"Oh Pearl, I've had no one for so long," she sobbed, touching a tender hand to her wife's face, "I'll admit, the morning your father approached me about the idea of an arranged marriage between the three of us I wanted to say no, knowing my husband as I do, but I needed someone so desperately," she whispered, "to protect me from him,
our husband; Pearl if he finds out I fear he will kill me and I don't know what will happen to Kyanite," the woman seemed frantic as if she had spent too many a night pondering the worst scenarios possible.
Belkaia closed her eyes and stole a shaky breath of air as she held Pearl's hands in her own; preparing herself to be honest with her wife, "he was a hunter from our old pavilion, he had grown up with Dravite and I; though he was much closer to my age, he always wanted to be just like the older boys," she explained. "When I was forced to marry Dravite to cement my father's position as Ankal of the Windborne pavilion, Slate was devastated. We had been in love, puppy love I suppose you would call it; have your ever known it?" She asked her wife, searching the woman's eyes.
"When I told him we could never be he remained persistent, he loved me from afar, did sweet things no boy should do for a married woman. I told him he could never have me and after Kyanite was born... Pearl I was so young,
I was confused," the woman admitted angrily, "I hated Dravite so much, it was easy to love Slate, we worked... For years, at least two we saw each other in secret until my brother caught us one eve. I begged him not to tell Dravite but they were so close; Belhatir was like Dravite's shadow, he worshiped the man as if he were the sun. I made him a promise, I told him that I would never see Slate again if he kept our secret, that I would even accept Dravite back into my bed," Belkaia swallowed; her hands were shaking and defiant tears rolled down over her cheeks.
The young Windborne woman lay there for a moment collecting her thoughts, her eyes searching though they saw nothing but the ghosts of the past. Soon she closed them as if to shut out the imagines that drifted back to her along with
seeing.
"I was so scared of him, terrified that he knew; frightened Belhatir had said something. I broke it off with Slate and he married a girl the following season," she wiped a few stray tears from her eyes, "his wife was barren, and try as he may they could not conceive. I only meant to comfort him, this boy I had loved all my life. One thing led to another, you know how these things work," Belkaia tried to justify her actions though she knew they were wrong.
"In late spring gone we were abandoned by the pavilion. My father disappeared; the pavilion looked to Dravite for guidance; though my brother was the rightful heir he too had gone missing. Dravite failed to keep watch one night and we were attacked by a Grass Bear while we slept. Slate was the only man who lost his life that night and Dravite was blamed for his death. The pavilion gave me the option to stay with them but when I saw my husband standing there with his mother and our son, I knew they were wrong to turn him away and I chose to go with him."
Belkaia dabbed her eyes dry with the end of her sleeveless shirt, "he's a good man, I know that now, but he wasn't always that way. My father always hated him,
Blackwater, The Cursed, he would always say" Belkaia looked across at Pearl, her voice barely as whisper as if she feared the wind might be listening, "it all started with Taloker Blackwater, a greedy Ankal with many daughters. He wanted a son more than anything in the world and so he made a deal with one of the dark gods, his sight as payment for a boy. He cut out his eyes and the goddess gave him a son, Cyprine Blackwater, born on the night of a great thunderstorm. As thanks he sacrificed his Strider to the goddess of death and Zulrav, father of wind born Striders took offence, '
cursed with one son', he boomed overhead.
"Taloker Blackwater of the Diamond Clan had no more children, and his son Cyprine married the most beautiful young healer the Opal Clan had ever raised; Lazuli Morningsong. Together the two were blessed with a boy; Dravite, though try as they may, they were not to have any more children, and so, Cyprine built a pavilion of his own, formed of himself and four of his closest friends; Tasman Seeker, a famous scout and land navigator from the Ruby Clan, Ebon Darkshade, one of the best craftsmen and tanners from the Sapphire Clan, Gale Ironhide, a rich tradesmen and talented animal handler from the Topaz Clan, and finally, my father Belhaur Windborne of the emerald Clan, Cyprine's childhood friend and a world class hunter, trapper.
"Each of Cyprine's friends took two or three wives and all of them had many children, some even came to the pavilion with existing sons and daughters. Others joined, men like Raven Morningsong who followed his sister Lazuli and served Cyprine as if he were a king. They all loved him and would have followed him to the edge of the earth; he only had one rule... No one was to ever return to the city of tents. They lived by the golden tide season after season until one day, Belhaur took Cyprine hunting. The children of the Blackwater pavilion were sick and a handful had succumbed to their illnesses already; even the pavilion's healer Lazuli could do little for them.
"Belhaur begged Cyprine to lead them home to Endrykas in order to get help for their young and when he refused, the Windborne line started packing their things, ready to depart. Cyprine would not stop them, but said that if they ever left the pavilion, he would never allow them to return. My father was the last person to see him alive; he was crushed by his palomino mare during their hunting trip, and Belhaur, believing he was Cyprine's second, took control of the camp. He led them back to Endrykas where the children were treated and we stayed until the following spring.
