Dreams and Shadows (The Aylosian Chronicles Book 1) (11 page)

For the first time since their meeting with Devu, she smiled as she responded, “I said they were the best
fruit
in Aylosia, and I believe that is true by far; but there are other things of which you will learn that I think you will find even better.”

His question had seemed to provide a distraction to her and her smile became more natural, the dimple again showing in her cheek. It reminded Michael that although they were barely more than strangers, he liked this woman, and his mind was drawn again to the words of Devu.

“So are you and Devu engaged?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

He was avoiding her gaze, so he didn’t see the puzzled look on her face as she responded. “I do not know what that means,” she said.

“He said that you were his Promised.”

“I am
not
his Promised,” she quickly replied. She had said it with a strength that made him look at her.

“Devu and I have been friends since our childhood,” she went on, “and he would like for us to be Entwined. It would also be well-received in the Waylet: we both have mothers who are of the Lora, and I spoke truly when I said that Devu was a great Sword Weaver – perhaps he will be the greatest we have known in a generation.”

It was now Aneh’s turn to look away; to avoid another’s eyes as she spoke, “But though I cherish him as a friend, I could not Entwine with him.”

Michael had never known anyone, let alone a woman, relate to him such personal feelings before, and his mood improved further with both the fact that she had done so, and that she had refuted Devu’s claim to her.

But Aneh had grown sombre again, and he was sorry to have asked a question that had caused such a change in her emotions, so he tried to move the subject on, “I still don’t understand a lot of the words you use.” He smiled, hoping it would make her more comfortable again as he continued, “I’ve never heard of being Entwined. Where I come from, when a man and a woman who love each other decide they want to make a commitment, they will get engaged. And then they’ll get married. I guess that’s kind of like promising that they will stick by each other even when things get bad I think.”

He was sure he hadn’t explained it very well, but hoped it was good enough. “Is that a bit like being Entwined?” he asked.

Her head inclined to one side as she looked at him – already a mannerism that Michael would recognise as distinctly hers – thinking before she responded.

Finally, she spoke. “You do not Entwine?” she enquired.

At Michael’s puzzled expression, she continued, suddenly looking intense, “Entwining is more than the making of a promise. It surpasses the greatest commitment. To Entwine with another is to join your very souls together; to weld them such that your very existence can no longer be imagined without the other.
 
Even when you are apart, you feel your beloved’s presence, and sense their emotions. Once Entwined, your very being changes. Your souls are truly woven together in a way that they can never be unwoven.”

Michael had seen girls and women speak of marriage in his own world. He had seen their eyes go dreamy at the thought of white flowing dresses; of kissing their Prince Charming at church altars, or whatever location they might deem most romantic. But he had always sensed that such expressions were longings for the trappings of a wedding, or the unrealistic expectations for the perfect man.

He had never before seen the look that was in Aneh’s eyes – a look that betrayed a deepest longing of the soul; an incomprehension that such a merging of souls might not be realised.

“We can only be complete,” Aneh continued, “when we have Entwined; for without the soul of our beloved being meshed with our own, we are only half a soul; we will never reach the heights of our influence on the world that Ashael intends for us.”

She studied his eyes, and then asked, “Michael, how can you live in a world where you do not know of Entwining? I could not bear it.”

The yearning he saw in her eyes might be considered pathetic in England, Michael thought. She could be thought a sorry woman for being so desperate for marriage. But the bewilderment that covered her face at the thought that Entwining was neither present nor sought in his own world suggested to him that such feelings might be commonplace here – yet another alien concept in this world that was so strange to him. Far from Aneh being strange for entertaining such desires, Michael knew that he would be considered the one who was strange for not doing so.

“Our worlds are very different,” Michael finally said. “I’ve never come across anything like Entwining.”

“Then I pity your world,” Aneh replied quietly with a sincerity that touched him.

