common room to find Aneko sitting at the long table, sipping from an earthenware mug.
“ Oh, good. You’re awake,” Aneko said.
“ Where is Kami?” Jelena gasped, her entire body tingling with near-panic.
“ It’s all right, Jelena,” Aneko assured her. “Gendan just took Kami down to the bath house. She woke up feeling much better and begged Gendan to help her…now let’s see, how did she say it…‘wash the stink off me.’ She was very insistent.” Aneko smiled at the memory.
“ Oh, thank the gods…I mean, the One,” Jelena breathed. Her knees wobbled with relief. She plopped down on the bench beside Aneko, who poured her a mug. Jelena accepted it gratefully. She took a long swallow of the spicy beer, and as the drink hit her stomach, it began to growl with hunger. She tried to remember when she’d last eaten and decided that it had been two mornings ago. The stress of dealing with Kami’s illness had totally killed her appetite, until now.
“ Lord Ashinji was here, asking for you,” Aneko said.
Jelena looked up sharply. “When?”
“ About an hour ago. I told him you were still sleeping. I asked him if he wanted me to wake you, but he said no, to let you sleep.” Aneko paused and patted Jelena’s hand. “Tradition be damned, Jelena,” she murmured. “You and he belong together. I can see it in his eyes, how much he loves you.”
The time had not seemed right before now, because of Kami’s illness, to tell her friends of her betrothal to Ashinji, but now that Kami and her child were out of danger, Jelena could no longer hold back the news. She threw her arms around Aneko and cried, “Aneko, the most wonderful thing has happened! Ashinji and I are to be married!”
“ Oh, Jelena! Truly?” Aneko exclaimed, then stammered, “But…but, how? How did Lord Ashinji get his parents to agree to such a match?” She pulled away from Jelena, shaking her head in wonder.
“ Lord Sen was not very happy about it,” Jelena admitted, thinking back on the tense scene in the family room five days ago. “But Lady Amara and Ashinji, both, convinced him.”
“ Lord Sen obviously thinks very highly of you, Jelena. You saved his life, after all. If not for your arrow, that boar would have killed him, and we’d all be living under Lord Sadaiyo now. He didn’t need too much convincing, of that I’m certain.”
“ I am not a foolish person, Aneko,” Jelena sighed. She took another sip of her beer, a small one this time, for she still felt a little light-headed from the first swallow, and added, sadly, “I know I am not what Lord Sen would have chosen for his son. He wants, how do you say,
“ Don’t talk about yourself that way, Jelena,” Aneko admonished softly.
Jelena stared intently at the older woman, and a question she’d always been reluctant to ask stood poised on her lips. She let it go. “Why were you and Kami friends to me from the start? You and she…not once have you said anything unkind, never made me to feel…less than…you because of my human blood. Why is that?”
Aneko lowered her eyes and a little smile played about her generous mouth. “Kami and I are both Kerala born and bred, from long lines of border folk on both sides. Out here, most everyone has a little human blood in them, even if some folk refuse to acknowledge it openly. It hasn’t always been so unfriendly between our two homelands, you know, and we get regular trade from the human nomads that live out on the steppes beyond the mountains.”
Aneko leaned in close and whispered, “My great granddad was a steppe chieftain, so I’ve been told. My great grandma fell in love and ran off with him…lived with his tribe for over forty years. When he died, she and her four kids came back home to Kerala where she married a rich farmer and lived out the rest of her days.” She sat back, grinning. “So you see, my girl, I’m as much hikui as you.”
Jelena’s eyes widened with shock. “Do others know?” she murmured.
“ You mean others like Anda and Gendan?” Aneko shook her head. “No. I pass for okui very well. I’ve kept it to myself, mainly because no one’s ever asked, but if someone should, I’ll not lie. Here in Kerala, all folk have equal rights under the law. It’s not so in most other places. I’d have to lie if I ever went to live somewhere else, so it’s a good thing I never want to leave Kerala!”
“ Thank you for trusting me, Aneko. I will never tell anyone, I promise,” Jelena swore, grasping the other woman’s hands and squeezing.
Aneko’s strong hands, callused from years of weapons handling, squeezed back. “I trust you completely, Jelena, but don’t fret. I’m not ashamed of my blood, any more than you should be. By the way, Gendan told me what he said to you. He’s a good man, our captain. You can count on him, Jelena. He’ll be a true friend to you.”
“ No, no, no, you stubborn girl! I’ll not hear any more of this foolishness!”
Both women looked up in surprise as Gendan swept through the common room door, cradling Kami in his arms. He paused to look beseechingly at Aneko, then at Jelena. “Will you please tell this pig-headed girl that she’s in no condition to go back to work tomorrow?” he cried in exasperation. Jelena leaped up and ran over to embrace Kami as Gendan gently set her on her feet.
“ Thank you, Jelena,” Kami murmured, her voice still weak from illness. “Gendan said you stayed with me the whole time. You must be exhausted.”
“ I am much better now,” Jelena replied, wiping away tears of relief and happiness with the back of her hand.
“ Gendan won’t let me go back to work tomorrow,” Kami complained, her pale lips in a pout, but Jelena clearly saw the spark of resurgent mischief in her friend’s eyes. Jelena laughed and hugged the other girl again, and her heart swelled so full of joy, she marveled that it did not burst.
“ Maybe he’ll let you go back the day after tomorrow,” Aneko said.
“ P’raps,” Gendan replied, smiling.
Chapter 33
