Timely Discovery (Kash, Van)

[Khiara]

8th of Fall, morning.

The summer had been good to Khiara since Vanator and Kashik had found her. She'd been lost, alone and at her last thread of sanity. Vsenri's life hung in the balance, and Khiara had found herself alone and without a friend. It wasn't that she was alone again, it was that she was utterly alone. Vsenri was her only grip on reality and his fate predicted her future. Time had passed, and the young vantha found herself letting Kashik and Vanator guide her, help her through the gut wrenching pain as she waited for word from the Sanctuary. Without their aide, she would have ended her aching pain and suffering. An abomination to the Goddess surely.

Still, time had indeed been kinder. Vsenri had been healed, and Khiara could not find the words in common to thank Kavala enough. She never met the woman, not face to face, but she blessed her in Vani and swore to write a song about her. The White Woman and the Stallion. Swore it. Reunited with the white frostmarch, Khiara's healing shifted into a positive swing. She smiled again. And still, there was Vanator, always just a glance away. Khiara cared about Kashik, grew to find the woman was rich with life and love. But Vanator had captured her heart, and she found the days when he was around she had to repress her heartfelt desires. Often she caught herself simply watching him, and with red cheeks and a small frown on her brow she would force herself to turn away.

This particular morning, the young woman found herself thinking of him. It disgusted her how little self control she had. Frustrated, she left her pavilion and made her way to the river. It was good to be back in Endrykas, almost felt like home. The township had moved, but the atmosphere remained the same. The people were still drykas. A small smile came to her lips as she walked, towel slung over her shoulder. Such a contrast to Avanthal, but still so welcome as a second home.

[Kashik]

Even in such a crisp fall morning, when the clear water of the river was enough to raise goosebumps, the river was not completely deserted.

A young Drykas woman knelt at the edge, her hair as intricately knotted and looped as any other's in Endrykas, indistinguishable from behind. Her hands were sunk wrist-deep in mud as she braced herself to keep from falling in as she coughed and gagged and finally vomited what must have been an attempt at breakfast, letting it flow downstream and away from the bathing area. She lifted a hand to wipe at her chin, and succeeded only in smearing mud all over it. "Son of a petching whore!" the girl swore - and it was then that Khiara could recognize the woman who she'd stayed with for most of the Summer season. Kashik groaned and went about rinsing her hands and face in the river, but once she was clean she just set her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath, too exhausted to move yet.

[Khiara]

Khiara frowned as she approached the river. There was someone there, a very unwell someone. Slowing, she wondered if she should just head upstream a bit and leave the pour soul to their misery. Then suddenly, the figure spoke.

"Kashik?" Instantly, the young woman was beside the drykas, worry on her features and eyes a concerned gold. Kneeling down, she placed a cool hand on Kashik's forehead. The cold of the wind and the water didn't affect the vantha. In fact, it was a blessing.

"Goddess, what's happened? Are you alright? Should I go get Vanator? I'll go get Vanator." She gushed, unsure what she was supposed to do. Kashik was never this way...well...okay so enough drink the night before and she was. But this was different. There hadn't been any drink! Dressed in the short riding dress she'd adapted to in Endrykas, Khiara ignored the mud on her knees and stopped talking for a moment. She was waiting for Kashik to tell her what to do.

[Kashik]

Kashik blinked as Khiara appeared like a god-send, and when a cool hand touched her forehead she reached up with a long-suffering chuckle and clutched it in one of hers before leaning over to lay her head on Khiara's shoulder.

"Gods, no," she said with a breathy laugh, straightening up to offer her a somewhat shaky smile that was supposed to be reassuring. "I'll have to tell him soon enough, true, but I certainly don't want him finding out when I'm ass-deep in mud and looking like death. Not really how I want him to remember this day. Just help me up," she said, reaching up to place a hand on Khiara's shoulder. "Semele's sparkling tits, I hope this passes soon. My brother Ruvi's wife? She was sick for months. I thought maybe I could keep it quiet for a little while longer, but it looks like the cat's out of the bag," she laughed.

