Chapter 11
As the sun began to set, Azreth veered closer to Raiya. The behelgi shied away as he approached. “There’s a settlement ahead,” he said.
“Really? I didn’t think we would reach the city this soon.”
“It does not look like a city.”
Raiya squinted toward the horizon. In the waning light, she could see a cluster of colorful tents in the distance. In the field beside them, there was a large herd of behelgi.
“Roamers,” she said, frowning. “They’re nomads. They take their herds with them where they travel.” She hadn’t expected to find them here, but she realized she should have—winter was coming, and they would be moving south toward a warmer climate. “My mother was a Roamer, though I’m not sure which clan. She was born among them and traveled with them all her life until she moved to the city and met my father.” That was all far in the past. Raiya knew little of their ways, but her mother had spoken fondly about that time in her life.
Azreth’s steps slowed. He waited for further explanation, or advice on what they should do now.
“We could trade the behelgi to them for some supplies and a place to rest for the night.” She gave him an apologetic look, knowing that rest was only necessary for herself. “Perhaps I should go ahead alone while you go around them. It would be easier to avoid—”
He shot down the suggestion with a simple, hard, “No.”
Apparently, he still didn’t trust her not to run off without him. Raiya crossed her arms. “Then what do you suggest?”
“Are these people dangerous?”
Her inclination was to say no. It was widely known that Roamers didn’t always follow Uulantaavan law to the letter, but perhaps that would be to their advantage. They didn’t tend to welcome lawmen or soldiers among them. It was said that their camps were safe havens for those skirting the line between lawful and unlawful. A bunch of freaks and criminals, her father had once said. That sounded like Azreth and herself.
But demons weren’t welcome anywhere. Not even in a Roamer camp.
“I don’t think they’re dangerous. But you should keep your glamour on,” she said.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t. I am growing hungry.”
She looked up at him in alarm, and she realized he was being facetious. “Are you suggesting you’d like to remove the glamour and run through their camp just to frighten them and feast on their panic?”
He gave her a look that was almost wry. “That is what every demon would like to do.”
Surprised by his sense of humor, dark though it was, she actually smirked. “Please do restrain yourself, if you can manage. You can feed from me later.”
She’d spoken without thinking, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt awkward. There was a stiff silence.
As they walked closer, a sentry approached them. She was a dark-haired, tawny-skinned Uulantaavan woman, like Raiya, with a bow slung over her shoulder and a sword at her side. To Raiya’s surprise, she seemed unfazed by Azreth’s size.
“Chianyehseg,”she said, giving the traditional Uulantaavan language greeting, then switched to Ardanian. Hardly anyone outside of the most isolated pockets of the country still spoke Uulantaavan as their primary language. “All are welcome here, provided they cause no trouble and they have something to contribute to the betterment of the clan.”
Raiya gave her a polite nod. “Chianyehseg. We have something to contribute.” She motioned to the behelgi behind her.
“All of them?”
“That’s right.”
“Hm.” She studied them briefly, skeptical. “Follow me. I’ll bring you to one of the shepherds.”
The camp consisted of several concentric circles of large, elaborate tents beside the road. There was a large cooking fire in the center of the camp, and several smaller fires dotted around the tents. A group of sun elves was preparing food, using their fire magic to tame the flames beneath pots and grills. Nearby, there was a trio of musicians playing a khuur, dombra, and drums for an enthusiastic audience. Children shouted and laughed as they played in the fields.
Azreth stared at everything warily, his eyes tracking every movement. He watched the children especially closely. Raiya thought he looked a bit like a nervous cat, ready to slink away in a hurry if someone made too loud a sound.
Originally, the Roamers had been a collection of northern Uulantaavan tribes, but over time, the clans had expanded to include people from various origins. They had a reputation for picking up outsiders and loners from wherever they stopped. Some even said that they kidnapped children to add to their numbers, though Raiya was almost certain that was a myth.
She could see some foreigners among them: a number of olive-skinned Ardanians, two ra’Hezirati from the deserts far to the southeast, a woman with oakmoss-colored skin and pointed ears who must have had some orcish blood in her, and the tall sun elves by the cooking fire. The latter were especially of interest to Raiya. Foreigners were rarely seen this far north, and non-humans were particularly uncommon.
The sentry brought them to the shepherd—a rotund, stern-looking old woman with a cane of gnarled wood. She looked over the behelgi with a discerning, critical eye as the sentry returned to her post.
“Are they stolen?” she asked, getting right to the point.
Raiya gave a nervous smile. “Would you buy them if they were?”
