“Say, did you hear anything about Madama Kishirra? The Elf who lives in the hills behind Bùrian?”
The cloth merchant pursed his lips. He was one of the regulars at the market and even though he did not live in town, he ought to pass through and spend a lot of time talking with people.
He had a lifetime of experience with this. By contrast, I was once again a nervous mess, clenching my fist as I hoped my request did not make him consider me a weirdo and stop selling me cloth. Or whatever else paranoid thought my stupid mind was making up.
“There’s all sorts of talks about queer folks living in the hills. The mountains are deep and full of holes, they say. An Elf wouldn’t be the weirdest thing.”
Deep and full of holes… my mind went to the bedtimes stories Mom used to tell me when I was younger. About the gaunt and hungry things that would slither out of deep crevices in the earth to hunt and devour.
The old me would say that those were just folklore and legends. Made up monsters to make kids go to bed in time and listen to their parents.
The old me was a clueless girl who did not even know about her own soul, though.
I had yet to meet the two farmers I had shared a conversation with a few weeks before. I had asked others, and some did say they saw pale shapes move between the grass, after dark. And some had spotted Kishirra from afar, even if the Elf always kept to herself.
Something was afoot.
“Did you hear anything about weird accidents happening to farmers?”
He tapped his fingers on the wood of his carriage as he folded the cloth I was buying and handed it over to me.
“Listen my dear, I have travelled far and wide.” He pulled down the collar of his shirt, showing a necklace filled with trinkets, silver and copper and iron. Among the others, I noticed the circle with three spikes that was the symbol of Kishirra’s deity. “I try to be everyone’s friend, but I buy and sell cloth, and Powers only know what might crawl from the Kìtum. Perhaps we should all take a step back from messing into each other’s affairs.” He smiled in a way that did not reach his eyes and handed me my purchases.
“Sure. I understand,” I replied, miffed. Silver exchanged hands and I picked up the new cloth, walking back home. So far I was coming up with nothing. I had heard a few more stories from farmers about what was going on in the hills, but I had yet to find a proper confirmation… all I got was more anxiety to try and speak to more strangers.
Mom said that, if anything it was good practice… and I did feel like it was getting easier.
A little bit.
A tiny bit.
+++
When I met her again, I was dirty with soot from helping Dad at the forge. We were trying to make up for lost productivity when Mom got ill, and so I spent most of the day between taking care of the garden, paperwork, and helping him with the bellows and the mixture. And pushing the first draft of my book to the next day.
When I reached the door I was covered head to toe in a soft layer of ash, and as I rubbed my eyes to welcome the customer, I stood like an idiot behind the counter.
Kishirra had taken her armour off. She carried it in a bag, and she wore a wool cloth that hugged her waist far too closely for being something you should wear this far into spring. She also wore a thin grey cloak that hid her ears and most of her head, but I did not need to glance at her whole figure to recognise her.
“Uh… good day,” I said, feeling as daft as a wooden doll.
By now I was a professional conversationalist! Why did she dry up my wits like that every time? My throat burned.
“May the Sun shine at Night too,” she replied.
“S-Sure. I mean, that sounds good, doesn’t it?”
What sort of person replies like that to a greeting? I was such a fool!
“It is a blessing from the Holy Land,” she explained, giving me a tender smile like I was a five-year old surprised at how many fingers she could count. “I use it as a way to wish you well. Our latest encounter was so fruitful, and I hope this one might also be. I still need repairs for my armour, even though I did make sure to…” she trailed off, her silvery eyes shifting towards her lap. “I did take better care of myself. As a way to thank you for your gift of lilythorn from that time. Of course.”
“Of-of course…” was all I could say, my mouth as dry as the ash still clinging to my body. As her eyes shifted towards me once again, she hesitated as she looked at my soot-covered skin.
Oh god, she must be thinking I was so dirty! I needed to clean this up!
“Please come on in! We can talk in the garden, just give me a moment to get ready! Dad! Madama Kishirra is coming in for a small fix! I’m taking her inside!” I shouted as I looked for a clean rag.
The Elf nodded, walking amidst the furnace hallway as she started to exchange words with my father. Between the strange echoes hitting the pipes and the furnace walls, I couldn’t understand what they were saying, and to be frank I was much more concerned with the state I was in.
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I did not expect her to show up so soon. And… especially not dressed like that. The way the fabric lingered at her waist and at her shoulders, giving just a hint of her athletic figure, and, even if it was partly hidden by the cloak, the wool couldn’t completely hide the round profile of her hips.
She must be doing a lot of… uh… trekking by hunting monsters or whatever. Very good for her health. I kept rubbing ash off until I considered myself clean enough, or at least passable, and then I reached Kishirra in the garden. She was looking away from me, giving me her back.
Hm-hm, yes. All that exercise was very good for her.
“Madama Kishirra?” I asked clearing my throat, pushing down the rest of my unrequired thoughts. “Sorry for the delay. And for welcoming you like that. I was busy helping my father at the furnace.”
“No worries,” she replied turning to regard me with her usual smile. There was something about it today, an unusual tenderness that made my knees feel all queasy. “Did you know that your forge has been manufactured by Kiengiri?”
That was news to me. Never heard about this person.
“Who’s ‘Kee-henge-hee-ree’?”
“Not a who,” she explained, a veil of longing falling over her grey eyes. “A people. A long time ago, before the silver ring rose to cleave the sky. Before the Epochalypse. They were… nevermind. I did not come here to tire your ears with old stories.”
