My Life In Your Hands

 

They travelled for hours, sometimes in the open, other times under the shelter of the trees but always carefully. Rayl led them onward and she seemed to know her way and the lie of the land over which they passed.

When it seemed to Kiri that she could no longer ignore the raw patches of her inner thigh and knees and the stinging skin on her calves, moist from the sweat of the horse and suffering from the salt of that sweat, Rayl signalled a stop.

Without waiting, Kiri slid from the horse and slumped in a heap on the ground. She put a hand out and made a huge effort to stand but her legs refused to obey her. The others left her while they busied about. Kynan came and put a hand under her arm, drawing her to her feet.

"You must walk, Kiri, over here where Rayl has a shelter for you."

Kiri saw that a cliff leaned outward. At its base the ground was dry. She could sit and gain some shelter from the light rain that never ceased to fall.

She was aware of Rayl and Kynan moving about but she was in a fog of fatigue and their bodies were blurry outlines and their voices seemed to come from far away. They pulled her onto an animal skin covered with a thick, felt coat and wrapped her in it.

"Take first watch," Rayl said to Kynan.

She lay beside Kiri and closed her eyes. She slept as deeply as the exhausted Kiri in spite of her own raw patches of skin from hours sitting on horseback but when Kynan touched her shoulder, sometime later, she was instantly awake.

The early pale sky of dawn lay above.

"Nothing stirred in the night, Hatun," Kynan spoke softly after giving her a nod and salute across the chest.

She ignored her warm bed and got to her feet. "Without any horse, the traitor Boru will still be walking back to the village - unless he meets other warriors in the forest. Sleep for a bit, Kynan, and then we must go on."

He nodded and threw himself down in her place. A warrior knew that sleep must be taken where and when possible. No matter how rough the terrain or how little sleep he might get.

Rayl looked about. It was chilly enough for her to tremble but there was much to do. She took her bow and slipped over to the big dun animal. He snorted when he saw her coming but Rayl put a gentle hand on his neck. He nodded his head up and down twice and settled to her presence.

The dun allowed her to mount without protest and soon they were swinging across a wide, empty grassland. The wet grass turned his dun shoulders and belly dark and his black legs glistened with moisture.

Rayl felt a surge of feeling. It was strange and stirred distant memories in her. The smell of horse, the hard wood of the bow in her hand as well as the breeze that swirled about her head and hair from their momentum gave her such a wave of fresh emotion. She cast through her mind and realised that being alone on this chill morning with horse and bow made her happy.

A faint smile curved the corners of her mouth, gone as soon as it appeared, for a flicker of movement caught her attention. Several creatures grazed ahead. She'd seen the flicker of their ears. They were small, not the big red deer she was after, but they would do.

Rayl rose up high on her horse. With practised ease she reached for the arrow at her waist and fitted it to her bow. With pincer like grip, she pulled the string back, gazing down the length of her arrow to the unsuspecting creatures.

Zing. Ah, the song of the arrow as it sprang from the bow! It was music to her ears. Never would she put her weapons away, no, not again, not ever. They would stay in her hand, to protect those she loved, to keep them safe from harm.

Straight and true the arrow flew and pierced its prey before the creature even knew an enemy was near. Rayl swept it from the ground without slowing and without dismounting. In triumph, she turned the dun and swung back to camp and to the two young people that depended on her.

While Rayl cleaned and skinned the small deer, Kynan scraped a flat space in the dirt and began drawing a map.

"Askuzai tribe dwells here," he drew a large shape on the ground, "there are plains here, forested hills here, and our biggest obstacle, the Aluta River, is here."

The wavy line stretched from one side of Askuzai territory to the other.

"It will be strong and fierce from all this rain," Rayl said, "and there is no way around it."

"There is danger here from tribeless bandits," Kynan stabbed his stick at a gap between two curved lines that represented hills, "but it is the quickest, easiest way home."

Rayl stared at him curiously, "And how did you make it safely all alone, Kynan?"

He grinned, "Much like we're doing now, I travelled mostly at night. Besides, a lone rider is no great opportunity for plunder. The bandits prefer to prey upon smaller family groups that travel separate from the larger tribes."

