Trigger Warning: The following chapter contains strong content of which involves: sexual situations; loss of life; childbirth/choices, discussions about past history of sexual violence/force, suicide; tragedy; and may be uncomfortable for readers.
Part II:
T'URIEO
continued
In the evening Braith joins the Sereptas in the slave quarters building for dinner instead of her Behedins, who either go to the cottus to eat with Aspah and his wife and daughter, or to their own homes to be with family members…She finds Coli and Ricia at their half-room, earlier than the rest, their hunt in the hidelas over sooner than other tasks in the city. They sit together at the old table upon which Braith remembers her first bed there in Mohouni…More space opens as a result of the third installation to the top of the building's structure. Tables exist in one of the half-rooms now full-time, and on these are bowls and platters with food, which they serve themselves by…The rest of the Sereptas trickle in…
Asifa comes over to Braith, Coli, and Ricia with a suspicious expression, and her patak opens with surprise, ( "…You look so different! You are leaner, look at your muscles!—And your hair—It is so long!…" ) she exclaims as she holds Braith's shoulders from behind, and leans round the woman to peer closely with her inspection. Braith smiles and greets her as she turns and the pair embrace…Braith turns from Asifa as she nods to something, and sees Mia'tonia enter the building, her belly swollen over her sash and Davied happens to be in tow behind the pregnant drellahna.
Mia'tonia gladly accepts the seat on the bench Braith rises from to offer, at the table with the others…More faces she recognizes from Chiata enter the building as Braith inquires, ( "…How is the belly doing, Mia'tonia." )
Mia'tonia dismisses the question with a flip of her hand, but says, ( "…It is overdue, he does not want to come out..." )
( "'He…'" ) Braith smiles, for Mia'tonia now seems certain of the baby's gender, ( "…When you say he is overdue, are you joking—or is this normal, abnormal, what…" )
Mia'tonia nods abruptly with her knowledge—that reinforces her opinion in this, ( "…Most children are stubborn to leave the womb, and this being Traus's child…I imagine the child will be more so, if not fearful to enter this world…" )
Say something supportive and that won't trigger more grief for her, Braith thinks, as she struggles to suppress her frown over Mia'tonia's statement about Traus's sire-hood of the fetus, ( "…Have you considered a name?" )
( "No…The child will be too weak…It might not even survive the labor, Shepard," ) and she glances at Braith and Asifa, ( "…I need to lay down. My back is hurting." ) They assist Mia'tonia by her hands, as she lifts herself from the bench, and Braith walks her over to a mat on the ground, away from the others. She helps her lower herself down. The building fills with more Sereptas as Mia'tonia sits, and lays on her side. She looks at Braith, ( "…Thank you, Shepard. You did not have to help—" )
( "I do," ) Braith says softly and interrupts, ( "…You did not have to take care of me when I tried to kill myself by the lash," ) and she sees Mia'tonia give her a long look, but suddenly grin.
( "Good," ) she places her crests against her arm as she looks up at the woman in nice clothes these days, ( "…I always worried you did it because you wanted to help me personally, because of your father. I will sleep better now, knowing that is off my conscience…" ) And Braith pats her arm's side as they both share in her grin…Braith wears an official ba'tran of the house-clan, as an honor Aspah bestows on her for her duty to his Behedins…She does not wear the gear she wears on the hunts, now she is in possession of such options and is in the city to rest from her work in the borderlands…Her old slave garb is no longer part of her wardrobe…She leaves Mia'tonia to rest, and goes back to the table where she speaks with Ricia and Coli about the day's hunt.
Braith learns her di'lean—Griffin—returns this day as well. ( "You actually found that beast?" ) Braith says with disbelief, and adds with a wry smile, ( "…Give him to me. I will put him with Kalare, and have my wagon rooker break him in…" ) Coli leaves to grab them mugs of tea, and he laughs as he comes back with these, and passes one to each.
( "Leave the Griffin alone," ) he knows of Braith's former name for the di'lean—that accosts her for the dead food scraps in the hidela, many months ago before she becomes Behedin that same fateful day, after her kylah attacks the burrells—The word pronounces awkwardly in his accent, ( "…You have the Behedin rookers…Those are fine beasts. The one, Kalare, you have a good bond with? She is huge…" )
And Braith nods, ( "…The females are much easier to get along with. Not sure why Griffin's such a pain in the ass, but I like Kalare the most, and we seem to prefer each other." ) Braith looks over her shoulder—at Mia'tonia's long bumpy form on the floor, in the back area of the half-room they are in, ( "…Will she be okay? How is the pregnancy really going," ) she turns back to the others, as she whispers confidentially to them at their table.
Ricia gives a shrug with her shoulders, ( "…Mia'tonia is Kerhasla. She knows the better of what is happening inside her belly. Leave her to herself, she knows how to handle these things, more so than the doctors. Mohouni does have doctors—if she needs an assistant," ) and the drellahna starts to chuckle with the others.
( "She is actually going to go through with having that baby," ) Braith shakes her head, ( "…If it were me, and I had the tools, Konis's child would never come out and see the light of day." )
( "It is not the sin of the child that starts, and ends, with the sire-drell," ) Ylyssus's voice turns her to see him as he leans round her shoulder, and searches her eyes, ( "…Mia'tonia—for all she curses Konis and that belly he forced upon her—gives the unborn a chance. You should keep such thoughts to yourself, or try to be more understanding…" )
( "Easy to say—by an unattached drell about a drellahna who has to give birth to the child of a murderer and a rapist, who did it while she was married, imprisoned…Were it me?…" ) She turns about on the bench to face him in front of the others, ( "…Were it me, what if I were Drellahna, and you my husband, and Konis raped me…What would you do if he raped me and gave me a child as a result." )
( "That is not a question I will answer," ) he says, and at the blatant looks by the others, Braith's audience and support in her question, he sighs…He glances round, before he looks at Braith and calmly, in a stern voice, as his arms come to his sides, he exposes his thoughts to her, and her audience, ( "…If it were you, I would kill Konis—if I could get my hands on him and do so…I would help you raise the baby, I would help you care for it as if it were your—our—own..." ) Braith stares at him for a long silence as no one speaks, then suddenly she stands and walks away from him.
She happens to pass Davied, who catches her arm, stops her, and starts to discuss an entirely separate topic with Braith.
It is not as important as he makes it—Davied does this to keep her from her abrupt departure, on Ylyssus's behalf…Ylyssus feels in a place…An uncomfortable place…
Everyone watches him to see what he does next.
He feels their eyes as he moves forward and around the table's occupants, to Braith and Davied who looks from Braith's to his eyes as he comes closer, ( "…What is it, Ylyssus, can't you see that we are in the middle of an utmost personal and important conversation?" ) Davied asks with such sternness in his voice, that it is obvious it is an act…Ylyssus is aware of Davied's intention, and he almost chuckles at the chimilys's efforts to help him. Braith turns from Davied and looks at the drell beside her.
( "I need to borrow her for a short time," ) Ylyssus says with an apologetic duck of his crests to Davied who continues to feign his mock irritation: with arms in a lace over his chest, eye rolls, little huffs, sputters, a dramatic head shake, hip shifts, ( "…There is also something important I wish to discuss with Braith," ) Ylyssus must try very hard not to break out in laughter, ( "…and it may not wait…You won't mind if I take her—Of course you do…I will return her, Davied, I promise—" )
( "Pfft, fine…" ) Davied gives him a scornful look, ( "…I will be patient—if this lover of yours cannot," ) Davied finally gives a last huff, and says to Braith, ( "…We will talk more?" )
He smiles at her wink and nudge, ( "…Definitely, we will talk about Yvona later..." ) Braith's gaze moves to Ylyssus who directs her by a nod—towards the exit of the building, and they leave Davied to squeeze through the crowd of Sereptas and go outside to talk…
( "Speaking of Yvona Caratoda," ) Ylyssus segues into his topic, ( "…I saw your fight with her today, in the plaza by the sponsor cottus…" )
( "So you did," ) Braith answers, her eyes ahead as they walk and no less than a vacant expression.
Ylyssus stops and looks at her as she takes the next steps alone, "…You have been receiving training with Cemal the morthwyl…I know him," he says in Common Speech, Braith's steps now at a pause, "…Why did you not tell me?"
She stares back, her lashes low in scrutiny of him and what he shares, "…What…what did you say his name was…Cemal?"
"Yes, that is his name. He was the kylah you met in the hidela, that was who it was, isn't it…He is taller than others, uses twin blades…Blades like the very ones you used against Yvona Caratoda, and you apply a signature move of his…Hekelah, you move like him…He is wanted by Merce'des…He is a wanted criminal and you work with him…"
She approaches him and stands very closely as her voice lowers to a whisper, "…What are you going to do, Ylyssus…Is this where you tell me you are going to report me to your masters, tell them I work with someone who trains me to fight for myself, to defend myself against those like Yvona Caratoda, who would hurt me—or against other beasts, Drells among them?"
"You did not have to fight her, did you…If you can fight so well, and Cemal teaches you to competently defend yourself, why did you allow Dolatrafas to force himself upon you."
"You suddenly lose some brain cells, Ylyssus," her eyes sharpen with her tone and he experiences the intensity of her true feelings from that matter, "…You—of all people!—you shouldn't even think to ask what made me let that happen!"
"I wish you hadn't let it," he says and feels worse—now he knows what he suspects to be true, "…I would rather suffer the caton, than know you suffer because…because you are protecting me..."
"What's the use of telling me that," Braith leans away, and turns from him, her eyes distant, "…I make sacrifices for those I care about…Anyway, it's done—Bromthas and the others took care of everything…Look what's come as a result," she lifts and drops her bare arms, scars riddle these, as she starts to walk down the lane—in her new clean ba'tran and all those silks imply with their meaning…The evening turns their view orange and purple with shadows and dusk light upon the city.
"I thought about a number of things last night, Braith," Ylyssus starts to walk along, and slowly catch up…He takes his time, as he treads the dirt, as if he minds the lane's pat-ground under his booties to buy himself a few more seconds, and drum up courage. Ylyssus pulls the token from his sash—the one he tosses last night, after Mia'tonia warns him how stupid he is to hope—and rotates the wooden ring with its carvations between his thumb and middle pair of fingers, "…I realize you are pulled in many directions…I wish it were not so, Braith, and I…I want to give you something…Silly maybe, but…I want—I want to show you that—that you are appreciated…I do not have much in terms of…means…to do this, but…but this…" He hesitates, …Too late to turn back now, Fool…"To remember me by…" He does not quite understand why he ends it that way, and after Braith stops, turns, and lowers her arms from their lace over her chest, Ylyssus hands the ring to her, sets it in her palm as she extends her hand towards his gesture.
"Where are you going," she asks, and takes deliberations to hide her fear from her tone and face, that for some reason Ylyssus is to leave Mohouni, to leave her—as she looks from the ring to his expression.
"Nowhere," he smiles with perplexity at her question, "…Where would I go?…" he asks with a chuckle, "…You are the only one who really gets to go anywhere…It is…it is for when you are with your Behedins…Do not get lost out there, and think you are not…loved." She slides the wooden token onto her third finger—much to his surprise.
Braith stares at the ring, there in its nestle between her middle and small fingers…and her eyes begin to squint, as if she fights back sudden turmoil…Oh, Ylyssus, what would I do without you…She turns a few degrees away, then turns back, and swiftly embraces him…They stand in the middle of the lane's intersection with a crosslane and at the next intersection, east of theirs, Dolatrafas watches during his halt from his walk to Braith's cottus, from his muck-out of the Behedins' rookers pens that evening…
As Ylyssus holds the woman in his arms, Dolatrafas's jealousy keens its edges…
"I think it's time I tell you about me," Ylyssus says against her hair and cheek, "…Things I haven't told you and I want to…They're not…It's not good what I have to share, but…judge me, or judge me not, I will tell you…"
Dolatrafas witnesses them part from their embrace, and the drell, Ylyssus, take a hold of Braith's hand…
They walk farther down the lane while the city around them behaves in its evening habits, and as they walk, Ylyssus informs Braith who he is, and why he is in Mohouni to work for the house-clan as a slave…Braith is no stranger to some of what he says, but when she hears from him of his behavior on Merce'des, and he shares with her the ugly truth, she removes her hand from his palm, and looks at him as if he is Konis Traus…Ylyssus understands and expects this reaction…
"I decided that…if I want to move forward, I should face the regrets that my 'kindnesses' caused as a consequence…after meeting you, knowing you, coming to this point in my thoughts about…" He looks at that stare in her eyes, wills himself to, and what he sees is what he fears, "…I want to be sure, if what I feel for you, is not the same as what I felt for those women…You're not another victim…I don't want you to think that way…We started…I started sleeping with you and it was okay because you were using me…A deal, but I'm not sure anymore…If Cemal believes in you, that means something to me, too…"
"What does Cemal have to do with what you've done…"
"There was an opportunity for him—We met once…He should have killed me, but he did not…"
"Why—why wouldn't he…What were you doing?—Did he catch you with someone, one of your victims?…"
"Morthwyls are…" He looks downwards, "…For all the animosity between Drellkind and their own, Morthwyls are said to be able to read more than just Silent Tongue of Drells…They can read a soul simply by looking at you…and Cemal read mine…He said I was pure—that my intentions were, for what that woman desired from me, not my own…He did not kill me that day..."
