six
There was only so much for a guest like her to do around there.
After their first full day at Gardiah Estate, in which Joiya spent most of the time getting to know everyone who was around and diving deep into what ailed them, Mira suffered through more tea with Lady Jacelah and awkward dinners with the family.
Hannu continued to refuse to come out of her room, and Kema confirmed that something—or someone—had spooked her into praying day and night.
Mira was curious as to what, but knew she wouldn’t get an answer if she asked. Instead, she went to bed extra early and woke up with a desire to explore.
She might not be allowed to teleport if she got lost, but Mira still had a good innate sense of direction.
What she hadn’t gleaned over her five hundred years alive was pushed deeper into her subconscious by her bodyguards.
Particularly Orlin. The older military man had been part of her father’s inner circle for as long as Mira could remember, which was part of the reason he was asked to accompany the High Priest’s wife and daughter on this pilgrimage.
Orlin had taught Mira about trusting her Void-given intuition whenever the stars and the plants led her astray.
Apparently, he had spent most of his time at the Academy studying cosmology.
I once asked why he went into the Defense Force instead of something academic.
Orlin told her that his branch of House Wadurlaw was a strong military family, with his grandfather having been the last Commanding General of the Yahzenian Defense Force. Big shoes to fill, I guess.
So when Mira bumped into a young maid already up that early in the morning, she said she was going for a walk outside. The maid didn’t seem bothered by it, so Mira figured nobody else would be, either.
The fog was crisp and refreshing against her skin as she stepped outside, and Mira was only more grateful for wearing a thicker tunic with her travel pants.
It’s that kind of spring here, huh? Cold mornings and warm afternoons.
Arrah was not known for its hot or humid summers, but Mira could already tell how the houses and barns were built to allow for maximum airflow in the summer and to be locked up tight in the winter.
For now, the climate was in the perfect equilibrium of all-day pleasantness.
She figured that as long as she kept to the well-worn trails, she wouldn’t get lost. And after walking for untold miles for the past year, Mira didn’t worry about overextending her muscles or hurting her foot.
This planet really is beautiful. The year-round temperate climate of this part of Arrah allowed for big, healthy evergreen trees that stretched into the sky while creating gorgeous forests and blanketing entire hillsides.
In the distance, purple peaks capped in snow reached into the blue and violet sky.
During nitrous storms, the sky’s colors would grow more intense, based on pictures Mira had seen.
So far, she had not had the opportunity to join such a storm.
Birds she didn’t recognize chirped and flew overhead as their days began.
Horses stabled nearby whinnied in greeting.
A few semi-feral cats made the rounds of the entire side yard where Mira walked from the main house, past two stables, and a sizable utility shed that probably didn’t need rodents sniffing through the stores.
Once she was past the initial fenceline, though, a grove of trees compacted around her and eventually cut her vision off from the main house.
Yet she knew this was the way to go based on all the fresh hoofprints in the half-dried mud.
Eventually, the trees to her right gave way to the fenced-in paddocks that she had heard about over those past two days.
A few horses with foals trotted within sight.
Signs covered in three different kinds of masculine handwriting hung near the gates.
While Mira didn’t know what code the ranchers wrote in, she surmised it was dates and times of when certain herds were migrated, as well as which horses were currently in the paddock.
Since it was spring, this one was probably reserved for that year’s babies.
The paths were wider here, allowing up to three or four horses to trot side-by-side.
Mira looked up into the sky, watching as the last of the night’s stars winked away with the daylight and Arrah’s only moon sank low enough to be obscured by the high treetops.
One thing Mira had noticed about the moon was that, on especially clear nights when it was full, she could see some of the domed settlements up there—particularly the port of entry every intergalactic visitor had to pass through before being allowed to travel planetside.
That had included Mira and her party. Somewhere in her room was her travel passport that included a digital stamp from Arrah’s finest.
When she tilted her head back down, she came upon a break in the path.
While the largest part continued forward, a single horse-wide sliver dipped into the woods still on her left.
A simple roadside sign pointed to the plethora of other fields ahead of Mira, while a barely legible one pointed into the woods.
If she squinted, she almost made out the words “Old Barn” in Basic.
She decided to go into the woods. She was probably less likely to disturb the ranch hands there. Besides, a walk through the early-morning woods sounded lovely.
