Dinner in the tent

Tenac brought Mary to a tent that was next to the big one that belonged to his grandfather. Mary was introduced to Tenac’s aunt and two female cousins. They were in the final stages of preparing dinner, and Mary asked if she could help. But they insisted that as a guest, she would sit with the men and wait for dinner.

“Come sit here with me Mary, you can tell me about your journey to Salmis,” Tenac’s grandfather said, showing her an empty spot to the left of him.

Mary did as she was asked and sat down and started telling them about the things she had seen on her journey. Nontuf had joined them, and he seemed to be more interested in listening to her than his father was.

As dinner was served on large metal plates, Beruda, Tenac’s aunt, sat down with them between her husband and son. The two younger women kept working.

On the large plates in front of Mary, there was a mountain of rice that looked to have been cooked with spices and vegetables. Mixed into it was some kind of meat. Along the border of the plate, pieces of bred had been piled. It smelled heavenly, and Mary couldn’t wait to taste it.

“Let me show you how we eat,” Tenac’s grandfather told her.

He took a smaller, wooden plate and with a spoon, he filled his plate with the rice mix, then he added a couple of pieces of bread to his plate. Tenac’s grandfather sat back and used the bread to scoop up the rice. He then took a small spoon and scooped up some rice and ate.

“Please,” he said, showing with his hand that it was Mary’s turn. Mary copied him.

Taking a small wooden plate and a small spoon and piled rice and bred onto her plate and started eating. The flavours exploded in her mouth, and it was amazing that so many spices could coexist and not create chaos, but harmony.

“This is delicious,” Mary smiled.

“I’m happy you like it. My son’s wife always serves food to be proud of,” Tenac’s grandfather said.

“Thank you, father,” Beruda said.

 Soon, they were all eating. Tenac asked about the herd and Tenac’s grandfather asked Tenac about what he had been doing since they last spoke. It was just like any other family dinner, Mary thought.

“How long have you been a trainee for the aari?” Nontuf asked Mary.

“About nine months,” she answered.

“And do you like it?” he asked.

“I do. I enjoy learning new things and the training gives me plenty of opportunity to do so. If I get bored, there is a fantastic library in the sanctum and then I have my trainings with Tenac,” Mary said.

They sat together, talking, and enjoying each other’s company until late in the evening. After dinner, they had served mint tea and Mary found herself having fun and relaxing. Tenac’s grandfather was a wonderful host that seemed genuinely interested in hearing about her experiences. And once Beruda found out that Mary liked to cook, they had a long conversation about different foods.

“I think it’s time for me to retire for the night. Mary, you will sleep here with Cetu’s family,” Tenac’s grandfather said.

“Thank you,” Mary said, nodding towards Cetu.

 “Our pleasure,” he said.

“Nontuf, Tenac, you will spend the night with the herders,” Beruda said. Mary had a feeling that was for her benefit, which made her feel slightly guilty.

“Mary, I would like to show you the herds at night. It’s quite a sight. Are you up for it?” Tenac asked.

“I would love to,” Mary smiled. She was determined to get to experience as much as possible while she was there.

“Dress warmly and don’t keep her out too long. It’s cold out on the plains,” Beruda told Tenac.

“I won’t,” he promised and as they walked out, he grabbed several wool blankets.

As they walked through the camp, Mary could feel the bite of the cold in the air. Tenac led her out of the camp and up on one of the hills. The night was dark once they got away from the light of the camp, but there was enough moonlight to let them walk without tripping. As they walked through it, the frozen grass rustled. The surrounding hills muffled any sounds, and it felt like being in a bubble.

As Mary stood on top of the hill, she looked out over the plains and saw the horses in a group. The stars seemed to have multiplied, and the world was lit up by the faint moon- and starlight, making the frostbitten grass glisten. It was breath-taking.

“It’s the herders that watch over the herd at night,” Tenac said, pointing at a dot of light on a hill further away. Mary realised that the light was a small fire.

Tenac took two of the blankets he had taken and put them on the ground.

“Let’s sit,” he said. Mary sat on one half of the folded blankets, and he sat down next to her.

