***

Janurana’s eyes flickered open and she noticed Dekha’s gentle trotting rocking her up and down. She felt as if she was in the back of a covered cart as a child, sleeping on a pile of pillows and faded back into sleep.

She opened her eyes again, seeing nothing but the inside of her parasol. As she lifted her head she could see the trail gently passing by under her. Janurana sat up, parasol over her shoulder, and rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the full light of the day. The sun had traveled further through the sky, past midday.

“You carried me up?” Janurana yawned.

“Yeah?” Dhanur rolled her eyes, but she relented at her tone. “Did uh, the parasol help? I know ya really like it and ya looked kinda sick there for a bit.”

“Yes, it did. Thank you so much.” Janurana smiled, tilting her head to show her appreciation as Dhanur curled her lips in.

“That excitement crash hits hard after a fight. Bit different fighting a person than an animal, yeah?”

“I suppose so. Oh! Your arm!”

“I just had you over one side.” Dhanur patted her right shoulder, still missing her scaled armor.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It must have been such a chore to haul me back up with you.”

Dhanur looked away and thought back. She had nearly slipped on the second jump after a fish smacked into her leg, and she fell forward on the last jump with no way to catch herself with Janurana on her back. She had cursed while spitting out the gravel.

“Um…” she stalled.

Dhanur had then started climbing and paused when she felt Janurana’s limp arms loosen from around her shoulders. She fumbled to catch her and cursed.

“It was…” she continued.

She tied Janurana to her with her leather armor’s ties… Then watched pieces of her armor sprinkle back to the ground. She groaned and cursed.

When she reached the top, she gently placed the unconscious woman on the ground, and climbed back down to the cliff side to gather her armor pieces, then climbed all the way back up with them in her teeth before realizing she could have just tied them back on before she came back up. She cursed.

“It was fine.”

“Well, that’s good. If you’re sure,” Janurana said. She brushed the loose fibers from Dekha’s bags off the front of her sari, then noticed the hole Dhanur had torn in it back at her home, but mentally slotted it as the normal wear and tear. “When do you think we’ll reach this temple?”

“Tomorrow.”

“So quickly?”

“The Borderlands ain’t that big.”

“That’s excellent!” Janurana clapped her hands together. “I’m so grateful, Madam Dhanur.” She stared off into the distance, seeing the mountain at the end of the trail grow larger with each step. A whiff of something off in the air broke her reverie. “Dhanur. Does Dekha require washing?”

“Ya know, I’ve never smelled him. It’s uh… it’s probably me. Haven’t bathed since the inn. Ya know, with everything happening.” Her voice lowered. “Sorry. I’ll clean up at the temple.”

Janurana spun her parasol and tried to focus her nose. No, it wasn’t Dekha. It was certainly coming from Dhanur’s direction. But it didn’t quite smell of unwashed hair or sweat. It wasn’t pleasant, but wasn’t wholly repulsive, like food that would soon start rotting. Regardless, it had been a while since she had smelt someone else’s unwashed hair and it could have been blowing from further down the trail. That wasn’t a pleasant thought.

“It appears no one from the Capital is following us,” Janurana said.

“Guess not. Probably woulda caught up with us by the canyon. Did see one group of scouts in the distance. I couldn’t tell if they were ours or not, you know, Daksinian. But I pulled us behind some bushes until they were gone. Didn’t seem to be looking for us though.”

Neither Dhanur nor Janurana could tell if that was a good or bad thing.

“We may as well pass the time. Your last tale on how you obtained Dekha was intriguing.” She patted the bags on his side, instead of his hide. “I’m certain you have plenty more.”

Dhanur shrugged, then winced. She drew in a breath to belay the pain and continued, “Not much to tell. Left the temple when I was old enough, was good with the bow so I didn’t have too much trouble traveling ‘round. Got annoying when I needed a seal or someone else to let me into a city like, ya know, going in with a trader but it was fine, easy to climb over some walls.” She smirked at her past antics.

