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Chapter 49
The women living in the sanctuary experienced many different feelings. Some women were trying their best to deal with the betrayal they had witnessed by their families when they had been forced into marriages. Some were learning to cope with the fact that they were now cursed and had to live forever. Some were just glad to be alive, as well as living with no current fear about the chaos that was brewing on the other side of the boundary.
It was the feeling of betrayal that had forced Aura to pack her things in a hurry, and without saying anything to her queen or Shinko, she had left the sanctuary in search of her twin sister.
The information she had been given by Ademia and Shinko wasn't enough for Aura. No, she wanted to make sure that her sister was safe, and she wanted to see it with her own eyes instead of hearing it from someone else.
The last thing she had done before leaving the sanctuary with her weapons and belongings packed was bleach her hair.
She had used an extreme form of salt that one of the newcomers had brought with her. This salt couldn't be used in cooking, and without knowing what else it could be used for, Aura had taken a risk. Cleansing her hair in water first, she had then added the salt. Sneaking off to a remote area of the sanctuary, she had stayed in the sun for four days, making sure to add enough salt to her hair every other hour.
On the fourth day, she had achieved what she wanted. Her patience had paid off. She now looked almost exactly like her twin, Kahlan, except for the fact that she still had her brown eyes and her hair was cut short. She had been a little sad about cutting her hair, but if that was what needed to be done then she had no further objections.
Sneaking away from the sanctuary hadn't been a problem at all. She had managed to avoid the attention of Sun Tzu's men by acting and dressing like them — filthy and unhygienic, all the while making sure that none of them saw her brown eyes.
It had now been two days since she had left the sanctuary behind and tricked Sun Tzu's men. It was odd to be outside the boundary again, not to mention alone. Usually, when inside the boundary, she had always been accompanied by her white gyrfalcon. When she had decided to leave the sanctuary, the bird had turned itself into a small pendant that lay warm against her skin underneath her neckline.
Being an Untouchable entailed so many unique things, many of which required time to adjust to. First, the women each had an animal that followed them everywhere — except for Ademia. Second, the time outside the sanctuary worked differently than inside. Aura knew that for each day she spent outside the sanctuary, four days went by inside. It was as if the Goddess had decided to speed up everything, but in a way the time inside felt slow, because of the whole aspect of immortality.
At first, both Aura and Kahlan hadn't fully comprehended that when seven days had passed outside the boundary, it meant that a whole month had passed inside the sanctuary. The third unique thing, and one Aura almost couldn't accept, was the consistency of being desired by strange men. She knew that her sister was the one who had most trouble with this side-effect, but she had never really experienced it herself...until now.
She had never quite gotten used to the solitary way of traveling, so she had decided to travel to the nearest town in the hopes of purchasing a horse. She had considered stealing one of the horses Sun-Tzu's men had, but knew that he would easily trace it and eventually find her. No, it would be better to ride on a horse that she had purchased herself.
Walking inside the small town, Aura realized that it was almost like an outpost, or had been one in the early days. Now it looked like it had been abandoned for several decades, losing its importance as a representative for the Tortallan crown.
She hadn't been to this town before, so she walked into it with a frown on her face. She liked the design of the outpost, as she realized that the town had excellent escape routes. Reaching the first intersection, Aura looked to either side. The town was like a maze. For every established street, there were four to five paths branching off. It was something Aura liked.
The one thing she didn't like was the way that all the people she saw either disappeared inside one of the many small wooden cottages, or quickly closed the curtains in the windows. Aura frowned. Every single person she had seen until now had been a woman. There was, however, one exception. Namely, the one man she saw in this forsaken outpost that had stood in a doorway and stared at her as she passed him.
Aura ignored him, and found that she had almost walked from the one end of the small town to the other in less than a half candle-mark. She turned around and began her search for anything that resembled a barn or stable. There were a few, but none of them contained what she was looking for. It was only when she began her walk to the East, that she not only found what she had been looking for, but also realized that she was being stalked.
Ignoring the person behind her, she walked over to the door that led inside the fifth stable she had seen. She was about to pull the door open, when firm hands grabbed her from behind.
Quickly, Yuki's training kicked in, and Aura twisted around underneath her attacker's right arm. In the process, she grabbed hold of her attacker's arm and brought it with her, twisted it around to an unnatural angle. The man moaned in pain. Once she was positioned slightly behind her attacker, she kicked the man solidly in the hollow of his knee. Letting go, the man tumbled forward, his head crashing directly onto the door she had been about to open.
Aura stood still and waited for the man to move. When he didn't, she bent down to check his pulse. The man was still alive, but clearly unconscious.
"Finally!" a female voice exclaimed behind her.