“This is beautiful,” Mary said.

“Yes, no matter how much I love my life in the city, coming out here and looking at the herd at nigh always gives me peace,” Tenac smiled.

They sat on the blankets, watching the horses for a while.

“I have something to tell you,” Mary said. Tenac turned to look at her, but said nothing.

“Just before I went on break, something happened. Do you remember when you sneaked up on me and I scared you?” she asked him. She was trying to find a way to tell him.

“How can I forget?” he smiled.

“I was working on my fire magic, or rather, to unblock it. Sesca had this idea that I was unconsciously blocking it. I was trying to get angry on purpose, to see if something happened,” she explained, and he nodded.

“Then last week, Sesca coached me some more, and I managed to light a candle,” Mary said.

“That’s excellent, Mary,” Tenac smiled at her. Mary knew he was happy for her achievements, but she could also see that he didn’t realise what it meant.

“Yes, I was pretty happy about it, until your mother called me in for a talk. Fire was the last of the elements to unlock for me. I didn’t realise what having five elements meant, until your mother talked to me,” Mary told him, glancing at him. He looked at her with surprise.

“You have all five elements?” he asked. She nodded.

“That is amazing, Mary, isn’t it? Why haven’t I heard about this before now?” he then asked.

“It is amazing, but also a little scary,” Mary admitted.

“Tariana and I agreed we should keep this a secret to avoid putting me under unnecessary pressure. It was enough of a surprise to learn that they might expect me to perform some test to become her apprentice. It would be nice to finish my training without having to deal with the council,” Mary confessed.

“I get that,” Tenac said after a while. “But what about you? How do you feel about it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It’s still kind of surreal. A year ago, I worked in the kitchen and didn’t know magic existed. And now I have all five elements of magic in me. I think it will take some getting used to,” she said.

“What was it like working in the kitchen?” Tenac asked.

Mary looked at him. They had never talked about their lives prior to meeting in detail. Just some isolated memories or experiences.

“It could be hard sometimes, but it wasn’t all bad,” she said.

“Tell me about it,” he asked with a smile.

Mary knew that if he asked, he really wanted to know. Tenac never did things to be polite.

“I’ll make you a deal. I tell you about working in the kitchen, if you tell me about how it was growing up as the son of the Lady. A memory for a memory,” she smiled at him.

“Deal,” he laughed.

Mary thought she would start on a lighter note. She started by telling him about how she met Zerden. Despite everything, it was still a happy memory.

Tenac told her about playing hide and seek with Kopa in his mother’s office. That made Mary laugh.

As Mary was telling him about Meata, he unfolded the third blanket and put it around both their shoulders. The blanket created a pocket for their combined body heat, and it felt nice.

Tenac told Mary about having to be separated from his mother as she needed to travel. When his father was alive, they would travel as a family and Tenac’s father would look after him. But after his father had died, Tariana had stopped bringing Tenac out of fear of losing him too. Mary could hear the hurt in his voice. She tilted her head and put it on his shoulder.

As they had got into the darker parts of their memories, Mary told him about living with the constant fear of being thrown out on the streets. The need to always be perfect and never make mistakes. Tenac leaned his head to rest on top of hers, offering the same comfort that she was offering him.

Tenac then shared about the time after his father had died, how his mother had felt responsible even though it hadn’t been her fault. He suspected that she still blamed herself and he didn’t know what to do about it.

“I don’t think something like that ever truly goes away,” Mary said.

“Why not? There was nothing she could do,” he insisted.

“I know. But our emotions aren’t always logical. After my parents died, I blamed myself. No matter how many people around me told me it wasn’t my fault, it still felt like it was,” she confessed.

“Mary, you were a child. There was nothing you could have done,” he said in a firm voice.

“I know. In my mind I know that, and I know that if I was talking to a ten-year-old that had been through the same thing. I would tell them it wasn’t their fault. But there is a small part of my heart where I still blame myself. The difference now is that when I feel bad about it, I can tell myself that it wasn’t my fault and accept it,” she told him.