yet at the same time, she could only heal people if she went to them in the villages.
The tension between the parents continued over lunch. Sonam chose to continue to engage his children in Galahdian. Andromeda resumed listening, too afraid to attempt conversation with Bulan as she sat next to her.
She helped Bulan clean up after lunch, eager to assist and to get into the woman's good graces. As Andromeda understood it, once the oath was made, it could only be broken through violence. She preferred to fulfill it. It was definitely just as important to prove her worth to Bulan as it had been to Sonam.
Once the dishes were cleaned and everything was put away, Sonam pulled Andromeda into a cluttered office. Surprisingly, for how cramped the house was, there was a separate room to have a simplistic office.
There was a stack of newspapers on the desk. Sonam picked one off of the top, opened to a specific page. He showed it to her, pointing to a specific headline: "Imperial base in Galahd destroyed by insurgents: second attack in a week".
"It's today's paper," He said, putting the paper back on top of the stack.
Andromeda had recognized the name of the newspaper. It was surprising to see the news featured in a Lucian paper. "Isn't that printed in Insomnia?"
"Yes. It's the only reliable news we can get around here." Sonam gently leaned against the desk. "When the Imperials took over, they banned all publications in Galahdian. Our newspaper here was never really big to begin with. Now it's more like a newsletter with all the censorship in place. They won't report any rebel activity. The Imperials don't want anyone to know about that."
"How do the Lucians know?"
"Spies, reporters." Sonam gave a shrug. "They're not exactly welcome here, but Lucian news sources are the best way to get news here. They don't have nearly as many censors." He nodded to the stack of papers. "The Lucians have taken notice, but the article is short. I don't expect anything from this. I thought you'd like to see our efforts getting attention."
"I don't think we want that attention," Andromeda mentioned.
"We won't get free of the Empire without getting attention," He explained. "If we get attention, maybe more of the world will start fighting back. Insomnia is still fighting."
"With your warriors," She pointed out. "How do you get newspapers from Insomnia here?"
"They're still delivered here from Insomnia. The Empire never stopped them—not yet, anyway. I'm sure they read them too." Sonam crossed his arms. "Bulan picks up a copy for me every time there's a new delivery. It's not exactly every day."
Andromeda glanced at the large stack of papers on his desk again. He had a lot of news to catch up on. She wasn't sure much of it would be relevant to them. Insomnia was its own little world, only concerned by what happened within its walls.
He sighed. "Now I should probably explain all of the obligations that come with taking an oath."
She paid particular attention now. It would explain why he had brought here here to his home, and why Bulan was so standoffish.
"It's a very old tradition. Even the elders back in their day abandoned it. But old traditions are still honored when they're used. A lot of them still persist; they've just been modified with the times," Sonam began. "It's something done just between the clans here. Galahd is not open to foreigners, so it's even more of a scandal that an oath was made with one. Very few foreigners have been allowed to live among us—stay for a time, sure, but eventually they are made to leave.
"The oath still binds you from harming Galahdians, and likewise Galahdians aren't allowed to harm you. But the main purpose of the oath is to bind a person to service of another person and their clan. You're expected to follow orders from me, and help my fellow clan members when told. In return, we house you, feed you, and provide whatever else you need."
"So it's just servitude?" Andromeda guessed.
He nodded, briefly relieved she didn't use a different word. "Pretty much. The oath ends when the payment has been fulfilled, and the debtor returns to their own clan. It used to bolster good ties between clans—give less fortunate families a place to send children for work with larger, better-off clans. Or for safety, if there was plague. It's actually fitting to do with a Tenebraen, after what happened there. It's a shame its warriors have been defeated; the Ngawang clan will foster the last surviving heir of their fallen resistance."
She cringed. "That's a dramatic way of putting it."
"It's that kind of zest that's going to get the Council to accept your presence and approve of our oath," Sonam assured. "Many Elders have supported the resistance behind the Empire's back, but they've been uncertain this time around. Obviously we can't show them what you can do, so we're going to have to fall back on the idea that a long-dead ally has surfaced. It'll give them hope, and they'll bolster their support."
He had a strong mind for politics; Galahd might have been just more political than at first glance. Andromeda frowned. "But if they remain unconvinced, will they make you break the oath?"
She might have gained some friends in their camp, but that did not erase the fact that she had first come to the islands on behalf of the Empire. The Elders would probably prefer a death sentence over an oath of servitude.
