Journey of the Messenger Cycle 2 Part 6a

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Berri

Berri really disliked being talked down to. Not for the first time, she felt like punching her host, her temporary keeper, sometimes teacher. She knew better though. Things may have gone more smoothly than she initially feared, upon arriving at the West Port Kereshi enclave, but she had been told right from the start that her position within the community was conditional. Whether or not she was allowed to stay in the enclave or continue being an initiate was largely dependent on good reports from the two demas she had been assigned, and of course Merhaj.

The main problem with Merhaj was that she was a bigot, who thought very highly of herself. Right from the moment they were introduced it was clear the young woman did not like her, nor was she impressed with having to host Berri in the small apartment she shared with the two men. Two Kereshi men.

So, Berri pretended to be oblivious to her host’s tone and asked as best she could, “Have I given wrong?”

Immediately there was an angry flash deep within Merhaj’s eyes, Berri had misspoken one or more of the words she had tried to say. The young woman, Berri did not think she was yet twenty, looked towards the ceiling, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She returned a scornful gaze to Berri, her frown deepened. She then made a curt gesture to the gear that was spread across the floor and spoke rapidly.

Too rapidly for Berri to understand anything. She blinked a couple of times.

Merhaj clenched her jaw and hissed a curse, then spoke very slowly, “Please clean up your mess.”

“Oh. Yes mistress, my yams, apologies.”

Too bad, this time in the morning the natural light was best. She carefully packed everything up, took it back to the small dark cubical that was her room then went back to the common area. In the short interval she had been gone Merhaj had once again shed her clothes, she was always getting naked, even when it was too cold to be comfortable. The Kereshi did that a lot, so she had learned. They also complained about how cold it was here in the north.

Berri found the local weather to be rather mild as compared home this time of year.

She sat on one of the pillows, the main room was furnished with many. There was a pile of blankets and a large rug covered most of the floor. She did not know if it was typical of Kereshi or if Merhaj just could not afford furniture. Certainly the citadel had chairs and benches and the Kereshi sat in them like normal folks would. At the last moment she remembered not to lean back against the wall, crossed her legs and sat with a straight spine instead. Merhaj hated it when she leaned against the wall.

Berri watched as the young Kereshi inspected her body, took note of the very short growth or hair she obviously found unseemly and then called out,”Dovarr, attend me.”

The younger of the two men appeared with a small silver tray, on which there was an assortment of tools, brushes and combs. He set about the task of removing the small amount of body hair that had recently grown. Berri watched, she had to admit, at least to herself, that Merhaj was a beautiful woman. She had a warrior’s body, lean and strong, she had small breasts and perhaps the prettiest face Berri had ever seen.

After the body hair had been removed, Dovarr brushed and combed Merhaj’s long hair, made three braids and pinned them into place atop the woman’s head. Berri was there until after the midday meal. Supposedly their mornings were to be taken up with instruction from Merhaj about various aspect of Kereshi culture. The woman had given up on that after the third morning, when she had concluded that Berri would need to understand the Kereshi language better, before she could be properly instructed.

The front door opened and Jun called out, “Just me. Back from the market. Food will be ready soon.”

Jun was older than Dovarr by about a decade and Dovarr was older than Merhaj by about the same amount, maybe a bit more. Berri was unsure what the relationship between her and the two men were. Certainly they were not lovers, if anything she treated them more like servants, though there seemed to be some level of affection between Jun and Merhaj.

Merhaj was brushed down with a lightly fragrant oil and then Dovarr retreated to the front room where he would no doubt be helping Jun prepare the meal. Merhaj draped a length of cloth over a shoulder then sat down on a pillow across the room from Berri. The two of them regarded one another in silence for long moments. They could hear the men chit-chatting quietly.

Merhaj asked her something but Berri missed it, too surprised the woman had decided to talk to her at all. Berri stumbled around the phrase she most often used, “Sorry, but I not speak the song of the goddess well. Could you repeat, please?”

Merhaj muttered, then repeated herself more slowly, “You would look better if you removed your body hair. Dovarr could do it for you, he is very…”

Berri repeated the words to herself, the word for hair she had to infer, but Merhaj had made gestures towards her armpits and legs and it had not been that great of a leap for her to make the connection. Whatever the last word had been she did not think she had heard it before. She had no idea how she should reply, then she calmed her mind as best as she was able, “I like my yard.”

“Hair.”

“Yard.”

“Hair.”

“Hair.”

“Correct.”

Thank the goddess.

“You would look less like an animal, more like a woman.”

Berri seethed, maybe she misunderstood the word animal.

