When we emerged from the dark coolness of the Ustelin, the sun threw spears of light straight into my eyes, adding more pain to my headache. More than anything I wanted to sit in a darkened room, drink cool water and then to sleep.
Our guards were waiting to escort us to Soni's home. She spoke to them only to give directions; her gaze was fixed on the ground as we walked and she did not mention the archer or anything that had happened in the Ustelin. My excitement at finally entering Polemmy was lost beneath the exhaustion of so many days of travelling and the broken sleep of the night before. Staying upright and putting one foot in front of the other took all my strength and concentration, although the pellet may have added to the feeling of distraction.
A change in the quality of the light surrounding me drew me out of my daze. The waving fronds of palm trees high above me blocked out some of the harshness of the sunlight. We had arrived at a sprawling white house which was shaded by tall trees. Scarlet flowers blossomed against the walls. I was astounded. How did they get the water for the garden when the river was so low and so far away?
'My home,' said Soni and she knocked on the stout wooden door. It was opened from the inside by a young woman in a long white dress, whose dark hair was tied back with a strip of white cloth. She gave Soni a quick smile before bowing to her and then dropping her eyes to the ground. She gestured at us to enter but did not raise her eyes again.
'Thank you, Umae,' said Soni. The maid nodded again and left us.
The room we stood in was almost empty, with only a red and blue patterned carpet covering the floor and a tall painted pot in one corner. I was amazed that anyone could be so wealthy they could afford to have a whole room which they only used for decoration. Soni urged me to remove my sandals before I stepped onto the carpet.
'Yah! Yah!'
I was bending over to untie my laces when a curly-haired boy of about seven summers rushed out of an inner room and began swiping at my legs with a small wooden sword.
'Farlan! Stop that!' shouted Soni.
The boy ignored her and continued battering my legs with his weapon while dancing around me so that Soni could not catch him. He reminded me so much of myself when I was his age that a lump formed in my throat. I thought how nice it must have been for him to have an older sister, even if she was several summers older. I had often wished for a sibling when I lived with my foster family, but Veena and Kershel had never managed to have children of their own.
'Farlan. Thamet is our guest! Stop it now!' Soni managed to imprison the giggling Farlan within her arms, and she tickled him until he dropped his sword.
'Soni, Soni,' he murmured, an expression of bliss on his face. 'I missed you.' He flung his arms around her and hugged her with all the strength in his body.
'You saw me at breakfast, little prince,' Soni murmured, stroking his hair. 'Not so long ago.'
The boy squirmed away from her and giggled again. 'Is this the man you found in the desert? He's not as old as I expected.' He looked up at me with his large brown eyes and I noticed how chubby his cheeks were in comparison to Quain and Reesa's thin, dirty faces. He was a handsome little lad, with huge dark eyes, soft brown skin and a ready smile that revealed perfect teeth that contrasted with his dark skin.
'Yes, this is Thamet. Greet him properly.' Soni gave him a small push towards me.
'Hello, my name is Farlan. It is good to meet you, Thamet,' he recited, putting his hand over his heart and making a small bow.
Soni raised her eyebrows and nodded at me. I turned back to Farlan and told him I was happy to meet him too and made the bow with my hand over my heart.
Farlan reached up to Soni's headscarf and tugged at it. 'Take this off!' He demanded. 'I want to see you properly.'
This was the moment I'd been longing for. I was finally about to see her face. When she had been occupied with other matters, I'd spent a lot of time gazing at her wondering what she looked like beneath her scarf. Her dark eyebrows told me that her hair must also be dark. Her large brown eyes drew me in whenever she looked at me and I knew that she must be beautiful. I could not stop myself from smiling in anticipation.
Soni's shoulders drooped and she sighed softly. She closed her eyes, turned away from me and began to unwind her scarf, pulling out its tucks and folds. The deep blue fabric uncoiled from her straight, black hair which tumbled down her back almost to her waist. When she had removed the cloth completely she turned back to face me again with her eyes still closed.
