A fantasy short story set in Tybraes. Long before Khes Adaia was born there was Lihaan. The mother of the heroine was quite the heroine herself. Her origins were no less epic than Khes’s own. The god Nel came seeking a Nelenr woman and when he found Lihaan’s father instead it set in motion a series of events that put Lihaan on a fated path. To know Khes is to know her mother and this is the table of Lihaan’s origins and growth into womanhood.
Content Warning: child abandonment, arranged coupling, significant age gap, violence, death
Excerpt:
A child with a paper kite shaped like a wide mouthed fish strung on a stick came running his direction. She laughed as the fins of the fish fluttered. The little girl, not seeing Nel, was startled as the man darted to the side with unnatural quickness to avoid being hit. Jolting to a halt, the little girl gaped up at him and, confused to see an white ashen-skinned Jasuuk in the holt, did not know how to react to the man’s Blade Spirit gift. Confusion led her to fear and the little girl looked to be on the edge of tears.
Nel, being very tall for an Erahs, lowered himself to one knee to make himself smaller and less intimidating. His obsidian eyes sparkled at her as he winked and used a quick flourish of his hand to produce a coin from behind her ear. The Avali did most of their trade in bartering, so it was mostly something shiny for her, but perhaps she could buy herself a doll from a passing trader some day. The girl did not seem to know what it was, but was mystified that it had appeared behind her ear. She handed the coin back to him and tugged at her ear. “Devin.”
“Again.”
Nel laughed and made the coin disappear in his hand. “Het suena!”
“[Of course!]”
The little girl grabbed his hand and looked all around it searching for where the coin had gone. Nel hummed in amusement as he used his other hand to make it appear from behind her other ear. Gaping in astonishment, the girl clapped a hand to her ear with a bounce. “Arish?!”
“How?!”
“Ap’a llasenoan!” Nel made the coin disappear again, to which the girl made a small squeal of delight.
“It’s magic!”
“Raeshu, foishie hin!” The commanding voice of one of the approaching palignr cut through their whimsy.
“Raeshu, come here!” [warrior/guardian]