Doira'Liim (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga) (7 page)

     The Arniran woman made her feel different. She made her feel alive and free. The whole world had opened up to her by just meeting Arizira, and Talliea had not wanted to change that for anything. With Arizira, she could be a different person, a person not hindered by strict rules and social stigmas. She was her own person with Arizira and Arizira asked nothing of her in return.

     Sitting up, Talliea pulled the oiled skin away from the doorway of her dugout and peered outside. Three
Lat'sa'val
patrolled the eastern edge of the camp. A welcoming and heavy cover of silence greeted her. The men watching the borders walked aimlessly about their route, none of them truly believing any danger awaited them. Talliea felt the icy chill of a sudden breeze and shuddered. Reaching back inside her dwelling, she grabbed a heavy wolf hide cloak and threw it around her shoulders. The long silvery grey material covered her entire back and laid heavily across the front of her chest. Once outside, Talliea quickly ran in the opposite direction of the
Lat'sa'val.
She never once glanced back over her shoulder to see if she had been spotted.

     When the dense thicket of trees and underbrush met her, she slowed her pace and watched as her exhales left her lips in a heavy fog. Her fingers were stiff from the cool temperatures and her teeth were slightly chattering. Perhaps dashing off like she'd done was not the best use of her sudden spontaneity. Very quickly, the wind picked up and was now blowing around her with a chilling touch. The sound of its howl cut around her and caused her to gasp. Was she hoping to meet Arizira? Perhaps. It had been three days since their last meeting. Would the Arniran even be out in such weather?

     Talliea was used to dreadful winters. In the south, warm and humid days were common but come the winter, ice and snow and nearly sunless days were coupled with heavy cloud cover and biting wind. Despite not being unaccustomed to the changes of a coming winter, Talliea still very much disliked the way the wind continued to assault her. She began to walk again at a brisk pace in the direction of the glade. Her thoughts were fragmented, but her body continued to move. Perhaps Arizira desired to see her as well? Before she could fully enter the clearing, a hand on her shoulder nearly stilled her heart.

     "Salira likes you."

     Talliea turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see the glowing bluish-silver eyes of Arizira. The other woman was wearing thick pants of treated leather and a heavy jerkin lined with a soft fur and beads. A simple, but effective, tanned cloak hung from her shoulders and was clasped at the neck. Boots, tall, curved, and lined with the same fur as the jerkin, hugged Arizira's feet. Talliea saw no weapons, save for an elegant long sword hanging on her left hip.

     Smiling, she stepped closer. "Salira?" Arizria nodded and looked over her appearance. "Yes, Salira is the spirit of the wind. She is known for her playful nature as well as her innate mischief." Talliea laughed as the wind chose that time to pick up and toss her hair around her face, as if confirming Arizira’s statement. "So I see," she said raising her fingers to brush her hair from her eyes. A pair of cool hands stopped her.

     Arizira was standing mere inches from her face and her hands were gently brushing her hair behind her ears. Talliea stilled her movements and let herself become lost in the moment. Arizira hooked her hair around the shell of her ears and allowed her fingers to lightly trace over her jaw.

     The touch was simple and innocent, yet electrifying. "You will catch your death in the forest if you only bring a cloak for warmth," Arizira chastised. Talliea, coming back to her senses, shook her head and looked down at her attire. The other woman was correct. Apart from the wolf hide cloak she'd sewn together some time ago, her clothing fared little better than she against the harsh winds. Her thin cloth night shirt barely hung to her form while her skirts continuously blew up against her legs.

     "Why do you wear this inefficient material?" Arizira asked stepping still closer and running her fingers along the waist band of Talliea's skirt. Talliea fought to keep her heart from pounding too loudly inside her chest. Why was her body responding the way it was to Arizira? She'd never felt anything like the sensation currently sending shivers up and down her spine and into her fingertips. Was she feeling attraction? Arousal? Markahn had never made her feel like Arizira was. How was she to differentiate?

