"T'kyiah?"
She lifted her head to smile at the Elder standing at the door. Now pure white of hair and fur, Grandmother Leera looked and carried herself with every bit of the grace and carriage of one befitting her rank. Or former rank... Kyiah was no longer quite certain what changes the Sept would face now.
"Ypah," she nodded once, gesturing for her to take a seat.
The Elder angled her head to the side. "My time is done," she said quietly without preamble. "It is time I took to the desert."
Kyiah stilled, her eyes wide. "N-no. We need you-"
"No, child." She smiled, reaching out to lay a hand on the younger's knee. "My time is done. Soren was my son, his rank gave me mine. Garin is now Nuhn in his place, and I am obsolete."
"No. You are not." She narrowed her eyes at the Elder. "Now more than ever, we need guidance and wisdom. Garin will not produce worthy males- or females. T'reyah Bekh cannot bear Prime alone. Our Sept will suffer and die."
A slow smile touched her mouth as she leaned forward. "Little one, do you truly believe Garin's right will stand? Your brother-"
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "My brother is still young."
"Soren was near his age when he took Nuhn."
She frowned. "I cannot imagine Kyrin as Nuhn, Ypah."
Leera laughed. "Of course you can't, Kyiah. He has, and always will be, your brother. Your twin." She tapped the younger Miqo'te's knee, nodding with a knowing smile. "But he would be a good one."
"Well then... he will need your guidance," she set her jaw, gazing at Leera pointedly.
"T'shara can offer it."
"Mother is foolish. She is not like you, Ypah. And Reyah is still learning herself."
A shadow crossed the Elder's face, followed by a faint smile. "My time is done. The young must lead. That is the natural way of it."
"Then she will be Prime Elder- but you, and the other Elders... you have led us well. You have made us strong!" Kyiah grabbed her grandmother's hands tightly, squeezing. "Please, Ypah. If you must go, then I respect that. But... wait. Wait until the Sept is secure."
Leera hesitated, then sighed. "It will take time."
"And you seek Azyema's face so eagerly?"
A faint smile as she touched the young Miqo'te's face. "My precious child... Did you know you and your brother were among my son's most prized?"
She frowned uncomfortably, leaning into her grandmother's palm. "I am glad, but..."
"You should be, hm? You are special, Kyiah. I saw it from the moment of your birth. Set apart. You both were. Soren saw it too," she smiled. "And not only because you were twins, which was already a sign of Azyema's blessing of growth on a Sept." She nodded, patting her cheek. "Kyrin is meant to be Nuhn like is father."
Leera paused, smiling a bit more. "He is very much like him, you know. He and Zakh will work well together to help the Sept grow in not only strength, but wisdom and restraint."
She suddenly fixed her gaze on Kyiah's eyes, her long fingers gripping the younger's chin firmly. "But you. You are not meant to be Zakh... or Garin's mate."
Her eyes flashed as her face hardened, pulling away to lean against the lodgepost. She crossed her arms over her chest. "That is fortunate. For the moment that Dust-sucker touches me will be his last."
Leera snorted a laugh. "He has called for you... to his tent."
She let out a short, wry laugh, smirking up at her grandmother with an arched brow. "Tent?"
The Elder's grin matched hers. "Do you think any of us would allow him to lie among Soren's possessions? He gained breeding rights- not property rights."
"Are they not the same thing in his eyes?" Her tone was dry, disdainful.
Leeta blinked slowly, her voice low and even. "Hmm. Azyema has decreed Five Suns."
"That is enough time to cause damage."
She inclined her head, looking away. "Most of the women are... indisposed. Many claim the Rite of Passing. Your siblings, however, are... foolish. I cannot say what they will do."
Kyiah frowned, flicking a bug off her knee. "I can. They have no more restraint than a rabbit in heat."
She narrowed her eyes, looking back at her grandmother. "Well, I will not lie with him. I don't care what he demands."
The Elder Miqo'te laughed, sitting back to gaze at her with a contemplative smile. "Hmm. Yet it is his right. He is not one to be dissuaded."
She nudged Kyiah's foot with her own. "He is not T'zakh."
"Zakh knows he must earn the right." She flashed her a teasing grin, then sobered. "Garin cheated. Apa's eyes were blue. His skin smelled of Sopora and his blood was thick and sticky."
She raised her eyebrows. "Poison?"
A firm nod. "I suspect a toxin applied to his dagger blade and ground up hallucinogenic herbs. It was not a fair battle. Garin had lost. Fairly. Soren had him at the tip of his lance. He should have spared momentary mercy and driven it through his neck."
