Leslie Moore - Griffin's Daughter

It’s over , she thought. Kami and her baby will survive.

The room had gone quiet. Jelena looked up to see that Gendan had awakened and now silently watched her. The expression in his eyes confused her, and she covered her discomfiture by fussing with Kami’s blankets. Gendan rose from Aneko’s bed-she had relinquished it to him so that he could stay by Kami’s side-and padded over to the window. He, too, took a breath of the cool air, then came over to stand beside Jelena.

“ Jelena,” he murmured. “I don’t know how t’ thank you for what you’ve done.”

“ Please, Captain, do not thank me. I did this for my friend,” Jelena replied softly. She had returned to her chair and now gazed fixedly at Kami’s sleeping form.

“ I…I’ve treated you…well, if I’ve treated you…less than kindly…”

“ No, Captain, you have always been polite,” Jelena insisted.

“ But, I haven’t… not really.”

“ You have, Captain.”

“ Goddess’ tits, girl!” Gendan exclaimed. He laid a hand on her shoulder, and Jelena looked up, surprised. “Will you please let me apologize to you?”

Looking into Gendan’s eyes, Jelena could see his contrition and something else as well.

“ I was unfair to you, Jelena, because of… well, because of the way I was taught as a boy t’ see things…and people, as one way or another. I’m beginning to understand now that sometimes, old ideas need to be let go of, that not everything we’re taught as children by our elders is right.”

Jelena swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and nodded. She now knew that, from this day forward, she would be able to count Gendan Miri as one of her friends.

Kami moaned softly and stirred beneath her blankets. Gendan immediately moved to kneel beside the bed, where he tenderly stroked her cheek. “Kami, my precious girl, my precious, lovely girl,” he whispered into her ear. “I love you…so very much. You and our baby.”

Jelena yawned and rubbed at her stinging eyes. If I don’t sleep soon, I’m going to collapse , she thought. Aloud, she said, “Captain, can you stay with Kami for a time, so I can sleep a little?”

“ Ai, Goddess! Of course!” Gendan rose to his feet, shaking his head in chagrin. “You must be exhausted, and I’ve been completely selfish not t’ see. You sleep now, as long as you need to. I’ll watch Kami until Aneko comes.” He added with a gentle smile, “Call me Gendan, please.”

Gratefully, Jelena rose from her chair and went to lie down on her bed beneath the window. She sighed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Jelena awoke at sundown to find herself alone. She sprang from her bed in alarm and hurried out into the common room to find Aneko sitting at the long table, sipping from an earthenware mug.

“ Oh, good. You’re awake,” Aneko said.

“ Where is Kami?” Jelena gasped, her entire body tingling with near-panic.

“ It’s all right, Jelena,” Aneko assured her. “Gendan just took Kami down to the bath house. She woke up feeling much better and begged Gendan to help her…now let’s see, how did she say it…‘wash the stink off me.’ She was very insistent.” Aneko smiled at the memory.

“ Oh, thank the gods…I mean, the One,” Jelena breathed. Her knees wobbled with relief. She plopped down on the bench beside Aneko, who poured her a mug. Jelena accepted it gratefully. She took a long swallow of the spicy beer, and as the drink hit her stomach, it began to growl with hunger. She tried to remember when she’d last eaten and decided that it had been two mornings ago. The stress of dealing with Kami’s illness had totally killed her appetite, until now.

“ Lord Ashinji was here, asking for you,” Aneko said.

Jelena looked up sharply. “When?”

“ About an hour ago. I told him you were still sleeping. I asked him if he wanted me to wake you, but he said no, to let you sleep.” Aneko paused and patted Jelena’s hand. “Tradition be damned, Jelena,” she murmured. “You and he belong together. I can see it in his eyes, how much he loves you.”

The time had not seemed right before now, because of Kami’s illness, to tell her friends of her betrothal to Ashinji, but now that Kami and her child were out of danger, Jelena could no longer hold back the news. She threw her arms around Aneko and cried, “Aneko, the most wonderful thing has happened! Ashinji and I are to be married!”

“ Oh, Jelena! Truly?” Aneko exclaimed, then stammered, “But…but, how? How did Lord Ashinji get his parents to agree to such a match?” She pulled away from Jelena, shaking her head in wonder.

“ Lord Sen was not very happy about it,” Jelena admitted, thinking back on the tense scene in the family room five days ago. “But Lady Amara and Ashinji, both, convinced him.”

“ Lord Sen obviously thinks very highly of you, Jelena. You saved his life, after all. If not for your arrow, that boar would have killed him, and we’d all be living under Lord Sadaiyo now. He didn’t need too much convincing, of that I’m certain.”

“ I am not a foolish person, Aneko,” Jelena sighed. She took another sip of her beer, a small one this time, for she still felt a little light-headed from the first swallow, and added, sadly, “I know I am not what Lord Sen would have chosen for his son. He wants, how do you say, okui grandchildren to raise in his house, not mongrels, like me.”

“ Don’t talk about yourself that way, Jelena,” Aneko admonished softly.

Jelena stared intently at the older woman, and a question she’d always been reluctant to ask stood poised on her lips. She let it go. “Why were you and Kami friends to me from the start? You and she…not once have you said anything unkind, never made me to feel…less than…you because of my human blood. Why is that?”

Aneko lowered her eyes and a little smile played about her generous mouth. “Kami and I are both Kerala born and bred, from long lines of border folk on both sides. Out here, most everyone has a little human blood in them, even if some folk refuse to acknowledge it openly. It hasn’t always been so unfriendly between our two homelands, you know, and we get regular trade from the human nomads that live out on the steppes beyond the mountains.”

Aneko leaned in close and whispered, “My great granddad was a steppe chieftain, so I’ve been told. My great grandma fell in love and ran off with him…lived with his tribe for over forty years. When he died, she and her four kids came back home to Kerala where she married a rich farmer and lived out the rest of her days.” She sat back, grinning. “So you see, my girl, I’m as much hikui as you.”

Jelena’s eyes widened with shock. “Do others know?” she murmured.

“ You mean others like Anda and Gendan?” Aneko shook her head. “No. I pass for okui very well. I’ve kept it to myself, mainly because no one’s ever asked, but if someone should, I’ll not lie. Here in Kerala, all folk have equal rights under the law. It’s not so in most other places. I’d have to lie if I ever went to live somewhere else, so it’s a good thing I never want to leave Kerala!”

“ Thank you for trusting me, Aneko. I will never tell anyone, I promise,” Jelena swore, grasping the other woman’s hands and squeezing.

Aneko’s strong hands, callused from years of weapons handling, squeezed back. “I trust you completely, Jelena, but don’t fret. I’m not ashamed of my blood, any more than you should be. By the way, Gendan told me what he said to you. He’s a good man, our captain. You can count on him, Jelena. He’ll be a true friend to you.”

“ No, no, no, you stubborn girl! I’ll not hear any more of this foolishness!”