She then brightened suddenly as she continued, “But you will come to know what I mean. There is an Entwining in no more than eight dawns, and you will be able to witness it. Then you may begin to understand.”

At that, they packed up the lunch basket, returning it to the tent of Aneh’s parents.

She left him to himself for much of the afternoon as she had her duties to attend to. He wandered the camp trying to remind himself of the names of different shapes and objects that Aneh had pointed out to him, but returned to the tent earlier than he might have done, concerned that he might bump into Devu again. There were, after all, only a few hundred people in the camp, and it was inevitable they would meet again some time.

Arriving back in Aneh’s tent, he noticed that someone had brought what looked like some nightclothes and laid them across the floor rugs, but he set about examining more of the tent interior. After looking again at the various animal shapes in the tent walls, he turned his attention to the pillows surrounding the base of the central pole. As he touched them, he felt a hardness beneath his fingers. Drawing back the cloth that covered one, he found a stone underneath it, a gentle light emanating from it. He recalled the light that he had seen when he had awoken during the night and thought that it must have been from this. He remembered that someone had placed a warm rug over the top of him after he had unexpectedly fallen asleep, and thought that the same person must have uncovered this stone to provide some gentle light.

Revealing the stone next to it, he found that rather than emit light, it emanated warmth. It was hot to the touch, though not enough to burn his fingers. Although it was autumn, it wasn’t a cold day, though, and so he replaced the cloth over its surface, the heat disappearing again under its cover.

In total, there were half a dozen stones around the pole, alternating between light and heat emitting rocks. He tried lifting them and found that they were much lighter than he expected for their size, but he examined their surfaces and discovered that other than the light and heat – admittedly unusual characteristics – they otherwise seemed to be normal rocks; and he added it to the list of things in this world that puzzled him.

When Aneh returned as the daylight was just beginning to dim, he asked her about them, but he wasn’t surprised at her response of “Stone Weavers.” Unfortunately, that gave him no greater insight into how they acquired their strange attributes.

She led him from the tent, explaining that he would be eating with her family, and took him past a dozen or so cloth structures. As they walked the short distance, she responded to his question about sleeping arrangements by saying that she would remain with her parents for the time being, so that Michael could stay in her tent. He felt guilty for that, but couldn’t suggest an alternative so simply thanked her.

Entering her family’s dwelling, he was greeted first by a girl two or three years younger than Aneh who called herself Kasha. She shared the same facial shape and colouring as Aneh and Michael instantly knew that she was Aneh’s sister. The tent was much larger than Aneh’s, and had various compartments which Michael guessed would include different sleeping chambers. A wide stone surface surrounded the central pole a foot or two above the ground so that it would be comfortably waist high if a person was seated on the ground. Upon it were carved intricate patterns that Michael would later think were beautiful when he was able to study them.

Aneh immediately set to working with some stone pots that contained food, lying above flat stones – Michael guessed they were of the heat-emitting type. Meanwhile, Kasha instructed him to sit next to her while she issued a string of questions.

After the initial uncertainty of their first meeting, Aneh had appeared a naturally happy woman to Michael, and Kasha had the same trait, only multiplied. She quizzed him with excitement about the world he had come from, often giggling or looking amazed at his answers. On occasion, Aneh would give a somewhat annoyed glance at her sister. Whether that was because she felt her questioning too intrusive or because she expected help with the food preparation he didn’t know, but she said nothing, allowing her younger sibling to continue with the happy interrogation.

The first of their parents to arrive was their father, who introduced himself as Hurala. He was a balding man, with the hair that remained on the fringes of his scalp dotted with the first specks of grey. Michael thought he had a kind face, and his first impression gave that of a mild and unassuming man. No sooner had he given his greeting than he took over from Aneh in tending the food so that she could join Michael and her sister. Michael had spent a lot of time with this man’s daughter over the last couple of days and he expected a more intense grilling from her father than he had received from Kasha. Perhaps it would come later he thought.

The examination from Kasha continued, though, with Aneh seemingly happy to sit nearby and listen to his answers.

