From Across the Clouded Range (10 page)

“
Certainly. And please let
me know if there is anything else you need. I will be busy
preparing for the ceremony but can always find some time. May you
find peace in the Order.” Counselor Torpy placed the slim, leather
bound book he had been writing in on the side table, gathered his
remaining things, and let himself out of the front door. Teth had
barely noticed anything that happened after the mention of the
ceremony and was surprised to see him gone.

Finally alone, she turned to Milne.
“Is there any hot water? I’d like to clean up and change my
clothes. I have two quail in the bag cleaned and ready for the
spit. I’ll start them roasting when I come down.”

“
I just pulled the kettle
off the fire.” Milne gestured toward it. She looked so tired. “The
water should still be hot. There is some stew left in the pot as
well if you’d like. I’m not very hungry, but you should make
something for yourself.”

Teth nodded, grabbed a large wooden
bowl from the back room and approached the fire. She used the heavy
rag by the hearth to tilt the enormous iron kettle on the hook that
held it over the fire. A stream of water spouted forth to fill the
bowl. Teth held her face over the bowl as the water poured, felt
the steam rising to cover her.

“
I am glad to see you are
back,” Milne said. “I was beginning to wonder.”

“
I’m sorry,” Teth sighed.
She wanted to list all the numerous ways she was sorry but couldn’t
find the words. “I had a lot to think about, but I’m ready now. At
least I think I am.”

When her aunt didn’t answer, Teth set
the hot bowl down and looked up. Milne had a red cloth pressed to
her lips, but Teth could still see the outline of a smile around
it. For now, that was enough. She picked up the bowl with two hands
and walked carefully up the steps to her small room.

Twenty minutes later, she returned
down the stairs feeling refreshed but awkward. She had laboriously
scrubbed a week of grime from her body, washed her short hair, and
changed into, of all things, a dress. The simple blue cotton dress
had been a gift from Ipid a year before. It was a fine weave with
flowers embroidered along the square-cut neck. Between the soft
fabric and craftsmanship, it was an extravagant gift, but it was
much too short, reaching only to the middle of her long calves, and
of a style most often worn by young girls. When she had first
received it, she had torn off the too-tight sleeves, and that was
the only thing that kept her broad shoulders from bursting the
seams. The end result was certainly not appropriate for a woman of
her age preparing for her joining ceremony, but it was the best she
could manage. And, even worse, she felt naked. Her unbound breasts
felt horribly exposed. Her legs missed the reassurance of a
covering. Her hips felt too light without the belt or pack resting
upon them.

Teth found her aunt asleep in her
chair. She cleared her throat, and Milne’s head shot up. Teth stood
as her aunt examined her. Then Milne brought a hand to her mouth to
suppress a cough. For a moment, Teth thought she was about to cry
and felt like she might join her, but she had misread her aunt’s
expression. Milne laughed. She laughed until the cough overtook her
then hacked until she was entirely out of breath.

Teth ran to her side, rubbed her thin
back, supported her as her lungs rebelled against her. When she
finally stopped, the smell of blood wafted through the air. She
wiped her lips with the ever present cloth and smiled. “You look
ridiculous,” she gasped.

Affronted, Teth stepped back and
looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with this? It’s the nicest
one I have.”

“
I know, my dear,” Milne
managed around another chuckle. “But it will never do. This is
almost more scandalous than your usual clothes. It is too short,
there are no sleeves, the style is all wrong, and it fits you like
a sack.”

Milne coughed again, giving Teth a
chance to inspect herself. Unused to dresses, she had not noticed
how it sagged around her chest where her breasts were supposed to
fill it, slumped in the middle where there were supposed to be
hips, and strained at the top where her shoulders jutted through
the too small holes. If possible, she felt even more exposed. She
crossed her arms in front of her and slumped to the floor to sit
cross-legged before her aunt’s chair.

“
Oh, my dear,” Milne
laughed again. “I don’t know what we will do with you.”

“
What now?”

“
Teth, when was the last
time you saw a woman sitting cross-legged on the floor? Never. And
if, for some reason, she were required to do so, she most certainly
would keep the hem of her dress below her knees.”

