In the beginning, I knew her only as Kalomi of the Plains. The name, the simple and only vaguely descriptive sobriquet seemed enough to know. She was my Apprentice in the Sisterhood, bound to my side by chance assignment and solemn oath.<\/p>\n
Soon, by shared experience, she became my true and trusted comrade. Inevitably, increasingly I came to know her as my friend. But still\u2014and despite her many evident complexities of heart and spirit\u2014she remained to my mind simply Kalomi of the Plains.<\/p>\n
It is truly said that I am drawn to explore the exotic, the unknown. And yet, behold the paradox\u2014I often fail to wonder at the unguessed ingredients in the stew, bubbling in the homey and outwardly familiar pot before my very eyes.<\/p>\n
So it was with my Apprentice Sister\u2014with my comrade and friend, Kalomi of the Plains.
\n<\/p>\n
It was in the early autumn of our second year together that I first encountered one of my Apprentice Sister’s family. He rode to our quarters in the Great Reserve on a typically sturdy spotted pony. He and his mount were dwarfed by the escort from the outer guard post\u2014a muscular Eastlandic cavalryman on a large brown war-horse of the type these Plainsfolk raise and train so well, yet seldom choose for themselves.<\/p>\n
Dwarfed physically, I noted, but in no way outwardly impressed or intimidated.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypical Plainsman,\u201d I whispered to myself with mixed dismay and admiration as I put aside the bear grease, the oiling cloth and the double-edged blade I had been preparing for winter storage.<\/p>\n
I rose from the mat.<\/p>\n
My initial judgment changed as I saw his greying ponytail and beard, interwoven as it was with beads and feathers and intricately carved bits of wood and bone. The arrangement of these ornaments\u2014and the fact they were worn on what was not, in itself, a day of special significance\u2014suggested major news.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are the Sister Vendra\u2014Vendra of Lum?\u201d the man asked, polite in tone even as his eyes searched and judged my entire person.<\/p>\n
I raised my chin then nodded. \u201cI am she.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood Sister, I would speak with your Apprentice.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blinked. \u201cMight I ask who\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPross of the Bright Sun Band of the Northern Owl Tribe,\u201d he interrupted sharply, slapping his chest in introduction. \u201cKalomi’s Uncle,\u201d he added, abruptly turning apologetic. \u201cForgive my impatience, Honored Sister. I bear news she would favor hearing\u2014if the Good Sister grants me leave for the telling?\u201d<\/p>\n
Something in his small round eyes assured me I ought to agree\u2014unless I wanted Pross’s next change of mood to feature strings of blistering invective, undoubtedly in some obscure Plains dialect but directed squarely and most bitterly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll get her,\u201d I replied, my voice mild.<\/p>\n
I went inside, past the outer rooms and to the point where the wooden structure extended into the hillside to become half earth-lodge. Kalomi was in one of these deep, dark storage rooms\u2014a butter-lamp flickering nearby as she surveyed the sun-dried fruit, berries and roots available for the looming winter season.<\/p>\n
\u201cUncle Pross?\u201d she said, visibly excited once I’d spoken. \u201cHere? With news?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd done-up like the Day of the Convert,\u201d I added. Then I smiled. Told her to go.<\/p>\n
Kalomi rushed past me. I extinguished the lamp. Locked the storage room. Proceeded back, through our quarters and into the warm afternoon.<\/p>\n
Her head turned suddenly at my return. Her ponytail lashed the side of her Uncle’s face. He laughed and his pony nudged him, whinnied as if laughing with the Plainsman. I saw that Pross didn’t even bother to hold the animal’s reins, so confident was he in the pony’s training.<\/p>\n
Loyal and dependable as a Royal Black, I thought.<\/p>\n
Then I marveled at the open joy on my Apprentice Sister’s usually serious face.<\/p>\n
\u201cTenny is to be married!\u201d she announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d It took me an instant to search my memories of Kalomi’s infrequent mentions of home. \u201cYour eldest cousin\u2014your daughter, Pross of the Bright Suns?\u201d<\/p>\n
The man nodded, pale blue eyes alive with pride. \u201cOur band was passing just close enough for me to make the ride here\u2014to inform and invite you both!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both?\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy, yes! Of course!\u201d<\/p>\n
I tilted my head toward my Apprentice.<\/p>\n
\u201cUncle would have us officiate at the wedding.\u201d Kalomi gestured to the north and east. \u201cAt our band’s ancestral home-site, just before they settle into Winter Encampment.\u201d<\/p>\n
I greeted this news with an expression of thoughtful, if uncommitted interest. <\/p>\n
The Thirty Tribes still practice many pre-Conversion rituals\u2014including a two-week Wedding Truce, during which all quarrels are put aside and all of that year’s wedding ceremonies are performed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s only a four-day ride,\u201d Kalomi hinted, much like a child pleading to attend a distant fair. \u201cThree, if we press hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sure the Sister-Leader will grant you leave,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut not you also, Good Sister?\u201d Pross screwed his face up. Gestured with emotion. \u201cIt would not be proper, surely\u2014to have the Apprentice among us, without the Sister and friend we have heard so much of!\u201d <\/p>\n
I was stunned\u2014till that moment utterly unaware that Kalomi kept any contact whatsoever with her nomadic family group of herders and hunters.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr\u2014\u201d Pross’s expression and tone now turned crafty, almost menacing. \u201cIs it that the matter of two bands of the Northern Owl being joined together in the Sacred Rite is too unimportant to merit the attentions of a Full Member of the Sisterhood?\u201d<\/p>\n
