Ajnin really didn't know how to react to seeing Drea's face again after all these years. His feelings were a mixed bag. More than anything he was thrilled to see the girl he grew up with, but there were other complications, such as the pain and worry she'd caused. As much as ever, he was still worried about her spiritual path, especially seeing the way she was living completely contrary to what she used to believe in, as well as her thin connection to her family. It was a delicate matter, but he felt he could handle it by treading lightly. As she stood before him smirking at his shock, he noticed her long blonde braid - an uncontroversial topic - and chose it for his next words. "Well," he laughed, "you actually grew your hair out."
"And you've let some black bushes take over your face," she made fun.
"What's wrong with my bushes?" he played along, stroking his well-groomed facial hair, "I think I look rather handsome, and at least you can see my face behind them. What's your excuse?" he asked, looking with a nod at her black scarf.
"I like the way it looks," she answered, holding it up to her face and narrowing her eyes, "the air of mystery." She laughed, then added, "And it was chilly earlier anyway. It can get windy out here."
"Alright, so you just thought it'd be great fun to see how long you could trick me," he said. "Was it all you'd hoped?"
"Every time," she said, "Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, shame on you. How many times did I prank you, and you still fell into my trap?"
"Hm," he nodded, narrowing his eyes, "you're right, I'm beginning to see your point. You always were a troublemaker, I should leave now while I have the chance."
"Yes, exactly my point!" she answered, "You're not a complete fool afterall. Off you go now, and good riddance!" And she vanished into the curtain of pink cherry blossoms.
"Now hold on!" he exclaimed, and ran in after her. When he pushed through the branches, he reeled, feeling like he'd entered a completely different world. The cherry tree was quite large and its weeping branches enclosed a sizeable area. The warm rays of the morning sun sparkled as they pierced through the pink blossoms, leaving him breathlessly dazzled. Drea's snakeskins were hung over some of the lower branches and a small, simple tent took up one side of the natural enclosure. Without even looking for her, he asked, "Is this where you live?"
"Yep!" Her voice came from inside the tent. "For now anyway."
"I could live here forever," Ajnin said.
"I don't stay anywhere for long," she said, emerging from her tent. "But this is one of my favorite homes."
"I can't imagine why," he breathed, admiring the beauty of the place.
"I got it from old man Torvial," she said, selecting some of her snakeskin and beginning to sew. "Have you met him?"
He laughed. "Yeah, I've met him. What do you mean you got this place from him?"
"Well," she mumbled, momentarily holding the needle between her lips while she rearranged the snakeskin, "he owns a lot of the land around here, because he'll charge an arm and a leg or a tunic for his stuff, you may have figured out. So he's possibly the richest man in Chang Khu." She took her needle out of her mouth and said slyly, "But I'm the richest person."
"Really!" exclaimed Ajnin. He might've said more, but Drea went on.
"Yeah, anyway, so the richest guy around comes to me about a month ago and he wants my quality boots. I hadn't been in Chang Khu long, but long enough to figure out who he was. Clearly he has an insatiable appetite for exotic things, so I realized I had him at my mercy."
"This can't be good," Ajnin snickered, rolling his eyes.
Drea smirked. "I told him my boots were worth more money than he had. I had him begging and bargaining until I finally told him what I could use was a place of my own to set up shop and that I liked this big cherry tree. By then, I had him convinced he was the one getting a good deal. Now I own this little lot," she laughed, "all mine and Shadyn's."
Ajnin couldn't help thinking it was funny and that Torvial got what he asked for. But still, he was somewhat taken aback at just how far Drea had drifted from the peaceful and mild ways of Miranism, as he spent the day with her and that became abundantly clear. He simply could not relate to some of her new ways or comprehend how she could find it in her to do certain things. He felt that in seeking her freedom, she had strayed from the influences she needed to keep her in the light. He hoped more than anything that he might be able to draw her back into the fold, and he was determined to do everything in his power to accomplish that mission.
Near dusk, he went looking for a place to stay in Chang Khu. Drea's tent was too small to share with a guest, unless possibly they snuggled closely, which was not going to happen. Truly, by then they both wanted a break from each other's company anyway. Old friends though they were, their differences were impossible to forget or ignore completely. So, after leaving his horse with Drea's on her grassy plot of land (which she named the land of Cherithia), along with a few of his things, Ajnin walked into the village, looking for a place to lay his head.
He didn't see an inn, but he preferred to stay in people's homes anyway on his travels, as it gave him more opportunity to get to know people and hopefully influence them for Miranism. He saw one of the young women who'd giggled at him earlier. She smiled and waved when she saw him, and he smiled and waved back, but figured he should keep looking for a place to stay, though she looked like she would all too willingly offer him the home of her family. Yeah, just a bit too willingly.
