Braids in the Wind

"We need to go back to the forest," Cita said around a mouthful of toast.

The morning had dawned clear, and the sun shining in the window had awakened Cita. Bilal had appeared as soon as he'd dressed and escorted him to the kitchen, where a family-style breakfast of porridge and toast awaited. After filling plates and bowls, Cita broached the subject of their plans.

Ryka sat on the floor, watching the toddlers as they played in their bowls and feeding them spoonfuls from her bowl. She paused, spoon in midair, at this announcement.

"The forest? Why?" Rashida demanded. "It's not safe."

"The forest is the key." 'Creepy Aki said so.'

**I resemble that remark,** Aki replied, walking into the kitchen. A half-healed scab across his chest cracked as he leaned forward to help himself to Cita's toast. He swiped at the trickle of blood, smearing it across his bronze chest with a sneer before licking his finger clean.

Frowning, Cita looked at his plate; he had the same amount of toast as he'd had before Aki's theft and, as usual, no one acknowledged Aki's presence. He glanced up to catch Kody and Ash making faces and mouthing at each other. Cita raised his eyebrows.

The duo shook their heads.

Bilal watched the exchange; he, too, said nothing.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Rashida asked. "The Lady Staryu has not been appeased."

Cita scowled at his porridge.

"Bilal shouldn't have to do anything. It was my fault. What does she want me to do?"

Rashida glared and opened her mouth to speak.

The hearth fire flared blue for a moment before going back to its cheerful red and orange.

Rashida paled as her mouth snapped shut.

Aki smirked and stuffed the remainder of his stolen toast into his mouth.

'That's weird — she never shuts up.' Cita's eyes darted from Aki to Rashida. 'What is going on?'

Bilal cocked his head, golden eyes watching Cita.

"Perhaps," he said. "However, all things happen as the Lady Staryu wills. And so we must bow to her will or suffer the consequences."

Cita's head jerked up.

"What do you mean?"

Bilal gazed at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Cita went back to poking at his porridge. He jumped when Bilal spoke.

"My people believe that those who are not whole are cursed by the goddess. I have seen newborns left naked on the mountainside because they were flawed."

Cita drew in a sharp breath.

Bilal's impassive face continued to study the wood-beamed ceiling.

"When I was ... damaged, a Healer of Staryu did what he could. And I was grateful to both be alive and relatively intact. The initial damage was horrific, from what he said. I was … unconscious for most of his treatment."

Cita swallowed and set aside his porridge.

"I returned to my home after I was healed. It was not easy, as the paths are meant to be traversed by someone with two wings." Bilal touched his scarred right shoulder.

"When I arrived … my sister said it would have been better if I had died on the battlefield rather than return crippled. My mother … offered to finish the task. 'To restore the family honor,' she said."

Bilal paused before concluding, "I slept lightly that night, and left the next day. That was the last time I felt the Lady Staryu's blessing — as I used it to flee her chosen people. Then I saw you falling from the roof." Bilal met Cita's gaze. "I knew I would never forgive myself if I did not ask her aid. She answered. So an offering is required in thanks."

The kitchen fell silent after Bilal's somber tale.

Cita gazed at his congealing porridge. Bilal's story was missing pieces, like a photo with a figure carved out with a razor blade.

A name hovered on the tip of Cita's tongue, but he was not sure if he dared to speak it. He studied Bilal's profile as the warrior finished his own porridge.

Aki watched Cita with speculative eyes and then jerked his chin toward Bilal.

Cita took a deep breath and asked, "Who is Anasz?"

Bilal sat as if a sculptor had captured him mid-bite. Then he set his spoon down and rose to his feet. Turning, he left the kitchen.

In his wake, Kody groaned and thumped his head against the worktable. Jenny reached over and swatted Cita's upper arm.

"Ow!" Cita looked guiltily after Bilal.

"Well?" Jenny demanded. "Don't just sit there."

Cita pushed his stool back with a discordant scrape and hurried after Bilal. Once the door shut behind him, Cita slowed.

Bilal had paused outside the stable. His head craned back to stare up at the clouds tinted red and pink with the early morning light, and then he strode into the stable.