This shocked me speechless. The old bastard was perfectly willing to blackmail a Full Sister of the Dragon Sect\u2014to obliquely threaten a major political and social incident no less, if it served his personal desires!<\/p>\n
I looked at Kalomi. She gazed back at me with a faint smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shall speak of this to the Sister-Leader of the Reserve,\u201d I muttered in defeat. \u201cAbout immediate leave\u2014for us both.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, no need for that.\u201d Just as abruptly, Pross was all sweetness and reason. \u201cWe of the Bright Sun and our neighbors, the Great Eastern Band, will not be in our Winter Lands for another five weeks. This gives you time to prepare\u2014and us, as well. It will be a rare honor indeed, to have a full consecrated Sister\u2014a native of the Eastlands itself\u2014take part in our humble affairs!\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled and nodded, almost bowed.<\/p>\n
I smiled back. Nodded in return. Then I gave Kalomi a look fit to wither buffalo grass.<\/p>\n
My Apprentice Sister shrugged.<\/p>\n
The cavalryman, still waiting in the background atop his equally listless charger, looked bored and oblivious.<\/p>\n
But Pross saw the silent exchange between his niece and myself. He laughed and his spotted pony joined him with a head-bobbing whinny.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never said I did not wish to attend.\u201d I turned, stretched in the saddle. It was our fourth and, I hoped, final day out from the Reserve. \u201cBut you know he’ll use my presence as a bragging point\u2014claim that it shows his Band is favored by the Sisterhood. Even so, I’d have been happy to agree if he’d simply invited, rather than attempted to trap me into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch methods are in our tradition,\u201d Kalomi replied. \u201cAs is the accumulation and use of bragging points.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d I softened, \u201cit will be good to preside at a joining. What with our other duties, it’s been some time since I’ve had such a happy duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalomi’s face was blank. \u201cOur Scared Ritual differs from what you’re used to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the better.\u201d I smiled. \u201cThe Way of the Goddess and Her Sacred Dragon knows many interesting variations. But your Uncle\u2014to push things like that, with scarcely half-veiled threats\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo push you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned my head. Stared at the side of my Apprentice Sister’s carefully impassive face. \u201cVery well. I have a good dose of Sisterly Pride.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly Sisterly?\u201d Kalomi chuckled\u2014not an entirely pleasant sound.<\/p>\n
I held my tongue, scanning the flat expanse of grassland before us. Except for the snorting herd of wild gaur before midday, this had been the least eventful of four uneventful days in the saddle. We now entered a region of the Upper Plains I’d never seen. Yet all about me seemed painfully familiar.<\/p>\n
Dull, in other words.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well,\u201d I said at last. \u201cI have pride in myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn your position.\u201d Kalomi’s probing voice was more arid than the dun-colored grass.<\/p>\n
I pursed my lips. \u201cTrue, I suppose. But it wouldn’t have bothered me as much, if Pross had been some sort of Outlander.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head. \u201cNonsense. He’s your Uncle. And a Convert\u2014same as all the Thirty Tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. But we Plainsfolk don’t hold our leaders in such dumbstruck awe as your Eastlandic commoners are apt to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAwe?\u201d My lips curled in distaste. \u201cI don’t want people to be in awe of me!\u201d<\/p>\n
She snorted a non-literal Tribal obscenity. Something about the use of only half-dried gaur droppings as a fuel source. Then she leaned over. Spat expressively in the dirt between our mounts. \u201cYou know how my people are. Yet you expected Pross to be different\u2014more like folk where you’re from. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n
Such questioning by my Apprentice Sister was impertinent. But this was Kalomi\u2014and she had a point. \u201cHe’s your Uncle,\u201d I confessed to myself as much as to her. \u201cI thought, having a blood relative so honored as to be accepted into the Holy Sisterhood\u2014it would make him, I don’t know, take the Teachings of the faith more seriously?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy Uncle,\u201d Kalomi said sharply, \u201ctakes the Goddess Way as seriously as any I know. But which of the teachings say ordinary folk ought to treat Sisters as if they were living embodiments of She-Who-Brings-Forth-All-Life? Perhaps I have not seen that particular Sacred Scroll? Or possibly I was absent from the Academy classes when such a passage was presented? If so, Honored Sister, please cite it for your shockingly ignorant Apprentice Sister’s edification?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mocking tone stung me with barbed truth. I slumped in the saddle, my head down in shame. Under me, Nightmare whickered uneasily. Plodding at her side, Kalomi’s mount answered in kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don’t like us to quarrel,\u201d my insubordinate friend said, fondness creeping into her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t your traditions forbid it?\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet. The Wedding Truce is yet to go into effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConvenient.\u201d I snorted, raised my hand. \u201cSo you thought to get in a few final blows, while able?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d Her eyes twinkled and we shared light, forgiving laughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m actually in your debt,\u201d I admitted. \u201cWho else would have the gall to show me my own prideful ignorance like that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny true friend\u2014if she was also of the Thirty Tribes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes that mean I ought to seek out friendship with more Plainsfolk, or that I should avoid them like the plague?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour choice, Honored Sister.\u201d Her face was profoundly solemn for an instant. Then we both laughed again.<\/p>\n
