“Two months.”
So she hadn’t come immediately, even after learning where he was. He understood, though. “You were that uncertain?”
She nodded.
He took a deep breath. “I’m glad that you’re alive.”
She reached out and took his hand. “You too.”
He felt the warmth in her hand and treasured it.
“What will you do next?” he asked.
She looked at him sheepishly. “I didn’t really think beyond this. I was sure you would kill me for abandoning you during the fight.”
Even as she said it, he felt the flicker of anger within. His whole adult life revolved around the idea of fighting beside others, trusting that they would protect you at all times. But he couldn’t be mad, not with Ana.
She bowed her head slightly, sipping at her tea while she thought. “What do you think I should do?”
The answer was out before he could think about it. “You could stay here.”
“I deserted my post. The empire will kill me when they find out. Your abbot already knows.”
“I don’t think you need to worry.” The more the idea sat in his thoughts, the more he approved. “You possess a strong affinity, which is exactly what the empire needs right now. Together, we can convince Kyla to let you stay. I think the empire will see the wisdom of the choice.”
Ana looked around the barren dining room. “It’s not exactly the life we were used to.”
“No, but it’s a way to serve the empire, even after what happened.”
Ana gave him a quizzical look. “The abbot told me some of what happened to you, but you’ve changed. You’re… calmer.”
Brandt retold his own story, detailing the struggles he had being a monk. By the time he finished, Ana was leaning in, eager to hear every word.
He could tell from her posture she was convinced. Now it was only a matter of letting her thoughts catch up.
“I’ll stay,” she declared.
He smiled. A few weeks of his memory might have disappeared, but he still knew his soldiers. “Let’s get to work, then.”
40
Sooni’s family left Rotger’s village the next day. From what Alena could observe, it looked as though Rotger was planning on moving soon, too. His family was beginning to pack their belongings into the carts scattered throughout the village.
Sooni had been the one who introduced her to the Etari concept of family. Family wasn’t blood, but some other relationship, a subset of a larger clan. Rotger’s family was much larger than Sooni’s, and Alena understood they were parts of different clans.
None of which stopped the previous night from being particularly loud. The meeting of different families was a very — physical — affair, Alena had learned.
Azaleth climbed nimbly onto the cart beside her, a spring in his step that she’d never seen before. The bruises on his face from his beating in Tonno had faded completely, and he had attracted the attention of two young women the night before.
Even among a new family, Alena was left alone. She noticed the stares and the obvious interest, but all she wanted to do at night was sleep.
Azaleth started the cart, flashing hand signs behind him as he did. Alena noticed Azaleth’s focus on one of the young women, and was surprised to feel a flash of jealousy.
Soon, though, Rotger’s village was gone and out of sight, and Azaleth was more talkative than usual. He spoke at length about any question she asked, which she appreciated.
Every morning she felt as though she was waking to a new mystery. If she closed her eyes, everything almost seemed familiar. She had ridden in carts before, and a horse smelled like a horse, no matter where in the world one was.
But when she opened her eyes, her whole world shifted. She found that she was beginning to get a taste for it.
Azaleth flashed her a smile that stretched from ear to ear. Alena had seen him use that same smile to great effect last night.
Still, it was an infectious smile. She’d seen him fight, but he still struck her as one of the most lighthearted souls she’d ever met. She returned the smile.
“Sooni says I’m supposed to teach you our language, and teach you how to fight.”
Alena gave Azaleth a doubting look. “Really?”
Yes, flashed his hands. Then he pointed at himself. “Azaleth.” He laughed.
She rolled her eyes.
Despite his inability to focus, Alena found Azaleth to be an effective tutor. He spoke imperial fluently, and learning the name for objects was a simple practice of memorization. Alena enjoyed Azaleth’s quizzes, and she figured that after a few days she had learned a few hundred words.
There wasn’t much else to do as the caravan trudged along.
The Etari language was easier to grasp than Alena expected. The structure was different than imperial. In Alena’s world, most sentences began with a noun followed by a verb. There were plenty of complications, of course, but the general rule held.
The Etari led with verbs, followed by the objects of the verbs. Unlike imperial, though, which had dozens of exceptions, the Etari language was strict.
The Etari also lacked some of the more abstract concepts Alena considered necessary. They didn’t have a word for honor, or family, as near as Alena could tell. The Etari “family” was a division of a clan, but as Alena had guessed, they weren’t formed around blood ties. They had a word for birth mother, but that was it.
At random times throughout the day, Azaleth would switch to speaking Etari with her. He spoke slowly, so she could make out the words easily enough, but it took her time to decipher them.
She thought she learned quickly, though. After just a few days she could hold a basic conversation with him.
But knowing the language and being able to communicate were two very different tasks. She figured over half of Etari communication was nonverbal, and that was the hardest barrier for her to cross.
In imperial culture, it was considered rude to meet the gaze of a superior. As such, Alena realized she had developed a habit of glancing down