Sonam sighed. "They might, and I would have to. My fight is against the Empire. If I go against all of the other clans, then the rebellion is lost completely. We're fighting for Galahd's freedom, not for my own personal gain. Besides, the dramatic flair isn't far from the truth: you belong to the Ngawang clan now. You're almost part of the family, in a servant kind of way. As a foreigner, you can't remain while being clanless—otherwise you would just be kicked out of the islands. Someone has to claim you. So, you're part of my household."
The oath involved much more than what he had initially told her. Andromeda mulled it over. She didn't mind it too much, and it did seem to line up with what she had been doing for Sonam thus far. Bulan's attitude was much more understandable: he probably shouldn't have made the oath without consulting her first. Their house was already cramped enough with two children. Andromeda might get to know his family very well.
"Which brings me to another thing: what happened in the backyard?" He went on. "You froze. I've seen warriors do that a handful of times, usually as a result of some battle with MTs or daemons."
She had hoped to avoid talking about it. Remembering that night in Tenebrae had shaken her up bad enough; they were lucky she didn't dwell any further on it, or her chaotic power would have forced a repeat of the event.
Yet she had vowed after escaping Niflheim that she wouldn't lie anymore. Not when it counted. Andromeda took a breath. "When an Imperial took me to Tenebrae last winter, I tried to escape. I ran north. After a couple of days, a coeurl attacked me. I managed to kill it and kept going, but it got me in the side really good. I don't know how long I wandered, but I came across two kids. Narayan and Malai remind me so much of them. They took me to their grandmother and she patched me up. That's how I found out what happened to Tenebrae's rebellion, and how everyone now looks down on it.
"The children's mother was sick with the Scourge, so I healed her. The Empire found out and burned the whole village to the ground. They didn't want anyone to find out. They didn't let anyone escape. They pinned the fire on me, of course." She tried to shrug it off. "It's fine now. I just got caught up in the moment."
Sonam listened, his expression difficult to read. Maybe he didn't believe her at all, or perhaps he was reconsidering having her in his house.
"I worry about my family when I'm away," He finally said. "The Empire has known about me for years. They know my role in the militia before it was disbanded. Narayan was born right before the invasion. It was a hard choice, but I didn't want my children growing up without their culture. I didn't want them to be ashamed of being Galahdian, like the rest of the world would teach them. That's what encouraged me to join the first resistance. Malai was born after that resistance fell apart. The Imperials were too strong, and the Lucian support dried up.
"It wasn't easy to pick it up again and leave my family behind. But a bunch of young warriors—including Klahan—kept insisting that I start another rebellion. I was the only one of the old guard who did. The Empire leaves the villages alone so far. I have plenty of relatives to look after Bulan and the kids while I'm gone. If things get dire, I have some relatives that moved to Insomnia after Niflheim took over. Bulan and the kids could always move there."
"It's a good plan," Andromeda agreed. It had been exactly what her aunt had done when the Empire attacked Tenebrae. She couldn't help but think that her parents hadn't had the foresight to plan for travesty like Sonam did.
"Well, whatever the Empire knows or has done, you have a gift that can't be squandered," Sonam concluded. "You can't stop healing people—then the Empire would win and you wouldn't be doing anyone any good. The dead are dead and not acting would only make their lives wasted. You have an oath to me to heal people. Now, we should go find Tshering and see if he's found any sick people in the village."
They left the house and went back down the road to the heart of the village. The truck that had brought them there was still parked in front of the general store, its bed now full of supplies. The driver was nearby, preparing to make a delivery to their camp. Sonam picked up a conversation in Galahdian with him while he and Andromeda waited. It was a good place to meet up.
It wasn't too long before Tshering appeared and joined them. Sonam ended his conversation with the driver, stepping a few feet away from the truck for some privacy.
"Well?" He asked.
"There's a few shut-ins with sickness," Tshering reported. "Most of them sound like the normal stuff. Only a couple sound like it could be the other thing. One of the doors has a black sash hanging next to it."
Sonam nodded. "We'll look into those suspect ones first. That'll give plenty of time for rumors to spread before the Council meeting tomorrow night."
Tshering led them both on an eastward path, which was more narrow than the main road in front of the general store. Likewise, the houses looked even smaller—there was no way they could fit a full family in them.
They turned onto another dirt path lined by bigger houses. All of the houses in this village had the same white-washed look to them. Andromeda was certain they had all been built at the same time now.
Tshering approached one house in particular and knocked on its door. Sonam turned to her. "Don't talk. Just do what you have to do."