Under us, the Royal Blacks strode along contentedly.<\/p>\n
No more than an hour later, we sighted a fair-sized dust cloud moving to our northwest. \u201cMore wild gaur?\u201d I speculated. \u201cOr plains bison, perhaps?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis far north?\u201d Kalomi squinted. \u201cThis time of year, the wild herds should be verging due south\u2014avoiding the bite of winter as long as possible.\u201d She drew her ceremonial dagger, used it as an extension of her hand. The glinting blade served as a pointer\u2014focusing her mind, projecting the apparent path of the cloud into the future. <\/p>\n
\u201cYour folk then? Still out on the trail?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalomi put the dagger away. Nodded. Turned her horse without another word. <\/p>\n
I matched her.<\/p>\n
Nightmare kept pace with Obsidian Maiden\u2019s flank in a gentle and sustained canter.<\/p>\n
Outriders broke off to meet us shortly after the dust cloud resolved itself into a mixed herd of half-wild cattle and larger, somewhat shaggy lowland yak. We speeded toward the approaching men and women for a bit, then slowed to a respectful walking pace\u2014thereby proclaiming both our eagerness and our peaceful intent. Waves, shouts of welcome and finally spoken greetings were exchanged. <\/p>\n
One of the outriders was Tenny, though all recognized my Apprentice Sister and spoke excitedly with her in the Northern Owl dialect. I made out perhaps three words to every five, but felt no irritation. Reunions are emotional by nature, especially after many years. And it was good to see Kalomi laugh and banter easily with someone other than myself.<\/p>\n
Our warhorses towered over Tenny and her pony, but she stayed at our side as we pushed slowly against the tide of the plodding herd. Behind the yak and cattle came a smaller herd of ponies and full-sized horses. Further back, pairs of donkeys drew the light wagons. Those not in the wagons walked alongside. To the rear, I saw children and dogs and a pair of improbably tame griffins\u2014and the goats all these were driving. Still farther back, a trio of widely spaced and well-armed outriders provided an alert rear-guard.<\/p>\n
I turned my eyes inconspicuously to Tenny and noted the flint knife, the leather shield and mid-length lance. All were tucked away, yet positioned as for swift retrieval and nearly instant use thereafter.<\/p>\n
My Apprentice Sister was home\u2014back among people truly hers, as none of the other Tribes, or even the other Bands of her Tribe, would ever be. I saw this in a single startled instant as she sprang uncaring from Obsidian Maiden\u2019s back and threw fierce arms about her screeching, joyful Aunt. The Royal Black was left to snort and paw the dirt, as surprised and amused by Kalomi\u2019s impulsive display as I was. <\/p>\n
This was Kalomi of the Plains\u2014and yet not, for she was also and perhaps more properly\u2014Kalomi of the Bright Sun Band of the Northern Owls, one Tribe of the Thirty and utterly unique. This Kalomi laughed at a playful barefoot kick in the back from her still-mounted cousin. She pulled her Uncle from his wagon almost before he could bring it to a halt. Kissed the grinning man\u2019s tangle of beard without shame or embarrassment. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou met no trouble in reaching us?\u201d Tenny asked me, her manner casual as we watched two young boys hurry to greet Kalomi and marvel wide-eyed at the Royal Blacks. \u201cMy brothers,\u201d the bride-to-be observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo difficulties,\u201d I responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cForgive the foolish question, Sister. Who would dare attack you? It\u2019s just that, well . . . there was a raid the other evening. We beat them off without losing any mounts, but three cattle were either lost or stolen in the confusion.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cSuch acts are illegal,\u201d I said primly. \u201cDid you contact\u2014?\u201d <\/p>\n
A thin smile crossed Tenny\u2019s face. \u201cNo Magistrates on the trail\u2014nor Sisters, usually. In any case, we normally punish such offenders ourselves. But father said to let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet it go!\u201d Kalomi gasped. She turned to us then back to Pross.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had our Winter Grounds to reach,\u201d Kalomi\u2019s Uncle said, defending his decision. \u201cA wedding to prepare for, as well\u2014no time for a Blood Feud.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose raiders struck you?\u201d she demanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was dark. None could be certain of their ident\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMuddy Creeks?\u201d Kalomi spat the words.<\/p>\n
