Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, Tamora Pierce has confirmed for us that Aly and Nawat had triplets- girls Ochobai and Ulasu, boy Junim. This story is supposed to be from the point of view of a young (but with advanced vocabulary) Ulasu.
Admiration
I remember the day she came to the palace. Junim, my brother, was sick in bed. Mother and Pappy were worried. I'm not sure exactly why, as the other children get sick all the time, but I think it had something to do with what type of people we are. We're part crow, you know. Pappy is a crow. Except he looks human, and he fell in love with Mother when he was in human form. Uncle Kyprioth told us when we were little. Junim was confused at first, and Ochobai got angry at me when I started to tell Pappy that I knew. Mother and Pappy told us the year after that anyways, and I still don't see why it mattered so much. But Ochobai is like that.
But what I was originally saying is that Junim was sick, and Ochobai was off somewhere, probably lurking around Uncle Taybur, and I was in the main courtyard of the palace. And maybe Uncle Kyprioth had something to do with it, but Aunt Dove was just coming out to get some fresh air when the beautiful lady rode up. She had something regal about her- I would know, you know, as Aunt Dove isn't really my aunt, and is really the Queen. The woman also looked similar to Aunt Dove, but more elegant and delicate.
Aunt Dove almost shrieked- I would know what she sounds like when she shrieks, you know, as she used to shriek like a crow at us when we were little to make us giggle- and ran up to the lady. The lady jumped down off her horse quickly, and they ran at each other, and they hugged. It was like something in one of Aunt Dove's bedtime stories.
The lady was Sarai, you see. Aunt Dove's sister. Mother says she went away before the three of us were born, and married, and went to Carthak, which is an empire way down in the south. The man she married is named Zaimid Hetnim, I think. He didn't come with her, though Mother says they're still in love. I should hope so. Mother softened up when she mentioned Zaimid Hetnim, I think she thinks he's good for Sarai. She was pretty stern when she explained to me who Sarai was. I know Mother is wonderful at hiding things from people, but I can tell what she's thinking. So can Ochobai and Junim.
Junim helped me, and we figured out that Sarai must have left with Zaimid Hetnim not too long before Aunt Dove became queen. We also figured out that Sarai is older than Dove. The noble's children talk about inheritance, and how the oldest is going to inherit, and we figure that the same goes for Queenship, so Sarai must have not become queen because she left with Zaimid. I think it's romantic. Junim didn't say anything. Ochobai shook her head slightly, but we know she only did it to mimic Mother.
Ochobai and I sat next to the couch in the private room where Aunt Dove and Mother and Pappy and Sarai went to talk. I tried to pay attention to what they were saying, but it was rather fast. Ochobai didn't pay attention, either- I know, you know, because she scrunches up her face whenever she thinks or listens really hard and she was just sitting there with her eyes wide, looking back and forth between everyone. I know that Mother didn't talk much, and Pappy didn't talk at all, but Aunt Dove and Sarai had a long conversation, and Sarai got all flushed and started smiling whenever she talked about her life in Carthak, and Dove seemed rather eager to tell her sister about things here in the copper isles. Mother raised her eyebrows a few times at that. Sometimes when Aunt Dove started talking for a long time Mother would make a funny comment and Aunt Dove would giggle and Sarai would laugh.
I can't imagine not telling Junim everything that was going on every day. I can't imagine leaving Ochobai for a long time, either, even though she does make me want to peck her quite often. I suppose it's something that'll be easier when we're grown up. Uncle Taybur acts like we are, and all three of us like that, but I do know better. Mother has siblings, too, and they're also in a different country, Tortall. We met her brother once, you know. He was friendly but didn't seem used to us. We also met Grandma and Grandpa, Mother's parents. I heard Pappy mention that they're natural with children. Mother said they'd better be, after raising her and her siblings. I wonder why Sarai didn't come to visit before this.
Eventually Pappy sent us to bed, where Junim was already asleep, and Ochobai fell asleep quickly too. I wonder what she did all day, since she was so tired. But I couldn't sleep. I didn't know how long had passed when I got out of bed again and started sneaking back along the halls to the room we had been in earlier. It's quite a large palace, you know, and we live right in the center of it, since Mother and Dove who's also queen are such good friends, but most of the private family-related stuff is in the same wing.
It was awfully quiet in the hallways. Not bad quiet, more like peaceful quiet. I suppose Mother and Pappy went to their rooms to talk to just each other after entertaining a guest all day. I don't know where Aunt Dove was. Maybe she got called away urgently. But Sarai was in the room alone, nestled in a comfortable chair, staring into space. Mother always told us to stop plotting how to grow feathers whenever we got that hazy look on.
This Sarai looked so friendly, and I was curious, so I shyly walked over to the chair. Better be forward, I decided, and "Hello," I said.
She started for a minute. Then she looked at me, and smiled instantly. I liked her smile. It lit up her whole face. I love Mother's smile, which Uncle Taybur calls 'cheeky,' and Pappy's. Sarai's smile looked kind of like Aunt Dove, though Aunt Dove's smile is a bit smaller and slower. And then she said "Hello," back. "You're Aly's little girl, aren't you?"
"Yes," I said, because Aly is Mother's name. "I'm Ulasu. Ochobai and Junim are my twins." The moment after I said it, of course, I remembered that we aren't twins, we're triplets. I made that mistake quite often. Ochobai always liked pointing it out. I know there's three of us, but twins is so much faster to remember to say than 'triplets'.
She didn't say anything about that. She just looked at me quite seriously, though she had a twinkle in her eye. "Aren't you suppose to be in bed?" she asked, but not in an accusing way.
"I couldn't sleep," I said. "And I wanted to meet you."
