The Present

Áómki could still remember the quiet times. Maybe she wouldn’t, years down the road, for the trauma of the past few days were now so pervasive in her mind that she felt eventually, perhaps, it was all she would remember. The Dras didn’t want that for herself though. She wanted to remember the quiet. The still. The nights under the stars in those sleepy lands between her home and her love’s. The stolen times. The secrets. Áómki wanted to remember… She would remember.

Two Weeks Prior...

Its funny, Áómki thought, looking back over her shoulder toward the marketplace, how sometimes things just fall into place. Right place. Right time. Everything seems to make sense.

There was a private smile curving her lips as she hauled her pack up high on her shoulder, turning back to face the path towards Olne. It had been a good day. The best day, really. She could feel a swell of emotion rising, surging up from the soles of her feet to the ends of her pitch dark hair. It was difficult, she found, making herself walk away from the stalls selling wares in the crossroads near Menas. But she knew, soon enough, she would be back. For now, however, there was no way the Dras could get away without bringing her purchases home. Her family would flay her, and she’d never make it back to Menas without their ire.

Áómki was bundled with a dark scarf wrapped around her head and matching breeches, boots, and a long sleeved doublet - a veritable oven for her to bake in. It was necessary, however, due to the glaring sunlight which threatened to scorch her skin with too much exposure. Better to be toasted and have her skin attached, than boil and bubble under the onslaught of light. Even so, Angelica was hot and burning bright overhead in the midday sky, leaving the Dras’s skin with an uncomfortable ache. She discovered with a rush of delight that she didn’t care. Nothing could bother her now. Thus, Áómki went on, smiling so much that her pale cheeks began to hurt.

It felt like a long journey by foot back to Olne, but that was okay today. While normally she’d have groaned and complained the whole way back, body aching, feet burning, all she could think about was how perfect the day had been. When she had left her home village in the shadowed hours of that morning, she imagined it’d be as it always was. Walking, walking, walking. Trade for an hour or so. Then, more walking, walking, walking, until at last she dumped her pack on her parents’ table, and they anxiously dug through to see what she’d managed to get. Instead, as she had poured the buckles, pins, and other small bog iron crafts out onto the second trader’s counter of the day, she’d looked up and met a Janoa girl’s golden eyes.

Then, the world had reeled, shifted, and changed all at once.

New

“Hello,” the Janoa managed in Jenu, her feline-like eyes flickering over Áómki from the top of her scarf to the dirty ends of her charcoal colored shoes. Then the gaze swept back up, locking with Áómki’s eyes, violet and yellow, the colors perfectly complementary.

The was the breathless span of a few heartbeats. Áómki struggled to retrieve a gleaming broach she had fumbled with when the Janoa looked her way. “Hi,” she said back in the Janoa’s own tongue, her voice catching in her throat with an unexpected lump of anxiety.

It was like an invisible chord was had snapped up between them. It was a palpable presence, suddenly having appeared when they were in proximity. Now all either girl could do was stare at the other, stunned.

Finally drawing herself back to the present moment, Áómki looked back to the trader who was picking through her various metal wares. They pointed at a few items, quoting a trade rate, and the Dras barely registered it as background noise. “Sure,” she said in Neran, briefly turning back to the food trader. The merchant handed the Dras a big bundle wrapped in oil cloth, picking up several of her small metal wares.

Áómki still needed to trade with the weaver and the apothecary, but she was too distracted by her heartbeat which surged with such force it sent waves down her skin. She turned hastily back to the Janoa, stepping away from the food stall.

Wordlessly, the two walked together towards a grove of trees just a little ways from the marketplace, their footsteps falling eerily in stride with one another as if they’d walked beside their opposite for eternity.

“I’m Áómki,” the Dras finally said as they reached the shade of the towering trees.

“Senyaova,” the Janoa replied, seemingly breathless. Suddenly, she reached out and touched Áómki’s cheek with her fingertips. Her bronze skin showcased slightly darker stripes which grew more prominent as her skin flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, I’m so sorry. It was just… It was like instinct.”

Áómki’s skin burned from far more than the sun now. Even in the shade, it felt as though she were baking as her own blush lit her pale cheeks to a brilliant crimson. “No, it’s okay. I…” Swallowing hard, the Dras choked out, “It felt nice. You can touch me again if you want.”

The Dras felt simultaneously insane, overwhelmed, breathless, enraptured, and suddenly like she’d never known herself before. With this Janoa, Senyaova, standing in front of her, it was like she was truly coming to understand her existence for the first time.

“Where are you from?” Senyaova asked, timidly stepping forward to once again touch Áómki’s face. She traced the line of the Dras’s brow, sweeping a thumb down to follow the contour of her cheekbones and nose.

“Olne,” Áómki breathed, shivering at the other woman’s touch. “What about you?” Her voice was breathy as she tried to steady her pulse, but all she could seem to focus on was the electrifying touch.