[Khiara]

For a moment, Khiara frowned as Kashik laughed. The woman did sometimes confuse the vantha, but this really threw her. Was there a sickness going around? Did Kashik not want Vanator to find out like this because it would hurt him? Khiara felt panic...she didn't want him to be hurt. Or Kashik to be so very sick.

Blushing at the commonly used curse, Khiara replayed the words back a second time. Only then, did it click.

"Oh." She said for a moment, before suddenly gasping and grabbing Kashik on the hand, bright violet eyes wide.

"Oh! Your pregnant! Oh! Goddess bless you!" The girl giggled in vani, to excited to realize. Shifting so she could face the greenish drykas better, the young woman hugged her tightly.

"Congratulations! Vanator will be so happy! When will you tell him?" Pulling back, Khiara couldn't help but feel a sudden pang of concern. Now Kashik was pregnant, she and Vanator might want Khiara out of their lives. The thought made her pulse quicken, and she turned her gaze to the ground so Kashik couldn't catch the gold that had surely flittered across her eyes. Pushing away the terrifying thought, she smiled at Kashik. Both the drykas' had helped her overcome the grief and almost insane pain she'd buried herself in. Over the weeks, they had taught her things. How to live in the harsh, dry grasslands. Kashik had helped her understand the finer points of their culture, from a womans point of view. Khiara felt at home here.

"What will he say?"

[Kashik]

The drykas woman gave a tiny oomph! as Khiara hugged her, though she chuckled at the girl's excitement. "Yes, I think so. I suspected it the last week or so, but wasn't sure. But I've been sick enough now that there's no question."

She watched as the Vantha woman worked through what she thought were the consequences of this little development, and when she saw the golden worry flash and the typical averted eyes that Khiara always gave her whenever she was embarrassed over her feelings for Vanator, she just rolled her eyes and laughed again. "If that man has any sense in his head," she grunted, climbing to her feet and dragging Khiara with her, "he'll finally get around to asking your hand. I've been as subtle as I could with the both of you, but I can't run a pavillion alone while I'm gravitas."

All the seemingly innocent lessons on their culture, the training on how to run a pavillion properly, how to seat the guests according to their honor within the family, how to prepare the proper dishes for holidays, even just the stories she shared around a quiet campfire - now, with proper perspective, how could she not have known what Kashik had in mind?

"And besides my own needs," she said, the sarcasm finally draining from her voice, leaving it soft and serious as she offered Khiara a shy smile, "there's the fact that you've become a part of this family. And you love each other. I think he might even love you more than me," she chuckled, no hint of jealousy in her voice - for it was just the truth, and no point arguing it. Jealousy had no place in a Drykas tent or a Drykas heart. "Better you join us than have him resent me for keeping you from him, hmm?" she said, a wry smile bursting through as she patted Khiara's cheek.

[Khiara]

Following Kashik up from the ground, Khiara stared at her for a moment. There was a long silence from the young vantha as she listened to Kashik talk, and she stood frozen in place. There were words, things about running a pavilion, and with a blink, she shook her head to listen more carefully.

"What?" She asked softly, still not quite sure she'd heard the drykas correctly. Slowly things fell into place. In her mind, Khiara relieved the summer, the teachings and the stories. How did she miss it? Kashik hadn't just been teaching her how the drykas lived, she'd been grooming her to be a drykas. A wife, none the less. Blushing hard as the darker woman patted her cheek, the brunette lowered her violet gaze, tears in her eyes.

"Kashik...I..." Laughing softly, she shook her head.

"Your world, your culture. It's so different to vanthan. I lost Eliac before we could even begin our lives together, and there was an emptiness when he died. Then Vanator appeared, and I realised that I could open my heart again. But, I've felt so guilty. For Eliac, for Vanator. For you. And it hurts. Goddess, its like I'm fighting with myself all the time." Looking back up, she smiled at the woman, blinking back the stupid tears that threatened.

"I love him, I tried not to. Really. In spring, before everything...but its like cutting off an arm. It almost killed me." Squeezing the drykas' hand, Khiara sighed.