Finally, their mother arrived, Michael instantly recognising her from the tent of the Lora from the previous day. He had seen her enough then to surmise that she was Aneh’s mother, but his attention had primarily been on Arevu – the voice of the Lora, or Hafashal as she had called herself. This time, as soon as she entered the tent Michael thought she carried a natural elegance about her, and though her eyes were the same hazel colour as those of her daughter, they seemed to enter his soul when they met his, making him feel exposed before her.

“I am called Lohka,” she announced to him with a deep but gentle voice, “And by Ashael’s grace you are welcome in our family this day.

“I hope that Kasha has not driven you to madness with her incessant questioning,” she added with a smile, a dimple appearing on her left cheek that identified from where Aneh had obtained that particular trait.

“Oh mother, stop it!” cried the younger daughter, her own face turning pink.

Some happy family banter followed, with Aneh and Hurala proclaiming Kasha’s guilt, and Kasha making playful accusations in return. Michael had never witnessed a family scene of almost any description in person. His own home life had consisted of an unofficial adopted father who largely ignored him, and his solitary tendencies had resulted in few friends whose houses he could visit. As he witnessed the interaction of Aneh and her family he found his emotions conflicted. He felt happy, for certain. But there was also a tinge of jealousy at life’s unfairness to him, and no small amount of confusion as family members anticipated each other’s words, and made references to incidents long since passed.

Soon the meal was prepared and they sat around the floor table in the room’s centre to eat, Michael carefully looking at others to take cues for what eating customs he should mimic.

“Thank you,” he said as they neared the end of their meal. “You’ve all been so kind to me, and I really appreciate it.” Thinking of Devu, he added, “I know not everyone here thinks I’m safe to be keeping around. So… well, thanks.”

Lohka was studying him carefully, as he spoke. “I am Sooth Weaver, Michael. You have not spoken deceitfully, and I have declared it to the Lora. None amongst our people will fear you.”

She had said it with such a certainty, and yet he remembered the look on Devu’s face; the hold on his arm, and the sound of his voice,
You may have deceived the Sooth Weaver, but you will not deceive me. Leave while you yet live
. Michael hadn’t realised that the Sooth Weaver was Aneh’s mother, and was now not surprised that Devu had whispered those words so that Aneh wouldn’t hear.

His memory must have shown on his face as Hurala spoke, sounding concerned, “Your experience has been otherwise?”

“It’s nothing.” Michael quickly answered, but he immediately heard a gentle laugh from Lohka.

“You forget so soon,” she said, “I am Sooth Weaver. And for the first time since we have met, you speak falsely. It is not nothing.”

She had again spoken with certainty, and the speed with which she had detected his lie caused him to dart a glance in her direction. However, she didn’t force him into revealing his thoughts. “But no matter, let us speak of lighter things.”

And with that, the family broke into stories about each other; Aneh and Kasha alternately becoming embarrassed with tales of their childhood escapades. Michael found that by evening’s end all feelings of life’s unfairness had vanished and he felt happy to have shared a moment of a family’s joy; a contentment filling him.

It wasn’t overly late when Lohka suggested that she lead him back to Aneh’s tent, and he left after bidding the rest of the family a good night. His surprise at Aneh’s mother accompanying him soon left when he remembered that she was the Sooth Weaver. He still didn’t know what that – or any other “Weaver” – was, but it evidently enabled her to detect a lie, and she may be able to ask questions in private that she preferred not to in front of her daughters.

But their slow walk was largely in silence. The air had a distinct chill, the sky clear.

Lohka was staring at the night sky when she eventually spoke, “Do you know any of these stars? Do you recognise any patterns?”

Michael stopped and looked up. Amongst all of the books he had devoured through his years had been a handful about the night sky, so he was familiar with some of the constellations. But having lived his life in a large city with its innumerable lights, the stars had appeared dim and he had never made any physical study of them.