Remnants Of The Sun Read online

  Sonja sighed. She couldn’t really focus on that grander question of how to unify the wagon train. How to do it just made her feel overwhelmed and like she was too small for the job. All she could do was focus on what she needed to do now, which was get meat for the party. If she could do that she could go against Rita’s wishes, and bring the wagon train closer together, even just a little.

  But how could she get meat? She couldn’t get any butchers to secretly give her any, they were all under the Mattsons’ control. She would have to find someone else to cut up the meat. Could some cattle ranchers do that? They knew how to look after cows and sheep, did that mean some of them knew how to kill and butcher them. The two seemed very separate now but there had been a time, when the wagon train was smaller than it was now, where the two jobs were the same. Were there any of the old cattle ranchers that had passed butchering skills down through their family?

  There was only one person she knew that could give her that answer, Sigrun. Thinking about Sigrun warmed her heart and made her a little excited.

  She carefully took the rose out of the jug and put it in her pocket. It had been too long since they saw each other, so she felt it would be a good present to give to Sigrun.

  Sonja strode out of the faith encampment, going towards the Jarl’s wagon. By sheer coincidence Sigrun was striding towards the faith encampment. They glanced each other’s way, surprised but delighted.

  “I was just coming to talk to you about something,” Sigrun said, laughing.

  “What a stroke of luck, I was coming to you to talk as well,” Sonja said, her heart pounding.

  “Should we go to my wagon or yours?”

  “Yours seems closer.”

  Sonja looked around but couldn’t see any onlookers. There would have definitely been a crowd if they walked into the encampment.

  “Should I get my whiskey bottle out?” Sigrun asked, staring at her with flirtatious eyes. There definitely was a spark of energy between the two of them.

  “I think a meeting is always enhanced by some alcohol,” Sonja said, grinning.

  Sigrun laughed and gestured for them to go to the wagon. They walked as close as they could get away with, each glancing back at the other, smiling and laughing as they did. It felt like they both communicated the same thing to each other, words of longing and desire. Even though it was a short walk, it felt like an eternity to Sonja. She just wanted to touch Sigrun then and there.

  Sonja slammed the door as soon as she got in. There wasn’t time for a hello, or really anytime for a breath. They just kissed like no one was watching. Sonja grabbed Sigrun’s back and kissed down her neck. When she got to the shoulder blade, Sigrun’s breath quickened. Sonja was about to dive down further, when Sigrun shook her head and pushed her away.

  Their faces were red, and Sonja felt a little light headed. She looked at Sigrun confused. “Don’t you want this?”

  “More than anything, but we both wanted to see each other for a reason.”

  The thought about meat and cattle ranchers had completely gone from Sonja’s mind. She stepped back, feeling a little embarrassed about how swept up she had been. Surely as a sensible leader she could push away her desires for one second and do what she came here to do.

  Sigrun shook her head, walked to the desk, and poured two glasses of whiskey. She handed one of them to Sonja and sat down in the armchair. Sonja sat down in the armchair opposite, a desk and embarrassment in the way of the two of them now. They drank their whiskeys in an awkward silence, glancing towards one another.

  Sigrun laughed. “We are just like a couple of teenagers that have just been caught by our mums. What did you come to me to talk about.”

  Sonja’s head throbbed, but she breathed in to calm herself and think about what she originally came here for. “I just wanted to know whether there were any cattle ranchers you knew that could butcher their own meat. The Mattsons are refusing to give us any and we do need some if we are going to make this harvest festival a success.”

  “You know weirdly enough my thing was connected to the Mattsons as well,” Sigrun said, raising her eyebrows.

  “It’s almost like Sol wanted us to come together.”

  Sonja flashed to the vision she saw of her and Sigrun in white dresses kissing one another and uniting the wagon train. She drank her whiskey, feeling the joy and hope of that moment. Maybe this was the start of it.

  “Well I’m glad Sol wanted us to come together. I wanted to ask whether you would vote for a law that will limit the amount of parties,” Sigrun said.