"And you too. I've grown to care for you and respect you like a sister. You've taught me so much. Endrykas feels so much like home for me, I've almost forgotten what snow looks like. I would be honoured to join your family...if Vanator wants me." Her eyes shifted, the same lavender they displayed when she thought of the man. A soft blush came to her olive skin.

"Do you think he'd ask me? Maybe he hasn't found me suitable or...I don't know." Reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear, the girl's blushed darkened and her gaze dropped to the ground again.

"Is it...would he be...uh..." Clearing her throat, Khiara tilted her head slightly, embarrassed and unsure how to word what she wanted to say.

"In Avanthal, a woman is thought better of if she is untouched before her wedding. Eliac was taken the day he proposed, so essentially we never...Its not going to...disappoint Vanator is it?" The flush had spread to her throat as she spoke. Standing with the drykas, knees muddy and towel slung over her shoulder she felt awkward asking Kashik the question. It wasn't something the vantha could recall being discussed with her.

[Kashik]

Kashik smiled as Khiara stumbled her way through all of that, and when she finally paused, the Drykas woman pulled her into a warm hug. "This is your home," she murmured leaning back once more to take the girl by the shoulders. "We are family, you and I and Vanator, in our hearts already. Now we just need to get the rest of your body dealt with," she teased, winking as she threaded her arm with Khiara's.

She pulled her towards the encampment and away from the river, leaning on her a bit. "Walk me back to the tent, dearest," she chuckled. "You can always go back for a bath." They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, giving Khiara a few minutes to absorb everything. Then - "A second wife isn't usually taken until the first wife is with child," she murmured softly, a gust of wind tugging a few of her curls out of their intricate plaits. "My honor as first wife comes from running the Pavillion and bearing his firstborn. Taking a second wife before then muddies the water of who might bear his heir. I've known," she said, glancing up at Khiara's face. "That you'd be the second wife, I mean. I'm glad it's you. You've been so careful of my honor this whole time. I think... well, Vanator is a man after all. No woman is foolish enough to expect him to resist something he wants so badly if it's offered to him. You were kind enough never to offer it," she said bluntly, a wry smile denting one corner of her mouth. "And if I haven't said it yet," she added, curling her fingers with Khiara's, "thank you. A thousand times, thank you."

[Khiara]

Khiara couldn't help but blush as they spoke, but not in shame. In pleasure. It made her feel good knowing Kashik saw that she'd tried, that she wasn't the type to disregard others for her own selfish wants. Smiling back at the woman, she shrugged.

"You don't need to thank me. At all. In fact, its me who has to thank you. Goddess, I will never be able to repay what you and Vanator have done for me. For Vsenri too." As they continued on, the vantha enjoyed the cool autumn breeze blowing against her face. Had it really been two seasons since she met the man? Time had passed so fast, it was going to be spring again before she could blink. That would make it two years since she'd lost Eliac, and a year since she'd left avanthal. For a moment, she thought of her mother. Did she think her dead and gone? The young woman felt a moment of guilt. But she was happy in Endrykas. And she was loved, by a family that she loved just as much. Somehow, she hoped her mother knew that.

[Kashik]

"Let's just consider it even, shall we?" she laughed, winking mischeviously up at her. "And as for disappointing Vanator, I don't think you'll have to worry about that at all," she said, her grin turning even more teasing. "It's not uncommon for a woman to save herself in our culture as well, though I certainly felt no such inclination. Then again, I'm a little wild even by my people's standards," she laughed.

"But you needn't worry. You two love each other, and you've waited for this for seasons now. When it's time, just let it happen. Maybe keep him to a slower pace. He can get a bit wild," she laughed, waggling her eyebrows, "but perhaps that's just with me. There's a softer side to him too, of course, and I think you're like to see more of that. And if you've never... well," she chirped, dissolving into giggles as she hung onto Khiara's arm, "let's just say you'll be more than satisfied, dearest."

And then she was giggling so hard she nearly tripped.