Topal

  When Ya returned, Lovu and Topal had finished their preparations. Peeking out the window, the sun was about to cross over the horizon. It would be time to start soon, assuming they had permission.

  “What’d the elder say?” Topal asked Ya in a hushed whisper, careful to make sure nobody outside could hear their conversation.

  “You have his blessing,” Ya said, her distant stare locked on Lovu. Something about it made Topal uneasy, but Ya had been a bit off for as long as they had known each other.

  Ya was born to Scars but had never actually done any work as a navigator or hunter. Her parents were executed when she was still very young. Topal assumed it was for theft or some other petty crime, but never pried. After she was orphaned, she was taken in by Ifi’s elder and had lived there ever since. Topal had no clue whether that was related to her… haunted demeanor, or if she was just born that way. Either way, Ya was harmless on her own.

  “By the way,” Topal said, “If the elder has spare parchment, we can pay well for it.”

  Most commoners couldn’t read or write. Usually, there was at least one person in each village that knew how to read messages, like calls for levies or announcements from their local Lord. Some also knew how to write to reach other communities when necessary, but parchment wasn’t exactly a staple good. Normally, that person was a leader of some sort, like an elder or mayor. At that low of a level, there weren’t formal rules about how communities organized themselves. Some Lords required specific offices to be filled in villages within their territories, but it varied.

  “I don’t know,” Ya said, breaking her stare to sit down at the small table and lay her head down. “You can ask him later.”

  “Is he planning on joining us?”

  “Yes.”

  While Topal wanted to ask for more details, Ya wasn’t exactly the most helpful in that regard. So, she focused on resting as much as she could before sunset.

  Once it was completely dark, someone knocked on the door, finally stirring Ya. Despite her referring to the man who entered as Ifi’s “elder”, he wasn’t the elder Topal knew.

  In her previous stays in there, Topal had gotten to know the crotchety old man who used to guide the village. He was well into his sixties with a seemingly frail body that looked like it would break at any moment. Still, he had looked that way for the past decade and hadn’t gotten any worse, so Topal assumed he had a long life ahead of him.

  The man in Ya’s house was significantly younger – somewhere in his 30s. He looked like he had spent their whole life working fields, with a slim but deceptively strong body. Topal recognized him from around the village, but hadn’t had any direct interactions with him. “Elder” was a title, so it wasn’t hard to understand what had happened in the wake of an attack on the village. He was a bit on the young side to be the oldest person left in the village, but it wasn’t unbelievable.

  “Hello there, elder,” Topal said, extending a hand. The man took it with a firm grip as he nodded to acknowledge her and Lovu. “I’m Topal. This is Lehil, a noble who’s paying me to navigate for him to avoid the conflict that broke out in Lavote recently.”

  They had discussed using codenames before venturing into Ifi proper, just to be safe. While she would prefer to avoid names altogether like they had in Ya’upuk, that wasn’t an option when people were so guarded. There was no avoiding using her own name, but Lovu had volunteered “Lehil” for his own.

  “Good to meet you. My name is Yirya,” the elder said. “You’re gonna do something to help our fields?”

  “Yup. In exchange for hosting us, Lehil’s gonna give them an Advocate’s blessing, no charge. Least we can do given everything going on.” They had also discussed the fact that there was no way around admitting he was an Advocate. Even knowing that, giving away that much information made her skin crawl.

  “Hm,” Yirya said, looking over at “Lehil.” “Why’d an Advocate wanna help?”

  “Seems like he’s a good one. Sheltered kid that joined the temple ‘cause he loved Fam’e, but isn’t a fan of how the other Advocates have handled things,” she said with a shrug. It was an easy cover story, given that it was true. If someone knew Lovu personally, they may be able to make some connections between the story and him, but most commoners outside of Lavote had probably never even heard his name. Just true enough to avoid suspicion, but vague enough to not draw too much attention.

  “Hm,” Yirye grunted again, looking dubiously down at him.

  “I know, it’s weird,” Topal said, trying to reassure him. “But I’ve spent the last few weeks with him and he seems genuine. Besides, are you really gonna reject help right now? How could things get much worse?”

  “Fine,” he said after scowling a bit longer. “Follow me.”

  He guided them out into the night, a decent way away from the village itself until they reached the fields. As the elder and Ya stepped back to watch, Topal exchanged a look with Lovu and he nodded that he was ready. Stepping up and wiggling his fingers into the soil, he started his prayer. The glowing orbs formed around him, enshrouding him in a cloak of gentle sunlight as he spoke. Once he finished, they sank into the ground, taking their warmth with them. Despite having seen it before, it was still beautiful enough to stun Topal into only being able to watch.

  As he rose to his feet, wiping the dirt off on his cloak, he turned back to them. “That will help your crops mature more quickly and improve the yields of this plot a bit. Unfortunately, a single blessing won’t make a huge difference.”

  “Typical,” Yirya grumbled.

