The Sighs of the Priestess Ch. 08

The other woman smiled thinly, "Then it is not as good. I know. Enjoy what you have, Yanna. I can tell you that it can all be gone in an instant." She squeezed Yanna's wrist once and walked away.

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"There are signs all around us," Sorn said to Yanna and Illya, "I may not be a bowman such as you, but I can work a bow now and then."

Illya smiled at the powerfully built man, and believed little of it. Sorn had made a life as a hired killer and Illya reckoned that using a bow had to come into it at least sometimes.

"I will go a ways off that way and try to drive the game to you from the other side, "Yanna said, "try not to shoot the one who beats the bushes. I can be hard to see sometimes."

They nodded and she left them. Yanna did indeed find deer there in the woods, but they always veered off whenever she tried to drive them to her husband and Sorn. Finally, she made the only other choice possible and they heard her snarl and the quick crashing a distance off as she brought down a doe.

"A little help Illya," she called out to her husband.

When they found her with their meal, she shrugged, "These ones are a little smarter. They would not go your way, so I had to do it like this. I can find the game and kill it, but it needs to be dressed since we want to eat as people, and I am not built to carry one as large as this. My shoulders are too small for it. I wanted a smaller one, but this one kept getting in the way."

"This is a fine doe, "Sorn said to Yanna as he placed it over Illya's shoulders for the walk back, "I will stretch out the hide for you to begin the drying."

"Unless Illya can think of a use, I have no need of it," she said, "I am a cat and it smells of dinner to me, that is all." Illya shook his head. He couldn't think of a way to use the hide, other than for bowstrings, and he had plenty of spares.

Illya was strong enough to carry the carcass, but he was having a little trouble over the uneven ground and almost fell when he'd tripped over a root.

"Here," Sorn said, and he easily took the doe from Illya and hefted it once to settle it before he began to walk along as though he wasn't carrying over a hundred pounds, "You must get it settled on you first. I see that you can carry her, but I think that I am a better pack horse for this. If you lived the way that I have heard, then you need a few months of good food and some work, and then you will look as lumpy as me," he grinned while both of them stared at his muscles.

"You should change the way that you think, Yanna," Sorn said, "From this hide, you would get a small blanket all by itself. There is enough here for Besha to make herself a fine overdress for rough and cold days in the saddle."

"Then please, "Yanna smiled, "give it to Besha. I would only like to see her in it when she is done. I have no knowledge of these things."

The assassin nodded his thanks, but he looked at Yanna for a second, "I see that you do not wear much so that your movements are free, but I think there will be enough left over for her to make you something even so."

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As they worked at dressing out the doe, Illya learned from Sorn as the older man explained what they were doing and why it had to be done this way.

"Really," he said, "it would be best to hang this in a cool place away from animals for a few days to bring the best taste out, but we are here and so we must do what we can to make your woman's gift last over as many meals as we can get from it. I brought some salt so after the meal tonight, the rest will stay fresh for later."

He let Illya work at it a little, but cautioned him when he got near to the sex of the doe. "Have a care in this part of her," he said, "both sexes have scent glands. It is worse with the stags. A slip of the knife and you ruin much of the meat. If you do not notice it and clean the knife right away, everything that is touched by the bladé will be foul."

Illya nodded his thanks, not wanting to look up and make a mistake now.

"I do not know much about blades or things like this," Illya said, "and I only come to the bow lately." He grunted with a bit of the effort, "I would know of these things now. I am to be one of the keep's army, I suppose. I have no wish to look like a fool at the outset of everything, but I guess that it cannot be helped."

Sorn admired the young man and found that he liked his spirit and his open way of talking. "I can teach you, Illya," he said, with a chuckle, "I have a little experience, it seems. The first thing that you need to know is that the blade there is sharp. You are doing all of the work and the fine edge that I put on that knife is loafing here because of it. May I show you?"

