shek inah (shek i-na) idiom
an expression generally used to wish someone blessings or protection, specifically from the desert gods; often used in farewells
archaic; first found in the ancient temple of the third Oracle
***
She was not supposed to be with her rayeshka outside the village, and even if they were in the village, they could not spend the night together anywhere. That unspoken rule had been broken twice now, and both times Nascha was uncomfortable. Also this time, she was feeling many other things. She did not want to go—not without telling her family, not when she still had to save Karei, who may now be lost somewhere in the dunes. Not with the prince, and most definitely not with Kalesch.
They were accompanied by two guards. "Two of our best," the queen had said. Two guards to protect the crown prince and the Oracle. 'How good are they?' She wondered, stealing the two men a look. The fire from their little camp danced on their flat faces; a dark line was painted across their eyes and nose, making their gaze more intense and dangerous.
Prince Laku was talking, had been for hours now. If there was anyone excited about the journey, it was just him. After the queen told him he did not have to finish the rituals for his father's tomb, Laku was fast to order for his clothes to be packed. Hours since they left the Belt of Temples without word from anyone, with two guards, and five horses, the prince was still talking about his childhood in Kgosi, how the place was filled with canals of water, how he used to escape the castle to go on little adventures. "I will take you around," he told Nascha too many times since learning she had never been to the capital of the empire.
Nascha was awed by the man's narcissism. For someone who grew up with so much attention, shouldn't he be tired of himself? Strange, really. And tiring. Beside her, Kalesch was silent. What could he be thinking?
"How have you ever lasted this long?" she asked.
"My ears learned faster than my will," he murmured back.
She smiled at Laku, nodding when the prince raised his brows at her while he talked, probably asking for a sign that she understood what he was trying to explain about the canals.
"I hope you have a plan," she murmured to Kalesh. "Taking me away from the tomb is not a good idea. I really need to get to the arnucc."
As she expected, he did not answer. He, too, was pretending to listen to Laku. They had just eaten a good meal of roasted elker prepared by one of the two guards. "As the queen said, we'll talk once we reach Kgosi," Kalesch said, taking the wooden skewer from her. "Why don't you rest?" And to Laku, he said, "We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, Your Highness."
They said it would not take long to reach Kgosi. They would not be crossing the desert. The queen had told them to go north and travel by sea. Not the safest, but if they traveled in disguise, they would be fine. That's why she was in a gray cloak and her hair wrapped in a dull green cloth. Kalesch was wearing the same cloak, but his hair was tied back like any common villager around Tomesh. Laku was in a darker cloak, his hair also wrapped in the most unassuming white cloth. He enjoyed being in disguise, as he said.
Nascha looked behind her, at the small tent erected by the guards just for her. Their camp was nestled behind a sloping mound of sand to hide their fire from any other travelers.
Laku asked Kalesch questions about their journey ahead, most of them already answered hours ago. He eventually stopped talking, yawning and crawling back into the tent he had to share with Kalesch. One guard was already asleep, while the other would stay awake to keep watch.
"Aren't you going in?" Kalesch asked.
"I can't sleep."
"Maybe get inside your tent and try?"
She looked at him. Sometimes she wondered why people looked different the more she spent time with them. Or maybe it's just because she noticed more things every time she did. His nose did not look as high as she disliked nights ago. They complimented his high cheekbones if she looked at him at an angle. His jaw was still worthy of being carved on a stone. His eyes looked different now that it seemed alive with firelight. It felt like they were talking to her, saying she should feel safe because he was with her. And maybe she should really try seeing him as her rayeshka because, after all, he was.
Her eyes dipped down to his mouth. Not too thin, not too full either. Just ordinary. And someday, she would have to kiss it. Her sisters said so. And they shared that they liked it, kissing. They enjoyed more as well, they said, and she would also discover them with her rayeshka in the future.
The thought made her face heat up so she looked away and rolled on her knees. "Fine," she murmured. "I'll try."
Inside her tiny tent, she knew Kalesch had not moved from his spot. For a while, she led herself to believe he was staying so she would feel safe. And it gave her just enough time to calm her mind and finally ease into sleep.
She was a heavy sleeper. It took her longer than most to get into it, but once she did, she was gone. The world could shake and she would not even realize she's dead until she was. And that night, Nascha felt nothing when someone entered her tent later and gagged her mouth with a cloth. In her dream, she was with Kalesch and he was smiling at her like he did with Alika when Nascha saw them together in the market many years ago before their wedding. She did not also realize she was being bound by one of the guards because her dream Kalesch was holding her hand. It was an interesting twist of reality because in the dream, she liked him. And she could read Kalesch's mind and feel that he liked her too.
It was strange. In reality, she did not like him, but her dream self felt otherwise, so she obliged. And with curiosity, she tried to listen to Kalesch talk. But like in most of her dreams, she had trouble hearing anyone. She just knew what they were saying. He was talking about her hair. She frowned. What was wrong with her hair?
"White," he was thinking.
She looked down at the tresses over her shoulders. She did not see it entirely, but her dream self knew everything had turned silver. "They're silver," she corrected, but she was not talking. She was just thinking it because she knew the dream Kalesch would understand. Because he was her rayeshka. They were one. He was her soul, her being.
