9. A New Direction

“It will be fine.” Saka was telling Fen. “Dogs are common enough in Tira. Let’s get her out.” He leant forward and called softly. “Misty! Here girl.”

Eager eyes peeped around the wall once more. Then, with a joyful bark, the little dog leapt into the air, her paws paddling furiously. Misty’s wagging tail shook her entire body, hindering the progress made by the frantic flapping of her wings. She whined in anticipation as she fluttered down into Saka’s outstretched palm.

“Oh, Misty, ” Saka crooned. The cocker spaniel wriggled in paroxysms of delight, almost falling out of his hand. Tien was enchanted with the dog’s toylike size and tiny golden wings. She put a hand out to pat Misty and received a wet lick. “Where are your snackies, Misty? Where are your snackies?” said Saka, holding his pack open. Misty pricked up her ears, and dived headfirst into the pack. After some vigorous snuffling, she reappeared with a large biscuit grasped awkwardly in her jaws.

While Misty was busy gnawing on her biscuit, Saka fiddled with the jumper fitted snugly around her midriff. He pulled a thin leather pouch from it. There was a note inside which he opened and read, before passing it to Fen.

“Sorry for that interruption, Tien.” Saka turned back to her with a smile. “We must go soon, and we would welcome your company.“ He thrust the last piece of pancake into his mouth, and wiped his lips and fingers with a rag from his pocket. Tien didn’t know whether to be relieved or uneasy at the invitation.

Saka and Fen had treated her kindly, but she sensed that she should still be cautious. She knew that if her head didn’t hurt so badly, she would have been far more wary of her new comrades. As it was, all she wanted to do was curl up on the bench and sleep. Tien struggled to concentrate. Saka wanted to leave me behind not an hour ago, she reasoned, so why is he suddenly asking me to join them?

“I am in your debt,” she said aloud, in what she hoped was a firm voice. “But I should leave Tira before King Phan learns that there is a stray Aryk running around unfettered.” Tien’s voice choked with bitterness, and she swallowed hard. “So, I’ll wish you well,” she continued, trying to speak calmly, “and go on alone.”

Lies, lies, all lies!, she screamed inwardly! I couldn’t last half a day on my own.

Fen’s twisted face lifted into a smile. “Tien, what will you do when someone discovers you are an Aryk?” Her gaze flicked down to Tien’s neck.

Tien touched her mark and scanned the square with worried eyes. She wanted to be somewhere sheltered, safe from possible discovery and recapture. She looked at Fen. It would be so easy to just go with them. Fatigue made her bold and reckless. “How can you help me?,” she asked. “Does your group know why my people have been taken?”

Fen squeezed her top lip gently between her thumb and forefinger. “Not yet, but we will find out,” she said after a moment. “Our group formed after we saw the changes Phan brought to Tira. We became suspicious when Aryks stopped crossing the border. Though I should tell you, Phan has told the Tirans that the Aryks consider themselves to be an elitist tribe. That you chose to keep to yourselves.” Tien pulled a face, but Saka nodded slowly.

“It’s true,” he said. “And you are the first Aryk we have seen in months. The kind Raseen who placed his cloak over you, may be one of our men working undercover.”

Tien’s eyes narrowed. I never said he was kind, she thought; only that he wasn’t vicious. After all, he let Maligo injure me with that weapon of his. Her nerve endings jangled in protest as she shuffled in her seat, trying to find a comfortable position.

Saka was still talking. “His orders were to transport your people to Tira, and from there, they would be moved to an unknown destination. A separate group of Raseen, handpicked by the king himself, is searching all the Aryks’ property.”

Tien strained to hear and absorb what Saka was saying, through the red haze of her headache. It sounded so important, but she couldn’t make sense of it. She closed her eyes against the glare of the lamp overhead, then forced them open. Saka didn’t appear to notice her drooping eyelids. He looked across at her, his smile kind. “Tien, it seems that you are the only Aryk who has escaped. And we’d like to help you keep it that way.”

Tien managed a wan smile in return, but shook her head. “I just want my family back.”

“Yes.” Saka nodded solemnly. “But that will take time. And it will take the work of people like our Raseen. Misty here,” he patted her soft head, “is a messenger dog, and we’ve gotten word that our Raseen is meeting tonight with others in the Watch. That’s the name of our group,” he explained for Tien’s benefit. “Will you come with us?” He picked up Misty’s squirming body and popped her into his pack.

Tien knew that her mind was already made up. Her family could still be alive. Now she had a starting point, a place to begin her search for them. And what other options were there? “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come. I have no where else to go.” She cringed. How ungrateful she sounded.

“Great news!” Saka stretched his arms up high over his head, locking his hands together, his palms pressed out. “Well, we should go. Are you ready to lead the way, Fen?” Fen nodded. Saka rose to his feet, wincing slightly as he moved muscles that had been dormant for days. “All right, lets go.”

Tien stood up slowly and looked around the plaza. It was a hive of activity. Large wooden tables had been dragged out from the inns and bistros. People sat around them, eating and enjoying the entertainers who used the square as their stage. A troupe of Tiran gypsies stomp-danced to the rousing music of steel drums and a motori; an instrument made from metal straps attached to a soundboard. The melody was sweet and sad.

Tien was surprised to find herself blinking back tears. She longed to stay and lose herself in the music. To forget the last few days. She sighed as they began to walk.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Fen answered in a low voice. “To an inn on the other side of the Quarter. The others are meeting us there.”

The little energy Tien still had was sapped by Fen’s words. She remembered Fanzine’s description of the Quarter in her letter. I don’t want to go there, she thought, with a heavy heart. I can’t bear to see more misery. She closed her eyes briefly and pictured Haim as she’d last seen him, his face sticky with orange juice, laughing at Graic’s jokes. Sweet, pesky Haim. Please let him not be hurt or frightened. Please.

Tien stumbled. All she wanted to do was sleep. Her head craved a soft pillow. They were heading north of the prison. Close to the city centre, the lanes were lined with uniform mud brick houses. Yellow light glowed comfortingly though muslin curtains. Fen led the way at a casual pace, but with confidence; turning this way and that, skirting the main routes. As they went on, the lanes narrowed. Fewer lamposts lit the way. Pretty, cobbled paths gave way to plain paving. The three of them strode silently through the deserted streets.

Then all at once, they turned up a wide street and stumbled upon life again. Most of this street’s lamps had been shattered. The three companions stepped carefully through the darkness. Several shadowy figures loitered against a high wall. The wall ran along the left side of the street and cordoned off an area at least three blocks long. Its appearance was not unlike the prison; whitewashed, with broken glass shards cemented in along its ridge.

A mammoth wrought-iron gate, set into the wall, was ajar. The individuals who stood against the wall said nothing and made no move to hinder them, but their presence felt menacing. Fen walked purposefully past them, through the gates. Saka and Tien followed, gazing curiously around at the interior of the Quarter.

© 2006 by Shelly Taylor