She paused, the bitterness in her voice easing to a frank, even tone. "I will not bear the child of a coward and cheat. I will not carry his line out."
"Hm... So what will you do?"
Her grandmother's tone was light, thoughtful, and still slightly amused.
Kyiah gave her a cool smile. "I will meet with him."
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Will you?"
"Yes. If he thinks he is well enough to seek my company in his bed..." She rose, dusting her breeks and tunic off. "Then he is well enough to prove it."
"T'garin Nuhn!"
The sky was velvet black, sprinkled liberally with a billion gemstones, the desert animals quiet, and the scented smoke of Soren's funeral procession still thick in the air. The cold wind whipped around her small form, loosening her long hair from its bindings and snapping her sleeveless tunic dress around her waist. She had waited until most of the tribe had left for the Passing Ceremony at his scaffold on the Mesa, having said her own farewell to her father hours ago as the Priestesses prepared his body for Condor.
"T'garin Nuhn!" she called again, standing in the middle of the Arena, her bare toes resting on the blood of her father. The sand was already dry, but she could still imagine its sticky warmth on her skin. She buried her toes a bit deeper, the coolness of it her father's touch giving her courage.
The flap of the drab tent moved, then a scowling face emerged, still wrapped in a bandage.
"I am here, you idiot."
"I am aware."
"Then get in here and do your duty!"
Her eyes lightened as she shook her head once. It was all she could do to keep her voice light and swallow the growl that threatened. "If you want me, you must take me."
He snickered, baring his teeth. "Oh, I'll take you, you can be sure of that, you little minx..."
Kyiah smiled a bit, lifting her hands slightly. "Then come, T'garin. Claim what you have won."
"Aya?!"
She snapped her head around, impaling Kyrin with a glare. He was still in the shadow of the lodge, out of view of Garin- but would not be for long.Â
"What are you doing here?! Stay out of this," she hissed. Her heart started pounding, her attention snapping back to Garin.
"What are you-"
"Go back, Kyr," she ground out between clenched teeth. Her eyes flickered to see T'Leera slip out of her lodge and take Kyrin by the arm, murmuring to him. He shook his head, turning as if to resist- then stilled. She saw him swallow, cast a final look toward her, then nod once with a lifted hand.
She smiled faintly, letting out a sigh of relief as she gave a minute nod. She gave him the responding signal where her hand lay at her side, then returned her gaze back to the tent flap.
Garin's lanky form unfolded from the low tent, his face mixed with annoyance and an odd excitement. "Are you to be my next challenge, then?"
He smirked, moving toward her. "Is this what I have to look forward to every time I claim you?"
Kyiah merely watched him, smiling minutely, her tail swishing slowly back and forth.
"If so... I might not leave until you are swollen with my get," his smile was lecherous, the annoyance all but gone. His eyes raked over her, nodding slowly. "You'll breed very well, I think..."
She felt her fingers curl, her muscles tensing in disgust and anger, but forced it down. He could not see, he could not know...
Two can play.
Her tail swished teasingly as she angled her head to the side, her ears flattening in what she hoped he interpreted as submission as she extending a leg from the long slit in her tunic that extended to her hip.
Just a few steps more.
He took another step- then two, his musk rising to poison the air around him.
She fluttered her eyes, then suddenly dug her toe deeper into the sand, flipping a slender pole into the air. She caught it effortlessly with one hand, spun it and locked it in defensive position one behind her in less than a second.
He blinked.
She smiled.
"What is this?!"
"Mmm... A game." She wrinkled her nose, still smiling.
He narrowed his eyes, fighting a smirk. "A game? Pretty girls shouldn't play with sticks."
"Really?" She smiled slowly, running her tongue over the tips of her teeth.
"Well... not -those- type of sticks..." He smirked. "Those type are liable to hurt pretty girls."
"Hmm... Maybe I want to be hurt."
He raised his eyebrows, then laughed. "It's like that, hm?"
Her eyes lost their teasing, though she continued to smile. "It's like that."
Garin considered her a long moment, then shook his head with a grin. "Another time, my pet. I have fought enough today."
He extended his hand, wiggling his fingers. "Come, I have another game we can play."
"Oh. That's right. It is all about you, isn't it?"
His grin broadened. "Yes, it is. That's my right and my privilege."
She whipped the staff around, catching it in both hands and cracked his extended wrist.
"Wrong."