No wait, this was interesting.
Who were these ancient people? I never knew about them, and the name sounded kind of different from everything else in this world. Even Kishirra’s own name had an exotic sound to it. There was so much I did not know about her and where she came from.
“Did you meet them? These people of yours. The Kiengiri. I mean, I love old stories,” I pushed on. Oh, maybe this was a little hook to keep her here, talking with me. Please let it be.
“I suppose I did.” She frowned, running a dark hand through her golden hair, as if struck by doubt. “Sometimes it is hard to remember.”
“Must have been a long time ago, hm? I did not know anything about this people, but if you want to talk, I can listen. I don’t, uh, I don’t mind listening to you, Madama Kishirra. Also! I have quite the book collection, so if you feel like sharing more of these old stories I would surely be interested,” I stammered, trying not to look like a fool.
“You would?” She blinked, pulling the armour closer to her chest, the tetrarmide plates crinkling against each other. “But I thought- I have no experience in these matters. Would Mannish ears like to know about this? I am afraid I would keep talking about it relentlessly and you would fall asleep before I even finished laying out the pieces. I do not want to keep you off your duties just to listen to my ramblings and shattered memories.” Her cheeks grew a little darker. “Perhaps it would be better to just present you with my current needs. I came here to have my armour repaired, and I did not expect a captive audience. Perhaps I was careless.”
Seeing her cheeks flushed and fidgeting, stumbling over her own words sent a drop of warmth straight to my heart.
She was right about my duties, though. I needed to help Mom finish recovering and Dad couldn’t do all his work alone because I wanted to have a play-date with our best customer. Our flushed, gorgeous, embarrassed Elf who had seen all sorts of things…
“I do have a bit of time. Perhaps you can just tell me a thing or two? I wouldn’t mind listening.”
There! That sounded good enough, didn’t it! Just watch me, Mom and dad! A true orator!
“You wouldn’t?” The surprised smile on her face made me want to cross the distance between us and put my head against her chest and pull her into a close hug. I could almost see myself doing so. It would have been completely inappropriate!
And so easy.
“Perhaps… how about you just tell me how you recognised our furnace as Kiengiri? That ought to be short enough, don’t you think? And then we can discuss your, uh, needs.”
Did it sound like I was coming onto her? Because I would not really mind if it sounded like I did. Ah, I was a confused mess already!
“How should I begin?” She tapped her fingers over her arm, thinking. “Perhaps explaining how the manufacture evolved over the Dreamtime? Or how the winterglass grains betray their origin? When I was ordained they only asked me to recite the hymns, not explain the past. I apologise, I am rambling once again.”
“How about…” was I really trying to help Madama Kishirra talking with someone else? Mom’s face popped up in my mind – it gets easier – and perhaps it was my turn to help someone else keep a cool face when trying to talk. “How about you simply tell me what the furnace structure is made of?”
“I believe I can do that!” She beamed, regaining a hint of confidence. How bright her eyes were – like free-flowing steel.
She began to tell me all about the material she recognised, that black glass-like substance which I had thought was obsidian.
“It is called zaggiso by your people, but its actual name is Sab-Gi’Su, which means distinguished glass. It is not even glass: instead a specific kind of ceramic, purposefully-made to withstand untold amounts of heat, that had been created by the Kiengiri for their own manufacturing needs. You can find it littered everywhere they settled, and especially here around the coast. This area used to have a heavy Kiengiri presence.”
As I listened to her, the distance between us seemed to both grow and shrink. Kishirra spoke of events and people thousands of years in the past, of a changed world that was so different from the place I had been reincarnated into. And at same time, she was much more at ease than before. She stumbled upon her words a few times at first, but then her words soon grew thick with passion.
“Your furnace was probably just a recovery plant for materials,” she explained. “The cities of the Kiengiri could use manufacturing plants a thousand times larger and more powerful than even the remnant here in Bùrian. The air would broil with their fumes and they would produce all sorts of wonders.”
“That must be reason why we can only use a tiny fraction of its power,” I agreed, putting two and two together. “Dad often told me it’s like we are using a bonfire to reheat a soup.”
“Yes, that would be a fitting metaphor!” She exclaimed. “Your father’s way with words is commendable!”
I laughed, and she flushed again.
“Oh. Did I… did I speak out of turn perhaps?”
“No, no, it’s just… you are always so formal, but it’s clear this is something you are passionate about. It’s cute.”
She blinked, bringing her fingers to the middle of her chest, as if to keep that word as close to her heart as she could.
“Cute. Nobody called me as such during my ordaining. I have…” she shook her head, her cheeks flushed so dark they were almost black. “Nevermind.”
“So… you came here today because you need more repairs?”
“Ah, yes. It is just a tiny thing. One of my plates got broken.” She opened her brigandine and showed the third plate from the left in the topmost row. It was cracked and it crinkled against the others as she shifted the cloth.
“That should take us half a day usually, but we are a bit behind schedule. I can have it repaired tomorrow, I think.”
“I understand. I suppose I couldn’t ask for more.”
I picked up her brigandine and rubbed my thumb over the cracked edge of the plate. Once again, I wondered what could break tetrarmide so easily…
“Madama Kishirra, can I ask you question?”
“If I can answer it, I will do all that’s in my power to do so,” she nodded.
Always so formal.
But I had to keep a level head. No matter how cute the Elf in front of me was, there was something I had to ask her.
“What are you fighting for?”