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7, In preperation

The next day Ayya had breakfast in her own apartment, by herself. She was afraid that it would feel awkward, but she discovered she liked her own company. The first thing she did when she left her apartment was to find a prospect and send a note to Sinhera, asking her to come by Ayya’s office when she had the time. Then she headed to the library.

“Aari Ayya, what a pleasure,” Lucas smiled as she entered the library.

“Aari Lucas,” Ayya greeted him. It still felt strange to be called aari.

“I think I’m still full from your mother’s cooking,” he chuckled.

“It was quite a party,” Ayya agreed.

“What can I help you with today?” Lucas asked.

“I need books on wolves, anything you got is of interest. And customs and traditions of the villages of the northern mountains,” Ayya told him.

“Ahh, yes, I heard we are sending you up north. I have some interesting works for you. Original and not translations?” he asked.

“Do you even need to ask?” Ayya said, and they both chuckled and walked in between the shelves to find the books.

“Lucas, this is over five books,” Ayya informed him. The library had a strict rule that no trainee could borrow more than five books. A rule that often had irritated Ayya.

“You are an aari now. You can borrow an unlimited number of books,” Lucas reminded her. He smiled at her radiant face.

“Let’s just leave some books for the other aari,” he chuckled.

“Sure, I presume we have duplicates of some books,” Ayya smiled.

“It’s too bad that you’re as talented as you are, otherwise, I would have snatched you up for library duty,” aari Lucas laughed.

Ayya left the library with a stack of books that made it hard to see where she was going. She was relying on the fact that her feet knew the way to Procecsa’s office and that others would get out of her way.

“Do you need help?” Ayya heard a familiar voice ask.

“No thank you, Tenac. I can manage,” Ayya smiled.

“Yeah, you will end up in the river or tumbling down the stairs,” he said, taking half of the stack of books from her.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

Ayya looked at him. He was in his training gear.

“Are you on your way to training?” she asked.

“I have just come back from it,” he said.

“Do you really have time to carry my books?” Ayya asked.

“As long as we aren’t going across the city, it will be okay. Kopa is very forgiving if you tell him you helped his daughter,” Tenac smiled.

“Fine. We are going to my office, it’s not that far,” she surrendered.

“Well, your own office. You are going places,” he teased.

“Yes, up north apparently,” Ayya smiled.

“Oh, nice, I don’t have to keep it a secret anymore,” he said, sounding relieved.

Tenac helped Mary carry the books to her office. She opened the door and let him inside.

“You can just put them on the desk. Thank you for helping me,” she smiled at him.

“No problem. Nice office,” he nodded and looked out of the window.

“Yeah, I think this will be perfect once I have time to make it my own,” she agreed.

Tenac said goodbye and hurried off to change and get back to his duties. Ayya made herself comfortable in the chair and started reading up on things. She started with trying to get a basic understanding of the local customs of the mountain villages. They had read about it in domestic studies. But Ayya wanted more details.

She was engulfed in a passage on the northern wedding customs when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Ayya called out. Into the room, Sinhera came walking and Ayya smiled.

“Well, look at you. Sitting in your own office, looking all grown up,” Sinhera said.

“I don’t feel like it, but I hope that changes as I get used to my new role,” Ayya laughed.

“Come, have a seat,” she added, showing the visitor’s chair.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Sinhera asked.

“Yes, you are in charge of the riders on my mission. I wanted to talk to you about the travel plans and what we can expect when we get there,” Ayya nodded.

“It’s a four-day journey if we make good time. It’s summer so we won’t bother with tents. Sleeping bags under the stars will do. Is that okay for you?” Sinhera asked.

“That sounds amazing,” Ayya said.

“Good. When we arrive, the village will take care of the lodging for us. I don’t know how. It can be anything from letting us stay with some villagers to sleeping in a barn. It will be nicer than sleeping outside on the ground at least,” Sinhera continued and Ayya nodded.

“We will help the villagers with the wolves. The riders know they are going into a dangerous situation. Our first mission is to keep you safe. Our second mission is to make sure the villagers don’t have a wolf issue when we leave,” Sinhera informed Ayya.

“What do you need from me?” Ayya asked.

“I need you to be honest with me when we are traveling. If you are tired or sore, let me know. You will be of no use when we get there and you are dead,” Sinhera smiled.

“I knew you cared,” Ayya smiled back.

“Well, maybe. The next thing is that we need you to be the one that talks to the villagers. We may be many things, but riders are generally not that good at talking and reaching compromises,” Sinhera said.

“I can do that,” Ayya nodded.

“Just let us know what you need us to do. We will happily do it as long as it doesn’t jeopardise your life or the life of innocent people,” Sinhera concluded.

“Sounds good. I promise I won’t do that,” Ayya told her.

“I know you won’t.”

“Can you give me an estimate of what we need in line with food, water and equipment and I’ll make sure we have it,” Ayya said.

“I have a list,” Sinhera told her and took out a piece of paper.

“I’m lucky I get you on my first mission. I’ll need your help, you know,” Ayya confessed.