The woman was already circling the behelgi. Either the animals were well trained or she was just good with behelgi, because they allowed her to poke and prod them freely. “Doesn’t matter unless they’ve got a brand on them, and it seems that they don’t.”
“You’re not worried about being accused of stealing?”
She shrugged. “We’ll be accused of stealing either way. Doesn’t make much difference.”
“I see.”
“The animals seem to be in fair condition. What’s your price?”
“I’d be happy just to see them go to a good home. How about thirty marks, a place to sleep for the night, and enough food for two people for the next few days?”
The shepherd snorted. “Enough food for him?” she asked, jerking her chin at Azreth, who squinted back at her. “He looks like he eats for three.”
“Enough for two is fine.”
The woman made an indecisive sound, as if Raiya was asking too much. Raiya, who knew the animals were worth significantly more than what she was asking, just smiled.
Eventually the shepherd relented, handing over a small pile of coins and then pointing her to one of the smaller fire pits. Raiya relinquished the train of behelgi and went where she was told. Even without looking, she felt Azreth’s weighty, dark presence following silently.
She sat down on one of the hides that had been laid beside the fire. No one else was around it yet—most were gathered near the musicians. Azreth reluctantly knelt beside her, resting his hands on his knees.
They were left alone there for some time, and as Raiya listened to the distant music and laughter and the fire crackling, her breathing began to slow. Her muscles loosened. She let out a long breath and closed her eyes and tilted her head side to side, stretching her neck. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been for the past few days.
No. It had been more than days. Weeks. Months, even, since she’d felt like this. Safe. That was what this feeling was. She felt safe. For the moment. She wanted to grab on to that feeling and hold it for dear life, because she knew it was going to slip away before long. She wanted it to last. She wanted to keep it for as long as she could.
Azreth was still scanning the camp restlessly, like he was deep in enemy territory. Maybe to him, it felt like he was. She didn’t know how anyone could feel that way in a place so cheerful, though.
She suddenly felt guilty for bringing him here. She didn’t think he would attack anyone, but if he did, she would be responsible for it. She’d brought a terrible danger into these people’s home—a danger they’d never truly agreed to host.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him.
“There are many people here.”
“Does that worry you?”
“I did not think there would be so many.”
She raised her eyebrows. “We haven’t even reached a town yet. There are only, what, two hundred people here?”
“There are more in the cities?”
“Of course.”
His fingers balled into fists on his knees as he continued eyeing their surroundings.
Raiya wondered if the Roamers would even be able to harm him if they wanted to, which of course they didn’t. Their tent stakes looked like they might have been iron, she noted. She wondered if being stabbed through with iron could actually kill him, or if it would only hurt. Somehow, she suspected he wouldn’t appreciate her asking.
“My strength is waning,” he said pointedly.
She tried not to show how nervous that statement made her, with all these vulnerable people nearby who would be subject to his hunger if it grew too great. “I’ll help you. Tonight, once we find someplace private.”
Some of the tension in his face disappeared, but it gave way to something vaguely tired. He looked away.
“Can you wait that long?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? Is it… If you feel any strong urges to… do anything, will you tell me?”
“I am not a wild beast.”
She gave him a sidelong glance and said quietly, “I’ve seen you lose control before.”
He didn’t say anything, and didn’t look at her. Upon reflection, Raiya supposed she wasn’t being entirely fair. Even when he’d been starving and Nirlan had thrown her to him, he hadn’t hurt her.
“Don’t panic,” came a girl’s voice.
Raiya and Azreth both turned, and Raiya’s eyebrows shot up. Standing tensely behind them was an adolescent elven girl. Her skin was somewhere between blue and dark gray, and it made her look almost as alien as Azreth. Based on the way her bright green eyes were glancing between them, it was clear that she was, in fact, accustomed to people panicking when they saw her. Her black hair was artfully arranged into a collection of narrow braids. Her clothes were strange and elaborate, presumably of night elf make, and she wore unusual armor of black leather, along with a sword at her side. She was also holding a large basket in her arms.
“I won’t,” Raiya said. She smiled, trying to convey calm.
The girl looked relieved. She moved toward the fire and set down the basket she carried. “Fu-lon told me to take care of you. I’m Jai.”
“I’m Raiya. This is Azreth.”
The girl shot Raiya a shy smile as she started taking small, wrapped packages of food out of her basket.
Raiya had never seen a night elf in her life. Anyone who did was unlikely to live to tell about it. Like the Roamers, the night elves had a fearsome reputation that stretched far beyond their borders. Jai seemed harmless, but where there was one night elf, there were probably more lurking in the shadows nearby.