She spun the staff over her head, aiming to crack him across the temple- but miscalculated his pained hunch over his broken wrist. The staff whistled harmlessly over his head, but caught his knees as she dropped, flipping him backwards. She sprang up, catching the body of the staff in her other hand, the weapon angled across her body, her eyes dark.
He glared up at her, his face twisted in fury, his teeth bared in pain as his gripped his wrist, his feet scrabbling to sit upright. "I earned my right- I fought and won. You are MINE!"
"No." She snapped the staff to his chest, shoving him down, then snapping it up to his chin, stopping just under it. She smirked, using the tip to raise his eyes to meet hers more directly. "You fought and won... by cheating. Perhaps you earned the right to bed some of my more desperate half-sisters here, but you have yet to earn the right to touch me. And I will not bear the spawn of a creature such as you!"
She jerked the end up, knocking his head back against the dirt.
"I will have you if I must have you bound and spread before me," he growled, rolling over onto his elbow, his eyes dangerous.
"Try." Her grin was feral.
"Azyema chose ME as Nuhn! You dare defy the Goddess-"
She flipped the staff, bringing it down in a move that would have fractured his skull, or at least his nose, if she hadn't stopped mere inches above. "I defy nothing. You insult the Goddess by trying to take more than you have been given. You compound that by sinking to devious means. You dishonor your bloodline and your Sept. You have harmed this Sept and brought misery to all here. You deserve NOTHING from us." She paused, baring her teeth. "And you will get nothing from me."
She saw the telltale shift in his eye a fraction of a moment before his hand snapped out to grab her ankle. As it was, he caught her just enough to make her stumble and have to catch herself with her staff.
He darted forward, striking like a scorpid to grab her tunic hem with his good hand. She stepped back, snapping the end of her staff across his arm, then snapkicked his face. His nose exploded in blood.
"Touch me again, and I will not hold back."
"Give me a staff and I'll teach you to strike your betters, you little-"
She laughed once. "Unfortunately, it is not my place or duty to do the same. I leave that to others. But my body is my own, and a cheating worm like yourself has no claim over it."
"I will have you!" He yowled, slamming his good fist on the dirt, his other hand clamped to his pouring nose.
She spun on her heel, her tail swishing once. "Hm... I think not."
She lifted her head to smile at the Elder standing at the door. Now pure white of hair and fur, Grandmother Leera looked and carried herself with every bit of the grace and carriage of one befitting her rank. Or former rank... Kyiah was no longer quite certain what changes the Sept would face now.
"Ypah," she nodded once, gesturing for her to take a seat.
The Elder angled her head to the side. "My time is done," she said quietly without preamble. "It is time I took to the desert."
Kyiah stilled, her eyes wide. "N-no. We need you-"
"No, child." She smiled, reaching out to lay a hand on the younger's knee. "My time is done. Soren was my son, his rank gave me mine. Garin is now Nuhn in his place, and I am obsolete."
"No. You are not." She narrowed her eyes at the Elder. "Now more than ever, we need guidance and wisdom. Garin will not produce worthy males- or females. T'reyah Bekh cannot bear Prime alone. Our Sept will suffer and die."
A slow smile touched her mouth as she leaned forward. "Little one, do you truly believe Garin's right will stand? Your brother-"
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "My brother is still young."
"Soren was near his age when he took Nuhn."
She frowned. "I cannot imagine Kyrin as Nuhn, Ypah."
Leera laughed. "Of course you can't, Kyiah. He has, and always will be, your brother. Your twin." She tapped the younger Miqo'te's knee, nodding with a knowing smile. "But he would be a good one."
"Well then... he will need your guidance," she set her jaw, gazing at Leera pointedly.
"T'shara can offer it."
"Mother is foolish. She is not like you, Ypah. And Reyah is still learning herself."
A shadow crossed the Elder's face, followed by a faint smile. "My time is done. The young must lead. That is the natural way of it."
"Then she will be Prime Elder- but you, and the other Elders... you have led us well. You have made us strong!" Kyiah grabbed her grandmother's hands tightly, squeezing. "Please, Ypah. If you must go, then I respect that. But... wait. Wait until the Sept is secure."
Leera hesitated, then sighed. "It will take time."
"And you seek Azyema's face so eagerly?"
A faint smile as she touched the young Miqo'te's face. "My precious child... Did you know you and your brother were among my son's most prized?"
She frowned uncomfortably, leaning into her grandmother's palm. "I am glad, but..."
