Chapter 10: Seeking Destiny.
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Aylanna woke in a strangely introspective mood. She paused frequently, a quiet private smile lighting her features as she went about her morning tasks, her stride slow and measured, keeping much of the deliberate pace that she had learned from wearing the hobbles.
Many times she could feel his eyes following her, sensing in his spirit echoes of their sharing of the night before, awakening a matching warm resonance in her own heart. Oddly, she avoided meeting his gaze, only sneaking surreptitious glances in his direction and then her eyes sliding away. Somehow the feelings were too fresh, too intense, and in many ways too fragile to bear open acknowledgement. Aylanna wondered if this was what love was.
She knew she felt a bond, a loyalty to all the warriors of the Twisted Dagger. She knew she loved them, but this new feeling was blinding and terrifying. She told herself that Jhardron was not for her; that he was the Khan and she was merely a ha'akh, and that her fate lay with the regiment and that was her only duty, that this was the destiny she had sensed her whole life. And yet she could still feel his eyes on her.
She reached up and touched the golden medallion hanging in the center of her beaded necklace, her fingertip tracing the symbol of the Twisted Dagger. She thought how this reminder of their night together was so fitting, a reminder of her fealty, her allegiance.
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When the wagons rolled out of the campsite, Aylanna chose to walk alongside. Her long legs striding out, she giggled as Tollarra taught her some of the walking songs of the grasslands tribes. The tribes rarely rode their small ponies, primarily using them as pack animals. Traveling across the seemingly endless northern plains meant many long days walking. Songs made the trek less arduous. It was tradition for the women to make up impromptu words to the tune, and Tollarra was making up some pretty bawdy lyrics, celebrating her newfound joy in serving the warriors. Aylanna found that her feet picked up the rhythms of the music and tentatively hummed along as she walked.
It was almost midday when the sound of thundering hooves made them turn to see the form of Aylanna's red mare bearing down on the wagons at breakneck speed with a warrior close behind trying to catch her and turn her back. Xin'sha ran with her head high and her ears up. Aylanna stepped away from the wagon, moving out into clear view of the rapidly approaching mare, holding up her hands and thinking hard, "Stop!"
Xin'sha stiffened all four legs and skidded to a halt so close to Aylanna that her nose almost touched her outstretched hands. The mare was breathing hard; her breath blew across Aylanna's face. Aylanna could not help but laugh in delight at the happiness that the little mare exuded at finding the girl that she had grown so attached to.
Aylanna recognized the herdsman as Jaylon, a warrior she had only a few interactions with; he crowded his stallion close to Xin'sha and struck her sharply on the haunch with his whip. Aylanna gasped with surprise as the sharp pain and sudden terror from the mare shot through her consciousness. Just as quickly a hot tide of rage rose up in her heart. The little red mare's ears flattened down to her skull and she squealed and kicked out at the man and horse behind her. As the arm holding the whip rose to strike again, Aylanna was already there between them, launching herself at the mare's attacker, grabbing at the whip and the arm wielding it, screaming, "Stop!"
Kwal'kek's voice was a bellowing roar, "What in the four faces of the goddess is going on here?" And it seemed like everything stood still, even the horses froze.
Both the warrior and Aylanna began to speak at once.
"He was hitting her!"
"...mare won't stay with the herd..."
"...hurting her..."
"...trouble..."
"...cruel..."
"...rebellious..."
Again Kwal'kek's voice roared, "Silence!" He pointed his finger at Aylanna, "Let go of his arm this instant." Instantly she let go and moved away, eying the warrior suspiciously. Kwal'kek growled at the herdsman, "Since when do you need a whip to herd horses?"
Jaylon glared at Xin'sha, "This one runs away all the time. She is playing with me. It is like she knows when I look away. I have run my mount almost into the ground trying to keep her with the main herd. She needs to learn there is a price to pay for her little games."
Aylanna protested, "She is not running away. She is trying to come to me."
A deep chuckle rose up in the old warrior, "And she seems to have found you. I have to agree that this mare is not running away and she is clearly too much trouble to keep with the main herd. Leave her here with the demon. Go back to the horse herd. I will deal with this."