     "All women of the Esu wear this type of dress," she finally responded. Arizira scoffed to herself and walked around Talliea. Her eyes traced over the flimsy clothing and the open skirts and the loose fitting shoes. Why would such clothing be allowed in so cold a wind? More than ever, Arizira found herself curious as how the men of the Esu conducted themselves. Were they the ones who allowed their women to be so...under dressed?

     "All women?" Arizira asked, her hands taking the front of Talliea's cloak and wrapping it around her more tightly. "Why?" Shivering, Talliea watched every movement Arizira made. The winds were depressing and the temperature was steadily dropping. Somehow, in the Arniran's presence, she hardly seemed to notice.

     "Easier access," she stated simply. Arizira's hands stilled at the implication in the words and she looked up into dark brown eyes. Talliea said nothing more, but her tight and grim expression was enough. "Let us get out of the wind, Tah-li. Come, follow me."

                                                                      *  *  *  *  *  *

     Arizira led them quickly and efficiently through the darkened woods. The light of the moon was dying as the clouds above became more and more abundant. Talliea was nearly and completely blind. The only thing that kept her from tripping and falling was Arizira's hand in hers. The Arniran stepped lightly and assuredly and moved them both deeper into the forest.

     Arizira's eyes glowed fiercely in such a lack of illumination and Talliea was mesmerized furthermore. They walked for long moments in the opposite direction of the glade. Arizira spoke little during their trek as her thoughts were on getting Talliea to shelter.

     Finally, the two women came to a stop. Talliea realized they were standing before a massive canyon. The moon's rays shone down briefly in a futile attempt to offer assistance. "Wait here, Tah-li," Arizira said before moving away into the dark and foreboding area around them. Before Talliea had time to panic, Arizira returned. In her hand a blazing torch was held and its light, more than the moon, offered her an unparalleled view of the landscape around her.

     Five to seven feet in front of her, the land dropped into the deepest recesses of the canyon before them. Steep cliff walls rose on either side of the formation in vivid colors of red and brown. Talliea could just barely make out a stream in the bottom of the canyon. Far into the distance, her vision failed her and she could see no more.

     "This is called
Li'nas Dei
by my people. In your words, Tah-li, it means Light's Way. On the other side of the canyon, there is a delta I have often ventured. I will take you there sometime. Your eyes can not appreciate this place without the sun. Tomorrow, you will see."

     Talliea smiled as she looked around and into the canyon. The way the flickering flames of light from the torch lit up and danced across the cliff walls, she was unsure how the place could be any more awe inspiring. "Thank-you," she whispered, turning to look back at her companion. Arizira nodded and gently grasped her elbow. "Thank me when we are both away from Salira's taunts."

     Talliea once again followed Arizira a short distance away from the canyon. They went up a steep slope to the left that raised them slightly above the cliff's face. The light from Arizira's torch allowed Talliea better movement and she noticed a cave come into view.

     "Quickly, Tah-li. When Salira behaves this way, rain is sure to follow." Talliea picked up her skirts and held them against her body so she could easily and more quickly make the last few steps toward the cave. No sooner was she inside then a clap of thunder sounded in the sky and bounded off the many rocks around them.

     Arizira moved them further into the back of the cave and into a wide center opening. A fire pit was dug into the ground and surrounded by many rocks, stones, and pebbles. Arizira laid her torch against the rocks and pulled a small pack from under her cloak. Talliea watched her remove a small bit of kindling before moving into the darkness of the cave. When she returned, her arms were full of several small logs of wood.

     "You have been to this cave before," Talliea noted. Arizira placed the logs into the pit and then laid the kindling atop. She let the torch touch the pit and soon a blazing fire came to life. The torch, she placed into a depression in the ground next to the fire. "Yes.
Li'nas Dei
is a place for contemplation. It is said to light one's way when all other avenues seem in shadow."