Pross shrugged. \u201cThey were Grey Eagles. We could not be certain of the Band.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUncle! You let Muddy Creeks raid us and escape unpunished!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wounded one,\u201d Tenny spoke up. \u201cPossibly two.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd didn\u2019t follow the blood trail?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my decision as Band Leader,\u201d Pross said gruffly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA poor one,\u201d my Apprentice muttered. \u201cHave you grown so old in my absence, Uncle?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKalomi!\u201d I said with shock. All eyes turned toward me and I could only shake my head. A sister should not intrude in the affairs of Plainsfolk\u2014they were to be allowed their independence, as much as possible. It was the standing order and wise.<\/p>\n
But she was of these people. Their internal affairs were hers\u2014or they had been, until her Oath of Sisterhood. I found myself on uncertain ground. But then again, so was she.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe matter is past,\u201d her Aunt said so quietly one had to strain to hear the whisper. \u201cLet us concern ourselves with the present. And the happy future\u2014the Wedding Truce and Tenny\u2019s joining!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalomi pursed her lips. Then she nodded, stroked and kissed her Aunt on the cheek.<\/p>\n
My Apprentice joined Tenny and the other outriders in driving the yak and cattle into a pasture watered by the stream that curled among the earth-lodges where her people would pass the brutal winter months. It was a task better suited to nimble and experienced ponies like the one her cousin rode, but Obsidian Maiden did well enough at Kalomi\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat big black horse,\u201d Tenny told me later with delight. \u201cOne snort, one swing of that proud neck was enough to impress any wayward bovine!\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded, turned my head. The light wagons had already been disassembled, with certain pieces put back together to form a Plains-style corral for the mounts. Tenny\u2019s brothers\u2014one seven, the other almost nine\u2014fed sugar-root to the Royal Blacks.<\/p>\n
I sighed. \u201cWatching your people make camp is a breathtaking sight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tenny chuckled. \u201cIt\u2019s not half as disorganized as it must seem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I agreed. \u201cIt\u2019s frantic and boisterous, but totally organized confusion\u2014if that makes sense?\u201d<\/p>\n
The donkeys had been unhitched and taken, tethered together by one long strong rope, to water. The woven brush corrals for the goats and donkeys were ready by the time they finished drinking. Also by that time, the folding wooden frames of the yurts\u2014again, detachable sections of the wagons\u2014had gone up. Their yak-hide covers slid neatly into place, almost of their own accord. Butter-lamps were hung and more than one cook-fire crackled even as the Bright Suns\u2019 namesake began to dip beneath the horizon. <\/p>\n
Each family was eating supper by the time the first of that night\u2019s two moons rose into the sky. I watched the second moon rise and eased back, turned my head. Beyond the flicker of the butter-lamps and the eight family cook-fires, all was darkness. I could hear the distant herd of cattle and yak, settling in with periodic moos and grunts. In the distance, at three carefully chosen locations, watch-fires burned with shifts of well-armed Bright Sun warriors tending them.<\/p>\n
I looked across the cook-fire at Kalomi, silent as she ate. Livestock raids were still common among the Thirty Tribes. All complained about rivals stealing from them. Yet all did it from time to time. It was ritual of a sort\u2014an informal passage to adulthood for young Plainsfolk.<\/p>\n
But Pross had spoken of a Blood Feud, which was far more serious. And Kalomi held particularly bitter feelings for that one Band\u2014the Muddy Creeks of Grey Eagle Tribe.<\/p>\n
I pursed my lips, fed a handful of dried serviceberries into my mouth to finish the meal. The tangy purple berries were tasteless to me just then\u2014even as the spiced trail porridge and sun-cured venison that came before. Only the rancid flavor of the butter-tea penetrated my mood. To be polite, I raised the skin when it passed to me and dutifully squirted a bit of the partially fermented yak-milk horror down my throat. I kept it down\u2014with some effort\u2014and passed the skin on.<\/p>\n
Kalomi saw me watching as she took her turn and defiantly enjoyed a second squirt. My Apprentice had never named for me the Tribe or Band of the three men responsible for abducting, raping and impregnating her mother. But I\u2019d seen her eyes this day, heard the anger in her voice. <\/p>\n
The Muddy Creeks\u2014I ran the name around in my head and sighed. <\/p>\n
I looked up at the moons. The following evening, I knew, all three would rise together for the last time before Winter Solstice. That signaled the beginning of the Wedding Truce. It could not come soon enough for me.<\/p>\n
The earth-lodges had to be repaired and cleaned out after sitting unattended throughout the Spring, Summer and early Autumn wanderings of the Bright Suns. Only now\u2014in reluctant acknowledgement of the approaching season\u2014did the Tribes return, each band to their ancestral homeland. The stable\u2014the only permanent structure most Plainsfolk ever built\u2014required even more concentrated repair than the underground lodges. Even so, it was only meant for the goats and donkeys and mares with recently born foals\u2014and only used during especially murderous storms. Otherwise, Plainsfolk believed their animals preferred to face the elements head-on\u2014like themselves.<\/p>\n