"Ugly," he was trying to say.
Now, that's just plain harsh. Silver hair was not ugly. It was beautiful! No one in Tomesh the same age as her had the same hair. Messy. No, they were not messy! They were just a little unkempt. Why were they talking about her hair too much? Should they not be talking about something else? Much better, should they do something? Like kiss? Or take a walk in the dunes? Like proper rayeshkas would.
And suddenly, they were. Not kissing, but taking a walk. He was still holding her hand, and he was smiling. Careful. Yes, she knew what he meant. Air pockets. She should not step on one. If you die, I'll have to marry Alika.
"No," she murmured, shaking her head. "Not Alika."
Then don't step into a pocket.
Yet she did. Her foot stepped on sand and did not plant there. It fell through, into a large air pocket in the sands, and she was falling. Kalesch tried to hang on, but he had to let go or else he'd also fall. Why? She knew why. As she fell into an endless space beneath the desert, she saw him standing on the edge of the hole. Beside him was Alika in her priestess white dress, Nascha's yeshka hanging on the gold band around her neck. Kalesch was wearing his too.
No.
"No!" The word did not come out as no because her mouth, as she realized waking up, was gagged. She was not falling into an endless air pocket. She was on a horse in the middle of the desert!
***
Tia was stunned. She did not realize something interesting could happen tonight. While she watched the little camp from afar, thinking how this unexpected turn of events could jeopardize their plans, the girl named Nascha was carried out of her tent, gagged, and bound, and taken away by the two men back to the direction they came from.
What's happening?
She ignored Zaria, and also Nym who was whining in his corner, wanting to take the spot to play.
There had been too many mysteries since that afternoon. Laku and his advisor were suddenly traveling out of Pareysha with two guards and another Tomesh girl. To where? Back to Kgosi? Why? But now, the Tomesh girl was taken by the two guards.
As she chewed on her cheek with questions, the advisor crawled out of his tent, poked his head inside the Tomesh girl's tent, and then rode off as well, taking the same direction as the guards who took the girl, leaving Laku alone in their little camp.
Why would he leave a prince over a girl?
What's happening?
This time, Tia answered Zaria. "They're leaving the prince for us to play with."
***
She did not know who her abductors were, but she had a strong guess. The one riding in front of them looked very much like one of the guards sent to guard them. Also, she did not know how long they had been traveling while she slept. All she knew was that they were in... the Belt of Temples?
Of course, she tried to move, but then she couldn't. They bound her like one would a corpse. They traveled for like another eternity that by the time they reached the familiar butte where she had spent most of her days at, her body was sore all over.
Helpless and confused and scared, Nascha closed her eyes until the horses stopped and the man hauled her over his shoulder. She watched the world upside down, the ground above her and the sky below. Her blood pooled to her head, and she closed her eyes again, praying for the sand god to help her, for her father to arrive and rescue her.
Kalesch and Laku were too far away, probably asleep. Or were they dead?
Why were they taking her back to the king's tomb? Was this part of the queen's plan? Was she the villain in this story?
If only the men talked, she would know. But one thing was for certain: this was not part of her stories. She never carved this to happen. Perhaps she should have, and perhaps she should have given herself some sort of power. One that could make her stronger than her abductors.
The night was chilly, but cold sweat rolled down her temple over her head. The wind howled, the sand scrunched under the shoes of the man carrying her. And suddenly, she was on the ground. Laid down, not thrown. She kept her eyes closed as more footsteps arrived, this time lighter.
"You're done here," the man's voice said. Laku's guards left with their horses.
Nascha was lifted once again, this time more gently by two sets of hands, and then she was carried in the arms of someone. Her heart went to her throat as she opened her eyes.
They were not in front of the king's tomb. No, not at all. They were walking at the side of the butte, stopping at the foot of the stairs, where one stone plate was pushed to the side to reveal a hidden staircase.
Eighteen years. She had spent most of that in this butte, around it, and inside its chambers. But she had never seen this staircase. How was it possible?
But it was not impossible. They were just scribes who had to carve where they were told to. They were not the builders who built everything from the surface down, nor were they the priests who planned the tomb with the king.
Their path was lit with torches. It was colder underground, the sound more distinct, each step an endless echo that died in her ears. Nascha realized the person carrying her was a priest. He was wearing white, and so did the man walking behind them. Another journey into a narrow corridor of earth and they finally emerged into another chamber. This one she was familiar with: the eduali. The worship room.
And in the middle of the golden chamber, Nascha saw her.
Alika was dressed in white, hair perfectly ringed, her ears, neck and arms adorned with gold cuffs. She looked patient and stern at the same time as she watched. And, as if out of nowhere, as if he had always been there with Nascha from the time she was abducted, Kalesch emerged from behind one of the priests and stood beside the priestess.
And just like in Nascha's dream, the two of them watched her being carried to the center of the chamber where another girl's body was already laid out on a rectangular stone.
Karei.
Dressed in blue and gold, hands over her chest.
Dead.