"You should be, hm? You are special, Kyiah. I saw it from the moment of your birth. Set apart. You both were. Soren saw it too," she smiled. "And not only because you were twins, which was already a sign of Azyema's blessing of growth on a Sept." She nodded, patting her cheek. "Kyrin is meant to be Nuhn like is father."
Leera paused, smiling a bit more. "He is very much like him, you know. He and Zakh will work well together to help the Sept grow in not only strength, but wisdom and restraint."
She suddenly fixed her gaze on Kyiah's eyes, her long fingers gripping the younger's chin firmly. "But you. You are not meant to be Zakh... or Garin's mate."
Her eyes flashed as her face hardened, pulling away to lean against the lodgepost. She crossed her arms over her chest. "That is fortunate. For the moment that Dust-sucker touches me will be his last."
Leera snorted a laugh. "He has called for you... to his tent."
She let out a short, wry laugh, smirking up at her grandmother with an arched brow. "Tent?"
The Elder's grin matched hers. "Do you think any of us would allow him to lie among Soren's possessions? He gained breeding rights- not property rights."
"Are they not the same thing in his eyes?" Her tone was dry, disdainful.
Leeta blinked slowly, her voice low and even. "Hmm. Azyema has decreed Five Suns."
"That is enough time to cause damage."
She inclined her head, looking away. "Most of the women are... indisposed. Many claim the Rite of Passing. Your siblings, however, are... foolish. I cannot say what they will do."
Kyiah frowned, flicking a bug off her knee. "I can. They have no more restraint than a rabbit in heat."
She narrowed her eyes, looking back at her grandmother. "Well, I will not lie with him. I don't care what he demands."
The Elder Miqo'te laughed, sitting back to gaze at her with a contemplative smile. "Hmm. Yet it is his right. He is not one to be dissuaded."
She nudged Kyiah's foot with her own. "He is not T'zakh."
"Zakh knows he must earn the right." She flashed her a teasing grin, then sobered. "Garin cheated. Apa's eyes were blue. His skin smelled of Sopora and his blood was thick and sticky."
She raised her eyebrows. "Poison?"
A firm nod. "I suspect a toxin applied to his dagger blade and ground up hallucinogenic herbs. It was not a fair battle. Garin had lost. Fairly. Soren had him at the tip of his lance. He should have spared momentary mercy and driven it through his neck."
She paused, the bitterness in her voice easing to a frank, even tone. "I will not bear the child of a coward and cheat. I will not carry his line out."
"Hm... So what will you do?"
Her grandmother's tone was light, thoughtful, and still slightly amused.
Kyiah gave her a cool smile. "I will meet with him."
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Will you?"
"Yes. If he thinks he is well enough to seek my company in his bed..." She rose, dusting her breeks and tunic off. "Then he is well enough to prove it."
"T'garin Nuhn!"
The sky was velvet black, sprinkled liberally with a billion gemstones, the desert animals quiet, and the scented smoke of Soren's funeral procession still thick in the air. The cold wind whipped around her small form, loosening her long hair from its bindings and snapping her sleeveless tunic dress around her waist. She had waited until most of the tribe had left for the Passing Ceremony at his scaffold on the Mesa, having said her own farewell to her father hours ago as the Priestesses prepared his body for Condor.
"T'garin Nuhn!" she called again, standing in the middle of the Arena, her bare toes resting on the blood of her father. The sand was already dry, but she could still imagine its sticky warmth on her skin. She buried her toes a bit deeper, the coolness of it her father's touch giving her courage.
The flap of the drab tent moved, then a scowling face emerged, still wrapped in a bandage.
"I am here, you idiot."
"I am aware."
"Then get in here and do your duty!"
Her eyes lightened as she shook her head once. It was all she could do to keep her voice light and swallow the growl that threatened. "If you want me, you must take me."
He snickered, baring his teeth. "Oh, I'll take you, you can be sure of that, you little minx..."
Kyiah smiled a bit, lifting her hands slightly. "Then come, T'garin. Claim what you have won."
"Aya?!"
She snapped her head around, impaling Kyrin with a glare. He was still in the shadow of the lodge, out of view of Garin- but would not be for long.Â
"What are you doing here?! Stay out of this," she hissed. Her heart started pounding, her attention snapping back to Garin.
"What are you-"
"Go back, Kyr," she ground out between clenched teeth. Her eyes flickered to see T'Leera slip out of her lodge and take Kyrin by the arm, murmuring to him. He shook his head, turning as if to resist- then stilled. She saw him swallow, cast a final look toward her, then nod once with a lifted hand.
