The trio listened attentively to the story Manisha told. She spoke fluidly and passionately of what was supposed to have been a routine evening of scavenging the shallow ocean floor and beachcombing for scrap metal and wood to sell and trade to the merchants that would sometimes come into Chitran’s harbour 11 years ago, on top of her usual work as a fisherwoman. She opted not to speak too much about her life in other regards, but the three visitors easily implied that her life had been uneventful for many years up to that point.
A huge piece of metal floating on the surface of the water about a league offshore had caught her eye, its glint strong enough that it was impossible not to notice even from shore. She rowed her small raft to it, but that night, she did not return home with only refuse to trade. She brought along a dehydrated, weak, and injured man from within the Titanian craft’s structure, whose skin and hair was as pale as the invaders she had seen her entire life, yet was slightly smaller than them in stature. Something within her heart had called out to her, beckoning her to save his life, and she complied regardless of the consequences she might have had to face.
I didn’t have much to lose anyway, if I was caught helping that fugitive, she thought throughout her speech. I just wanted to save a life. The life of a man I’d learn had a good heart but didn’t know how to show it.
She brought him ashore to Chitran and hid him in her home, nursing his injuries and making sure he was fed and sheltered. He had been silent initially, listening to the chatty young woman speak about herself and life in south Yeupis, but never responding to the same extent. Through her he understood a snapshot of Terran culture and society, even though it was not the one his long-dead mother had come from. Despite his quietude, he was always good to Manisha and treated her kindly in gratitude for pulling him out of a strange, foreign ocean where he would’ve otherwise certainly died.
As Manisha continued her discourse, she noticed a glimmer in Anwen’s eyes—as if the story she was telling indeed confirmed to the girl that the same man the woman was speaking about was the very one who would later rescue and care for her as his own.
Manisha told the trio that she felt there was an unspoken understanding between her and Gareth made over their short time together, a subtle bond over the loneliness both faced even if Gareth’s was much deeper. Without mentioning it explicitly, she affirmed that this connection between two people of different folks, lands and experiences culminated in a special night that she would never forget. One that months later would result in the birth of Ilias. But Gareth was never able to see the result of that night, nor did he ever know of his son’s existence. Two days later, Gareth had left Manisha’s house, never to be seen by her again. And although her heart was shattered, she vowed to raise her son to be a strong, kind young man like his father was, and to love him with all her might despite all the challenges that raising a son as unmarried woman brought upon her, a child whose Titanian and northern features would be impossible to hide once he reached a certain age..
“I suppose at the end,” Manisha ended her story. “He just didn’t want to burden me. He wasn’t fully healed when he left, and I guess he didn’t want it to be my problem anymore. But he left me with something I will cherish to the end of my days.”
“So, wait,” Ivan eventually raised his hand. “Your name’s just… Manisha? No other name after it?”
“Ivan, what does that have anything to do with what she just told us?” Anwen snapped at the young man. “Ms. Manisha, don’t mind that question. Your story, I… it really warms my heart to know that a kind woman like you was the first Terran to open their arms to my father. If it wasn’t for you, I… I don’t think Gareth and I would’ve ever crossed paths.”
“Well, it makes me pretty darn happy that he continued to be the man I knew,” Manisha grinned. “You have his fire, Anwen. I can tell.”
Anwen’s cheeks became warm at the compliment. Manisha stretched out an arm to pat one of the girl’s hands, before she turned to face Ivan.
“Ivan, that was a good question. I understand that northerners have no restrictions when it comes to names. It's not like y'all have a government that would enable that. But we southerners do.”
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She explained that instead of having surnames, southerners were required to have a 10-digit code issued by the Titanian colonial government that preceded their first names on all legal documents. Ivan nodded, pleased with the answer he was given, however he pitied the people of the south. They may not have faced the constant threat of death and displacement by the Titanians, but they still had their fair share of things that made their lives difficult.
“So, is there anything you want to add, Stefan?” Anwen turned to the boy who had remained beside her the whole time. The look in his eyes was distant, his mind struggling to process the sheer amount of information it had received in such a short expanse of time, as well as the weight it all carried.
