59, Introductions

“Oh, where are my manners? My lady,” Anna said, letting go off Ayya and curtsied.

“No, no, Anna. You have never let me use titles. You are not going to use my title in your own home. Ayya is just fine, or Mary,” Ayya smiled and touched Anna’s shoulder. Anna looked at Ayya with the biggest smile.

“Is Ayya your new name?” she asked.

“It’s what I go by these days,” Ayya nodded.

“Ayya it is. Now, we can’t just stand around in the hallway. Come in, have some tea and tell me everything,” Anna said, ushering Ayya into the kitchen and almost forcing her down on a chair.

“Why don’t you take a seat and talk to Ayya? I’ll make the tea,” her husband said.

“Thank you, Ken,” Anna smiled and sat down on the chair next to Ayya. Then the questioning started. Anna wanted to know everything, starting with her becoming an aari. Ayya talked about her time in training, about the assignments she had been on, how she had been chosen as a contender for the Lady’s successor. “I knew you were special. Didn’t I know it, Ken?” Anna beamed, patting Ayya’s hand.

“Yes, you did, honey,” Ken said from his place by the fire, where he seemed to be whittling something out of wood.

“And how is your family?” Anna asked.

“They are fine. My dad almost had a small nervous breakdown when I left to go here. He has never got over being protective of me.” Ayya smiled and told Anna some of the funnier episodes of his overprotectiveness. Anna laughed and even her husband chuckled.

“And your mother?” Anna asked.

“She is more level-headed, thank the gods. But she is doing fine. She asked me to give you this,” Ayya said, taking out the small package her mother had given her.

“For me?” Anna asked, surprised.

“Yes, as a small thank you for watching over me before she could do it,” Ayya smiled. Anna opened the package and inside were the small embroidered pillows. “They are filled with lavender and sandalwood. You place them in-between clothes and linen in the wardrobe to keep moths away and to bring good fortune,” Ayya explained.

“They are exquisite,” Anna said. “Did she make them?” she asked.

“Yes, she is amazing with working with her hands. She has tried to teach me. I’m average on my best day,” Ayya said.

“You will have to thank her for me. I will cherish them,” Anna said.

“How are you? How are your headaches?” Ayya asked.

“Much better, thanks to the tea you sent me. I drink it every morning and I rarely get headaches anymore. Maybe once in six months,” Anna said.

“I’m happy to hear that,” Ayya smiled.

“Well, other than that, not much has changed. Well, Ken is retired, as you know. He still advises Zerden now and then, but it’s nice to have him home with me. Once Zerden finds a wife and settles down, we have talked about moving out of the city,” Anna told her.

“Zerden isn’t married?” Ayya said, surprised. She had just assumed that he and lady Sarah would have got married a long time ago.

“Oh no, my dear. Didn’t he tell you?” his mother asked.

“There hasn’t been time for social conversation,” Ayya smiled.

“Of course not. You must have had your hands busy. Well, his engagement with lady Sarah ended years ago. It must have been a couple of months after your last letter,” Anna told her. “After that, there has been no one else. At least no one he has told us about,” she continued. “How about you? Are you married? Do you have someone special in your life?” Anna asked with the biggest smile. Ayya couldn’t help but to smile herself.

“I’m not married, but I have someone special in my life. We have just started courting,” Ayya said. Anna let out a squeal that made her husband chuckle.

“Tell me everything about him,” she demanded, making Ayya laugh.

“How about I do something even better and let you meet him?” Ayya suggested.

“He is here?” Anna said, surprised.

“Yes, my father doesn’t really trust my safety to anyone else,” Ayya confessed and glanced at the door. Anna followed her gaze.

“He is outside? Why on earth did you make him stand out there?” Anna asked.

“He wanted to give us some time to talk. He knew I was looking forward to seeing you again,” Ayya said.

“That does it. The two of you are staying for dinner. Go and get the man,” Anna smiled.

“We would love to,” Ayya said and got up and headed for the door. When she opened the door and looked out, Tenac was standing in the exact spot he had done almost two hours earlier. He looked at her questioning. “Anna has invited you to dinner. It’s the same type of invitation you get from your mother and Bettina,” Ayya smiled.

“An order,” he nodded.

“Yes, so you better come inside. But first I think you can send the riders back. We are safe here and if you feel we need them to get back, let them know to come back in a couple of hours,” she said. He looked at her for a moment and then nodded. He walked over to the riders and talked to them, and as he walked back, Ayya saw them leaving. “Come on, I’ll introduce you,” Ayya said, holding out her hand to Tenac. He took it and let her lead him inside. Ayya watched as he eyed all the weapons that, as usual, were stored in the hallway in the apartment as he took his cloak off. Ayya took his hand again and guided him into the kitchen. Zerden’s father had moved from the place at the fire, to stand beside his wife. Anna smiled brightly as she curiously looked at Tenac.

“Anna, Ken, this is Tenac, platoon commander at the Lady’s guard and my bodyguard for this trip. Tenac, this is Zerden’s parents, Ken and Anna Bore,” Ayya introduced them.

“Sir, ma’am,” Tenac said, nodding at them.