"How long again was this…"
"Eighteen years ago…There was an attempted breakout by Cemal on Merce'des…He was there for one who was captured, and though his friend did not survive, he killed many just to reach her…"
"A female morthwyl…"
"No…She was a drellahna in the same set of cells I was visiting while I was servicing another woman…" He clears his throat, "…Cemal, and she, they were kindred spirits…I know because I had the opportunity to speak with Dahnna…They were close friends…in love with each other," his voice tapers…
"You didn't try to sleep with her?…But went and lay with the others?…You chose Human women because…they 'asked' you to sleep with them? And she didn't ask you, but why didn't…You only spoke to—What made her special!…Compared to the women you slept with, who were—what…" She angrily fumbles the ideas in her mind, that might explain why Merce'des condones Ylyssus to lay with the Human female prisoners for so many occurrences, without repercussions for so long, "…Considered safer to abuse physically?…Because they weren't Drell!?"
"She did not need to feel remembered…by me, nor anyone," he says, and he is honest, "…Had she asked me to lay with her, I also would not have done so…She was I'lorie, and I could not lay with an I'lorie tierrea Drellahna at the time, as I cannot now…but that is besides the point..."
Braith's eyes tighten with fury…She pushes the ring back…
"You have to heal yourself," Braith whispers, and heads back to the slave building up the lane, "…I don't have time for you…" Ylyssus watches her as she leaves him with the ring in his hand. She does not look back at him, her shoulders tight about her neck as she stalks up the lane. He blows out through his lips as he glances away from her figure, …I deserve that, might as well be…
As Braith reaches the next intersection, she—and Ylyssus—suddenly hear a yell.
Someone yells for help.
Braith and Ylyssus look from their thoughts, and freeze in place, as they stare at Asifa, her long legs bolt her towards them and she waves her arms overhead, ( "…The baby!—The baby!—The baby!—It is coming!—Help her!—Help her!" )
Fast as a demon, Tetonbaum makes it down several levels of mines to land on the one he wants…He walks forward, over a soft carpet of dark blue, silverish dust…It glows almost in the light from stones with a subterranean bioluminescence…He moves fleetly down the shaft the rachni make only two days ago, and drops farther down when he finds the hole to the lower caverns.
He goes yet lower, through another carve in the subterranean stone, passes a pair of rachni that chitter and wave their dangerous acid-buds in his direction—and as he grasps onto the first hold in the rock wall that brings him upwards, he climbs the winds of it through another tunnel, on towards his destination…
Where he emerges from, the floor of the stock areas of the Sousan-Soterios sponsor cottus, in Nualavera, below the Mimi Cim Horn and by the sea…He moves aside the cover of tiles to let himself into the dark rooms, turns once his cloak and robes are through, and sets the cover back, into place for concealment of the entrance.
That evening, Tetonbaum delivers his news to Casnar, "…Braith is back in Mohouni." He glances at the slender form of a woman in a chair at the study table in Casnar's library, her face down in thought, her hair damp from her leave of a recent shower, black and away from her face, over her shoulders and back like a mane as black as night…Her legs, in the white, gold, and green silks of this house-clan's ba'trans, cross below her knees, as she sits somewhat forward, her gaze low to the carpet beneath the tables full of books others use for references…Casnar's tall figure stalks back and forth, an animal in its paces that waits to be let loose and kill. "We have been missing her, because she leaves with Aspah's favored Behedin…They go to the borders of Rakka…Braith, has become a bit of a huntress with some renown," he notes a look on both their faces—on Casnar's, his surprise, but on Kasumi Goto's, a small feline smile…as if she expects no less from the woman, and it amuses her.
"What is a Behedin huntress's job," Kasumi raises her face, and looks at Casnar and Tetonbaum—when her eyes meet the th'ane's, Tetonbaum feels the blood warm in his body, and his memories tease at him like children, "…And what does behedin mean in your language?"
Casnar shakes his head as Tetonbaum answers her, "…A huntress hunts, obviously, but a Behedin, protects and serves his—hers, in this case—masters, in efforts to control the wild that will consume assets, namely…other Drells and Drellahnas, that lack the skills to defend themselves from being taken by the game…Behedin means black wind, which is what one must be when he or she works in the dangers of the Rakkan borderlands. Mohouni often sells its kills to feed other house-clans that prize the meats, and quality of materials gained from the game they catch and dispatch of…It is lucrative, and profitable, if they all come back from the hunt with their bounties…"
Casnar narrows his eyes, "…Glorified butchers who like that dangerous sort of game out there…Didn't we get a shipment of meat from Mohouni some months ago?"
Tetonbaum takes his gaze from the exotic eyes in the chair, and shrugs his broad shoulders in a delicate lift, as he turns his face to see Casnar, "…Ask your father, he would know that sort of thing."
"Our father," Casnar corrects his half-brother, "…You would not exist but for him."
Kasumi shakes her head, at what she knows of the family's chemistries, "…What about these Behedins," she asks, "…Why is Braith one of them…She's a soldier, not a hunter, though I suppose there's not much of a difference, when it comes down to the necessary skills…"
"To hunt in the borderlands is not so simple as to pick up a weapon and seek out prey," Tetonbaum says, and he looks with his sapphire eyes to her, from Casnar, "…Prey hunts you, and they are not ordinary…Wuliton, hirok, wyrrtun, beren, asthurs…Morthwyls hunt Drells that violate the boundary as well, so if beast is not your worry, the natives are…"
"What's a morthwyl?…Another species like the chimilys?"
"They are not Drell, nor Chimilys, yes, they are apart from us as Chimilys and Suighan, and Human," he smiles briefly, "…They are the former walkers of a land before written history, and they are driven into exile in Rakka, which is their believed origin…They remain down there after the Great Disaster…"
"The Great Disaster, what was that—" Kasumi is cut off by Casnar's grumble.
"Save the history lessons for later, I want to hear what he has to report, Kasumi…" Casnar looks at Tetonbaum. Tetonbaum picks up from before Kasumi's inquiry.
"I know not what skills, or knowledges, Braith has to be able to handle such things, so I only guess, and my guesses would not be reliable to bear weight…She does not stay long in Mohouni, however," he nods to Casnar, "…which is why we miss her, whenever we seek her there, but since we have posted our longterm sleepers, she has been seen to return from the borderlands…She and the Behedins have lingered longer than usual—"
"Why," Casnar glances at him, after he interrupts, "…Sorry," he sniffs, and rubs his jaw, "…I'm glad she's in Mohouni, instead of fucking Rakka, but I want to know everything."
"I do not know, Brother. We are only able to wait and observe, not to enter to ask questions. Too many watch. She is often accompanied by one Behedin or someone else, the chimilys…There is…There is Ylyssus…That is confirmed."
Casnar rolls his lip in under his upper teeth as he looks up at the ceiling's stained glass and Blue Durriya arches that hold the ceiling and overhead windows, "…Great. Fabulous…and how does she look," his emerald eyes flutter lids rapidly as he brings his chin down against his tebris, "…Healthy, sick, presumably healthy if she is fucking someone…What?"
"She looks…" Tetonbaum seesaws his wavy crests, as he purses his lips, "…very different, but healthier than when I found her." Casnar is quiet, and Tetonbaum senses the tension in his half-brother as it grows. He nods to Kasumi, to give her warning—before Casnar pops off…
"How…how is she a fucking Behedin for fucking Aspah Bentara!…" He strides towards the bookshelves, pulls down a row in violent temper, reveals the wall and pounds it with his forearms as the books and case fall over the carpet…Casnar punches the wall pylon beside the shelves, and dents it—He spins to the others, "…Track her down in the borderlands and get her back, Tetonbaum!"
"It is not simple, Casnar," Tetonbaum nods his head to show Casnar he understands his anger, and wishes it were possible to do just as he demands at the snap of a finger, "…Behedins know their trade…They specialize on Rakka's lands, and Braith comes back looking better than when she goes out there, Casnar…She is in good hands—"
"Poor choice of—" Kasumi starts before Casnar lets out a tremble of a snarl.
"—Or she handles herself," Tetonbaum goes on, "…Wulitons, hiroks, asthurs, and Morthwyls to name a few matters she must be concerned about surviving…There is plenty to kill her within minutes of being there, Casnar, and she spends days, weeks, months there…She must know something that keeps her alive…As for us, well…you or others, Rakka's boundaries are too dangerous…I can go, and try to bring her out, but it would be difficult, especially with Behedins around her…She may not want to leave them, too," he gently adds.
Casnar stalks heavily towards Tetonbaum, as he jabs his gold fingers in Tetonbaum's direction, the th'ane stands calmly, and waits, "…You could have nabbed her in Mohouni, but you came back empty-handed…This could have been avoided!…Could it not!…Why would she refuse to leave!"
Tetonbaum does not answer.
To tell Casnar that his love chooses to remain, under the circumstances, can cause more harm than good. He only tells Casnar the conditions that must decide him to return without her. Casnar is in love, and that Braith chooses to be without him might distract him from what he must do. He needs to be strong, attentive to the plan they lay ahead for everyone.
( "I am tired of waiting!" ) Casnar snaps.
( "You must, Casnar," ) Tetonbaum says, and then, to not keep Kasumi out of the conversation, he switches into Common Speech, "…We have started a path we must continue, regardless of what we uncover—"
( "You led me to believe she was possibly dead, Tetonbaum… )—Now we have confirmation she is in Mohouni, and travels between there and the boundary of poisonous lands!…" Casnar's stare switches to Kasumi, "…Is that not what he said?"
She widens her almond eyes, "…Why are you asking me? Drells have the perfect memories, but, yes, that's what I understand he said…" She looks from Casnar's expression, to Tetonbaum, "…Tell you what…Take me with you. I'll get her to come."
Tetonbaum, until this moment was expressionless, the picture of introspective calm amid a storm, but now his eyeridges bend in consternation of what she puts on the table, …No doubt Casnar throws his support behind her, and Tetonbaum raises his arm just high enough to be at his waist level, and shakes his joint fingers, "…Not a good idea. Chiata, with you, was nearly the end of me…We made it out of there because I had to kill Konis's Drells before his return, and too many bodies demand too many questions…It will be dangerous enough for when I go back." Casnar whips his face back and forth from each of their expressions. Kasumi makes to say something in rebuttal, thinks a little longer as she closes her lips, then tilts her head, in coy manner, and Tetonbaum—and Casnar—watch the woman work her feline charm.
"I don't recall the bodies being necessary," she purrs thoughtfully and Casnar cocks an eyeridge, "…I believe it was over some Drells…who tried to have their way with me…You came back just in time, and reacted…a little strongly," she adds with the curve of her cheek in wax as she turns her face some more, and watches Tetonbaum.
( "You never told me that," ) Casnar looks to Tetonbaum, his green eyes thin with suspicion.
Tetonbaum makes a push of the air, with his hands, towards Casnar, as if to repel off his wonder, ( "…Some information is better left without your knowing," ) and as Casnar prepares to respond, Tetonbaum looks at Kasumi, with a wide tilt of his sapphire eyes, and gives her a small shake of his crests, "…You would be in very grave danger…Let alone myself…It is possible you would not survive the trip to the borderlands of Rakka, or out from them."
"I survived Chiata, the Mier, a Reaper War, a couple other things I won't dull your focus with mentioning," she says as she examines the backs of her fingers, then her feline eyes pop, "…There was that little oasis we visited on the way to Nualavera—" Tetonbaum chuckles, and fluffs his tebris with the rich sounds he bluffs from his chest, "…What oasis," he glances at Casnar and Kasumi as he turns his back to them, "…That was a watering hole," …Not the bath you are implying, he thinks.
( "What is she talking about?…" )
"Take me with you, I'll be okay," she assures Tetonbaum, "…Like I was fine…with…you…all…the…way…here…" she says, and Casnar slowly looks at Kasumi, whose eyes are on Tetonbaum's back…
Tetonbaum shakes his head measurably by degrees, and closes his eyelids…He looks ready to draw his head between his shoulders, "…No…Kasumi..."