And this year, the Bright Suns had a wedding to host.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour future husband will come here?\u201d I asked Tenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe and most of the Great Easterns. Of course a few will stay behind to tend their herds.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. \u201cAnd after?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll assemble our wedding yurt together.\u201d Grinning, Tenny pointed. \u201cFar side of the stream\u2014for privacy. By the time of Deep Winter, my folk will have dug a new earth lodge for us. D\u2019Venk will have furnished it with blankets, butter-lamps and other essentials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he\u2019ll live here? Be adopted into your Band?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d Tenny paused. Her high cheekbones flushed with pride. \u201cThe Bright Suns are the more prosperous now, though the Great Easterns are, you understand, quite respectable in their own right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInteresting,\u201d I noted. \u201cIt\u2019s all a matter of which Band is wealthier\u2014and therefore better able to afford a new member?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tenny put down the donkey yoke, the buckets of water she had been carrying. Hands on hips, she regarded me with mild displeasure. \u201cGood Sister, D\u2019Venk will be a good addition to the Bright Suns\u2014hardly a burden to be afforded!\u201d<\/p>\n
I apologized quickly, assured Tenny that that wasn\u2019t my meaning. \u201cI never knew precisely how it was decided. Forgive my ignorance. I\u2019ve been posted to the Great Reserve since being reassigned to the Plains and, as you know, things are different there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tenny looked me in the eyes, seemed to decide I was sincere and nodded. \u201cYes. Very different\u2014the Wolf-Folk do not wander freely, nor do they marry outside their group.\u201d<\/p>\n
They aren\u2019t allowed to, lest their fearful curse spread amongst the remaining Tribes. Tenny did not say that aloud. But the knowledge was in her eyes. Both of us were silenced briefly by this sobering reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy cousin,\u201d Tenny spoke again, \u201csays your curiosity about foreign ways is great. Her letters home remark upon it, frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can imagine.\u201d I forced a wry grin and helped steady the buckets\u2014preventing too much water from sloshing out\u2014as Kalomi\u2019s cousin slipped back into the yoke and straightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe considers it perhaps your most personally endearing characteristic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKalomi said that?\u201d I blinked and followed Tenny to her family\u2019s yurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yes. Yet you never asked about our ways?\u201d<\/p>\n
I helped Tenny ease the water buckets down beside the smoldering cook-fire and uncouple the ropes binding the buckets to the yoke. Sisterly detachment be damned\u2014it was wrong to just stand around watching everyone else, regardless of rank or circumstance, do equal shares of the needed work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d she said with surprise as I lifted the yoke from her shoulders and massaged her neck. \u201cYou never did ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tend to avoid subjects too closely linked to sex or marriage with Kalomi. The subject of her parentage is so painful to her! I\u2019m honestly uncertain what I can or cannot broach with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d Kalomi\u2019s cousin\u2019s eyes went sad. \u201cI see. She\u2019s told you about\u2014that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA little.\u201d I drew a breath, raised my chin. \u201cIt was three of those Muddy Creeks?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tenny nodded. We hunkered down together to patch a goatskin garment\u2019s torn hem. Her eyes flickered up at me\u2014the same pale blue as her cousin\u2019s and as full of controlled emotion, yet with an accepting peace that Kalomi lacked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo of them are known to be dead. Before her death, Yopa\u2014Kalomi\u2019s mother\u2014avenged herself on one. Split his skull open with a flint axe. Another died in a stampede that resulted from a raid against the Muddy Creeks by a Band friendly to our own. That was five summers ago, when Kalomi was still at your Academy in the East.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the third?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUiseann.\u201d Tenny spat the name. \u201cHe leads them now\u2014has for almost two years, since illness took his cousin. Unless you believe the whispers\u2014that he poisoned his own kin!\u201d<\/p>\n
The look on her face said that Tenny considered that as possible as it was unpleasant to consider.<\/p>\n
Three Guardian Moons stood high in the night sky, the Wedding Truce in full effect. It was the one time in all the year that Kalomi\u2019s folk could relax their vigilance somewhat. Only one sentinel per watch-fire was now deployed\u2014and they only against animal predators who knew no Truce.<\/p>\n
My Apprentice and I walked together. She paused, stared into the darkness as if unable to believe in even relative safety. What was the time of greatest repose and delight for her people was one of fearful apprehension for Kalomi.<\/p>\n
The Great Eastern Band reached Bright Sun Village well before midday. They paused just outside to put on their finest robes and decorate themselves with the intricate facial and hair ornaments of greeting. <\/p>\n
Kalomi and I returned with the bounty of a successful morning hunt at one end of the village, even as the Great Easterns entered at the other. Appropriately, they received the more attentive welcome\u2014the Great Easterns brought a husband for Tenny. All we had to offer was a fresh-killed blackbuck. Kalomi and I watched with the rest as her cousin embraced D\u2019Venk.<\/p>\n
Tenny had hurried to put on her finest\u2014and most minimal\u2014leather garments.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s him,\u201d Kalomi murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it would seem,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just better make her happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
With everyone else, we followed the two to the stream that was the lifeblood of the Bright Suns\u2019 Wintering Place. <\/p>\n