"Your bey allows that?"

Kynan frowned at the implied criticism of his lord, "The bandits strike and leave. We find no trace of them when we ride out."

Rayl laid down the first light sticks of the fire.

"I meant, does the bey allow the families to dwell apart?" her tone was gentle.

"As they wish, Scythian people are free people, the Askuzai no less. If they choose the protection of the tribe then they are welcome. If they wish to dwell alone they can. Few choose that path."

Rayl finished building her nest for the fire. Under Kiri's curious gaze she took a smooth, oblong stone and a short metal stick and struck them together until a spark leaped into the nest. Rayl blew on it gently and a slender curl of smoke spiralled up into the still air.

As tender as a mother with her babe, Rayl tended the bundle of dry twigs and sticks, blowing on it, cradling it in her hands until a bright flame jumped up and burned eagerly. It was not long before a respectable fire snapped and crackled and Rayl pierced the carcass of the deer with a sharp sturdy stick. She'd lashed two short, thick branches together forming a cross before making a second one. She placed one on each side of the fire and laid the sturdy stick bearing the deer upon these. Thus the meat rested just above the flames that ate the firewood that she fed them.

The meat was barely cooked when she took it off the fire.

"Eat as much as you can," she ordered Kiri.

Kiri didn't need to be told twice. Not once did she think of the blood still in the meat. Nor did she complain about eating with her fingers. She wiped her fingers on her dress when she was finished and belched audibly as her stomach relished the meal. Hunger had driven any false etiquette from her mind and the need to survive, at any cost, was teaching Kiri to be flexible.

Rayl ate more slowly. She stared into the darkness and chewed, her mind busy. She didn't waste her breath on words.

"Boru may still come upon us here," she said, "we cannot know whether he went back to the remnants of the Lateri tribe or if he continues to seek her."

She inclined her head in Kiri's direction. Kynan thought also and he also saved his breath on words. Kiri's meal grew heavy in her stomach. Her husband's killer, the owner of the cloak she had wrapped around her to keep out the bitter cold, wanted a way to claim the leadership of the tribe. He didn't have a birth claim, or a warrior claim but with Kiri as his wife, he would have the position he coveted.

Kiri, warm in her cloak, wished she had the inner strength to cast the garment aside, to deny its warmth because of its owner. She drew back the edges of it and examined them with a curl of disgust on her lips.

"If you have it, he is deprived of its power. He will feel the chill of the snow but you will be strong and warm. Keep it, Kiri Hatun."

Rayl's great dark eyes glimmered with sympathy as she correctly interpreted Kiri's ferocious glare at the robe.

"Living is the best revenge to have on Boru," she finished, "but we must rest only until the horses have grazed and then we must move on out of his reach."

Kiri's face fell. Her limbs were so stiff she didn't know if she could keep herself upright on the horse. She held her bottom lip firmly between her teeth, holding back the words of protest and dismay that hovered there. To weaken now was to accept the fate of death or worse, the fate of capture at the hand of Yavar's killer. Kiri pulled the edges of the cloak together. She would rest, she would sleep until it was time to move and then she would hang on to that horse like a clinging burr.

 

It seemed like a few short moments later that Rayl shook her shoulder.

"Quick, Kiri. Your horse is ready. You must rise and move."

Kiri rolled up and stood to her feet with an energy that would have astonished her deceased husband.

She knew what to do and attended her own business quickly, behind a bush and not making any complaint that young Kynan was standing close by.

She reached up and grabbed her horse's mane, she lifted her left heel, bending her leg at the knee. Kynan  gripped it and heaved up. Kiri used the momentum to throw her other leg over the horse's high back and landed in the scarlet, felt saddle with a small thump. She felt a small moment of satisfaction at her achievement.

Rayl swept the campfire bare and scattered the charcoal remains before sprinkling cold dirt, leaves and a few small branches over the site. She stood back and examined it, her head on one side. She gave a small nod. Any one following them would not know that a fire had been lit there unless they looked very, very carefully.

