Armaran chapter 17

Amina was in no hurry to return to Tenera. She enjoyed staying in Groshna which felt in every way more pleasent and home-like and she felt she could really help Kros and Emma take care of Kragu while they were away long days during harvest. She could read in peace even when Kragu was awake because Praie was keeping a constant eye on him. Amina thought it was great progress in her relationship with Praie. It was happy and satisfied when it got to watch the child and Amina had all the peace she needed to study. Whenever Kros and Emma returned, Amina would often go out on a walk in search of suitable plants. She had preserved all kinds of things and had decided to take some of them back with her and give them to Mr. Augustin.

Eventually a letter arrived from Tenera. It was from Mr. Streckke who was asking about Amina's return. He wasn't so much interested in the actual time of her return, but he wrote to inform them that he would be travelling with his wife to the city for some time later in the autumn. Amina was welcome to stay at their house during that time as the servants would be there, taking care of their son, and she would be no burden to them.

Kros discussed this with Amina. He wasn't about to send her away any sooner than she wanted to go herself. Amina confessed that she wasn't all that eager to leave yet as she was enjoying her stay in Groshna. She was also thinking about how long she'd be gone this time because travelling and arranging the trips took time and she didn't want to bother the people looking after her with that all the time. Amina would much rather be in Groshna during New Year, though. She didn't say out loud that this was much more about her wanting to spend her birthday prior to New Year with Kros and Emma, rather than with the Streckke family. They agreed that Kros would start to ask around for a chance to travel with some familiar villagers for most of the way, if possible.

One opportunity to return to Tenera turned up only five weeks later. Amina had to really think about it. There was still some of the harvest season left even though most of the crops had already been harvested, and Kros and Emma would have no trouble taking care of Kragu on their own. However, Amina wasn't sure if she wanted to leave yet, but it had began to bother her over the past few weeks that she hadn't written to Mr. Augustin after the apologies she had sent so many weeks before. The summer would probably have been the best time to learn herbalism and she had been away all that time. Amina tried to form letters to Mr. Augustin and Ms. Slava – and of course, to Mr. Streckke, and she came to a conclusion. She would go even though she didn't miss anything in Tenera at that moment, not even school. She wanted to learn more about plants and for that, she was even willing to put up with the Streckke family. She wanted to show Mr. Augustin that she hadn't wasted all of her summer, but had gathered and preserved many plants on her own and would bring some of them to him. She didn't manage to finish her letters and eventually Kros and Emma helped her with wording them properly and they were sent well before her departure.

***

Amina's journey to Tenera went well. The Groshnans loved her stories, even though she was still too young to perform in the fair. They were also eager to discuss the history of Armaran with Amina. They had read more about it than Amina, though she had made some progress over the summer. Amina was careful not to mention anything about the Kahtal or the Fatil, and the Groshnans didn't talk about them more than perhaps and occasional mention of someone important who had been a spiritbearer and which Gahim they had born. That much anyone could learn from the history books and mentioning such things wasn't considered a bad thing.

Amina was supposed to continue her way to Tenera with a family of merchants but they never showed up. The guards in one town were able to tell her that a group of bandits in an area some way to the north from there had been quite active over the summer and they had been bothering the area for several weeks. They said it was possible if not likely that the merchants Amina was supposed to meet had changed their plans at the last minute or worse, had been caught by the bandits. However, they promised to help her find another group to travel with safely all the way to Tenera.

A suitable group turned out to be leaving in two days, and as there was still no word from the merchant family, Amina took up the offer and thanked the guards for their troubles. The strangers she was now travelling with were worried and seemed to be a little bit suspicious and wary of her, even though she hadn't said anything about being a Fatil. Maybe they thought she was a decoy for the bandits. Amina didn't let it bother her too much, but while they were on the road, she asked Praie to stay in watch all night.

After a few days the spirit told her she wasn't travelling with very reliable people. It had heard them talking during the previous night aboutgoing through everything Amina had with her in case she had anything valuable. Amina was carrying a little extra money because Kros had wanted her to be able to buy something for herself every now and then. She decided to find herself another group to travel with from one of the villages they'd pass that day. After a couple of villages she got lucky, as Amina recognised a Tenerian craftsman and went to greet him.

He was very surprised to meet Amina so far away from Tenera all by herself, but Amina explained her situation – that she had been visiting some family over the summer and was now returning to Tenera. She admitted the unfortunate change in her travel plan due to the bandit activity further in the north and how she was now late.

He automatically offered his group to travel with for the rest of the way, even though they were nothing but humble craftsmen.

Amina felt a burning sting in her heart as she was so strongly associated with the Streckke family and especially their values. She assured him that she couldn't be more grateful to travel with someone she knew and promised to give them some of the herbs she had gathered as payment. Then she hurried back to her former group to tell them that they could carry on their way as they pleased as she'd be joining another group of familiar people. She thanked them politely for their company and returned to the craftsmen.

The man was the only Tenerian in the group, which in addition to himself consisted of three families of craftsmen. They were coming back from a fair in the south and were happy to tell Amina about everything that had happened there. The Tenerian dared to suggest that Amina could also go there some time, as there would be at least as eager an audience as she had had in Tenera. Amina promised to think about it.