Teth struggled to pull down the dress,
but Milne only laughed more, which brought on another fit of
coughing. “I’m trying, Milne,” she almost cried. “I don’t know any
of this stuff. I am who I am. I’ll try to be the lady you want, but
I can’t get rid of myself. That is what I decided in the last few
days. I will try to be a lady, to fit in, but I can’t just stop
being who I am. That person, as bad as she may be, is me. If I kill
her, I’ll kill myself. There won’t be anything left. Do you
understand, Milne? I can try, but the real Teth will always be in
here.”

A tear snaked down Milne’s sunken
cheek, her tiny nose turned red, and her mouth pursed. She held out
her arms, too overcome to speak. Teth sprang to her feet and threw
herself into her aunt’s embrace. She thought she would cry but the
tears never came. Milne’s tears soaked into her shoulder but she
did not sob. She pulled Teth away, held her in her strong hands,
and smiled. “I am so glad,” she whispered. “Keep her alive for me.
You will need her. Take what they give you. Make the most of it,
learn, adapt, but don’t lose your fire. Just take your time. Bring
Dasen to your side. Make him your ally. Then you can work together
to find a place for the real Tethina.”

Relief rushed over Teth, and she
smiled for the first time in a week. “So what will we do about
you?” Milne asked again. “We’ll never turn you into a lady in three
days, probably can’t even have a proper dress ready in that
time.”

Teth’s stomach lurched. “Three days?”
she breathed.

“
Or less. We can’t be
sure, but I’d guess that’s the most time we’ll have. I received a
letter two days ago along with that dress over there.” Milne
pointed to a long box in the corner. Peeking from it was a mound of
white silk and lace. Teth felt herself grow faint. Milne steadied
her. “They were in Wildern at the time, but I don’t think the
package could have beaten them by more than five days.”

Teth gulped. She could not get her
eyes away from the dress, could not even imagine what it was going
to be like to wear something like that. Certainly the villagers
would have a good laugh. “And the ceremony?” she asked without
wanting to know the answer.

“
Ipid suggested the next
Teaching Day.”

Teth tried to remember what day it
was. “That’s five days from now,” she breathed.

“
Yes, my dear. So we
should probably start with the joining dress. I sent some
measurements to Ipid, but I couldn’t be sure since you weren’t
here, and as this dress shows, he doesn’t always follow my
instructions, so we may have a lot of work ahead of us.” Milne
sighed, seemed suddenly very old and tired.

“
I will ask one of the
women from the village to do the alterations,” Teth said. “You are
in no shape to sew a dress like this, and neither of us was ever
worth a stitch with a needle. I have money to pay, but they’d
probably do it just to see me in that ridiculous thing.” They both
chuckled at the thought.

“
While you’re at it, we
should see if we can get at least one proper dress sewn for
everyday. I should have thought to buy some material when the last
caravan came through, but maybe there’s enough in Ipid’s old
store.” Teth nodded, looked at her aunt’s long-sleeve wool dress.
It was loose through the top, hanging off her emaciated form, then
ran in what looked like heaps to the floor. Teth couldn’t imagine
wearing that much material. It looked hot, uncomfortable, and
restricting. She sighed. Maybe there wouldn’t be any
fabric.

“
Your hair is impossible,”
Milne continued, “and those hands. Oh well, Dasen would learn what
he’s getting eventually. Might as well be from the first
glance.”

Teth made a face.
What he’s getting?

Milne nodded. “He’s getting the
strongest, smartest girl I have ever known. And he will learn to
love you every bit as much as I do.”

Despite the queasiness that dominated
her stomach, Teth could not help but smile.

#

“
Sir, I’m sorry to
interrupt, but we’re going to need you.” Elton’s deep voice ended
Rynn’s soliloquy on the geography of the Unified Kingdoms,
primarily centered on its monotony and how that directly related to
the personalities of its inhabitants.

Neither Dasen nor Ipid were paying him
the slightest attention. Dasen felt somewhat bad for ignoring his
friend, but he had not fully considered how difficult a traveling
companion Rynn was likely to be. Unable to focus on a book or even
sit still for more than a few minutes, Rynn was almost bouncing off
the walls of the coach by the time they stopped each day. He seemed
to speak non-stop about every thought that entered his head,
skipping from subject to subject like a squirrel in a room full of
nuts. He had a gift for witty observation that made most of his
conversation entertaining, but even so, Dasen and Ipid had learned
to block him out to maintain their sanity.