The dun nudged her shoulder and Rayl turned. She ran a gentle hand down his neck as she stepped to his shoulder. Her swing up was fast and one of fluid grace. Kiri, watching, felt a twinge at her own, much lesser attempt and she felt ashamed that she'd been pleased with herself. She made up her mind that she would learn to leap onto her horse's back unassisted.

Rayl, Kynan and Kiri sat on their horses in a close cluster. Kiri could see the mist of breath from the other two. The wind blew stronger now whereas during the first parts of the night it had been so still. Already Kiri couldn't feel her fingers as they curled around the leather reins.

"We must push on," Rayl said quietly, "even though it is still dark. I know you are tired but there is danger behind us."

"And up ahead of us," Kynan pitched in.

Rayl nodded. She looked back the way they'd come and then in the opposite direction but Kiri noted that she looked calm and assured and something hard and heavy wedged right under Kiri's ribs eased its pressure.

"First we get out of Boru's reach, then we worry about the path ahead. The Sky Father has watched over us thus far, in sending rain to cover our tracks and darkness to hide us. We will continue to prosper if we do our part. We mustn't lose our vigilance. We mustn't give up."

The two younger ones murmured agreement and without further speech, Rayl turned the big strangely coloured horse and led off into the shadowy gloom.

"Shouldn't we go back?" Kiri said.

In the deep quiet her voice carried clearly past Kynan to Rayl up the front.

Rayl did not reply. She didn't even turn her head to look back over her shoulder at Kiri.

"Shouldn't we go back and tell the remaining people that Boru betrayed us, that he stabbed his bey in the stomach. Then we can lead the people."

Kynan looked back, his expression full of pity.

"What?"

Kynan leaned back in the saddle, lifting the reins. His horse raised its head but slowed until Kiri was beside her young kinsman.

"Your people are lost, Kiri. There is only death and sorrow back there."

"Someone needs to look after them," she lifted her head, stabbing him with her eyes, "they will be scattered and lost, like sheep without a shepherd."

Kynan's face remained grim but she saw something like approval in his eyes.

"You are right, Kiri Hatun, but you are not the shepherd to gather them."

"Not today," a cool, melodious voice interrupted their conversation. It was Rayl. Seeing them slow down and in deep conversation, she'd dropped back, "but someday, Kiri Hatun, you may guard and protect the people given into your hand."

Kiri turned startled eyes to Rayl and there was nothing left of the haughty young woman, who'd sneered at her broken kinswoman just days before.

"What do you mean, Rayl?"

"Your only concern today is to survive and return to your brother. Your husband failed his task but you, when the Sky Father entrusts you to lead a great and wondrous people, will not fail."

With that said, she chirruped softly to her horse and took the lead again. Kiri was left staring after her. She exchanged a startled glance with Kynan.

"Well," he said frankly, "she sees more in you than meets the eye."

He too spurred forward, leaving Kiri feeling alternately pleased and miffed, hopeful yet seized with terror.

There was no more time for talking for Rayl picked up the pace by setting her horse to a trot. The pace was bumpy but steadily ate up the miles.

The sun rose higher causing the droplets that clung to the swaying grass fronds to twinkle and shimmer. As the ground warmed, a delightful, fresh smell of earth and grass and wide open places rose.

Rayl gave a cry and Kiri's heart froze but Rayl was smiling under her felt hat. She tugged the bow from its goryt holder at her hip and turned the dun with her legs and urged him to speed with her heels.

Kiri and Kynan followed her gaze and saw the long ears of a hare. It flattened them along its back and sped away, skittering right past the feet of Kiri's horse. The grey snorted and leapt sideways. Unprepared, Kiri left the saddle abruptly and thumped to the ground, the reins clumsily hooked through one arm.

She lay on the ground, desperately sucking in air though she couldn't seem to breath it out again. Panic set in but she couldn't cry out because she couldn't breathe. Kiri was winded.

Kynan and Rayl, however, did not see. They were after the hare, whooping and hollering, their horses danced and leaped just as engaged in the chase for the hare as their riders.