She beamed. I think she was delighted. "I'd love to meet you, too, Ulasu." She made room on the chair, and I climbed on up.
"Do you have any children, Aunt Sarai?" I asked. I hesitated a bit before calling her Aunt, but after all, Uncle Taybur and Aunt Dove and Uncle Kyprioth aren't related to us. And she is Aunt Dove's sister. She seemed to like it, anyway.
"No," she said, "my husband and I don't have any children."
"Aww," I said. "I should like to meet them."
"You're awfully friendly, aren't you, Ulasu?" she asked, but she wasn't saying it like it was a bad thing.
"Yes," I said, and rapidly changed the subject. "I like your dress." I did like her dress. It was small and silk and a pretty light green color, and it had blue embroidery. Aunt Dove had to wear dresses often, and Mother sometimes did, but I think Aunt Sarai actually loved them. She had been wearing the same one when she got off the horse. I suppose she was wearing britches under it, and hiked it up. I like that idea.
"Why, thank you!" she said. "It's one of my favorites."
"Ochobai makes fun of me when I wear dresses." I was feeling talkative that night, and Aunt Sarai had said she wasn't going to stay long, and Ochobai was asleep back with Junim anyway. "She says I'm girly and it's unpractical."
Aunt Sarai smiled at me. "There's nothing wrong with girly or unpractical. I think they're fun… all swishy, and pretty."
"I think so too," I said. "And it's annoying how Ocho teases. Junim never does. I love them both, though. I feel sorry for the kids I know without siblings. I'm bored often enough as it is."
"Siblings are wonderful," she agreed. "I missed Dove dreadfully." She gazed off into the distance again, but just for a moment. She returned to watching me with a slight smile, so I hurried on. I was starting to get sleepy, and I could smell a faint scent about her. Perfume, I think it was. It smelled just like she looked when I first saw her, delicate and capable. I wanted to be like that, I realized. Ochobai may have been only concerned about the capable, about changing things- well, she did like to have fun, of course, and we went on wonderful long treks, the three of us, but I'm talking generally here- but I wanted to be pretty and feminine and laugh delicately and smile radiantly.
I leaned against her, and she hugged me, so I lay down in her lap. Mother always told me I was rather forward with strangers. Not that Aunt Sarai was a stranger, I mean. "Tell me a story," I commanded.
"A story?" she asked. "Your Aunt Dove is better at stories than I am." But I nestled closer on her lap, and the silk felt weird. She had a bracelet on, one with green stones and gold, and it was digging in to me, so I unhooked it and dropped it in the chair. She started to reach for it, then changed her mind and put her arm around me again, and she slowly told me a story. It wasn't a very thrilling one, just something that happened to her and Aunt Dove when they were a bit older than I was, but by the time she had finished I was fast asleep.
The next evening she was going to leave. She had to return to Carthak and her husband whom she, as Uncle Taybur put it, was still infatuated with. I was dreadfully sorry to see her leave. The second day she had been there, I had gravitated to her side, and while Ochobai was playing outside I had been Aunt Sarai's shadow. I even followed her into her guest room and peeked into her trunk. I almost squealed at the sight of the pretty fabrics, red with gold patterns, lilac and blue, stitchery and beads. And she giggled like a little girl, and let me look at them.
I carefully picked up one of the delicate, lacy garments- it was actually not a dress, but a fancy shirt. When one strip of white lace fell off the sleeve (I don't know how. I'm never too rough, and I can't even blame it on Uncle Kyprioth because he's a god even if he is a trickster, and has no interest in such things) she called me over to where she was sitting cross-legged on the bed, and did my hair all fancy-like and tied it with the lace.
And then she dug towards the bottom of the trunk, saying that she had something she might like to give me, and took out a small object wrapped in fragile pink tissue paper. "I got it when Zaimid and I were traveling northern Carthak," she said. I opened it carefully, and there was this exquisite little jade figurine of a woman dancing, leg and arm extended. "It's so pretty," I told her, and slipped it into my pocket, and hugged her for what seemed like the millionth time since I had met her only hours ago.
And then we all trundled out to the courtyard, and a stable hand brought up her horse, and she started saying her goodbyes. First she went to Ochobai, and Junim who was allowed to come out of the bedroom, and she whispered something in each of their ears that made them smile shyly. Ochobai shook her hand, and Junim launched his arms around her.
Then she came to me. "Take care, Ulasu," she told me, gazing right at me with her warm friendly gaze. "I'll come visit you again," she said. "Be good to your mother and my sister, especially when you become an adolescent." Mother was always talking about when the three of us would be adolescents, and Pappy didn't seem to know why, and Mother explained that even she, when she was in her teens, became rebellious and dyed her hair blue and spent her time with all the boys. "I'll write you, even," Aunt Sarai said, and hugged me, hard.
And then she said goodbye to Mother and Pappy and Uncle Taybur. And then she and Aunt Dove embraced so long that Pappy began to look as awkward as Ochobai, Junim and I. And then she was on her horse. I had learned from her how much she loved to ride, and how passionate she was about it when she was younger, and how she still liked it more than any other form of transport. Right before she rode off, she turned and waved to all of us.
And then that evening, Aunt Dove seemed all quiet and sad. Mother seemed sad, too, in a way. Finally she said "I must say, Dove, it's much more downbeat around here without Sarai," and she and Aunt Dove smiled at each other, and I couldn't see any of Mother's skeptical expression, and I think Ochobai and Junim noticed it too. And then Junim, who was hyper from days of rest, poked Ochobai, and she made an indignant noise and started chasing him, and I started chasing him too, the figurine that Aunt Sarai had given me still bouncing in my pocket, and the three of us ran outside without stopping to put on our shoes.