Lovers in the Woods (30 page)

He laughed a little, rolling his eyes, before
he got serious again.

“
I’ve never met anyone who
has crossed Emerald Green and survived without losing his wits.
Well, that is, besides me and my brother. Maybe there are some
others I do not know of. However, my brother was a man of great
wisdom and strength. When he went away—and I say that he went away
as he did not just go
poof
into thin air—I had already left our home town. He
had been obsessed with saving the woods and whatever lived there.
He even continued his crusade when our parents were sick of it. I
had the choice to leave, they did not. But Thannis would never have
been happy again if he had just quit fighting.” He stared at her
pleadingly. “So if you know something, just some news about him, I
would be glad to hear it.”

“
By all means. Ranien, how did you come
here, on this estate, to Sananda Wang?” she blurted out. “I would
never have expected to meet someone like you here!”

Ranien’s eyes widened and he
stepped back as if a furious wind had caught him. He even flailed
his arms. Rayenne laughed
—she couldn’t help it. He looked too funny as he
mimicked fighting a strong storm to get back to her. When her
laughter dropped to a chortle, she repeated her
question.

Ranien cocked his head and ran a hand
through his hair, searching for words. When he spoke, his voice was
soft, almost reluctant.

“
We all go down some strange paths in our
lives, don’t we? Just look at you.” He did not wait for her reply,
but continued after a moment of reflection. “Back then—I cannot
truly recall when—I left my family to find some adventure. Don’t
laugh, I mean it. After all, Thannis had no intention of staying
home, either, right? Well, I thought, I should be away from the
rural landscape, from the small huts, the childish problems of
day-to-day life. And more than anything, from a brother who urged
me to share his crusade. I wanted to see something different, try
what life had in store for me. Everything seemed better than the
never ending conversations about sowing, harvesting, lumbering, and
the complaints by my brother that the lumbering had to stop or we
would all die.”

“He really said you would all die?”

“
He was convinced that the beasts in the
forests would attack if the exploitation did not stop, yes.” Ranien
nodded emphatically and opened his waterskin once more. “Do you
want some? It’s a hot day.”

“No, thanks. Please, go on.”

“
Thannis was convinced of every word he
said. That’s why he ran everywhere and tried to talk to politicians
and corporation owners. When everything he did resulted in nothing,
he vanished.” Ranien’s expression changed to pain about a great
loss. “I expected him to come back, so I spent no time thinking
about him or searching for him. I wanted to live my own life. Only
later did I hear that he had not returned. Then there were more
reports about missing people. It was rumored that the woods had a
bad spirit and would swallow people.” He shrugged, trying to cheer
up. “Maybe my brother had spread those rumors. Maybe it was his
weapon against the lumberjacks. I cannot tell. I just know that the
corporations had a hard time hiring lumberjacks in those
days.”

Rayenne waited and stroked the B-horses at
her side.

He took a deep breath and smiled at her.

“
That does not clear up
how I got here, right? Well, the big city and I, we did not get
along. I had hoped to find luck
—instead, I ended up on the street, bereft
of my great dreams. I was just a small sapling, trying to find
light among tall trees. I don’t know how I got into a bar somewhere
in the lower districts of Belson Park. I drank, talked, and
suddenly there were two gentlemen inviting me to a ride. I had
nothing better to do so I agreed.”

“You went with some strangers? Ranien, you’re
much bolder than I thought.”

He smiled broadly about the compliment.

“I met the lady and she asked me if I was
free to work for her. The garden, she said, is vast, but there is
nothing in it.” He looked around, proud like a father regarding his
children. “I was dumbfounded for a moment. I knew so much about
plants, their growth and what they needed, and out of nowhere she
offered to fulfill my greatest wish.” He sighed deeply. “The lady
has given me much more.”

Rayenne read more behind the smiling, happy
façade and opened her palms to him.

“
I suppose she did not only offer you
wheelbarrows and rakes and seeds to plant that garden.”

