Tenac

His mother had talked about the girl Mary since she got back form her first trip to Dermes. The tale about the brave girl that had jumped down on his mother carriage had become standard when his mother entertained children.

Tenac had always been a bit too jealous to appreciate the story when he was younger. He didn’t like the fact that his mother had grown so attached to another child. It was hard enough to get her attention with her duties. To have to share it with a ghost girl didn’t sit well with him.

But as he grew older, he could appreciate why his mother had such respect for the girl. It had to have taken a good deal of courage to do what she did.

His mother had always insisted that the strict and unfriendly Kopa had taken a shine to the girl. But Tenac had never heard him mention her. He had always thought that his mother had blown that bit out of proportion. She was at heart a romantic.

When he went to welcome his mother home a couple of weeks ago, she had seemed happy despite the fact that the mission had failed. They had stood at the river field talking when his mother had turned around to wave at someone. Tenac had, out of curiosity, followed her gaze and seen a beautiful woman sandwiched between Kopa and his wife.

When he asked about her, his mother had given him a strange look and then told him that it was Mary, the brave girl. She had then gone on to tell him about how they had found her and, how she agreed to return with them and that she would be living with Kopa.

Tenac didn’t know what part of that story had surprised him the most. But his mother seemed happy to have the girl here, so he was happy for her.

Then yesterday his mother had called on him and told him, not asked but told him, that he would be Mary’s teacher. She needed someone to tech her about the city, about the customs and culture and to introduce her to people her own age. Tenac had tried to refuse.

She may be a beautiful woman, pretty, not beautiful, he corrected himself. She may be a pretty woman, but he had no time playing teacher and towing, what he would assume to be, a whiny woman from another country around. He just didn’t have the patience for it.

His mother had kindly reminded him that if he wanted to climb higher in the ranks of the grey riders, he needed to show his social skill.

That was true, his last evaluation had given him top scores in fighting, training, and tactics. But his social scores had been low. He would freely admit that it wasn’t his strong point. He was a soldier, a fighter, he didn’t see the need to be nice.

But his mother had convinced him, no that wasn’t true, she had told him that if he helped this Mary, it would look good on his record. She had also told him that due to Mary's relationship with Kopa, there wasn’t many people that his mother could give this assignment to. He hadn’t understood that part, but he had agreed.

That was why he was now being let into his mother’s apartment. She was sitting in her favourite spot at the table by the window. Opposite her sat a woman, Mary he presumed. He smiled at his mother and glanced at Mary. And he felt the wind being knocked out of him. He had to correct himself again. This woman wasn’t pretty, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

“Tenac, how nice of you to join us” his mother greeted him, and he needed all his self-control to look away from Mary and meet his mother’s eyes.

“It’s my pleasure mother” he said and smiled. As she had used his first name and not his title, he could address her as his mother. It was the rule they had put in place years ago.

“May I introduce Mary, Mary this is my son Tenac” his mother continued, scrutinizing him as he turned to Mary and gave her a slight bow.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you” he said, looking at he beauty in front of him.

“The pleasure is all mine” she said with a small smile. He could see that she was nervous, and he wanted to make her feel at ease. He smiled back at her, that usually did the trick with women.

To his disappointment Mary seemed to get more nervous and adverted her eyes to look at her hands.

“Won’t you bring a chair and sit with us dear, do you want me to get you a cup so you can have some tea?” his mother asked.

“No thank you mother, no tea for me” he answered as he got a chair and sat down between his mother and Mary.

“As we have talked about, Mary need a teacher to show her around an keep her safe while she explores the city and our way of living. Do you know where you will start?” his mother asked him.

“I was thinking to start in the traders square and then work our way out from there” he answered with a smile. He couldn’t help but to glance over at Mary ever now and then. Her read hair shone in the sun that was shining through the window.

“I think that sounds like a good plan. Mary you are not a stranger to walking around in a city, am I right?”

“No, I could find my way around Dermes easily” Mary responded and nodded.

“Yes, Kopa told me about your tour that you took him on” his mother smiled, and Mary smiled as well.

Tenac saw how much younger she looked when she smiled. Young and innocent. This assignment wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. A little flirting while they were walking, maybe stealing a kiss or two.

“Do you have anything planed for the weeks to come Mary?” his mother asked.

“No, I’m just helping Bettina around the house”

“Good, then you two can work around Tenacs other duties. Can you start tomorrow Tenac?”

“Yes, I’m free all afternoon” he answered with a smile at Mary.

“Then I think it would be good to pick Mary up from Kopa's house after lunch. How does that sound Mary?” his mother asked.

“That works for me. Have you talked to Kopa about this?” Mary asked his mother.

“No, that fun part I thought we would do together when he comes to pick you up. Which should be any moment” his mother laughed. Tenac didn’t see what was funny, so he gave Mary questioning look. Mary gave him a small smile that he interpreted as she knew what the punch line was.

“What do you want to learn?” He asked Mary as they waited for Kopa.

“The city layout, at least so that I can navigate from our house to the most important parts” she started and looked serious as she considered his question.

“Then I need to practice my Salamis and learn new words and phrases. It would also be nice to know the different social practices in different situations” she added.

Tenac smiled at each thing she counted out. They were indeed things that she would need to know if she wanted a life here. He could help her with them.

“That sounds like something that is doable” he reassured her.