"Teton," Kasumi chides, and lays it on thick with the use of an affectionate term for him, "…she's my colleague, my friend—"
"His name is Tetonbaum," Casnar says with some irritation in his double-hand gesture, he scoops towards the th'ane, and then he looks from Kasumi suddenly to Tetonbaum, "…What…What was that?…She give you—she gives you some sort of nickname now?…"
"Teton," Kasumi chimes, again, to get his attention…
Tetonbaum's tebris flicks and flutters at the sound of each syllable off her teeth and tongue…Casnar starts to curse at Tetonbaum in Rakhïken, until Tetonbaum, who shakes his head when he glances at Kasumi—sees the devious smile, and looks away as he mutters underbreath, "…This is…a very bad idea," and while Casnar mutters about them, Tetonbaum faces Kasumi, "…When I am ready, you may come," he hides his desire to smile at her blackmail-charm she exploits against him, "…I will be displeased if you slow us down, or get yourself harmed. You cannot interfere with…" He finally smiles, as Casnar rolls his eyes and sputters something about compromises—and th'anes in love.
Braith helps with a towel roll and stuffs it under Mia'tonia's neck as the drellahna goes into another contraction and screams. ( "No," ) Asifa takes the roll away, ( "…Shepard, over here—She needs this down here," ) and Braith watches helplessly as Asifa sets the towel roll under Mia'tonia's hip, the drellahna on her side and the tebral folds of her long waist stretch and shiver, ( "…Support her head, Shepard—Use loose hands so she may move," ) and Braith hesitantly lifts the curls and nodules of Mia'tonia's head and crests, and gazes down at the drellahna's colorful brow scales as her pliant crests yield against her palms…They look up from Mia'tonia's distress, as the crowd at the entrance to the half-room parts, and Ylyssus comes through with a tall and official drell in house-clan ba'tran of the Bentara-Caratodas…
The official carries a bag in his hands, and goes straight to Mia'tonia, ( "…How far along is she," ) his old voice rasps, as he sets the bag down, and lays his long fingers onto the drellahna's belly's side…Asifa answers what questions he has while Mia'tonia moans, free from the grip of the recent contraction.
Ylyssus goes to stand behind Braith at the head of the table and mats Mia'tonia lays on. ( "He is a doctor, a runiao, Braith—Cho'pras is his name," ) he stands close to her, and peers over her shoulder, down at Mia'tonia's face, ( "…He will help—" )
"Ssh, Ylyssus…" Braith stares at Mia'tonia as the drellahna moves her head from side to side in the support of her palms, ( "…Mia'tonia, what can I do, what can I do to help you?" )
( "The baby…" ) she grunts, and her eyelids flutter open, as the last fingers of the contraction loosen, ( "…The baby…He needs…needs to leave me…Take him…My work is done…I will not care for him…after he leaves…Take him…away…" ) Braith looks at the doctor as Mia'tonia's face tightens—the sign of another contraction to come in the drellahna's grimace.
( "Can you give her medicine to dull the pain?…" ) she asks, as the runiao feels the belly and glances at Braith.
Mia'tonia starts to groan and breathe deeper. ( "He's coming," ) she grits as the runiao looks briefly again at Braith, a curious sight for the doctor despite the demands before him.
( "No medicine…No drugs," ) he moves his hands to Mia'tonia's legs and starts to prop these to access her joining, ( "…Drellahnas do not need medicine, only guidance with firstborn." ) His light blue and yellow eyes focus on Mia'tonia's inguinal region as he positions his self at the end of the table and waits with everyone behind him, his fingers ready…
( "And no hygienic or sanitary measures either?…" ) Braith mutters as her eyes move from the crowd of rude spectators, to the runiao's hands—that look to clutch something on Mia'tonia's other end, and Asifa stands back as Ylyssus nudges Braith with the ridge of his patak against her cheek…
( "Our bodies are more resistant to bacteria, Braith, infection is less a concern to us—than to you fragile Humans," ) he whispers to answer her issue with the doctor's lack of personal layers between his skin and scales, and that of Mia'tonia's. Braith is grateful for the comfort Ylyssus provides, with his proximity and humor, for she is anxious for the drellahna in her hands…Their controversy from earlier seems distant, what with the emergency that requires them to support Mia'tonia, and the child to emerge.
( "Why does she have to go without some sort of medicine? An epidural is what we call it on Earth and in the Alliance, some drug to ease her torments?…" ) Braith asks with irritation for Mia'tonia starts to groan louder.
( "Baby must be able to run when it comes out," ) the doctor hears and concentrates on Drellahna, baby, and Braith's utterances between Mia'tonia's higher breath pattern of pants and wheezes, ( "…Human does not know because humans swaddle children—due to infants' inability to walk when born, lack of muscle tone and motor control, limited intelligence, but Drell infants born to go as soon as they are able to touch the ground…Memory is a gift, absorbs, adapts quickly, learns…Survival paramount in the past, and in some places still is," ) he explains to her without another glance, ( "…You will see soon, baby is coming. Drellahna is open, crests visible on baby's head. Medicine would interfere with memory ret—" )
( "Shut up! He's coming!" ) Mia'tonia snarls, her patience with Braith and the runiao's conversation over, and she thrusts her crests into Braith's palms as she moans the loudest she can to close everyone out. Braith winces her eyes tightly at the pierce of Mia'tonia's wails.
( "It is coming," ) the runiao gently informs Mia'tonia as his arms shift for the anticipation of what his hands connect with, between her inguinal tebral folds, and Braith cannot imagine the pain nor the stamina and strength Mia'tonia has, as she pushes when Cho'pras urges, ( "…Keep on, that is a good pace, here it comes," ) he coaches, and Braith looks down at Mia'tonia who grits her teeth, and breathes in and out through nose and mouth. All this happens while dinner continues in the building…Davied, and the Chiata group, with others they become friends with over their duration in Mohouni's Serepta labor force, stands at the gap of the half-room, that connects with the common area, and watches…There is song and dance in the background, as Mia'tonia gives birth.
Asifa lifts another towel as she begins to make small clicks and trills of eagerness, from the sight of what Cho'pras guides out with his professional shifts and rolls of shoulders and arms, as he eases the baby from Mia'tonia. Braith takes her eyes from Mia'tonia—to look at the group of Drells and Drellahnas, Chimilys, the doctor, and Asifa who bends to catch the baby, under the doctor's arms, with the towel when he lowers it…Her gaze drops down to Mia'tonia's brow scales again, ( "…Keep it up, you're doing great—" )
( "What do you know!—" ) Mia'tonia shrieks, and puffs out, ( "…to pass a child!—This is—not great—at all!" )
Braith feels Ylyssus lift her hands and move her waist back and aside, ( "…Best not to engage her, Braith. She can yell at me, I will humor her…You hold her hands, I hold her head, please now…" ) And she steps out of the way as he switches places with her.
Braith takes hold of Mia'tonia's hand and the drellahna squeezes terribly.
Ylyssus presses his brow to the new mother's own, as odd things occur down at Mia'tonia's opposite end and Braith cannot hear Ylyssus whisper to the drellahna…She sees Mia'tonia's lips flicker, with the faintest of grins, and Ylyssus chuckles over her head.
Mia'tonia starts to moan once again and as the runiao begins, and pauses from his work to clean up everything, she has a moment to whisper something to Ylyssus…Braith cannot hear these words, but for her pants of breath and moans in between…She does hear Asifa's gasp, as the doctor makes a sudden dip and catches something, lifts it and quickly puts his back to them…Braith glimpses the legs of something they bundle together, and Davied speaks, ( "…What is it…" ) He stands on the balls of his booties to see over their arms, and Asifa turns with the towel and its contents, from Cho'pras—Davied steps forward, to peer more closely, at what she reveals to him…He takes a second dissatisfactory glance at what lies in the towel swathe, and turns suddenly as he says, before he leaves, ( "…It looks like him." )
Braith holds onto Mia'tonia's hands still, and waits for Asifa to turn, and look their way, ( "…What is it, Drell, or Drellahna?" ) Asifa turns a little to smile down at the towel, gently bumps and rocks it in her arms as the crowd presses close to see what repels Davied, and she looks up at Braith.
( "Drellahna," ) she finally answers softly…This causes Mia'tonia's eyes to snap open under Ylyssus's brow. She lifts her head off his palms as he straightens away from her effort to look at Asifa with the towel bundle.
( "No, it cannot be Drellahna! It cannot be a drellahna!" )
The runiao looks up from his care of the area of birth, ( "…What are you talking about?" )
The sound of a baby's cry, and Braith's voice, as she gives Mia'tonia's hands a small shake, ( "…Mia'tonia, what is the matter?—Relax, who cares if it is a drellahna or Drell—" ) Mia'tonia weeps from her eyes as her head lowers into Ylyssus's palms…He rejoins his hands to catch the crests that roll from side to side…
Mia'tonia laments, ( "…It cannot be! It cannot be a drellahna," ) Braith releases her hands as Mia'tonia raises hers to cover her eyes, and wipe the tears off her temples.
Braith looks curiously at Ylyssus, who shakes his head, she then departs to go stand by Asifa and peer at the baby. She does look like Konis…Damn…Braith sees the colors of the child's face and tebris, amid the soft curves and tiny crests, a patak as smooth and round as a ball of butter.
( "Bring her to Mia'tonia," ) Asifa says, when she sees Braith's hesitation, and she shows Braith how to hold the child, ( "…It may be his—born of cruel means—but that does not seal her fate to a cruel drellahna to be," ) Asifa passes the towel and the calm baby into Braith's arms, ( "…Let her mother see her…" ) Braith carefully walks the child in her arms to Mia'tonia, and stares down into the eyes—dark eyes that remark chillingly of Konis's own—as these look up into hers.
Whoa…To give him the satisfaction, that he could create something so…Damn him.
Mia'tonia opens her eyes, as Braith carries the baby closer, ( "…No," ) Braith pauses from her efforts to try and tilt the towel and child safely for her to see, ( "…do not show her to me." )
Braith stares at Mia'tonia, who turns her face away from them, then Braith looks up at Ylyssus. He rubs his thumb over Mia'tonia's brow scales, and lowers her head to the mats, ( "…Do not force it," ) he says gently, ( "…There is a nursery up the hill, I will take you to it, bring the baby," ) and he glances at the runiao—who watches the situation and lowers his face to resume his care to Mia'tonia, satisfaction in that motion of his thin neck muscles.
Braith looks again at Mia'tonia's side of her face, ( "…This is your child…She is here," ) as if that can settle everything.
( "It is his child. Not mine, and not the one I had hoped for," ) Mia'tonia shuts her eyes, and does not straighten her head to look up again, ( "…Take her away…She will be stronger than what I had hoped for…I wanted a drell," ) she says, with the knowledge given her by her mysterious foresight, ( "…I knew if it were Drell, it would be weak—and die shortly after birth…She…she changes things…Take her from me…She will die but not soon, and I would love her, and be wounded again by him…Take her from me, Shepard, I have suffered enough…Spare me any more pain and loss..." ) Braith stares at the reluctant mother longer.
The baby whimpers, she claws at the towel folds with a small hand of four fingers—two of five together, in unity of flesh, fascia, ligament, muscle, and tendon—and as Braith sees that pair of joint fingers, she herself feels split between whether to ignore Mia'tonia's plea or not to…She understands why Mia'tonia does not want to possess the child any longer. Whatever she knows in that head of hers, the past story of S'syalahe's Eye drifts into the fore of Braith's memory. What Path has Mia'tonia in her gift of memory retention? What does she see, by the skeptical future only a legend declares may exist? So far, even the Behedins she follows and protects believe in legends about ashes and soils that grant wishes, and Rakhana holds what else of secrets that pertain to Kala, the An'Kala, Ysuphet, and Musaphat? What of Cemal, the ability by Morthwyls to judge one's soul in a glance, or to come from a plant—if that rumor be true?
Braith gazes downward at the eyes that wait, and she can think of the reasons why Mia'tonia wants little to do with Konis's rape-child…As she looks at the drellahna, fresh in her arms, Braith's future suddenly alters to a course Mia'tonia hopes to prevent.
Braith carries the new child through the Sereptas, who watch this woman, that takes the child from her mother. Ylyssus guides Braith from behind, a hand on her shoulder, ( "…Up the hill, towards the sponsor cottus, we head towards the shienne butchery by the kitchens…Passed there is the nursery." )
"What will happen to her," Braith asks in Common Speech for privacy, "…since Mia'tonia does not want her?"
"She will be raised by the hara drellahnas in the city…There is nowhere else, for unwanted female children," Ylyssus informs her quietly. Braith's eyes show no reaction as she hears, and understands what that means.
"She becomes a prostitute, brought into a life she did not ask for…She should never have been born," and Braith unexpectedly realizes there is wetness on her cheeks as she considers the outrageous consequences for the life in her arms.