“
Ah, Ray, this woman has a very special way
with men.” He wiped his face and ended with another, helpless
laugh. “She took me in—in the true sense of the meaning. She made
sure that I did not miss anything. And then she said that she
wanted to learn everything I knew about the wonders of the forest,
plants, and animals.” He smiled as if looking back into a dream.
“And she taught me much, very sensitive knowledge.” He cleared his
throat while Rayenne tried to keep a pokerface. “She was eager to
gain knowledge. You cannot imagine how quickly she understood
connections. I had spent half my life in the woods and my parents
knew a lot about herbs, roots, pistils, about animals and their
dependence on each other. So I shared my wisdom with the lady and
received a life I had only dreamed of.” He tried to hide the shadow
of sadness, but Ray had already seen it. “Of all the things I had
learned, she was interested most in the various potions. Early on
the settlers had started to test what the woods gave them.” He
wiggled his hand. “With more or less success. I remember my father
puking his life out after he tried some Balvani-roots. We cooked
them afterwards for two days, then they could be eaten.”

“So you taught Sananda about herbs and how to
use them.”

“And much more,” he added, sunken in the
memory. “She was such a good student. Very giving.”

Rayenne felt the hair on her
neck stand on end. The dreamlike expression hinted at more than
lessons in the garden.
What had you expected, stupid girl? A game of
cards?
In her
mind she saw them making love amid a bed of flowers with Sananda
asking questions about how to kill effectively and Ranien answering
with a sermon about the beauty of nature and the art of brewing tea
with herbs.

“So you enjoyed her…affection.”

“Oh, yes. I enjoyed every hour of our
meetings. And her affection, if you want to call it that.” He woke
from his reverie and took a deep breath. “See, I’m still here. The
gardener.”

“And keeper of lore. Do you still meet with
her?”

“
Sometimes. She comes out here, sits here
with friends, talks.” He used the rake to sweep some leaves that
had dared to venture between a group of blue flowers. “And she
always praises me for my good work.” He hesitated, the rake in both
hands. When he looked up, there was urgency in his eyes. “Could you
find that place again where Thannis lives?”

“
No, I don’t think so.” She watched
Ranien’s face fall and took the chance that beckoned. “But Sajitar,
the man I came with, he knows the ways through the woods. I’m sure
he would find the village once more.”

“Village? There is a village?”

Rayenne clenched her teeth, angry about her
stupidity. She had not wanted to tell about settlers living with
the Horlyns.

“Only a few people. Thannis is one of
them.”

“So Sajitar is able to orient within Emerald
Green and you are not.” Ranien put his tongue in his cheek,
frowning. “Sajitar is a troublemaker. He came and he went and left
the rest in misery, not caring what happened to them.” He looked at
her as if to search her heart and soul. “Please, do not tell me
that you trust him.”

“He told me he wanted to leave and that
Sananda would not let him go.” That, she admitted, cut the truth
thin, but she would not tell Ranien about the crimes Sananda had
committed. “That’s why he left secretly.”

Ranien still shook his head.

“
He left her devastated. She undertook much
to get him back, and all of the employees feared her in those days.
She was utterly unhappy and spread it on everyone like bad
fungus.”

Ray did not dare doubt Sananda’s behavior
aloud. It was impossible to imagine how that cold and calculating
woman would be mad with sadness about one lover gone away. To Ray,
Sananda had only been furious about Sajitar because he had dared to
bluntly show her that she could not own everyone. Sadly, Rayenne
had felt her fury like others before her.

“Now he’s back,” was all Rayenne said.

Ranien grimaced. “Yes, so I heard. He was
brought in and everyone whispered about the lady’s special lover.”
He paused, thinking. After a while, he looked up again. “Are you a
friend of him?”

“Yes.”

“Did he treat you better than he did the
lady?”

“Yes.”

