19, Jealousy

Sinhera woke Ayya up. Judging by the light that drifted in through the cracks in the wall, it was past morning. 

“What time is it?” Ayya asked as she sat up and stretched. 

“Late morning. I would have let you sleep longer, but the chief and his council are about to talk to Miri and I think we should be there,” Sinhera told her. Ayya nodded. Sinhera handed her one of her dresses.

“Where did you get this?” Ayya asked, surprised.

“I sent two of our men to bring out our equipment earlier. Nothing has been damaged, but almost everything smells of smoke. We are airing it as we speak.”

“Thank you,” Ayya said, pulling her dress on. There was a stinging smell of smoke coming from it, but it was faint, and Ayya wore it rather than having to walk around in her nightgown. The chief and his council, including Kahane, were standing around in the village hall, talking in small groups. When Ayya and the riders entered, everyone looked at them.

“Your grace, how are you feeling?” the chief asked as he walked up to Ayya.

“Fine, thank you. I never knew it would be so nice sleeping on hay,” she said, smiling at him. “I hear you are going to talk to Miri. Mind if we join you?”

“Not at all, it is your right,” the chief said, showing Ayya to her usual seat. Before Ayya knew it, she had been served a bowl of stew and bread. “I imagine you haven’t had time for breakfast,” the chief told her as an explanation. 

“Thank you,” Ayya said. As she was eating, the men in the room and the riders all sat down and just as Ayya was chewing on the last piece of bread, the doors opened and Jakobi came walking inside with Miri. Ayya felt sorry for her as she looked like she had been crying. “Miri, it is time for you to tell us why you set fire to the inn last night,” the chief said. Miri stood in her spot, slightly trembling, but didn’t say anything. There was a low murmur around the tables as the councilmen exchanged their views. “Miri, this is serious. Not only did you almost kill two people you have known for your entire life, two people that has shown you nothing but kindness. But you tried to burn down their home and their sole mean of income as well. On top of that, you almost killed aari Ayya and the riders,” the chief scolded the woman. At the mention of Ayya, Miri almost looked up, but caught herself and kept her eyes locked on the floor.

“I may have some insight in this,” Kahane said. He sounded sad and Ayya saw the same feeling reflecting in his eyes as he looked at Miri. 

“Kahane,” Miri said, looking at him. It sounded like a plea. 

“No, Miri, I can’t stay silent. Not even for you,” Kahane said, shaking his head before taking a deep breath. “As most of you know, Miri and I have known each other our whole lives. There have been rumours going around for as long as I can remember that we were going to wed. And I have always had that intent as well. I thought Miri shared this feeling. I was so certain of it I didn’t stop to ask her. Then a couple of weeks ago, just before the aari and the riders arrived, she came to me. She told me she had felt trapped by the notion that her future was set for her. So she had been seeing a man from another village. Things had gone… The relationship had gone further than ours had,” Kahane explained. Ayya could see how hurt he was and the pain it caused him to have to tell this story publicly.“Miri told me she regretted it, that it had been a mistake and that she now knew that she wanted to spend her life with me. But I was hurt. I told her I needed to think about it. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so certain that I saw a future between us. Since that conversation, Miri has tried to get me to tell her what I plan to do, and I have been avoiding her. Partly because of all that has been happening, but partly because I still didn’t know what I wanted. During this time, I noticed Miri took an interest in aari Ayya. Probably because the two of us spent most days together. Miri asked me several times if I had a romantic interest in her grace. I answered I didn’t.” At this, he glanced down at Ayya. She sent him a reassuring smile to tell him she wasn’t offended by it. “I don’t know what happened yesterday, but I think it had something to do with what I just told you,” Kahane said. He then sat down and placed a hand over his eyes. His father placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you, son. Miri, is this the reason you lit the inn on fire? Because you were jealous of aari Ayya?” the chief asked. Miri hadn’t taken her eyes of Kahane since he had spoken. Fresh tears flowed down her face. She nodded. The chief sighed. “Take her away, make sure she can’t go anywhere.” As Jakobi led Miri out of the hall, the chief turned to Ayya. “I apologise on behalf of my village and on behalf of Miri,” he said, falling down on one knee. Ayya jumped up from her chair.

“No, no need for that. I harbour no ill will towards the village or Miri. Please stand up,” she said, reaching out her hand. The chief took her hand and stood up.

“That is generous of you, Ayya. According to our laws, as the one that has been targeted by a crime, you may bring the defendant home with you and try them according to your laws,” he said. 

“I appreciate that, but I trust you will handout a suitable punishment. My riders and me escaped with just a small shock. The only one affected by Miri’s action were Gian and Seara,” she told him. He nodded and seemed pleased by her answer. “With that being said, it is time for us to head home. We would like to purchase some supplies for the road and we will start our way back tomorrow morning,” Ayya told him.

“We won’t allow you to spend your money here. Let us know what you need and we will get it for you,” the chief said. 

“Thank you,” Ayya told him, and looked at Sinhera. She nodded, and Ayya knew she would give the chief a list of what they needed for the journey back. Ayya spent the afternoon talking to Gian and Seara. She apologised she couldn’t help them rebuild their inn. She felt a little guilty, as it had been burned because of her. They assured her they were more than grateful that she had saved their lives and that she had put out the fire. There was some damage to the inn, especially in the dining hall. But it was repairable. It would have been worse if they had to rebuild from scratch. Ayya was happy to hear that. A little later, when Ayya and Sinhera were inspecting the equipment that was airing out, Sinhera had forbidden Ayya to use her magic to make it go faster, Jakobi and Minio came up to them and asked if they could talk to the two of them. Ayya and Sinhera looked at each other and nodded. 

“We would like to accompany you back. Both Minio and I have decided we would like to try out to become a rider,” Jakobi said. Minio nodded. Both Ayya and Sinhera were stunned into silence for a moment.

“Are you sure? You aren’t doing this because of some sense of gratitude towards me?” Ayya asked. 

“It may have something to do with that, but to be honest, a life in the village isn’t exactly filled with excitement. Now that the wolves are gone, the only thing exciting we have to look forward to is discussions on what stallion should breed what mare and who is sleeping with who,” Mirio said. Sinhera smirked at them.

“Got you hooked on the rush?” she said. “I’m warning you, being a rider isn’t that exciting. We mostly do standard protection, follow the aari around to sleepy villages, guard the Sanctum and train,” she added. Both men nodded.

“At least you get to see new places,” Jakobi said with a sigh.

“I don’t mind you joining us. You have been of great assistance,” Ayya said.

“I agree with Ayya. I will even put in a good word for you with my commander,” Sinhera told them.

“Thank you. We appreciate that. Would it be possible for me to bring my fiancé? I don’t want to leave her here as I don’t know when I can come back,” Mirio asked. 

“She seemed like a nice girl. I don’t see an issue. But I must warn you, it is a long journey. It can be gruelling for someone that isn’t used to long days in the saddle,” Ayya warned him.

“Thank you. I will make sure she is prepared. Now I just need to convince her father that she should come with me even though we aren’t wed,” he sighed. 

“I’m not trying to be pushy, but is there something stopping you from marrying her today?” Ayya asked. “I know it’s last minute and a wedding can take months to plan. But judging from yesterday, we should be able to do a wedding on short notice.” Mirio’s eyes grew bigger and then he smiled. 

“I will go and ask her straight away,” he said and hurried off.