Thankfully the two men brought the food, one laid out a cloth, the other held the little table. Berri thought it was more of a large tray with legs. The four of them gathered close around the tray-table and ate in silence. Berri really liked the spicy bean paste and flat bread which seemed to be a common food among the Kereshi. Today there was also fish, but no vegetables.

When the meal was done, Berri thanked the men while Merhaj gave a dismissive wave. They gathered the table and cloth and retreated to the front room. Berri smiled and waited expectantly.

“What have you learned today, Berri?”

“I have learned of the grace and wisdom of the goddess. Also the word hair.”

“Very good. I will walk you to your lessons now.”

“Thank you.”

Berri retrieved her lute from her little room then went to the door and put on her new coat, she double checked to make sure her knife was still in the pocket. Merhaj had dressed in traditional garments, and was wearing her two swords, Berri was again struck by how beautiful she appeared. After saying goodbye to the men they made their way to the old temple.

Berri hoped she would be able to see Ijah today, it had been an eight-day since she had arrived, nearly two since Berri had shown up. She was under the vague impression Ijah might be in trouble, though she did not know for sure. Ijah said that she was being debriefed. There had been a lot of information in the messengers satchel they had delivered and Ijah’s people had a lot of questions.

Merhaj strode down the street like she was the queen of the world. Periodically people would greet her, but unless those greetings came from a fellow Kereshi the young woman rarely acknowledged them. Berri greeted everyone they passed, mostly to be polite, but also because she knew it annoyed Merhaj. As they approached the ancient temple the number of true Kereshi increased. There were other northern folk, like herself, but they were similarly initiates of one sort or another.

Dema Loht had set herself up in the courtyard again, Berri was always happy to see the older woman, especially after spending the mornings with Merhaj. Loht had many students, mostly northerners, to whom she taught traditional Kereshi music. She tended to be in a good mood most days, she smiled often and taught with encouragement, rather than scorn.

After bidding her keeper goodbye, Berri greeted the other women she usually practised with and sat with them. Dema Loht passed by, bidding her good afternoon. Berri quickly tuned her lute and joined the others midway through one of the songs, pleased she could do so, she had been making great progress since she had been under Loht’s tutelage.

They played music, Loht would come by periodically and listen for a while, then if she felt the need, she would suggest something for one of her students to try. Typically, there was a notable improvement almost immediately. If there were no suggestions she would smile and nod then move on to the next group.

All too quickly the practice was over, Dema Loht clapped her hands, “Good job, ladies. Most of you should be going to your next lesson. I encourage you all to practice for a while, later today. Goddess Bless.”

She received a chorus of “Blessings of the Goddess.” in response. A few of the women went to her while most of the others, including Berri, packed up their instrument and headed off to their next class. For Berri, that meant linguistics.

She went into the old temple and then up to the second level, Dema Kahlanah held her lessons in three fairly small rooms, it was a much more subdued class than the music lessons. As Berri sat at the table where she usually studied, Kahlanah handed her a sealed message, “A letter was delivered for you this morning. I’ll give you a while to mull through it, then, if you need, I can help you.”

“Thank you, Dema.” Berri had been expecting a message, Moon had said she would write to her if Berri had been unable to return within an eight-day. She broke the seal and unfolded it carefully, the paper felt nice. There were more words than she had expected. Her brain was all twisted about looking at the Maldorn words, it took a few moments before she was able to start picking out things she understood or recognized. Even so, when Kahlanah returned she had only puzzled out a few words.

Together the two of them went through it word by word; Moon was missing her, hoped to see her soon and had made a couple new acquaintances. She thanked Berri, again, for helping her get better accommodations. She had also been able to get the tickets to the orchestral performance she had been talking about, she hoped Berri would still be able to attend. Followed by the date of the performance, four days from today.

Kahlanah made her copy the letter, compose a reply and then rewrite the reply on a nice square of paper. When she was done her head was aching and she was dismayed by how poor her letters were as compared to Moon’s beautifully flowing script. Kahlanah showed her how to label it for delivery, “It will be sent out tomorrow. I know we did not work on any of the usual things, our allotted time is nearly done and I think it better if you take a walk or go do some stretches.”

“Thank you, Dema.” She was happy to be going, she put her coat on, grabbed her lute and headed to the courtyard. Once outside she did breathing excises and stretched for a while, just basic postures. The headache receded.

Ijah came out from the old temple, spotted Berri and walked over, “I’ve been hearing good things about you, Berri.”

“You have?”

Ijah smiled, “Yes, but we can talk about that later. I’m told you’ve been staying with the family and unless you’re busy, I was hoping you would show me the way.”

“Well, I’m not sure they’re a family and if you’re moving in with us its going to to be on the crowded side. Also the woman in charge is a pain in my behind. She’s kind of mean.”

“Well, still. I’d like to see my husbands and daughter.”

“Your what!?”

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