Compis: Five Tribes (4 page)

They called in a Sanguis to heal her, but the woman could only shake her head.

“I've never seen anything like this. It's not the sickness, I can assure you of that, but it's almost as if the baby inside of her is draining the life from her body, little by little. The best thing you can do is make her rest and perhaps she will pull through. Don't let her get out of bed.”

For the next four months, a 4 year old Zyander and refused to leave his mother's bed. He played with her, sang songs with her, laid his head on her belly and listened to her tell stories of the old age. Those days were one of the brightest spots in his life and he held every memory of them like shiny coins in a purse.

When Alea was born, his mother did not get better. She spent the next months in bed, only moving to eat or nurse her baby, and spoke little, getting weaker and weaker by the day. His little body lay there with her, holding Alea for her, stroking her long dark hair, crying for her to get better.

One night, she whispered him awake, his father having slipped into an exhausted slumber next to her.

“Zyander,” she said, reaching a pale, bony hand to stroke his cheek, “Zyander, wake up.”

He pushed himself up, using chubby fingers to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

“Mother?” he said.

“Zyander, my time has come. I want to tell you something before I go.”

They had talked about this many times, but each time she tried to talk to him about what would happen after she died, he would throw himself against her chest, crying and refuse to stop until she sang him his favorite lullaby.

“Zyander, go get your sister,” she whispered.

His sister was asleep across the room, not even a year old. He lifted her from the sleeping bed, his small arms hefting her, holding her body against his as tightly as he could without hurting her. She was awake, but quiet. Alea was always watching the world around her, a peaceful baby. He laid her across the end of the bed, and pushed her forward until her arm was touching his mother's. Then he scrambled up onto the bed himself. He sat next to his mother, who had by this time worked up the strength to put herself in a reclining position. He leaned forward and pulled Alea into his arms, then rested his head on his mother's shoulder, sighing deeply. He knew, at 5 years old, what was going to happen now. He felt it inside, the ebbing of his mother's life force. He couldn't explain how, but he knew.

“Zyander, before I go, I want to give a gift to you and your sister. You are my greatest work, Zyander, the both of you. The most beautiful things I could have created, even if I had all the power in the world. I want you to protect each other and look out for each other. I know that Alea is too young to understand this, but you must remember what I say and tell her. Okay?”

He nodded, looking up at her.

“Zyander, you have a big job ahead of you. No one has been able to do it, but you must. You must save our tribe, Zyander. When the time comes, you will have a chance, all of us do, but you, of all the members of this tribe, must do it. Now, I will give you a spell to help you and your sister.”

She laid a hand on his chest and a hand on his sister's head and spoke her last words.

“
In the name of the great Iam, may the life within me be used to guard you, guide you, and gift you. Take my strength and grow stronger, take my breath and breathe longer, take my words and speak louder. Become all that I cannot and dwell where I must leave.
”

She leaned down to kiss them both and then breathed her last. As though she understood that her mother was dead, Alea starting screaming in terror, and woke their father.

