The Days of the Golden Moons (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 5) (15 page)

“No,
thank you.”  He disappeared up the stairs.

“Why
don't you massage another part of him, Daughter?” Sorkan suggested. “Perhaps it
would improve his mood more so than his leg?”

 “Leave
her be, Brother,” Tuman replied.  “We had to coerce her to come back here only
to be subjected to his foul temper.  We should be grateful that she is willing
to endure him at all.”

“Seems
to me both of us were a bit coerced,” I remarked, flipping on the dishwasher. 
“At least now I know he's not just picking on me by refusing to speak in
anything but the Noble Mishnese.”

“Oh,
he's not picking on you at all,” Sorkan said.  “This is about as peaceful as he
has been for a very long time.  Keep working your magic though.  I see a tiny
crack in the dam.”

“Do
you?” Tuman asked.

“Perhaps
only a hairline fracture,” Sorkan conceded.

“A
chip in the cement,” I sighed.  “But maybe enough for a poppy to grow
through.” 

Grabbing
my coat, I headed back to the command center in the rain.

 “I
will walk with you to the Mishaks that have taken residence on our landing
strip.”  Tuman slipped on his still wet shoes and followed me out the door..

“They're
not Mishaks anymore, brother.”  Sorkan came along, as well.  “They are our
brother Rehnorians.”

“Same
difference,” Tuman replied. 

Surprisingly
the village was packed with people.  Men, women and children were all walking
up and down the streets, chatting, going in and out of the shops despite the
rain.  They stopped and looked at us as we passed.

“Nothing
to see here,” I thought, recalling how unnerving it was to be stared at so much
during the brief period that I had lived on Rehnor.  Maybe I really was
fortunate to have slept through the last decade.

Tuman
and Sorkan left me at the top of the steppes.  Walking back to the main gate of
the complex, I estimated that easily the complex was equivalent to ten mobile
command centers.  The entire place was also surrounded by fencing and patrolled
by Imperial Guards. 

I
only needed one command center with me in the very hostile territory of Earth. 
Senya needed ten or more in the friendly territory of Karupatani.  Of course,
he rated much higher than me in the scheme of things.  I wondered briefly how
many command centers accompanied Taner whenever he went somewhere.

“Madame,”
the guard called, bowing to me.  “You have returned.”

“I
have indeed,” I replied.  I requested the presence of Lords Eberly and Garing
and a moment later two gentleman emerged wearing Mishnese robes and insignia
from both Taner and Berkan's offices.  Undersecretaries, I presumed.

“When
did you guys get here?” I asked. 

“This
morning,” Garing said.  “Lords Taner and Berkan have both gone on well-earned
and much needed vacations.”

“Lucky
them.”  

“HIM
and yourself should be enjoying your vacation as well, Madame” Garing said.

“Oh,
I’m on vacation,” I replied, leading the men through the village.  We garnered
even more stares on my return trip.  “But I don’t think HIM knows the
definition of that word.  Don’t pay any attention to the staring.  The only
time Mishnese came in this village in the past was to attack or kill someone.”

“I'm
not Mishnese,” Eberly said.  “I'm from Rozari, although I am of Human descent.” 

“I'm
not Mishnese either,” Garing added.  “I'm from Cascadia, also of Human
descent.  My grandparents immigrated from Mars sixty years ago.”

We
arrived at my little house only to discover that the front porch was filled to
capacity with more women than I could count. 

“What's
this?” Eberly asked.

“I
have no idea.  Go ahead and go upstairs.  The office is on the right.  Be
forewarned, he's got a headache and in a really bad mood today.”

“He
is in a really bad mood every day,” Garing replied.  “It would indeed be a
novelty if he were in a good mood.”

“MaKani,”
Lookah, Rekah’s sister, called to me while emerging from the crowd on the
porch.  “We have come to take you to the ritual bathing, and then you will
listen to our women and solve our problems.”  She was joined by Rekah’s wives
Letitia, Carina and Seesi as well as Senya’s aunt, Garinka.

“Solve
your problems?  I can’t solve my own problems.” 