Once the herdsman was gone, he turned to Aylanna, his voice gruff but cautious, "What magic is this?"
Aylanna made a pained face, "I don't know. I did not call her, she just came. She misses me." Then Aylanna stopped and blinked in surprise, "She loves me."
This time Kwal'kek's laugh was loud, "As do we all, demon child. You have woven a spell of magic around this regiment and we are all caught in your web. Hopefully, it will continue to bring us luck." The old warrior looked at the wagons getting further and further away and pointed, "You must hurry to catch up, ha'akh. Soon they will be out of sight and the tracks will disappear in the wind. You would not want to be lost in the grass again."
Aylanna shook her head, turned, and ran to catch up. Kwal'kek watched in bemusement as the girl's mare trotted along behind her like a colt following its mother. He thought about his words, spoken on impulse, and sensed the truth in them. This demon had indeed captured all their hearts.
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Again the travel fell into its daily rhythms, and again Aylanna found herself falling into an almost mindless trance as one day blended into another. Xin'sha followed along with the wagons, staying as close and calm as if she was tethered. Aylanna did not even need to tether the little red mare in the night, just silently communicating to her when it was time to eat or time to wait by the little tent that was the ha'akh's shelter at night.
The only time Aylanna found she needed to tie the mare was when she was sharing pleasures, the little mare would grow restive and tended to kick out or suddenly begin to canter about the camp. When Aylanna had to stop and catch the red mare as she charged around in frantic bursts, she was surprised to sense that the mare was frightened and confused. That the little horse did not understand the sensations that she was feeling. After that she was careful to tie her on the far side of the camp, and apart from any other horses.
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Aylanna was walking beside the wagon, humming a walking song, listening to Tollarra prattle when the sound of riders interrupted their slow steady progress across the plains. Aylanna looked up to see Jhardron and a small group of warriors approaching rapidly. The Khan stopped and looked down at Aylanna and then at Xin'sha not far off, "Saddle your mare, I have need of you."
The prospect of riding again was both exhilarating and alarming; Aylanna's hands trembled nervously as she put the tack on Xin'sha. When the mare began to quiver under her hands, picking up and reflecting some of her anxiety, Aylanna had to sternly remind herself that a warrior and a ha'akh of the Twisted Dagger kept their emotions in check. Jhardron's voice cut through her thoughts. "Put a lead rope on her." The knowledge that another would have control of the mare helped to calm Aylanna's mind.
As soon as Aylanna was in her saddle, Jhardron took the lead rope, and sharply kicked his grey stallion into a canter. Aylanna focused on keeping her balance as they flew across the grass. The wind swept across her arms and face, making the ends of her blue scarf flutter. On impulse Aylanna spread her arms out and closed her eyes, savoring the sensation of flight. Jhardron's voice, curious and sharp, made her jump and open her eyes. "Ha'akh, what are you doing?"
Aylanna grinned and laughed with joy, "I am flying."
"One misstep of that mare and you will be flying through the air until you land upon the ground. You will break your neck."
Aylanna frowned at his thought that she could fall, she felt so closely linked to Xin'sha that she almost saw the world through the mare's eyes. It was her hooves pounding on the grass. She would know if the mare stumbled almost before it happened. But she obediently lowered her arms and rode with her eyes open.
They rode for over an hour, alternately cantering and then trotting to spell the horses. To Aylanna it seemed like the voices on the wind began to grow louder and more intrusive. There was more than the usual sense of being called to, now there was a note of distress, like someone or something was in pain and calling for help. Aylanna tried not to listen, but it seemed like there was a distant screaming, nearly animal-like howling, that refused to be ignored. Even Xin'sha's ears flickered nervously. And every step brought them closer.
When Jhardron finally brought the group of riders to a halt at the brink a small valley, filled with a copse of stunted trees, the howling on the wind was the only thing in Aylanna's mind. She shook her head in a feeble attempt to push it away. Blinking in misery she looked at Jhardron, "Can't you hear that?"
Jhardron looked at the obviously suffering girl, and briefly questioned his wisdom in bringing her here to see this thing. He looked around, listening carefully. There was something here, a tension in the air; it made his skin prickle with apprehension. "What do you hear, ha'akh?"
