Twins of Trallis: Squalls

Authors note: This story is a continuation of a series and as such may be hard to follow if you have not ready the previous Trallis stories. I hope you enjoy this one though. Thank you once again to Mrs Wolf whose proofreading skills are invaluable to me.

Chapter 4: Dancers in the Storm

The entreaties to interview Nyx continued throughout the evening following the strange magic of the storm dancer's globe. Iken gave in to only one demand, and that was to grant Mahan and his men permission to leave the fair and take Nyx with them.

Having only a vague idea of the chaos that surrounded her appearance before the council of nine, Nyx only cared that her beloved Mahan seemed in a darker mood than he had been during the preceding month since leaving his own oasis city. She was kept under guard night and day within Mahan's tent and while accustomed to her master's imprisonment, his sense of urgency and wariness concerning her welfare unsettled her.

It was with a sense of freedom that she donned the heavy concealing robes he insisted she wear when travelling and left the great fair as the morning sun touched the far horizon on the third day after her dance. They travelled hard that first day and as the rest of the women sat in a small cart, she rode along behind Mahan on his horse. She had never been on a horse before in her lifetime, and she could not quite become accustomed to the rolling gait and the constant movement required keeping pace with the beast below them. When they stopped that night Nyx was hurt and in pain from the hard days ride. She tried to hide the pain and discomfort from Mahan but the simple act of sitting beside the fire to eat caused her to grimace.

Always aware of his tiny dancer, Mahan waited until she had finished eating and picked her up in his arms carrying her to his tent. He lay her down on the soft hides and cushions away from the sight of his men, he tenderly massaged oils into the aching muscles of her back and legs. She relaxed under his tender care, and when he lay down with her in the end she embraced him as only a lover in need could, kissing him deeply.

"Thank you my Mahan," She whispered softly and rolled with him as he lay above her and entered her gently, holding her close. They moved together as one and seemed to relish each other's soft sounds, each in their own way dancing in the other's arms as he came without the usual roar or her equally resounding cry. It was soft and gentle as if finally Mahan knew she was his alone again.

The peace between them did not last. The following day a party of horse lords caught up with them. The speed of the horses from Cavalia was legendary, but even the generals were surprised with the speed at which they had caught them. Dashing for cover in a close by corpse of scrubby trees the men prepared to fight.

A voice called out from the horse lord's band of riders. "I just wish to see the girl for but a moment," an obviously female voice sounded. "Please, just a few moments and then I will go, I will come alone if you will grant this, my riders will stay where they are."

Mahan rode forward from the safety of the trees. He held his sabre in an attempt to ensure they knew he would not hesitate to use it.

"We want no violence, please I must see her just once, I have ridden for three days to see her once before the end of the fair, please Sand lord grant me this audience." The feminine voice beseeched him.

"Come alone if you dare," Mahan replied unmoving. A slim figure on a small white horse rode forward to the disgruntled murmurs of her men.

"Bring her," Mahan shouted over his shoulder, and Nyx was taken by the arm and almost dragged out to the space between the two contingents of men. Stepping from his horse he put a hand on the back on Nyx's neck wrapping his fingers around the soft skin. They stood silently as the woman from the other band of riders approached. Pushing back her hood Kerys looked at the girl she had heard of from a messenger bird at first and then from a hasty conversation with her brothers and husband. She wanted so desperately for the rumours to be true, they had to be true, she almost shook with anticipation. Kerys held her breath as she reached out to tilt the face of the small girl before her up and look into the dazzling green eyes.

Mahan growled and Kerys lowered her hand before achieving her goal but the girl looked up with her own curious eyes, and Kerys let out an explosive breath, "Hello child, I am your Aunt Kerys. I would very much like to visit with you for a little while and tell you of your mother. If you are permitted to speak, I would like very much to know more about your life too." Trying to be sensitive to girl's caste and that of her Master she tried to slow down the words that came out in a rush of excitement and consider their effect.

