Chapter Twenty One
"Welcome to Arrida." Selethen whispered as their boat pulled into the harbor of Al Shabah.
Nel stared at the town in wonder. It was nothing like what she expected. The buildings were a white-washed stucco and mostly only one story, with a few two story buildings scattered around the town. A low wall ran around the entire town, made of the same material. In the far distance, past the town, the horizon seemed to shimmer and move in the heat and she could already feel sweat building up on her neck. Weren't they nearing the end of summer? Shouldn't it be cooling off? Obviously she was poorly prepared for the weather here.
People lined the streets, waiting, eager to see their Wakir and receive news of the treaty.
"What do you think?" he asked her as the boat was tied off. If Nel didn't know any better, she'd say he seemed nervous.
"It's…amazing!" she said almost breathlessly, looking around to try to take it all in. Her fingers were already itching to draw out the scene in front of her.
Was she still scared about starting a new life in a strange country? Yes, but that fear was getting lost in her excitement as she looked at her new home, with the vast golden desert stretching out into the horizon. She was genuinely impressed that they had been able to build something so impressive in such a harsh landscape. Nel knew that she would never be capable of such a thing.
"I'm glad." Selethen sighed in relief, "I'll be happy to show you around as soon as I can. We'll have to address the people first and get settled in, then I'll give you a proper tour."
"I'd like that." she smiled up at him. She could tell that he was trying so hard to already make her feel at home. As she did so, she realized how close they were. She was leaning against the railing of the ship and his arms were around her, holding onto the wood as well. It was almost a mix of a strange backwards hug and caging her in. Nel fought to keep the blush off her cheeks as the captain announced it was safe to disembark.
Selethen returned her smile before moving forward to get off the ship, Aloom following close behind. Nel hung back, watching nervously to see what everyone's reactions would be. Her wonder at seeing the town for the first time was fading away and her anxiety began to rise as she watched him move forward and get ready to speak to the crowd.
The crowd cheered at their return, but quieted down when he raised his hand, awaiting his announcement.
She quickly scanned the crowd, analyzing the faces there. She knew that Al Shabah was a trading town, but she didn't see anyone other than Arridi there. Either they weren't allowing traders today or the war had been hurting the business more than she thought. Possibly both.
"People of Al Shabah," Selethen called out, instantly grabbing everyone's attention. Nel was very happy that he chose to speak in Common. While she had spent the last few weeks learning the basics, there was no way she could have followed the conversation if he had spoken Arridan, "We have returned from Araluen and bring good news of the treaty, the alliance, and a hope to stop the war!"
Another cheer erupted at his words and he continued, a wide grin stretching across his face, "All five countries have signed the treaty and are making efforts to unite and stop the Temujai as we speak. I am proud to say that with our new allies, we now have the best chance of stopping the Riders' invasion!"
There was more cheering at this statement, which Nel had expected. The relief at finally having a way to fight the Temujai was palpable.
Sadly, not everyone was happy at this news. Nel wasn't sure who exactly spoke out, but she heard their voice ring out loud and clear above the crowd.
"How can we trust them?! The Araluens betrayed us once, they'll do it again!"
The cheering stopped instantly, sobering the crowd as the words sunk in. Nel winced at the reminder of the bad history between the countries.
Whispers began running through the crowd. Selethen raised a hand again to quiet them, "I understand your skepticism. After our last treaty with Araluen anyone would have doubts, but I am putting those doubts to rest. The Araluens have sealed the treaty through an unbreakable bond. To even attempt to break it would be met with devastating consequences, not just from Arrida, but from the other countries involved in the treaty as well. Believe me when I say that we can truly trust the Araluens once again."
He turned around, face set determinedly, and walked back to the boat, holding out his hand to Nel.
She took a deep breath, trying to force her nerves away. They seemed to have settled into a tight knot in her stomach as she accepted his hand, stepping onto the harbor and turning to face everyone.
Selethen raised his voice again, leaving no room for arguments, "This is Lady Aranel, daughter of the Legendary Ranger Halt, one of the most accomplished physicians from her home, and the second highest ranked woman in all of Araluen. She is now my wife.