"She might become a burrella, if she chooses—once she is old enough to fight and well," Ylyssus offers as some hope, "…She might not always have to live in a hara, Braith…"
Braith nods at this, …That would be better than living on one's back, but the child would have to know how to fight first of all…Her mouth moves, as she gives voice to the birth of an idea in her head, "…What if I raise her." Ylyssus tightens his lips together, and glances aside them as they walk along in the dark night air through the city's uphill lanes. He says nothing, and in this silence they continue uphill, cross footbridges over large drainage ditches in the lanes, walk under the shadows of building to building overpasses and irregular roofs that jut out from the walls of homes these shelter…As Braith draws nearer to the nursery by the cottus she holds the quiet child tighter to her breasts. The child stares up at her from its security inside her arms, and the towel of soft shienne silk.
Ylyssus finally speaks, "…You are Behedin…How would you care for this child, when you must go to the borderlands and hunt."
"I will take her with me."
"Are you thinking? You can't do that…"
She does not break a step in her pace uphill, and through the curve of lane, "…A hara is a future of slavery…of prostitution…I have been forced onto my back by Drells here on Rakhana, those I did not know, as well as those I knew and trusted. I would not prefer this child be exposed to that as a daily chore, if she could be anywhere else, on her feet, with a weapon, access to food, and means of work and compensation…Compared to facing the borderlands of Rakka, I would recommend the latter worth the risks associated with learning how to become a Behedin, Ylyssus…Cuerikhl's son, Dolatrafas, only had to be born, and he was invited in, by his father, to gain installation after traveling with us…If I adopt this child, and I may, I will expect the same privileges extended to me as to my fellow Behedins."
He stares now, at Braith, "…You cannot take a baby with you into the borderlands of Rakka. Dolatrafas is a grown drell and his father is a Behedin of longstanding…Bromthas will forbid it."
"I have sitters I could leave her with, if that is the case, but it won't be…"
"Who," he almost smiles, "…Your fellow Behedins?…That would make them happy with you…Morthwyls?—No," he says at her grin, "…not with Morthwyls. You must be joking!" Braith looks over at him on her right and Ylyssus prevents her from another step by his arm in front of her and the towel swaddle, "…Grant that you seem to be able to charm the morthwyl heart, you cannot trust Morthwyls to watch your back and this child. What about other beings, or Dolatrafas."
"There's another idea," Braith says, "…I'll order Dolatrafas to hold her hand while I hunt."
He squints one eye at her in the darkness, "…Braith…"
"Bring me to the nursery, Ylyssus, I have ideas, and the child is probably hungry and thirsty…among other things." He lowers his arm, and swings it in the direction uphill. They continue to walk…
Braith and Ylyssus visit Bromthas's cottus on the north end of the city, two lanes up from her cottus, later that night. Without the baby in her arms, Braith goes inside to speak with Bromthas alone while Ylyssus waits outside, in the warm glow of lanterns, over the entrance of pillars...She tells Bromthas about Mia'tonia's child and her intentions for it.
Bromthas adamantly shakes his crests, ( "…Absolutely not…No, you are pushing the limits, my pale flower…I cannot have you bring a child on the hunt, especially one that has yet to see a cycle of seasons in her lifetime." )
( "Drell children are born to run, Brother Bromthas," ) Braith pushes back, ( "…In less than two weeks' time, she will be running, climbing, jumping…She cannot grow up in a hara. No matter who her father is, she should have a chance to be something more than a bedmate for Drells, who wish to release…" ) Bromthas stands from his chair by his fire hearth, and walks over to Braith at the entrance to the room from the outer hall. He looks for Ylyssus, but the drell is outside, and Bromthas can only smell his scent.
He turns to Braith, ( "…No children on the hunt." )
( "If you do not let me take the child with us, I will remain in Mohouni…You will do better off without me—if you should force me to come without her…" )
Bromthas stares, ( "…You would not come? You are Behedin now, Behe…What is more, you have the mark of an outcaste on your leg. T'urieo, you may claim by your wealth in assets, but you do not have power over what I, or Aspah, command you to perform. I could ask you to become my wife and you would have to marry me…And I would send that child from the city forever. Is that what you want?" )
( "But Brother Bromthas," ) she bats her eyes innocently, ( "…I believe you are particular to Drellahnas, and not the subversive mixing of Drells with non-Drell rubbish…" ) She sees him partially scowl—and smile at her simultaneously.
Bromthas looks down the hall again, to see if he spies Ylyssus. ( "You are right…Still, no children on the hunt…" ) He goes back to his chair…Braith turns, and follows him.
( "If reasoning will not work with you, and my good standing with you will avail me no privileges, then let superstition jolt your mind, and convince you, Brother Bromthas…There is a child, in a nursery here, who has no mother to raise her, and I offer to, so she may become a Behedin under our tutelage…And you wonder why I put both of us through this inconvenience?…I will tell you, I was once told by a Kerhasla drellahna, that I would give birth to a drell child who would bring with him such evil, it will pale Ysuphet's Chaos in comparison…To curb this future of my son who will be cast of my loins—Ashes of Life or not—I must be a mother to him…To protect him from those who will hunt for him, who will hunt for I, who will kill me so they can use him and exploit him for their ambitions…I am the change to his ill destiny, but I have no idea how to be a mother…Let me raise this child, who waits for me now, in the nursery downhill, so I may practice, and prepare, for my son." )
He stares at her, his lips slightly apart…Bromthas rapidly shakes his head, and sits deeper into his seat as his tebris ripples, ( "…Behe, why do you resort to such superstitious use of rumors to gull me into acquiescence." )
( "Because I know you believe in such rubbish, and I know you believe in me…I am your good luck charm, your pale flower, your Behe," ) she purrs and kneels before him, ( "…The safest place for me is in those borderlands…and for this child to be with me there, with us…I will take care of this child, and hunt well for you, all at the same time." ) He reaches forward slowly, and takes hold of her neck in his powerful grip.
( "You have such an evil heir to be born by you, why not I just kill you now, and save ourselves the trouble…" ) Braith gazes up at his eyes and his grip begins to squeeze…It is as if to put down a pet—that loyally travels at his side, warns him before danger is upon them, fights to keep him alive and ahead of the game, their quarry…Bromthas stops his squeeze and frees her neck, pets her cheek with his palm, ( "…Why this one," ) he says with resignation, ( "…Why me…Why can I not hunt and matters be that simple, Behe." ) He stands, and offers his hand to pull her up from the floor reeds, ( "…You may bring her." )
He walks her to the hall entrance, turns back, and leaves her to go sit and turn his chair about to face the fire. Braith walks back to him, kneels down in front of him and rests her cheek on the rough silks of his left knee…Bromthas sighs, and runs his fingers over the side of her head.
Braith leaves the cottus and rejoins Ylyssus outside, under flits of insects that swarm the lights inside the lanterns, "…It is done…She will come with me to the borderlands and I will raise her to become a Behedin. In time, she will avenge us—Mia'tonia, Asifa, the others, myself. She will be our vengeance and Konis will suffer as he has made the drellahnas and I suffer."
Ylyssus shakes his head at her, "…You will raise this child, only to go after Konis Traus…"
She tilts her eyes at him, "…She will want to meet her father one day. All daughters find out, and they do."
"And what did finding your father do for you, Braith."
She turns her eyes from his and they start to walk down the lane towards her cottus, "…Mia'tonia told you, didn't she."
He smiles, "…I heard one or two things between the two of you about the other…I put the pieces together and figured…To think," he chuckles, "…that I was smitten with Mia'tonia when you first both arrived in Mohouni…She took care of you on that very same table she laid on tonight."
"Funny how far, and not, we end from our beginnings," she says of this, "…I do not understand why Mia'tonia thinks the child will die. I will not let that happen…She will be great. She is healthy—"
"That is asking a lot of a child, who will have her own ideas about things one day, Braith," he looks at her, and passes on the warning of Mia'tonia's tabletop admission, "…I do not agree with your decision to take the child to the borderlands, but you have managed to somehow convince Bromthas to accept your proposal?…" He raises an eyeridge.
"He was reluctant at first," Braith purses her lips, "…but I got through to him in the end."
"How, should I even ask…"
She smiles over at him, "…I don't think you should." Ylyssus looks forward as he raises both eyeridges and puffs his buccals,
"Do you mind if I help with your new adoptee, because…I have a feeling…you will be begging me to sit for her in either case, so I would spare you the humbling experience," Braith rolls her eyes and looks away as they bump together in their steps down the hill, content with the way the night turns out between the city walls…and each other. Braith feels Ylyssus's hand touch hers and she takes hold of it for a brief squeeze.
As they near her cottus both she and Ylyssus stop…Dolatrafas waits outside by the entrance, his seat on a chair he has from one of the rooms inside.
Dolatrafas turns his head to look at Braith…
She continues forward, into his gaze, as she heads for the cottus doorway, and Ylyssus slowly starts to follow after her footsteps…He slows as he looks at the young Behedin who also serves as Braith's slave…Braith enters the doorway and disappears inside the cottus.
Ylyssus stops a few feet from Dolatrafas, who listens to the low vibration that issues from the former th'ane's tebris, (: …You will watch out for her, and whomever she brings on the journey…I will have nightmares visit you if you hurt her again, that pale the borderlands to white in comparison…Your venom will do as the first part of you I shall go after and harvest… :)
Dolatrafas stares at Ylyssus and backs up from his seat after he rises to avoid the former th'ane that steps to the middle of the doorway, and leans over him to press his threat…Braith turns at the end of the hallway and sees the two drells face each other, her eyes dart from one to the other, ( "…Ylyssus," ) she says in Rakhïken, and the drells both look down the hall at her, ( "…come inside, share your heat with me tonight." )
Ylyssus blinks, then looks at Dolatrafas and leaves his eyes on the Behedin as he enters through the arch of the doorway to meet Braith.
They turn round a corner and leave Dolatrafas behind, to stare at the space they leave empty…Braith and Ylyssus walk through the lower mezzanine, up the stairs and turn onto the next level to head towards the boudiceas…He stops her at the entrance to her bedroom, and turns her to face him—He gazes at her gray eyes when these meet his.
He picks her up, with both hands about her waist, and sets her on himself above his hips. Her knees bend to come up either side of him and squeeze.
Ylyssus kisses her neck with long slow lingers of his lips in the dim room, what light there is that comes through the open window, and Braith lifts her chin to the side, presses closer, her hands on his arms, and then his shoulders.
His light fingers touch her upper back, and glide firmer up into her hair to gather it below the nape of her neck…He supports her with one hand and forearm under her bottom as he stands with her in the doorway to the bedroom and continues the sensual foreplay.
Her tongue touches his briefly before they nip back and forth at each others' mouths, and brush their nose-tips together in an affectionate rest between kisses…Ylyssus's body thrums.
He begins to walk forward with her to the bed, and lays her down, under the silk canopy and wooden frame that holds veils to keep out insects when these become too much in the city.
Braith lays back as he unties sashes that hold her ba'tran snugly to her form, and he hangs these on a rack nearby the window, piece by piece. Cool air comes in through the open window, and accompanies moonlight onto the lovers. Ylyssus undresses from his sash, booties, and pants as Braith slides to the end of the bed and sits.
Her eyes raise from a scar on her wrist to his body, to his face…His backs of his fingers touch under her chin and lift her eyes to look higher at his, "…You are special…Allow me to worship you tonight." His face lowers down to connect their mouths, and he leaves her lips to taste her chin as his hands slide into the hair either side of her ears.
Braith cups his hand with hers as his hand glides back from her ear to caress her cheek with his knuckles…She looks up at his face as he presses his brow against hers…The moonlight frames their profiles as her lips tilt up and his turn down to connect in soft slow presses.
He slides her back on the bed as he settles onto the covers…His entrance into her body meets a soft sigh from each their lips…Braith spreads her legs along his as he rises and falls his hips against her, and their hands grip together as he glides up into her, down and out, kisses that part with her mouth to find her neck again…Braith turns under him and he slides out, realigns with her heat's entrance, probes in—deeply without resistance…While he moves in her, her arms he sculpts with his strong hands. He wraps his arm around her neck next, and lifts her to arch—her breasts at full wax gibbousness from the sides and high.
She opens her mouth in a deep breath…He sets her hips tightly against his, and with such intense proximity, he thrusts deeper at her fire, and hard…The sound of his thighs slaps loudly from contact with her buttocks…Braith gasps quietly, and opens her eyes wider to look up at him as he gazes down over her temple, into her eyes. He pulls out, "…Mithras, you are divine when you look up at me like that," he growls seductively, then slides firmly into her glove of heat again…He collects her jaw in his sure fingers, and kisses her.
