Ketha's Daughter

Chapter two-2

“I can see that.” Then he gaped at her, taken aback by the realization she had just spoken his childhood nickname. No-one, except his family, ever addressed him as Kadya. “Why did you call me that?” he asked her suspiciously. “Have we met somewhere before?” Her face did look vaguely familiar, but Arkady was positive he would have remembered seeing her, because of her height.

She shook her head. “Krikka knew another Arkady, long ago, and Kadya was his name too. I just got confused. But you don’t mind, do you, if I call you that? It seems to fit.” Arkady smiled and said he did not mind at all. She turned away from him and produced a long pearl-handled dagger from the top of her boot. The sun picked out the gold highlights in her hair as she squatted before the fire and tested the meat. “The rabbits are cooked. Are you ready to eat?”

Nodding, he turned to his pack, and retrieved his tin plate and a small knife. He was hungry, and the rabbit smelled good, though it had been a year since he had last eaten any flesh. That was another thing he learned from his teacher in T’Shang — respect for all living creatures. But Dawa had also impressed upon him the importance of kindness to others, and that meant accepting any gift without complaint or reservation. So he ate the rabbit with pleasure and shared what food he had in return. There was a little blue-veined cheese left over from the last port the Dalvolk ship had visited, and he offered it to her along with some ship’s biscuit. She sniffed it suspiciously and tried a small bite. Her eyes went wide and she quickly consumed what he gave her and asked for more. Arkady looked at her in amusement. He had never met anyone who appeared to be such a curious mixture of innocence and menace.

“Who caught the rabbits? Was it you?”

She seemed offended at this. “Of course it was me. I told you I have no companions, did I not? I set a snare by their burrow and waited patiently. Later, when I saw you sleeping in the dunes I thought to share them with you. Why do you ask so many questions?”

He laughed. “You ask plenty yourself. But why should I not want to know about you? You must admit it is a little unusual to meet a girl in the middle of nowhere who looks like a shield maiden out of one of the old tales. I am just curious about you. And I was not sleeping, not at all. I was meditating, and that is a very different thing.”

She sniffed derisively. “It looked like sleeping to me. But now, what of the tale you promised me in return for dinner? Tell me of the places you have seen.”

Arkady smiled and settled back on his blanket. The long light of the late summer evening gave the oat grass a quality of sharp relief against the darkening sky. Everything, including the girl who sat next to him on the blanket, seemed bathed in a golden aura. He began his tale this way: “I left my home in Beaumarais when I was eighteen years old, and headed north. My father’s family lives in St. Ekaterina, in the principality of Ruboralis, and I wanted very much to meet them. I also wanted to study languages at the University there.”

She interrupted him, asking, “You wanted to go to school? No-one made you go?” This struck her as funny and Arkady had to wait until her fit of giggling had passed before he continued.

“Yes, I liked going to school, as strange as it sounds, and I was pleased to have the opportunity. The University in St. Ekaterina is very famous. I studied there for four years, and I lived with my grandparents. They have a big house on Karador Prospekt.”

“How big?”

“Thirty or forty rooms. I don’t think I ever went into all of them.”

“My house is much bigger than that!” she boasted.

Arkady peered at her with sudden interest. “And where is this house, girl who calls herself Krikka?”

She smiled and shrugged, embarrassed at almost being caught out. “You are telling me the tale. Please continue.”

“St. Ekaterina has many beautiful palaces and churches. On winter days, when I did not have to go to school, I used to walk all over the city. I talked to as many people as I could, to practice the language and learn about the culture. It is very different than my home. St. Ekaterina is much bigger, for one thing. Almost seventy-five thousand people live there. There were so many interesting things to do. Sometimes, my grandmother, Irina, and I used to go to the symphony at the Victory Palace.”

Krikka wanted to know what a symphony was and he patiently explained. She listened with rapt concentration. Everything he told her about St. Ekaterina seemed to interest her and she asked many questions.

He continued, “One day, my grandfather Nicolai took me to the open market in Gueroi Square. I saw things from all over Yr for sale in the stalls. We were passing by a quiet corner of the market and an amazing painting caught my eye — of a beautiful woman, with green skin. Many other bright colors filled in the background. I went to have a closer look and asked the stall keeper where he had gotten it from. He was a small dark-skinned man with curious almond-shaped eyes. He told me it came from his home, T’Shang.”

Her eyes went wide. “Where is that?”

“A country full of the biggest mountains and the bluest skies you have ever seen, far to the east of here. All at once I was struck with a desire to go there. Over the next few weeks I found out everything I could about it. There was not much to discover, for T’Shang has been closed to foreigners for many years.”

