AKLESH (Under Strange Skies) (25 page)

What happened to her to make-

Kai shushed Gar with his free hand. His attention was focused on his frail mother.

She had fallen asleep and he picked her up and placed her gently on the cot. Then he motioned Gar out and they both went through the little door and onto the platform. As usual the breeze was warm and the night still. No one was stirring anywhere around them.

What the hell happened to her that made her like
that?
asked Gar, curious why Kai’s mother was obviously insane.

It’s not something I really want to talk about
, replied Kai.

Is she OK?
demanded Gar.
She sounded like she
was in agony
.

She’s fine
, replied Kai, very annoyed at his insistence.
And its none of your business anyway.

I told you I’d make sure she doesn’t bother you
anymore.

Kai was unusually angry and began to walk down the ramp by his mother’s hut to the lower platform.

I didn’t mean it like that…
said Gar, but Kai continued walking, ignoring him. “Wait,” he called aloud. Kai stopped and turned abruptly, looking nervously at the fourth hut and shushing him.

Now Gar was annoyed.

“Stop shushing me,” he said in a forceful whisper. “I’ll do as I please.” But, in consideration of the others he brought the conversation back into his mind anyway.

Something had occurred to Gar in that moment.

The idea hadn’t really registered till then.

Where did you come from just now?
The prince asked.

What do you mean?
Kai’s reply was terse.

I mean, just now, as I was standing in the
door. You couldn’t have come from the ramp. I
would have seen you.
Gar began to work it out.

That means you had to come from behind me.

But, that’s impossible. There’s no way to access
this platform from there.

Gar looked around at the huts. Things were beginning to click into place, like the parts of a ships engine.

I thought these huts all belonged to Tyro’s
family, but that’s wrong. Isn’t it?

He looked back at Kai whose face was blank, his mouth a straight line.

If that’s your mother’s tent…
Gar kept putting the pieces together.

That’s when he saw the white, furry mat unrolled by the door of his hut, just out of sight from the inside. He had gotten up so quickly he hadn’t noticed it lying there when he went to investigate the fourth hut.

Gar had seen it before, rolled up neatly and placed in the corner. He had just assumed it had been put there for storage by Seema, but now it made sense.

He’d never thought about where Kai slept at night.

It had just never occurred to him. But, Seema had said he was like family to them. Of course he would be nearby, especially if his mother needed extra care.

Gar hadn’t been staying in some random hut the Aklesh happened to not be using. He’d been living in Kai’s own home. Kai could tell Gar had worked it all out and he became flush with embarrassment.

Kai felt cornered and what he really wanted to do was run someplace, to be anywhere but right in that moment.

Why are you sleeping outside the door of your
own hut, Kai?

BECAUSE I CAN’T BE ANYWHERE ELSE!
Kai mentally exploded which sent a shock through Gar.

The native huffed and walked over to the railing, putting his good hand on it and looking over the dark landscape. There were some high clouds in the sky that night which blocked part of the sky. The young native didn’t turn and face Gar as he explained. He just kept staring out over the trees.

I can’t stay in the hut with my mother or
I’ll lose my mind. It takes a lot of effort to block
her out. Obviously, I can’t stay in with Tyro’s
family, there’s only enough room for them and
Tilo. It wouldn’t be…appropriate.

Gar figured this had to do with Kai’s feelings for his friend, but did his best to keep that theory locked in a more private area of his mind.

Kai had continued.

And I definitely can’t sleep with…
he paused here.
Well, you’ve made it pretty clear what you
think of me. I can only withstand so much of that.

What do you mean, ‘What I think about
you?’

That

makes

no

sense,
asked Gar,

approaching Kai aggressively. The prince found the native’s attitude exasperating.

The young tribesman sensed him and moved a few feet farther away.

Kai turned on the railing to face him, frustrated and hurt.
Don’t you understand? Can’t you get it?!

Up until very recently, I’ve been hearing
everything that comes into your mind. You’ve had
no control. Every piece of hatred and contempt,
every awful thought you’ve had about the tribe
and me and being stuck here simply plows into
my mind as well. There is no edit! One of the
reasons Zaela started teaching you blocking was
to give me some rest. You’ve been much better
since then, but every once and a while…-

It was now Gar’s turn to become embarrassed.

Suddenly his memory surged with all of the terrible things he’d thought about since he’d been at the keep. They came flooding back as an unpleasant reminder of how much he’d resented what had happened to him. He never thought Kai was receiving ALL of it.

But, instead of feeling apologetic, he got mad. His mind had been his own, something like that could not be construed as his fault.

That’s not fair,
he
retorted.
I can’t help
what I think. I’m just used to thinking it because
it’s my mind and I have every right to. I may
think something nasty, but I don’t necessarily
mean it. What am I suppose to do? Stop thinking?

Of course not! I know that. I don’t expect
that,
snapped Kai
. And, like I said, you’ve gotten
much better at sorting your thoughts. But what
you don’t seem to understand is that our minds
are joined. Your thoughts, even if they are at
times like poison, are still vital to me. Its better
to be near it, your mind, but I still can’t be in the
hut with you. So I sleep outside it.

Look, just take your hut back then, I’ll
sleep somewhere else,
offered Gar briskly.

You are so thick sometimes! There is
nowhere else, don’t you see?
Kai had progressed beyond frustrated.
The Aklesh build huts when
they are needed and take them down when they
are not. There is nowhere else. You’ll stay here.