"As you know, I left for Araluen to get married. A marriage was expected to cement the treaty and while it was a surprise that we were chosen for this great honor, together we have created a bond between our countries that cannot be undone. She is now your Wakil and therefore will be given the proper respect. Her loyalty and dedication to her country should tell you exactly how much Araluen wishes for this alliance to succeed. Please join me in welcoming her to our home!"
The crowd was silent, watching her, which was obviously not the reaction that Selethen was hoping for. He frowned at the crowd, waiting for one of them to do something. Nel set her face as emotionlessly as possible, refusing to let any of them see how much she was panicking inside. She was the first Araluen to set foot in Arrida in more than 16 years and she wasn't going to mess it up.
Nobody seemed to know what to do as they watched her. Just a few months ago, the two countries had been at war and now they were being told that they were united in the strongest possible way. Nel could hardly believe it herself. It hadn't been a full six months since she had left the Grimsdell. She never thought that her life would change this drastically in such a short amount of time. In that moment, she felt a strange sort of kinship with the people of Arrida. Their lives were all changing, without any sort of warning. They were exactly the same in that one, quick moment.
It was Aloom who moved first. He stepped forward silently, turning towards her and dropping to one knee, bowing his head in respect, accepting her as Wakil.
Her heart swelled with affection for him.
A few people in the crowd followed his lead slowly, silently. As more of them knelt and bowed their heads, Selethen's hand tightened around hers at the display and she felt her life get instantly more complicated. She knew that the transition wasn't going to be that easy.
Selethen led her to a building that took up one entire side of the main square, called the khadif. He explained that the ground floor was for official business, like a town hall, but the second floor was entirely for them as their living quarters. It was the only two story building in the square and, unlike the other buildings she had seen, didn't have a flat roof. In fact, the decorated roof and marble porch only made the building look more intimidating to her.
Guards stood at the entrances to the building and the second floor constantly, but not on the actual second floor itself, allowing them their privacy.
The khadif was obviously designed to host many people, but as Selethen lived alone, he didn't use all of the space. Really he only used the living room, master bed, and maybe one or two of the storage rooms.
The first room as they entered the khadif had the highest ceiling, stretching all the way to the roof and spanning both floors, but it was the colors that caught her eyes. The floor was a brilliant mosaic, the colors sorted into a large pattern as it stretched through the entryway. There were large pillars all over, each one covered in unique patterns, designs, and…was that writing? Selethen was leading her to a side door, but she broke away and turned close to one of the pillars, examining it.
"Curious?" he asked.
She nodded, not tearing her eyes away from it. She reached out to touch the column, tracing the shapes of the scene in front of her; it seemed to depict some sort of camp. People and tents stared back at her, the swirling Arridan script underneath it. She was better at reading than speaking the language, but couldn't do either fluently yet. She thought she could make out the words 'two', 'wary', and, 'land'.
"We keep standard records in our library, like everyone else, but important events get carved into stone so that we never forget them." Selethen said, placing his hand beside hers gently, "This particular scene shows the first time we met the Bedullin, a nomadic tribe that also lives in Arrida."
"This is amazing." she whispered. "What happens when you run out of space?"
"We move to the next one. When we run out of those, we move to the walls. After that, well, I don't know." he chuckled, "I haven't seen it happen yet, but I guess we'll find out."
Selethen grabbed her hand and pulled her to another pillar on the opposite side of the room. She blushed as she saw the servants and guards watching them closely. This particular pillar was emptier than the others, seemingly only halfway filled.
He stopped and pointed up to where the writing stopped. "This one holds the records of the Wakirs and Wakils of Al Shabah. Details of their lives, families, things like that. We'll be added onto it, right there."
Nel looked at the blank spot he pointed to, right underneath what seemed like another entry. She clearly saw his name written in the words. She looked at it often enough that she knew the lettering matched what was on her ring exactly. That must've been when he was appointed to the role of Wakir.
Nel gulped, suddenly not as excited as she had been moments before. Their story was going to literally be put in stone?
"Are you ok?" he asked.
Nel nodded quickly, although felt far from ok. "Yes, j-just curious."
"We're very proud of our history." he said, turning back to look at the pillar.
"You should be." she whispered. Selethen turned to look at her curiously and her mind raced, desperately trying to think of something to say. The only thing she could think of was the picture of their wedding being carved into the stone in front of them.
"Maybe we should get upstairs, show you around a little more." he suggested awkwardly.