“
That implies that you know how he treated
the lady, and I truly doubt he shared that with you.” He smirked,
but when Rayenne did not comment, he fell silent, watching a flock
of birds circle over a bed before they settled down to feed on the
corn Ranien had distributed. “He was taken to the western wing. It
is not one of the best rooms she has to offer, but he will truly
understand he has fallen from grace, at least for a short while.”
His glance was mocking. “He could have stayed. He had everything.
He would surely be at her side right now if he had not deserted
her.”

Rayenne pondered whether Ranien was
jealous or just angry for the sake of Sananda’s
happiness.

“
I don’t think that he wants his old place
back. He’s a prisoner now, Ranien, and he wants nothing more than
to get away.”

“Again.” His dark eyes held a sparkle she did
not understand. “She wants him, he does not want her. Where does
that leave them?”

“Love allows making choices, not
prisoners.”

Ranien took a deep breath as if slapped. He
flinched and Ray feared she had unintentionally gotten too close to
the truth.

“If you want to get away,” he continued
quietly, “you have to look the other way.”

“What does that mean?”

“
You do not know where you are, though you
thought to know the landscape. Is that correct?”

She nodded.

“So you have to change the angle of your
perspective or you will not find a way out.”

“There is a possibility to find a way back to
Belson Park? Don’t you have to go underground or some other secret
way?”

Ranien gazed across a large flower bed with
two identically cut bushes in its center. Behind it, two men of
Sananda’s guard patrolled. After a while, Ranien concentrated on
Ray again.

“I planted trees around. Some have yellow
leaves on one side and dark orange ones on the other. Why is that
so? And the Ulani-bushes grow more than ten feet in some places,
but hardly three in others. Why is that so?”

“You say I shall search for anomalies?” He
but looked at her. Ray was frustrated. “Come on, Ranien, give me
more than just some hints. I’m not good at riddles.”

“You better get around the place or you will
not find a way out of here or there.”

With that statement, Ranien took his rake
and went back to push the wheelbarrow in the opposite direction.
The guards followed him with his eyes, but left him
alone.

By taking care of the B-horses every day,
Rayenne searched for chances to meet with Ranien again. He was
always outdoors, planting, cutting, raking. She heard him talk to
the grass and thought him a poor soul, but he looked happy, content
with his life. Every waking moment Rayenne thought of Sajitar, her
father, and her brother, and her happiness was reduced to
nil.

Ranien recognized her and when they were
alone in the garden, he pushed his wheelbarrow close to where she
stood. “Still here?”

“It’s the wrong question, Ranien,” she
replied sadly. “I need to find a way to free Sajitar first before I
even think about leaving.”

Ranien flinched, drank from his waterskin and
turned to where the guards were on patrol.

“Did you get in trouble because of our
conversation?” she asked.

“They asked me questions, yes.”

“
And what did you tell them?” She was
alarmed. She hadn’t wished Ranien to get into trouble, nor did she
want Sananda to become aware of their conversation.

“I bugged you with my immeasurable knowledge
of the garden. Is that not true?”

His mischievous grin eased her mind
immensely. So there was more to him than met the eye. She let out
her breath.

“Did you expect me to tell the whole truth?”
He was astonished. “I would never. They are like grass. They grow,
they gain color, but they never shine. They are never pretty. And
they are only useful as fodder.” He shrugged. “These men just do
their duty without thinking. Sometimes dangerous duty, but mostly
dull.”

Rayenne looked out for the
guards and suddenly realized that they wore the same kind of
uniform Saji had described in one of his visions.
So he was right that
Sananda’s men fought the Horlyns to find Larolydis.

“Will you help me free Sajitar?”

The blunt question clearly stunned him. He
opened his mouth to reply but just shook his head. A guttural sound
escaped him which could not be interpreted as agreement.

“Ranien, I need your help,” she pleaded. “You
have been around here, everywhere. You said so. And I want to help
Sajitar.”