“I’m sure you must have had a plethora exploits worth regaling me with.”

“Some who worth what?”

Janurana decided to just watch her words. “Had some fun?”

“Oh! I guess, yeah. Protected traders, raided for, raided against cities, explored, fought in the war…”

“We don’t have to talk about that.”

“No, no.” Dhanur shook her head. “It’s fine. You don’t know about it. You probably should, though. Kinda important.”

Janurana settled into the bags further, her expression becoming somber with Dhanur’s lowered tone.

“Nobles, they drafted me when Daksin started marching. I was already fit for fighting so they raised me up to a full warrior rather than a commoner with a spear since I didn’t need training. I was fine with it. Could get a nice big place and more shells when it was over and I was already good at fighting so, yeah.”

“And the south won.”

Dhanur stared off into the distance. “I fought people before, you know, in raids. For taxes, others for land disputes. They said some stupid reasons to make people fight this time. Said it was against the Uttaran spirit worshipers.” She rolled her eyes. “Ya know, wasn’t many spirits down here even before the fires. So all the Light’s followers hopped onto that. Even a lot of the Ascetics. They helped push back the spirits. That made the excuse for fighting seem real, like the Light was actually kicking them out. The Light’s supposed to help people though, not hurt them, even if they don’t like the Light. I’m glad they were helping when I was fighting a spirit, but still. So we went back and forth in the Borderlands here, took some of their cities south of the jungle and kicked ‘em out, lost them again but took them back again. I did raiding, so that wasn’t too bad. They had a whole north to live in and we beat them in the fight. Fair’s fair on that. And they beat us in plenty of fights. Wasn’t fun having to take a city and lose it and get it back again. But if they wanna keep doing it, then fine by me. I didn’t even notice how stupid it all really was ‘til the dowsing fires.” She kicked a stone in her path, not sure if it was a stone or a charred bone from some poor creature that couldn’t escape the flames. “What’s the point’a trying to take land if ya just burn it??” Dhanur lamented loudly, scowling at the decrepit trees still struggling to recover. “And some’a your own lands too?? Don’t matter if they border the north! Fire spreads and I don’t burn half my house to chase off a rat!”

“Mmn.” Janurana bit her lip and scraped at her cuticles. “Well, the plateau was far from the prettiest before.” Janurana chuckled, grim humor hardly lightening her mood. No canyon or crag stopped the blaze.

“Apparently it was to ensure victory. Guess Hegwous and Gehsek couldn’t take going back and forth anymore. They figured the fires would take out the bulk of the Uttaran army and kill off the spirits helping them too.”

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“Of course she would survive,” Janurana whispered to herself and pursed her lips. She continued, “I thought you were winning with the Ascetics in your ranks.”

“Me too!” Dhanur shouted, meeting Janurana’s eyes and walking backwards to stay in the conversation. “It was hard going, yeah, but it looked like we were pushing them back bit by bit. Northerners are great fighters, can’t let them single you out. And kill yourself quick if you’re up against Clan Rhino or Kalia. But they didn’t work together much. Push them against a wall and they all fight, but not for long. They all come at you like they’re alone, or each clan will do its own thing, even when they’re together. Probably because of all the different clans. Heard the ruling one was tryin’ to change that but we were way more solid. It’s the houses that hate each other not the people in the cities! And near the end we were one canyon away from Vatram. It was hard but so was the whole war! And those gwomoni monsters still burned everything!”

“It seems as though the people Inside didn’t really care.”

“You’ve been Inside and Outside before. Only traders go in and out for more than firewood. Not like vetalas are new,” Dhanur scoffed. “Most people don’t have friends or families in other cities so the small ones that got scorched down here don’t even register to them. Yeah, we got refugees that live in the temples now. But most are happy the Outside got burned. Means they’ve got more reason not to go out. They wouldn’t be mad about that.”