Nel nodded and they began walking again, Selethen leading her into another room where they found stairs leading to the second floor. As they began to climb them, Nel blurted out, "There was embroidery."
Selethen actually paused on the stairs, looking completely lost.
Nel blushed, "O-On your clothes, at th-th-the wedding, there was embroidery."
He nodded, still looking confused, "Yes, of course. Is that really what you are thinking of right now?"
"Th-The pillars downstairs reminded me of it." she muttered, unconsciously twisting her ring around again, "Is it a s-s-similar tradition?"
"Yes, it is. We tend to wear our personal history on our formal clothes, very similar to how we record important events in stone." he told her, slowly starting to climb back up the stairs, "Everyone has their own formal clothes that detail their personal history, when they were born, what they may have studied, things like that. You aren't required to wear them anywhere, but many like to. Each family also has a shared set of formal clothes, handed down through the generations, but that typically only has the family tree included. I wore my personal clothes with my history during our wedding, although I do have my family's robes in storage. I suppose both will have to be updated now."
Nel didn't respond, feeling foolish. Of all the things she could have said, why did she bring up clothes? The history of it was interesting, at least to her it was, but it was obviously not what Selethen had expected.
They climbed the rest of the way in silence, Selethen holding the door open for her when they reached the top.
There was a large sitting room with comfortable and sensible furniture. A couple hallways branched off down the sides and she could see a few doors when she looked around. The last of their things had been brought in while they had been examining the pillars, her bags piled next to the couch. It was probably some form of disrespect to not stay and help her unpack, at least that was how Nel took it when Selethen frowned at the empty room, but Nel actually preferred it that way. Now she could make sure all of her books and supplies were organized the way she liked.
"Before we get you settled in," Selethen said quickly, leading her to a door on the left, "A quick tour. Most of these rooms are empty, storage rooms. This is the bedroom though and the washroom is over there."
Nel peeked her head in. The room itself seemed almost bare. There was a bed and a dresser, a small mirror sitting on top of it, and a tiny table in the corner that had a candle and other small items on it. On the far end of the room though was a balcony, the doors leading to it having been opened to help air out the room since no one had been there in months.
"I'll make sure to get some new furniture in here for you. I keep most of my things in my office downstairs." Selethen muttered, seemingly embarrassed by the empty feel of the room, "Whatever you need, just say the word, we have plenty of talented carpenters who can make anything you might need. In fact, if you want to redecorate completely I don't mind. Whatever makes you more comfortable."
Nel glanced at him curiously. Was he nervous? She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him so nervous before.
"But this is what I would really like to show you." he turned from the bedroom almost immediately, guiding her to a door on the opposite end of the living room and pulling it open.
She walked in, curious. There was a desk on the left, underneath the window, and some empty shelves to the right. Was this an office of some kind? It seemed to be.
"I use the one downstairs." Selethen repeated, answering her unspoken question, "So I was thinking that you might like this one. For your research or work or…anything else you want to use it for." he finished softly as his words started to get away from him again.
Nel smiled to herself; he really was trying so hard to make her feel comfortable and at home. Before she lost her nerve or talked herself out of it, Nel hugged him. Selethen stiffened at the contact and she pulled away quickly, feeling foolish again.
"Thank you." she whispered, "This is perfect."
"It is?"
"It is." she assured him.
Selethen let out a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing, "There's a lock as well. I have the key, just in case you want to make sure no one can tamper with your supplies like before."
"I…I…" Nel was at a loss for words at that.
Selethen took her silence to mean that she was upset, eyes widening as he tried to fix it, "I didn't mean it like that. I only thought that in case you were worried about it, you might like to know. There are guards at the entrances though so I guess having a lock is a little redundant, but-"
"Why are you helping me so much?" she whispered.
He paused for a moment, caught off guard by her question, "Isn't that what husbands do?"
"I-I guess…"
"I want you to feel safe when it comes to your work," he sighed, "If that means locking your office, then that's what we'll do. I don't want to see you give up something you love because of what someone else did."
Nel's heart swelled up for the second time that day and she smiled at him gratefully.
Selethen smiled back at her before gesturing to her things, "Would you like some help unpacking?"
