Che'hul

Mary was satisfied with her gifts and Kopa helped her pack them into saddlebags and showed her how to carry them as she walked to the rider’s headquarters on Sunday.

“And you are sure you don’t want to wear the pants?” he asked her for the fifth time.

“I’m sure, dad. My dress is warm, and my winter cloak will be more than enough,” Mary reassured him as she kissed his cheek.

“Have a lovely time,” Bettina smiled and hugged Mary.

“I’ll see you both tomorrow,” Mary smiled and waved.

She walked to the stables where she and Tenac had decided to meet up.

“Morning Mary,” Tenac smiled at her.

“Good morning Tenac, everything okay?” she asked.

“Everything is fine. Are you ready to leave?” he retorted, and Mary nodded. She was a little nervous. She hadn’t left Salmis since coming here.

“I can take those for you. I have already gotten Addon and Fizz ready,” Tenac told her, reaching for the saddlebags.

“Be careful,” Mary said as he swung them over his shoulder.

“What do you have in here?” he asked as he led her to where the two horses were tied up.

“My gifts and two pairs of socks,” Mary told him, and he looked at her.

“This is all gifts?” he asked.

“In a way,” she nodded.

“What have you brought for them?”

“You will just have to wait and see. You were with me when I bought half of the ingredients,” she smiled.

“Sorry, but those things made little sense at all,” Tenac told her as he secured the saddlebag on to Fizz.

Mary stood and scratched Addon between the eyes. The horse had warmed to her after all the times she and Tenac had been out riding. Mary reached into one of the saddlebags and took out an apple that was cut in half and gave each horse one half.

“You are going to spoil him,” Tenac sighed.

“Have you fixed things with Buttercup?” Mary asked and saw Tenac tense.

“I don’t know how to do that,” he sighed again.

“I’ll keep giving Addon his apples then. I don’t want my second favourite horse to be mad at me as well,” Mary said, shrugging her shoulder as she went to untie Fizz.

They mounted their horses and started heading out of the city. It was only about an hour after dawn and the dusk seemed to cling to the world. The cold weather had consisted, but no more snow.

“I miss the snow,” Mary told Tenac as they just had left the city and were riding along the road.

“What are you talking about? We have snow,” Tenac said.

Mary looked at the light dusting of white that didn’t even cover the ground.

“No, Tenac, you have white dust. I miss the kind of snow that goes to your knees and makes everything look like it is covered in a thick coat of sugar. Where you can build snowmen and have snowball fights,” Mary said.

“Yeah, we rarely get that kind of snow here on the plain. But up in the mountains it is quite common,” Tenac told her.

They rode on in silence. Mary was occupied to look at everything around her. At the start, she had recognised that they were taking the same road as she had arrived on to Salmis. But they had taken a turn to head out onto the plains and now everything was new.

“Are you okay?” Tenac asked after about an hour.

“I’m fine,” Mary nodded.

“The winds get cold out here. There isn’t that much that will break their speed,” he said.

“It’s okay, I dressed warm,” Mary said.

They rode for another two hours before they saw any traces of other people.

“We are getting close,” Tenac informed her as they were riding up a hill.

When they had reached the summit, Mary looked out over a herd of horses. There were more horses than she had ever seen in her life. They walked freely on the plain and grazed calmly. Two men on horseback were watching over them. When the men saw them, one of them came riding up to them.

“Tenac,” he greeted Tenac.

“Furtum,” Tenac nodded.

“The chief is waiting for you. He’ll be happy to see you,” the man said and glanced at Mary. Mary tried to relax and smiled at him. He nodded at her and, as she didn’t know what else to do, she nodded back.

“Everything calm out here?” Tenac asked.

“Everything is calm,” the man agreed.

That seemed to be a parting word as Tenac started riding again. Mary followed him. She was trying to look at the beautiful horses and keep Fizz following Addon. Fizz had gotten excited to see all the new horses. He seemed to want to say hi to everyone of them. That didn’t surprise Mary. Fizz was a curious horse.

As they rode over another hill, Mary was greeted by the sight of what looked like a small village built out of tents. The only tents she had seen until now were the ones they had used on their journey from Dermes to Salmis. But the tents in front of her were not white and rectangular. They were round and made of red and blue colours. But they weren’t gaudy but understated and blended into the landscape.

There were people and animals that were moving between the tents and at the far end of the camp, there were empty waggons.

As they rode down towards the camp, Mary saw people acknowledge their presence and someone ran into the biggest tent. As Mary and Tenac entered the camp, two men came walking out of the big tent.

Tenac stopped in front of the two men and dismounted. Mary followed suit before Tenac would get any ideas about helping her. Her legs and back were stiff. This was the longest time she had ever been on a horse. But these were horse people. She would not show weakness to a camp full of strangers.

“Tenac,” the older of the two men smiled. Mary realised Tenac was almost a carbon copy of the old man, Tenac was just younger, and somewhat taller.  

“Grandfather,” Tenac smiled, and the two men embraced.

“Uncle,” Tenac then said and nodded towards the other man.

“Tenac, it’s good to have you here again,” his grandfather said.

“Thank you, grandfather. I have brought a guest with me. Grandfather, uncle, this is Mary Teeran. Mary, this is my grandfather, the chief of this clan, and my uncle Cetu, his eldest son,” Tenac introduced them.

The two men looked at Mary with curiosity and then tilted their head in a bow. Mary bowed back.

“It is an honour to welcome sir Teeran’s daughter and Tenac’s friend to our camp,” Tenac’s grandfather said, and smiled warmly at Mary.

“The honour is mine,” Mary smiled back. “I have some gifts,” she said, turning around to her saddlebags.

Gently, she took out two paper boxes and handed one to Tenac’s grandfather and one to his uncle.

“To show my appreciation for your hospitality,” she said with a small bow.

The two men looked happy, and the older one gently lifted the lid of his box and drew in a surprised breath. Inside the box, candy was displayed between the folds of tissue paper. Bettina and Mary had tried to make it look as appealing as possible.

“What is this?” Tenac’s grandfather asked as he let his eyes sweep over the contents of the box.

“It’s candy. Cherry and mint marmalade cubes, candied hawthorn, and candied nuts, candid anis seeds and almond candy with rosewater,” Mary said. She didn’t know is she should address him with a title, but no one seemed to object to her not doing so.

“This is a precious gift. I didn’t know things like this were available in Salmis,” the old man said, impressed.

“Mary has made it herself,” Tenac said with a smile. The two men looked at her in surprise.

“I have also brought candied anis seeds and almond candy for everyone,” Mary said, taking out several pouches from her saddlebags and handing them to Tenac.

“This is a gift that is too much for us to accept,” Tenac’s uncle said as he watched the pile of pouches Tenac held.

“You are kind enough to let me visit you and let me stay the night. It’s the least I can do,” Mary said. Tenac’s grandfather smiled at her.

“Come, we must drink coffee and talk,” he said, leading the way to the big tent.