“You only need to ask. I have the out most confidence in you,” Sinhera said.

“Thank you and thank you for the list. I wish I had a map that we could look at,” Ayya sighed.

“We still have time. We don’t leave for over a week. Get yourself a map and I will go over it with you,” Sinhera smiled.

“Your right, I need to get some fabric at the marketplace. I can go to the bookstore as well,” Ayya said.

“Does that mean I get company on my way back?” Sinhera asked as she stood up.

“It does.” Ayya nodded and stood up as well.

Together they took a boat over to the river field and walked towards the market. Outside it, they went their separate ways as Sinhera headed back to the rider’s headquarters.

Ayya spent a lot of time choosing fabrics. For the living room, she picked out a light linen fabric. She could embroider it with blue patterns, she thought. For her bedroom, she chose a green linen fabric that matched some colours in her mother’s handmade blanket.

For her office, she chose dark blue velvet that matched the blue in the pattern of the woollen blanket she had. The velvet would make the room feel warmer and comfier.

Satisfied with her picks, Ayya headed for the bookshop to get a map of Salmisara. She got one of the bigger ones. She wanted to see a little more details.

Then she headed to her parents’ house. Her mother insisted she would stay for dinner. They spent the entire dinner talking about the curtains. Her father didn’t seem to mind.

As Ayya walked home late in the afternoon, she had gotten leftovers from dinner and five small plants from her mother. When she got back to her apartment, she placed the plants around the rooms, except for one that she would bring to her office. She enriched the soil with magic, making the plants grow better.

The week passed by in no time. Ayya spent most of her time in her office, buried in books. She had learnt a lot about both the customs of the villages and about wolves.

Ayya had made an extensive and detailed list of supplies they would need and handed it over to Megath. He assured her that everything would be ready in time.

Ayya also spent time with Procecsa, trying to figure out why the wolves had changed territory. They had some theories, but nothing could be determined without going there.

Each day, when Ayya was done with her research, she headed for the stables and spent a couple of hours with Estrela. Sometimes, one of her friends joined her, sometimes it was just her.

She then went back to the sanctum to eat dinner. She had realised that she had a kitchen all to herself for the first time in her life and she took full advantage of it. Cooking all her favourite meals, she mixed things from Domne, Salmisara, and things she had learned from Tenac’s aunt and cousins.

Ayya found she liked her new life. She felt more relaxed than ever, and she enjoyed the freedom of setting her own schedule.

The day before she was leaving, she spent the day with her mother and then had dinner with her parents. Her father would travel south in a couple of weeks, and Ayya was worried her mother would be lonely, staying home alone.

“Don’t worry about me, Ayya,” her mother said. “You and your father can focus on coming back home in one piece. I will enjoy having the house all to myself. I’m going to eat Garam stew all week long,” she added.

Ayya and Kopa looked at each other and shuddered. Garam was a small vegetable that looked like a green tomato but was filled with a gelatinous inside. Her mother loved it, both Ayya and her father had a hard time eating it.

“I’m happy that you will be fine,” Ayya just said.

“Of course I will be. What do you think I did before you came along? I’ll be fine, I have my garden, my clients and your curtains to occupy my time,” Bettina smiled.

Ayya said goodbye to her parents, and they both told her they would be down to say goodbye to her the following day.

The day had finally arrived. Ayya was to head out on her first solo mission. She thanked the gods that she would have Sinhera with her. She gathered the small packing she had prepared the day before. It contained her notebook, an extra dress, some herbs, and two books.

All the other supplies had been packed and would be stored on the pack horses they brought with them. Ayya sighed and walked out of her apartment, locking it behind her. As she made her way over to the river field, the riders were getting there as well, and Sinhera was leading Estrela. To the side stood Ayya’s parents, Tenac, Firlea and Hinat.

“What are all of you doing here?” Ayya asked as she walked up to them.

“We all needed to see this historic event,” Hinat smiled and gave Ayya a hug.

“Please be careful,” Firlea said and also hugged Ayya.

“I will,” Ayya promised.

“I can’t let you leave without this,” Tenac said, holding up his Che’hul mark.

Ayya smiled as she took it and fasten the cord around her knife like she always did. She then loosened the leather band on her bone rose and pulled it over her head.

“Take good care of it and come back safe,” she told him. He took her necklace and pulled it over his head and let it hang under his tunic.

“I will,” he said.

Ayya was then pulled into a hug by her mother and felt her father place a hand on her shoulder.

“We are proud of you, and we know you will do your best. No one can ask for more,” her mother said.

“You will do amazing, and if you need, ask Sinhera. She is a good rider,” her father said.

“I will, and thank you both for seeing me off. I’ll see you when I get home,” Ayya told them before detangling from her mother and walking over to the riders.

She mounted Estrela and nodded at Sinhera. They were all ready to go. The group set off out of the city. As they cleared the city gates, they fell into a trot and formed an orderly group with Sinhera and Ayya in the middle.

Ayya felt the rush of excitement. She was off on an adventure.

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