Once he frees her from the lock, he allows her to move back down to the bed, onto her hands, and kisses her shoulders before he touches his brow to the back of her head, plants his knuckles into the covers, arms either side of her, and thrusts harder, faster into her…Braith starts to sigh with how good he feels, the way his arms collect around her body as he moves against her…and within, ( "…Ylyssus—" )
( "I can feel you tightening…I am with you," ) he says with a husky breath, as she comes over the top with him—He spills inside, tightens his arm about her waist and rolls…His hips fire up hard and fast with her astraddle him as she climaxes, and Braith claws at her neck and breast as he comes again then sits up—to lay her back on his thighs…His drives are slow, deep, deliberate now as she twists and turns under his manipulation…Braith starts to pant as she cannot take much more there on her back, lips together as her tongue licks the backs of her teeth—so as not to scream. ( "Ylyssus…Ylyssus, Ylyssus, please…" )
( "I ask you to let me worship you…" ) he reminds her, and she twists her face aside to free a knot of a gasp that yet catches in her mouth.
( "Gods, Ylyssus…Gods…" )
His back bends and weaves as he worships her in his lap, and his arms do not free her…
In time they fall asleep, still together by their physical connection.
Braith's breasts press against his hard chest as she curls under his chin, her hair damp from sweat…Ylyssus's arms are around her shoulders, and over her hip and thigh…They lay in the moonlight, asleep and at ease…
The bells toll and Braith wakes late after dawn…
Ylyssus yawns and stretches from her before he rocks back to kiss her shoulder, then rises from the bed. They both look at each other…He picks up his clothes, feels through these until he clears what his fingers hunt for.
He slips the wooden ring over a leather string, and offers it to Braith, who lifts her black hair off her neck…Ylyssus ties the string ends together, over her skin and freckles and scars.
"Remember me by," he asks, and says, at the same time.
She takes hold of the token between her breasts, "…I will." Ylyssus smiles, and nods with satisfaction. He kneels down and looks at her, eye to eye.
( "If you want to leave the child here, I will take care of her for you…We can raise her together, like a family." )
They stand together and embrace, their upper bodies nude outlines through the dawn that shines through the window.
Braith takes her goodbyes of the Sereptas and lingers a little longer against Ylyssus, in front of the slave quarters…She takes the hand of her new daughter-adoptee, and leaves with Bromthas to join the Behedins outside the city walls.
A week later, they are deep in the borderlands of Rakka. Braith discovers how it is to raise a child, but a child that is precocious, and very unlike Human children. She and the child that is Mia'tonia and Konis's offspring soon grow closer than Braith can ever anticipate of herself with a child not her own. She calls her as the Behedins refer to her—Little Behe, due to a black swathe of skin and scale from her nose to her crests and down the back of her neck which makes them think of Braith's mane of black hair, currently in braids again.
Often she looks at Little Behe and sees resemblances that startle her with their reminder of the sire-drell, but she does her best to look beyond this, and loves the child like her own. On their first foray into the borderlands alone together, Braith and Little Behe scout ahead of the Behedins.
This is how Braith finds Cemal. When he first reveals himself to them, he sees the child, and looks at Braith as if two things compete for his attention. Braith, in her he sees Dolatrafas's sin and he sees, too, the token of Ylyssus—the carvations that Ylyssus means for the morthwyl to recognize the symbols of. He sees Little Behe and he smiles at her eyes. He lowers down to her height with a crouch and welcomes her with a hug—and the child walks fearlessly into his arms.
Braith calls him for the first time by his name, as Ylyssus says it to be, and Cemal looks at her from the child, the gentle smile to grow broader on his lips. He stands and takes Little Behe's hand to walk her with them, off into the dark, ashen forests of the ravines they travel, other Morthwyls at their sides, back, and front. Cemal leads Braith to where the game exists for her Behedins to hunt and while they do, Braith and Cemal train while Little Behe watches.
Three months go by, and Braith returns to Mohouni, all Behedins and Little Behe with her.
Only on one occasion do the Behedins face near-danger with the morthwyls—for Dolatrafas is of their contempt for his action against Braith, and Cemal singles him out. Braith intervenes, however, and stops the kill attempt. This, too, causes consternation for Cemal and he signs to her very aggressively as she protects her slave, fellow Behedin, and assaulter. The matter drops when Cemal leaves and the rest of the morthwyls lower their bolts from bowstrings—that aim at Dolatrafas, no one else. The sign remains fresh in the Behedins' minds: the morthwyls can read souls and apparently see sins.
As Braith leaves Little Behe with Ylyssus to go and play with the other Sereptas, she receives a summons—by an aide who waits with Dolatrafas at her cottus…Braith goes uphill, to the sponsor cottus, to meet with Yvona Caratoda, from whom the summons comes. Yvona stands from a chair and table set out for her on an upper patio of the sponsor cottus and Braith notes the officialdom of the attire she wears—red, gold, white, a regal cape and robes with a slit down the middle to expose her front, the style billowy and liquid against her form in comparison to what Braith sees her wear before this day, ( "…I hear you have taken to adopting small ban'nons now, and traveling them to the borderlands…Is this true?..." ) Braith stops at the top of the outdoor staircase which leads her to the stone patio and she nods her chin in a respectful bow as well as to affirm this statement of clarification by the hiriwa.
( "My heart opened to a child born months ago to a friend among the Sereptas, and she fell sick from the pregnancy," ) she lies, ( "…and could not take care of Little Behe. I took her to my care with my Behedins' permission. The child proves adept in the borderlands. She is with a friend so I may situate my affairs now we have returned to Mohouni this day." )
Yvona appraises her Human friend with her typical haughty lift of chin. ( "I hear you take her to hunt with you and the Behedins…The child is not even a year old, and this does not deter you?" )
( "She is hardy. She does not require one to dote on her, nor breasts or bottle to feed her as is my species's way. She feeds herself when she wishes to eat…The only problem is stopping her." )
Yvona nods with some mild disinterest evident in her patak's expression. The topic of children is dull to her, Braith sees. ( "I have come here today to inquire of my uncle if I may bring you with me to an event at the Crandal for a night or two." ) She picks up her tea mug from the table and sips, makes an unhappy few blinks with her multiple eyelids, and lowers the delicate mug to the table. After a low trill from her tebris, one of her aides paces over with a carafe full of hot water in her hands, and pours the liquid into the mug. Threads of steam immediately rise from the water. ( "He said no." ) Braith does not show her disappointment in her outer features, and Yvona inspires a wonder as she casts Braith a sideways glance with her eyes from the mug. ( "I have bribed a few aides of his into persuading my uncle that you attend to a small matter of inconvenience for your Human needs of personal hygiene, should he demand your whereabouts over the next few days…" )
Braith's eyes widen.
( "…Your Behedins are off to their homes, yes? And this child of yours—she has someone to watch and tend to her if she needs such care?" ) Braith tilts her head and shakes her chin a little at the hiriwa.
( "Mistress Caratoda, what are you up to…" ) Yvona leads her off the patio, and around the staircase—to a wagon that waits by the edge of the lower patio's walls. It has a cover and privacy panels around it, and a table that connects to the side of the wagon. As the table unfolds by her hands, Braith sees Yvona reveal a chest that hides behind it—part of the interior desk-table within the wagon's main compartment. Yvona hits it with her fist's heel and the lid pops downward, which makes Braith gawk.
Out fall a set of silks, slippers, jewelry, more accessories with which to adorn oneself. ( "Nefen," ) Braith hesitantly looks at her from the hidden paraphernalia, ( "…are you trying to imply that you will sneak me out of Mohouni…among your personals?" )
Yvona lifts her chin to look haughtily at her surprise, ( "…There is more than one way to escape Mohouni, Shepard, aside from trying to murder yourself in Rakkan borderlands." )
Braith cannot believe it, ( "…Nefen, I am…I could get into trouble…How…But…I have…an aide!…He will wonder—" ) she splutters to get out of this mess that Yvona intends for them.
( "He is taken care of," ) and Yvona says no more about the resolution she serves to Dolatrafas, ( "…Get in—Quick with her now," ) she orders her aides—who swiftly close up the chest lid, secure the table down and take hold of Braith's arms to pull her to the door on the other side of the wagon, ( "…And do not worry, Shepard, about the child. You trust whomever you have left her with to take care of her, no?" )
( "But—Nefen!—" ) Yvona watches as they stuff her into the wagon, push down her head to avoid the top edge of the doorframe, then move aside to let the hiriwa enter with her pluck of her robes upwards to pass the hem over the wagon's steps as she ascends inside.
( "Then he or she will not mind keeping her for at least the night, maybe the next." )
Yvona closes the door to the wagon, and locks it inside with a key.
The aides go to the front and call the rookers that pull it into action.
The wagon begins to roll away from the cottus, as the aides up top on the patio clear away the chair, table and any sign of tea-sup that Nefen Caratoda-Lucannon might enjoy only moments beforehand.
Three hours later, Braith rides inside the wagon—a kidnappee among the privacy of cover panels and curtains with Yvona, and a pha'laksh of burrells from the Caratoda-Lucannon house to guard and escort the hiriwa with her captive guest—as they head north to Umay, swiftly through the Mier and along the Beirchardt shoreline.
Braith wears silks and robes around her, a blue veil to cover her face and hair, from any eyes that might have to inspect the contents of the opulent wagon as it passes Umay's border.
( "You have officially kidnapped me," ) Braith accuses, upset still, this long after their departure, ( "…Your uncle will flay us both…Even if for a night, but without his permission? Against his actual denial of your request for me, in fact! Oh, Yvona!…What have you done to me…" ) Braith puffs the veil from her face as she falls back against the luxurious cushions.
( "Oh, relax, Shepard. You are so worried, such needless despair—I almost believe it," ) Yvona giggles and leans forward conspiratorially over the interior table-desk on which her hands grasp the decorations of gilt patterns and stylish emblems of its wooden surface, ( "…There is no way I could hold up my end of our deal, bringing you to an assembly. The membership would not permit it, but tonight is a gala and many of the more entertaining members of the Craig will be in attendance, and Uncle Aspah hates galas that are not about him or his Behedins. He will not be there, so do not worry about him, seeing you outside of your prison." ) She leans on an elbow as the wagon rattles along the shoreline and her red and white sleeve shivers with the wagon's motions. ( "You go as my mysterious aide, Shepard, and if anyone pokes their nose under your veil, maybe your skirts," ) she giggles more, ( "…you can pretend to be a political prisoner and they will see how well I treat you…It will be such scandal! If you listen and pay close attention, I will show you how to work these Drells to your whim. Maybe we can even get an invitation to the haira'lars for their performances with one of the papir'aias! That would be eye-opening for you…Oh, this will be such a blast, such fun plots we have between us! You may leave my side for certain bits now and then, but if you expect to return to Mohouni, and find your conditions there in order after our little escapade, you will be sure to stay on my hem if you know what I mean." )
( "The haira'lars," ) Braith enjoins the conversation—that is mostly Yvona's prattle, ( "…Are those similar to the hara in your uncle's city," ) she asks distantly as she moves aside a curtain with her finger.
( "The Craig's haira'lars are for the papir'aias…A hara is for burrells to get out their needs. Come now, Behe, you should know the difference," ) her voice smiles, ( "…You sleep with a former th'ane—Ylyssus? Surely he has instructed you on the differences between the terms." )
Braith inadvertently bumps the ring against her neck with her thumb, ( "…We do not typically discuss such topics." )
( "Surprise, surprise," ) Yvona teases, the wooden token on Braith's neck not invisible to her eyes, ( "…Ylyssus was sent to Mohouni as punishment for—" )
( "I am aware of what Ylyssus was sent to Mohouni for," ) Braith states calmly, but there is something in her voice that quiets Yvona and commands her to listen, ( "…Now, more importantly, I wonder if you would enlighten me as to how I am to behave if I should need to pull off this political prisoner guise in front of someone not as gullible as you lead me to believe the papir'aias and their soldiers to be." )
They arrive in the Crandal by evening tide, and Braith is let out of the wagon by Yvona, whom her aides greet with Kerhasi robes that wish to speak urgently to the hiriwa. Yvona has her own aides depart with Braith to the Caratoda-Lucannon cottus in the white alabas'rah city, to change into the gala garb Yvona has in store for Braith.
When Braith sees the ensemble that the aides bring out to her in Yvona's boudicea, she balks, ( "…Yvona likes to serve her revenge cold," ) she remarks to the aides who pass uncertain glances to and from the low-cut gown and Braith's person. Braith remembers their first competition in the plaza at Mohouni, where and when she embarrasses the hiriwa in their swordplay and now sees the moment of triumph for Yvona Caratoda.
The man'naan-style silk gown, sashes, and veils she refuses to wear. When the aides tell her there are more ways to force her into it, Braith takes the articles out of their hands and growls as she attempts to put it on, and hide her flesh as much as she can, ( "…Mysterious aide?…Political prisoner?…Whore!…" ) Braith curses as the aides hurry to help and watch the time by the shadow on a solar dial out on Yvona's long balcony that extends like the long end of a cross from her father's cottus, there in the Crandal.
The aides move from the completion of her gala wardrobe to her hair, which they braid and style tight to her scalp to give the impression of high crests. In a reflective panel, Braith admits to herself—and to the aides—the work is well-done, rather glamorous, doubtlessly beautiful.
