The Sah'niir: The Devoted Trilogy, Book Two by Kim Wedlock

Author:Kim Wedlock [Wedlock, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

The atmosphere in the chamber quickly thickened, but the silence was at least occasionally broken by light hearted giggling and accusations of cheating.

"Little chipmunk," the Root Mother sang gleefully ten minutes later as she tossed the rock up into the air and snatched three knucklebones from the ground, "what fun is there in cheating when I can win so much more easily by simply moving faster than you?" She handed her the rock with a mischievous grin as Aria poked out her tongue, and waited as the girl took her turn to toss the rock. It rose notably higher this time, and she snatched three pieces herself before it landed back in the palm of her hand. Hlífrún narrowed her eyes at Aria's collection of eight bones, and the seven in her own possession. "Now I think you might be cheating."

"May I ask a question?" The girl began politely as they gathered the scattered pieces for a fresh game. "Are you the Lady?"

"She can't be, Aria, the Lady is a group of sisters," Petra reminded her softly from beside the stairs, still smiling at the girl's infectious joy.

"Actually, I am they, and they are I. My presence in the trees is stronger in some than in others."

Petra's eyes widened as a sense of sudden inferiority kicked her in the head. It seemed to miss Aria, however, who continued her rather brazen questioning thoroughly unperturbed. "In that case, if you're a god, why do you leave them and make the Arkhamas follow you?"

"Ah, but I am not a god, and I don't leave or make them follow me. In fact, if you asked them, they'd say I'm not the Lady at all." Hlífrún scattered the fifteen knucklebones. "But I'm always there. And as seasons change and life grows, the strength of life in the trees change. Some go to sleep sooner than others, some don't sleep at all, and so my presence shifts to whomever is most receptive."

Aria nodded a little too easily. "And looking after their dreams?"

"The Arkhamas believe what they will," she sighed. "I don't know what lies in the next life any more than you do. But I would wager that, should they live as they're supposed to, whatever comes next will be kind to them. And as long as 'the Lady' continues to live in their hearts, they will do just that. Watching over their dreams is just a comfort."

"So it's...not real?"

Hlífrún smiled at her knot of concern. "It's as real as they believe it is. That's why it's a comfort."

"...So do you look after their dreams?"

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Perhaps. I've no idea what I get up to while I sleep. Perhaps I do gather them up and that's why so few of my own dreams make sense. Listen to me, chipmunk," she leaned forwards and fixed her with a gaze that exuded a sudden, endless wisdom, as though she were much, much older than the ruins in which they played. "Some things, you should never try to understand.

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