Mwyr - Chapter Six

[lady_mab]

 

Arika sat on top of the wooden fence, swinging her feet with such enthusiasm that Chan feared she would topple over. Skirts and petticoats rustled with the movement. She watched him work with wide-eyed concentration. “I want to help.” 

“I know you do, but we’re almost done.” He was careful not to look in her direction. Tallah would often sit up on the fence like that, begging to lend a hand when she was bored.

She turned her head to look at Sera on the other side of the plot. “Why does he get to help but I don’t?” 

“Because I’ve done this before. Do you want a book to read? There’s a ton of them up in the house on all different kinds of subjects.” Sera couldn’t keep the grin from his face as he wiped sweat off his brow with the back of one hand. 

“I’m much more interested in farming than I am in reading.” Her legs went still and she leaned in closer. “You have three plots, right? And you switch between them because of soil nutrient levels, depending on the time of the year.” 

“Squash and cucumbers, beans and eggplant.” Chan pointed out the various sectors where the plants would be going. “Peppers and tomatoes are planted in the beds by the house.” 

Sera worked the hoe in the loose dirt, creating the spots to plant the seeds. “Flowers used to go there when Tallah and Lyren were still alive. Now, it’s extended plot space.”

“Lyren?”

Chan straightened his posture, but it felt more like a fidget. “My mother. Osus and Lyren were the couple that owned this farm and adopted Tallah, Loki, and myself.”

Arika’s expression shifted away from the pot of earth to focus on him. It was the look she got when she wanted to know anything and everything. It had been cropping up often over the past few days since he sent the letter to the Church. “Tell me about them.” 

“I don’t--” He stopped, looked to Sera for assistance. The young man only shrugged and kept his grin in place. “Perhaps later, Lady.” 

She frowned, displeased with his answer. “And how much later is later? I’m not going to be here much longer.” 

Sera snorted in amusement, stooping down to pick up a rock he had dug up. “It’s been a little over a week. The representatives from the Church are likely on their way here. But knowing their love for pomp and circumstance... it might be another fortnight before they make it here with their entire circus in tow.” 

“What if...” she started, and when Chan turned toward her, she sat with her shoulders hunched up to her ears. Her eyes focused on the scuffed toes of her boots. “What if I left?” 

He couldn’t stand the way some of the lingering tension in his chest eased with her suggestion. It would be easier if she left, he knew that. But he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened to her because he let her go on her own. “What do you mean?” 

Her shrug was lost in the already hunched position she posed in. “I could just leave on my own. Meet the entourage halfway. It would probably be easier.” 

It would. It would be so much easier. The yes he wanted to say strained in his throat, struggling to escape. What kind of person would he be if he just turned the Goddess loose? Especially when she had no idea where she was going or even what was expected of her at her destination? That definitely wouldn’t serve him well in the long run.

“Why go alone when we could go with you?” Sera offered, leaning against the wooden handle like he didn’t have a care in the world. After a pause, he jerked a thumb between himself and where Chan stood, wide-eyed and confused. 

“Wait, me? I kind of have a farm to run, Sera. I can’t just--” 

“Drop everything to follow the Goddess?” 

Shock wore away in a flush of anger. Chan straightened to stand at his full height, glaring across the space between them. “I wasn’t expected to before. You can’t expect me to do it now.” 

“Alright, boys, enough.” Arika lifted her hands in an attempt to placate them. “You know I hate it when you talk about me like I’m someone else who isn’t within hearing range.” She hopped off the fence and moved to stand between them. She held herself with far more surety than he was used to seeing from her the past week. “I’m not asking either of you to do anything. You have both done so much for me already, and I won’t be selfish and expect you to give up your routines here.” 

Sera stepped forward, eyes reserved for her alone. “I will go, if you will have me.”

A smile twitched across her lips, but she did an amazing job of wrangling it into place and holding up a hand to stop him. “This isn’t a competition, Sera.”

“I’m not trying to compete against Chan. Just because you’re not being selfish doesn’t mean that I can’t be. I want to go out and see the world -- not be stuck at home with seven younger siblings.” His expression hardened, and Chan marveled at the idea that the young man was finally growing up. When had that even happened?

