Songweaver's Awakening

Chapter 19 - Rajheem

The mare's hooves shone dully beneath the overcast sky, her feet beating a staccato against the packed sand of the courtyard.  She was gold from head to tail, her coat the same color as the walls of Helen's palace.  Rajheem could see why Antuk had named her one of Jahn's finest.  The lean movement of her muscles beneath her shining coat was a pleasure to see.  She moved as gracefully as a hawk soaring through the air, each stride flowing and smooth.  Antuk, in her customary white cotton, was a small shape on the horse's back, nearly indistinguishable when Rajheem squinted his eyes.  Her hand movements were slight as she pulled the mare into a sharp turn and then a stop directly in front of Rajheem.

“What do you think?”  Antuk asked with a smile.  She leaned down to pat the mare on the neck.  The mare snorted and tossed her head.

Rajheem laughed.   “She's beautiful.  She has something of your attitude, I think.”  His joy made him forget a little about the pain in his jaw.

Antuk made a face at him before swinging over the high-backed saddle and dismounting.  “She's not quite used to me yet.  The name Jahn gave her was 'Heart of the Desert'”.  Antuk wrinkled her nose and shook her head.  “Can you imagine spitting that out every time you wanted to talk to a beast?  I've named her Tavea.  It means 'golden' in my tongue.  Not very imaginative of me, I'm afraid.”

“No, not very,” Rajheem replied.

“Did you come just to mock me, or did you have any other purpose in mind?”  Antuk turned to lead the mare back to the stables and Rajheem followed.

He sobered.  “Are you leaving soon?”

Antuk did not look him in the eye.  “Ah, so that's it.  Yes, I am.  It's a good time to be getting out of Hajinn.  I'll be heading north, up toward the mountains and the border villages.”

“Why is it a good time to be getting out of Hajinn?”

 Antuk stopped and gazed up at the sky.  “Bad weather you've been having here.”

Rajheem looked up at the sky, heavy with clouds, then back at Antuk, his brows raised.   “It's always like that in the winter.  Day after day of clouds, but no rain.  It never rains.”

“Not this year,” Antuk said.  “This year, it will.”  She began to walk again, tugging at Tavea's reins.  “It was the only foreseeing Helen was able to get from me, over a year ago, when I first came to the palace.”

“It's going to rain?” Rajheem asked breathlessly, jogging to catch up to her.  “When?  How much?”

 Antuk cast him a withering glare.  “Do I look like a weather vane to you?  All I know is that this year it will rain.  My Sight does not tell me much more.”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to...insult you or anything.”  He fell into step behind her, watching the mare's hooves kick up dust.  “Antuk, what's a weather vane?”

Antuk laughed.   “It's something they use in Talia to tell what direction the wind is blowing.  Little enough to do with rain, I suppose, but it was the first thing that came to my mind.”  She looked back at him as she led Tavea into the stables.  “Don't you have anything better to do?  I've got to get Tavea cleaned up and I have to get some rest.  I'm not usually up and about during the day.  I won't be a very interesting conversationalist.”

Rajheem stopped in the entryway.  “I don't mean to get in your way.”

“No, that's not what I meant by it.”  Antuk sighed and then shrugged.  “You're sixteen now, Rajheem.  Shouldn't you be out in the courtyard playing with the other boys?  The Raja doesn't often give you an afternoon off.  You don't have to spend the time with me.  Half the time I'm mostly asleep.”