Cita hesitated again and trailed after.

Cita's steps slowed further as he entered the dimly lit stable. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw a dark figure inside Aspen's stall. Cita shuffled forward and leaned against the wooden stall.

Bilal murmured to the mare as he brushed her down.

"Sorry," Cita interrupted.

"I do not … I have not talked about Anasz since—"

Bilal closed his mouth abruptly. He brushed Aspen's flank with renewed vigor.

Cita sighed and rested his arms on the wooden partition. "You said you had a younger brother."

Bilal nodded tightly in response.

"The war with the flame summoner — he was with you, wasn't he?" Cita guessed. "And you were injured, but … he was killed."

The brush slowed and then stopped. Bilal lowered his head to Aspen's flank.

"Jas povtorno nema da uspeam." Bilal's voice choked on his mantra.

'I will not fail again.'

"You're always saying that, but you won't explain what it means. Well, I know what it means, but not what it means to you."

"And how do you know what that means?" Bilal asked, golden eyes darting to Cita's face. "You've not said you understood the tongue of my homeland."

Cita flushed and looked away.

"I don't… I don't really know. There's this echo." He blinked and turned back to meet Bilal's eyes. "There you go again, twisting it back on me. You keep shutting me out. You always shut me out."

This time Bilal broke their staredown.

Cita debated saying more.

'I have to.'

"You said it was better forgotten. But I have forgotten — I've forgotten so much I can't tell what's missing. It's horrible! And …"

Cita wavered again.

"Would Anasz have wanted you to be so hung up on him that you couldn't move forward without forgetting?"

Bilal whipped around to stare at Cita.

Cita met his gaze.

"He wouldn't, would he?"

"He would not," Bilal admitted hoarsely. "And he deserves better than to be forgotten, in truth. I will … try to share more about him. But … not today."

"Not today," Cita agreed, relaxing. He leaned his head against a wooden post, letting his eyes drift half-closed. "Gran always said that war was the demon-dog that devoured my mother before I was born. Demon-dogs must be starved, to eat so much. My mother. Your brother. I don't know how many others."

Golden eyes, accented by a furrowed brow, turned to Cita, who grinned in response.

"Yeah, I never could get her to explain how that 'devoured before I was born' part worked. But when I get home, I'm going to ask her again. And this time she'll tell me — I'm sure of it. With you and me both there, we can figure out what she means."

Bilal pursed his lips but nodded without answering. His hands resumed their methodical work, and the rasping sound of the brush on Aspen's coarse hair filled the silence.

"Bilal …?" Cita didn't finish the question.

The warrior turned to him with an arched brow, the brush stilling again.

"Why did Staryu blind Rashida?"

Bilal rocked back on his heels.

"Did she tell you that?"

Cita shook his head.

Bilal sighed and returned to brushing Aspen.

"Rashida's story is her own to tell."

The rasping of the brush was loud in the stable's still air.

"So ... the forest." Cita offered the change in topic gingerly.

"Hmm. I agree — the mystery of the forest bears investigation. I am not certain our group is the best choice for such a task, but what alternative is there? The forest is on the border of Baron Dorf's land, but I suspect …" Bilal stopped.

"Suspect what?" Cita pressed.

Bilal sighed. "I suspect he has something to do with the attack on the village. The town hall was untouched by the destruction, and there was no trace of the officials and guards among the dead. They knew something was coming."

"I'm not sure I understand." Cita pummelled his mind, trying to remember anything beyond what Bilal and Rashida had related about the village. A hazy image rose in his mind.

**

An ornate, solidly built edifice surrounded by squalid huts. Screams echoed off the filigreed cornices.

**

Cita shook his head to clear it.

"They knew something was coming," Bilal repeated. "And took themselves and their families out of its path. But they did not warn the villagers."

"But then where did the officials go?"

Bilal pressed his lips tightly together.

Cita tipped his head, trying to meet Bilal's eyes before asking another question.

"He — Baron Dorf — doesn't treat his people very well, does he?"