Kerys knew she looked into a version of her sister's face, so much like her own daughter and yet with the same stoic acceptance of everything around her that Dana always possessed. Calm and content, Kerys would have said, but she did not know of this girl's life at all, only that she was a slave and an exquisite dancer. She appeared to be well cared for, and her eyes held a sparkle that told Kerys that Nyx was not unhappy and for that she was truly grateful.

Nyx said nothing instead she looked up at Mahan, "Leave your men and your messages to loved ones, you alone may travel with us. We will be stopping at the Falcon Oasis, tell your men to return to your husband with the message. He will find you there safe and unharmed as he returns from the council deliberations. Rest assured; no harm will come to you, you have my pledge and oath as a council member and Iken's second.

Kerys smiled and nodded at Nyx before turning to Mahan, "As you wish but could I bring one of my men with me, it would be unseemly for a Princess of the nine realms to be unaccompanied whilst in the company of soldiers from another realm unless you plan to take me prisoner, which may have complications all of its own."

Mahan nodded with a grunt and Kerys returned to the band of warriors that had accompanied her. She selected a storm dancer who was well skilled in the arts of magic as well as fighting and sent the others back with messages for Kehan and her brothers. She then turned and walked slowly back to the men of the sand realm, linking her arm with Nyx, Kerys smiled, "That wasn't so hard; I thought I would have a dreadful time convincing your Master to allow me to talk to you, and now we will have a day or two to talk with each other and find out about the world we each live in, It will be such fun!" The enthusiasm with which Kerys now spoke was genuine and Nyx smiled shyly in return.

Nyx was startled and unsure by the words of the woman who held her arm. Was this woman really her aunt? It couldn't be, could it? This woman wore jewels and fine clothes and she, Nyx, was just a slave girl, a good dancer true but still just a slave girl. She had never had close female friends aside of her adoptive mother Neema, and she was grateful that Mahan stayed close, a heavy hand resting on the nape of her neck.

Mahan watched the woman. He had calculated after hearing her introduce herself as the girl's aunt that the woman would offer Nyx as much protection as he could alone and between them the warriors of Stolle, who were his main concern, could be thwarted. If what the rumours had said were true, it was the last lord of Stolle who had stolen the mother of his tiny dancer and brutalised her until her death. Mahan shook his head disgustedly once again that his people were seen as villains for having a slave caste when, in fact, the slaves of the Sand Lords were treated better than the free women in several other realms.

From the small copse of trees where that had stopped briefly, Mahan set a thundering pace down through the great valleys of sandstone and never ending dunes. By nightfall, they had arrived at the Falcon Oasis to thunderous cheers from its inhabitants. Mahan had been away some time and as Lord of this city oasis he was welcomed back as a hero as always.

Despite herself Kerys was impressed with the man's standing in the city, he was obviously well loved which told her he was a fair ruler if nothing else. She was given a large tent and attendants and allowed time to settle in and refresh herself in the bathing pond she found in the middle of the main room. It seemed so foreign to her but then she laughed at herself, she was in a foreign land.

She had prepared herself and was readying to leave the tent when a grizzled and scarred warrior appeared at her door and invited her to accompany him to the private tents of Mahan, the lord of Falcon Oasis. Kerys was pleased to know his name before she arrived in his home; formal introductions had not been a high priority when she had first met him. She wondered how fast her husband and brothers would ride to her rescue and hoped she would have the time she needed to find all she wanted to know about the girl.

Kerys followed the sand warrior to the large tent of the oasis chieftain and found him lounging in a divan with the girl she believed to be her niece kneeling quietly at his feet. The warrior nodded before leaving the tent and Mahan beckon Kerys and her man forward.

"I too, would like to hear more about the past of this girl though I am still unconvinced you will find any proof that she is the one you seek. We are, however, willing to listen to your story and perhaps she will answer questions if you have any for her, but bear in mind she remembers almost nothing of her life before she came to Zantasee, the land of the Sand Lords."

