Chapter7

AN. Not sure if I should write anymore as ive bn reading imdcats hp stories and thnk mine is perthetic compared, oh well, this should plrobly be thrown in a trash cn smewere but oh well, it'd here instead.

The next day Mirrendi helped Amonsovn dress and bathed her eye. The fabrics of the clothes were strange and Mirrendi had tried to get her to wear a weird tube around her legs, which was tricky with her broken leg, the thing was tight at the top just below her stomach and clung around her legs getting in the way. Amonsovn had refused to wear it and Mirrendi had had to find her some of Feirthran's trousers, these where to short in the leg by at least an inch and they had to find a long belt to make them stay up. Mirrendi also found her a light brown shirt that was not tight, she did not like the tight shirts Mirrendi had tried to stuff her into first, Mirrendi wore them and they showed off her 'feminine shape' but Amosovn hated them and again they had had to find something ancient, they could not borrow from Feirthran this time as those would have been even tighter across the chest. The shirt she was wearing now was OK although she had already ripped the shoulders and there was a gap between the hem and the top of her trousers. That was alright though, it was a hot day.

They had got her seated in a straight backed chair by the window, her chest area was bound to some planks so she had to sit up poker straight, it was uncomfortable. Finally Mirrendi aloud the twins in to see her. Giabeirai and Hiarettet burst into the room when this was announced and the two of them were whitttering away in their strange tongue with their heads bent over a large brown bag. Amonsovn watched them, Giabeirai was robust with stark, dark brown hair that waved slightly to her shoulders, Hiarettet was very small compared to Amonsovn but was rather taller than most people her age and she was slim and sort of 'streamlined' with black hair like her mothers that also waved but all the way to her waist. They knelt on the floor in front of her and told her their names, giggling at her blundering attempts to get her tongue around them.

She smiled, it was the first time she had smiled since that fated day of flames. The movement felt odd, as if she was doing it for the first time. She looked down. The twins had emptied out the contence of their bag. It was things they had salvaged from the wreak. The first thing was Sagiaturiaris, her sword. Giabeirai held it gingerly and passed it over to her hurriedly. Amonsovn turned it over in her hands, the plain black leather sheath it was in was now extremely battered, perhaps she ought to replace it but she had always used that sheath, she did not want another. Amonsovn drew it, the twins jumped back. She smiled, the harsh, knowing smile of one who is pleased, not happy. The sheath and strap had taken all the damage and the blade itself was fine. She noticed the twins were looking worried. They were staring at the blade hilt and her right hand. The markings. She had forgotten about them. She sheathed the sword and looked at her hand. She made a half hearted attempt to smile at the twins and shrugged. She leaned Sagiaturiaris against the wall.

There was also a selection of paper thin slices of wood only a few of which were still intact. Then there was a pile of knotted cords. She gestured to them to pass her one. It was the longest cord which recorded her journey across the sea. Amonsovn then spent awhile trying to get across to them what it was. When they finally got the message they had insisted she begin to teach them and later tried to teach Amonsovn how they recorded things.

When the two had finally got bored Hiarettet passed her another of the objects from the bag. It looked like a wooden pipe that some people smoke tobacco in except that there were four holes along the top of the thin bit and one on the bottom and there was a thin wooden slide over the open top of the bowl and at the open thin end there were two slits in either side as if something was supposed to be slotted in there.

"Piicsiliavn, Pee-sill-yaan." Amonsovn said slowly. She pointed at some small, square, paper-thin slices of wood.

"Reihyx," She said, "Piicsiliavn reihyx." They passed them up to her and she studied them closely, running her fingers over them. Finally she selected one and put it in her mouth for a minute. She then put the wood, thicker end first, into the grooves. Amonsovn cupped the bowl end in her left hand and placed her thumb on the slide, she them curved her right hands fingers around the thin tube part, placing fingers and thumb so they covered the holes. She raised the end with the Reiyx in it to her lips and blew gently. It produced a beautiful, low, mellow note that seemed it ripple and whisper around the room then died away as if sliding out the door to where it had come from. Then she began to play. This had been her hobby as a girl, she started by learning to play the reekiiz, the same as the piicsiliavn except with out the bowl and slide and then she had progressed to the piicsiliavn and had soon become the best in the clan.

Amonsovn began to play a sad little tune of a woman who had neglected her only child and then lost him and now had to spend all eternity searching for him. A sad, pretty little tune. Well, that was what it started as, but as she played the tune seemed to change, it grew lilting and eerie. Amonsovn forgot what her fingers were doing and became absorbed in the new melody that was twisting throw. It made you think of towering cliffs and thundering waterfalls, lovers jumping to their deaths together, wars of blood and love lost. The twins sat spell bound, in the kitchen Mirrendi stopped pounding dough and paused to listen, Feirthran paused out in the fields, screaming children and crying mothers ceased to make a sound as the tune floated past, twisting and turning, this way and that. It was beautiful and sad but then the final clear notes of the piicsiliavn rippled to a finish and curled and spiralled away into the silence. Mirrendi dashed the tears from her eyes and went to rescue her burning flans, Feirthran sighed and went back to tending the field, life in the village began again.

Amonsovn pulled out the Reihyx and whipped it carefully on her shirt, she did not have many intact anymore. Amonsovn placed the things on the floor next Sagiaturiaris. They then spent the rest of the day trying to piece together the shattered bits of carved wood they had salvage, the name of her little boat, Asspsieaichan.