Eventually Kiri's ability to breathe returned. She got slowly and painfully to her feet. The others were quite some distance off. She brushed herself off angrily and shaded her eyes to peer at Rayl and Kynan. They weren't even looking her way. Kiri stomped her foot but it was no use. They were too far for her to call. She gathered the reins of her horse in one hand and reached for the mane at the grey's wither. The grey sidled away, too excited by the absence of the other horses to stand still. Kiri ground her teeth.

"Stand still, you beast from darkest hell!"

The grey, unfazed by her insult, snorted and lifted his head high. He let out a ringing neigh. Kiri tried to get close to his side again, desperate to scramble up or at least try.

"Stupid hare," she muttered, "stupid Kynan, stupid..." she stopped short of saying Rayl's name for truly, she'd gained such an amazed respect for the woman that she couldn't utter such terrible words about her.

She heard a faint cry and looked up hopefully. The others were racing toward her. Kiri squinted. It looked like they were waving their arms. She took a step toward them, the grey stepping eagerly by her side.

Kiri realised that Rayl and Kynan were no longer laughing, no longer hunting the hare. They crouched over the necks of their mounts and urged them faster. With a sudden wave of intuition, Kiri twisted around to look behind her and her heart jumped up into her throat. Riders were coming. A handful of them. At least five men. She could see the dust rising from their horses' hooves and the shimmer of a liquid mirage surrounded them. Their hair swayed in the breeze and easy, loping strides of their war horses.

In frantic haste, Kiri gathered the reins tight on the grey's neck, forcing him to stand still and grasped his mane. With desperation borne of terror, she called upon all her might. She crouched and flung herself up. Her leg was over the broad back, with its bright scarlet felt pad. She pulled with all the strength she possessed in her arms. With a final clambering wriggle, she was up.

She shrieked in the grey's ear and bent over his neck. With no extra urging needed, the grey bounded forward and stretched out in a flat gallop toward his companions.

But Rayl and Kynan had ventured further away than they ever intended in their pursuit of the hare. Kiri glanced over her shoulder. The riders were closer than Rayl and Kynan were. A yipping war cry curdled over Kiri and turned her blood to ice. She looked about urging herself to think but the flat, empty plain offered no places to hide, no trees to dodge in and out of and no other shelter for a fleeing woman pursued by hard, dangerous men.

Zzzing. An arrow sang as it flew through the air. The grey gave a strangled nicker and twisted violently. Kiri had her hands wrapped in the thick mane and managed to stay on. A patch of red covered the grey's shoulder. Kiri leaned first to one side and then to the other and the grey undulated in his path. He ran faster than ever and the enemy fell back a little. Kiri's breath rushed in and out of her lungs in a frightened pattern.

From the corner of her eye, she saw flickering movement. She glanced over and saw other dark shapes coming across the grassland. More riders approaching fast. She gave a despairing cry. Rayl gave an answering one, full of grief and fury. She and Kynan didn't slow or even check their steeds but pushed on toward Kiri and the enemy fast and faster.

Kiri turned to see where the riders behind her were and tears leaped unbidden into her eyes. They were so close that she could see Boru's face clearly. His mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes were narrow. He held his reins in one hand and a short sword was in the other, swaying up and down with the stride of his horse. There was no way that Rayl and Kynan would reach her first. She crouched lower over the horse's neck and urged him on.

The cries behind her changed from belligerent to warning. Kiri twisted in her saddle to see. The riders coming from her right side had veered toward Boru and his men. They weren't looking at Rayl or Kynan thundering to meet Kiri, and Boru was slowing. He dropped back among his men and in a heartbeat they'd turned to face the incoming riders.

Kiri bent forward again, urging the grey on and on. Now her eyes locked into Rayl's sharp, black ones. As always, her face was inscrutable but there were anxious lines around the corners of her mouth. She opened her mouth, speaking and although Kiri heard no words, she knew Rayl was encouraging her forward.

In the last few strides, Rayl swung her horse around and kicked him on in front of Kiri's grey. Kynan swept around behind her and brought up the rear.

"Come on, Kiri," Rayl panted, "we must get as far away as we can. The bandits have bought us some time."

​

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