A man answered the door. Sonam and Tshering did all of the talking with him while Andromeda stood behind them. She understood a couple of words in the conversation: "medicine", "sickness", and "herbs". She couldn't follow the rest of it, but she understood tone and body language. The man was reluctant to let them inside, even a little angry with what the conversation was about. Tshering and Sonam eventually convinced him to let them in; the man stepped aside so they could enter, then shut the door behind them.
He led the way up a staircase to the second floor. They went down a hall. He knocked on a door, then opened it, speaking to the inhabitant.
A teenage girl sat on the bed in the center of the room. She was looking forlornly towards the curtained window, the light coming through filtered enough to be dim. She jerked as the man entered with three strangers. She scowled at them, hissing something at the man.
She wore long sleeves and pants—clothing that was too warm for this climate, at this time of year. It was an obvious sign of someone trying to hide the Scourge. She forgot to add a scarf to her ensemble: some of the black inkiness of the Scourge had crept up her neck and into the side of her face.
The man attempted to say words of reassurance to the irate teenager. Tshering joined in with his own calm tone. He turned to Sonam and said something, prompting the bigger man to step outside of the room, slightly put out. The man—who Andromeda presumed to be the girl's father—continued to reassure her, all while staying near the doorway. He managed to say something right that finally calmed her. Tshering gestured to Andromeda to approach the girl. They both did so, standing on either side of her.
Andromeda pulled out a crystal from her bag and took hold of one of the girl's hands. She immediately began to pull the Scourge into the crystal. The girl started to protest again until she could feel that pulling sensation. She remained very still then. Her father, still standing by the doorway, gasped as the Scourge left the girl's face, receding back down her neck, down her arm, and going through Andromeda to be deposited in the crystal.
She was allowed to keep working then. She continued pulling the Scourge out of the girl until she didn't feel anything left in her. She switched out crystals twice before finishing, letting go of the girl's hand.
As Andromeda put the last crystal back into her bag, the girl pulled her shirt off, causing the men to balk and turn away. She looked down at herself, taking in the twisted scarring that stretched completely over one side of her body, up the side of her neck and face. It was a side effect of Andromeda's healing, but it was clear that there was no Scourge in the girl's body anymore.
She looked up at the woman next to her, confused and feeling a whole slew of emotions. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Her father echoed more earnestly. "How did you do that?"
Andromeda wasn't accustom to giving an explanation, nor the grateful expressions of others for it. She had been told not to speak, but he was talking to her. She wasn't sure what to tell them; she preferred the truth, but it might have been too much of an explanation for them.
"It's just a gift I have," She mumbled, using Sonam's word.
The big man, who had remained outside the doorway, said more in Galahdian. He had still managed to watch despite being told to leave the room.
Tshering grinned at Andromeda over the girl's head. "We have two more houses like this to visit."
Sonam exchanged a few more words with the father, then they left the house for the next one. Like the first house, Tshering and Sonam had to convince people at the next two to let them in. They spoke Galahdian, but it also seemed that Sonam's presence had sway with the villagers. Everyone seemed to know him, and that only convinced them more to let him in.
The second house had a black sash hanging from the door frame. Tshering mentioned that it was a sign that the Scourge was in the house, and it warned everyone to stay away. It was rare anyone used it, as they didn't want to admit to the shame of having the Scourge in their home, turning someone into a daemon.
The victim inside had been an old woman, bedridden. Despite her advanced infection, she did not put up as much of a fight as the teenager. The victim in the third house was a frightened man, and had been certain the three of them had come to put him out of his misery. In both instances, Tshering remained close to Andromeda, speaking with them, and also posing to restrain them if need be. She got straight to work with the last victim, and he settled down once he knew what she was doing.
After the three Scourge victims were taken care of, there were also other ailments that needed to be seen to before the sun went down completely, and the doctor in the next town over hadn't come to the village yet. Sonam parted from Tshering and Andromeda. He didn't need to be present for the mundane injuries and sicknesses.
The sick and injured needed less convincing to let Tshering and Andromeda into their homes. The two of them spent the evening making house calls. She was grateful for his help, especially as a translator. She didn't know much about Galahdian folk medicine yet; Tshering took charge in most cases, making her the apprentice.
Once night had fallen, Tshering walked Andromeda back to Sonam's house. Most people had gone inside, yet a handful lingered outside, unafraid of daemons.
"I think you made an impression today," Tshering said with a smile.
