The girl had been asleep for three days, on and off. The few times she had been conscious it had only been to yell feverishly for her mother, her father, even her shawl. Gan was beginning to believe that they should have left her where they'd found her. He had argued with Larn for almost a half hour before he had finally consented to letting her come along. And now she was slowing down the Caravan.
Even Gan's wife, Mara, was beginning to lose her maternal instinct. She had found the girl and promised Gan no peace until he gave in to letting her help the child. The thought of having to answer to his wife had been the driving force in his argument with Larn, the Caravan's elected leader.
Larn had finally agreed, on the one condition that she would be left in Chitret, the closest city. And Gan had been only too happy to agree. He already had 4 children, 3 sons and a daughter. He didn't need another.
As if on cue, Elli burst from their wagon and ran toward her father, excited. They had stopped for the night and he had come out into the fresh air, needing relief from the stuffy medical feeling that had taken over his Wagon.
"Father, father, come quick! She's awake!"
Gan's head shot up. If she was awake, that meant she was getting better. And the sooner she got better, they sooner she was out of their hands. He followed his daughter back in, startled to see the girl sitting up. Her eyes were wide and she had a wild look about her, with hair tangled from three days in bed and who-knew-what else puffing out around her face.
"… afraid, dear. We're here to help. You've been asleep a long time." Mara was still sitting on the little stool next to the cot, speaking soothingly. "It's been three days since we found you by the edge of the woods."
The girl frowned a bit. "Three days?"
"Yes, child." Mara looked up and caught sight of her husband, beckoning him forward. "This is my husband, Gan. I am Mara." She paused, waiting for the girl to say her name.
She paused as well, as if thinking deeply. Finally she said, "I am Rina."
It was obvious that the name was made up. Mara frowned and opened her mouth, but Gan cut her off; it didn't matter what the child's name was as long as she wasn't sick any longer. "Nice to meet you Rina. May I ask how you are feeling?"
Mara turned her frown on her husband, silently chastising him for his insensitivity.
"I feel… tired, I suppose." 'Rina' answered quietly.
"Of course you do, Rina. You ate Ginsa berries, didn't you? They're red and grow near water. You can tell by the red blotches of skin that appear on the face and hands; you've had a lot of them." Mara pointed to the spots on her fingers.
The girl frowned again. "Oh, I see." She paused. "I'm sorry if I was any sort of an inconvenience."
Gan suddenly noticed Rina's accent. She didn't seem to be from around here. Her voice was a bit nasal, like the Ilians, in the east. If she was from Ilian, she was a far way from home. Almost a week on foot.
"Of course not!" Mara said indignantly and instinctively began to fuss over the poor girl, plumping the pillows at her back and pulling the covers up as far as they would reach. "And you'll be staying here for another two days at least, regaining your strength. I've seen cases where Ginsa has killed; you were very lucky."
Gan winced inwardly at the mention of two more days. Another two days before she would even be able to do a chore or two. Another two days when all his wife's time was taken up caring for the mysterious child they'd found half-dead by the side of the road.
He glanced toward the little box where'd they'd put her jewelry. She had been wearing a hair clip that, although a bit scratched, looked quite valuable as well as a pair of jade earrings and a gold ring. Her clothes looked fine, beneath the dirt, and her tone was sophisticated and polite.
Gan would have suspected that she was noble, but for her condition. Nobles protected their children well, and had it been known that she was missing, there would be patrol-upon-patrol of soldiers out looking for her. It was more likely that she was a servant's child turned thief. Or a merchant's daughter who had come with her father on a trip and gotten lost. That was it. The daughter of a merchant.
Mara instructed Elli to feed Rina a weak broth and some warmed milk, all her stomach would be able to manage. Then she ushered her husband out, stopping just outside and looking back worriedly.
"There's something very strange about that girl." She said, frowning a bit.
"No, no, I've already thought it through, and she's most likely a merchant's daughter who's been separated from her father's traveling group. She's heard the rumor of bandits and most likely all the tales told about the Ravi being murderers and scamps. That's why she doesn't trust us with her real name. But at least she's conscious enough to not trust us. That means she's getting better, and that means that we'll be able to leave her in the city." Gan said quickly, trying to divert his wife's mind before she made the girl one of her 'special cases'.
Mara was famous, occasionally infamous, for the way she had of getting involved in everyone's life. She knew what was happening with everyone, all the time, sometimes before they knew it themselves. People came to her for advice and occasionally she would come to them, whether or not they wanted her to. And every once in awhile she would sort-of adopt someone until she deemed them 'well' again, physically and mentally.
"I doubt it." Mara replied. "She doesn't seem like a merchant's daughter." Gan got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Of course she is! And if she isn't, I doubt it matters much anyway. She looks like a sensible young lady and I'm sure that if it would help her, she would have told you her name and why she's here. Or she will. Which is why we ought to head right back in there. And so she'll get well soon!" And Gan was fairly pushing his wife back inside the wagon, straight into Elli, who was in the process of jumping down and almost kicked her mother in the face.
"Elli?" Gan had hoped to get his wife inside and distracted before she began the inevitable process of wearing him down.