“Zyan, what-” his words cut off as he realized what had happened.

~~~~~

Zyander sat up on his cot, now back in the present, and brushed a hand across his dampened eyes.

The words he didn't understand as a child were now filled with adult clarity. His mother had sacrificed what life she had left, to set an extra spell of protection over her children. She had looked so fierce as she had told him to save his tribe. The only problem was, he had no idea how to do it.

After he left May with her cousin at the inn, Luka wandered down to the market to see if he could buy her a gift. Maybe some seashell earrings from an Aquis booth or one of the clothier's booths. Each of the tribes was known for their distinctive style of weaving and the better the weaver, the more versatile the cloth. His mother had purchased a shirt once that changed color depending on the tribe of the person who was wearing it. He thought maybe a color changing scarf would do the trick.

Luka walked from booth to booth, admiring the variety of the wares offered. Along the way he got hungry and stopped at a baker's. It was an Aeris booth, offering the lightest fruit buns imaginable, like eating a cloud, and bought a few to munch on. He was just handing the vendor his money when a commotion behind him startled him, making him drop one of the coins in the dust. He picked it up, got his buns, and turned around to see a group of people moving in his direction.

They weren't dressed in tribal colors, nor was their wagon marked with any tribal symbols. The group seemed to be led by a stocky red-haired man that was about his height. He moved through the crowded market with the authority of a Duor.

“Is anyone interested in wares that you won't be able to get from any of these tribes?” the man said, projecting his voice to carry over the noise. “We've brought with us samples and offer much more variety at our camp on the outside of the Citadel. Please, be welcome!” He started to move forward down the path, but a Terran moved to block him.

“Go on your way, tribeless,” he said.

“My name is Keran, and I am not tribeless,” Keran said. “These are my tribe.” He gestured to the group that had followed him in, most of them still standing by the wagon.

“No indeed,” came voice from the crowd. A tall Sanguis woman in a flowing scarlet dress approached the two men. “We can see that you are not tribeless, and we welcome you to join in our market. Please, don't feel the need to keep your wagons outside the Citadel. I am Lady Mordra, of the High Council. I give you leave to have your booths and your wares on display. And I caution any vendor thinking to treat Keran and his tribe with malice to think twice. Pass the word along,” she said to a young man from her tribe, who then ran along spreading the word.

“If you will come with me,” she said, “I will take you to the map and we will find a suitable place for you.”

The Terris man muttered under his breath and stomped away, pushing through the crowd. A surge of people moved forward, Luka among them. A few of the men and woman were opening up ingenious compartments all over the wagon, which then popped out to display different wares for sale. He went over to where a boy his age was standing, holding out an unimaginable variety of animal figurines.

“Wow, these are amazing,” Luka said to the boy. “Did you do these yourself? They could pass for Ignis workmanship.”

“Yes, I and some of the others made these. I enjoy it. I can make these anywhere, including while we're on the road here.”

“May I?” Luka asked, gesturing toward a pair of lovebirds, necks entwined.

“Surely,” said the boy.

“Did you do this one?” he asked, thinking the boy must have a girlfriend, to make something so sentimental.

“No, my sis did that one. She does all the lovey dovey ones.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Your sister is tribeless as well?” Luka asked. “Were you both born into this group?” He wondered how that would feel.

“No, we were Initiates last year. She's my twin.” He pointed to a tall thin girl who was showing an Aquis woman a bead necklace.

“Oh.” Luka didn't know what else to say. He was curious, but didn't want to be rude.

“It's okay, I can see you want to know. We were both Aquis, but I got Sanguis and she got Aeris. We couldn't bear to be separated, we'd been together all our lives. So we left as soon as we could pack up our things and buy some supplies from the marketplace.”

“Was it a long journey?” he asked. He couldn't help it, he thought of May. If things didn't work out, maybe there were other options.

The boy looked at him for a moment.

“It
was
a long journey. We had no idea where we were going. We'd heard of others leaving the Five Tribes, but we didn't know where they went or what happened to them afterward. By the time we met up with Keran's band, we were half starved and worse for the wear. That's one of the reasons we came to the gathering. Keran said he was tired of half starved Initiates running away and ending up close to dead.

“Keran is a great man. We are self-sufficient and make everything for ourselves. We wanted to make sure other Initiates know where to go. It's my job, and my sister's to tell Initiates where we are. Not that you want to join us, but maybe you will know someone that does?