We watched in silence\u2014and I tried not to show my embarrassment\u2014as the affianced couple slowly removed each other\u2019s fine clothing. Nude and dignified, they joined hands and walked into the flowing water as one\u2014signifying their final agreement to be wed later that evening. They knelt carefully at midstream, side by side and with their backs to us. Bright Sun and Great Eastern alike raised a cheer. I joined them. So did Kalomi, though a shade reluctantly.<\/p>\n
The ceremony itself was a blend of rites. Ones I knew and treasured from back home, and the more ancient traditions of the Thirty Tribes. Bride and groom wore a matching set of loose robes, composed of geometric shapes of assorted hides\u2014domestic and wild, familiar and exotic creatures alike\u2014all sewn together with plant fibers and dyed a wonderful confusion of colors. They went barefoot, with toenails painted blue. Their ponytails and D\u2019Venk\u2019s beard sparkled with interwoven ornaments that reflected the light of the bonfire behind and the three moons above them.<\/p>\n
I was glad to be part of it all and, when the new-made couple knelt before me, proud to touch my hands to their foreheads and intone the Final Blessing. \u201cMay the Goddess-of-All keep you in joy and make your union strong, courageous and noble\u2014like Her most honored and blessed creature, the Holy Dragon of the Seas!\u201d I paused the expected seconds, my arms outstretched. Then I concluded quietly, \u201cArise as one.\u201d<\/p>\n
They regained their feet in unison. Each kissed my cheeks reverently\u2014beginning with Tenny, as this was her home village. Kalomi in turn received similar attentions, politely if rather too solemnly, I thought.<\/p>\n
An elaborate and predictably raucous feast followed\u2014with much butter-tea, alas.<\/p>\n
I was sore and stiff the next morning as Kalomi and I prepared to depart. My travel tent would have been more comfortable and certainly more private than Pross\u2019s family yurt. But he was the Bright Sun leader, to the extent they had one. To refuse his courtesies would\u2019ve been rude\u2014and politically unwise. <\/p>\n
I smiled at how the youngsters\u2014including Kalomi\u2019s pair of male cousins\u2014watched our every move. Or to be more exact, how they watched Nightmare and Obsidian Maiden, as the Royal Blacks stood with regal calm while being put to bridle and saddle.<\/p>\n
My head turned and I glanced across the rushing stream, to the single yurt on the far side. I smiled, silently speculated that I was not the only one to get little rest in the night. But, in contrast to my situation, D\u2019Venk and Tenny had likely enjoyed their lack of slumber. Such were my thoughts when Kalomi\u2019s Aunt called her back to the family yurt.<\/p>\n
Obsidian Maiden stood patiently, untied outside the corral and yet no more likely to wander off than I. The Royal Black even permitted the children to crowd around and stroke her flanks. No, the Plainsfolk are certainly not in awe of the Sisterhood. But our jet-black warhorses\u2014as fearless and intelligent as they are beautiful\u2014are another story.<\/p>\n
Bright Sun and Great Eastern alike had turned out to see us away. Affectionate shouts of goodbye rose as Kalomi swung into the saddle, a bulging drink-skin over her shoulder. My heart sank, just a little. \u201cMore of your Aunt\u2019s butter-tea?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalomi gave me an evil smirk. She was about to make some comment when a rider on a lathered pony exploded into view. Jonus, leader of the Great Easterns, and Lavelle, D\u2019Venk\u2019s father, held the exhausted animal by the reins. The man\u2014barely out of boyhood, really\u2014slumped in the saddle, bleeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cByelo!\u201d Jonus snapped. \u201cWhat has happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRaided.\u201d The young Great Eastern spat crimson. \u201cTahk is dead. My sister too, I think\u2014took an arrow and her pony ran with her!\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cInfamous!\u201d Jonus glared about him, fists clenched. \u201cTo break the Wedding Truce! And our herders\u2014attacked while riding with minimum arms at this Sacred Time! Byelo, who did this? What creatures would commit such infamy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrey Eagles,\u201d the wounded man gasped. \u201cI saw the patterns on their shields. But which Band, I\u2019m not sure\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cMuddy Creeks,\u201d Kalomi sneered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know that,\u201d Pross said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo?\u201d She turned to me. \u201cVendra of Lum, have you nothing to say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I had plenty. Technically, terms of our leave called for us to return to the Reserve immediately after the wedding\u2014but I had options. \u201cA grave crime has been committed! Of course we shall ride with these folk, see justice is done. But you and I, Apprentice, ride wearing the purple tunics\u2014as Sisters of the Dragon!\u201d Yanking my Talisman from under my tunic, I thrust it into her face as a stern reminder. \u201cJustice is our concern, not Blood Feuds\u2014is this clear?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face hardened even more than usual. But she nodded.<\/p>\n
I turned, looked at the angry faces all around. \u201cBe clear\u2014all of you! I speak plainly, so all may understand. This is a terrible and evil thing. It shall be punished! But as Dragon Sisters, my Apprentice and I shall not stand for excess. The guilty and no other shall be punished!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonus nodded grimly. Turned to Pross. \u201cKnow me now as Beautiful Clouds Arising,\u201d he said with deadly earnest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I,\u201d Pross responded, \u201cam Bear Tooth. We go to battle the foe together, as brothers, knowing each other\u2019s Old Names.\u201d<\/p>\n