She looked at the pile critically. She hadn't realized that she'd had so much. Packing it, it always seemed like so little. Just her clothes, supplies, books, and her research. She wasn't ashamed to admit that most of her belongings had to do with medicine, although most of her supplies had been destroyed by now. The only things left were the tools she used when making more. It was going to take a long time to build up her stock of medicine once again.
Her eyes lingered over the small trunk at the bottom of the pile. True to his word, her father had given her her mother's trunk, but she hadn't brought herself to open it just yet.
"I've got it."
"Are you sure?" Selethen asked, eyeing the pile in disbelief. To him it looked like a disorganized mess.
She nodded, "Most of it is books and medical tools. I prefer to unpack them myself so I can keep them in order."
"Ah," he said understandingly, "What if I just moved them into the room for you?"
Nel could tell that he just desperately wanted to help and do something. "That would be great, thank you."
Selethen practically jumped up and got to work immediately, sorting through the pile. As he brought the books into the office, Nel began to stack them on the shelves. There was more shelf space here than she had ever had before and she was excited to fill up the empty space. Selethen simply put the bags with her clothes on the bed and in moments the large pile was reduced to just a couple more boxes.
Selethen moved the last one into the office, setting it near the bookshelves. Nel reached down and opened it, revealing her sketchbooks, before she began stacking them on the shelves as well.
"I didn't know you drew," he murmured.
"It's just a hobby." she shrugged, "A way to relax."
"Could I see some?" he asked, looking at her with a friendly expression.
Nel's heart rate spiked and she reached for one of her earlier sketchbooks tentatively, handing it to him, "They aren't very good."
He opened it to the first page, showing a picture of Gilan training with his knives, throwing them at a target.
"You're very humble," he said softly, turning to see more drawings, "These are wonderful."
Nel couldn't hide her blush this time, glad she hadn't given him her very first sketchbook and its scribbles, "I've just practiced a lot."
"The only way to improve." he agreed, turning the page again. The picture on that one had been her first attempt at a self portrait.
Nel glared at it. Her 14 year old face looked far too lopsided.
Selethen chuckled at her expression, "Not your favorite?"
"Far from it. I hate looking at my old drawings."
"It lets you see how much you've improved." he suggested, raising an eyebrow.
Nel responded by simply glaring at the picture some more. He laughed again.
"Do you have any hobbies?" she asked, putting the last of the books away.
The Wakir flipped through another few pages before handing it back to her, "Not really, unless you count riding or sparring. I never seem to have much time for anything else."
"I don't see why they can't be hobbies."
"Then I suppose I have hobbies." he smiled and Nel couldn't help but return it.
"My dad and I used to go for rides all the time," she told him, "Sometimes I feel like I was just raised on a horse."
"I know the feeling. Arridi start riding when they are very young."
Nel put the last of her books away, satisfied that they were all properly organized. Together they walked back to the bedroom where she frowned at the couple bags of clothes sitting on the bed. Without the rest of her things, the pile looked dreadfully small, even with the new clothes she had made in Araluen.
"You can use whatever space you want in the dresser." Selethen cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"I won't need much." she muttered.
"That will probably change. You should get some new clothes, ones that are more appropriate for the desert." he suggested.
Nel had to concede that point, half of her wardrobe was made for heavy winters, not endless heat.
"I'll get on that." she sighed to herself. It was time to get used to her new home.
Professor: Hi everyone!
Just a few quick notes. I have no clue if there is anyone that records their history like I describe Arrida doing in this story. I just wanted to throw in some worldbuilding for the fun of it and this seemed like a fun idea/way to do that. If there is anyone that records their history like that, please let me know and I will include them in my notes!
For Nel's title of 'Wakil'. I tried so hard to find out where Flanagan got the word 'Wakir' or what it might mean. I couldn't find it. I asked for help. No one could figure it out. So, to find the female equivalent of it, I decided to change one letter and turn it into 'Wakil' cause that made it simple and it made sense to me. Then, for fun, I looked it up and 'Wakil' apparently means 'representative' in Indonesian? (According to Google Translate at least.) I'm going on a limb here, but I'm guessing that Flanagan changed 'Wakil' to 'Wakir' for the sake of the books. This is the closest I've come to figuring it out and I'm going with it.
If anyone actually knows the source that Flanagan used or if there is a proper term for Nel's new title, please let me know. I would love to know and include it in the story.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and thanks again for all of your comments! I love them!