Chapter 24 #3
The citizens of Naharu rode a type of mountain goat, nearly as big as a horse, with cloven hooves and powerful legs that could easily handle the steep incline.
She watched the goat with wide eyes. “What would Mariyah say?” she asked, but she had turned to Shazeera, who snorted in what sounded like amusement.
“Is Mariyah your cousin who was with you at the bonfire?” I asked, and instantly my mind brought up images of the two of them dancing with their horses, firelight flickering on Zara’s golden skin.
“Yes,” she said, still smiling as she turned back to me. “Mariyah is like my sister. She also really loves goats. I try not to hold it against her.”
A shadow passed over Zara’s face, and I knew she was thinking of her cousin and probably everyone else she left behind.
I didn’t comment on it or ask her whether she missed her friends and family; it was obvious she did.
Instead, I did what any of us ever did when faced with difficult emotions. I turned to a distraction.
I pointed to the many stalls lined up. “People from all over the Zephyrian Empire come to sell their wares here. Gemstones and jewelry from the Angorans, Semalian glass, and Nazca woodcraft.”
The corners of her mouth turned down, and she shared a look with Shazeera.
“So this is where all the great tribes that once made up my people have ended up—hawking their wares. I wonder when the Sorayans will take their place here. Unfortunately, all we’ve done for the past century and a half is survive a war, so we aren’t known for our goods. ”
Her tone had a bite to it, and I silently regarded her, thoughts turning in my head.
I had never looked at the market in that way.
Those tribes had been part of our empire for so long that I had not given much thought to how they felt about being conquered.
But obviously, for Zara, her experience was much different.
“As future empress, it will be different for your people,” I said, trying to ignore the sharp pain in my chest at the thought of her future position—and marriage to the emperor.
Her eyes flashed. “These are my people. We are all descended from the First Daughters who were given earth magic from the Earth Mother herself.”
“You’re right,” I said, “these are your people. Both from your ancestry, and as the future empress. And thanks to the peace treaty and your upcoming marriage to the emperor, you will be able to advocate for them.”
She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “You make a good point,” but I decided not to push.
We came to the baker’s stall then, and Zara’s eyes lit up.
The bread was lined up on clean white cotton cloth, each loaf still steaming.
The merchant was a robust woman with gray hair pulled back in a neat bun on top of her head.
She watched us with eyes almost hidden by deep folds, and a smile that revealed several missing teeth.
“Will you have some trifala, lady?” she asked Zara, who had drifted closer to the loaves than I was. Kestrel moved forward, too, until he was nearly breathing down Zara’s neck. I shot him a quelling glance, but he only shrugged.
Zara suddenly glanced at me, a blush touching her cheeks. “How will we pay for the food? I didn’t even think of bringing coins with me.”
I took out a golden pendant I wore on a chain around my neck. It had the symbol of the emperor raised in the center, a crown uplifted by two eagle wings. The baker grinned when she saw it. “This will buy us anything we’d like.”
Zara let out a breath in relief. “That’s handy. In that case, since you’re buying,” she added to me with a teasing grin, “I’ll have a loaf for myself and one for my mare.” She turned to the rest of us, arching a brow in question. “One for each of you?”
“Yes,” I said after Baz and Zamir each gave me a polite nod. “So that’s four more, please,” I told the baker.
“Two for me,” Kestrel said, rubbing his hands together. “With butter,” he added as the baker’s plump hands reached for the bread.
“That’s the only way to eat it,” the baker said with approval. She handed each of us our loaves wrapped in cloth and dripping in butter. I took my own, savoring the warmth of the bread in my hands.
Zara immediately began feeding pieces to her mare before she took a bite herself, and I was once again grudgingly impressed. It’s what I would have done for Neo, too.
“This is delicious, thank you,” she said to the baker when she finally ate a piece.
“My pleasure, lady,” she said with a polite bow.
We started to walk away, but Zara’s horse bumped her arm, and she turned back to the merchant with a sheepish expression. “May I have two more loaves, please?”
“Of course. There you are,” the baker said as she handed over the bread. “Anything else?”
The mare bobbed her head, but Zara shot her a look that clearly said, Enough. “No, thank you.”