Illya nodded and handed the knife over before wiping his brow with his forearm. He stared a moment later as he watched it go like butter. "Look here," Sorn said, indicating the muscles of his own arm, "Truly, I am not working very hard here, am I? It is in the way that you hold it, and mostly, it is in the angle that you cut at."

They switched again, and it went much easier now that Illya had a clue. He grinned at Sorn and thanked him.

"I had to show you," he said, "in another moment, you would have tried to force it and then you would have slipped and likely cut yourself deeply. It happens to most of us the first times. "He indicated the scars on his own arms with a laugh, "I learn slower than you, lad. See how many lessons that it took."

Illya grinned, "I am not that innocent, Sorn. I know that what you wear there comes mostly from fighting."

"Some of it does, lad," he chuckled, "but look here," he pointed to his left hand and an old scar there. "I did this just as you were about to learn the same lesson. A little deeper, and I would have cut my own tendons. A fine fighter and assassin I would have made then."

They finished the work and then went to the pool to wash off the blood and grime which covered them. Yanna and Besha had just finished scraping and stretching out the doe's hide. "Come," she said to Yanna with a mischievous little grin, "let us go and watch the bathers."

He didn't know where it came from, but Ilya found that he had to try hard not to look at Sorn's body as they bathed. If the other man noted it, he made no sign, but he stopped once to talk with Illya and then Illya saw that Sorn's eyes took in everything about him, just as they seemed to see every detail in whatever he looked at. But he wasn't looking at the shore.

Neither of them noticed that Yanna and Besha stood on the bank, watching their men with interest. "I just love to see him with no clothes," Besha whispered, "to me, he is like a different man, though I can still see the one who I ached to hold to me. I still want him."

Yanna nodded as she brought her head close to answer, "I am the same. I think that I could watch naked men all the day, but the one that I like to see the most is the one who loves me."

Sorn said, "I meant what was said, Illya. You only need some weight on you as muscle. You are very much like I was once, the way that you are built. I meant nothing in my words to shame you. Your wife gave us a good-sized doe. If you were alone with her there, I know that you could have carried it, but I thought that if I carried it, then we could walk quicker and get to the butchering. With that done now, there is less to think about, no?"

"Thank you," Illya answered, "I felt no shame. I am glad that you offered."

Besha pulled Yanna close, "I cannot believe how much Illya looks as Sorn did long ago. He is just the same, though with longer hair. You should be proud, Yanna. He is a beautiful man."

Illya struggled for a moment, "Sorn, I, ... I would ask you, did you mean it when you said that you might teach me a little? I know next to nothing about blades." Illya felt rather intimidated this close to a rather well-known assassin, but he found himself drawn to him in fascination and he was pleased that, now that Sorn would speak to him and not hold himself so aloof, he found that he liked the man. It didn't change the fact that Illya was in awe of him, but if there was something to be learned, Illya wanted to know it.

"I am very proud of him, Besha, and I tell it to him every night," Yanna whispered.

"Good," the older woman said, "But watch now, Sorn is right. Illya needs more muscle on him. He will look like Sorn one day as he is now."

"So?" Yanna grinned, "I love the man inside him, as much as it stirs me to see him like this. If he will look like Sorn and have that one's body, well, I think that I can live with that easily. You have reason to be proud as well. Not many men look that good to a woman at his age, and I am nineteen. If I fell over him and I was not a cat or married..."

Besha smirked, "Now you are just being kind, but I thank you and I am proud. How many men would have done what he did? I owe him much, for I was ready inside myself to give up and welcome my death by the slaver's hand, for that would have come soon."

She turned to the younger woman, "Thank you. You try hard to pull me out of my dark shell. I like you for it."

Yanna sighed, "I must learn to be craftier, Besha. Everyone can see through my plots." They smiled at each other and then turned to look at their men again.

Sorn nodded, "We can begin now if you wish, well, after we are clean. What do you wish to learn, fighting or the other work that I can do?"

"Both, "Illya said with a shrug, "all that I seem to know is how to place an arrow close to where I wanted it to go."

