would see her, and then they’d find the canoe, and then we’d be done for.”
“But we didn’t come for an old woman!”
“Well, we’ve got what we’ve got.”
“We could have her lie down in the canoe and wait.”
“I would do that,” she said. Hiding in the strangers’ canoe was humiliating, but at that moment, she was happy to trade her pride for her life.
Bera growled. “Fine, but we’ll have to find what we can quickly. Hurry up and get her in the canoe.”
With a sigh, Tagoa tugged on her hand. “You’ll have to follow me. We hid the canoe in the brush. If you lie down in the bottom, you should be safe. We’ll be back before long.”
They hurried along the shore. A thorny shore brush scratched at her legs, then her knee knocked against the wooden side of a canoe.
“Up, now.” Tagoa grabbed her elbow and helped her up. The canoe rocked in the mud as Saotse knelt in the bottom. “Just wait a little while. We won’t be long.”
They sloshed up the shore until their steps padded into the grass and disappeared. Saotse knelt with her head between her knees, trying not to shake and set the canoe splashing in the shallow water. A chill had started in her feet, wet and exposed to the cool night air. But at least someone had found her. If she had stayed in the copse, with the city full of raiders, it might have been days before someone found her, and… She would not think about it.
Her misery descended like a mist. She briefly felt the keening of the earthy Power. But the water touching the canoe stirred. A distant presence, vast and deep, thrummed in her chest with a painful sweetness. It was him , and even this attenuated echo nearly overwhelmed her. It brought forth a memory of splashing in the surf as a girl, of the water rising up to kiss her, of the whales ascending to proudly bear their master’s maid.
Oarsa. The faint footfall was as close as she had heard him since she had first descended onto the shores of the Prasei, and he was drawing closer. He passed by now ? Now, when the city was already ruined? Now, when she had wept for him for decades? Anger welled.
The waters around the canoe sang. Her mouth filled with the smell of seawater and sand, and she felt the Power’s tug like a current swallowing a canoe. No. Her toes dug into the floor of the canoe, and she braced herself against the sides as if the sea’s Power would lift her bodily into the water. No.
And like letting out a breath pent up under the water, he passed. The water ceased leaping. The winds moved. She was alone again.
She shook for a moment in the floor of the canoe, then realized that she could hear her rescuers approaching.
“—Most of it,” Tagoa said.
“But we found the cask, and that’s what’s important. Auntie, are you still there?”
Saotse raised herself to her knees. The canoe wobbled beneath her. “I’m here.”
“Good, but get back down!” A moment later, they splashed into the shallows and dropped something into the bottom of the boat. The canoe tipped to one side as someone climbed in next to Saotse, then the other began to push the craft free of the sucking mud. A moment later he, too, leapt over the prow and nudged the canoe away from shore with an oar.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Saotse asked.
Bera laughed from the front of the canoe. “Most of the city is burned already. The raiders have been through most of the lodges. But we got the things we wanted from our lodge.”
“And where are we going now?”
“Ruhasu.”
Ruhasu was a fishing village on the shores of the bay a few miles north of Prasa. In the fall, after the salmon run, the Ruhasei would bring the surplus of the fish they had smoked and sell it to the traders. Saotse had spent many an hour assisting Nei in that barter.
“Have many other Prasei fled that way?” she asked. Maybe Uya, Oire, Chrasu, and others will be waiting for me there.
“My father’s enna is in Ruhasu, so we moved most of ours
“But we didn’t come for an old woman!”
“Well, we’ve got what we’ve got.”
“We could have her lie down in the canoe and wait.”
“I would do that,” she said. Hiding in the strangers’ canoe was humiliating, but at that moment, she was happy to trade her pride for her life.
Bera growled. “Fine, but we’ll have to find what we can quickly. Hurry up and get her in the canoe.”
With a sigh, Tagoa tugged on her hand. “You’ll have to follow me. We hid the canoe in the brush. If you lie down in the bottom, you should be safe. We’ll be back before long.”
They hurried along the shore. A thorny shore brush scratched at her legs, then her knee knocked against the wooden side of a canoe.
“Up, now.” Tagoa grabbed her elbow and helped her up. The canoe rocked in the mud as Saotse knelt in the bottom. “Just wait a little while. We won’t be long.”
They sloshed up the shore until their steps padded into the grass and disappeared. Saotse knelt with her head between her knees, trying not to shake and set the canoe splashing in the shallow water. A chill had started in her feet, wet and exposed to the cool night air. But at least someone had found her. If she had stayed in the copse, with the city full of raiders, it might have been days before someone found her, and… She would not think about it.
Her misery descended like a mist. She briefly felt the keening of the earthy Power. But the water touching the canoe stirred. A distant presence, vast and deep, thrummed in her chest with a painful sweetness. It was him , and even this attenuated echo nearly overwhelmed her. It brought forth a memory of splashing in the surf as a girl, of the water rising up to kiss her, of the whales ascending to proudly bear their master’s maid.
Oarsa. The faint footfall was as close as she had heard him since she had first descended onto the shores of the Prasei, and he was drawing closer. He passed by now ? Now, when the city was already ruined? Now, when she had wept for him for decades? Anger welled.
The waters around the canoe sang. Her mouth filled with the smell of seawater and sand, and she felt the Power’s tug like a current swallowing a canoe. No. Her toes dug into the floor of the canoe, and she braced herself against the sides as if the sea’s Power would lift her bodily into the water. No.
And like letting out a breath pent up under the water, he passed. The water ceased leaping. The winds moved. She was alone again.
She shook for a moment in the floor of the canoe, then realized that she could hear her rescuers approaching.
“—Most of it,” Tagoa said.
“But we found the cask, and that’s what’s important. Auntie, are you still there?”
Saotse raised herself to her knees. The canoe wobbled beneath her. “I’m here.”
“Good, but get back down!” A moment later, they splashed into the shallows and dropped something into the bottom of the boat. The canoe tipped to one side as someone climbed in next to Saotse, then the other began to push the craft free of the sucking mud. A moment later he, too, leapt over the prow and nudged the canoe away from shore with an oar.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Saotse asked.
Bera laughed from the front of the canoe. “Most of the city is burned already. The raiders have been through most of the lodges. But we got the things we wanted from our lodge.”
“And where are we going now?”
“Ruhasu.”
Ruhasu was a fishing village on the shores of the bay a few miles north of Prasa. In the fall, after the salmon run, the Ruhasei would bring the surplus of the fish they had smoked and sell it to the traders. Saotse had spent many an hour assisting Nei in that barter.
“Have many other Prasei fled that way?” she asked. Maybe Uya, Oire, Chrasu, and others will be waiting for me there.
“My father’s enna is in Ruhasu, so we moved most of ours
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