Joel Shepherd - Sasha

Upon seeing Sasha, Rysha had leaped from her mother's lap with a cry and run to her. Sasha had picked her up, hugged her, then carried her back to the fireside, where she'd given Daryd a more respectful kiss on the cheek. The Udalyn boy had at least had the good grace to blush. Introductions had followed, to the astonishment of all the family when they realised who she was. Aisha, Sasha discovered with incredulity, was now partly fluent in Edu, from her time riding with the children, and these last few days in the valley. Barely a week to learn a new language. Even for serrin, it hardly seemed possible.

Aisha had shrugged. "Well, I know Cherrovan," she'd explained. "Did you know that Cherrovan is actually the root-tongue for much of the northern Lenay tongues? If you know Cherrovan, Lenay and Lisani, you can work out the rest pretty fast."

"You know Lisani too?" Sasha had asked, aghast. Lisani was the most prominent western tongue, named as such for its origins from the great Lisan Empire beyond the western Morovian Mountains. The mountains were nearly impassable, and contact between Lenayin and the unfriendly Lisan was rare.

"Actually," said Aisha, "Lenay Lisani is very different from the actual Lisani of the Lisan Empire. Some serrin scholars speculate it actually came from Kazeri, from Kazerak to the south. Others insist it is entirely indigenous to western Lenayin. I have some ideas of my own, I'd love to travel there in more peaceful times."

"You speak Kazeri too?" Sasha had sighed, resignedly.

"Of course!" Aisha had been scandalised. "How can one speculate as to the origins of Lenay Lisani without knowing Kazeri?"

"How indeed." Sasha had found it a little depressing, in truth, to be confronted by a foreign people who knew far more about Lenayin than she ever would. Terel had told her afterward that Aisha spoke seventeen languages, not including her native Saalsi dialects. She was now intent on making that eighteen, in the days they had left in the valley.

"That's inhuman," Sasha had made the mistake of remarking.

"Indeed," Terel had replied, with an amused flash of bright red-brown eyes. And Sasha had realised that she'd only stated the obvious.

She'd left Family Yuvenar together at their fireplace, pleased that at least one family had found an entirely happy ending. And had dared to wonder if her own family could ever dream of such a future.

She wondered now, sitting with Sofy and Errollyn by their own little fireplace. Teriyan and Andreyis were off carousing with the rest of the Baerlyn gang. A part of her wanted to be with them, but she knew it would be wrong. She was the leader. She could not favour one group of soldiers with her presence without offending the others.

"Where's Aisha and Terel?" she asked Errollyn, watching the surrounding commotion. There was a lot of music, much of it poorly played, but the dancing was of a higher quality. Udalyn and other Lenay men, having no other means of communication, resorted to songs, dances and friendly contests of strength or knife-throwing. And, of course, that age-old contest of thick-headed men who ought to know better-drinking.

"Terel found an old lady who carves wooden figures in a traditional Udalyn style," said Errollyn. The firelight lit his eyes to a bright, flickering green that was like nothing human. He sat on an old stump, elbows on knees, gazing at the fire with a cup in his hand. "Terel's a master with wood. I believe she's giving him a tour of her cottage, it's just nearby. Aisha is no doubt off talking to every Udalyn she can. Working on her accent."

"I saw her," Sofy said, nodding. The cup in her hand was half-emptythe first cup of wine Sofy had tasted in her life. She looked a little unsteady, but Sasha was not about to stop her sister's one night of rebellion just yet. "She was attracting quite a crowd. All very gentlemanly, I was pleased to see. And plenty of Udalyn women around to make certain their husbands did not wander."

"She deserves a distraction or two," Errollyn said quietly. "She misses Tassi. She does not relish the long ride back to Petrodor without her."

Saalshen's trading interests in Petrodor were huge, Sasha knew. Kessligh said that Saalshen's wealth had built Petrodor and turned it from a little fishing village to the most wealthy city in all Rhodia. She did not pretend to understand the complex web of power and relationships between the various competing families that dominated the Petrodor trade, the trading interests of Saalshen, the mainland feudal lords, the dockside poor with their strong ties to the Nasi-Keth, and, of course, the hugely powerful Verenthane priesthood. But she was determined to learn as much as she could from Errollyn before she arrived in Petrodor herself. A three-week journey to a foreign land where she had never travelled before. A part of her looked forward to it. And a part of her dreaded it, for fear that she would truly never see her homeland or her people again.

"I'd love to see Petrodor," Sofy sighed. "It's not fair that I have to travel all the way to the Bacosh, but I won't get to see anything interesting along the way."

"Oh, untrue," Errollyn said with a smile. "If your column takes the most direct route from Baen-Tar, you will travel through Vonnersen and see the riverside capital of Lanos. The crown palace there has sheer walls that rise a hundred armspans from the riverside, and towers that loom well above even that. And I hear that Telesia is a lovely place, where the highlands fade into low, and the land is rolling meadows with a thousand kinds of flower and a hundred kinds of grapevine."

"I don't think they'll travel through Vonnersen," Sasha replied. "When Sofy's wedding party goes, it'll be as part of the marching Lenay army. Vonnersen won't want that army marching through their lands. They've had bad experiences with Lenay armies in the past. And Telesia will want them crossing furthest from their cities too."

Errollyn shrugged. "Well, southern Torovan is very pretty," he offered. "And you'll travel through northern Bacosh, where there are some fantastic castles and palaces."

"Such a long way," Sofy said quietly. She sipped again at her wine. "Still, it shall be spring. I have a winter yet to last through."

"I'll be there, Sofy," Sasha assured her. "Somehow, I'll be there. You shan't be married without me, I swear it."

When Sofy looked at her, her eyes seemed to shine in the firelight. "You shouldn't make promises you don't know if you can keep," she replied. "I'll be fine. My father shall be there to marry me off. And some of my brothers, at least."

Sasha shook her head. "Kessligh insists that Petrodor is the key to preventing this conflict. I'm still uncertain. I have a feeling that I'll be finding my way across to the Bacosh at some point. I think we all will, whether we like it or not."

Sofy smiled. Then smothered a laugh behind her hand. "Oh dear," she half-giggled. Sasha and Errollyn exchanged glances. "I'm sorry," said Sofy, recovering herself. "It must be the wine. I just recalled that Alythia's wedding party should be arriving in Baen-Tar from Petrodor just now. Only no one's there! How beastly of me to find that funny. The poor girl, she must be distraught. How embarrassing for her."

"Another reason for her to hate me," said Sasha with a shrug. "I'm sure that'll suit her well enough."

"She'll learn," Sofy sighed, considering the contents of her cup.

"What?" Sasha pressed, with a sly smile. "No haughty defence of Princess Alythia?"

Sofy smiled. "It's not that. It's just that… well, I was feeling so sorry for myself for a while as I was gardening here… you know, wishing for the innocent little girl that I was, and wondering if I could ever be her again. But then I realised that no one can. This valley is different today. It'll never be what it was, and the Udalyn will never be what they were-and for the better, I hope. And it occurred to me that not only is it inevitable that people can't always get their own way, it's good. Usyn didn't get his own way. The Tyree lords didn't. And if they can't, then it should be no surprise that I can't, either. And neither will Alythia."