There were fresh hoofprints here, too, but Mira didn’t think anything of it. They could have been from yesterday evening. Or, even if they were from that morning, that just meant she might bump into a friendly—or irate, she didn’t care—face to say good morning to.
The birds were louder in these woods. Other critters raced up tree trunks, dashed across branches, and sniffed the air as Mira passed.
Probably don’t come across many julah in their lives.
That went for most humans, too, although they at least had the decency not to sniff her shoulder or touch her hair.
Unless they were infants. They get a pass. Most of the time.
One particularly loud bird hopped onto a branch that extended across the path. Mira stopped to look up, coming face to face with a little guy with a large red tuft on top of his head. He hopped up and down on the branch, ruffling his feathers and squawking at the woman intruding upon his turf.
“I’m just passing by,” she said. “Look, be grateful I can’t use sorcery right now. Because I know how to turn you into an amphibian. I was one of the only ones in my class who could transfigure one small animal into another.”
The bird flew down at her head, causing Mira to sprint ahead, arm in front of her face.
When she finally slowed down, she realized she had entered a clearing sporting a single barn. Well. Guess this is the Old Barn, huh?
The bird had not followed her. Mira finally allowed herself to breathe a little as she looked up at the barn. Only then did she notice a mare tied up to a post. Was there someone here?
She didn’t say anything as she poked around the perimeter.
The barn was certainly old, but in human terms, that could mean as little as thirty years.
When you don’t have sorcery to keep things easily up to date…
This building looked as old as some of the abandoned buildings in settlements across Yahzen, but those were a hundred thousand years old.
Isn’t that interesting? Mira put a hand on the side of the barn and realized that it had recently been painted.
Some of it flaked off when she lowered her hand.
The horse snorted when she returned to the front. The main barn door was open, but all that was inside were some supplies. Wasn’t it strange that it would be open if nobody was around? Then again, someone clearly was…
Mira stepped inside. The floor had been recently swept. A ladder leading up to the loft was left down—and that definitely looked new. Including all of the built-ins up in the loft. And the hanging light.
And the woman looking back down at her.
“Whoa.” Mira took a step back, just as startled to see Sulim up in the loft as Sulim probably was to see her. “Hi.”
That face disappeared from the guardrail separating her from the floor. Mira waited for some kind of response, and what she got was…
“What the heck are you doing here?”
Mira stepped farther back, hoping to get a better look at the irritated blond beauty who apparently wanted nothing to do with her. Well, now I’m intrigued. Mira debated between saying something cheeky or simply being honest.
“I went for a walk,” she said. “Found this building. Decided to see if there was anything good to steal in here.”
Sulim appeared again. “Really?”
“Yes. You see, we were lying about who we are. My mother is actually a master of disguise and a certified criminal capable of the kind of social engineering you can only dream of. And I’m her apprentice. How am I doing?”
“There’s nothing here worth stealing. Unless you like horse tack and books.”
“Is that what you’re doing up there?” Mira approached the ladder. “Dealing in tack?”
“Hey…” Sulim said. “Well, guess you can come up.”
Mira hesitated on the second rung. “Should I not? Are you decent?”
“Am I…? Oh, you mean because that’s what you said to me last night.”
You’re fun. Mira continued climbing up the ladder until her chin hung over the top. “Whoa,” she said. “You’re fully kitted up here. What is this place?”
Sulim sat at a small, low table that sat atop a larger mattress that took up almost the entire loft space. Surrounding her, built beneath the window and the eaves, were painted bookshelves filled with pamphlets and paperbacks. Some weren’t even in Basic.
“It’s my space,” Sulim said. “I come here in the morning to read and be by myself.”
“Oh. Whoops.” Mira still didn’t hoist herself up.
She saw that Sulim’s boots were left by the ladder so they wouldn’t track mud and Void-knew-what all over her nice linens and flooring.
While Mira didn’t wear boots, she had walked through the mud.
Should she just take her shoes off now and leave them on the first floor? “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“You didn’t know I was here.” Sulim reconsidered that. “Right?”
“Are you asking if someone sent me after you?” Mira folded her arms on the floor and snorted. “No. That would be very silly.”
“Would it?”