“Please,
Madame.”  Lookah indicated that I should walk with her.

“Just
a moment.”  I pushed my way past them and into the house.

“No,
no, no!” Garinka declared and grabbing my arm, she pulled me off the porch and
into the woods.  She was chattering up a storm as we went, not a word of it in
Mishnese.

I
looked back at Lookah.  “Translation?”

Lookah
shook her head.  “Just go.”

Chapter 25

Garinka

We
ritually bathed her as we would have done for all our Queens had we had a Queen
in the last half century.  Since my mother-in-law died before I even knew her,
we had little experience doing this except for the one time we did it when the
woman came to be wed to the MaKennah.  Once it was done to me and once to my
daughter, Lookah as we were the highest ranking women in Karupatani before the
MaKani came and before Rekah married three times.

I
could tell she did not like the ritual, but she complied.  I didn’t blame her. 
The water was cold, and it rained the entire time.  She had new scars on her
body and age had taken a toll but still she was an attractive woman.  I, who
was only a dozen years more than her, wished my figure was still so slim. 

Afterward,
we dressed her in a gown and cloak and whilst we set around the fire to warm
her, she let the young girls paint her toes and finger nails and put beads in
her hair.  We drank our fine Karupatani wine and ate tarts of cheese and fruit
in pastry.  Our women asked her questions as if this woman who had abandoned
her son and been hiding from her husband for ten years should know best how
they should raise their children and satisfy their own husbands.  I drank my
wine and spat at their foolishness.

“Enough,”
I declared when the rain had finally ceased, and the afternoon sun began to
warm the valley into a steaming mist.  “The men have gone for worship as
sundown is approaching and we must go quickly to the village to prepare the
banquet.”

“One
more question, one more question,” the women cried but the MaKani shook her
head and told Lookah she had no more answers.  She rose to her feet and looked
back toward the village.

“This
way?” she asked and pointed at the trail.

“Yes,
MaKani,” my daughter replied and walked alongside her. 

I
followed, leading the wives of the chiefs from the western coast back through
the woodlands along a trail that I knew as well as my daughter's face.

“This
is so ridiculous,” the MaKani whispered in confidence to my daughter.  “They
are asking me about children, in-laws and disinterested husbands as if I should
have any advice.  My son was raised by the staff, my in laws,” she snorted. 
“Well, you know Sorkan.  And my husband?  Do I even have a husband?  I have a
lord and master.”  She rattled her gold bracelets.  “But I don't think I have a
husband anymore.”

“Perhaps
you should be pleased that he does not bother you,” Lookah replied with a
sigh.  “I wish my husband would turn his attention elsewhere.  I would not care
if he had another wife at all.  I tire of his body and his demands.”

The
MaKani looked surprised.  “You are too young to say that, Lookah.  I am too
young to say that and I’ve got ten years on you!”

“I
did not say I would not desire a nice young man,” Lookah protested with a
wicked smile.  “Yes, I would like a young stallion with a firm body and muscles
that have not gone to flab.”

“Your
husband is not fat at all,” the MaKani replied.  “I've seen him.  He's still a
good looking guy.”

“Ay! 
You should see him without clothing.  No, you should not.  You would be
horrified, and your stomach would turn ill!”

The
two of them giggled like school girls.

“At
least the MaKennah is as beautiful without clothing as he was in his youth save
that nasty scar that hobbles him,” Lookah said.  “Even with all his scars his
body is still firm and…”

“And
how do you know this?” the MaKani interrupted.

Lookah
blushed.  “I look at him in the ceremonies even though we are supposed to keep
our eyes down.” 

A
woman walking next to me, Lekoran's first wife giggled too.  “I look too,” she said
in Mishnese.  And the MaKennah took my virginity, so I know how his body was
then.  He is still very pleasing.” 

The
MaKani tripped on her own feet and my daughter caught her.

“Are
you alright?”  Lookah held the MaKani upright as Sestere's daughter came to
assist.  “The MaKennah took my virginity too,” she reported.  “Of course I was
much fairer then.  My waist was two hand spans, not like now when to circle it
takes more hands than I can count.”