Senyaova gave a smile, flashing bright white teeth. With her free hand, she tucked an errant strand of her dark hair behind an ear. “Quone, just across the way.”

“Not too far,” Áómki offered, leaning into the offered touch.

“Not too far,” Senyaova reflected back, beginning to unravel the Dras’s scarf. “How often do you come to the marketplace?”

“Usually once a week, towards the end. But, lately I’ve started coming twice.”

“That’s probably why I’ve never seen you before. I usually come right at the beginning of the week, but only every two or so - mostly just to get away and see what’s going on. Something to get away from hunting every now and then.” The Janoa continued to smile, looking as though she was bristling with untapped energy. “I never expected to… To meet you.”

As she said this, Senyaova finished unwrapping the scarf from the Dras’s hair. A spill of curls immediately bound free, framing Áómki’s face.

“Me?” Áómki felt heat rise to her cheeks again as she found Senyaova was staring at her, golden eyes wide and lips parted. “What do you mean, me?”

“You’re… So… Stunning,” Senyaova fought to find her voice again, dragging her eyes away from Áómki. She fidgeted with the hem of her leather tunic, digging a sandaled toe into the dirt. As she began to speak again, she looked almost hesitant, a little nervous. “You don’t know… You can’t feel what we are?”

Áómki had a suspicion what Senyaova was getting at, and she’d had the thought herself. But, it was so rare. There was just no way that could be the case. But, that chord. That connection.

“We’re… Soulmates, aren’t we…” Áómki whispered, a hand coming up at last to touch Senyaova back.

Senyaova gave a nod and swayed as her knees buckled. Quickly catching her composure, she murmured, “That has to be what this is.”

“It does,” Áómki agreed. Suddenly lacking her usual timidness, Áómki found her long, willowy fingers in the Janoa’s perfectly straight chestnut locks. With a subtle tug that she knew came by her own hand, yet somehow felt as if it was an unconscious action, Áómki brought Senyaova against her.

In the shade of the trees, their fingers tangled into each other’s hair and their lips met. Despite being the first kiss either of them had ever shared, not just with each other, but with anyone, the connection lacked any of that messy awkwardness that all to often came with the birth of something new. Instead, it was as fluid as someone weaving their own fingers together in prayer. It was a knot being tied. It was the tide crashing against the shore, again and again, in perfect harmony.

When at last they pulled away, both found they had tears brimming. They reached for each other simultaneously, trying to wipe the other’s misty eyes. Instead, they both laughed.

“This is…” Áómki started.

“Unbelievable?” Senyaova finished.

They laughed again, each wiping at their own eyes.

“I have to finish my trading and walk home, though, or my parents won’t let me come back out to trade,” Áómki said, a distinct tone of irritation in her voice.

“Yea, I can’t stay away from the hunt too long. But… Maybe we could… Meet up at night somehow? Do you have a mount?”

Áómki shook her head. “I don’t. Our trison was old and recently died, and we’ve not been able to afford getting a new one which is why I am trading more these days. I have to come here on foot.”

“What if…” Senyaova’s eyes grew large again like when she’d let Áómki’s hair down. “What if I give you my horse next time we meet? I…” She gave a devious grin, “May have stolen it from a Neran town waaaay far off from here, so… No one will recognize it. And, I’ve got access to more mounts back in my village.”

“You’d do that… for me?” Áómki asked.

“Of course,” Senyaova replied without a single moment of hesitation. “Do you think you could come back tomorrow night?”

As she thought about it, Áómki wasn’t sure she could make it happen or not. But, she knew she’d try. “I’ll do my best.”

“Right here at these trees. I’ll bring my horse, Yéya Ni, and a second. Let’s say… Ten? Can you get here around that time?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Áómki promised.

Senyaova grabbed Áómki once more and kissed her, releasing her only when they were both breathless. “Go. Finish your trading.”

Áómki hesitated. “I don’t want to have to go. We’ve only just found each other and it seems too… Too soon to go.”

“We’ll have so much more time together. Don’t worry.” Her smile was brilliant, her cheeks rosy. She gave a mirthful laugh. “Now that we’ve found each other, we’ve got all the time in the world to get to know each other.”

“You’re right,” Áómki said with a nod, then grinned back at Senyaova as she wound her scarf back around her head. “Starting tomorrow night, we’ll learn everything we can about each other.”

They kissed one more time, and as Áómki returned to her trade, she said a prayer to the Two Fold Queen. Touching both her black jet and white bone bracelets in turn, she murmured her prayer, quiet enough that only the wind could hear.

“May Senyaova become as a balance to each other. May she be the light to my darkness. May this meeting allow me better to serve you. May this be a manifestation of your desire for me to grow closer to my cousins, the Janoa. May it be… May it be.”

To Be Continued...

[Updates will be added and then linked as they are released.]