An Oath to Mida

The fey was more than cool despite the brightness of the skies, yet I would not allow the discomfort of it to touch me. My warriors and I wore naught save the clan covering of the Hosta about our hips, each of us standing within small, silent sets not far from the platforms which had been set upon the grass within sight of the entrance of the immense dwelling of Galiose. The High Seat of Ranistard had declared a feast that fey for those who would soon arrive in the city, yet my warriors and I planned a greeting of another sort. I sat cross-legged upon the grass, watching the slaves both male and female prepare the provender for the feast, and Gimin and Fayan came to sit beside me.

“All are prepared, Jalav,” said Fayan, her brown eyes arove among my warriors. Then a small laugh escaped her, and she tossed her heavy, golden hair. “The males insisted to all Hosta that they be present at the feast for the Silla. Soon shall such demands be regretted by them.”

“Males must ever be demanding actions of warriors,” I murmured, my eyes, too, unable to rest. “The damned Silla shall be welcomed as Hosta are ever wont to welcome blood enemies, and I regret only the loss of our weapons. Yet shall we make do without. How goes the time for your slave, Fayan?”

Fayan’s eyes came to me, and laughter was there in them as well as in her voice. “The slave Nidisar finds his lot a hard one.” She grinned, her hand going to her life sign where it hung upon its leather about her neck. “I have had him secured in the room of feeding in his own dwelling and there have I used him each time desire has come to me.” She paused to laugh again, with true pleasure. “Truly has he been repaid for his actions with me, and great anger is ever upon him—most especially when he must swallow his slave gruel, or have it forced upon him by Galiose’s males. My enjoyment of him is great, and I shall not see him released till my revenge is complete.”

“I do not envy you your enjoyment,” said Gimin sourly as she lay upon her side by us. Her hair, as black as mine, fell about the arm she leaned upon, and her gray eyes watched the grass. “The male will not forget your treatment of him,” said she, “and if ever you release him, you may be sure he shall see to his own revenge. I do not care for the revenge of males.”

Fayan and I exchanged a glance, for easily might it be seen that Gimin yet felt the punishment given her by the male who had claimed her. The Hosta, once free, had all been taken captive by the males of Ranistard, and now were we expected to tend to the males and obey them, and serve them in their pleasure. Gimin had joined Fayan, Larid, Binat and myself when we had escaped from Ranistard to seek the third Crystal of Mida, yet had we been recaptured by the males, the Crystal taken from us, and we, ourselves, returned to Ranistard. Much angered had Gimin’s male been at her attempt to regain freedom, and much leather had he used upon her in punishment. After having given her humiliation and pain, he had used her as though she were slave and unable to deny him, saying he would teach her clearly what her actions had brought upon her. Gimin continued to ache from his anger, yet she had joined us as we grouped against the coming of the Silla, for true Hosta warrior was she. The pain given by males was not to be considered against the duty a Hosta owed to her clan.

Fayan was no longer amused, and she, too, stretched out upon the grass in thought, her unbound hair amove about her. Once before had she angered Nidisar, and the male had not been gentle with her. That was doubtless now in her thoughts, although the time was past when the predicament might be avoided. Galiose had given Fayan the gift of Nidisar as a slave, for Fayan had demanded such in exchange for her assistance in using the device of the gods. That the use had not brought the males the results they had desired made little difference, for the gift had not been disclaimed by Galiose. The High Seat Galiose was at times capable of a certain honor, and Fayan had retained her gift.

I shifted in the grass and raised my eyes to the blue of the skies with a sigh. Such great difficulty had the Crystals of Mida caused, pain and death the like of which only full battle might produce yet had it all gone seemingly for naught. The males had not spoken with the gods as they had hoped, and were greatly distressed. We had been told that we were lost kin to those who spoke from the depth of the golden air about the device, and that soon would come others to take from us our ignorance and lack of knowledge, to be replaced with the great benefits of those who are truly civilized. Deep shock had been felt by the males, caused in great part by the knowledge that those who came to teach the ignorant were female, and the past two feyd had been spent by them in almost constant discussion, seeking a means by which those who were to come might be returned from whence they came. Fayan and I, who had been present when the threatened invasion had been spoken to us, had yet, nonetheless, been barred from the discussions of the males, first having been cautioned to speak no word to others of what had occurred. Most annoyed had Fayan and I been; however, we had other matters of import to discuss between ourselves. We had withdrawn to the dwelling which had once been Nidisar’s, and there had we drunk renth and spent many hind in an attempt to make sense of what had occurred.

We, who were Hosta of the Midanna, followed the teachings of Mida, and Mida, too, had been spoken of by her whose voice came from the golden air. The female had denied the divinity of Mida, saying Mida was naught save a joining of theirs, yet was such not to be believed. I, myself, had been spoken to by Mida in dreams, and had often seen things that only occurred by the will of Mida. Fayan and I agreed that the female who had spoken did not know the true nature of Mida, and then we discussed how to halt the strangers when they came. The Midanna would require little urging to ride forth upon their gandod, bravely draped in their clan colors, each warrior eager for battle, yet would it be necessary for word to reach them of our need. Although the males would surely lose if they engaged the Strangers in battle, the Hosta were kept close behind the walls of Ranistard, not being allowed to return to our lands beyond the Dennin river. Once we had escaped the walls to ride in search of the third Crystal, but our escape had been known to and approved of by the males, who had wished that we fetch the Crystal for their use. Not again would escape prove as effortless as it had been then, and the Hosta would need a greater effort to ride free once more.

The cramps came again to my middle as they had done so often in the past two feyd, therefore I lay back in the grass, one hand upon the pain, till the aching would cease. The pain brought Ceralt to mind, and deep anger filled me at thought of the male. Much pain had Ceralt brought unknowingly to me, yet this pain that now was mine came from his desire to see me with child. That a war leader of the Midanna, such as I, was forbidden to have life within her meant naught to the male, for he had claimed me as his own, to do with me as he pleased. Many strange feelings had I had for the light-eyed, dark-skinned hunter, and by cause of these feelings had he been able to send me seeking the third Crystal, thinking I rode to aid him in dire need, when in truth he and the other males had merely followed the track my warriors and I left, and then took the Crystal from us when we had secured it. Many times had I been betrayed by the hunter Ceralt, yet now he would see me further betrayed by placing his seed within me. The leaves of the dabla bush, which had kept me childless, were then in battle with a potion given me by Phanisar, a thing done by the aged male at the urging of Ceralt, and Phanisar had said that the potion would have bested the dabla leaves in a matter of feyd. Quite pleased had Ceralt been with his actions, yet had I been able to locate dabla bushes within Ranistard, and had, each fey since the potion was given me, chewed the leaves to increase its strength against the potion. The taste of the leaves was not unpleasant, yet even were they foul enough to curl the tongue, still I would have chewed them with a will. Not again would the hunter Ceralt have opportunity to betray me.