Janurana couldn’t deny that. Even before the fires, the Outside was still a dangerous land. One was as likely to meet a wandering vetala or a chattering Imp as they were to find a herd of elephants or, very rarely, a vaguely helpful southern spirit. There was a balance of power she had to learn and navigate, and many times she only survived her lesson because she was a gwomoni. But that balance was completely thrown off and the animals were more rabid than before, the ones that survived.

“Don’t know if you’d know how the common people think, being Outside and being a noble and all. Light lost noble freaks.” Dhanur turned and spat the words from her mouth like venom from a Kalia’s serpent fangs.

“What?” Janurana held her parasol closer, as though the words were a physical blow.

Dhanur broke herself from her scowl. “The gwomoni. Just because the nobles are dowsin’ gwomoni now.”

“What?” Janurana leaned forward trying to peek around Dekha’s head. “I thought you said the Maharaj wasn’t one of them.”

“She’s not!” Dhanur spun around, loosing her stare into Janurana like a flaming arrow. Janurana leaned back and Dhanur let out a sigh. “She’s… We failed to take them out. But she’s young and not sick, so they wiped her mind. You saw. I guess none of the houses wanted to risk getting too much power by naming a new ruler and making themselves a target.”

“But, you told me about the ones from which you procured Dekha. They were isolated.”

“Maybe.” Dhanur rubbed the back of her neck, giving Dekha a tug on his rope. “Didn’t really ask them. But they had nice clothes. I’ve seen a few running around Outside. Also saw people running around out here, and bulls that probably had a home once.” Dhanur sighed again and shook her head. “Figured you’d know this, being noble. Guess they keep secrets from everyone. What? Were you too young to be told or something? Did they kill your mom and not tell you they were monsters so maybe you’d like them? Sounds like something they’d do.”

She waited for an answer from Janurana, who was eerily silent.

“Right… Sorry. That was probably too much.” Dhanur rubbed her neck again. “Sorry, anyways, you should probably know this stuff too. I guess you have a right to know what’s going on with your class if you ever get back. Don’t want them taking you by surprise. Just… You didn’t hear it from me, ok?” She prepared herself to fully explain what she had been paid to keep a secret, to do what the gwomoni had threated to kill her for, and for what Aarushi was kept hostage. Then she shook her head again. Dhanur had told Janurana that Hegwous and Gehsek ruled the plateau and were gwomoni before they went into their Keep, something she seemed to know already.

‘Aarushi was a noble too,’ her inner voice said. ‘Not as bad as a gwomoni but not that different. She had to figure out the full extent at some point as well.’

“What’s it matter?” Dhanur said. “They came from way further south, past the Rivers. Aarushi mentioned they controlled other cities, called their collection of owned territory their Gwomon, I think. Hegwous lead them but he’s not the leader. Of the whole Gwomon, I mean. Replaced all the nobles in the court, took down the local houses that didn’t submit too so only they were left. Those that sided with them got to be a gwomoni themselves. Guess they didn’t mind being a monster for more power. I heard they’ve been doin’ that for a while both here and elsewhere. But uh, guess you already knew the takeover part. By the time I found out about it they were controlling the Maharaj. Her dad. Not Aarushi. Uttara’s spirits here were pretty much the only thing that could have caused a real problem to Hegwous’ rule, I think. Or maybe they just wanted the north too. They never told anyone but the governors and generals themselves the real reason for the war except that they should defeat those stupid northerners and their Light lost spirits. But Aarushi said that was probably both of them scared of the spirits and wanting the land or Uttara’s ports. Then they called somethin’ down for the Scorching. Don’t think even Aarushi ever saw it. Him? I heard it looked like a person. The official story is the spirits did it and that was enough for everyone here. Some idiots say it was the Light that pushed the spirits back but fires spread. I dunno. No, I do, that’s not it. No. The Light helps! It doesn’t burn! I’m sorry. Aarushi was the one who knew ‘bout the magic and stuff. She’s the one who told me all thi—” Dhanur had to stop.

Janurana wanted to say something, get up and comfort her, or anything of the sort, but she was fixed to her spot.