  Sonja looked at her in surprise. “That seems a strange law for a caravaner to suggest.”

  “Yeah I guess you can say my partying phase is over,” Sigrun said, staring into her whiskey. “But really it’s to try to take away the parties Hannes and the Mattsons are running. Look I can tell you something and it won’t go out of this wagon, right?”

  “You think I’m going to say anything about a secret tryst between two lovers of the same gender to my lot?” Sonja said, laughing.

  “Good point. Well, I found out the other night that Hannes was using the weekly parties to recruit people for his own army. And do you know who that army has its sights on: the faithful.”

  Sonja shifted in her armchair. “You're saying Hannes, and the Mattsons who ally with him, want to attack us?”

  Sigrun nodded.

  The two of them took big swigs from their drink. Sonja felt a little chill in the air. So Rita wasn’t just willing to make sure her party was a disaster, she was also willing to kill her and the faithful to get what she wanted.

  “Can’t this be stopped?” she asked.

  “That’s what I’m trying to do with this partying law. If I can limit the parties then I can take away some of Hannes' recruitment. That will give us time to get the people on our side. Once they are, we can get rid of Hannes for good.”

  “Why can’t we get rid of him now?”

  “Unfortunately the people quite like him. probably because of the whole going against a faith that wants to force purity on others thing, mainly,” Sigrun said, grimacing.

  “It’s ok, I didn’t like it much either.”

  They both laughed at that, and finished their glasses of whiskey. Sigrun poured more.

  “What you say about Hannes and the rest disturbs me, so we should probably try bringing in this law to see if it stops anything. I think I can get three of my faithful to vote with you, that’ll make five overall.”

  Sigrun furrowed her brow. “What happens when there is a deadlock in the Council?”

  “I’ve never been on it so I don’t know, and I don’t remember my mother saying it ever happened.”

  Sigrun drank a glug of whiskey, and waved her hand. “Well I’m hoping to get the farmers on board with the law anyway so that’ll get me Gregor.”

  The two of them sat and drank their whiskey. They were finished with business but the seriousness of the conversation and the embarrassment from earlier had sucked any excitement and passion from the air between them. The two glanced at each other. Sonja wanted to go to Sigrun and kiss her, but the desk was in the way.

  “I’m sorry, I kind of killed the mood didn’t I?” Sigrun said.

  “I guess it’s something we have to get used to, being leaders and all. Not every meeting we have can be...kissing.”

  “Nothing would get done if that was the case,” Sigrun said, tittering.

  Sonja laughed. “We need to organize a time when we can see each other and not talk about politics.”

  “I agree, what about after the harvest festival? When people are drunk and you can relax because you have done your job”

  “That just seems a long way away,” Sonja said, sighing. It was only a few days but now that they had that passionate kiss today she wanted it to be that night.

  “I know, but we still have the problem of being seen. I tried to sneak into your encampment and was nearly caught by the guard.”

  “You did?” Sonj
a laughed, feeling a little warmth that Sigrun would risk herself to see her.

  Sigrun nodded. “Yeah, not one of my finest ideas.”

  They both drank the last of their whiskeys. Sigrun slapped the felt green of the desk. “Well best get you to meet those cattle ranchers.”

  The two of them got up from their chairs. Sonja strode towards the door, but then remembered what was in her pocket.

  She carefully took out the rose. “I got you something.”

  Sigrun looked to the rose, then to her. Her eyes widened and she put her hand on her breast.

  Sigrun wrapped her hands around Sonja’s waist, and kissed her. The kiss grew urgent, and both grabbed at clothes and took them off. Sonja kissed down Sigrun’s neck again, joyful that she was able to touch her like this. Sigrun moaned.

  Sonja pushed her on the armchair. In that moment she didn’t care about politics, meat, or whether she could unify the wagon train. She just delved into showing the passion and joy she felt towards Sigrun.