Her hand wavered in the space between the two of them, then dropped back to her side. “This isn’t just you attempting to ‘avoid responsibilities’?” she teased, though there was a notable tinge of relief in her voice. 

Chan heaved a sigh, running his hand over his face and back through his hair. “Believe it or not, he has been dreaming about seeing the world for years. So no, it’s not entirely to ‘avoid responsibilities’.” 

“I don’t know if I’m insulted or flattered.” 

“Don’t get used to it.” Chan was about to get back to work when he spotted a figure striding down the gentle slope from the farmhouse. “Uh... Sera--” 

He looked up, then turned to see what the object of focus was. Panic, the kind normally found on a child caught stealing cookies, crossed over his face. “Oh. Shit. I need to hide.” 

“I think it’s too late.” 

Arika glanced back and forth between them before turning to see the man getting closer to the plot of land. “Who--” 

“Chan, Sera! I was wondering where the two of you had gotten off to.” The man smiled as he reached the edge of the plot, amber eyes immediately focusing on Arika. It took several seconds before his expression flickered between concern and confusion. “And you are...?” 

Before she could hold her hand out and introduce herself, Sera moved to insert his body into her path. “Dad, what do you want?”

“Just come to see where my son has been loafing about, not doing his share of the work back in Wellfox.” 

He glanced at Arika and Chan over his shoulder, clearly nervous. “Can we not talk about this here?” 

Sera’s father indicated to the expanse of green grass with a wave of his hand. 

He stomped around the troughs he had carved into the dirt and leaned his hoe up against the fence. “I’ll be right back, you two.” He dusted his hands off on his pants and tugged off the straw hat. It was one he stole from Chan several years ago after he first started helping on the farm. This he rested on the post as well before following after his father. 

Arika waited until they were out of earshot, then hopped over the mounds of dirt to stand next to Chan. “Who is that?” 

“Ah, that’s Sera’s father, Tyn. He’s the mayor of Wellfox.”

Her eyebrows shot up, disappearing under the rim of her hat. “Sera is the mayor’s son?” 

He couldn’t help the wry twist of a smirk at the corners of his mouth. “Kind of explains a lot about him, doesn’t it?” 

There was a slight pause before she burst into a fit of giggles. “A bit, yeah.” 

His hands fidgeted with the farming tool in his grip, passing it back and forth between his palms. He watched her, as her eyes followed Sera and Tyn up the slope towards his farmhouse. There was something in her gaze that reminded him of curiosity. The same kind of wide-eyed search for answers that Loki had before he left for school. Finally, he buried the tip of his tool into the loose dirt. “Arika--” 

“Guilty conscious?” She glanced back at him over her shoulder. The hint of a smile meant that she only teased him, but his stomach still twisted at her words. 

“About... you leaving.” Chan turned his gaze down to his feet when she shifted to face him. It would be easier if he couldn’t see her expression. “I hope you don’t take offense to the idea that I don’t wish to travel with you.” 

“What? No, how could I?” In just a few quick steps, she closed the distance between them, but didn’t force him to look up at her. Instead, all he could see were Tallah’s skirts and a stranger’s shoes. “You’ve done so much for me already. Given up a lot of your time and made plenty of sacrifices for me. More than either of us probably realize.” 

When she hesitated, he could see her hands flitting about in the air around her. Unsure of what to do with them, where to put them. “But there are... answers that I need. If this body is my own, or if I’m borrowing it from someone else. If my mind is my own, or a blank canvas meant to be painted over by the Goddess.” 

Chan didn’t pull away when her hands reached for his. Her fingers were so small and pale compared to his -- tanned and knotted from years in the fields and woodwork. Faint, shiny scars laced the backs of her hands, and the tips of her fingers callused in a way that Tallah’s never were. Arika applied the slightest bit of pressure against his palms. 

She waited until his eyes found hers and put a smile into place. “There’s not enough in this world that I would be able to give you to thank you. So if I do figure out this mystical Goddess thing and I’ve got powers hidden away, I hope that I might be able to repay you.” 