Kerys bristled under the male dominated rule of this world but she understood it would do her no good to argue over things she could not change. "Thank you for granting me an audience," she responded carefully, "I am very keen just to speak with the girl who may be the niece I was searching for. I miss her mother so dreadfully. We were twins you see." She attempted a further explanation of why this was so important to her. Her eyes dropped to Nyx, and she smiled in what she hoped was a friendly way, "The only direct question I have for Nyx is to ask if she is happy here, but I would expect she would not say otherwise with you sitting in on our little chat."

"I believe she is happy. I will admit she could be happier at times but then that is the way with all people. At times, we must endure situations that are not of our own making to get to the sweeter moments life gives us." Mahan answered for Nyx, who looked up at him with obvious love in her eyes as he spoke.

"Well said," Kerys congratulated the man, "and it is obvious from even the way Nyx looks at you that she is devoted to you and I have no intention of petitioning you to give her to my care but I would very much like to get to know the girl herself. In a show of compromise and her willingness to obey traditions in this realm, Kerys stood and walked toward Nyx kneeling down opposite her so she could look into her face. A face so much like that of the sister she had lost, so much like her own.

"You look so much like you mother did when I last saw her," Kerys spoke directly to Nyx as Mahan looked on. I would like to tell you the story of your mother and our family and how we believe she was lost to us. Would you like that?"

Nyx looked up at Mahon, who had nodded imperceptibly before turning back to Kerys and saying quietly, "If you wish I would like to hear your story, but we do not know if I am actually the girl you believe me to be."

Kerys smiled, but said nothing in response to the girl, she knew in her heart, to be her niece with every fibre of her being. She put her hand above her head and her companion, a young Storm-dancer by the name of, Reeve, placed a scroll within it. "This," Kerys presented the scroll before unfurling it "Is the well-known story of the Legend of the Summer Storm Dancer." She did not start to unroll it instead she placed it on the ground before her. "When I have finished telling you the true story of this legend in my own words you may keep this scroll to remember it and think about what it means for you."

Mahon frowned down on the Princess of Solaris dubiously; he had heard the legend; he doubted that there was a man, woman or child in all of the nine realms who had not heard the legend but as they say legends are nothing more than rumours brought to life by poets and minstrels. Still he was interested to hear it from the woman's mouth and judge the authenticity of her words for himself.

Kerys began by recounting the love of her parents, their courtship and subsequent marriage. How her mother right until the end of her life was treated as an outcast by the village that Kerys had grown up in and how she had discovered her powers during a particularly tempestuous storm. It was with sadness in her voice that she spoke of how they had only each other after that as the village children became afraid of the power Kerys held in her hands, and poor Dana was tainted by that.

Kerys stopped and looked at her two person audience and lowered her head. It was hard to recount the night her parents had died, and her brothers were also almost lost due to the treachery of one woman. It was difficult to talk about the abduction of herself and Dana and subsequent trial at the council of the nine moons. Moreover, it was difficult to try and relate how much she and Dana had been two halves of a whole in those turbulent times. How much they needed and relied on each other and how much Kerys had let Dana down, not realising that she had abandoned her when she pursued her powers and found the love of her life.

She had not seen how much the fact that only Kerys holding the power of the storm had affected Dana and damaged her perception of just how valuable she was to their family. She had not seen the warning signs that anything was amiss. She had not realised how much her wedding would impact the woman she held dearest in the world and when news came of her apparent suicide she had almost dashed herself off the cliff itself in her grief and guilt.

"This is the part they will not tell you in the written legends. I stood on top of that wall, looking down into the sea, anguish and guilt eating at my heart with the pain and loss I felt at losing my twin. It was at that moment that I realised my heart beat double time. I could feel a sense of panic, of running, travel and fear." She looked at their confused expressions. "I could feel her, I knew Dana was alive and in danger. She had not killed herself. My heart beat so fast each time I tried to connect with her spirit. I begged everyone to search the city to stop the people leaving the city, but no one would listen, they thought me distraught and hysterical but I knew, I knew she was alive."