  DO NO FRET IF YOU LOSE YOUR WAY. THERE IS ALWAYS A PART OF YOU THAT KNOWS YOUR TRUE SELF. LISTEN TO IT AND YOU’LL REDISCOVER THE RIGHT PATH

  ‘Meditations’ by Wilbur Paige

  Sigrun had never had sex like that before. There had been an overwhelming sense of joy and pleasure. Her heart had beat like a drum and her brain exploded when she had climaxed. Her whole body had been left shaken for a few minutes. She had loved sex with other partners, but there was something about the relationship she had with Sonja that had made this time more special. This hadn’t been a moment of fun, it was more spiritual than that, like she had been communing with Sol. She wondered whether she should say as much to Sonja, but worried that might be blasphemous.

  The two of them never made it to the bed. They laid on the wooden floor, cuddling up to one another. Sigrun was uncomfortable and comfortable, uncomfortable because the floor was hard and cold, comfortable because it felt so warm and right to have her arm around Sonja’s body.

  Sonja stirred. Sigrun kissed down her neck. Sonja groaned in pleasure, but slowly moved her head away.

  “I have to do what I came here to do,” Sonja said, disappointment on her face.

  “You didn’t come here to do that?” Sigrun said, grinning.

  “Unfortunately not. But I will say that it was definitely better than the times I paid for it.”

  “Oh, about that...didn’t I tell you I was going to charge?”

  They both laughed and slowly pushed themselves up, picking up their clothes off the floor. While they were dressing, Sigrun stared at Sonja’s naked body, appreciating her curves, her thick arms, her narrow face, and her long black hair. She wanted to remember that body in her mind before it got covered up by clothes. She didn’t feel she was going to see it all that often.

  The cool breeze outside was a nice balm to the heat in the wagon. Manang’s red eye slowly moved in and out of white clouds, every time it popped out a ray of reddish light cast down onto the ground.

  Both Sigrun and Sonja walked a little apart from each other, trying to act normal to the few people that were around the Jarl’s wagon. They both occasionally glanced towards the other, trying to stifle laughs. It felt like they were naughty children trying to hide a big secret.

  Sigrun was too far away from Sonja. She wanted to be right next to her, holding her hand. She wanted to tell everyone in the wagon train that they were together and they could screw themselves if they had a problem with it. But she knew that it would jeopardize Sonja’s leadership.

  It felt weird to have that power over someone else. With one move – whether she would willingly do it or accidentally do it – she could bring down the leadership of the faith. Some Jarls, like Hannes, would have loved to have that power. But she felt uncomfortable with it. The two of them were leaders, which meant that they would probably have political disagreements. She didn’t want Sonja to think that she would use that power to gain an advantage, it would break them apart and the pieces would never fit back together again.

  They entered Kveg Plain in silence. Sigrun and Sonja kept glancing at each other, their eyes saying they wished they could be close to one another. Sigrun felt a weight in her heart. The joy she felt being with Sonja was now mixed with a sadness that they couldn’t be together totally. She had no choice but to focus on what she came here to do.

  Sigrun scanned the plain of grass, hearing cows and sheep in the distance. The air smelled like a mixture of fresh air and animal dung, which made her feel at home. If Sonja wasn’t there she would have walked across the plain, looking out into the world beyond and imagining herself exploring it. She wondered whether her wagon was still there and whether anyone had moved in, but realized she should be wondering who to talk to about getting meat for the festival.

  There were three cattle ranchers that could butcher their own meat. The friendliest to her would be Edven. On the occasional evening, when the sky was clear, she would go over to his wagon with a chair and they would drink whiskey while looking above at the twinkling stars. It had been Edven that taught her that some of the brighter, rounder stars actually moved across the sky, and could be places that were just like the earth they were sitting on: full of trees, grass, and animals. She remembered being fascinated by this, as it reminded her of the fantastical fables that talked about strange creatures coming from the sky.