  “Which is why,” Lovu continued, undeterred, “that isn’t all we plan to do. Could you show us to the next plot?”

  Despite the sour look on the elder’s face, he did just that. Once they reached the next pathetic group of plants, Lovu instead signaled Topal to step up beside him.

  “Are you ready?” he whispered, unable to hide a nervous smile.

  “Only one way to find out,” she said, taking a deep breath. Despite her own excitement, she was just as anxious. They wouldn’t lose anything if his theory was correct, but it left a bit too much weight on her shoulders.

  “You’ll do great. Just remember – make sure you’re honest. So long as you’re genuine as you open your heart, she’ll hear you.”

  Topal nodded, not wanting to risk opening her mouth. Instead, she quietly strode up to the field and looked down at the mound of tilled earth.

  You’ve never listened before, but… I hope I can count on you here.

  Kneeling down, she plunged her hands down into the dirt, still slightly warm from the sun’s light.

  “Fam’e, Mother of my flame and devotion, hear my words and offer your hand,” she said, clenching her eyes shut and doing her best to open herself up to the goddess’ invisible presence.

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  No matter how many times she asked Lovu what he meant by “opening her heart”, he wasn’t able to explain it beyond vague feelings. It’s like when you look at the person you love and feel a ball of warmth in your stomach, was what he kept coming back to, but that meant nothing to her. She had never really fallen in love with anybody else. Sure, she cared about people like Ingfe and Kut… but it was hard to consider that love. They were forced together by circumstances, and while she cared about them more than strangers, it didn’t really feel like love.

  She had no way of knowing what to expect, which was why she was surprised to feel a small, hot tightness in her heart as soon as she said that first phrase. It was faint and distant, but unmistakably there. So, she focused on it and continued.

  “Your children hunger and yearn for your love. Sate our withered stomachs and neglected tongues with your bounty and yield,” she said as the little knot in her chest swelled. Not by much, but just enough to be noticeable. As it did, she could see faint light on the back of her eyelids.

  “Let your hands touch these fruits of your sister’s hearth and give them the courage to grow beyond their limits. I beg you, let this field flourish so that we may bathe in peace and on your path be absolved,” she said, desperate to finish the ritual before that fleeting warmth ran beyond her grasp. As she finished, she opened her eyes to see the last faint traces of light dissolve into the ground.

  Turning to look at Lovu, she saw his face positively beaming. “I-it worked?” she asked.

  “It did! You did great,” he said, coming over to help her rise. To her surprise, her head span as she rose to her feet. The whole process took a surprising amount out of her, leaving her feeling faint. After seeing Lovu do the same thing over a dozen times without stop back in Ya’upuk, she attributed his fatigue at the time to his general lack of stamina. Now that she had felt it for herself, she doubted she could do even half that. Although he was a helpless idiot the vast majority of the time, as she watched his big dumb grin, she couldn’t help but return it beneath her scarf.

  “We’re meant to be surprised?” Yirya asked from nearby, his frown making his own displeasure clear. Normally, Topal had pretty thick skin, but for some reason, that pissed her off more than it normally would. “There was way less light than the first time. Does that mean it did less?”

  Both Lovu and Topal looked at him in surprise, but it didn’t take long for her to figure out what he meant. Her eyes had been closed the whole time, so even though she knew it had worked, she didn’t really have a way to compare her performance to Lovu’s.

  “You are correct,” Lovu said gracefully as he stepped toward the elder. “That alone will not be much on its own, but Fam’e’s love compounds. The more you spread it, the more easily it takes root. We will never be able to do everything necessary to heal your fields tonight, which is why I intend to grant you the ritual, so that you and your herd may request her blessing as many times as necessary.”

  “What?” Yirya asked bluntly, clearly unhappy with Lovu’s noble, roundabout way of speaking. Topal had gotten used to it but completely understood how it sounded to other people.

  “He’s gonna teach you how to do the shiny light trick,” Topal said, her irritation edging into her voice. “You can bless your fields yourself. Plant a new round of fall harvest crops as soon as possible and do what we just did every day until they’re ripe. That’ll be enough for you to survive the winter.”

  “Huh…” Yirya said, his scowl turning from scorn to contemplation. Ya was staring up at him, her distant eyes giving no sign of what was happening in her mind. “I thought only Advocates could do all that.”

  “My kin have withheld knowledge when they shouldn’t have,” Lovu said, bowing in apology. “While there are more intricacies to larger scale rituals, anyone who welcomes Fam’e into their heart can call on her for blessings. I can teach you how and, if you have parchment and ink that I may use, I can leave written instructions as well.”

  Despite what should have been a massive boon to Ifi, Yirya still didn’t seem happy. After a long silence, he eventually relented. “Alright. Show me.”

  They showed both Ya and Yirya how to perform the ritual, taught them the incantation, and walked them through blessing a single plot on their own. It seemed to take a lot out of them too, but they were able to get the light to appear.