“Anybody
else?”  the MaKani asked in a voice that was high and tight.

“Well,”
Lookah shrugged and the MaKani glared at her, “Not me!  I am his cousin and I
was too young.”  Her voice drifted off. 

“I
was with him too once,” another woman called.  “Though he wasn't my first.”

“I
lost my virginity to him by the hot springs pools up in the hills,” yet another
woman declared. 

The
MaKani went very pale.  “I think I'm going to be sick,” she muttered.

“MaKani,
it was a great honor,” my daughter insisted. “Don't let this trouble you.”

“An
honor?” she gasped.  “For who?”

“Come,”
I snapped, grabbing the MaKani’s arm and pulling her away from Lookah and the
crowd of women.  “Come come come.”  I had enough of this discussion.  “You
women go back to the village and prepare supper.  Hurry now, it's getting
dark.  I have something to show the MaKani.  We will be along shortly.”  I took
the lady deeper into the forest, cutting across the graveled path onto a muddy
trail.  “Don't pay any attention to them,” I said in Mishnese.

“You
speak Mishnese!” she cried.

“Yes,
yes I do,” I said, letting go of her arm.  “But not in the village.  Now don't
you dare tell anyone this.”

“Why
not?” 

I
led her to a bench overlooking the river though it was getting dark and the
river and sky were merely different shades of grey.

“Sit
down and let me catch my breath for a moment and I will tell you.”  All this
hurrying had caused my heart to flutter, and my breath to run out.  I sat down
and patted the seat next to me.  “Those de Kudisha princes are the most
arrogant, condescending, self-important men that ever walked the face of this
and the Mother Planet.  Each one of them thinks they are the Holy One’s gift to
womanhood, including your own son.”

“Shika? 
What?”

“You
think he hasn't been busy taking the virginity of every teenage girl in
Karupatani?  Of course, he has.  Every one of them is the same way.  Look at my
Rekah!  Three wives, concubines, girlfriends, too many children to count. 
Bah!”  I spat towards the river.

“You're
right,” she agreed with a frown.  “Every one of them is a dickhead, and His
Imperial Everythingness is the king of the dickheads and always has been.”

“He
is,” I laughed.  “I don't know what that word is, but it sounds appropriate.”

“So
now that you admit you speak Mishnese, tell me why you've been hiding it from
everyone.”

I
closed my eyes and held my face up to the last of the sun's warmth.  I debated
whether I should tell her my story.  I had never shared it with anyone but kept
it close to my heart all these years. 

Opening
my eyes slightly, I glanced into her vivid blue ones.  Her gaze was very
intense.  Her eyes had always been very striking, and her son had the same.  Even
now, here in the woodland, dressed in our skins, she had the bearing and look
of Mishnese Queen though I was certain she did not realize this. 

“Alright,”
I agreed.  “But if you laugh at me, I will stop.”

“I
won't laugh, I swear, Girl Scout Honor.”  She showed me three fingers in some
sort of salute.

“Well,”
I began my tale.  “When I was a girl, about sixteen, I wanted to go to Mishnah
to study.  Many of our people were allowed to travel across the ocean and study
at the universities in Turko.  Pedah went there and even Tuman for a while. 
Sorkan was living in Mishnah too, and it was safe for us to go then.”

“What
did you want to study?”

“Music,
Art, Astronomy, I didn't care.  All I wanted was an education.  I wanted to
wear Mishnese clothes and high heeled shoes, put on makeup and cut my hair.  I
wanted my own speeder and a modern house with a fancy kitchen and a vid.  I
wanted to travel anywhere.  I wanted a job, and I wanted to make my own money. 
I didn't want to spend my life as my mother and grandmothers in these primitive
huts cooking over old wood stoves and fires, sewing skins for clothing.  A
thousand years ago on Rozari, our people were one of the most advanced
civilizations in this galaxy.  I wanted to live like them, not like this.”  I
showed with my hand my skin dress and slippers.  “I wanted to be like you
are.”  She smiled at this, brushing her hand across her own skin dress.  “So, I
told my parents I was leaving.”

“What
did they say?”