"That is no small thing, lad," the man said, "Many spend their lives at it and never get there. For the long shots such as I have heard that you can make often, I think that you should teach me. I am no stranger to the bow myself, but my shooting is often done with a lighter bow from closer than that." He thought about it for a moment.

"Here," he smiled, as he gripped Illya's shoulder for a moment, "this is the proof of my words. You are lean out of being poor and that is no crime. I was in the same place once. But even so, you draw your heavy war bow and make the shot most often. It says that you have the strength, just as I did then. Now what you need is the power, and that is another thing completely. It was said to me that I am to teach what I know at the keep. I see no reason why I cannot take an eager student now."

Illya looked at the bank and smiled. Sorn followed his gaze and the women waved at them with grins. "Now that is a lovely sight."

"Yes," Illya nodded.

"We heard that there were naked men to be seen," Besha shrugged, "and so we could not help ourselves and came to look. There will be enough of the deerhide left to make Yanna something small so that she is at least a little dressed. Take a little time to show Illya some of what he seeks to know, but do not be too long, Sorn. We must begin the meal soon."

He nodded and they watched their women walk away together.

"And Sorn!" Besha called back.

They looked at the pair of beautiful women who turned back a little.

"We were not disappointed in what we found, "she cried out with a laugh, "there are wondrous sights to be seen in the woods here!"

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Between the four women, the dinner was prepared easily, and Yanna learned a lot from the others, though she got more from Besha and listened intently to her advice. She was still mindful that it might be better to learn this more nomadic way of preparing food. Though she herself couldn't add anything to it, other than her desire to learn and her offers to help in any way. Sorn, Besha, Smyrna and Daggat, all had little ways to add to the meal, and everyone was pleased with it. It had gone all the way from a hasty meal in a camp to a feast.

As they sat and enjoyed it, they began to talk more among the group and they told of some of their experiences. The older couple had many questions for the fighters about the keep and how life was lived there. This went on for a time, but Sorn and Besha offered only a little of themselves at a time, and never much, until finally Besha decided to speak.

"I have heard many stories this night," she said, "and I am so happy that we have fallen in with such a group. I know that if we had made this journey alone, we would be much quieter between us, and I would not mind it because I have him now. But like this, I think that it is even better because we feel that we can speak here and not stand in the back and say nothing as we have so often done, long ago."

She looked around uncertainly and then she looked to her man. He knew what might come. It would be a test, he thought, but maybe it was better to test it here than later in a place with more people, so he nodded to her.

"We Martu are a people who are far-spread and because of that, we are a little different between us. I can see this in our company here, and it makes me proud for it. Sorn and I are from the deserts, and things are not much the same as they are here, or where we will go, I guess. The priestess said that few would judge us, and I wish to see now if it is so."

She sipped a little beer that Sorn had thought to bring from her cup and looked around. What she saw there was encouraging nods, and so she took a deep breath and began.

"My parents were not closely tied to our tribe because they came from another that was scattered in war. We came because my mother had far relations in the tribe. They tried to fit in, and when there was work or fighting to be done, they never stood back waiting to be asked. But one day when I was about fourteen, there was a hard fight with a tribe of Akkadians. My parents never returned and only my brother and I were left."

"My brother was seventeen then, but because we were not close to anyone in the tribe and no one wished to take care of us, it was decided that he would act as the head of our family between us so that we might carry on as a family. He was the Ba'al and I was the child and we lived like that. That way, no other family would be burdened with taking care of me, as old as I was for a child, and anyway, he was too young to go on his own, but together, it was clear that we could manage. We could not join in any fights, though we had both learned from our parents, but I could make the jewelery that our tribe was famous for, and between us, we could hunt for our food and we lived well, for a pair of almost-grown children such as we were. We had to do everything for ourselves, but we managed it."

