Dragon & Dreamer | ONC 2023 honourable mention

6 - The uncrowned king

Orinai watched her with an unreadable face. But before Dánirah could ask if something was amiss, her smile returned. She took the child from her partner. "Your way leads north, so we can travel together for a while. The future will show if our meeting has a deeper meaning."

The healer led the group to the guard post and handed the soldier on duty a coin. The man studied it before he let his gaze wander over the four Tannarí. With a shrug, he pocketed the money and waved them on.

Dánirah waited until they were out of his earshot. "I can pay you back."

He'sha shook his head. "No need. The price for a family remains the same if they are three or four. Keep your money for a time of need."

"Thank you."

Orinai turned back with a smile. "It is just a piece of metal. Keleni value them far too much. Most of the time, they are so preoccupied with coins they miss the beauty of the surrounding nature." She stopped and pointed to the west, where the sun sank behind the mountains. The snow and ice caps of the peaks gleamed a bright orange in concurrence with the clouds.

Dánirah gasped. "There."

"A dragon." He'sha stepped to the railing and squinted. "It's been many summers since I saw a shadow dragon."

Orinai rocked her son. "I wonder why a creature of the night travels so close to sunset. They don't like daylight and seldom leave their mountain nests since the queen of the night perished."

"It's headed to the highlands of Eshte." Dánirah thought of the night on the roof with Liha. "I saw two of them flying north half a moon ago."

He'sha rubbed his chin. "Extraordinary. I wonder what this unexpected activity signifies."

Orinai embraced her son and kissed him on the head. "Between running into a gang of mercenaries and shadow dragons travelling, I prefer the latter. Alas, they ride on the wind of change."

Dánirah couldn't help but wonder while they continued the crossing. Like He'sha, she had hardly seen creatures of the night for years. Why were they active now? She craned her neck to catch a last glimpse of the dragon before it disappeared into the growing shadows.

They crossed Sitaja in the dusk. Warm light in several of the hamlet's windows chased the mist and gloom away, but Dánirah shivered in the evening chill. She still didn't know where to pass the night.

Orinai seemed to read her mind. "There is a camp of my family on the old road. We plan to spend the night there. We would be pleased if you joined us."

Dánirah's mood lightened. A Tanna camp was far better than a barn or a stable. Even if in the harshest storm and the coldest night, a tribal campsite was the best place to be. "That's wonderful. It's been almost two moons since we left our winter camp."

He'sha grinned. "It's always good to come home."

Past the village, Orinai led them from the main road onto a narrow path they followed upriver. Soon, the fields made room for a forest. When it became denser, they had to walk in a line. Orinai handed the sleeping child to her partner and took the lead.

Well after dark, the smell of wood smoke tickled Dánirah's nose.

"Almost there." Orinai quickened her steps.

The sight of about a dozen domed tents clustered in a small clearing around a flickering fire sent Dánirah's heartbeat soaring. Laughter and the cheerful sound of a flute hung in the air.

A dog barked when the travellers reached the camp, and the voices and music faltered. Moments later, a group of men and women approached, bundled up against the cold. Orinai and Dánirah slipped back their shawls so their faces could be recognised in the firelight.

"Orinai, you're back." A diminutive woman with grey streaks in her long hair stepped forward to take the healer's hands. "Welcome, my niece, and you too, He'sha." When her gaze wandered to Dánirah, her eyes widened. "Dánirah-ana-Shonai, it's been a long time since our paths crossed. Welcome home."

At the sight of the known face, a warm rush of joy washed through Dánirah's veins. "Senai, it is wonderful to see you."

She remembered the winter the seer spent with them in a camp in Atara. Senai was a close friend of her mother and the best storyteller she knew. She invited the newcomers to her tent, where her daughter Naoràn prepared dinner over a pan filled with glowing coals.

As soon as they sat around the fireplace and A'shei slept under the furs on a cot, Senai turned to He'sha. "I am afraid to bring bad news, but your uncle left us during the frost moon."

"Uncle Jona?" He'sha lowered his head.

"Yes, he never recovered from the fever he caught during the famine." Senai adjusted her shawl around her shoulders as if the memories made her shiver. "You are the uncrowned king now."

"Oh." He'sha looked up and exchanged glances with Orinai. "I didn't know the title would pass on to me."

"You are the next in line, and then, your son A'shei."

"What does it mean?" Dánirah remembered hearing the title before, but she couldn't grasp its significance. A council of Elders guided the Tannarí groups she had lived with, and none had a formal leader. Also, for everything else, inheritance went along the female lines.

"By an old tradition, the uncrowned king is believed to be the keeper of the dawn people's destiny." Naoràn distributed bowls with spicy stew while she spoke. "It's true. These days it is mostly formal, and as it says, our king is never crowned. But in times of need, it is said, he will lead the people to a new morning."

"I'm not sure I can carry this weight." He'sha stirred his stew with a lowered head.

Senai placed a gnarled hand on his arm. "You will, He'sha, and you will carry it well."

Dánirah cleared her throat. "If you are the official leader of the people, He'sha, I have a message for you." She pulled Katin's letter from her bag and handed it to him.

He'sha placed his bowl aside and studied the seal with a frown. "Is this the seal of the king of Kelèn?"

Dánirah nodded. "I got it from his counsellor, and he asked me to deliver it to the leader of the Tannarí. I hoped my mother could tell me where to go with it, but now I think it was meant for you all the time."

Orinai leaned over to study the seal. "So our meeting wasn't a coincidence after all."

Senai shook her head. "You know well there is no such thing as coincidence."

"That's what I told Dánirah today." Orinai reached for the letter and placed it aside. "But there is a time for eating and a time for politics. Now, we eat."

Senai smiled and continued her meal. The others joined her, but Dánirah felt the change in the atmosphere. The conversation died down, and the stew disappeared in record time. She was glad when Senai collected the bowls and He'sha broke the royal seal.

He held the letter close to the light to read the angular writing. Everyone waited in silence until he handed the parchment to Senai. "This needs to be spread to the tribes."

Senai studied the parchment and handed it to her daughter. "Please, read it for me. My old eyes fail me."

Naoràn took the letter and read it aloud.

"To the leader of the Tannarí people living in Kelèn. These last moons, we received concerning reports about bands of mercenaries crossing the borders to rob and kill. The council of Lelai assembles a host. While we will do everything to defend this country, we cannot guarantee the safety of the wandering tribes. We believe the Tannarí treasure their freedom as much as we do and invite them to join the royal army. Only together can we win the upcoming war. Signed, Mirim-isha-Kerim of the house of Diun, king of Kelèn."

(2017 words)