"That's what Sonam was hoping for. He said the Council should hear of the rumors by the time they have their meeting tomorrow night," Andromeda replied, although she was uncertain. She didn't have a good gut feeling about it.
"Don't sweat it. Just don't talk. Sonam will do all of it. He'll take care of everything," He reminded her. "It's not like you're meeting with the Emperor or something."
"I did meet him once." She mentioned, looking down at the dirt.
"Oh yeah? How'd that go?"
It was unclear whether or not Tshering really believed her. Knowing that she had been a captive of the Empire, why wouldn't he? With what she could do, it was entirely plausible.
"I think it was easier than this Council meeting is going to be," Andromeda started. "I hated everyone in Gralea. I didn't want them to find me valuable or noteworthy. I didn't want them to like me. If they hadn't blocked my magic, I would have tried to destroy everything. But it's different with the Council. I want them to think I'm useful."
He took a long moment to reply, taking in her story. "I don't think it will be difficult. They'll hear the rumors, and what Sonam has to say. They've always listened to him."
She wasn't assured, knowing that a group of Elders would be relying on rumors and the personal account of Sonam. She didn't dwell on it too much, taking notice of a carved pole planted in the ground—it was much like the ones that marked the borders of their camp. By now, she had noticed that daemons did not cross into those borders.
"What are those for?" Andromeda pointed to the pole as they walked by.
"They establish boundaries of a ward. It's old magic." Tshering explained, then smirked. "Did you think royalty are the only ones with magic? You of all people should know better."
"My powers come from old magic in Tenebrae," She confirmed.
"It's not as strong as what the king must have, but the old magic works to keep the daemons away, and that's what's important." He shrugged. "It's the only old magic that's left to us. No one remembers how or why it came to be. We just keep making those wards before they can deteriorate. Makes one wonder if all those old fairy tales and legends might have some truth to them."
The situation seemed to have been the same in Tenebrae, although Andromeda had been too young to really know about it before she left. She didn't know much about its old magic, other than Etro and her Blessing. She knew from maps that Galahd had few havens; something had to keep the daemons away. The islands did not generate enough power for large spotlights. There were many dark places in Galahd.
As she thought it over, she remembered another peculiarity. "What does it mean to be clanless?"
"Well, it means you don't belong to any clan," Tshering said plainly. "Foreigners are clanless, and usually no one will take them in, so they're made to leave unless they have a very good reason for being here."
"That's what Sonam said," She noted.
"Among Galahdians, it means something very bad happened, or someone did something very wrong and their clan cast them out," He continued. "Without clan connections, a person doesn't have any rights: they don't have a voice at Council meetings, they can't own property, and they can't hunt. They're looked down upon as traitors, because they usually did something that went against our way of life. They have difficulty getting work and a place to stay, because no clan wants to be associated with them." He paused and winced. "It's shitty, but it's always been this way. Opinions can't be changed, especially among the older folks. Most clanless went to Insomnia after the Empire took over, although I think some things got better for them with the Imperials in charge. That just makes a lot of people suspect clanless of being traitors. Some of them were Imperial moles."
"But being clanless isn't always their fault," Andromeda said. "What did you mean when you said something very bad could have happened?"
He made a face as he considered his words. "It mostly has to do with politics. Galahdians are very superstitious. Sometimes tragic things happen, and we blame supernatural forces. Sometimes we believe a certain branch within a clan is cursed, probably because someone did something very wrong. To save the rest of the clan, the branch gets renounced and cast out. At least, that's one instance I've heard of. It's mostly just superstition and politics among clans."
She frowned as she took it in. She didn't feel any better about the politics in Galahd, and yet she depended on them in order to remain in the islands. There was a lot working against her that Sonam had to counter. Galahd could be hostile towards its own people. What if Sonam was cut off from his clan for making an oath with an enemy?
"You might be lucky to not be so caught up in it, as a foreigner," Tshering commented.
"Sonam said I belong to his clan now," Andromeda said.
"On a conditional basis. You'll always be a foreigner here," He pointed out. "The oaths were used for bigger clans to foster children from lesser clans, and help them get ahead. Once an oath was paid, the person usually married into the clan. Now oaths aren't even practiced, and we gave up arranged marriages long before that."
She cringed at the thought. She was learning quite a bit about Galahd that was making her feel conflicted. She was thankful that arranged marriages weren't a thing anymore. As far as she had seen, Sonam didn't have any relatives available for that.
"What was it like in Tenebrae?" Tshering changed the subject. "I've given you all sorts of information tonight. Now it's your turn."