They deck her in jewels from her hair down to her fingers to her toes.
Braith slaps them away from their efforts to remove Ylyssus's wooden token and leather string—so they hide the love necklace under more jewelry that glitterfalls between the high curves of her breasts in their half-moon exposures by the man'naan's middle strip of the gown's torso. Braith's face hides under a veil and her tops of her braids, that arch from her scalp, are visible above the loop of wire that controls the placement of the veil about the back and front of her head. Her ears, earrings, black hair, and neck are bare for all to see, the rest of her head in concealment, but she can look out through eyeholes that are part of the anterior veil of red that drops over her visage. Her back and scars hide under the silk of the gown, and gold runs up the edges with flower and bead embroidery. ( "It is exactly how I envisioned," ) Yvona peals out with gleeful laughter when she returns and sees Braith at her family's cottus, ready for the gala.
( "I sense you have been planning this," ) Braith growls back at her.
Yvona calms from her giggles and sighs as she tilts her head so her patak and tebris rest against the jewels on her finger knuckles, and she smiles, shakes her done crests with their jewels and glitters, as she regards Braith in her beautiful simmer, ( "…Oh, Shepard, how did I know this would make you so embarrassed and mad…You have no idea how much I have looked forward to getting you back for that day in the plaza." )
The gown's man'naan strip drops low to Braith's navel—where it is if she actually has one…It is in the fashion of the drellahnas to wear such dresses, with silk loops that arc thickly over Braith's shoulders, around her arms, waist, drape over her sides. Her image is provocative, scandalous because of her anatomy, but she looks a captivation for the eyes. With her beside Yvona tonight, the drellahna is the focal point of gossip and may stay relevant in the next few days' worth of conversations in the Crandal, which assists her in efforts to stay at the forefront of Craig members' minds, and win attention for her Kerhasi's objectives they present to the rest of the membership.
As the tall doors to the inner festive chambers of the Craig open to Braith and her hostess, those inside the halls stop and stare as Yvona Caratoda-Lucannon walks with Braith at her left and a step behind, as she instructs Braith to do.
Whispers are everywhere.
The lights are brighter in the dim corridors that lead them through the Craig to its topmost level, and burrells who stand and lean with dull expressions against columns and walls, look up with interest at the sights of Yvona come through in her rich Kerhasi silks, and beside her, Braith. Both females compete for their eyes unintentionally…Yvona because she is attractive and eligible, and Braith, exotic and Human. The burrells stand from their walls and columns to watch the pair go by, ahead of hiriwas, aides, and papir'aias who follow at a distance.
The pair ascend more stairs to reach the gala at the top of the Craig's honeycomb hive.
Braith and Yvona come out into the evening air under vault-arms of stone with rough, classical design. Braith gazes upwards through her veil to see strings of ribbons and lantern decorations that crisscross the lapis sky…Its starbuds emerge as the sun sets lower, and the lapis deepens.
The décor is far greater than even Aspah's halls, but he is frugal.
Braith blinks at it all.
She follows Yvona through the crowd on the top of the leftmost quadrant of the Craig and the hiriwa does not let anyone stop them to inquire about Braith—to make the point she chooses whom to permit her guest to meet, which is to be the Kerhasi papir'aias and representatives.
Braith is her eye-candy on her arm, and as much as Yvona claims Braith may slip away to enjoy herself or learn what she wants to, she does not let Braith go immediately.
Braith cannot catch her breath from all the talk and inquiry of Yvona's favorite papir'aias and aides she allows to speak to her, and Yvona laughs—enjoys herself, a popular figure among her element. All while the gala goes on and Braith tries to remember everyone she meets, she struggles with anxiety over what trouble may wait in Mohouni…
What Ylyssus may do—when he and Little Behe do not find her in her cottus…What the resolution is that Yvona applies to Dolatrafas…And what if Bromthas becomes angry, and second-guesses his faith in her because of this excursion?…What of Aspah, when he finds out she is far from his city without his permission?…
She does not realize that Dolatrafas lies in a stupor of drugs in his father's former cottus, on the floor—where Ylyssus, at this very moment, discovers him with Little Behe and Asifa.
Braith tries to make what she can of the evening, unaware of the danger she is in, and others who are at risk due to Yvona's impulsion and rebellion against her uncle-in-law's wishes.
She seeks for a face she recognizes among the glamour and chaotic festivity of the Craig. ( "Yvona," ) Braith pulls her wrist free from the hiriwa as Yvona hands her a glass flute of Syver and gran'wen mix…Braith gives it back to Yvona, who pushes it back at Braith to encourage her to drink, ( "…I do not want alcohol, Nefen." )
( "Why not?" )
( "Yvona, please," ) Braith puts the glass aside on a table, ( "…Is there anyone important I should know before we leave tonight? I am worried about not being in Mohouni at this hour…I have a bad feeling, and I want to leave soon." ) Yvona laughs and sips her drink as she nods to the servers who offer them more food and drink to sample, ( "…Please do not ask me about leaving this moment…At this hour?…The interesting, much younger crowd I want you to meet appears later…As of this hour, we have most of the elders who wish to retire early. If you want to meet important individuals, you must stick by me for as long as it takes. Stop fretting about Mohouni. All will be well!" ) Yvona turns her shoulder as she raises her glass again to her lips, lowers this as her eyes widen, and she makes a chirrup…She calls and waves to a group that arrives at the entrance on top of the Craig, ( "…Over here!" )
Braith glances to her left as some of the younger crowd, fresher to the affair, make their way to them, through the gala's floor crowd.
They are loud and boisterous as they talk and draw closer.
Yvona passes her glass to Braith's hand and stretches out her arms in loose sleeves, to beckon and wave for the group.
They come straight for them, and Braith sees the difference between this younger crowd, and the papir'aias and representatives she meets already. Far more energy, bravado, loudness.
First and foremost as he shoves his way between the others is a tall and muscular hiriwa Braith learns to be Mehida Triage-Muita. He comes over and kisses Yvona's hand, then looks along her arm with his yellow and aqua eyes to the drellahna's patak, ( "…Nefen Caratoda, you are a grace to see…I need to tell you something important, listen…" ) And he pulls her to his mouth so he can whisper something in her teness.
Yvona gasps, and slaps him.
She turns to stalk away, which leaves Braith to handle the rest of them, alone.
Mehida Triage rubs his patak where Yvona slaps him, and starts to join in the laughter with his other companions, looks next to Braith…Their eyes drink her.
Once, Braith sees a group of Drell children in Mohouni—who discover some small animal that is too slow to escape their attention, and their excitement turns to a dangerous interest as they seek to know of it, and how to torture or play with it…Either way, the animal undergoes much torment until Ylyssus scatters the children off. She turns with Yvona's glass from the calm unpleasant inspection of the hiriwas' eyes that surround her back and sides, and starts to walk after Yvona—farther ahead with some crowd at the food tables, another glass of liquor in her hand as she talks aloud, and those Drells listen. Braith's heart suddenly stops as left of that group of Yvona's, by another entrance to the rooftop, she sees someone.
Tetonbaum arrives with the eldest of Soterios brothers, Cartira, and both survey the top of the Craig to see all who are present that they can, what with the crowd's size, ( "…Another gala," ) Cartira sighs and looks at the th'ane beside him, ( "…I do tire of these affairs. Tetonbaum, please go see if the tables have anyone respectable for me to sit by and talk with? I see the rabble are here, too. If possible I would like to avoid Mehida and his Kerhasi cronies." ) Tetonbaum nods, and as he turns from his half-brother, he scans the crowds for the tables Cartira remarks of.
He sees the mill of bodies that include Mehida's yellow, black, and blue crests, the throng of hiriwas that look up to him…
They appear to cluster around someone, or something…Good, he thinks, …They are distracted and will not ridicule Cartira's limp…for now…
He moves away from Cartira, in the opposite direction of Mehida's party—towards the tables for diners.
Alone among these is a like-mind to Cartira's own. The complacent Malcham Kratos, who enjoys a small meal that a server replenishes until Malcham holds up his hand. The thin, wan-pale blue drell with black laces over his patak is the son of Bor Kratos, Si'enna. Malcham Kratos looks up from his food to make eye contact with the th'ane, and nods…With that invitation, Tetonbaum turns and heads over to Cartira.
Braith pulls away from Mehida Triage as he leers over and traps her with an arm around her shoulders, ( "…Let us see what you look like under this veil," ) he looks down at her veil silk, and reaches to lift the fabric—but at that moment Yvona rescues Braith…by her separation of the hiriwas from them, and her suddenness makes Mehida withdraw his arm and hand from Braith.
( "Mehida!" ) Yvona steps right into him, pushes Braith out of the way, ( "…You keep your wandering hands to yourself! You two-timing—" ) Mehida backs up from her furious beration.
The two start to argue as the other hiriwas spread out so as not to be the object of either's ire…Braith realizes, as Mehida touches Yvona's shoulder with his hand, and sinks his crests to whisper back heatedly, there is some matter of intimacy between the pair…She takes the opportunity to slip away as well, and go find the drell she sees a moment before Mehida blocks her view of him.
Braith moves as fast as she can to make up for the time, between her sight of a drell—with unforgettable eyes—and the other whose golden smooth crests rise noticeably above the shoulders of the crowd they are among together. To her dismay, both disappear among columns and stone walls that lead to another section on the rooftop, and there are so many bodies in the way…She turns to quickly check where she is—in relation to Yvona.
She does not notice Braith is away, what with her argument with Mehida. Braith does not want to go too far, but the opportunity to reach Casnar is there.
She slips through the columns and walls under arches of ribbons and lanterns…Servers and guests pass by—some stop to admire her in her dresswear, particularly her cleavage…Braith keeps on, in search of the others she seeks. She crosses in front of a group of musicians and dancers who continue to play and perform while they glance at her presence.
She seeks the drell with the sapphire eyes…She can remember the shape of his wave of crests, and his size is about the same as what she remembers of him, back in Mohouni that night. He eludes her, and then…she sees Casnar!—or a drell whom she thinks is Casnar.
She prays it is…
He has a golden head, he is tall, maybe a little thicker in muscle than she remembers, but never the less she continues to press through the crowd, on towards his golden smooth crests with hope in her eyes.
Braith is almost there.
He appears to be in a wider space among several others. She does not dare shout his name…
She passes more columns—Almost to him, she thinks, as she jams through a pair of papir'aias, who glare and then stare at her beauty. Someone grabs her arm.
( "I am sorry, I am trying to get—" )
Hands roughly spin her about, squeeze her arms—She grits her teeth at the intensity of the grip and makes to turn and wrench herself free…Braith growls, ( "…Release—" ) Through her upset veil, Braith makes out the golden patak and emerald eyes of Casnar. He is not where she expects him to be.
To him, neither is she.
He looks at her as if spellbound, in a daze, his eyes wide with shock, full of stress in the eyelids. He swipes her veil aside, pulls it out of her face—stares at her face, stares at her hair, her middle, her gown…"Braith?…" His voice is hoarse, a whisper that barely makes free of his dry throat. She can hear his disbelief. "Kala…You're here?…" His grip on her strengthens, as suddenly his head whips left and right—He shoves his face close to hers, "…With me, come with me…"
And Braith needs no other urge from him. She follows, clasps onto his hands as he rushes her secretly away from the gala's business, through the gaps in the columns, down stairs, out another entrance from the party…
They walk fast…They run…They slow and he helps her with the drapery of her dress…They walk hand-in-hand, nervous lovers on stroll through the Craig's turns and branches. Casnar turns his head—to look at her again, disbelief in his eyes…Braith stares back at him. They know each other's faces…Though there are differences since last they see each other in Lothairaxl, they recognize each other…He leads her through the complexity of the Craig's halls, down more stairs, through secret ways—only he knows—to reach his family's offices.
He opens the doors to the first chamber of his offices and thrusts her inside.
He is through—shuts the doors, sets the locks. He turns and melds his back to the door panel, his palms on the wood behind him. He stares at her.
His heart pounds in his head…Braith stands numbly in the middle of the antechamber.
He looks well, his dresswear fine white, gold, green silks, a cape behind one shoulder…He breathes in and out through his mouth. His eyes rise from the thongs of her feet to her face, "…Am I dreaming…Is it really her?…" he says as he leans forward from the doors and rubs his mouth and chin with gold fingers…Braith feels as if someone drugs her.
Her mind is in torpor. She struggles to know what to say.