As time went by Amonsovn began to get better and her eye also recovered though it had been a near miss and she had added even more scars to her collection. She rose with the sun and went jogging along the beach to the rocks were she had been found to watch the sun rise, then she would continue in the same direction for a way and then would circle back over land, Feirthran had come with her the first times she went out and he could not believe she could go that far. Amonsovn became a regular sight in the village, morning and evening. 'The strange foreign woman Ara and her sword', she had been re-named Ara as no one could pronounce her real name, and she always carried Sagiaturiaris with her. Mirrendi and the twins could not understand her; theygot all excited over pretty dresses and the like while Amonsovn refused to ever wear them. Amonsovn had been taken to a tailor who had grumbled and muttered and whipped some sort of measuring device around her and she now had three serviceable pairs of trousers, four shirts and a jacket all in sensible shades of brown or black.

Amonsovn was jogging back through the village, there was going to be some sort of summer/harvest festival in a few days time and everyone seemed to be getting prepared for it. It was going to be a very posh thing, with little pieces of food on dishes and a real orchestra and the tailor Tepis was weighed down with orders for posh gowns and such like, this was the most important occurrence in the little village and everyone was out to make a good impression of themselves. Except for Amonsovn who had only agreed to come on condition that she was aloud to wear the same style clothes as she normally did. Mirrendi had finally agreed to trousers and shirt but Mirrendi had got her a red figure hugging shirt with a low neck line and black trousers that flared out around her feet. It was a good enough compromise. It was the first time Mirrendi was letting the twins go to it, they had never been aloud up that late before, and the two of them were very excited. Hiarettet was going to have a deep blue dress and Giabeirai darkish turquoise-green, they both looked rather nice in them, and Mirrendi was getting a gown the colours of the night sky. Amonsovn was happy with trousers.

Amonsovn reached the little bakery shop part at the front of the house. Mirrendi wasn't there. Amonsovn frowned. It was not like Mirrendi to leave the shop unattended. Just then Mirrendi burst in looking terribly excited. When she saw Amonsovn she began to gabble away at her. Amonsovn had a basic grasp of the language although she had a very strong accent, but what Mirrendi was saying in such a rush was beyond her. Mirrendi rushed away again. Amonsovn followed her through the door at the back, down the hall and into the kitchen/dinning room area.

The twins, Feirthran and Mirrendi were all clustered around a strange woman. She looked very like Mirrendi except she was a bit older and had black curls to her shoulders. She had to be Mirrendi's much talked about elder sister, Apheiunah or Aphei. Aphei looked Amonsovn up and down. Amonsovn regarded her suspiciously, she seemed familiar. And more disturbingly her image wafted in faint memories of smoke and the clash of steel. For a moment Aphei's face was replaced by a mans. Amonsovn blinked and the image and noise was gone but she found her hand on Sagiaturiaris with the blade half out its scabbard. Everyone was looking at her. Amonsovn hurriedly thrush Sagiaturiaris back and held out her hand in greeting.

"Hello." Amonsovn said. Aphei stared at her hand and back at the blade hilt over her shoulder and blinked. Aphei then shook her hand but with a queer, slightly puzzled expression.

"Hello," Aphei said and then turned back to Mirrendi and began gabbling with them again. Amonsovn shrugged and went back to her room and locked the door. She cleared the rooms clutter, most of it was old junk of Mirrendi's and the twins, to the sides and began her sword practice. When she had finished she went out side to practice archery. Amonsovn enjoyed these exercises, they aloud her to forget everything else and just concentrate solely on the rhythmic moves and turns or the target. She spent longer on them this time, she was trying to banish the mans face from her mind. She set herself allsorts of targets from a falling leaf a long way off to the targets she had actually created on tree trunks. There were some wild birds flying over head, maybe she would catch some for their lunch. She swung her bow up and fired three arrows in quick succession. Three of the black dots fell out of the sky at her feet. She scooped them up, that would be plenty enough for all of them, maybe she would catch some rabbits for their dinner. She turned. Aphei was watching her.

"That was well done." Aphei said giving her an odd, calculating look. Amonsovn shrugged, guessing what the woman mean and at the same time striving to keep the mans image from her mind again. Amonsovn walked past her to the house. She was actually earning some 'money' from the butchers for the game she brought in. This 'money' had really puzzled her at first, people would just hand things over if you gave them these small bits of metal, but she was getting the idea. Amosovn dumped the birds on the kitchen counter.

"Lunch." She said. Mirrendi handed her some tools and Amonsovn went out side to skin them. Aphei came into the kitchen where Mirrendi was working.

"She's a strange one isn't she." Aphei said. Mirrendi handed her a large piece of dough. "She's amazing with that bow of hers and you said she makes her arrows herself."

"She made the bow and quiver herself as well." Mirrendi answered.

"You know, there are a lot of jobs for some one with her skills up at Athens."

"I though you said there was fierce competition and that's why our brother decided to take off exploring to Crete and got work there on the ships, and she's female I thought they only wanted men."

"There is fierce competition but I've never seen someone with the skills Ara has, they won't give a damn if she's female or not when they see what she can do."

"She's that good, is she?"

"Definitely. You ask our brother, he said he may make it down here in time for the festival. This year it looks like it's going to be a blow out."

"I know, they've actually asked Ara if she will bring down a stag for them as well as Hebalt the butchers prize bull, I hope he makes it."

AN. Jst 2 kep u on ur toes, let me ask u this: Who is their brother? Yes 1madcat cn probly guess but I'm nt telling anybody. Things liven up a bt whn he turns up.