Ex Umbra Teaser #3

The golden bazaar, held for the few hours on the eastern half of the meet circle where the light of the sun struck true before disappearing for the evening. The light allowed for people to examine the wares and ensure quality, the rest preparing for the evening meal while selling any preserved meets or furs they felt could be spared. They had eaten first, and Doe now sat in front of their dwelling, surrounded by a small garden of clay pots, cups, containers and plates. It had been decided that Padma should stay inside, so she, lying down on her mat, watching the people come and go through the thin slits in the wallmat before her. It could have been some sort of vacation, but she couldn’t bring herself to relax or even sleep. All she felt was a deep sense of growing bitterness at the fact that she was so useless here. Somehow, on the way to the meet, she had convinced herself that she would be as sweet and docile as she could, treating whoever she ended up with as gently as she would her own family. The only one she could even get close enough to treat at all was Doe, and because of that, Doe was the one usually serving her. There hadn’t been much Padma had tried to plan on when the decision was handed down to her, but none of it was going at all how she’d pictured. Her place amongst the Na’Kageshu had been of respect with welcome adoration. She’d been loved and cherished. Children with scrapes would come to see her, tears running down their face, scrambling to climb under her hands or Resma to get a scrape healed or a toothache cured. Adults and littlings alike would seek what knowledge she had to share. Even now, she was not sure where it all went wrong. What she did know was that her being wrong had placed her into this forsaken place.

She heard the rustle of the doormat and looked up, meeting Buck’s glare. When he simply stood there, looking at her, she finally sat up and gave him her full attention.

“Yes?” she asked, wondering if he might finally begin to open up to her.

“What can you do with these?”

He threw down an armful of furs on the ground, and while she wanted to get up to see them better, that would bring her entirely too close to him, so she examined them the best that she could from where she was, picking out the tawny shades of rabbits and the deep, rich tones of foxes.

“I could make a hat or some boots,” she said thoughtfully, remembering the clothing she used to wear and considering the limitations of the Kagein’s preference for leather. “Maybe fur collars to go around the neck to help keep the heat in. Perhaps a muffler for Doe.”

“Then they are yours to play with, as long as you make something useful. Winter is coming, and I’m not sure if we will be able to get to our cave before the frost appears.”

“Cave?” she asked.

For the first time, he looked genuinely intrigued.

“Where do you spend your winters at?” he asked. “With the snows, it is far too cold to stay outside.”

“We live in buildings, and with some fires, those keep us warm through the winter months. When we do go outside, we wear lots of furs and leathers, many of which we trade for with you.”

That bit of information must have been new as he grimaced slightly. She bit her lip before giving into the urge that had been pestering her since they had first spoken.

“Why do you hate me…hate us so?”

“My sister,” he said, voice low and gruff. “When I was ten years old, my sister and I got separated at a meet once, and the Na’Kageshu that brought the rest in chains approached her. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, so I went off to play with the other children. As the sun started to set, I went to look for her. I found her in the arms of that Na’Kageshu woman. She was passed out, and the woman looked at me and held out her hand, as though inviting me to come with her. Of course I shook my head no, so she simply turned around and left with my sister. I haven’t seen her since.

“She had wisps, just like the ones you have. Those white ones were wrapped around my sister when she left.”

“And you still trusted me,” she murmured, wondering at the desperation he must have felt.

“I had no choice,” he replied, and she heard his voice catch for a moment. “I know what the council would have done with her if no medic could be found to help her. But she is no child that you can confuse and smuggle out of the meet. I will be watching you because I trusted only that you could heal her. How can I trust you or any of your kind?”