"But as hard as we tried, we could never fit in. Our contributions to the tribe were accepted, but in all of the social things, we found ourselves on the outside and were never invited to join in anything. The tribe would celebrate at a feast, or because of a wedding, but we were never invited. My brother found no girls in the tribe who wanted a poor struggling boy, and we certainly had no way to save for a dowry to offer to any boy who might be interested in marrying me when I was of age. It didn't matter anyway," she said, "for there were no boys whose parents would allow their sons to wed one from as poor and little-known as my family, such as it was."

"I think that what we should have done was as my brother said to me. He said that there was still game in the area, and we now had a few cattle anyway, so the next time that the tribe moved on, he said that we should just stay there, since we got nothing from the tribe. I didn't know better and I disagreed with him. The way that we made decisions between us was that for something like that, we had to agree."

"So we remained with the tribe and moved when they did. I have regretted it ever since."

"Finally, just after my eighteenth birthday, we sat together after our evening meal as sad as ever and we realized that we would never be accepted there. Neither of us had even one friend. Everyone else was dancing and celebrating a victory while we sat alone. Four years we had gone on, a family of two and we had gained only a little for all of our trying and hard work. I began to cry. My brother and I were very close from the way that we had to live and look after each other, and he tried to comfort me, and ..."

She looked around her at the others, "we just realized that we loved no one else but each other anyway. It made us happy to know it at last, but it gave us a big problem that had no answer."

She looked around herself then for a few seconds longer. "I was no longer the child. I was old enough for it then, and I hope that I say nothing to offend any here, but I will say that he and I began to love together and that night I became his woman. We knew that it was against the teaching of the tribe elders and it was forbidden, but what else could we do? There were none who wanted either of us. And anyway, we found that it was so good between us and so we just carried on as we always had in the daytime, but now at night and in the dark we were as husband and wife."

Sorn stopped her at that point. He looked around the fire in a slightly challenging way out of a desire to protect Besha, but he saw no hostility there. They spoke to each other in their dialect, and Sorn continued.

"I will finish it," he said, "for I know the rest, and for Besha to tell it will only make her cry again, and she has had too many years of that. The pair were found out after a few months and the village elders pronounced them to be evil and wicked. One far-uncle and his wife now had them thrown out of the family. They hadn't even seen them for a year and they lived only yards away. But that was not the end of it. Both were kept away from each other and driven off with nothing weeks apart while the Ba'al of the tribe took all of their possessions, what little money they had and their cattle. The girl found another tribe and became a whore very quickly with no other way to support herself and the boy wandered the wastes looking for her. The tribe where she was allowed to sell herself was overrun one night long after, and the girl became a slave for many years. The brother only heard that the tribe was scattered with many women killed. He thought that his sister was dead from a description of a woman's body that was told to him and he finally gave up his search."

He shook his head sadly, "The girl made her mistake wanting to stay with that cursed tribe, and the boy made his when he gave up looking for her."

"I found Besha in a slaver's stall and I could not believe what I thought that I saw and so I tried to speak with her." He looked at himself and shrugged, "I have lived a hard life, though it was far better than hers. I do not look much like anyone that Besha knew of that tribe or anywhere else that she had been. But after only a few words and the way that she looked to me, I knew that it must be her and so I paid the price for her and tried to take care of her, while she tried to think of why a stranger might seek to deceive her this way. She spoke very little anyway and almost nothing to me. I saw that she did not believe me, and so I waited until we were at the inn before I showed her a mark on me that she could recognize."

"Every night since then, we have held each other and cried. Besha says now that she wants an end of it so that we can begin again and I welcome this. With this journey, I want to show her that I will never leave her side again."

He sighed, "So much time has gone, but now out of blind luck and fortune, I have my sister again. I have hunted every one of those who took from us, who robbed us, and who caused us our misery out of nothing that we had done to anyone. They are all dead. We will go to this fortress now and see if things are truly as it was told to us. Nothing matters anymore, and we will never be parted again. I only hope that we may find our own peace between us again. It is all that I want now."