I could not stifle a shocked gasp.
The right side of Soni's face was puckered and had the texture of wax that had melted and solidified. The scars went from below her right eye down across her cheek and pulled up the right corner of her mouth. The scarred skin was mottled white, pink and red, the skin on the left side of her face was brown and smooth. It was almost unkind that one side of her face had been left untouched, for it showed how she would have looked without whatever misfortune had befallen her, and she would have been as beautiful as I imagined.
So this was why she wore the scarf all the time. Revulsion, shock and pity filled me all at once and I gaped at her. This was the moment she opened her eyes and looked straight into mine. I blushed and looked down at the floor, my cheeks flaming. I knew what she had seen in my eyes and how it must have hurt her.
Then a further flush of shame burned my cheeks as I realised she would think me rude for not looking at her at all, so I glanced back up at her in time to catch her expression. Her mouth drooped as much as it was able. Her eyes were half closed and she wiped her sleeve across them. Her shoulders slumped as though a heavy weight had been placed on them.
Farlan carried on talking throughout. Unable to think of anything to say to break the silence between Soni and me, I was grateful that his happy chatter covered my awkwardness. Soni sighed again and opened a door. 'Come this way, Thamet,' she said in a voice so low that it was barely louder than a whisper.
She showed to a bedroom.
'This will be your room while you stay here. Please change out of your robe and wash before joining the family.' She indicated some clean clothes that were folded up on the bed.
'Put your clothes in the corner. Umae will collect them and wash them for you later. Farlan will wait outside and show you to the family room.' She left and closed the door softly behind her.
I was grateful to take off the clothes I had worn ever since I left the farm, wash away the grime and sweat of travelling and then put on the clean robe laid out for me. I felt so content to be wearing something soft and fresh smelling that I sighed in ecstasy and stretched out my arms to free the tension in my shoulders. As I settled the robe more comfortably the fastening of my necklace caught on the fabric, came open and dropped to the floor with a clang. I picked it up and as I twisted the fastening back into place, I wondered whether it really had belonged to my birth father and what he had been like. I hung it back around my neck where its warm solid weight against my chest was comforting.
'Papa and Momma want to meet you,' Farlan said with a bright smile when I came out of my room. He seized my hand and pulled me along corridors and through an open door which led into a bright room with wide doors that opened onto a garden. A middle-aged couple rose to greet me with hand over heart bows. Both were dressed in rich robes that gleamed in the sunlight.
'Welcome to our home,' said the man, whose dark, round face was fringed by a fluffy white beard. 'I am Grohal. This is my wife, Jalada. Sonira spent all of last night telling us about your adventures in the desert.'
Sonira? I realised that this must be Soni's given name. I nodded and returned the bow. 'Thank you for your hospitality,' I managed to stutter out, not knowing what I should say to them. I wondered what they had said to Soni about her unauthorised trip into the desert. Had they shouted at her or been angry? If so, they were doing a good job of concealing their disagreement from me.
'Please sit, drink, eat. You must be thirsty,' said Jalada, picking up a glass from a carved wooden table and filling it with cool juice. 'Farlan, go play in the garden,' she said in a tone that meant she was not to be argued with, however she smiled at him and patted his head as he passed her.
Soni was already seated and I sat opposite her on a low padded chair that was so soft it almost swallowed me. Jalada handed me the glass of juice. I took a small sip from it and smiled my approval. The taste was almost as sweet as the honey Kershel had once managed to steal from a hive in the woods near the farm, although there was a slight tanginess to it as well. I had never tasted anything so delicious.
Grohal began to ply me with questions about the desert, my home and my family. Jalada's eyes filled with tears when I told her about the bandits. I kept silent about the way Veena had been treated for fear of upsetting her further.
Soni said nothing during our conversation. She simply sat with her head bowed and stared at her feet. I dared not to look at her for fear I would make her feel even more uncomfortable.