“Oh, that won’t do. A close friend of Ayya’s calls us Ken and Anna,” Anna smiled.

“It would be an honour, Anna. Ayya has told me so much about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Tenac smiled back.

“That’s sweet of you to say. Sit down, dinner is in a bit,” Anna said, gesturing to the table. “Wait. Tenac, as in the same Tenac that you wrote about?” Anna suddenly asked. Ayya smiled.

“The very same,” Ayya told her friend as she let him guide her to the table. Anna hummed and nodded. Zerden’s father took his seat at the table. Tenac let Ayya go first and with a hand on her smaller back, he guided her to the chair furtherst away from the door. Then he took the seat next to her. Zerden’s father looked at him with appreciation.

“Are you from Salmis originally, Tenac?” Anna asked as she set the table after refusing to let Ayya help.

“Yes, my mother is from the city. My father was from one of the horse clans. But he moved to the city to become a grey rider,” Tenac told her. Anna continued questioning Tenac as she prepared dinner. Ayya didn’t need to speak that much. She was mostly there for moral support and held Tenac’s hand in her lap. As Anna focused on something on the stove, there was a lull in the conversation.

“Was it a repeating crossbow I saw in the hallway?” Tenac asked Zerden’s father.

“Yes, it was,” Ken answered, sounding pleased someone had noticed it.

“I have heard of them, but I have never seen one,” Tenac said.

“A visiting knight had it with him several years back,” Ken started, and then they were off. The two men had similar interests and soon begun talking military tactics and training. Ayya and Anna smiled at each other. In the middle of their conversation, the front door opened. Tenac half stood up and his hand went for his sword. Ayya’s hand went up to cover his and stopped him.

“It’s just Zerden,” she said. A minute later, Zerden walked in and froze as he saw the two of them sitting at his parents’ table.

“Mary,” he said.

“Ayya,” Anna said and walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Sorry?” Zerden said to his mother.

“Her name is Ayya now, dear. She dropped by for a talk. But I persuaded her and Tenac to stay for dinner,” Anna explained.

“I see,” Zerden said, keeping his eyes on Tenac and Ayya.

“Go in, sit down,” his mother urged him.

“How did you know it was Zerden, was it…?” Ken asked, doing a little wiggle with his hand. Ayya smiled, she knew he was trying to figure out if she had used magic.

“I think it’s far more likely that she counted the plates I set on the table dear,” his wife smiled.

“Yes, I’m sorry to say it’s that mundane, I’m afraid. I presumed Anna wouldn’t have invited us to stay for dinner if you already expected a guest,” Ayya nodded.

“Oh,” Ken said, sounding disappointed. Ayya could feel the tension between Tenac and Zerden. Apparently, so could Zerden’s father, as he quickly started up the conversation with Tenac again.

---

Zerden sat at his parents’ dinner table and looked at Mary and her bodyguard. He knew he was supposed to call her Ayya, but it didn’t seem right.

“I have always found it intriguing that the riders allow women amongst them,” Zerden’s father told Tenac. Zerden watched as the rider shrugged.

“Women can be just as deadly as men, well, most of them,” Tenac said, smiling and nudging Ayya. Zerden saw her laughing, and he didn’t like that they obviously had shared a private joke. He was the one that used to have those with Mary.

“I admit, I am useless with weapons,” Ayya admitted, and both Anna and Ken looked at her with surprise.

“You have had weapons training?” Zerden asked, just as surprised as his parents.

“I did. Tenac thought it was necessary since I always carry a knife.” Ayya nodded as she talked.

“The little one you used to have?” Ken asked.

“Yes, the one my father gave me,” Ayya said and took it out. Zerden looked at it. He had been surprised when she had taken it out the first day and handed it to her bodyguard. But he hadn’t realised it was the same knife she used to carry. Back then, it had the rabbit’s foot he had given her attached to it. Now it had a piece of wood with carvings on it.

“It’s a dainty little thing,” Ken said.

“It’s actually something we give to children,” Tenac said, amused.

“Since I can’t handle anything bigger, this is quite enough for me,” Ayya told them with a smile.

“That is an interesting carving,” Ken then said. Zerden smiled. It was typical of his father to notice it. He had become almost obsessed with wood carving since he retired.

“It’s my mark,” Ayya said as she put the knife away. Zerden saw his mother put the food on the table and she sat down. His father was about to start the table prayer when he stopped.

“We will skip the prayer today,” Ken said, looking at Ayya and Tenac with a small smile.

“Oh, don’t do that on our account. We don’t mind,” Ayya said.

“Not at all,” Tenac nodded.

“Are you sure, dear?” Anna asked Ayya.

“We are sure,” Ayya smiled and reached her hands out. Ken nodded and took Ayya’s hand in one of his and his wife’s in his other. As all of them joined hand, he led them in a brief prayer. When they were done, Zerden noticed how Tenac’s and Ayya’s hands didn’t let go of each other at once. They stayed connected until his father handed Ayya her plate of food. Zerden didn’t like that at all. It felt like this man beside Mary was staking a claim to her. It was not acceptable at all. Not when Zerden was still figuring out how he would go about getting some time alone with her.