“We have more in common than I thought,” Kestrel told Shazeera as he finished wolfing down his second loaf.
“Disgusting,” Zamir commented, taking a dainty bite of her own.
“Shazeera wanted a sack of grain,” Zara said to us with a grin as we turned away from the stall.
“The palace clearly isn’t feeding her enough,” I said, and she laughed.
“Don’t forget the race today,” the baker called from behind us.
Zara whirled around with eyebrows raised. “Race? What race would this be?”
“The Naharu Cup,” the baker said, with a nod toward another Zephyrian goat walking past us, this one led instead of ridden.
I had forgotten all about the race today—not that I cared much for it—but Zara’s eyes were lit up even brighter than they were when she first tried the trifala bread.
“And the goats will be racing?” she asked.
“I’d give you a strange look for such a question,” the baker said with a smile, “but it’s obvious you aren’t from around here. Yes, they race Zephyrian goats.”
“Thank you,” Zara said before turning to me. “We have to go watch. Will it be soon?”
“If you hurry, you can still get a good spot,” the baker said.
“Thank you,” Zara said again, starting in the direction the goat had gone without even waiting for me.
“I take it you like races,” I said, and she glanced back at me with a grin.
“You should have told me there’d be one today.” She slowed her steps for a breath until I was beside her once again. “Where is there room for a track? We’re on top of a mountain.”
“You’ll see,” I said, and I found myself eagerly anticipating her reaction when she saw it.
Shazeera, Zara, and I walked abreast while Baz, Zamir, and Kestrel followed until the crowd grew so thick we were forced to walk in a single-file line.
In that fluidly graceful way of hers, Zara pulled herself onto her mare’s back, and the two followed me so closely that I could feel the horse’s breath on my neck.
“Shazeera said you may ride, too, if you’d like,” Zara said after a few moments, her tone slightly surprised.
“Thank you for the offer,” I said, meeting the mare’s steady gaze, “but I wouldn’t burden you with my weight.”
“She says she was only being polite, so her back thanks you.”
I let out a scoff, but the corners of my mouth were curving up. So, the horse had a sense of humor as much as Zara did. Interesting.
“You speak to Neo like I do Shazeera,” she said after a moment of quiet walking. “But are you close to Neo—closer than fellow soldiers, I mean?”
“He is like my brother—that’s the best word I can think of in the common tongue—but he is much more than that. We’ve been together since he was a fledgling, and I was a child.”
“I understand,” she said, reaching out to touch her mare’s neck. “It’s the same with Shazeera. She is my heart’s sister. We grew up together, too. Each of us is bonded to a horse from nearly the moment we can walk…and ride. Before that, we’re kept with our mother’s horse.”
“Heart’s sister,” I repeated. “Yes, I think I know what you mean.”
“And does everyone have one—an eagle?”
“No. Only those who can trace our lineage to the first Eagle Riders—the ten original men and women.”
Her lips parted in a little O of surprise, and I was momentarily captivated. “We have a similar story with our earth magic. Those of us who are direct descendants of the first six who were given earth magic from the Earth Mother herself carry on those bloodlines.”
“It is similar, though, of course, we weren’t given the ability to use magic.”
“True, but flying on eagles seems to be working out for you despite not having magic,” she said with a wry smile.
“There is nothing like flying,” I said with a glance up at the clouds. “The vastness of the sky, the freedom of being so far above the earth that it’s only you, your eagle, and the wind.” I gave her a knowing look when I saw her hanging on my every word. “You enjoyed flying, too, I think.”
A tinge of pink filled her cheeks, and she shot a sheepish look at her horse. “I think it’s safe to say it was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life. The emperor was surprised I felt that way.”
“He asked you about it?” Some unidentifiable emotion flitted through me then, making my shoulders tense.
I didn’t realize Altair had spent time with her, enough to talk about things together.
And immediately, I admonished myself for the thoughts.
Soon, my cousin would marry the First Daughter.
Of course they should talk to each other.
She glanced back to check on where the others were, and when she saw they had fallen back out of earshot, she said quietly, “The emperor has told me of his fears of flying—and the horrible way his father treated him because of it.”