     Talliea looked around the cave and then back behind her where the wind was howling and rustling in the trees. Thunder continued to clap and crack in the far distant sky and a strike of lightning flared into being and lit up the mouth of their sanctuary. Arizira had been correct: rain was coming. Her sudden predicament came to her in a crazed rush. She had left her camp without thinking much on anything. She'd grabbed no supplies or let anyone know of her departure, not that she could have. Her thoughts had been on Arizira and before she'd fully been aware, her body had led her deep into the forest.

     With the rains coming and her having no idea exactly where they were, Talliea realized she was stuck until Arizira could lead them back. What would her mother say when she awoke and found her missing? What would Markahn think? He had been more than patient with her summer after summer. Long had he desired to be her mate, and longer still had she denied him to retain her freedom.

    He was not a bad man. Arrogant, perhaps and overly confident, but a bad man he was not. At times, Talliea felt that he was her friend, but then she would realize the absurdity of her thoughts and dismiss the notion. The men of the Esu did not befriend the women of the clan. They used them like any other tool or resource.

     "Tah-li?" Talliea turned back around and swallowed her rising panic. What was she to do? She had been away from her people for hours, yet there was nowhere else in the world she desired to be than with Arizira. The reasons why were unimportant to her. She just knew she felt at home and at peace with the other woman.

     Despite that, her reality hung over her head like a rain cloud and she was worried what would happen to her when she finally returned to her camp. "I should not be here," she said quietly. Arizira turned her head to the side in a curious manner. She sat next to the fire and its flames licked around the edges of their confinement in a playful dance. "Where should you be?"

     Talliea walked over to the fire slowly and hugged her cloak tighter about herself. Something about Arizira's eyes made her feel as if the woman was seeing parts of her she had yet to identify herself. Coming to the outer rim of the fire pit, she looked down at Arizira and felt her throat constrict. She was
so
beautiful. Talliea could not understand her desire to do nothing more than look at Arizira. She tried to convince herself that her appreciation of the Arniran was purely that, an appreciation of life in all its forms, but she knew it was something more.

     "I should be with my people. They will be angry if I am not there." Frowning, Arizira continued to look up at her with penetrating eyes. "Angry? You are not free to wander to your heart's desire, Tah-li?"

     "No, my heart does not often have its whims met, Ahmanae." Arizira stood up and removed her cloak from around her shoulders. Walking to Talliea, she gently pressed it to her chest and wrapped it tightly around her. The two of them stood by the fire and listened to the soft pitter-patter of rain as it began to fall. "Tell me, what would your heart ask for if a request could be granted?"

     Talliea, still standing in front of Arizira, smiled woefully and replied, "Freedom. My heart would ask for freedom." Arizira took in her words and felt her own heart tighten in her chest. Talliea did not act like a prisoner. Since their meeting, Arizira had thought the other woman had been allowed to spend her time as she wished. That she spent that time looking for her had only delighted the Arniran.

     "You are not free?" Talliea shook her head no. "You are a...a..." Arizira struggled with how to say what she wanted in the Esu language. Try as she might, she could not produce the word she desired. It was...missing. "You are a
hisulir
? she asked finally.

     Talliea scrunched her brows. "A what?" Arizira stepped away and the sound of heavily falling rain mixed with the howling chill of the wind. Thunder cracked in shattering booms and lightning occasionally lit up the dark nighttime sky. "I do not see your word for it, Tah-li. You are...hindered? Your life is not your own? You are obligated to another's will? You are a
hisulir
?"

     Understanding dawned on Talliea and she nodded her head before stepping closer again to the fire. "A slave?" she questioned.

    "Is this your word?"

     "In a sense, yes. My life is my own, barely, for two more seasons. I have responsibilities after that of which I am bound. My life then belongs to another." Arizira frowned again and let her gaze get lost in the leaping flames. "You belong to no one, Tah-li. All the women of your people are this way?"