She smiled at his teasing, giving a shrug. "I don't remember much. We have old forests like you have jungle here. The Empire couldn't get far into it. Tenebrae actually gets winter and snow, and you don't here. Our resistance was in the villages, so they didn't move like your camps do. My parents were very involved in it, so my grandmother and aunt did most of the work raising me. I was just old enough for the First Hunt right before the Empire attacked, but my parents always put it off whenever they were home."
Years later, their reluctance to take her out into the forest to hunt her first deer still stung a bit. Even after years of living in different lands where underaged hunting was unheard of, within cities where no one had to kill their food and acknowledge the cycle of life—that their continued survival depended on the sacrifices of other creatures.
Andromeda recalled Hira once telling her about her First Hunt in Galahd—it was one thing the two nations shared in common. At the time, she hadn't been allowed to lament to Hira about her missed rite of passage. She could only sit and listen, both impressed by and envious of the other girl.
"Tenebrae practiced First Hunt too?" Tshering asked.
"They did in the north where I grew up," Andromeda said. "Once a child turned twelve, a parent or some other guardian would take them out into the woods. They wouldn't return until the child killed a deer on their own."
"We have the kids do it completely solo here," He explained. "They're sent out into the jungle and told not to return until they've killed something noteworthy. Occasionally, they never come back."
"That's omnimous."
He gave another shrug. "We send a search party out. Usually the kid was killed by something bigger than they could handle. Occasionally they're found alive. But most come back with a trophy."
"What was your First Hunt like?" She asked. Obviously Tshering had been one of the many children that had survived.
He smiled apologetically. "It's kind of personal. We don't talk about it with others who haven't gone on their own."
"I'm sorry." Andromeda quickly said, realizing the blunder she had made. She had asked a question she shouldn't have.
"It's fine. You didn't know," He brushed it off. "Maybe someday you can take me to Tenebrae, and teach me all about the plants there and their way of healing. Let the student become the teacher and all that."
She shrugged at that. She didn't have any intentions to return to Tenebrae. There was nothing there for her. "Maybe."
They arrived at Sonam's house, having taken a very long way to get there. They had almost missed dinner. Tshering stayed with very little insistence from Sonam and Bulan. They seemed to know him more than from just the resistance. They all had lives beyond the rebellion. Andromeda felt like an interloper, witnessing something too personal.
After dinner, Tshering left, staying somewhere else for the night. Sonam's house wasn't very big to house the family of four that lived there; Andromeda's presence just added more stress to the space. Sonam and Bulan went into his office, shutting the door for a private conversation. It left Andromeda and the children to clean up the mess.
"Did you really come all the way from Tenebrae?" Narayan asked as he dried the dishes.
"Yes, in a roundabout way," She answered, scrubbing at a pot. "I left when the Empire attacked and went to Insomnia for a couple of years, then moved out into Lucis for a couple of years after that."
It didn't seem right to mention Niflheim in front of the kids. They would ask questions that she didn't want to answer. Her explanation already gave him something to take interest in.
"What's Insomnia like?" Narayan asked next.
Andromeda did her best to describe the city from what she could remember, but it had been so long ago. It was something from a different life, which these days didn't feel like it had belonged to her, but some strange girl named Andrea. Too much had happened since then. It was hard to believe that only six years had passed since she had left Insomnia. Andromeda had only recently started to be herself.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up, the parents had finished their private conversation. Bulan appeared only to usher the children to prepare for bed. Dinner had been put off until very late, waiting for Sonam and Andromeda to come home.
The conversation hadn't gone well for Sonam. It was clear by how troubled he looked, waiting for Bulan and the children to busy themselves upstairs. Andromeda stood awkwardly while she waited for him to say something. She felt out of place here in such a domestic setting; she didn't know what to do.
"You'll be sleeping on the couch. It's all we can provide," Sonam mentioned. Maybe he was struggling to exist here as well.
"It's fine," She assured. "Thanks for doing so much for me."
She had learned so much what was truly going on with the oath, and what Sonam faced with taking her in. There was a lot she hadn't known about, and still didn't know how to feel about, but Andromeda knew she ought to show more gratefulness towards him. He had had every right to kill her as soon as Hank was gone (she could already be dead as far as the spy knew), and the Elders were going to insist that that was what he should have done. The Council meeting was going to be difficult for both of them. It may end with dire consequences.
He gave a stiff nod, then went to a closet down the hall. "You'll probably want a blanket."