His throat tightened around emotions he didn’t know how to express. He didn’t know how to tell her that he had tasted the magic in her fevered words. He didn’t know how to tell her what he believed and felt whenever he looked at her. It was more than just looking into eyes that no longer belonged to his little sister.

She took that body and she made it her own. In the span of just over a week, he couldn’t even recognize her when he glanced at her. 

“Don’t ever think you owe me, Lady. I would never be able to live with myself if you thought that you needed to repay me.” 

Arika laughed, a slight huff of breath that barely made any sound. “I think we’re both a little too stubborn to let the other get away with what they want, hm?” 

When he smiled, it eased some of the tension from his shoulders and he could finally meet her gaze. “Yes, I think that might be the case.” 

“Alright, then, what are you two in deep conference about?” Sera called, and when he turned to look, he found the young man leaning against the wooden post. “I don’t mean to interrupt.” 

“Just thanking him for his service, is all.” Arika released Chan’s hands, though she didn’t withdraw completely. “And how did your conversation go with the mayor?” 

Sera winced, covering his face with one hand in embarrassed dismay. His voice emerged from his mouth in a strangled jumble. “You told her?” 

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he pulled his tool from the dirt. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware it was a secret.” 

“Well, no, but...” Sera shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “He’s asking me to go back with him.” 

Chan raised an eyebrow, reading everything he needed to know from Sera’s expression. “And you’re going? That’s rare, you listening to your father for once.” 

This earned him a brief frown that smoothed into the casual smile Sera wore when pretending everything was okay. “Shove it, you ass.” 

“Watch your language in front of the Goddess.” 

“I swear all the time in front of her and she doesn’t seem to mind.” 

Arika and Sera exchanged a glance, and her expression widened into an amused grin. “Most of the time it’s using my name in vain so this is a welcome change.” 

Chan switched his attention to where Mayor Tyn stood near the top of the knoll, watching the three of them. Although he couldn’t see his expression from here, his posture alone indicated irritation. “Did your father walk all the way out here?” 

Sera shrugged, spinning his hat around on the tip of one finger. “He did. Probably just to give himself time to think of how he’s going to scold me on the walk back.” With far more skill than Chan thought possible, he flipped the hat in his grip and then onto his head. “I didn’t tell him about you, Arika. He asked, but I just said you were traveling and Chan offered you a place to stay. Figured that would be better until you are ready.” 

“Thank you.” She hesitated and finally took a few steps back. “Are you going to be leaving, then?” 

“Ahh, yes, I need to help out in Wellfox with setting up the fair.” He rubbed the back of his neck before dragging his hand up to scrub his face. “I guess I’ll see you then?” 

Arika opened her mouth, but Chan stepped in to answer before she could. “See you then. Thank you, for all your help.” He held out his hand, and Sera shook it. 

She waited once again until Sera was out of hearing range before turning to him. “When is the fair?” 

“Week’s end.” 

“That’s four days out...” She lifted her hand to her chin and bit the side of her finger in thought. “I don’t know if I still want to be here that long. And I don’t want to leave without saying goodbye to him.” 

“I know that you would like for him to go with you, and really, it would do him some good to go. But he also does owe it to his father to help with the fair.” Chan watched Sera and Mayor Tyn’s retreating forms, silhouetted against the clear blue sky. “He’s expected to take over the role, raised into it by his father.” 

“I know, but--” Arika’s breath trickled out before she could finish her thought. “I just need to find some way that he won’t feel obligated to follow if I leave. Even if that means not telling him.” 

He glanced at her, though she had turned away and all he could focus on was the back of her head. Strands of her dark brown hair clung to her freckled neck after escaping the safety of her hat. Her shoulders slumped only a fraction, but it was enough to make her look exhausted. Chan lifted a hand and let it land, heavy and reassuring, on her head. “Don’t waste your energy worrying about him. Worry about yourself, instead.” 

