Avandor's Gift

Things were not going as I planned. Years without a firm hand had made the horses skittish and that raised the hackles of my inner wolf. I sat around the table of my mother’s house and everyone watched me as I watched them. I had told them a million times already that I wished to speak with Safria but all I was told to do was wait.

“I am not going to do this anymore,” I said as I got up from around the table.

“Leaving so soon.” said a voice coming from the balcony above me. She walked over to the edge and looked down at me.

“I would hardly call being kept waiting for three hours soon.” I said to her.

“Well imagine waiting for thirty years, ten months and twenty nine days for someone. Three hours dim in comparison I would think.” She said a she made her way down the stairs at a leisurely pace.

“So you were punishing me then?” I said as I sat back down.

“Not punish son. We horses can be as wild as mustangs and at times we have to be patient as we await our master.” She said coming to sit directly across from me.

“So it was a test then?” she shifted her head slightly and smiled.

“I heard that you had chosen the path of a scholar while living in Talithá, I can see why you would think everything is a test.”

“You kept watch over my activities. I must say I am surprised.”

“The activities of you and your sister are always of great interest to me. You two have performed quite remarkably considering your upbringing.”

“Yes we grew well without the guidance of a mother.” She took up a jug of wine and poured it slowly into a glass cup. Her movements were delicate and unhurried and for some strange reason that angered me.

“How is Tetyana these days. The last I heard is that she had taken on the power of Alphandé.”

“That was a lifetime ago, but she has since recovered.”

“That is good to hear. So she has married the chuman king then?”

I looked at her stunned. “No. How is it possible for one to be so hopelessly ignorant of what goes on outside the walls of this city.”

“We have more important things to do with our time. We cannot all pursue scholarly acclaim by wool-gathering in the library of Ta él.”

“I think I am wasting my time here. Mother well met.” I said bowing once and then turned from the table. She was deliberately trying to annoy me and I would not let her succeed.

“Why are you here Tetje?” she called after me when I was almost at the door.

“There is a war going on that will change life as we know it and those of the horse clan choose to ignore it, to pretend that life remains the same as usual.” I said turning to face her.

“This war is between the other wild animals of our kind. Their squabbles do not affect us.”

“And for how long do you think that will remain? One side will win mother, what will become of the horses then?”

“We will survive like we always have.”

“No mother you will not. The horses of the past survived by fighting and taking an active role in their fates. Those were true mustangs. The clan now behave like pack horses, waiting for a nudge to move forward from an undetermined master.” I said as I opened the door.

“You remained deaf to our call for thirty years. For thirty years you ignored our call to take up your place as heir of this clan. Yet you choose to come now, because you wish us to fight a war for the wolves.” She said getting up from around the table.

“I chose to come not to fight a war for the wolves but for all Alkarbrafä. I do not regret not answering for thirty years. I was young then but not unwise enough to know that both sides wished to use me in some way. The wolves wished to have a puppet leader and the horses wished to have a spy, especially with my wife having the ear of the clan leader. I didn’t walk away from just one clan, but two. Two clans that saw me not as an individual but as a tool. I was one tool that refused to be wielded by anyone.

“My loyalty now rests with the Grey Mage and Envladane. I hope that you too will find who it is you really fight for. Stop being pack horses, choose a side, even the wrong one, but let it not be said that the horses played no part in shaping the fate of Envladane.” I closed the door behind me and stepped out into the evening breeze.

I hoped Evander wasn’t going to be too disappointed. I did what I could but seemingly it was not enough. Huma was a day away on foot. I hoped I got there in time to do something useful.

I heard hoof beats coming from behind me and I saw a lone rider coming towards me at full speed. I waited for the rider to approach and dismount.

It was one of the servants in Safria’s household. “Safria wishes for you to come back and present your case before the other elders of the clan. She wishes me to tell you that you have her and the rest of our house’s support.”

“Very well then, I will return.” I said as I mounted the horse behind her. Together we rode back towards the stables of Toriah.