Ringlander: The Path and the Way (An Epic Fantasy Adventure) (The Ringlander Series Book 1) by Michael S. Jackson

Author:Michael S. Jackson [Jackson, Michael S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2021-04-26T23:00:00+00:00

Twine

Kyira’s group sat together with a small circle of refugees around a new fire. The space was barely thirty paces from the road and had a clear way in and out so they could get ahead of the main glut of traffic, that was if they managed to leave before dawn.

Kyira squatted by the Mother’s head. Her breathing was shallow, her expression tight with pain. “Quiet now. Save your breaths and rest.”

“She can’t hear you,” said the Sulitarian woman who had saved Kyira from the fire. The babe still sat nestled quietly in her arms wrapped in a bundle of charred rags. “There’s no helping her.”

Kyira looked up. “Why not?”

The woman flashed a wise smile. “It’s alright, you don’t need to whisper. The babe won’t awaken tonight. She’s had enough ox milk to feed a village.” She nodded over to two oxen on the other side of the camp.

Kyira recognised the two men and the animals as the ones that had almost run her down. “You think Lyla will die?” said Kyira, still whispering.

“I didn’t say that. I said there’s no helping her.” The woman unravelled a length of twine from beneath her leather skirts. “The fates own her now, it is not for us to say or not say whether she will survive. I am still hopeful, of course. My sister, she, how do you Ringlanders say it, met the earth in much the same way. The child lived, though, thank the fates.” She measured a few arm lengths of twine and looped a ballknot so that each strand hung from it, then anchored the ball between her muddy toes and began plaiting the lengths together.

Kyira frowned. “I do not believe in fates. What would happen to the world if we all left our decisions to the fates. Nothing would get done.”

The woman paused, looking at Kyira as if she were able to see right inside her. “You are correct, in a way. But also you are wrong. The fates may not seem to care for the little things, but it is those little things that decide the futures of us all.” She resumed plaiting, and the motion created a gentle rocking.

If the fates were real, then they had a lot to answer for. “You are good at that,” she said, changing the subject.

“I should be, I have been doing it since I was but a quarter of your age, Kyira.”

The babe let out a long, sweet sigh.

“What happened to the babe — your sister’s babe?”

“He might have become mine had I not six of my own, so he was mostly cared for by the town.” She smiled again. “We call those children without parents the Avere. The whole town cares for them, feeds them, clothes them. Sometimes they live in this house, sometimes that house. They usually grow up fat.” The corners of her mouth creased, and Kyira felt herself smiling along with her.

“You children, were they in Makril? Did they…”

The woman frowned. “Die? Oh no. They left home many moons ago to follow their own ways.

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