  Edven lived on the east side of the plain. She led the way, looking around at the grass and the cows, feeling more and more strongly that she wanted to come back here. Occasionally, she glanced back at Sonja who was looking towards the edge of the wagon train. There was a yellow shimmer of the Sol Shard barrier. Neither of them spoke, lost in their own world of thought.

  Edven stood amongst a flock of sheep. He rested against a pole, while his dog scampered around the sheep, barking. Edven had a long, weathered face, with a bushy mustache, and the hands that gripped the pole were bony.

  “Seen anymore wanderers since I’ve been gone, Edven,” she shouted to him.

  Edven jumped a little, almost like he had been asleep. He gave her a questioning stare. “They told me you had become Jarl.”

  “Huh, I thought it took months for news to come around here. They told you right.”

  She waded through the sheep, and gave Edven a hug. She noticed that Sonja stood a little at a distance, looking at the sheep with a wary stare.

  “Don’t worry, they won’t stampede with the dog there,” she said.

  Sonja didn’t look comfortable about it, but waded through the flock of sheep. Edven stared at her flame robes, and bowed deeply. “What do I owe the pleasure of having the Keeper here?”

  “I’ve been told by Sigrun that you can butcher your own meat,” Sonja said. Sigrun noticed that her voice had changed slightly when talking to Edven, it had a lighter, more airy quality to it.

  Edven gave a worried glance towards Sigrun. She patted his shoulder. “Nothing to worry about Edven, she’s not here to blame you for doing shadow filled things. She would just like to get some meat from you.”

  Sonja looked down at the ground in embarrassment. “Sorry, I should have explained myself better. I’m putting on a harvest festival for the wagon train but we do not have any meat. The Mattsons refuse to give us some, but I’ve heard you can do some butchering and can get around the Mattsons.”

  “I thought meat was banned in your faith,” Edven said, confused.

  “I hope to change that,” Sonja said.

  “Come on Edven, we don’t want people to be disappointed because they can’t get their teeth into a good lamb shank. The Keeper here wants to show how the faithful have changed and wants to actually be part of the wagon train.”

  Sonja gave her an impressed look, which Sigrun felt a little pride from. She wanted to be seen by Sonja as someone that was reliable.

  Edven glanced between the two of them. The dog barked, and some sheep called out. He smacked the pole on the ground. “I’ll do it if you give me one of those shiny stones you have in
your storage.”

  Sigrun was surprised that Edven was dictating terms to her. She thought she would get him on board because they were friends. “They are for trading with towns.”

  “Well I’m not someone in a town, but I guess you could call this a trade.”

  “But aren’t we friends?”

  Edven gripped the pole, looked up into the sky, and sighed. “Not if you are Jarl. Look at that fancy tunic and cloak, and your brooch with those runes, I have none of that.”

  “But I’m still the same person that drank whiskey and looked out at the stars with,” she said. Edven’s words echoed the conversation she had with Joan.

  “Do you remember in those evenings how we would grumble about the current Jarl,” Edven said, looking at her dead on. “We would talk about how we wished they could speak to us sometimes, give us a chance to tell us where to go, give us a chance to settle in some place and enjoy the warm weather or the good town we were in. But those Jarl’s never did. I’m afraid since you're Jarl you’ll probably be the same.”

  “That’s not true, I became Jarl so I could do what the people wanted.”

  Edven shook his head. “There are too many people and they each have different ideas of what they want. I won’t blame you for your decision, it’ll probably be for the good of the wagon train. But sometimes it won’t be good for me. And for that reason I’d like to get something now, while you need me.”

  Sigrun didn’t know what to say. One of the people that she was closest to was saying that they couldn’t be close because she was the leader. It felt wrong and unfair. Why did being a leader have to change their friendship?

  She shook her head. “You’ll get your stone,”

  “Thank you,” Edven said. He bowed to Sonja.

  Sigrun turned around and stomped through the herd of sheep, not caring about the cries of complaint from them. She heard the flap of robes behind her, and felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s ok,” Sonja said.