Hope Sundered

Keila took a long and satisfying drink of misra. “May I ask you something personal?”

She’d finished her meal with Ginica, Sekka, and Ekard in a small chamber reserved for intimate meetings. Ever attentive, Colbi stood like a statue next to the room’s entrance.

Ginica smiled. “Of course, my daughter.”

“Do you—” Keila sighed and shook her head. “I feel silly asking this.”

Ginica reached across the table and placed her hand over Keila’s. “It’s alright. You’re safe here. No one will judge you, least of all me.”

Keila sighed again. “Do you believe in…divine intervention?”

A wry smile worked its way across Ginica’s lips. “If I didn’t before you crossed the Wilds and found me despite believing me dead, I certainly do now.”

“That’s just it. I’ve been thinking, and I never would’ve ventured here if he hadn’t talked to me.”

“He?”

“There was a strange man in Ob’Riant. A merchant.” Keila chewed her bottom lip. “Come to think of it, he never actually said…I just assumed. Called himself a messenger, I think? He told me his name but I don’t remember it. I wasn’t in the mood for conversation, but he wouldn’t leave, and the next thing I know, I’m galloping into the Wilds.”

“There are tales handed down over the years of strange encounters with people assumed to be normal men and women, but who know things they couldn’t, and guide us in beneficial ways before disappearing without a trace.”

“He knew my name! I assumed at the time another villager told him about me.”

Ginica shrugged. “Who’s to say for certain? Perhaps you’ll find him when you return and can confront him. Either way, I’m convinced the Maker led you to me.”

“Then we have to assume he wants you to help me defeat the Azrahterans.”

“I don’t know Keila,” Ginica answered with a sigh. “What you’re asking is no small thing. I want to help the Avelirians, but we just don’t have the numbers.”

“What about the Kysians?” Ekard suggested after swallowing the last morsel he forced himself to eat. His plate was empty enough to avoid being rude, and his stomach was full enough to stay quiet. Keila wondered if his struggle with the foreign food had more to do with his mind than his tongue. “We’re already at their border. Perhaps they’d be willing to send their army to help us.”

“Not a bad idea, but they won’t deal with us,” Ginica said. “They can’t tell the difference between Jitsa and Moesa, and after having encountered the Moesa, they’re justified in their fear.”

“What cause would the Moesa have to hurt Kysians?” Keila wondered.

“The Moesa are willing to hurt anyone who isn’t Moesa,” Sekka replied, his face grim.

Keila sat back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling of stone, as if the answers she sought were etched there. “Alright, what about the Eja? If we were able to convince them this is about Nokri survival and not choosing sides against the Moesa, we’d double our numbers, right?”

Ginica nodded. “Yes, but it’s not that simple. We’re talking about going to war, which is never an easy decision, especially for us. If we commit all of our warriors, those left behind would be vulnerable to the Moesa, who’d likely attack us just for offering aid to the kokitu.

“And then we have the Wyndhamites. We don’t know how they feel about us after all these years. Would they accept our help, or mistake us for more enemies in the heat of battle?”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“Oh Keila,” Ginica sighed. “How can you make such promises?”

“I’ll find a way! I’ve made it this far!”

Ginica’s smile was genuine. “Indeed you have, my daughter, though I think it would’ve been better if you’d inherited my eyes instead of my stubborn will. I admire your determination, but I don’t think—”

“The Wyndham coat of arms!” Keila exclaimed, slapping the table. “We’ll fly the patriarch’s flag! I remember what it looks like. It was on the medal Lark won at the Spring Festival Tournament. We could make several flags and carry them into battle with us. The Wyndhamites are sure to recognize it!”

“Even if that worked, there’s still no way of us mobilizing without the Moesa finding out,” Ginica said after many moments of pensive silence. “We have no idea how many spies are among us, and Forizu is still nowhere to be found. We’d be risking too much if we commit to this.”

“We risk even more if we stay here and do nothing,” Keila countered. “If Wyndham falls, the Azrahterans’ll march across the rest of Aveliria, including the Southern Wilds.

“Alright, I’m afraid.” Ginica crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. “There, I’ve said it. I’m afraid of losing my children. I just got you back and Maker forgive me, but I don’t want to give you up again!”

Keila reached out and clasped her hand. “I don’t know why Chastin had to burn, but I don’t believe I’d survive and make it all this way if the Azrahterans couldn’t be defeated. Furthermore, I refuse to believe I’d meet my mother after all these years, only to have her taken from me again!” She couldn’t see Ginica’s tears through her own.

Ginica sniffled and chuckled. “You truly are my heart, my daughter, and the heart of our people. Thank you for reminding me what I’ve been fighting for all these years. Very well; I’ll discuss all this with the other Ronos and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Keila returned to her quarters, far from satisfied but hopeful for the first time. She was doing the best she could, and fought to be content with that. If nothing else, she’d at least have an opportunity to build a relationship with her mother.

She was eager to pursue this familial bond, but Ginica was the queen of a people she knew very little about. A foreign language and dozens of new social customs and expectations stood between her and the woman who birthed her, but those challenges would be minor if the Azrahterans turned their sights on the Southern Wilds.

As she contemplated the imminent danger creeping ever closer, she was oblivious to a pair of golden eyes watching her from the shadows.