This time, when she laughed, it had a bit more humor to it. “I’ll try not to,” she said, though he could tell by her tone of voice that she didn’t quite mean it. 

Tallah often had the same inflection. 

#

The twins strode through the streets with a lot more confidence than usual. Everyone they passed watched them go with a strange expression. They whispered behind hands that the Rotia had no business being in the walled city of the Church. Especially not when they didn’t even believe in the Goddess. 

Mica marched down the middle of the avenue while Mina struggled to match her hurried steps to his. His rattling quiver full of arrows and the jangling of her bangles kept them company. 

“Mica.” 

He ignored her, not wanting to have to stop to argue with her again. They were already in way over their heads, far from home and familiar culture. A walled city was nowhere near as comforting as the open plains. How these people felt safe instead of trapped, he would never know. 

“Mica,” she tried again. This time she reached out and snapped the band that held his short bow to his back. 

He yelped in surprise more than pain, and swatted her hand away as she made another grab. “Stop that!” 

“But--” She spoke in the common tongue, and he frowned before replying in their native language. 

“Not now. We are making our way to the big stone monstrosity they call a church. We can’t just stop in the middle of our procession.” Mica lifted a hand behind her and grasped the end of her braid, giving it a quick tug in retaliation. “You said this must be done, so we are doing it. Don’t tell me you’re feeling hesitant now.” 

Mina shook her head, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “No, it’s just that...” 

He ground his heels into the paved walkway and swung around to face her. “What?” 

“They’re here.” 

“Who?” 

She made a vague motion with her hands and jerked her head in the direction of a narrow alley as they passed it. It had no intention of looking friendly, so he had no intention of giving it a friendly once-over. “They are.” 

“Just because we are twins does not mean I understand you when you speak cryptically.” 

“The Benghri. That is who I mean.” 

The name set his teeth on edge and made the skin on his arms prickle. Names had as much power as those they referred to in Rotia culture. Despite how insensitive he was to those sort of things compared to Mina, he could still feel a tickle of magic. “Do we have to go?” 

She considered the question, long and hard. “We do not have to, no... But I think it would be a good idea if we do.” 

“To get it over with?” 

Her smile was a tinge rueful, and he wondered just when she learned to make that expression. “This is not something we can just ‘get it over with’.”

Mica shifted his weight from foot to foot. “At least this meeting, then.” He didn’t like the last meeting they had with the Benghri, and he knew he wouldn’t like this one. 

The first time they met the demons, Mina got it into her head to travel across the plains to Hullenscir. That they needed to seek an audience with the woman who claimed to be the Goddess made flesh.

He dreaded what sort of mission they would inspire in her next. 

Mina squared her shoulders and stepped off the safety of the main road. Alleys meant shadows, and shadows meant the Benghri could be anywhere. She lead the way around week old puddles and litter scattered across the dim path. 

The distant spires of the Church towered over the roofs separating them from the main street. But Mina’s feet carried them down turn after turn without even hesitating. She never glanced to the side to see what had been their original destination. 

She rounded a corner far quicker than he could keep up, and when he swung around, he found his sister frozen in the middle of the alley -- poised and listening. 

“Mina?” 

Her hand fluttered into position over his mouth without having to look. “Hush.” 

He frowned, and considered ways to get her hand off his face that would teach her not to stick it back on there. Before he could act, the beat of wings stirred in the shadows and air currents flickered to life. The familiar hum of magic across his shoulders and collarbone grew stronger. It was a comfort in the strange city of stone and hymns. 

“They are coming,” Mina said, her voice trembling on the simple phrase. 

The first of the Benghri stepped out of the shadows, tall and dangerous. The one Mina referred to as ‘she’, even though he couldn’t discern the gender differences. Their voices were the same rough, toneless grating of pebbles stuck in gears. Then again, the second one that limped out of the darkness a moment later rarely spoke. 

The female’s head swiveled in her usual serpentine fashion, dark eyes studying them. The gaze focused on Mica as she spoke. “You made good time, children.” 

Mina stepped forward, and the hypnotic stare switched to her. “We had no harm along the way. Can we thank you for that?” She was the only one that spoke to the demons, claiming that she understood them better than he could. What that meant, she never explained. 