This tradition I knew about: Just as Tribes and Bands were known by names of animals or locations or natural phenomenon, once Plainsfolk had taken their names from the same sources. With the Conversion, Eastlandic and other foreign names\u2014like Pross, Jonus or Kalomi\u2014were given out. But each Band continued to give old-style names, to be used only in war or other extreme times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI present my niece,\u201d Pross gestured.<\/p>\n
\u201cSour Water,\u201d Kalomi growled.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I spoke sternly. \u201cThis cannot be allowed. She is a Sister-in-Training. She wears the tunic and the Sacred Talisman. I respect your traditions, gentlemen. But they are no longer hers. Kalomi of the Plains\u2014this is her only name.\u201d<\/p>\n
She glared at me and I glared back. She drew her sword halfway from its scabbard. Checked its edge with her thumb. Slammed it back into place.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well,\u201d her Uncle, now Bear Tooth, said without rancor. He turned his head. \u201cBring only your best, metal-tipped weapons\u2014this is no mere hunt for game! We seek criminals and enemies of the good, and must be ready to struggle bravely\u2014even unto death!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Great Eastern leader gave his folk similar orders then turned to me. \u201cHonored Sister?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Beautiful Clouds Arising?\u201d I replied, being careful not to smile.<\/p>\n
He winced. \u201cCall me Clouds. The others will know to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClouds,\u201d I repeated. \u201cYou, Bear Tooth and I have no time to discuss strategy. I suggest we send out trackers immediately and mount an orderly pursuit with our main body, working out the finer points on the move.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thought as well, Honored Sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad they left Tenny and her husband behind,\u201d I remarked to Kalomi after my in-the-saddle conference with the Band Leaders. She shot me a hostile look, but I refused to leave her side. \u201cIsn\u2019t that for the best, Apprentice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNewly married persons are not permitted battle,\u201d she informed me. I saw the battle ornaments she\u2019d added to her hair, but said nothing. Except for the sharp bits of metal and multi-colored shell money, these were the same decorations as the ones signaling happier events\u2014only arranged in a different pattern.<\/p>\n
I shook my head, adjusted the leather helm on my cropped hair. \u201cYou must understand\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand.\u201d <\/p>\n
We rode on, silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took all the untrained horses and spare ponies?\u201d Bear Tooth repeated the scout\u2019s report then spat. \u201cGreedy curs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFoolish ones,\u201d Clouds corrected with a sneer. \u201cThey left witnesses and now they burden themselves with too many frightened animals. Even if I were evil and reckless enough to attempt such horror, I would not be fool enough to do it this way!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bear Tooth agreed then pointed. \u201cAnother scout! One of yours, this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Great Eastern rode back to the advancing horde, shouting and thrusting his arm to indicate the direction. \u201cTheir trail, headed straight for Muddy Creek Village\u2014not even trying to hide their tracks!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPushing that many animals?\u201d another of Cloud\u2019s men commented. \u201cThe low things couldn\u2019t obscure such a path with a solid week\u2019s effort!\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get them!\u201d yet another said and many nodded. We quickened our pace.<\/p>\n
We caught them just past dawn the next morning.<\/p>\n
Clouds led most of the Great Easterns in a sweeping attack against the column\u2019s left flank. D\u2019Venk\u2019s parents, now known as Whirlwind and Yellow Wolf, led the remaining Great Easterns in a dash to get in front of the enemy and block his escape. Bear Tooth, with Kalomi and I at his side, led the Bright Suns in an all-out drive against the Muddy Creek rearguard. The running battle that resulted was fierce as any I have been party to.<\/p>\n
I clashed with an older Muddy Creek who proved a surprisingly good swordsman. We tied each other up, swords and arms interlocked. It might have gone either way, but for my Royal Black. Nightmare butted his smaller mount at a key moment. The nimble pony recovered his balance, narrowly avoiding a fall. But his distracted rider toppled with a serious wound from my suddenly freed blade.<\/p>\n
A Bright Sun sprang from his saddle to finish the wounded man, but my shout and harsh glare had its effect. He merely took the Muddy Creek prisoner.<\/p>\n
The three-sided attack eventually drove the raiders into a small ravine, from which there would be no escape. They turned the stolen animals loose in a final, desperate ploy. But both Northern Owl Bands were more interested in battle by that point than in recovering stolen property.<\/p>\n
There were only four raiders left by the time Clouds, Bear Tooth and I called a halt. All were wounded, but still capable of doing damage. Like us, they had dismounted to fight on the uneven lip of the ravine. The woman and two of the men were quite young\u2014led into this disaster by the older survivor.<\/p>\n
\u201cUiseann,\u201d Kalomi growled. \u201cOffer the others their freedom, if the leader submits to Justice!\u201d<\/p>\n
It sounded like a Sisterly proposal, despite the wild look in her eyes. But I knew that Plainsfolk had a rather different idea of Justice than we Eastlanders. And right then the bloodied figure at my side was more Sour Water than she was Kalomi, more vengeful Plainswoman than Apprentice Sister. But Bear Tooth nodded and Clouds called down the proposal. <\/p>\n
