Farming for Courage - Chapter 5 - A'mara Books

5

(Terraday, cont)
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Seri Dellan wasn’t sure what to do. She did not want to hang out with the men who had laughed at her earlier! She didn’t even want to go there! Just thinking about it embarrassed her.

Thankfully, Tinley seemed to understand and didn’t coax her further, but let her take refuge in the flower garden. She already liked it, despite the season keeping blooms to a minimum. Several varieties of colorful fungus grew beneath some of the bushes, fresh from a recent rain. She hoped their tents wouldn’t get as wet as they’d got in Ubre’in, where several tropical downpours had soaked everything that wasn’t fully protected.

“So, you’ve not handled ovind before,” a low voice said, next to Seri.

She jumped slightly, before recovering. She was horrified to see it was the herdsman who had told her to chase the ovind back to him, before she’d been knocked into the mud! “No!” she replied instantly, her cheeks already heating up.

His chuckle defused her. “Considering that, you did okay… right up until the ram decided that you were the weak point in the fence and made a break for it – over you!”

Seri turned away from him. It wasn’t fair! The handsomest man she’d seen since leaving X’lea, and he had to observe her most embarrassing moment!

He chuckled again. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for laughing at you. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m sorry I gave you something to laugh at!” Could she really think of nothing better to say?!

“It was quite a sight, and ovind are usually pretty boring!” He laughed again. “Forgive me?”

“Depends on how you behave!”

“Fair cop,” he replied. “You travel with quite a group.”

“Yes,” she answered. “Zilan, his wife Iyva. Elíaz, his wife D’zani.”

“Your sister?” he asked.

“Double cousin,” she corrected. “Celna and her partner, Yavin. And me! And those kids since Atrua.”

“Who are living here now,” he said. “That’s quite a group! Sounds like a story there!”

“I can’t tell you much,” Seri said. “I shouldn’t have even told you everyone’s names. It’s too dangerous.”

“What kind of danger?”

“Death Edicts on the first four. Maybe some of the rest of us by proximity.”

“What did they do for those?”

“I’d have to kill you if I told you,” Seri said, looking at his blue eyes before realizing it was a mistake.

“Violent!” the man said. “I’m Torsten. You?”

“Seri.”

“Beautiful name.”

“I was named after my aunt. Celna was named after my mother. We were born on the same day.”

“That’s really special!” he said warmly.

Seri pointedly looked away from him, towards the group around the fire. It felt weird as she looked at her cousin, within the arm of Yavin. The other couples too, so much in love still. Her mother told her that the honeymoon stage of marriage might last a year or two if the couple was lucky. She wondered whether she would get to watch the growing pains of the couples around her.

“Do you want to come and eat? Garian does a good job with the meat when I’m not there,” Torsten invited.

“As long as there aren’t any ovind around...”

“Maybe on the grill if you want some.”

Seri smiled in spite of herself.

“I knew there was a pretty smile hiding there somewhere!” Torsten told her, making her blush again. “Come, let’s go eat.”

Seri nodded and let him lead her from the flower garden.

“You know, I could teach you how to handle the ovind so they don’t cause embarrassment again,” Torsten suggested.

Seri felt her cheeks warming again. “I would rather just stand back and watch!” she replied.

“That’s not always possible, but if you know how, they can’t make a complete fool out of you!”

“I don’t know,” Seri said, feeling terrified of the creatures.

“They aren’t so bad once you get to know them. Even I’ve been knocked down a few times – mostly when I was a lot younger.”

“We’ll see,” she replied, not feeling very confident. Usually, when she met new people, they already knew about her dancing and were in awe of her skills there. It was rare for her to meet someone like this – clearly an expert in his field, not hers. She was out of her depth here and it terrified her.

♥

Sitting on a rock near the fire, Seri licked her fingers of meat juices. The meal offered was excellent. Something about fire… the time at sea had reset her taste buds, Seri supposed. This meat was excellent and it wasn’t even anything amazing. She had refused to let Torsten go get her some ovind. There was no way she needed special treatment just because one had bowled her over earlier! She didn’t need revenge and definitely didn’t need help remembering!

She didn’t talk much. The couples were engaged with each other. The children chattered with their Aunt Tinley and lost cousins Marc’la, Ek-ul and Karlun. Seri just admired the evening landscape around her. It was green for late winter. She wondered if Kasago got any snow. Maybe she wouldn’t mind it so much here. The city was so different than life here on the farm. But then, how was she to suppose she knew what normal was anymore? Everything had changed since leaving Hailu.

“Are you chilly?” Torsten asked, noting her short sleeves.

“I’m fine. It was cold at sea, but here it’s not too bad.”

“How did you get mixed up with this group of hooligans?” he asked.

“What part of ‘kill you’ did you miss?” she asked.

His answering grin made her heart do flip flops. It wasn’t a good thing! She continued before anything could go stranger than they already were, “I blame Celna! She came with the group, then I decided to follow.”

Seri avoided Torsten’s intense gaze that seemed as soft as it was hard. She thought about Celna and Yavin – such a quick romance! Zilan said it was normal for A’mara, but she wasn’t sure. What did she think of Torsten after knowing him for a couple of hours? What did she want from a man anyway? Did Celna even know? Did any of them?

There was so much she couldn’t say… about Tilo and his untimely death. About the fear she and Celna had experienced that prompted them to run away from X’lea. It was too much. She shuddered.

“You are cold,” Torsten said, wrapping his cloak around her.

“No. I was just thinking about things,” Seri replied, feeling the warmth of his arm against her.

“Not nice things?” he asked.

“No.”

“I’ll bet you’ve seen some terrible things.”

She nodded, not wanting to give voice to those terrible things.

“Come dance!” Tinley Muran begged, pulling her to her feet.

“I don’t want to!” Seri told the child, but went anyway.

“Everyone says you’re a great dancer!” Tinley replied.

“Is that so?” Torsten asked, staying with them.

Seri ignored him and did a little swing dance with the child, twirling her under her arm, making the child beam with excitement.

“I never got to dance much before!” she cried.

“Every child should dance!” Seri replied.

“Tell me your secret,” Torsten begged.

“Remember what I said?” Seri reminded.

His face fell. “I do want to stay alive,” he replied quietly.