First she would say 'I'm not sure if they're alright Gan. Can't we help them just a little longer?' and then Gan would search for some reason why they couldn't that wouldn't make Mara say 'Oh, you're heartless! They're staying, and there's nothing you can say about it!' then storm away. Because then it was the end. There was no reasoning with her after that.
But in the end Gan always gave in anyway, because he knew just how awful his life would get if he refused. Little glares constantly being directed at him from his wife and whoever she had told, constant pointed remarks about how much so-and-so's family was helping, ill-prepared meals.
Gan hoped that by simply avoiding the topic he could also avoid the ensuing chaos. Just two more days and she would be gone. Five days altogether. The last time one of their 'guests' had been through that fast had been the baby rabbit Tai had brought home, and that was only because he had died a few hours later.
But Elli had come out, which could mean that the girl had died, but probably didn't. Gan shuddered to himself. That thought had been heartless.
"Don't worry, nothing's wrong. She just asked if she could feed herself and I felt strange just sitting there and watching her eat, and I couldn't think of anything to say, so I came out here." Elli said quickly, seeing the look on her mother's face.
"You left her alone! She could… she could… You did tell her to yell if she wanted anything, right?" Mara's panic dissipated and she turned back to her husband, remembering her point. "And I don't think she's a merchant's daughter. Did you hear that accent? She's from Ilian, I'm sure of it. And her jewelry. It was expensive! Her dress too, it was fine. Few merchants would wear that much finery on a simple trip, or let their daughters wear it. And how did she manage to get separated from him so much? Wandering about in the woods, eating Ginsa berries. And her father would undoubtedly sent people out looking for her. No, no, there's something more going on here."
Gan felt his hopes slip away. "But… but, if there is, then she'll probably tell us. Tomorrow, maybe. After she's gotten over the shock of walking up in a Ravi caravan. Until then, maybe we should just leave it. No use worrying over something we don't even knew about!"
Mara rolled her eyes at her husband's ill-disguised attempt to keep Rina from becoming one of her special patients. "Fine, dear. We'll wait until tomorrow. But we will discuss this tomorrow." She said threateningly.
Mara walked away, toward the community fire circle that was being formed two wagons over. Gan shook his head. Sometimes he wondered why he had ever married her.
Serena watched the girl leave the wagon. Elli. That's a nice name. She thought idly.
Her head still swam a bit and she was hungry. Very hungry. Three days? Her thoughts swarmed about, forming into little sentence-lets before swimming off again. She had felt perfectly calm when the people were in the wagon. Surprisingly. Or, rather, more sort of surprised.
She hadn't known what to think, so she had been able to concentrate on what was going on, instead of thinking. About something. She didn't know exactly what she was supposed to be thinking about.
But alarms had gone off in her head when they asked about her name. So she lied. And then… two more days? Till she was better? And how did she feel, really? Tired. Head-ache. Her stomach hurt, a little. Her body felt stiff. Three days. Why was it always three days? Always. Did the body just sleep for three days? Was it really a magic number?
Serena sipped at her broth. It was bland. And her milk was too. At home, she usually got a little bit of cinnamon, sprinkled on top. But she wasn't at home. Where was she?
The three people – there was that number again – they had dark skin. Well, not very dark really. More… cinnamon colored. Except not quite so red.
Serena looked around, suddenly realizing that she was in a bed in the middle of a wagon. That was obvious. There was a large opening across from her, and she could see the half circle shaped tarp over her head. And she wasn't on a bed, really. More like a mattress and some blankets.
The wagon was surprisingly neat. Most wagons Serena had seen looked like giant junk heaps. But here… along one side, neatly arranged and contained so they wouldn't shift, were boxes and bags of what looked like food. A few clumps of herbs hung down from the ceiling and there was a little pile of firewood in the very corner.
The other side was mostly bare, except for a stool and a thick roll of cloth that could have been another 'bed'. But in the corner next to the opening was a display that almost made Serena gasp.
Colorful scarves and jewelry gleamed playfully out from wooden boxes; a glass orb rested, gleaming, on a bed of red cloth; brightly colored balls and long sticks poked out from among the mass.
These people were Ravi! Serena really did gasp with her realization. Small groups, Caravans, traveled the world, carrying with them the workings of a small circus, complete with dancers, fortunetellers, clowns and acrobats. But they were widely considered to be thieves. Although many would come to see their performances, few actually trusted the performers and it wasn't uncommon to see people in the crowd actually holding their coin pouches.
But Serena's mother had spent time with the Ravi, many years before. She said that they were like everyone else; some were thieves and scoundrels but others were the most wonderful people you would ever meet. And still others were relatively normal, except that they could pluck a bouquet of daisies out of a hat. It was simply their misfortune to be always strangers, for the Ravi did not even have a kingdom to call their own.
Serena felt a chill creep down her spine. The Ravi. Lady Kristin had always smiled when she talked of them, as if remembering something wistfully. But whenever Serena asked, she just shook her head and said 'I'll tell you when you're older' which, of course, only around Serena's curiosity more. But now… now… she might never hear that story.
Serena yawned and ate her soup at quickly as she could before settling back down into her little bed. She was overtaken again by the feeling of exhaustion that was becoming all too familiar and slipped into sleep once more.