"That is not entirely true," Bilal hedged. "The commoners are not well treated. Taxes to maintain his guards are high and leaving is nearly impossible. His guards and officials are treated well, so they stay loyal. Merchants are welcome as well, with only modest tariffs."

Bilal moved around to brush Aspen's other side. The mare shifted at his command.

At the mare's feet, movement caught Cita's eye, and he looked down to see the black kitten playfully pouncing on straw, heedless of the mare's shifting hooves.

"How did she …?"

"Cita." Bilal waited until Cita met his eyes. "She is a cat. They are sneaky."

Cita shook his head again.

Bilal sighed.

"Leave it for now. Could you make sure the others are prepared, and ready yourself? Do not forget your weapons from my room. You can find your way back?"

"Yeah," Cita replied with an eye roll. "Should I get your stuff?"

"If by stuff, you mean my packs, please. I would rather get to the forest before dark. And find a safe camp outside the boundaries."

"Sure thing."

Cita blinked in bemusement as he emerged into the morning sun. 'It's not so late after all.'

He hurried across the courtyard and up the familiar stairs. He burst through the door into the kitchen just in time to hear a willful voice.

"We're going, too," Ryka announced. She had one of her siblings on her hip, and the other held her hand while sucking its thumb.

Rashida exchanged a quick glance with Sophia. When they didn't answer Ryka's demand immediately, Cita stepped in.

"No. There's no way they're coming with us!" He crossed his arms.

"We have as much right to go as anyone. Our whole family is dead because of that forest! Except maybe …" Ryka hesitated, looking down. "Our older brother went to the forest and never came back. Maybe he's there, or I can find where he went."

Ryka set her jaw and clutched her siblings close.

"But I won't if I stay here. And I won't leave Zara and Jay."

Cita scowled across the kitchen at the recalcitrant girl.

'Has she no sense of self-preservation? Although …'

Cita paused. The children's presence was poisonous; his gut ached at the thought of turning his back on even the youngest.

'Leaving them with the Peacefallows …'

The slightest blue haze tinted Cita's view.

Aki sat on the table, fingering his daggers.

"I don't think it is the best choice for your siblings to go into that forest. Even you said it was harmful to enter the forest's bounds," Rashida reasoned.

"No," Cita spoke up again. "They should come with us." 'And we can find someplace to ditch them.' "I'm going to grab my pack and Bilal's. We need to start soon, he said."

Cita suited actions to words and rushed from the kitchen, ignoring Rashida's surprised look and the suspicion gracing Ryka's glare.

"This hasn't been decided!" Rashida shouted after him.

"Some of them want to use you," he hummed to himself as he walked. "Some of them want to abuse you."

He gathered Bilal's haversack and glaive. Then he gathered his own weapons and pack.

'Other than my weapons, all my things are from the Peacefallows.' Cita frowned. "Keeping them safe will make up for it."

Cita hastened back through the kitchen and saw Bilal exiting the stable.

He led Aspen, already harnessed with her side-packs loaded. His braids were cropped off.

Cita hurried over.

"Bilal! Your hair!"

Bilal dusted a hand over his ragged curls.

"The Lady Staryu demands reparation." Golden eyes assessed Cita. "Did you want to observe? It is not necessarily a private ritual."

Cita swallowed and nodded.

Bilal handed the leadline to him and walked to the center of the courtyard, glaive in hand. Kneeling and setting the glaive down, he opened a bundled cloth sachet and spread it on the dirt. His coarse, dark curls still kinked from their braids lay in the middle. He bowed his head, and Cita followed suit while keeping his eyes on the warrior.

After a long moment, Bilal grasped his glaive and pushed himself to his feet. He stood over the hair and cloth and planted the glaive's butt in the dust. Wind began swirling through the courtyard, whipping up a dust devil.

Cita squinted his eyes against the pelting dirt and gripped the leadline tight against Aspen's backward pull. The normally stoic mare whinnied, and then the wind dropped to nothing.

In the center of the courtyard, Bilal stood, unmarked by dust. The ground in front of him was swept clean.

Turning to Cita, he asked, "Are we ready?"