"Sorry," Aura said and turned around. The speaker was not what she had expected. In front of her stood an older woman. Aura guessed that the woman must be near seventy or possibly eighty. Long, straight silver hair hung awkwardly over a skinny, cheerful face. The skin that had once seen too much of the northern sun was now wrinkled, but it complimented the woman's sharp cheekbones and told a story of famine. Mist-colored eyes that once had been piercing brown were fixed on Aura. It took Aura a few moments to realize that the woman must be blind.
The woman's clothes had seen better days, just like the rest of the people that suddenly emerged from their houses. It wasn't until Aura looked more closely at them that she realized they were all women. Aura was still clueless as to what the older woman had meant, but there was only one thing she could do and that was to ask, which she did. "I'm sorry," she said, stepping away from the unconscious man, "but I don't think I understand."
The older woman gestured to the man, knowing exactly he lay despite her apparent lack of sight. "That parasite has terrorized our small town for almost two months. We," the woman paused for a few seconds, before she continued, "my friends and I have tried to catch him, but as you can clearly see he is a large fellow."
Aura nodded, but stopped abruptly, feeling ridiculous. The older woman couldn't possibly see that. Feeling sure of herself, she looked closely at the man. He looked like a large, fattened pig. It was clear that the man hadn't suffered from hunger, and Aura would wager that he had stolen any food he could get his hands on, forcing the women to ration what had been left in their pantries.
"Anyway," the old woman continued, "I told the others that someone would come and help us get rid of him, and here you are!"
Aura's eyebrows rose significantly. "Are you a seer?" she asked, then suddenly wished she hadn't as her eyes landed on something shiny hanging around the old woman's neck. A pendant shaped like a butterfly glittered in the sparse light of the sun. The old woman had been an Untouchable.
The old woman laughed shrilly and stepped aside to allow the other women to pass. It took six of them to hoist up the large man and rather rudely drag him away, making sure that he sustained multiple wounds as his head thumped against the ground several times. The rest of the women just stood there, staring at Aura, their faces expressionless. It made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"No," the older woman replied, "being blind doesn't normally mean that someone is a seer, but we have been waiting for you. At least, what is left of my family and their friends has." The old woman turned around and began to hobble towards one of the fallen cottages. A few women stepped forth, offering hands, but the old woman only waved them away with a growl. "I'm blind you fools, not crippled."
"Family?" Aura croaked, now thoroughly confused. She looked around. Sure enough, most of the women had features that could only mean that they were related to the older woman. Aura tried to smile at them, but failed. There was nothing about the women's impoverished appearances to smile about.
Aura hurried after the old woman, who had disappeared into a cottage that looked as if it would tumble down at any minute. Aura stopped for a moment to assess her surroundings. The cottage had once been warm and cozy, built out of large boulders. There had once been glass in the small square windows, but now there was none. As she looked up, she saw the silhouette of a chimney.
"Who are you?" she asked loudly, and flinched when the older woman shouted in response.
"Don't just stand there, dear. Come in and close the door after you, there is a horrible draft coming through."
Aura did as she was told and closed the door behind her, even though it didn't help as air blew in through the glassless windows instead. Once inside, she found herself standing in a large room with a fireplace that seemingly hadn't been used for several years. Aura was pretty sure that if she tried to clean it out, the ashes would stubbornly refuse to be moved. The fireplace was where they resided and no one would force them away.
Turning her attention back to the old woman, who now sat in a rocking chair that had seen better days, she asked again, "Who are you?"
The old woman laughed, a rough sound that echoed in the crumbling house. "I'm actually nobody, but many years ago I was known as Kaya."
Aura felt her jaw drop. "The Kaya? Sun Tzu's sister?" she asked, baffled, knowing that the old woman, Kaya, couldn't see her astonished face.
Kaya laughed out loud again, her voice crisp. "You sound surprised."
That was to put it mildly, Aura thought. The woman, Sun Tzu's sister, had been an Untouchable only a few years after Shinko's arrival at the sanctuary. Aura knew that Kaya had reached the age of twenty-four when her brother had captured her, but what had happened to Kaya after that nobody knew.
When Aura didn't say anything, Kaya folded her hands together and leaned forward. "I'm sure you want to know how I ended up here…" she gestured to the cottage, before she continued, "and how I got to be old?"
"You are not old." The words left Aura's mouth before she could stop them. She sighed inwardly. It was as if she was becoming more and more like her sister, always talking without thinking. "I mean —"
Kaya held up her hand, interrupting her. "You mean that I still look beautiful, though I may have gotten a few wrinkles over the years and ended up like Shakith?"
Aura didn't know what to say, but Kaya continued, "Well, let's just say that I managed to escape my crazy brother with the help of one of his most trusted men…" Kaya smiled wickedly, and for a brief moment she looked like the twenty-four-year old woman she must have once been — happy and unconcerned.