It was similar to the way that only the female Benghri spoke, while the male lurked behind her. He couldn’t even support his own weight on the shriveled left leg, leaning against anything nearby. 

At the moment, he leaned against the wall of the alley. His eyes bored straight at Mina with an intensity that made Mica uncomfortable. If they knew whatever it was that she thought she knew, then a part of him was glad he remained ignorant. 

“You can thank the Goddess for that,” the female said. Her wings shifted uneasily behind her. Dirt swirled about their ankles with the motion. “We watch over you until the time that she finds you.” 

“Wait, what?” Mica turned to his sister as she pressed her hands together in thanks. “You never told me that the Goddess was going to be looking for us.” 

“That’s because she doesn’t know that she is,” Mina supplied without turning toward him. She rarely looked away from the Benghri when they came to visit. 

“Mina--” 

“I will explain to you after.”

He snapped his jaw shut. It was one thing to seek the Goddess out. Plenty of people did that, begging for one thing or another when they couldn’t fix it themselves. It was another to be sought after by her. 

But Mina often knew things before they happened. It had saved his life and those of their tribe many times while they grew up. He knew better than to question her about it. 

“You are aware that there is another one here in the city?” the female said after a pause, ensuring that their attention was back on her. 

“Another Benghri?” 

She glanced at the male. He said something to her in a low, guttural tone that only they could understand. “The other Benghri, as you say, has left already.” The female turned back to them. “Along with the prince.” 

Mica and Mina exchanged confused glances, but he could only offer a shrug. He had a hard time interpreting the cryptic clues the demons offered. 

“I meant one of your faith.” 

“Another Rotia?!” Mina fussed with the hem of her dress and the belts around her waist. “But why? We don’t care for the Church or its people.” 

“And yet here you stand.” 

She bristled at the implication behind the words. “You know why. Better than I do.” 

“That doesn’t change the fact that you have an idea. Yet you continue to sound confused by it or defend your actions.” The Benghri waved a clawed digit in their direction. “You dress in the clothes of your people and you dare to carry the signs of your witchcraft into the Church walls.” 

“I--” Mina started, hands fluttering to a rest over her chest. 

Mica reached for the short sword at his side, but she stopped him with the tips of her fingers on his forearm. 

“No, when I say there is one of your faith, I do not mean one of your people. At least, it is what I believe. I am made of magic, but I cannot sense this one like I can the Goddess.” The Benghri lowered her head, but the edge never left her posture. “You will come to understand, I believe, and hopefully before it is too late. I know nothing more that I can tell you.” 

“Thank you, then, for the warning.” Again, Mina pressed her palms together in thanks -- and, after a moment, nudged Mica in the ribs to do the same. 

The male spoke and whatever he said made the female laugh, though the sound lacked any real humor behind it. “We must go now. You will not see us again for some time, children of the plains. Do not expect us to be companionable when we meet next.” 

Before either of them could speak up, the wind sprung to life around the Benghri. It formed a whirlwind that swallowed them back into the shadows. 

Mina maintained a rigid spine until the last of the breeze settled. Then she allowed herself to slump forward and cover her mouth with trembling hands. “She knows something that I can’t see.” 

“You mean the whole ‘one from our faith’?” Mica paused, then tossed his gaze up toward the distant sky. It seemed so much further away with buildings towering around them than it did when they were out in the open plains. 

Even here, in the Church, two of Mwyr’s three moons watched over people below. Mica lifted a hand to the pendant he wore sewn onto his jerkin, hidden in a nest of ribbons. Tension eased from his shoulders when he uttered a small prayer to the absent body. 

She didn’t reply right away. Instead, she moved to lean her head against his shoulder for support. “We must focus on the Goddess, first. What we will say to her.” 

Mica wanted to ask for clarification, but there was something in her expression that made the words die in his throat. It eliminated any desire for argument or to press the topic. Her stare was lifeless, ageless, far older than she had any right to be. 

“We must focus on what will stop the past from repeating.”