At that moment, Dasen was absorbed in
a book of treatise on the Order-defined division of duties and
matronly side of the Order. He had purchased it for Tethina but
decided he should read it first. It was never a topic that he had
found to be of much interest, despite his earlier claims. The basic
doctrine seemed so obvious that he didn’t understand why anyone
would bother to study it. Of course men were stronger, more
logical, and better able to interpret the Order. They were made to
provide for, protect, and guide the family. Likewise, anyone could
see that women were weaker, incapable of higher logic, and easily
led astray. The Order had given them the ability to produce
children and the temperament to raise them, but they needed men to
protect, provide for, and guide them to alignment with the Order.
Wasn’t that obvious to everyone? And all the societal norms that
flowed from that division were simple, logical extensions of that
basic premise.

Meanwhile, Ipid was notating yet
another contract to purchase lumber rights for the recently opened
mills in Liandria. Normally, he would dictate those changes to his
secretary, but Paul had fallen from the coach the first night
outside of Wildern and broken his arm. Ipid had insisted that he
return to the city to receive proper treatment and had been without
him ever since. More bad luck had followed. A day later, the coach
carrying his other retainers had broken an axel and been left
behind. Then the rain had started. For two straight days it had
rained almost constantly. They spent a day waiting it out then went
on when it did not abate. That had led to a horrible day of
jostling and shaking just to reach this speck of a town. Now, it
appeared that there was a problem with the covered cart carrying
their luggage. The next day would be Fifth Day, followed by Rest
Day, and finally, Teaching Day, the day of the joining ceremony. If
they lost another day, Dasen would not even have the chance to meet
Tethina before they were joined.

The only redeeming fact was that they
were sitting in the backroom of a surprisingly nice inn – at least
the backroom was nice, having been, apparently, built for wealthy
travelers like themselves. It was a welcome relief from the
establishments that had housed them the past two nights: rough
buildings with a single smoky room occupied by a few long tables,
greasy food, tiny rooms, crude furnishings, and beds he was almost
afraid to sleep in. Dasen had not bothered complaining to his
father. They were hardly speaking to each other now, and even so,
Ipid barely seemed to be with them most of the time.

It all started in the first days of
their trip when Ipid staunchly refused to tell him about Tethina or
let him read any of her letters. He would only say that he did not
want Dasen to “form any ideas before he had met her,” which only
made him more desperate to know what ideas his father had in mind.
His mind spun on the topic continuously. Could it really be that
bad? Was she simple-minded, crippled, ugly, vain, pious, flighty,
domineering, greedy, promiscuous? Dasen had imagined every possible
scenario, worried about them, ranked them, prepared himself for
them, tried to ignore them, but it was no use. The lack of
certainty was slowly killing him.

On the fourth day of the trip, Dasen
had taken his revenge. Outside the city of Lianne on Alta, they
stopped to tour one of Ipid’s newest mills. In that and each of the
four others they had visited, Dasen found the same miserable
conditions. Workers completed the same repetitive tasks endlessly,
often at a backbreaking pace. Many of them were missing fingers or
even hands from the dangers of their work. Hordes of workers
crippled beyond their ability to contribute in the mills performed
whatever menial task they were capable of. The shanty villages
where they lived were squalid. The houses were close together and
quickly built of identical designs. No trees blocked the beating
sun. The roads were dirt and mud. Sewage ran in open trenches to
whatever river powered the mill’s gigantic waterwheel. Ipid swore
that the workers made better wages than they’d receive if they were
still tied to the land where owners were, under the current
interpretation of the Order, only required to provide for their
“subsistence”. However, Dasen knew that many of the workers had not
come from the country. Many of them were free craftsmen who had
been displaced by Ipid’s more efficient mills. These had been
forced backward in life, moving from using hard won skills to
menial, repetitive tasks; from comfortable wages to squalor. Even
the children were tied inexorably to the mills. Ipid was very proud
of the schools he had established in the shanty towns, and the
children who excelled in them were given the opportunity to
apprentice as engineers or managers, but the others were soon
shuffled into jobs as runners, sorters, and cleaners until they
were old enough to join their fathers in the more demanding and
dangerous work.