Aura gaped. Kaya's escape had to have been something huge. Sun Tzu's temple was practically impervious. Furthermore, the general rarely left the large temple he had build for himself in the middle of the Northern wood, hidden under massive spells. He allowed his supporters to live in threadbare tents, while he surrounded himself with slaves that fulfilled his every need.
Aura shook her head. "I'm not surprised, just…" she paused for a second, "mildly shocked, but how did you manage to hide?"
Kaya chuckled quietly, leaning back in the chair. "My brother isn't the only one with a few tricks up his sleeves. He is rather ignorant when it comes to women. I would bet that he still sees women as having no minds of their own or even willpower," Kaya shrugged, "let's just say it is his own naivety that prevents him from finding me again."
Aura found a wobbly stool and sat down. Her legs were hurting her from the many miles of walking she had done. The answer Kaya had given her made absolutely no sense at all, and Aura was about to open her mouth to tell her as such.
"So," the older woman said as she leaned forth, her mist-colored eyes looking directly at Aura, "I have a proposal for you."
This took Aura by surprise. "You have a proposal, but you don't even know me."
"Oh, I know you," Kaya replied. "And I know Shinko, which is how I got you to come here."
Aura gaped. "You got me to…what?"
Kaya rose from her rocking chair and straightened herself as much as her fragile back could manage. "Oh, don't look so startled, Aura. You were meant to come here, though you are a few days too late." And with that, the old woman tottered out of the room, into the next.
Aura grimaced and followed the older woman, becoming more baffled by the second. For a non-seeing person, Kaya surely knew how surprised Aura felt. Also, it irritated her that Kaya sounded as if Aura had been something she had requested, as if she had ordered her to be here...as if Shinko...
Aura stopped short as realization hit her. Of course. She sighed inside herself and rolled her eyes, hoping her deceased mother, Tahlia, wouldn't rise from the Black Realm and scold Aura for her insubordination against everything Tahlia had tried to teach her daughters. Well, those nice manners weren't something Aura wanted to practice right now. She wanted answers.
Coming to a halt outside, Aura shook her head fiercely at the scene in front of her. "No!" she said, and turned to Kaya. "Absolutely not!"
The older woman shrugged. "Well, you don't really have any choice in the matter, Aura."
Aura only stared at the forty or so women who had all cut their hair and changed from ragged gowns to breeches and warm tunics. A few of them looked as if they had rolled themselves in the mud. Behind them, horses stood with saddlebags packed and ready to go. One of the horses had the unconscious man tied to its back.
Kaya looked up at Aura with something that could only equate to mischief in her clouded eyes. "I'm too old to lead them to Brick Stone Fort, and the Commander needs as much help as he can get."
Aura knew the big fortress. It was the first line of defense for that portion of the Tortallan border. "I'm not sure I can get them inside the Fortress —" she began in protest.
"Of course you can!" Kaya countered.
Aura opened her mouth, only to close it again. Kaya snickered. "I know for a fact that Lord Lyman is expecting forty-four workers the day after tomorrow to help fortify the fortress."
Aura pressed her lips together, knowing full well that she had been outwitted. "Aren't you coming with us?"
Kaya laughed and goose bumps ran down Aura's spine. "No, absolutely not. I have seen too much of this world —" Kaya suddenly stopped and shook her head. Without another word, she began to walk back towards the small cottage, leaving Aura to stand alone.
When Kaya reached the door, she stopped briefly and spoke, "This upcoming war is going to take sacrifices, so when you reach the capital, be sure to have your priorities in order. "
With that, the woman disappeared, leaving Aura standing in front of forty-three newly armed women and feeling as confused as ever. What had she said? Priorities and sacrifices? Aura's mind began to swirl. She began to shake her head to clear her mind, but stopped suddenly as someone tugged on her sleeve.
"We need to go," a woman said, and handed Aura the reins to a chestnut mare, "it will be getting dark soon and we can't stay here."
Aura, being as petite as her sister, looked up into keen, brown eyes. She shook her head, giving back the reins. "No, we can't leave without her."
The woman pressed the reins Aura's hands once more, looking at her sternly. "We have to," she looked around, "Our grandmother has already been collected by the Black God and soon this whole place will go up in flames. So, if you don't mind? We'd all like to be far away before that happens."
Aura's eyes turned to the southern edge of the outpost. Suddenly, a column of smoke began to rise steadily up into the air. "You are burning the town down?" she asked, almost frightened. She realized that the other women had begun to mount their horses.
It was the woman beside Aura who replied, as she swung herself up in the saddle, "It was our grandmother's final wish. Now, let's get going. The town isn't protected anymore and the fire will attract too much attention. We do not want to be here when Sun Tzu's men come crawling and snooping around."
Aura suddenly understood everything, and with one last look at the ramshackle house that Kaya had disappeared into, she mounted her horse.