She raises her hand, shakes it and drops it back to her side, "…Is it me?…Is it…Is it you—I saw…Is this what—" Casnar strides swiftly to her from the doors, picks her up, his hand on the back of her neck, and he cups up higher to her nape where her hair begins. He kisses her mouth…Braith freezes, then begins to kiss him back, forgets Ylyssus…She inhales Casnar's scent, tastes his caramel…It's him!…She clutches at his face and kisses him repeatedly on his lips as he lowers her down and holds her face to continue…Suddenly Braith pulls her head back, and stares at his green eyes, ( "…Where were you!" ) He hears her flawless Rakhïken, he cannot wrap his mind around that. It is surreal to see her, yet hear her voice in his language?…Braith looks ready to slap him…
He pulls her back against his mouth. They mesh together, and Braith pushes aside her anger to kiss and feel him in her hands. He picks her up again, turns with her in his arms, "…Braith," he kisses down her neck from her mouth, "…Mitan'cela…Braith…"
His lips move through the jewelry between her breasts—until he finds the odd wooden token on its leather string. Casnar tucks his chin to stare at it…
The marks, the smell of venom in its wood design…
"Mithras, where is he…How dare he…" He looks at the anxiety in her eyes—She knows what he speaks of, whom…It enflames him. He kisses her again, but this time hard, and carries her to the chambers of rest in his wing…
But for rest these are not, tonight…
He sets her down on a long couch and pulls apart her silks to get to her underneath. "Casnar—"
He tugs down the silks of her personal layers under the dress and withdraws himself from under his own robes. "I will not let him take you," Braith hears before he slides her towards the end of the couch, and kneels before her groin.
He enters her—both of them cry out with the shock of it. Braith pushes at his chest as he tugs her roughly, firmly onto him and rushes angrily into her heat, "…You are mine first!…" he growls, and keeps on…
( "Casnar!—Stop!—Gods…" ) she moans as she shakes from his jams against her on that couch…
She lifts her legs to clutch around his waist as he plunges at her, and pulls open her man'naan to free her breasts into their wild jostle…
The couch grates heavy over the floor, and reeds move about as he takes her back. A feral wildness in his eyes as these burn at her under him. Braith opens her eyes and looks up at his, her freckles darken as her skin flushes with hyper-arousal, ( "…I love you…I have always loved you," ) she says through his throes…
Casnar's eyes—inside these, she sees something stop…His expression loses all semblance of ferocity and rage, to fracture—
As he suddenly gasps, the wall crumbles down…
"Oh…Casnar," she whimpers as she starts to cry from the sight of his agony, his loss, come out onto his expression, "…Baby…Baby, I never stopped loving you," she sobs as he slows, and continues to move his hips.
He cups her cheek as he lowers his face to kiss her once, "…It killed me inside," he whispers and licks her tears, "…It killed me…"
Braith nods and rubs his tebris with her fingers through the valleys as she continues to cry under him. He wraps his arms around hers, and humps his hips, his lower back bends, to finish inside her. Braith clutches at his waist as she feels his girth repeatedly spasm within her body…She rests her temple against his chest, listens to the heart's beat, and lays quietly—together—finally with him once more…
Another hour later, he thrusts rapidly, his eyes to hers as she winces slowly, and gasps with pleasure…Just like before…Nothing changes about their chemistry, their fit together.
He looks older with worry and exhaustion, but with her, there, in his arms that night, after the initial anger—and the sorrow—frees, deep affection and sensitivity replace his throes in her…He shakes her core without the anger from before and those exquisite hips thunder as he reclaims Braith with his venom and seed.
She cries out as he watches her hit orgasm. ( "Where have you been," ) he purrs, as she opens her eyes to his…He lifts her legs over his shoulders, presses forward to kiss her cheek swiftly—then slaps his hips against her thighs. Her body craves him, and ever has. He makes her wet with need, and he fulfills her.
He picks her up—Rams into her slick, "…Cas—" she gets out before his mouth is with hers again, blocks off the rest of his name.
( "Of all the damn places to look…My goddess," ) he slows as he gazes into her eyes while he comes…His golden fingers dig into her buttocks, as he pumps his hips with her moans. He thrusts one final, firm time, kisses the side of her cheek and lowers her onto the couch.
He slides his knees off to stand as he pulls his cock all the way out.
He leaves to the washroom—and returns with a towel to clean her by.
They cannot keep their hands from each other as he wipes her down. Their kisses slower, less frantic, less panic in their caresses and tongue-strokes.
Their hands rove, and remember each other's sculpts and skins…Casnar inserts his fingers between her legs and probes her fast and quick—Braith sighs high and breathy, as he smiles like he does when they are alone on his bed in Lothairaxl.
Casnar straightens after she comes from his fingers' work…
He looks at the wooden ring on the string about her neck.
He takes hold of it as he bends from his waist, looks at her eyes.
He tugs and the ring and the string come free…as if this is always Ylyssus's intention for it to do.
Casnar holds the ring up and inspects the carvations in its wood, the leather string's ends loose around his palm and wrist, ( "…What is this to mean…Did you promise to marry him…" )
( "It is a token he made me so when I left to the hunt, I can look at it when I am feeling lost, and his intention was for me to know I was remembered…I am loved," ) she looks up at him as he down at her on the couch, naked and bare at this point—the both of them. She extends her hand and arm—and he passes the ring and string back into her fingers, ( "…Why did you never come for me, Casnar." )
( "You had the chance to leave when my half-brother went for you…He said the conditions were perilous, and then some Chimilys showed…" ) His eyes squint suspiciously, ( "…Was the one who made you that token—His name is Ylyssus?…Was the real reason you did not escape when you could have…because of him?" )
( "No…" ) Braith answers with the growth of what she feels to be an abscess full of trouble as she reconnects with realities, ( "…My friend, Davied, the chimilys—He told me, made me second-guess if what your half-brother was…was true…I hoped so much—to return to you, to believe there was a way out—that I had not considered…You might send an assassin…to kill me, instead of what he promised—to free me…" ) Tears roll down her cheeks as she glances at him, shame in that look.
Casnar leans forward and sets his hands on the top of the couch either side her. He presses his head to hers, and moves her with his pressure. ( "Did you take him as your soulmate?…Did you take him over me?…To be your one love—" )
( "I had to survive!…What did you expect!" ) She looks at him as she moves her head away, anger in her lips and eyes, ( "…You thought I could hold out…with my addiction?…You left me in Mohouni—" ) He grabs her chin—his pressure, however, is gentle as he lifts her face to keep it at him.
( "I sent someone for you…You could have left. You listened to someone else and chose to believe that Chimilys, over my half-brother." ) She bites the inside of her cheek and looks down. He feels the movement in her mouth.
( "I did not know if he was honest…I was on my own. You were not there…You do not understand the situation—I could only trust my instincts—and Davied, he made sense…what he said, at the time..." )
He looks intently at her. ( "You turned my half-brother away." )
Braith challenges his gaze, ( "…I could not know for certain who he was—" )
( "You had the chance to leave—Why would I send someone to assassinate you!—You chose to stay because of that damn Chimilys…No," ) he points his index at her and says low, ( "…because of your lover…" ) She slaps his hand away and stands up in his face.
( "…You!—Some almighty leader here!—You could have rolled out a red carpet into that city and walked in, demanded me from Aspah!—You could have used your influence—" ) She raises her fists to hit him, but Casnar grabs her wrists, and pushes her into a seat on the couch, ( "…Don't push me down!—" ) She stands and Casnar pushes her back down.
( "Stay there—" ) She stands again and when he moves to push her onto the couch, she grabs his arms, and rushes forward—with a knee into his groin…Casnar doubles over and limps backwards as he looks at her beautiful fury. ( "I have been…thinking about you…with some ex-th'ane—poking you with his prick!…Do you know…what it has been like for me?…To be playing this role," ) he releases his groin to wave at their surrounds, ( "…preparing how to exact my vengeance on others…because of who they took from me!…You become a huntress—and fuck some other Drell for his venom!…Who's the victim, Braith!…" )
( "We both have been," ) she says somberly. Casnar puffs his tebris and squeezes his eyes shut. ( "I told you not to push me…" )
( "Fair," ) he winces, presses his lips together, "…I deserved that," he slips into Common Speech, and glares at her as she glares back, "…You're a lot stronger."
He straightens out. Braith shakes from a little laughter, "…I've been hunting."
"I've heard," he sets his hand under her chin and looks into her eyes, "…What exactly have you hunted."
"Wulitons mostly, some hiroks," she says honestly, " …I keep my fellow hunters alive, that's namely my task."
Their eyes widen at a noise inside the chambers with them…
The sound of something, such as a door or window, that opens with a soft slide against runners.
Casnar yanks Braith upwards off the couch by her arm, and twists with her to hide among the columns that attach to the wall between chambers. The secret entrance in the washroom, that is Casnar's guess…
The wall closes immediately after it opens. He and Braith hear nil for a time. Casnar steps from Braith without a sound…
He pulls on his pants and sash. He pulls out a large knife from under a cushion of a nearby chair—Braith arches an eyeridge at his prior preparations…With his gold hand, and a glance at Braith, he holds one finger to his lips…He pauses, puts his arm around her and kisses her gently on the mouth, his eyes with hers as he moves way, withdraws his arm.
He moves away from the columns and Braith against the wall, the knife low and forward with its tip…
Braith hears footsteps in the other chambers as Casnar moves towards the end of the wall…Whoever it is—he or she comes towards the fore of the office, which is their direction.
Casnar stops at the turn of the wall and listens while someone pulls open drawers to his family bureaus and rummages through each…There is a hiss before the trespasser begins to rummage elsewhere in the chamber over from theirs…Casnar tilts an eye around the wall's end.
He does not recognize the drell inside his family's office chambers…He does notice they wear a certain dark set of robes…He is sure—this is a drell.
The stranger pauses and starts to straighten from his search. He looks up and behind him—just after Casnar darts his head behind the wall. His focus is forward, green eyes alert—As Braith watches Casnar's tell in his expression, her skin chills…
The figure at the bureau takes out a long knife—and starts to walk towards the washroom…He steps forward, opens his mouth, pulls in air, closes his lips…He backs away from the washroom and turns toward the rest chambers where Casnar and Braith hide…With softer steps, he moves towards their chamber.
As she listens, Braith closes her eyes and prays to Musaphat.
The figure pauses, backs up hesitantly, then makes once again to the washroom…The sound of the wall as it opens and closes its cover…
Casnar recognizes it—however subtle…He peers around the wall's end again.
He goes to Braith, takes her hand and leads her out towards the washroom, through the office with the knife still in his grasp.
She watches as he opens the secret wall after whomever goes through it…a moment beforehand…The corridor through the secret space inside the wall is narrow, dark, and carries to Casnar's nose and tongue: the faintest trace of someone's clothes…but whoever it was, happens to be far gone.
He closes the wall and looks at Braith, "…Whoever he was may go anywhere in these walls. There is a labyrinth among these that connect everywhere to anywhere else…My ancestor constructed the Craig with subterfuge in mind…He was very paranoid," he takes her hand and leads her to the office bureaus.
"What did you see?…"
"A drell…Dark rags…Maybe a th'ane…He was going through the bureaus…What was he looking for that he expected to find?…" Braith's hand he releases to slide open his drawers, rummage the items over the desk—parchments, notes from his meetings…Nothing Casnar keeps of any value there in the open…He pauses, then looks to Braith, "…I have to get you home."
"I—I can't go, Casnar…"
He stares, "…What?…Why?"
"I have people…waiting…for me—People who depend on me…Myself on them, Casnar." He moves closer to her, close enough she can see his canines bare behind his lips.
"Are you kidding!—But you're here!…You can leave them, Braith!—"
"I can't…" She looks openly at him, "…I have responsibilities to people—"
"To Hekelah with your responsibilities to them, Braith! I have been waiting to find you!…You found me?…" He appears very incomprehensible of her at that moment, "…Is it him?—You're going back for him, aren't you?..."
Braith shallowly nods, "…Among others, but not for what you think, Casnar." She touches his chin. "I've made…friends—squadmates, in a way…like Kasumi…is—to me…You know of her, don't you?…"
He nods, his eyelids close together, liquid brims over these lowest, "…She lives in Nualavera with us…and she's in a forbidden relationship—with my half-brother, Tetonbaum…" He sniffles and Braith nods as she leaves her hand on his face. Casnar raises his hand to take hold of it, "…Braith, please, come back…with me?…"
"I can't…I will in time, I promise…but not now," she says sympathetically, "…I want to…Gods, Casnar, I want to—I want to be with you," she whispers against his cheek, "…I need to take care of things…There are things I'm involved with…They are my friends…Companions…Even a child…I've adopted, Casnar…" He jerks back, a look of repulsion on his face.
"You've—you've got a kid? With him?"
"It's the child of a friend who would not take her, Casnar," she pushes his chest, "…She had no one else to take her…I stepped-in—to be a mother for her…What does it matter to you?…" He takes hold of her wrist.