"My husband eventually found the truth or at least tried to respect the sincerity of my words and sent out search parties and seekers to find any information. It took many years but eventually your adoptive mother, freed from slavery, made her way to the village of my childhood and found the healer, Hohepa, who still lives there with one of my brothers. Upon hearing her tale, they brought her to me." Kerys finally let a tear blink from her eye as she admitted that she knew her sister had died when she heard the news from the woman. Kerys recounted how her beloved sister had died in childbirth in the castle of the Dread Lord of Stolle, Gerahn and how a physician had smuggled the baby girl out to a fellow physician in the foothills.

"The rest of the story matches your account Nyx," she said her voice cracking slightly with emotion. Taking a moment and clearing her throat, Kerys looked up at her audience hoping to have touched them but they only looked back with unreadable expressions. Finding herself still unable to speak after recounting her sister's death both fictional and real Kerys once again raised her hand above her head, and Reeve stepped forward placing a several large tiles in her hands. Once again, as she had with the legend, Kerys placed them on the ground before Nyx separating them out to show exquisitely painted portraits.

Kerys smiled as she stroked the surface of the portraits. "These were painted by a man who knew Dana and I our whole lives. At the time when we had come home after our abduction he painted these. They are the real people behind the legend I have told you." She pointed to each as she named Baden, Rhys and herself before letting her fingers touch the edges of the portrait of Dana. "This is a portrait of your mother when she was about your age."

Despite herself, Nyx leaned forward to look properly at the portrait. She had listened to her would-be Aunt's story impassively not wanted to show any emotion or accept the woman's words without hearing what Mahan believed first. It was to him she owed her loyalty; it was he who cared for her, kept her safe and loved her, it was Mahan that she loved, the woman claiming kinship was a stranger to her.

"May I," Mahan grunted indicating the last portrait startling Nyx who looked up at him wide eyed in astonishment. He had not been happy having to entertain this woman and Nyx wondered if he was giving her story serious consideration. Confusion swept over her; she had been prepared to dismiss the incident easily but now as she looked up at her Master she wondered if she could truly be related to the family of legend.

"Of course," Kerys picked up the tile and handed it carefully to the chieftain. The resemblance was striking and again Mahan looked at the lady.

"There is resemblance it is true," Mahan said guardedly, "It is still no real proof, and I would now ask a boon of you as I have been so accommodating."

"Of course," Kerys nodded.

"The girl will stay here as will your man, you will walk with me for a few minutes as we talk of this boon," Mahan said not really asking but telling Kerys what will happen. Turning to Nyx he smiled, "You may ask questions about this legend from him," Mahan indicated the young storm dancer that had accompanied Kerys. "I believe, with his strong resemblance to the Lady Kerys, to be your would-be cousin."

The young man did not hide his shock nor did her argue to assumption; instead he looked to Kerys who laughed and nodded.

"My men will stand guard at the door, but they may talk alone," Mahan instructed more for Nyx's benefit than anyone else's.

Mahan walked expecting Kerys to follow which she did within a few metres he entered another tent that was hung with strange boards around the walls. Running her hand over one Kerys felt the crystallised sand and looked at his questioning. "They have the effect of muffling sound, it is why I brought you here to talk. Do not be worried, I mean you no harm, I am not ordinarily a violent man but my temper is short, and I find myself wondering why you would persist in handing over a girl you suspect of being your sister's child to the very people who killed her mother?"

"I am what?!" Kerys spluttered her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"It is my understanding that your mother was of the sea people and your father was a horse lord and yet you grew up in Cavalia rather than Solaris why was that?" Mahan asked trying to make the woman see the error in her judgment.

"It is because that was my father's village of course," Kerys still had not understood his meaning.

"Now let's say your story is true. Who would Nyx's father be and where would she be taken?" Mahan lead her along the path to enlightenment.

"Oh God! Oh no! We couldn't let that happen, not again," Kerys paled significantly.

"So I ask you once again. If your story is true, why do you persist in finding proof that will result in handing over a girl you suspect of being your sister's child to the very people who killed her mother?" He could see her eyes fill with tears as she grappled with what she had been told happened in the council tent and the interest of the men of Stolle in the girl also. Gerahn was dead, were they to take her she would be killed without doubt for being of his blood as she cannot quietly exist in slavery as banished female members of his court might."