39, The outing

It felt strange to Ayya to ride a horse that wasn’t Estrela, especially since they were heading to the Che’hul clan. But it had been decided that it was unnecessary to bring horses with them as they travelled by ship south. That’s how she ended up on an unfamiliar horse, riding through the countryside with Tenac on her left and Neherim on her right. The horse was a nice chestnut one, a good horse in all aspects. But compared to Estrela, he felt unresponsive and slow. Ayya knew it wasn’t fair to compare the two animals, but she missed her own horse. One of the local riders was taking the lead as they didn’t know the way and behind them was almost all the Ne’xsissian delegation and a couple of riders. The news that they were to visit a Che’hul clan had spread amongst the Ne’xsissians, and no one had wanted to miss out on the experience. They rode along a ridge that was covered in trees. When they came out on the other side, the plain stretched out before them. To the east, Ayya could see the familiar group of tents and she had to smile. It was a welcome sight to see something so familiar when they were in such an unfamiliar place. 

“Tenac, Ayya, it’s nice to see the both of you again,” Cetu said as they dismounted. 

“Uncle,” Tenac greeted him.

“Chief Cetu, let me introduce prince Neherim of Ne’xsiss. Neherim, this is chief Cetu,” Ayya introduced the two. They greeted each other, and the prince brought out delicacies from Ne’xsiss that he handed to the chief. Cetu seemed pleased and invited them into his tent. They sat down and had coffee and Neherim got a chance to talk to Cetu. Ayya and Tenac mostly listened and only joined in the conversation when needed. 

“I would like to show you our herd,” Cetu told Neherim.

“It would be an honour,” the prince said, his eyes lighting up as if he was a small child getting a treat. As they made their way out of the tent and walked to look at the herd, Beruda joined Ayya.

“Thank you for bringing the prince to visit our clan. It will give us an even higher standing with the other clans,” Beruda told Ayya in Heulu. 

“It was my pleasure. The prince has been looking forward to this. He is very interested in horses,” Ayya told her, also switching to Heulu, finding it comfortable to be able to have a conversation that none of the delegation members could overhear.

“If I’m not mistaken, that is not all he is interested in,” Beruda said, smiling meaningfully at Ayya. Ayya frowned.

“You are not the first one to tell me this. I’m starting to think I’m leading him on unintentionally,” Ayya confessed.

“Don’t be. If he is beating around the bush, he will have to live with the consequences. I know you. If he told you he was interested, you would let him know what you felt.” Ayya nodded. It was true. “Do you like him?” Beruda then asked.

“No, not like that. But I like him as a friend, or a potential friend at least,” Ayya told her.

“Good,” Beruda said, and looked satisfied.

“Why is that good?” Ayya asked.

“Because I don’t want to send one of my daughters so far away that we never get to see her. It’s hard enough sending them off to live with another clan. If you married that prince, you would move overseas,” Beruda explained. Ayya felt touched by her words. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” Ayya promised. As they walked up on a hill, the herd spread out in front of them. The Ne’xsissian delegation gasped as one at the impressive sight. 

“This is a sight that leaves me speechless,” the prince said. 

“You flatter us. Let me show you some of our horses,” Cetu said and guided them down the slope and whistled. When Ayya saw that the delegation was well taken care of and mesmerised by the showing of the clan’s star horses. She walked a little away to say hello to Esme, Estrela’s mother. Ayya discovered the horse loved to be scratched along her mane, just like her daughter. She took a moment to talk to the horse and bond with her. After all, it was her horse. 

“Is there a language you don’t speak?” she suddenly heard from behind her. 

“Quite a few, most of them I think,” Ayya said to the prince that stood a little behind her. She could see both Tenac and Pehobo hovering nearby. 

“Who is this?” Neherim asked and nodded towards Esme. 

“This is Esme, one of my horses,” Ayya said. It still sounded strange that she owned more than one horse. 

“You have a Che’hul horse?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“I have two. Esme is the dam of my other horse, Estrela, that is back in Salmis. I let Esme run with the herd, as I only have the need for one horse, so she is better off here,” Ayya explained.

“That would mean that you are a member of the tribe,” he concluded. “Is this where you are originally from?” he then asked. Ayya smiled at him.

“No. I came here as a visitor and the former clan leader and I got along really well and he did me the honour of asking me to become an honorary member of the clan. When I became an aari, he gifted me Estrela and when he passed away, he gifted Esme to me,” Ayya said, gently stroking the chestnut horse. 

“You have lived an interesting life,” Neherim told her.

“I can’t complain,” she agreed. “Let’s head back to the others. Cetu will have more to show you,” Ayya then said. She gave Esme a last pat and led the prince back to the rest of the group. Soon he was engaged in a conversation with Cetu about how to train young horses. Tenac came to stand beside Ayya as they kept an eye on things. 

“It’s not as fun as when we come here to visit,” Ayya said. 

“I agree, it feels like herding cats sometimes,” Tenac agreed. They had switched to Heulu. Ayya laughed at the image that popped into her mind. 

“It should soon be time to eat and then we will start to head back,” she told him. The clan had prepared a wonderful meal for the visitors and they eat in the communal area in between the tents. Ayya got a chance to talk to Beruda some more, as Cetu and Neherim drew Tenac into their conversation. The clan took good care of the visitors and made sure they had plenty to eat and talked to them. When they got ready to leave, Ayya thanked both Cetu and Beruda for their warm hospitality. 

“I hope you got to see everything you had hoped for,” she said to Neherim as they were riding back. 

“That and more. It has been a wonderful day. The clan showed so much hospitality, the horses were impressive and the experience as a whole was something I will remember for as long as I live,” he enthusiastically told her. 

“I’m happy you liked it so much,” she said. 

“I truly did. I can’t begin to thank you for giving me this opportunity, you as well, general,” he told Tenac that was riding on Ayya’s other side. 

“We were happy to do it, right, Tenac?”

“Of course, it was our pleasure, your highness, and the clan enjoyed your visit,” Tenac agreed. “After your stay here is done, where are you heading next?” Tenac asked the prince. The two weeks of his visit were almost over.

“We will head for Domne,” the prince said. 

“Is that safe?” Ayya asked.

“We won’t be visiting Dermes, we will do a one week stop and will remain in Thero the entire stay,” Neherim told her. Ayya nodded. It sounded like they had taken the necessary precautions. 

“It’s good of you to not exclude them. They need all the outside connections they can get in times like these,” she said. The relations between Salmisara and Domne had been icy at best since the Lady had been turned down for the second time. Ayya understood, and she even agreed that it was necessary to some point. But at the same time, she was having a hard time not feeling sorry for the people in the country she grew up in. She had a small hope that the change of king in Domne would make the relationship between the two countries friendlier. Ayya didn’t know what kind of person the new king was. When she had lived in the castle, her only contact point with him had been the regular hunting trips he made. The kitchen had been responsible for preparing the food for the trips and then for taking care of the meat afterwards. Zerden had talked about him sometimes, but that was also in connections to hunting. Ayya hoped the king had other strengths than just hunting.

“I agree. It’s my opinion that if you are allies with someone, you can’t just be there for the good times, you need to be there during the hard ones as well,” the prince said. Both Ayya and Tenac nodded.