“My name is Ryd, by the way.”

“I'm Luka,” he said, holding out a hand. “Look, I have to head back to the inn I'm staying at, but I'll come by later. Not that I'm interested in joining, but I've never met anyone who lives outside the Five Tribes.”

“Fine by me, see you later,” Ryd said.

“You too,” said Luka, and after purchasing the lovebird statue, he made his way back to May.

Nikka woke up from a disturbing dream where she found herself standing in the center of a circle with all the tribes around her. She turned each way, trying to decide which tribe she would be in, but every time she tried to choose, her path was blocked by some invisible force. She saw Zyan in the crowd, but when she tried to talk to him, he shook his head, turned around and walked away. She felt sick. Being an Initiate was supposed to be the most exciting time of her life, but instead, she found herself dreading what would come in a few short days. She didn't know which tribe she wanted, but she knew which tribe she could never be a part of.

Sighing, she pushed aside her covers and got out of bed. She rummaged through her belongings for a shirt and skirt to wear.. The bags had everything on earth Nikka owned, in preparation for leaving with her new tribe. Today was another big day for the Initiates. They were all supposed to meet in the great hall where the Divinaris would speak on the responsibilities and duties of the next year. She was excited about that, because each of the tribes was such a mystery. She'd grown up as an Aeris, but she knew nothing about how their spells and powers worked. It was something you found out only after you were Initiated.

She washed up in the tiny bathroom she shared with her cousin. Nikka ran a comb through her tangled curls and waited till they glistened, then pinned them to the side in a sparkling clip and slipped into her clothes.

She met her father in the dining room, and he told her that her uncle was still asleep.

“May and Luka went to get breakfast at the market,” Nikka said.

Her father shook his head. “Those two are headed for trouble,” he said. “I'm glad you've kept yourself away from relationships with boys.”

She thought, with no little amount of guilt, about the kiss she'd given Zyander.
Well, you know very well, that's not going to happen again, and anyhow, it wasn't a romantic kiss, it was more of a pitying kiss. You felt sorry for him, nothing else,
she told herself.

“What do you think will happen if they don't end up in the same tribe?” she asked.

He stirred his tea, and looked up, shrugging a shoulder.

“They'll do what the rest of us do. They'll grow up. You think there aren't other teenagers throughout the many ages of the Five Tribes who have lost a love to Initiation? We all have other lives before Initiation, then we are Inducted into our true tribe and we make a new life for ourselves.

“Your mother and I have prepared ourselves for this since you were born. We live as Aeris, knowing that you and your sister would most likely be sent to another tribe. We will miss you, but this is how it is. May has three sisters. They will probably all be in different tribes. Blood will always be a strong bond, but the tribe we live in must be our first loyalty, for the good of the Five Tribes.”

She knew it was true, but telling yourself something was different than watching the events unfold before you. Nikka had known all her life that there would come a time when she might have to leave the tribe she'd grown up in, but realizing she might only see her parents once a year—if that—made her sad. They could still communicate, but how much would they have in common after they were in two different tribes. Imagine if she got chosen for Terris, one of the most secretive and traditional tribes. They held with the old ways, where the tribes were separate at all times, and only participated in the gatherings and other tribal ceremonies.

They finished breakfast, talking over the day's events, and then she went to find May and Luka before they headed off to the morning's meeting.

~~~~~

The market was its usual bustling and noisome self, people hurrying here or there, Initiates in their silver robes talking and walking in small groups on their way to the meeting. There seemed to be a hubbub centering around what had been a bare patch in the crowded fair only the day before. Nikka saw flashes of color and soft fluting music and was just moving in to get a better look when she plowed right into another moving body. A pair of firm arms helped her hold her balance and she looked up to see a red haired man looking down at her.

“I hope you're all right. Sorry about that,” he said. He was Terris in build, shorter, stocky, firm shoulders and muscled arms, but there was a twinkle in his eye missing from most of the serious Terris faces.

“No, it's my fault. I was so taken in by the music and the movement that I forgot to look where I was going,” Nikka said.

He smiled. “A young Initiate, I see. I was one myself a few years ago.”

She looked at his clothing, unable to see any tribal markings.

“What tribe did you end up Inducted into?” she asked.

“Ahhh... that is a complicated story. I was Inducted into the Terris tribe, but found their lack of humor and traditional ways were not to my liking,” he said.