12, New day

Kahane walked up to Ayya and looked at Sinhera. Sinhera gave him a look that said, ‘I’m not going anywhere’. He turned back toward Ayya.
“I need to apologize,” he said.
“It’s fine. I don’t want or need an apology. I was not offended. If anything, I might need to apologize for pushing my beliefs on you,” Ayya told him.
“Well, they aren’t beliefs when you can prove them, then they become facts,” he smiled.
“You might have a point, but still, I didn’t handle it in the best way,” she admitted.
“I would prefer your approach than you let me make a fool out of myself for days before letting me know I was wrong,” he said.
“That is one way of looking at it. We are good?” Ayya asked.
“We are. If you prefer another guide for your time here, I will arrange that,” he said.
“No need,” Ayya smiled.
“Then I will let you get some rest.”
They parted ways and Ayya, Sinhera and the riders walked back to the inn. They squeezed themselves inside Ayya’s and Sinhera’s room to discuss the day and what needed to be done the next day.
When Ayya and Sinhera were alone again and gotten into their beds Sinhera asked Ayya.
“What do you think about things?”
“I think something is wrong, something has made the wolves act desperate,” Ayya said.
“It will be difficult to determine what,” Sinhera yawned.
“Yes, unfortunately they can’t talk,” Ayya sighed.
“At least the people are friendly.”
“Yes, that is nice,” Ayya agreed.
They soon drifted off to sleep.
When Ayya waked up the next morning, she took a moment to enjoy the fact that she was in a bed and not on the ground. Sinhera was already up and was washing up.
Ayya sighed and took her turn at the wash basin. She dressed in her white dress and then the knocked on both walls and quickly got a knock back.
The group went downstairs and were met by Seara. She told them to sit down and soon she and her husband had served them a hearty breakfast. Ayya thanked them before digging into the food. They kept the conversation light while eating.
As they were done, they headed for the town hall. The chief, Kahane and a couple of other men were waiting outside.
“Good morning,” Ayya smiled.
“Good morning,” both Kahane and his father answered.
“We were thinking you would like to inspect our herds,” Kahane said.
“I think that would be a good idea. Three of the riders would also take a look further out to look for tracks. Can you spare a man to go with them?” Ayya asked.
“It’s dangerous out there,” the chief said.
“My men can handle it,” Sinhera said, confidently. The chief nodded and sent for a man.
“I would like to start by going back and look in on the wounded men,” Ayya said.
“Of course,” Kahane nodded.
When the man the chief had sent for showed up and he had been introduced to the two riders Ayya, Sinhera and the rest of the riders walked towards the converted barn. Kahane joined them and was talking to Ayya and Sinhera about the rotation of the livestock when a woman walked up to him.
“Miri,” he greeted her.
“Kahane, we need to talk,” she told him.
Ayya and Sinhera looked at each other and smiled. This was obviously a private conversation.
“We will find the rest of the way on our own. You can have a talk and then come and find us. We will stay with the wounded men until you get there,” Ayya told Kahane.
“No, this can wait,” Kahane said, looking at the woman in a way that made it clear she was not to object.
Miri looked at Ayya and she was the first one they had met that didn’t greet Ayya. Instead, she turned back to Kahane.
“It’s important,” she told him, sounding impatient.
“Miri, I’m hosting the aari and the riders. It can wait,” Kahane said.
“No, please. Don’t mind us, we will manage just fine. We’ll see you later,” Ayya insisted and nodded towards the woman before walking away.
“I think Kahane were counting on using us as a means of escaping,” Sinhera said, sounding amused.
“Maybe, but she did look like she needed to talk to him,” Ayya said.
“Yeah, I don’t think he was as excited about the idea though,” Sinhera chuckled.
Ayya had the impression that Sinhera didn’t like Kahane. Ayya didn’t mind him, but she also knew that her friend had far more experience in judging character.
They arrived at the barn and was welcomed by Keristi. She told them that both Jakobi and Mirio was sleeping. Their pain was almost gone even though the wounds were still infected. Ayya made a new batch of tea and of healing paste and left it for Keristi to use when the men woke up. They stayed and talked with Keristi until Kahane joined them.
“I’m sorry about Miri,” he said as he guided them towards the fields where the animals were grazing.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to apologize,” Ayya told him.
“Are our horses amongst the animals as well?” she asked.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“Good, I would like to look in on Estrela, my horse. Not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I always spend some time with her,” Ayya explained.
“I understand,” he nodded.
They walked outside the village and saw the heard of animals that moved over the open grass area.
“We are keeping them close to home to be able to protect them. Usually, we would have taken most of them up to the mountain pastures. But we can’t risk that,” Kahane explained as a group of goat and sheep kids ran past them.
Ayya looked on in amusement as the kids butted heads and jumped around.
“How will that effect you?” she asked.
“The fields down here will not have time to recover from the gracing before winter. In the winter we can’t use the mountain pastures as the snow get too deep. But now we don’t even dare to go up there to hay. At this rate we will need to slaughter almost all our animals to keep them from starving through the winter,” he said in a dark voice.
Ayya nodded, they needed to find a solution so they could avoid that. These people had built their entire economy on the livestock. If they didn’t have them, they, themselves, would starve.
As they stood there looking out over the herds and the herdsmen, Estrela came trotting up to Ayya and nudged her with her nose. Ayya smiled and scratched her behind the ears.
“You like being able to walk around freely, don’t you?” Ayya told her. As usual, Ayya spoke Heulu with Estrela. Some of the riders had also called for their horses and were looking over them. Kahane stood, staring at Estrela.
Estrela always appreciated attention, as long as they didn’t come to close. She shook out her mane and puffed out her chest.
“Honestly,” Ayya laughed.
“Is she one of the Che’hul horses?” Kahane asked, his voice full of reverence.
“She is, she was a graduation gift from chief Ceran,” Ayya told him, switching back to Salamis.
“I didn’t get a good look at her when you arrived, but she is magnificent.”
“Yes, I agree. I just don’t tell her as I think it will go to her head,” Ayya laughed. Kahane looked at Ayya and frowned.
“You think she understands you?”
“No, not like a person would. But yes. She is sensitive towards energies and moods, especially mine, I have discovered,” she told him and patted Estrela’s neck.
“I have never heard of horses understanding humans,” Kahane objected.
“When you are around Ayya, you will see a lot of things you have never seen before,” Sinhera said with a smirk.
“You are lucky that we are friends,” Ayya huffed. Then the two of them laughed, leaving Kahane to continue watching Estrela. Estrela basked in the admiring looks for a while, but then she nudged Ayya’s arm.
“Sorry, my friend. I don’t have time to go for a ride today. You will just have to run around these fields,” Ayya told her. Estrela huffed and gave Ayya a look full of disappointment before trotting off.
“Is she… upset?” Kahane asked, by the look on his face, he was surprised to be asking the question.
“Don’t mind her, she will be fine. Let’s go inspect the herds. Can you tell me how you guard them?” Ayya said.
They started walking over the fields, in between the different animals. Everything seemed peaceful, but Ayya could see the tense look the herders had as they looked out over the landscape. Everyone was ready for the next attack. Kahane showed them around the herds, and they got to talk to the herders. They heard the same story repeating over and over again. They lost livestock and the herders didn’t know how to stop it. Ayya felt for them, they cared for their animals, and they were just as upset at the way their animals were killed as they were about loosing their livelihood.