“I…” Stefan wanted to say something, anything, but no words could lift off his tongue.
“You ain’t gotta say a word, Stefan. Anwen, let the boy digest it all,” she said, crawling across the rug to face the boy. She placed her two motherly hands on Stefan’s shoulders. “For now, know that you have a little cousin who’ll chase you around and pester you and look up to you. That is a very good thing, honey. Let that be your silver lining.”
In a matter of one morning, Stefan found out that he had two new cousins. But it was hard to celebrate with the tale of Gareth’s past, his relation to him, and the identity of his own father all bogging down on him. It changed the very way the boy saw himself as a person. Stefan could only offer a smile and shrug to the well-meaning southerner woman, who stood up and stepped to the centre of the rug where all three Black Shield agents could see her face.
“Listen up, fellas. We’re going to spend today getting you ready for your trip. I’ll help you get the things y’all need. We head to the harbour tomorrow morning and get the ship y’all need to reach them islands.” she spoke, her crossed arms and adamant tone speaking to her willingness to help the trio.
“R-Really?” Ivan raised a brow. “You’re willing to do all of that for some people you met just a couple of hours ago? There’s really no need, miss!”
“Your humility is admirable, Ivan,” Manisha nodded. “But there’s a lot ya can’t do without the help of a local. For instance, you don’t know the port’s arrival and departure schedules. And convincing a southerner to let two northerners onto their property? That’ll happen when pigs fly. Y’all need my help.”
Anwen had never considered just how they would try getting aboard a ship once they reached Chitran. How would they find, let alone operate, one?
“Aren’t you worried you could get in trouble?” Anwen cried. “We’re terrorists to them! If they catch you helping us…”
The girl averted her gaze, trying not to think of the consequences her newfound brother’s mother could face for being in league with them. Manisha knelt down next to the worried girl and faced her with a smile.
“I took care of the Empire’s greatest foe ever, and with all due respect, you’re not much more than common thieves compared to him,” she giggled, before taking one of the girl’s hands in hers. “I wasn’t worried then, and I’m not worried now. You and Stefan are Ilias’ family, so you’re my family too. I have even more of a reason to lend y’all a hand.”
Anwen formed a shy smile, squeezing Manisha’s hand back and nodding. Just like that, Manisha of Chitran had signed herself up for the journey to the Shimajima.
“And me?” Ivan raised a hand, his face etched with a look that suggested abandonment.
Manisha turned her head, her beam remaining at full strength.
“Where would these two be without you?” she laughed softly.
The mother distracted her son from the turn of events in their uneventful lives by sending him out to resume the fishing he would’ve completed had he not been assaulted and gracefully saved. For the first time in a year, Manisha felt no anxiety about letting Ilias go off to his state-mandated job. Because of the actions of his elder sister, he would be safe now, free to fish anywhere off the coast of Chitran. Manisha hadn’t told the boy of his relation to Anwen and Stefan, choosing to delay the news until night.
She spent the remainder of the day taking the trio around the town, helping them purchase a variety of goods that would be expected of a trip like theirs. Small sea chests to keep their belongings, extra pieces of clothing and items for hygiene purposes such as brushes and soap. The merchants selling the wares did not question why Manisha was buying them at that time, nor why she was accompanied by a girl none of them had seen before along with two northerner slaves. The safest assumption was that they were part of a crew that had touched shore, one of dozens that did each day. As it had turned out Manisha was one of, if not the most renowned mariner in the small town of Chitran. And while it was true that many of them did not approve of her being the mother of a son whose paternity was unknown, their respect for her skill and ambition exceeded it.
Darkness had fully consumed the sky by the time Manisha, still full of energy, led them down to the port. While many of the vessels were small or medium, mostly for subsistence and minor trading, one vessel dwarfed them. She didn’t allow the trio to get close to the docked vessel, simply allowing them to admire its grandiosity and beauty from afar. Its sails were larger than many houses and its hull was so long, it would take almost a minute to walk from front to end.
“That’s Serenity’s Song,” she spoke in awe of the ship, illuminated under the moonlight. “A beauty, ain’t she?”