Uiseann agreed. The Muddy Creek leader came into the open, knowing no arrow or javelin would strike him down.<\/p>\n
Clouds stood ready to descend and meet Uiseann\u2019s war axe with an iron-tipped spear. If he survived Clouds\u2019 attack, it would only earn Uiseann the chance to fight another warrior to the death\u2014possibly Bear Tooth. Then another and another\u2014by Plains\u2019 Justice, he was already doomed. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d Kalomi called out. \u201cI claim the right! My claim to Justice is older than yours, Beautiful Clouds Arising!\u201d<\/p>\n
Uiseann squinted. \u201cI don\u2019t even know you, Dragonwoman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You knew my Mother, though\u2014Snow Woman of the Bright Suns, known commonly as Yopa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uiseann grinned viciously. \u201cAh, yes\u2014that one. The cur-bitch murdered my brother\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKilled him in fair battle,\u201d Kalomi corrected. \u201cAfter he and you and other Mud trash carried her off, did evil upon her. And before you murdered her in turn, by cowardly ambush!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalomi raised her sword, started forward.<\/p>\n
I had my chance to stop it\u2014I had the authority. I\u2019m not at all sure Kalomi would\u2019ve obeyed, but I doubt the others would\u2019ve defied a Full Sister. At the least, I could have tried . . . yet I did nothing.<\/p>\n
I watched them battle and, in my heart, I knew that if Kalomi failed and if Clouds Arising also fell before that bloody war axe, I would move ahead of the aging Bear Tooth and go next. I resolved that, should my Apprentice Sister die that day, I would see her avenged or die myself in the attempt. In that moment, my Oath and all my quaint notions of Sisterly Correctness meant little to me, indeed. <\/p>\n
Fortunately, I\u2019d made an expert swordswoman of Kalomi\u2014passing along every trick and subtle skill I\u2019d learned from dear old Akan at the Academy. <\/p>\n
It was a short, brutal fight. But it ended as it should: Uiseann\u2019s wide eyes staring sightless at the sky while Kalomi cleaned her blade on his dusty robes. Then the after-battle lethargy so common in the aftermath of victory\u2019s exhilaration overtook her.<\/p>\n
I used her moment of seeming inattention to put my Talisman to use, covertly testing the fresh corpse. The resulting truth shook me deeply, though I hid my emotions and dared hope, if only briefly, that my exhausted Apprentice had not noticed.<\/p>\n
In any case, I saw Uiseann\u2019s surviving followers freed\u2014including the wounded we captured earlier. When these events became known, the Grey Eagles of course expelled and disbanded the Muddy Creeks for criminal misbehavior. Their outcast remnant scattered as individuals to create new lives.<\/p>\n
Kalomi and I rested two nights and another day at bright Sun Village then started back to the Great Reserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could be back in our quarters now,\u201d Kalomi said as she stared into the campfire, three nights later. \u201cWe might have pressed the horses that much more, with no real risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. An unspoken, unacknowledged tension had been between us since the fight with the Muddy Creeks. Now it had grown to the point where I could no longer pretend ignorance of it. \u201cI wanted one more solitary night on the trail\u2014a last chance to talk, in total privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou examined him,\u201d she said tightly, keenly. \u201cTested his body with the Talisman\u2019s power. So\u2014was Uiseann my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
I had fully intended to speak the truth, when the time came. Had rehearsed the words in my mind, over and over again. And now I tried, but found I simply could not. \u201cNo. But he could as easily have been. In which case\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would make no difference,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps not. Pass me the butter-tea, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalomi grinned. \u201cAs what, Vendra? Penance for permitting a Blood Feud to run its ugly, natural course? I know you hate the stuff. Hell, everybody hates it! It\u2019s quite hideous, actually.\u201d She passed me the skin.<\/p>\n
I raised it. Squeezed some into my reluctantly open mouth. \u201cI must agree,\u201d I said, passing the skin back. \u201cBut why do all you Plainsfolk act like you love it so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTradition. Oh, and do consider yourself duly honored that\u2014as an outsider\u2014I let you know this.\u201d Kalomi took a squirt of the fermented milk and grimaced. \u201cWe have a great many traditions. Most more pleasant than butter-tea. A few as bad, or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike Blood Feuds?\u201d I suggested. <\/p>\n
Kalomi nodded. She reached a hand across, well above the low fire.<\/p>\n
I took it, held it firmly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the beginning, I knew her only as Kalomi of the Plains. The name, the simple and only vaguely descriptive sobriquet seemed enough to know. She was my Apprentice in the Sisterhood, bound to my side by chance assignment and solemn oath. Soon, by shared experience, she became my true and trusted comrade. Inevitably, increasingly …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4059,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3,1262],"tags":[1263],"class_list":["post-8898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-fiction","category-tcl-15-spring-2015","tag-the-colored-lens-15-spring-2015","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4059"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139570,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8898\/revisions\/139570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}