"I care…I care because I have a future with you, Braith!…Whenever you decide to leave everything you've clung to—so you survive this horror…leave it behind, return to me…Even as far as Lothairaxl, Braith! As far as—I never gave up on you…" He pulls her against him, "…I regret now, not just coming out there and taking you—away from Aspah—when it was clear where you were!…There are numerous reasons that have prevented me…from doing what I am imposed to do by my own givings…An enemy hunts my family, hunts my name, we are trying to find who it is and draw it—or them—out…There could be many," he grits heatedly, "…Tetonbaum—went where I could not…I only know he told me the conditions were poorly to retrieve you—not that you chose not to come…You're here now…In my arms," and she is as his limbs curl round, "…It doesn't matter…what happens to those you think you owe some kind of loyalty to…"
"Casnar—why did you chase after the reactor for?…Your family, remember?…You don't have to, but you did, why…" He frowns at her, "…They are family to me now, Casnar…like Kasumi…like you."
She extends upwards and kisses his tight jaw. Casnar loosens and turns his mouth to kiss hers.
"I know where Souledivinie gets their venom from," she continues, as she parts from his lips, "…I protect people from Morthwyls—"
"Morthwyls…Morthwyls?" He stares into her gray eyes, "…What do you know of Morthwyls…Is that why they send you to Rakka's borders?…"
She nods, "…I have a bond with them, Casnar. They listen to me, or they pay attention…I can't understand why but I'm learning with them. Another reason I need to go back to Mohouni…" She looks sorrily into his eyes, "…I will come back to you…I love you, remember that?"
Casnar shakes his head, "…Please stay…"
"I wish…I'm invested now, Casnar, and you have your worries…apparently. I can't stay…else Yvona—"
"Yvona!…" he exclaims with alarm, "…You came here with Yvona?…Yvona—as in Yvona Caratoda-Lucannon…"
"Yes, we are…somewhat…friends."
He almost chokes on his next words, "…You're…friends? With Yvona Caratoda…Well, I guess it is only Rakhana! Small world—and you live in her uncle's city…" Braith smiles at him.
"Meet me one day in Thorolf…My Behedins pass through the Kir, there, on our ways to and from Rakka…There is a—a church, or monastery…"
"I know the place…Old Avera. It was the original site for Nualavera—before my ancestor found what he did in the north under the Horn, and settled there instead…More strategically sound." He moves forward and kisses with her—soft, desperate, moist mouths that tantalize each other.
Braith wraps her arms around his neck and head as he holds onto her waist.
"…I've missed you." She rests the bridge of her nose under his, and they breathe each other's scent inwards after he whispers this to her…Casnar smells no Fumiaksa.
Only the linger of Ylyssus's venom among her skin, and ashes of Rakka...
"Come find me in Thorolf, if you can…I'll try to leave signs for you—where we pass through. You might have to wait, but I'll return through there…The river Kir…We bathe ourselves…I get to go off alone…When you see me, you might not recognize me because I'll be in my hunt gear…"
Casnar opens his eyes to see hers still in their shutter…Her taste to him, her feel, her scent, "…You do smell better than I expected," he says and she grins.
Braith leaves with Yvona that night…Her excuse that she sees an aide from Mohouni who recognizes her, what with her Humanness, and threatens her to return immediately.
Most of this is Casnar's invention of an idea.
Yvona rolls her eyes at their misfortune and leaves Mehida in a corner with his pants down to take Braith home from the gala.
She smells a familiar scent on her companion, but puts the concern away as Braith's news about Aspah's aide disturbs Yvona more…
And so they return to Mohouni, a few hours after midnight.
Braith, upon her arrival, learns that Aspah knows of her leave to the Crandal. As punishment he sends the least of his contributors to the Serepta labor force to the mines—but one Braith cares about.
This happens to be Mia'tonia…She is gone by the time Braith arrives home…She also learns of his displeasure with Yvona and forbids the hiriwa to remove Braith from Mohouni again—Aspah prohibits Yvona from any requests to meet with Braith for instruction in combat skills.
As Braith sits on a chair outside her doorway to her cottus, she looks up at Ylyssus, when he emerges from the dark of the lane and Little Behe runs over to her.
( "What were you thinking?…" ) he asks Braith as he comes to a stop before her and the child that hugs her in the chair. Braith gives him a sour grin.
( "I do not control Yvona, nor her wiles…I had no desire to go, at least, not the way she chose for me." )
( "When I learned of where you had gone with her," ) he smiles at this admission, because in truth his relief makes his spirit rise with the sight of her again in Mohouni, ( "…I thought I would never see you return..." )
She smiles bitterly. He places his hand on her shoulder, as Little Behe looks up at her hair, and touches the braids from her dress-up with her hand, ( "…Did you enjoy the Crandal?" ) Ylyssus asks. Little Behe sniffs Braith.
Braith nods once, and takes Little Behe's hand from her face, ( "…It was…a good time..." )
That same dawn, Casnar meets with Tetonbaum to update the th'ane on what happens at the gala. He tells him of Braith's passage with her Behedins through Thorolf—to and from the borderlands of Rakka…
Tetonbaum goes to scout the area a day later, and finds the path the Behedins frequently use to cross the river Kir with their wagons and loads…
He returns to Casnar with this information.
Though it upset Casnar to have to see Braith return to Yvona Caratoda the night of their reunion, and thus to Mohouni…He does help Braith discretely return so Yvona does not see them together.
He is a far happier drell in the days after he reunites with Braith, for he knows she does well…beautifully well, and he indulges frequently in fantasies about the sight of her—when he first recognizes her shoulders, neck, the color of her hair, the movements of her body, the only human there…at the gala.
She will make a beautiful wife, he thinks, …and now I know how to find her.
And Casnar cannot force her to leave.
She feels she has obligations to her people. She falls in love with her calamity—and that is Rakhana.
That is exactly what he hopes for her to do…only…this is not the way he expects.
Braith returns to the hunt with Little Behe and the Behedins a year later, and twice on separate trips through Thorolf, she leaves hints of herself for someone to find.
It is Tetonbaum who uncovers these and reports them to Casnar.
Braith raises Little Behe in the borderlands, and between Rakka and Mohouni—and time to time in Aspah's city, with Ylyssus and the Sereptas who adore her.
All is well, and much the two learn about the cares of mothers and children, especially Human mothers and their little Drellahnas…Cemal trains Little Behe often alongside Braith nowadays, and the drellahna grows, and learns substantially quick…She develops skills, similar to her own vile father's…Cemal gives her a black dagger—this is perfect for her to practice with, as a sword that befits a child's hands.
Braith tries to befriend Mia'tonia, and attempts to invest time with Mia'tonia and Little Behe, so the drellahnas may know each other…This occurs when their returns to Mohouni from the hunt coincide with Mia'tonia's returns from the mines…Little Behe is shy around Mia'tonia, however, and prefers to hang behind Braith's legs.
Ylyssus steps into the role of father to the drellahna when the Behedins are not around and Braith, he, and Little Behe become like a family as the months grow on them together.
Once in a while, in Thorolf, Braith and Casnar meet, and after she bathes—out of sight of Behedins, and Little Behe who runs off through the woods on her own as she is older and wise about things beyond the years of her age—the lovers lay with each other, and make it in the tall grasses of silver fire…
They rest side by side afterwards, and speak of hopes, happenings, too, both in the north and south lands…
Casnar watches over Braith with observant eyes while she sleeps in the sun…
He tells her on one occasion that they are closer to the discovery of who tricks Kasumi and she into the visit originally to Rakhana…and who deceives Kolyat into the coincidental excursion that crosses paths with their shuttle, which Casnar recovers from the Beirchardt through incredible means—and luck.
Braith listens to him as she lies on her stomach, while Casnar runs his fingers over the scars on her back…and kisses each one, until she smiles. ( "And when do we move against Chiata Sanctuary..." )
( "When we are ready," ) he whispers and raises his lips to the next scar on her shoulder, ( "…I need to find the connection to Nolyn, your old company on Lothairaxl…They have rebranded—since they learned you are gone longer term now…Anyway, I am closer than I have ever been, Braith..." ) She rolls onto her side.
He looks at her face…and the way her black hair falls behind her neck and shoulder…He loves the length of her hair and when some of it falls over her breasts…
The sun makes her freckles brighter to his eyes…There in the grasses along the river Kir, not far from where Dolatrafas assaults her that one day—she never speaks of it to Casnar—they make love again in the sun…Those are good days.
Braith and Casnar must go their separate ways, and he takes off with Tetonbaum—who keeps three rookers farther off to give Braith and Casnar privacy…
Braith returns with a bittersweet smile on her face to her Behedins, who stand when she rejoins them at their campsite by the river.
Braith looks around herself at them, and notices something amiss in their eyes…Bromthas comes over to her, his expression casts downward with what she interprets as trouble, ( "…Behe," ) he takes her through the camp, the Behedins solemn as each stand, ( "…Bad news…" ) She looks around and sees Dolatrafas gaze back—before she looks to Bromthas.
( "Bromthas, spit it out. You know I dislike suspense. This is unlike you—" )
( "Little Behe is with Musaphat now and his Beloved…" ) he says. Braith's face, already pale, turns white…
( "Where is she?…" )
Bromthas nods to the river.
Braith drops what is in her hands and runs into the river, panic in her face as she sweeps her hands, eyes, and legs through it, from their side…to the other…( "Where…Where?!…" ) she screams across the roar of water at them, whites of her eyes bare, ( "…Where! Where did she go in!…" ) And Dolatrafas, Bromthas, several others—point upriver to the deep rapids…with suddenly harsh, abrupt stones that shine with high water that pours over these like glass...
( "She was higher up and attempting to cross the ridge—Before I lost sight of her…" ) Dolatrafas says.
Braith stares at him, as if he lies to her face…She splashes over to him on the bank, ( "…You were responsible!—for watching out for her!…" ) Dolatrafas regards her contemptuously, and she turns to Bromthas—who looks at the younger Behedin's eyes as they turn to his…
( "Were you with the child last," ) Bromthas asks…as Cuerikhl comes over from the other Behedins.
Dolatrafas nods, ( "…I was…Somewhat. Like I said, she was too far for me to reach—" )
( "You did not drown the child?…Answer honestly, you are in enough trouble." )
Cuerikhl's face grows rigid when he hears the accusation against his son. ( "I would not dishonor my word to keep the child in my care," ) Dolatrafas replies coldly, ( "…but she needed to go to the privy, and I let her alone by herself…Would you have me watch her then—" ) Braith wades into the river and she submerges herself, well over her head.
She looks for the body and sees only faint stones and teal waters, logs and bits of debris that wave in ghostly manner on their catches…Their remains wave downriver with the flow of strong water.
Bubbles and thin strings of current swirl by her eyesight…
She stays under—longer than she realizes—and as she looks for her daughter in the forceful depths that carry her away, her tears are invisible…Peaceful, troublesome silence is all she hears, and maybe a low thrum in her ears…
Dolatrafas is the one to run downriver and dive into the water headfirst.
He swims with his gear underwater—the current carries him fast…His eyes make out the dark form of her armor as its weight keeps her low and she drifts limply above the smooth stones lower down, ten feet towards the bottom.
He dives with kicks to submerge him…
He pulls out her body and brings Braith to shore where he drops her on the bank and his knees bite the rocks. He raises his fists and beats her chest in the middle…He hits her and breathes into her nose and mouth until her heart starts to beat again—and she coughs, chokes on the water in her throat and lungs…Dolatrafas and the others roll her onto her side to allow the water to spill from her lungs…and set up the path for her wails to follow next…
They return to Mohouni, a shadow over another successful hunt…Braith goes straight to her cottus with Dolatrafas—who watches her until Ylyssus receives word the Behedins return…
He goes in the cottus with not a word, and finds Braith on the floor in her room, her arms over the bed as she grieves.
He sits beside her, despondent, and grieves too.
( "I need to tell Mia'onia," ) Braith whispers against his chest as they lay together on the bed, their clothes off and mournful passion throes over, ( "…Where is she…" ) Ylyssus rubs her shoulder with his thumb and wipes his eyes free of tears with his other hand.
( "She is at the mines. She has been there for several return shifts—I think something has happened, but I cannot get any news." ) Braith raises her face to look at him with red eyes.
( "I need to go tell her…Find her…for Little Behe." )
He nods, ( "…Discuss it with Bromthas, and Aspah may acquiesce…They were all fond of you two together…you and Little Behe…" )
Over dinner, as the Sereptas dance and sing, Braith lets memories of the child at play with the others…overcome her…
She cries against Ylyssus's tebris as Davied comes to sit next to them and Asifa next…They and the Sereptas who once help raise Little Behe, all mourn…
Braith seeks Bromthas's permission, and with his blessing, she goes to Aspah in his private quarters.
A week later, Braith leaves with the next shift of Sereptas to the mines, and wears her Behedin garb and takes her weapons with her for the trip…She assists in the journey, and keeps everyone alive.