101 - River in a Canyon

“Damn it to Dark, Kyrus, why did you bring this little pest along?”

“I DIDN’T pack Tizrav!  She packed HERSELF!”

Ilax held up the ferret by the scruff of the neck in one hand and his open bag in the other.  “Kyrus... I just don’t want to find anymore oats and yayburrs in my underclothing!”

“I can’t stop her, Naser... um Da-by-marriage.”  It was quite a mouthful but it came tumbling out in a single word.  “The only thing I can think of is lashing the bag tighter.”

Ilax sighed, set Tizzie down, and turned the one bag inside out, to shake the oats out.  They fell at the side of the road fairly easily.  “My contribution to making the planet better for people,” he said wryly. “A few more oats to feed somebody.”

They were a full week into the trip, using the train of birds that the Emir-al and the Amir had brought along, though the Zon had insisted on bringing their own, rather than using the bottom-of-the-bushie-crack fowl.  The flock, when strung for the night, were wildly diverse.  Elemfias’s birds were puffy white even on their legs, while Mayu’s were spotted a wild red and blue with sharp crests in black.  The brown and white common birds looked positively drab next to her riding animals.

Ilax had claimed a pair of birds for himself, for his husband, for Hara and for Kyrus, out of the Milari flock.  A black one for Kyrus, with a red crest as a main riding bird, with a black and white back-up, a pair of greens for Hara.  His own were a buff line with hairy feathers fluffing around eyes and nostrils, making them look rather startled. Kyrus junior was just as happy, or just as nervous, about the birds picked out for him.

They were pretty enough.  Fancies.  Blue and grey with black stripes.  But he hadn’t gotten to the ‘learning to ride’ part of the warrior lessons yet.  He’d walked from Lainz to Milar that first time. He’d watched enough feather-spitters to know what to do, at least.  He’d seen that Hara and everyone else had a goad on a wrist loop and knew enough to not accidentally lock the eyeflaps open.

He’d been ready to die before asking for help and from the look of the big blue male’s orange beak it looked like he might die before managing to get it to kneel down for him.  “Hook the chain just under the beak, haul down on it and say “Iji!”, Hara whispered to him from where she was checking the fit of her new saddle.

They’d had to be completely outfitted from the public purse, except that Ilax had his savings and actually bought their whole riding flock.

“I can’t have my inamour, risen from the war dead, dragging his tail home in triumph on an Ass-bird,” he’d said.

Da had just laughed and said he’d ride home on a Bakon if Ilax said it would be fun, which had led to a lot of kissing and made Kyrus run out to ‘check on something’ quick.

By now he’d worn in all the muscles that had started so painfully, with quiet words from almost every adult in the group, no longer terribly ashamed to accept advice.  They were on the Shaded Passage Road just outside of Sharp Creek and the Milari weather slowly gave way to the Deep Dry.  It wouldn’t break for another three months so they’d be riding into the teeth of the hell season.

Ilax picked the inner lining of his bag clean of yayburrs and dropped them next to the oats.  There’d be enough water for them to sprout and even if they didn’t taste very good, people could eat them.  “I thought you caged Tizzie and sent her over to Melyi’s place?”

“I did.  I even strapped the door shut.  She was curled up inside a ball of old underwear and I thought she was sulking because we were packing.  I saw her sniff Melyi’s fingers and I left.  I left her there, I swear!”

He sighed.  “She’s pretty resourceful, I suppose.”  He sat down by the boiling pit and Ky settled next to him.  The pit was a divot in the rock perfectly situated for someone to raise a lens over to catch the sun.  It was currently full of tea that people scooped out to drink. “So, son...”  He paused while Ky waited expectantly.  “There’s a few questions about Lainz that I’d like to ask... and I don’t really want to ask my love.  Might I ask you?”

Ky blinked and thought about it and tried not to grin.  “Tah Basin looky, no touchy, high nosy stuffy-like?”

“Might-could, right-could.” Ilax smiled.  “Some people have been raised to be very proper...”

“You need to know a lot rougher things than my Da would know... or might want to know.”

“I do.”

“I’ll tell you all about it, Da-by-marriage... or Da if you like.”

“Da’s good, or Ilax.”  He still kept on about his bare name being good enough.

“How many times have you said I could just call you by your name?”

“Quite a few.”

“You ever think, MarryDa, that I’m probably never going to listen.”

“No, or I wouldn’t keep saying it.”

“Yeh’ll wear that stone down then?”

“River in a canyon, boy. River in a canyon.”