“How unusual, seeing a night elf this far outside of the Varai forest. Are there any others here?” Raiya asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Jai sighed. “It’s only my brother and me. We aren’t going to sacrifice you to our goddess. I promise. Yes, we’re really members of the clan. Yes, it’s unusual. No, we don’t go on raids, and we’re not highwaymen.”
“Of course not,” Raiya agreed, as if she hadn’t been thinking exactly all of those things.
Jai seemed mollified. She put a tea kettle over the fire.
“Is your brother older or younger?” Raiya asked.
“Older. He’s a dick. But usually he goes out hunting at night, so you won’t have to talk to him.”
“Ah.” If the Roamers had accepted them, they probably weren’t murderers. She inched a little closer to Azreth nonetheless. He peered over at her questioningly.
Jai proudly handed them both plates of food she’d put together from the things in her basket, then glanced up at them as if checking their reactions. “I hope you like it. These are potato dumplings, and this is mutton. The tea leaf salad is my favorite. Oh! I forgot tea. I’ll be right back.” She hurried off into the sea of tents. Azreth stared after her.
“She is a juvenile?” he asked quietly.
It struck Raiya as an odd question. “Yes. She looks about fourteen. Her aging is probably just beginning to slow. She’ll be grown in a decade or so.”
“That long?”
“More or less. It’s a bit different for elves than for humans. Do demon children grow up faster?”
“We do not have children.”
“Don’t have children? What do you mean?”
“We are born of age.”
She pulled back to stare at him. “Do you mean to tell me that you popped out of your mother at your current size? Gods bless that woman, she must have been massive!”
His mouth moved in an odd way that might have been his version of displaying amusement. “Mortal females grow children within their bodies, yes? And the children are still very small when they are torn out of the mother’s body?”
Torn out?Sweet Astra, what a conversation. “I… Yes.”
“My kind are not born from another’s body. I do not have a mother the way you do. We are created by the eldresses when they see a need to increase our numbers.”
“Created how?”
“A ritual. We are born fully formed, not small and weak like your infants.”
“Then why do you have sex?”
“For power. For personal satisfaction. For enjoyment.”
“I suppose I’m asking why you’re built to have sex, if you don’t need it for procreation. Why are you made with the same parts as mortals, if it’s not a biological imperative?”
He shrugged. “There is not a reason for everything. Some things just are.” He glanced down at her body curiously. “How many children have you made?”
“None, thank the Five.”
“You don’t want to?”
“No, I mean… Not with Nirlan, certainly.” Suddenly morose, she looked into the fire, trying to listen to the music instead of thinking about Nirlan.
“It sounds very painful,” Azreth said. He must have been very curious about this topic. Raiya hadn’t seen him so talkative before.
“I hear it is.”
He frowned a little. “But women are forced to do it anyway?”
“Not forced. I mean, not usually. I suppose many women feel that it’s worth the sacrifice. My mother told me that when I was born, she knew immediately that she loved me more than she would ever love anything else in this world.”
Azreth’s frown deepened. Raiya’s tone had grown a little wistful by the end of her sentence. She didn’t long for children, but she did wish she could feel love that deep. She’d thought she felt that for Nirlan, a long time ago, but it was nothing like what her mother had described.
Jai announced her return with a loud sigh. “I’m back. I got the tea.” She opened the lid of the tea kettle and dumped in a generous amount of dark tea leaves, then took it off the fire. Raiya had been so fascinated by what Azreth told her that she’d forgotten to start eating. She quickly dug in.
Jai looked up at Azreth. “So what are you? Half giant?”
He looked dully at Raiya as if checking for approval. “Yes.”
“I knew it. On your mother’s side, right? It’s got to be the mother’s side. I dread to think how things would fit properly, otherwise.”
Raiya choked on her food. Azreth, who didn’t seem to be listening very closely, was reaching toward the tea kettle. Before anyone could stop him, he picked it up—not by the wooden handle, of course, no. He simply wrapped a hand around the scorching metal and then poured the boiling water directly into his mouth. Jai’s jaw dropped. So did Raiya’s.
When he noticed them looking at him, he stopped. Raiya saw him realize the mistake he’d made. He quickly put down the kettle and half-heartedly shook out his hand, feigning pain. Raiya barely held back a sigh.
“How did you do that?” Jai gasped.
“A good magician never reveals their secrets,” Raiya said before Azreth could reply. He nodded slowly in agreement.