And where will you stay?

Kai took a long hard look at Gar then walked away.

Don’t trouble yourself, stranger.
he sent as he left.
Just go back to dreaming about your long
lost home and forget about it.

***

It surprised Seema to see Gar already awake when she and Tilo left their hut early that morning. It was certainly unexpected since the Sky Tribesman made it a habit to sleep late. She found it hard to understand how anyone could sleep when the sun was rising. Gar sat hugging his legs next to the doorway of the hut. She had no idea how long he had been there, but if she was to guess, she assumed he’d been there all night.

Tilo’s first instinct was to run over and hug Gar, but she held him back and ushered him ahead of her down to the main platform. It didn’t look like the stranger was in the mood for a child’s affection.

Gar nodded to her but his expression was unreadable. He seemed to exude hostility, and she figured it was best to let him alone for the time being. She smiled her usual good-natured smile at him and walked down the ramp to get the early store of fruit, water and nuts they were to have for their morning meal. Seema also noticed the unrolled fur mat on the other side of the door. Tyro and she both knew where Kai had been sleeping, but neither thought it appropriate to say anything.

And that moment didn’t seem like a good time to bring that up either.

The picture of the prince was the same upon their return from the lower platforms. He hadn’t moved an inch. She found many men had these surly times and it was best to wait till they spoke first.

Nagging or coaxing tended to draw them even farther away.

She set down the large leather flask of water and the bowl of food at one of the stone stools in the middle of the platform. After this she sat down herself and sent Tilo inside the hut for the grass mats and a knife to prepare what she had brought back. The collection had been good and the fruit fresh. Methodically she sliced the pieces of fruit and separated the nuts into five groups on five different mats. Tyro would be out soon to eat and then he’d be off with the warriors or out with his hunting group. And she and Tilo would start the rest of their morning.

It was the same as every other day except this time she had a quiet observer. When she was almost finished, Gar finally spoke.

“Does she ever come out of hiding?”

Seema didn’t look up but continued her work. She knew whom he meant.

“Orna may come out if it pleases her. It depends.

Sometimes she will, sometimes she won’t. If not, I’ll send her breakfast in with Tilo. She likes my son.”

“Oh,” was his reply, then he fell into silence again.

Not too long after their first exchange, Tyro emerged from the hut. He too noticed Gar sitting by the hut. By now Tilo had brought the stranger a mat of food and had placed it by his side. Gar accepted it, even forcing a smile for the kid, but had not eaten anything. The warrior sent to Seema and whatever her reply had been seemed to satisfy the large man. He sat and ate quietly. Gar assumed that even though there was nothing being said aloud the whole family was probably conversing and the topic was most likely him.

After he finished eating, Tyro patted Tilo’s head and journeyed down the ramp. At this point the little Aklesh took the last mat and brought it into the fourth hut, where he disappeared for a while.

“Is she unstable?” asked Gar. “Is he safe with her?”

“She’s fine,” said Seema, who had taken out some mending after she had brushed off the mats and put them away. “Not violent anyway. She likes it when Tilo feeds her. They seem to have an understanding.”

“How did she get like that?” asked Gar.

Knowing that the pain of his ordeals was something Kai didn’t like to share, she had been preparing for this question from Gar for some time.

“First off, you have to understand something about Kai,” she started. “He’s had a very difficult life…“

“I didn’t ask about Kai,” said Gar, dryly.

Seema continued with the mending. “If you want to hear this story, you are going to have to let me tell it my way. Now why don’t you come over here and eat something and I’ll continue.”

It was the first time he had ever heard firmness in her voice. She was treating him like a child, but in all fairness, he was kind of acting like one and he knew it.

He got up from where he was sitting. His muscles were stiff from having stayed in the same position for most of the night. He could only imagine how Kai had been feeling from lying on the mat night after night. Once he had stretched a little he brought the mat over and sat across from Seema.

“All right then,” he said. “Let’s hear the story. Kai had a difficult life…”

“Yes,” she said. “Kai was born the only child to Orna and Dael’thal. She was beautiful and he was strong. In fact, he was the lead warrior of the tribe for many years. The other warriors looked up to him. They wanted to be him. And several were jealous as well. They were both very much admired by the tribe. Much was expected of Kai, which I suppose was unfair, but that’s how it was.”

“When Kai was about nine or ten Dael took part of the great hunt which takes place just before the feast of Dryrise, towards the end our summer. It’s very dangerous. The chosen hunters seek the Rasclaan, a huge, fierce creature with long sharp tusks.”

Gar had a feeling he’d seen the creature before, in some variation, floating through the dreams that came from Kai. She went on.

“Apparently, it was an incredible battle from those who witnessed it. But tragedy struck and Dael was run through. He did not die instantly, but instead lingered in great pain.”

Gar interrupted. “What’s this have to do with Kai’s mother? Did his death make her lose her mind.” She smiled her sweet smile, taking his impatience in stride. “For most people who are connected mentally, especially those that are related directly, like a father and son, when one or the other dies, they sort of slip out of the person’s conciousness. It’s like they’ve traveled a very long distance away till they are simply gone. The absence is felt, of course, and missed, yet the survivor moves on. But there are very rare instances, and only in a few of those who have joined, where the other partner follows their mate into their death. I’ve been told that the experience is so horrible it is indescribable. The partner’s mind breaks, and they are never the same.” Seema looked at Orna’s hut as she said this, her expression sad. She felt great pity for the occupant.