“Their dowsing Scorching! Someone had to pay them back for that! But Muqtablu,” Dhanur said the name with more vitriol and hate than she had shown Janurana before. “That coward… We failed because of her. Could have tried again but she gave up! Never got as far as their spymaster and-and now-and if I said anything they’d just kill her or worse and—”

Janurana slid off Dekha and put a hand on Dhanur’s back. The tactile comfort overcame Dhanur and the tears burning behind her tightly shut eyelids fell free. Dhanur cried, only for a moment but she cried. She turned away to wipe her eyes and smiled.

“Guess they uh, don’t even like descendants from noble houses, huh?” Dhanur chuckled, wiping her eyes.

“I suppose so.” Janurana smiled back.

At that, Dhanur straightened up and rubbed the back of her neck embarrassed. “Come on.” She nodded forward and started walking again. As she tugged Dekha, he seemed to step a little closer than before.

‘It seems Janurana might be able to help you try again to take them out. She is quite capable in a fight,’ her inner voice spoke up.

‘Undisciplined, more like.’ Dhanur rolled her eyes.

‘If she’s been Outside for years, I bet all she’s trained against vetalas or a charging rhino. They’re not the most experienced sparring partners.’

‘Yeah, well, still gotta deal with her mom and get home first.’ Dhanur gave Dekha another tug.

Janurana followed beside, silent. She tried to process what she’d heard with little success. All she could do with the corona of thoughts was try to shut them down. With Dhanur focusing on the growing mountain on the path, she didn’t see her companion’s blank eyed stare at nothing.

‘They’ve conquered the plateau,’ Janurana’s mind raced. ‘Of course they did, mother ruled the whole plateau. They didn’t just steal and consolidate a small region. There are no other old houses left to help me. Not the Maharaj either. Nothing even past the Rivers and the Lost Valley. Only the north is free of them and they’ve recently lost a war against my kind. They already hate me. Why didn’t she mention this when we met?’ Janurana seized on that last thought to stop her mind from running free.

“Why didn’t you tell me they were gwomoni right away?” she asked.

“What?”

“The nobles. Why didn’t you tell me they were gwomoni when you first met me?”

“I did?” Dhanur cocked her brow. “I told ya before we went to the Keep. You said you knew them!”

“No, you said I knew them. I was asking for clarification on these names you keep repeating. Hegwous and Gehsek,” Janurana pressed.

Dhanur craned her head back. “I just figured you’d know, being a—” Dhanur measured her words. “A noble!”

“Well, who are they??” Janurana resisted the urge to add “don’t take a tone with me, lower class”.

“The ones in charge! Hegwous is the one who did that to Aarushi and Gehsek’s his commander.”

“And why did you not say all this when you first encountered me at the inn.” Janurana was becoming indignant.

“What? What difference does it make??”

“Why?!”

Dhanur paused, scrutinizing her companion. “Is this ‘cause you killed a man?”

“They were only vetalas! I’ve killed before! I live in the Outside!”

Dhanur had to keep herself from screaming back. She took a breath, remembered to let the crazy man fight his imaginary monster but still raised her voice. “‘Cause I figured you’d know! I didn’t know if you were one or not! Or, I guess workin’ with them! Besides, northerners started using gwomoni as an insult for the Maharaj and governors and such. Don’t think they know if it’s accurate or not. Don’t know if they care if it is.”

“So??”

Dhanur motioned to her skin. “Do you think I wanna get lynched? Why do you think the one or two northern traders who still come down here keep their mouths shut? Why do you think the second that big one got in your face I had to stab his friends and the others at the inn smashed a cup over his head? Southerners know northerners say that. If they heard me doing that enough they’d think I switched sides!”

Janurana sucked her teeth and got back onto Dekha. She looked at Dhanur and opened her mouth to retort but huffed instead, then opened her mouth again and could only do the same. Janurana knew Dhanur had a good point and had no reason to spill her life’s story or that of the Capital to a stranger at an inn.

‘Bet she’ll be a big help.’ Dhanur scowled at her inner voice.