A noise in the doorway announced another person entering the room. I glanced up to see a young woman, perhaps two or three summers older than me. She had long, black hair that curled wildly and a broad smile that showed her even white teeth. She looked so much like Farlan.
'You must be Thamet,' she declared. 'Soni has told us how brave you were to fight off the creature below the sand.' Her eyes were large and dark, fringed with thick lashes, just like Soni's. I looked into them and felt that I was falling. As I stood to bow to her I thought that I had never seen anyone so beautiful.
'This is my older daughter, Naamiya,' said Grohal. 'The bane of my life,' he winced as she thumped him lightly on the arm. 'Try not to upset her. She is a captain in the city guard and I assure you that she is more than able to look after herself.'
Naamiya looked pleased with herself and gave me the hand over heart bow. 'I had to leave my helmet in the guard room because of you,' she said in a voice that was teasing yet had an edge of irritation in it too.
'We did not know if it would affect you,' said Soni. 'It is ancient and we decided that it would be best not to risk exposing you.' Her voice was still quiet and her gaze was fixed on the floor.
I pressed my lips together, thinking of how she had exposed me to the room full of relics at the Ustelin. But of course, it had not been her wish. It had been at the Head Ustel's command.
'Thank you for your consideration,' I said, hoping this was the appropriate thing to say. 'I am glad to be here.' I looked at Naamiya as I said this, and she raised an eyebrow and smiled at me.
The evening passed as Grohal talked of his business. He was a merchant who traded in fabric and rare perfumes from the far side of the mountains surrounding the desert. He was interested in all I knew about the goods for sale in Merthgem. Lenthew, the unlucky trader popped into my thoughts. I smiled at his memory and knew he could learn much from Grohal.
The young woman in the white dress brought in plates of food and laid them on a table. The plates were richly decorated with gold and blue paint and held an amazing variety of food that had been prepared for us: spicy meats, cheeses, plates of coloured rice, stewed vegetables, fresh fruit and little cakes heavy with sweet syrup. I had never imagined that there were so many different kinds of food in all the world.
'Thank you,' said Soni in a soft voice. Umae flashed a smile at her and then looked down at the ground again. The rest of the family ignored her, taking plates and goblets from the table and piling them high. Farlan joined us and from his excitement I could tell that he did not usually dine with the adults.
The family swapped more stories after we had finished eating. Grohal's tales were lengthy and I was tired and full of good food. Soni saw me conceal my third or fourth yawn of the evening and requested that I be allowed to retire. I thanked her for all she had done for me. I hoped that she would look at me, but she didn't lift her eyes above my shoulders.
The bed was even softer than the chair I had just left and I sank down into it with a groan of pleasure. Images from the day danced through my mind as I waited for sleep to claim me: Naamiya's deep, dark eyes and dazzling smile; Grohal and Jalada sitting next to each other; Farlan waving his little wooden sword; and, finally, the puckered skin of Soni's face.
My face grew hot and I rolled from one side of the bed to the other and then groaned in shame when I recalled my reaction to Soni. It was a pity she was scarred, she would have been as beautiful as Naamiya if she had been unmarked. Was there any way that I could make her like me again? I owed her so much.
When I finally dropped off to sleep I did not dream of either girl. It was the silver-haired woman whose face filled my mind. Her image was so detailed I could see each hair on her head shining as it caught the light.
She held her hands out to me, beseeching something from me, although I had no idea what she wanted. If the thing she required was within my power I knew that I would give it to her without hesitation. The notion of a gift floated into the dream. She wanted a gift from me. I begged and begged her to tell me what it was, but she could not hear me.
She faded from my sight and I awoke. My cheeks and my pillow were damp. How could I find a gift for the silver-haired woman that would be worthy of her?
***
Poor Soni. Did you guess why she always wore the headscarf?
What do you think the silver-haired woman wants from Thamet?
Any feedback good or bad is truly appreciated, I am trying to make this the best story I can. Please let me know if you find anything confusing or if you think I've left anything out.
And finally, if you liked it, please press the little yellow ⭐️ to let me know!
Anni X