Soon he saw a young man quietly sweeping in front of a small home. Ajnin approached him and introduced himself, learning his name was Sethu and that he lived with his parents and his brother. Because the house was tiny and the family seemed to be poor, Ajnin began to think he should continue looking, not wanting to be a burden to them. But Sethu invited him in and the family welcomed him to their humble abode. They talked with him and all got to know each other as they shared their supper with him, and eventually they all went to bed. Ajnin felt very blessed to receive their kindness and hoped he could bless them in return.
But before allowing himself to sleep, he was determined to write to Drea's ma and Viggo to let them know she was in Chang Khu and that he was with her. So he did, then lay awake thinking for some time.
It had been nearly four years since he'd last seen her. In fact, he didn't exactly have a distinctive last memory of her, because she hadn't bothered to say goodbye. So in the vague memory he did have, he didn't realize it would be his last memory of her. It was just a strangely normal memory of her and Viggo and himself - the trio - living life. Sometimes he was glad it was. Other times he felt hurt and angry that she hadn't given him anything special to remember. If he'd had to leave, he would have told her goodbye. He would have told Viggo goodbye. As it was, that never came up because he was the one who stuck around while everyone else left - first Drea, then Viggo with Epifany the next year. At least Viggo and Epifany said goodbye.
After that, Ajnin decided it was time for him to do some traveling. Hapak was the Miranite leader, a dear family friend, and Ajnin's personal idol. But without the rest of the Akylases, home just didn't feel like home anymore. Leelighs weren't the same celebration. Life felt dull and hollow, incomplete. So Ajnin no longer spent more than a few months at a time at home. He would return periodically to visit his parents and Rune and her family, along with Hapak and other friends. But most of his time during the past couple years or so was spent anywhere and everywhere but there.
His first trip had been to Miras to visit Viggo and Epifany, and to walk on the sacred ground of his spiritual homeland, the wilderness of prophecy. While there, he took advantage of every opportunity to get closer to the history of Miras and to better understand its culture and everything it ever stood for.
He visited the ruins of the castle the early Mirans had built for Narsil. She was only 17 when she immigrated to the wilderness of prophecy with the other vulnerable believers and she began to have visions from Gadriel. Her gift of prophecy - a gift and a responsibility she did not ask for - became her challenge and her strength, both her trial and her faith. Over the years, the young seer went from a humble girl carrying a crushing weight of self-doubt and fear, to a strong and courageous leader whose guidance lifted the Mirans out of the dark time. After overcoming their opposition and suspicion, Narsil was at last recognized by her people as their queen, ordained for them by Gadriel himself to reflect his light to them in their darkness.
Even now, though she had died over 120 years ago, Queen Narsil was considered the official sovereign of Miras. To deny it would be considered treason in a spiritual sense. So if any were to claim that a living person should take the position she once held, they would only bring upon themselves the disapproval of their fellow Mirans. Because of history, Mirans were very cautious not to stray from the old paths, and they trusted the Gadrian Legends and the writings of their queen ordained by Gadriel to keep them in the light.
Narsil and her visions were largely responsible for their survival in the early years of Miras. Not everyone wanted to trade with the early Mirans, as many looked down on them as heretics. Narsil taught them that everything they needed to survive was in their own wilderness home. She showed the people that they were surrounded by many edible plants, as revealed in her visions, and they learned to live off the land. She showed them that nature was their friend and healer in their overgrown wilderness refuge, even though it was also their challenge. Mirans became so close to nature, so in-tune with its ways, its cycles, its elements, its causes and effects, that they became known for their art of healing as well as their simple, plant-based diet.
And it was Narsil who bore the message from her visions that no living creature should be harmed unless absolutely necessary. This issue caused Ajnin some discomfort tonight as he thought of his friend, the huntress. He knew the brush serpent was dangerous, and felt that he would have killed one if he had been in the position Epifany had been in all those years ago when she chopped off one's head to defend her family. But he couldn't imagine spending his time intentionally looking for them and killing them. Then again, he thought, maybe Torvial was right; maybe it was a good thing Drea was killing off the deadly snake's population in the area. They would be less likely to run into people and fewer people would die from their bite.
Still, even if he could justify her hunt of the brush serpent as "absolutely necessary," she wasn't just killing them to protect people, she was killing them for material gain, which didn't feel right to him. And not only that, but she hunted and skinned snakes that were harmless as well. He couldn't call that "necessary" at all.
Drea had changed. He wasn't sure exactly how or why. She still bore the mark under her ear of the Miranite life she was brought up in. But it didn't look the same on Adder as it had looked on Drea. On Adder, the hardened huntress who wore both the skin and the name of a snake, along with the steely eyes of one, the snake tattoo seemed to resemble anger instead of love, hardness instead of humility, death instead of a new life.
But whatever she wore or called herself, she was still his friend, and she was still the one who had run away and taken a bigger chunk of his heart with her than he wanted to accept. And now that he'd found her, he was determined not to let her slip any further away, and not to lose her all over again. He understood her rebellious nature, and that he couldn't charm her back into the fold by preaching at her or telling her what to do. She would only harden her heart more. He didn't know how he would win her over, but he was prepared to stay in Chang Khu as long as it would take to figure it out.