"Raven Morningsong and Gale Ironhide were the first to go when Lazuli remarried to my father; Raven begged his sister not to marry Belhaur and if she must, he said, then let me raise the boy, Dravite. Lazuli refused him and they two did not speak thereafter. Tasman and his wives left shortly after but Ebon, who had the most children, second only to my father, refused to leave, vowing that as long as there was a Blackwater son in the pavilion, he would dedicate his life to protecting and raising the boy. The following winter Ebon passed suddenly and as the pavilion once again resided in the Sea of Grass, his wives and children had nowhere to go and were forced to remain with the group. With no one to protest his power, my father renamed the pavilion Windborne and stripped any title Dravite was to receive during his coming of age, away from him.
"He was raised and conditioned to act as Belhatir's protector, my father's only son. There was just one problem with that; Belhatir didn't want to be a leader one day and showed no interest in the things Dravite excelled in; things an aspiring Ankal should know, like webbing, leadership, and hunting. Belhaur despised the Blackwater boy but was powerless to act against him as long as Lazuli was around and he needed her, the Opal Clan Healer.
"When Dravite earned his windmarks he was promised his pick of any of the pavilion's single women, all except one; my half-sister Fara who was to wed Kade Ironhide in a binding that would reunite the Windborne and powerful Ironhide pavilion. My father needed the marriage to work, but my sister only had eyes for Dravite. I found them rolling around in the grass early one morning,” Belkaia couldn’t help but smile at the memory, “Fara made me promise not to tell our father but I feared his rage more than I did her wrath. When I told my father that the two of them planned to run away together, he sent the Windborne men out on a hunt led by Dravite. While they were away Fara was married to Kade. Because of that arrangement the Ironhide sent us forty head of cattle every summer and in the winter we ate well.
"When Dravite came home to find Fara was gone, he ran away from the pavilion to live with his uncle. Without Dravite the children of Ebon Darkshade, now grown, threatened to leave the pavilion. The only way my father could convince them to stay was by promising that he would get the Blackwater son to return and to do that, he had to give Dravite his pick of the women. To spite my father, Dravite chose me, he knew that being the last of the unwed Windborne girls, I was the last bargaining tool Belhaur had left and he did not treat me kindly," Belkaia sighed, a shiver running up her spine.
"Kyanite's birth pleased the Darkshade members, so much so that my father felt that his position as Ankal was now threatened and with little left to offer as trade and a son who refused to take a wife that would bear him children, Belhaur was afraid that Dravite and his loyal friends would soon overthrow him. When all but one of Ebon's sons were poisoned during a visit to the city, leaving only Slate, I suspected that Cyprine's death had been no accident and the night my brother left the Windborne pavilion he had an argument with our father I feel divulged the horrible truth. Belhaur needed his son to step up, but Belhatir refused him... I don't know if either of them is still alive and we haven't seen the Windborne pavilion since last spring," Belkaia closed her eyes and seemed as if she might drift off given half the chance.
"If this child is a boy," she mouthed, "Dravite will know I have betrayed him even though he believes the curse is undone.
The gods are not so easily fooled, sister, and I am scared they will speak to their loyal follower soon."
• • •
Dravite steered Bones towards the scattered goat herd, smiling at the challenge set before him. Guiding the mare through the tall grass he began to gather the goats, driving them towards a centre point in the field. The growing kids bound ahead of their mothers, leaping about gleefully, used to this game they played. Bones, confused, veered away from the gathering herd, causing Dravite to slow the mare in order to bring her back into line; she was stubborn, even for all his training, and almost impossible to control without the yvas.
Dravite moved gracefully with the rise and fall of the mare's body, but did not push her too hard for her knew of the foal developing inside of her, one he looked forward to meeting in the spring. As he leaned back, signalling the mare to slow and come to a stop, Dravite looked back over his left shoulder towards the city and the area his pavilion was set up in. His brow furrowed, the man somewhat angered that he could be cast out so easily from his warm bed and got down from the mare to fetch her a bucket of water for her efforts this morning.
He had to run back to where Cree and Knox stood, squeezing their large heads into the bucket, trying to share the last of the water, and then walked down to a narrow stream that ran east towards the Zeis River. After filling the bucket and carrying it all the way over to Bones, he stood scratching her neck gently while she drank; making a comical gulping sound that reminded him of Raven's ale drinking habits.
The walk back to camp was a long one, but instead of wasting his time with disturbing the women, Dravite decided to wake Roan, asking the young man if he wanted to go out hunting before the day got too hot or busy, not knowing what it had in store for them all. Obliging, Roan got his bow ready and the two set off on foot, leaving a message with Yuki, who was up cooking breakfast, that they would be home well before the sun touched the dome of the sky and the shadows of their tents grew short.
"Rabbits?" Roan asked.
"Rabbits," the horse lord agreed with a smile.
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