“What about the green woman?”

“I found out about her too, after I bought the painting. Her name is Hana, and she is a Goddess of the East. Would you like to see?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically. Arkady rose and went to his saddlebag. He retrieved a rolled-up length of heavy silk and spread it out on the ground in front of the fire. Though the sun had sunk almost completely below the horizon and shadows crept over the dunes, the colors still shone luminously. The girl stared at the picture for a long time without speaking. She said softly, “Your Goddess has a very kind face. I would like to know her. But some Goddesses are not so nice.”

Arkady gave her a curious glance but she said no more. He carefully rolled up the painting and replaced it in the bag. Then, in the gathering darkness, he went on with his tale. Krikka rose and threw more wood on the fire so that it blazed up in a rising ribbon of sparks.

He said, “I finished my studies at the University and started on my journey to find the lost country of T’Shang. My grandparents did not want me to go because I did not even have a proper map, only a book I had stolen from the library. It took me many weeks and months of riding to the east to reach the mountains. When I arrived there, I found that I had to wait for summer so I could cross the high passes. I spent my time learning to speak the language of the people I found myself with. They were yak herders and lived in tents of skin they could take down and move with them as they followed the animals from winter pasture to summer meadow. At first, they were shy with me, but once I could speak their tongue, I found them to be kind and very warm-hearted. When I could, I went up into the mountains and came down into T’Shang. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I stayed there a year, in a village called Khalama, and I learned many things.”

“What sort of things?”

“Like meditation. What you saw me doing this afternoon.”

“Sleeping?”

He laughed. “Not sleeping. I told you already. I was awake.”

“Why did you not move when I threw the stone at you?” She looked at him in confusion and he smiled.

“It is hard to explain. I close my mind to the things outside in the world and listen to what is inside.”

She nodded her head as if she understood perfectly. “I do that too, sometimes.” Then, thinking perhaps she had given too much away, she rapidly changed the subject. “Where is your weapon? I would like to see it.”

He smiled and shook his head. “I have none, only the little clasp knife you saw me eat with.”

“How did you travel so far without a sword? Did you not fear to meet bandits on your way?” she asked, clearly amazed at his admission.

“I learned a few things about fighting without weapons in T’Shang. Only in self-defense, of course.”

This caused her to howl with laughter. “You could not defend yourself against me without a weapon! I would make short work of you.”

“Let us put that to the test, if you are willing?”

She shrugged and said carelessly, “All right, but don’t blame me if you get hurt.” Standing abruptly, she drew the dagger from her boot and assumed a fighting stance.

He stood more slowly and brushed the sand off his breeches, saying, “We should move further away from the fire. Otherwise you might get burned when you fall.” She raised an eyebrow at this and took a couple of steps backwards, toward the darkened dunes. Then she lunged towards him, as swiftly as a snake. The dagger flashed in the firelight.

Arkady sidestepped rapidly, caught her behind the thigh with his knee and pushed her down into the sand. She looked very surprised, and scrambled to her feet immediately. Another quick lunge brought the same result. This time she stood up more slowly and thoughtfully circled him, the dagger held loosely in her hand. She feinted several times and watched his reaction carefully. Arkady knew he would not be able to use the same move on her again. When she thrust the dagger at him he caught her by the wrist and twisted hard. With a cry of pain, she dropped the weapon and Arkady kicked it away across the sand. Now she furiously threw herself forward and tackled him. He let her momentum carry him backwards and flipped her neatly over his body so that she landed hard on her back. She lay there, panting, as he rose and brushed the sand off his clothes.

Arkady stood above her and offered his hand. “Have you seen enough?” he asked.

She reached for his outstretched hand and then quickly kicked out, catching him on the shin with her boot. Arkady felt his legs go out from under him and he landed awkwardly on the sand next to her. Krikka dropped on his midsection and drove the air from his lungs in an explosive rush. He rolled over and tried to extricate himself from her grasp, but she had her legs around him in a scissor lock. Arkady could not believe how strong she was. Obviously, she did not intend to give up without a prolonged battle.

After trying once more to gain the upper hand, he suddenly found himself on top of her. She stopped struggling immediately and looked up at him, her eyes glinting with fire in the dim light. Her hair spread out on the sand like a golden halo around her face. Abruptly, desire raced through him, setting fire to every nerve before settling like a blazing inferno in his belly. A second later she fastened her mouth to his with such abandon he could hardly breathe.