“My
parents told me that I had been matched to one of the princes, so I had no
choice but to stay.   You see my mother was a cousin to the princes' mother. 
Merakoma's wife who had been killed years earlier and my mother shared great
grandparents.”

“So
you stayed.”

“I
had no choice,” I replied, recalling how sad I was then.  How at sixteen, I
thought my whole life was over, my dreams were all crushed.  “I had to obey or
run away and I had no means to go anywhere.  It has worked out fine though.”  I
was ready to walk some more, so I stood and reached for her hand, leading her
back to the trail as it had become somewhat dark.  “Pedah was the one I had
hoped to be matched to.”

“Really?”

“Oh,
he was perfect for me.  He had a doctorate in Mathematics from the University
and was smaller than his brothers and wore wirey glasses.  He was…what would
you call him?”

“A
geek?”

“Yes,”
I agreed as this word sounded appropriate.  “I was too.  Pedah was not
interested in a bride then.  Like all of them, he was enjoying every girl who
crossed his path.  I was given to Tuman who had always been overly cautious.”

“Given?”

“Yes,
that was how it was done.  I met him at the altar.  Tuman is a good man as I'm
sure you know.  He was training to be the High Priest then and took his duty
very seriously.  He took his duty to me as his wife and later his duty to the
MaKennah equally seriously.  Pedah and I became good friends though and he
taught me Mishnese in secret.” 

In
my mind's eye, I saw Pedah here in the forest waiting for me.  He lay on his
back, studying the stars, a blade of grass between his teeth. 

“There
is the hunter crossing our sky tonight, Garinka,” he would say pointing into
the sky and I would try to follow his finger and see the image among the
pinpricks of light.

“It's
not really a hunter,” I would protest.

“Not
at all,” Pedah would laugh.  “They are gaseous emanations millions of light
years away that only now are bursting through our atmosphere to appear as these
spots of light which we call stars.  But for now, we will pretend it is the
ghost of a hunter.”  And then we would make love.

“Pedah
is Rekah's father,” I told her.  “But that is a story for another day.”

“What?”
she gasped as I knew she would.

“Now,
now,” I said.  “I know you won't go repeating that.  Lookah is Tuman's
daughter, I believe.”

“You
believe?”

I
shrugged.  “It could be either one really although I think she takes after
Tuman more so in her temperament.   That is not necessarily proof of her
parenthood.  They were after all brothers and very much alike.”

“Wow.”
 The MaKani shook her head.  “You amaze me, Garinka.  Did Tuman know you were
screwing his brother?”

“No. 
Not unless the MaKennah told him.  I don't know that it would bother him any. 
He and Pedah shared everything.”

“You
haven't told him after forty years or so?  But you told Senya?”

“Before
this moment, I have told no one.  The MaKennah knows because he knows
everything, does he not?”  I stepped over a fallen tree and around the ancient
stump of a long dead willow to the entrance of the meadow.  “Ah, here we are.” 
The meadow came alive before us.  It was filled with flowers as it always was
this time of year, and the golden light of the two moons glowed in the grass. 
“Sit down,” I said and set down myself though the grass was a bit damp from the
rains.  I didn’t mind.  The dampness was warm and comforting to me and reminded
me of my youth and Pedah who would lie here with me in this forest in the
darkness and dampness just like this. 

“Three
years after I married Tuman,” I began.  “The MaKennah came to live with us.  He
was twelve at the time and quite a wicked child.  I was afraid of him.  The
Mishaks had tried several times to kill him.  His body was covered in welts and
scars.  I thought there was something truly evil about him especially because
of his strange eyes.  Tuman and my father-in-law the King insisted I let him
live in my house and take care of him even though Pedah wanted to have him. 
The men all thought the boy needed a mother figure, though I was only twenty at
the time, hardly older than he.  I had to feed him and sew clothing for him and
tell him to bathe, and all the things you would do for a child and all the
while, he never spoke to me, just gazed at me with those eyes.  At some point,
I was afraid to go in to my own house knowing that he would be there.  It was
quite difficult for me to care for a child his age.  I was just getting used to
my own husband and baby.”