The wind blew softly through the garden, its confines lit in the golden light of evening. A flower or two was disturbed by its passing. They were dislodged and blew away over the walls of the estate, carried off towards the west. A good omen.
Mar was aware of them. She was always aware of her surroundings when she was training in the garden, practicing the art of Nee Kai. It was a product of her upbringing, the nearest she could come to being like the rest of her family. She took great pride in it.
The waters of the nearby brook could be heard over the breeze. A slight smile crossed Mar’s face as she held the pose of Harmonious Reflection. The brook was the best place in the garden to hunt. She remembered how her elder brother, Kare, had helped her catch her first kill. It had been a day of both sweet satisfaction and glorious acceptance.
Footsteps sounded in the house, moving near the doors to the garden. They were an elder male Sangheili. In all likelyhood, it was Vran Ikanporamee, Mar’s uncle.
As fast as she could, Mar darted for the bushes on the far side of the garden. The way was sure; she wove a path among the vegetation with swiftness and ease. If she could just make it to the fruit covered foliage, she would be safe.
A sudden lunge from her side signaled that Vran was already wise to this. Mar tried to avoid him, but soon found her arm in his grip. Quickly, she attempted to put him in a move of Reflective Force, but he countered with one of Unsettled Strike. Mar found herself flat on her back. She moved to spring to her feet, but her uncle put his hoofed foot on her stomach and pinned her down. Though she writhed and struggled, she could not escape from it.
“Do you relent?” Vran asked, folding his arms across his chest. The expression on his face was an impassive one.
“Aye, Uncle,” Mar sighed, a disappointed look on her face. “I relent to your prowess.”
Vran laughed and took his foot off of Mar. He reached down and held out a hand for her. She took his hand in a strong grip and let him help her up. It was an old game of theirs, played ever since she began her training.
“You were almost too fast for me today,” Vran said with a bit of a laugh as he and Mar walked back towards the estate.
“One day, my swiftness shall be greater than yours,” Mar said as she smiled up at him.
Vran looked down at her, sizing her up. “It may yet be so. You are strong for one of your kind. Were it not so I would not have tasked you with the memorization of the Ikanporamee Battle Poem.”
“Had you forbidden me from learning it, Uncle, I would have still learned it.”
Vran chuckled deep in his chest. “Indeed. It is why the Kaidon will let you take the Ikanporamee family name, and why so few of his council truly opposed it despite your being truly human in their eyes.”
“I should not wish to bring dishonor to my family.”
“Nor will you now, I wager. You have equaled your siblings. To ignore a feat such as that is indeed difficult”
The Sangheili stopped and put a hand on Mar’s shoulder. She looked up to him. “Yes, Uncle?”
Vran said nothing. He simply looked over Mar with a piercing eye, as if trying to see into her very being. She did not flinch from this, but simply looked back at him. After a moment or two, he nodded slowly.
“The decision to raise you as ours was a good one,” he said at last, taking his hand off of her shoulder and walking forward again, saying nothing more.
Mar’s heart beamed with pride, but she matched her steps with her Uncle’s and did not let it show. She would keep this pride until later, when she studied the holy writ in the privacy of her own chambers. Then she would thank the lords of old for seeing fit to put her with Vran and his family, and assure them that this act of mercy would not be squandered while she still had breath to draw.
As the two of them walked, Vran plucked a flower from one of the plants and put it in Mar’s hair. She put a hand to it for one moment and looked at him slightly. He clicked his top mandibles and kept walking. Mar smirked and secured the flower where it was. To question a gift would be rude. To accept and to pass on the grace would be right. Later, she would find a way to repay him for this. All of this
The breeze continued to blow towards the west, carrying more flowers along its way towards the far off Kolaar Mountain, and the illustrious Vadam Keep. All in all, a very good omen.
Gender:
Points: 15698
Reviews: 369