She smiled faintly, letting out a sigh of relief as she gave a minute nod. She gave him the responding signal where her hand lay at her side, then returned her gaze back to the tent flap.
Garin's lanky form unfolded from the low tent, his face mixed with annoyance and an odd excitement. "Are you to be my next challenge, then?"
He smirked, moving toward her. "Is this what I have to look forward to every time I claim you?"
Kyiah merely watched him, smiling minutely, her tail swishing slowly back and forth.
"If so... I might not leave until you are swollen with my get," his smile was lecherous, the annoyance all but gone. His eyes raked over her, nodding slowly. "You'll breed very well, I think..."
She felt her fingers curl, her muscles tensing in disgust and anger, but forced it down. He could not see, he could not know...
Two can play.
Her tail swished teasingly as she angled her head to the side, her ears flattening in what she hoped he interpreted as submission as she extending a leg from the long slit in her tunic that extended to her hip.
Just a few steps more.
He took another step- then two, his musk rising to poison the air around him.
She fluttered her eyes, then suddenly dug her toe deeper into the sand, flipping a slender pole into the air. She caught it effortlessly with one hand, spun it and locked it in defensive position one behind her in less than a second.
He blinked.
She smiled.
"What is this?!"
"Mmm... A game." She wrinkled her nose, still smiling.
He narrowed his eyes, fighting a smirk. "A game? Pretty girls shouldn't play with sticks."
"Really?" She smiled slowly, running her tongue over the tips of her teeth.
"Well... not -those- type of sticks..." He smirked. "Those type are liable to hurt pretty girls."
"Hmm... Maybe I want to be hurt."
He raised his eyebrows, then laughed. "It's like that, hm?"
Her eyes lost their teasing, though she continued to smile. "It's like that."
Garin considered her a long moment, then shook his head with a grin. "Another time, my pet. I have fought enough today."
He extended his hand, wiggling his fingers. "Come, I have another game we can play."
"Oh. That's right. It is all about you, isn't it?"
His grin broadened. "Yes, it is. That's my right and my privilege."
She whipped the staff around, catching it in both hands and cracked his extended wrist.
"Wrong."
She spun the staff over her head, aiming to crack him across the temple- but miscalculated his pained hunch over his broken wrist. The staff whistled harmlessly over his head, but caught his knees as she dropped, flipping him backwards. She sprang up, catching the body of the staff in her other hand, the weapon angled across her body, her eyes dark.
He glared up at her, his face twisted in fury, his teeth bared in pain as his gripped his wrist, his feet scrabbling to sit upright. "I earned my right- I fought and won. You are MINE!"
"No." She snapped the staff to his chest, shoving him down, then snapping it up to his chin, stopping just under it. She smirked, using the tip to raise his eyes to meet hers more directly. "You fought and won... by cheating. Perhaps you earned the right to bed some of my more desperate half-sisters here, but you have yet to earn the right to touch me. And I will not bear the spawn of a creature such as you!"
She jerked the end up, knocking his head back against the dirt.
"I will have you if I must have you bound and spread before me," he growled, rolling over onto his elbow, his eyes dangerous.
"Try." Her grin was feral.
"Azyema chose ME as Nuhn! You dare defy the Goddess-"
She flipped the staff, bringing it down in a move that would have fractured his skull, or at least his nose, if she hadn't stopped mere inches above. "I defy nothing. You insult the Goddess by trying to take more than you have been given. You compound that by sinking to devious means. You dishonor your bloodline and your Sept. You have harmed this Sept and brought misery to all here. You deserve NOTHING from us." She paused, baring her teeth. "And you will get nothing from me."
She saw the telltale shift in his eye a fraction of a moment before his hand snapped out to grab her ankle. As it was, he caught her just enough to make her stumble and have to catch herself with her staff.
He darted forward, striking like a scorpid to grab her tunic hem with his good hand. She stepped back, snapping the end of her staff across his arm, then snapkicked his face. His nose exploded in blood.
"Touch me again, and I will not hold back."
"Give me a staff and I'll teach you to strike your betters, you little-"
She laughed once. "Unfortunately, it is not my place or duty to do the same. I leave that to others. But my body is my own, and a cheating worm like yourself has no claim over it."
"I will have you!" He yowled, slamming his good fist on the dirt, his other hand clamped to his pouring nose.
She spun on her heel, her tail swishing once. "Hm... I think not."
