Salmis

Mary knew that she would be safe in his home, she was always safe with him. Safe and happy. It was as the constant knot in her stomach was slowly unrevealing. Mary just hoped that Kopas wife would like her.

They didn’t say anything more for the rest of the ride. Both of them needed time to get a grip on their emotions and Mary kept wiping away tears until she could force back the remaining tears of joy.

As they came closer to the city, Mary’s focus shifted from her emotions and happiness to the city walls. As she had guessed from afar, the walls had a layer of some type that made them look smooth and made it seem as it they were made out of one piece of stone.

As they got within earshot of the gate that led into the city, Mary could hear the exited shouts from the guards. She understood enough to know that they were spreading the news that the Lady had come home.

As they entered the city Mary marvelled in the sight of her new home. It was nothing like Dermes, she had thought that all cities looked the same, but that wasn’t the case.

Instead of having the main road from the gate leading straight towards the centre, it curved and seemed to spiral inwards. In Dermes the centre, with the castle, had been raised and the rest of the city had sloped down towards the walls.

Salmis was flat, which meant that the houses on the side of the road blocked the view of the houses further in. The houses themselves looked different. Instead of being freestanding houses with yards around them, they were connected to each other. Just separating after a block or two.

The facade of the houses had been treated the same way as the city wall. They were all painted in different tones of sandy yellow or red.

As they were riding along the road, Mary kept moving her head in every direction, trying to take in as much as she could. She could hear Kopa chuckling behind her, and she realised it was probably at her way of moving around.

As they had completed almost a quarter of a circle of the city, they came to a large bridge that stretched over the river. As they went over the river Mary could see that towards the centre of the city there was a building in the middle of the river. It looked circular and Mary thought it might be the castle.

They moved slowly through the city in a serpentine fashion. Passing over the river on a regular basis as the worked themselves toward the centre. Along the way people would stop and bow in respect as they passed by and some shouted happily at the Lady’s return.

When they finally reached the centre, Mary saw that they came out into an open space. It was like a large marketplace but without the stalls. Along one side there were several people who had gathered.

Three sides of the open space were lined with buildings. It looked like official buildings, they were grand and had lots of ornaments. The fourth side of the space was towards the river and Mary could see a dock with some small rowboats.

Straight ahead in the river there was the big, round building. Its walls looked smooth, and it was painted white. Mary couldn’t see any bridges leading to it.

Kopa made the horse come to a halt next to the carriage. He dismounted and helped Mary down. She realized that her legs were a bit numb, and she instinctively grabbed a hold of the saddle to steady herself.

“Are you okay?” Kopa asked, Mary smiled at him and nodded. She took a tentative step forward and although her legs felt stiff, she had no problems walking.

The three aari came up to Mary and Kopa and Tariana smiled at them.

“Everything sorted?” she asked Kopa.

“Yes, Mary will come home with me” he said with a smile. The three white-clad women smiled as well. Mary saw that several people looked at Kopa astonished. To se him smile was a rare occasion.

“I’m so happy the hear that” Tariana said smiling at Mary, that returned the smile. “Take a couple of days to get settled, my friend, then come to me and we will have a talk about the future” she said to Mary and Mary nodded.

“Good, now it is time for us to go our separate ways for a while. Kopa, I expect that you take at least two days off from your duties. Make sure Mary is settled before you return, take more time if you need” she said sternly.

“Yes my Lady” Kopa said. They all said goodbye before Kopa placed a hand on Mary’s shoulder to lead her towards the group of waiting people. As the got closer Mary noted that he was heading towards one person in particular.

It was a woman with kind brown eyes. She was about Kopas age, and her chocolate brown hair was braided around her head. As Kopa and Mary came closer she smiled at them, and Mary liked her from the start.

“Bettina this is Mary, Mary this is my wife Bettina” Kopa introduced them as they reached her.

“It is nice to meet you” Mary said and smiled at Bettina. She felt uneasy as she didn’t know what to do. She was still not used to meeting new people and didn’t know what an appropriate greeting was. She noticed that Bettina was almost half a head shorter than Mary.

“It is so nice to meet you too Marry. Kopa has talked so much about you that I feel like I know you already” the kind woman said, and Mary blushed. “Would it be okay if I gave you a hug?” she then asked Mary.

Mary didn’t know what to do so she looked at Kopa. He was smiling down at her and nodded. She looked at Bettina and nodded. The small woman drew Mary into a warm embrace that reminded Mary of the hugs she would get from Zerden’s mother sometimes and a faint echo of a memory of her own mother’s hugs.

Mary responded and hugged the woman back. She felt Kopas hand come to rest on her back, and she could feel his happiness in the simple touch.

After a while the two women let go of each other and Bettina looked at Mary. Mary could see that the woman had tears in her eyes.

“This is a blessing indeed” Bettina said to Kopa. As Mary looked at Kopa she could see him nodding with a look of pride on his face.

“Well, let’s get you home. You must be tired after such a journey. I will get some food in you before you get to bed. You need to gain some weight my dear, you’re just skin and bones” she said, placing her arm around Mary’s waist.

“Yes ma’am” Mary said smiling.

“Oh no my child, that won’t do. You call me Bettina” Bettina said cheerfully as she started guiding Mary down towards a street. Kopa started walking on Mary's other side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Mary was sandwiched between the small woman and the giant man, and she was as happy as she could remember ever being. She felt safe and cared for.

As they were leaving the open space, she saw Tariana standing a bit further down towards the river. She was talking to a young man in a rider’s uniform.

Tariana turned towards Mary and when she saw that Mary looked her way, she raised her hand to wave goodbye. Mary did the same and saw the young man turn around to see who Tariana was waving at. For a second Mary met the gaze of the man’s cold blue eyes. Then she turned her head to see where Kopa and Bettina were guiding her.