  “If it is too demanding, you can request blessings in cycles,” Lovu said, walking them through the best ways he could think of to maximize the yields they’d get before winter came. “Feel free to teach the ritual to anybody you wish. With a whole village behind your efforts, the burden should be easy to bear together.”

  “Thanks,” Yirya said, still staring Lovu down with a frown.

  At that point, there wasn’t much left to do other than finish the job. Ifi had so many fields that Topal insisted it wasn’t going to be worth the energy to bless them all, so they limited their efforts to the ones that still had plants growing in them. It took another couple of hours to finish and they were able to sneak back into Ya’s house around midnight.

  As they went, Ya and Yirya hung back a bit, whispering harshly between each other. Topal tried to listen in on what they were saying but couldn’t make out any details. Even once they reached the building and Ya insisted her and Lovu go inside first, the pair continued to talk outside for a while longer. Completely unaware of whatever was happening, Lovu fell asleep almost immediately, but Topal refused to sleep a wink until she knew what exactly had Ya in such a state. It was unusual for her to talk that much, even if it was just whispers. When the door finally opened and the haunted looking woman stepped inside, Topal was waiting to greet her.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked pointedly while keeping her voice low to avoid waking Lovu.

  Ya jumped in response before averting her eyes. “Yirya said he’d bring the parchment in the morning.”

  “Took you that long to hash that out?” It was obvious that she was lying, but Topal had no way of knowing what it was about. A few ideas sprang to mind, but she needed concrete answers before making a move.

  “He was gonna write letters to other villages to talk about trading supplies. Wanted to know how much parchment he needed to keep. He’ll sell you the spare,” she said, crawl into her bed. Normally her stare was distant but pointed. As she moved, her eyes never once crossed Topal’s path.

  She felt guilty.

  They’re planning on selling us out, Topal thought, her hand creeping to the hilt of her sword behind her back, being careful to keep the subtle movement hidden. We never should have come here. Now we’re going to have to charge off without rest and exhausted from the blessings. Fuck…

  As she thought out her escape plan and started formulating an exit strategy, she couldn’t help but look at Ya with pained resignation. While they were by no means friends, they had known each other for years. The thought of killing her, no matter how necessary, left a bitter taste in her mouth. Yirya would be one thing – he was a dick, if nothing else – but Ya had only ever been good to her.

  As she ran though the most painless ways she could think of to end her host’s life, she couldn’t help but feel her eyes drift to Lovu. Suddenly, the warmth she had felt during the blessing returned.

  Fuck… fine. One chance.

  “Oh? Did you disagree with how much paper to keep?” she asked Ya, putting heavy emphasis on the word disagree. That finally made her look directly at Topal… then at the sword. She had given up the element of surprise but was still at a clear advantage.

  Please don’t try anything.

  “I did…” she said, scooting over to the edge of her bed with a look of resignation. “He sent a messenger to Yalyang already. The soldiers said there was a reward for you two.”

  Yalyang was a decent sized town a day north of Ifi. It was nowhere near the size of Lavote or even Kamvor, but it was still bigger than the little villages that littered the wildlands. She hadn’t told Lovu to avoid making him nervous, but their visit to Ifi had largely been a trial run to see how much of a presence Phakfi’s army had in the area before going into a real town.

  The answer she got wasn’t exactly ideal. If the rider had a mount, they’d likely be able to get back with reinforcements before noon.

  “Did you try to stop him?” she asked, trying to let Ya give her any reason not to kill her.

  “No…” she said, her voice heavy with the full weight of knowing what it meant. “I just wanted to tell you. After you blessed the fields. He said it didn’t change anything.”

  “Is he planning on stopping us when we try to leave tomorrow?”

  Ya nodded. “He’s going to ask you to stay for a day so we can thank you. Reinforcements will come before nightfall.”

  The cat’s out of the bag. They know we’re here and I can’t get ahead of that. We should leave right away, but that’ll mean travelling at night while exhausted. We’ll barely make any headway… fuck.

  “Will you try to stop us if we leave?” Topal asked after a moment of silence. No matter what the greater circumstances were, Ya was still the first obstacle. Her grip tightened on the sword.

  Ya looked back at her before bowing her head. “Wouldn’t make a difference. Couldn’t beat you. None of us could. They killed the Scars that fought back and took the ones who wanted to overthrow the Lord with them.”

  “So… can we stay a couple of hours so he can sleep?” She was pressing her luck, but after how forgiving Ya was being, she figured they could at least mitigate some danger. Best case scenario, they’d leave before sunset to still give them a head start and no trail. But it all depended on her. All it took was one scream and they’d have to move then and there. It would even give the villagers the ability to track them so that the reinforcements would have an easier time running them down.

  “Do what you want,” Ya said, laying down in her bed and rolling over to face the wall. “I’m just tired.”

  It wasn’t much, but that little relief made her heart feel significantly lighter.

  “Thank you.”