***

Nothing had changed in the Streckke house while Amina was away. The father was as blinded by his own excellence as ever, the wife was still suffering from trying to live up to the unnatural expectations of a civilised person as stated by the family and trying to eat as little as possible to maintain her figure, and the son was as skeletal as always. They received her with warm smiles, and Amina smiled back at them but she was sure those smiles were nothing but an act. She was still only a moderately civilised, not-so-closely related girl whose greatest value was for the family to show off their benevolence and open-heartedness – as far as they were able to see it themselves.

Amina knew what to expect over dinner. Mr. Streckke would ask her how her summer had passed with all the travelling and such and he'd have heard enough after the first sentence. Mrs. Streckke might be polite enough to listen to a few more words, but there was absolutely nothing she would be able to relate to, so that would be the end of conversation on her part. The son would probably manage to say something insulting. Things changed, however, as the family was expecting some people over for dinner. Amina asked whether they expected her to be in their company and take part in the conversation, and by the look on Mr. Streckke's face he hadn't thought about it at all. His surprise turned in to a slight frown as he calculated how Amina's presence and words might affect the opinion people had of him.

Amina asked if she could have her dinner in privacy and keep to herself for the night. She justified it with the fact that she had just travelled a long way over many days even though she had spent only half of that particular day on the road.

Mr. Steckke agreed to it and was already busy thinking of excuses to give why she didn't join them for dinner, as it was likely most of the town were already aware of her return. He had been slightly taken aback when he had heard what kind of party Amina had travelled with, but he had assured her he understood it quite well as she had explained about the alterations in her plans due to the bandits' activity.

A maid came to Amina's room and asked her to come dine with the servants after the Streckke family and their guests had been fed. The servants asked politely about her summer, and Amina replied, trying not to show her slight nervousness. They were always very friendly, but despite the time she had spent in the house, Amina knew very little about any of them. She had no idea how much of the family values they shared, or how soon they would be letting their master know if they thought she had said something improper. However, Amina was certain that she was more relaxed with the servants than she would have been around the guests. At least the servants seemed genuinely interested how she had spent her summer.

***

In the next morning, Amina went straight to the school because she wasn't sure if it was a school day or not. Ms. Slava payed her no extra attention, other than asked her to stay after school for a moment, so she could find out how much Amina had progressed with her studies over the summer. Amina listed all the books she had read, and Ms. Slava was very pleased with some of them. However, Amina hadn't had enough practice with calculus, so Ms. Slava recommended that she'd do some extra excercises. Amina agreed to it.

From the school, Amina went to see Mr. Augustin. She started off with apologies for her long absence and showed him the herbs she had brought back with her.

Mr. Augustin was smiling as he went through the dried plants. ”You've been meticulous. I can use all of these. Thank you very much.”

”I wanted to practice, though I didn't learn anything new.”

”Very good, very good,” Mr. Augustin mumbled as he started to put the plants on their respective shelves. He suddenly turned to Amina. ”I have a favour to ask of you.”

Amina was startled by the change in the man's demeanor. She had never seen Mr. Augustin so... enthusiastic? His emotions were often difficult to decipher because of his general abstraction, but for now he seemed very focused. ”H-how can I help?” Amina spluttered.

Mr. Augustin explained his request at great length. For many years he had wanted to go to a hillock in the woods. On top of that hillock grew some rare flowers. The way to the hillock took several hours and then there was still the task to climb on top of it to be able to gather the herb. However, as it was a plant that bloomed late, it should still be growing and blooming in the autumn. As he himself wasn't as young and agile anymore, he'd like Amina to accompany him. He would have to climb himself as well, but younger people would be of great help. He would ask few others to come as well – his assistants and perhaps some strong man in case they would run into wildlife. It would take an entire day even if they left early in the morning.

Amina promised to go with him if she had the day off.

Mr. Augustin was nodding but he seemed a little bit disappointed.

”I don't know if Ms. Slava will give me a day off from school after I was gone so long. Otherwise I could go any day,” Amina explained herself.

Mr. Augustin was still nodding. He went back to putting the plants on the shelves. ”I hope you are free to come and help me even a little bit now and then,” he mumbled.

Amina assumed this was as much of conversation as there was to be had at that time so she mumbled a goodbye and left. She went back to his aid on her next day off as soon as she had done all the extra excercises Ms. Slava had given her.

One morning on the next week Amina had barely sat down in the classroom as Mr. Augustin walked in.

Ms. Slava greeted him, puzzled.

Mr. Augustin eplained he was in urgent need of Amina's help and they had to leave immediately as they had a long day ahead of them. Ms. Slava protested and they had a heated conversation for a while. Eventually Ms. Slava seemed to understand that it was once in a year kind of a thing, and as the weather in autumn was a bit unpredictable, it was essential to use the first opportunity available. She turned to Amina. ”Would you like to go with Mr. Augustin, Amina? He finds his business to be of utmost importance and his asking for your help,” Ms. Slava said in a slightly tense voice.

Amina stood up. ”I promised Mr. Augustin I'd help him any way I can. I will do my excercises though I may have to turn them in a little late. I'm sorry to disturb the class,” she replied and picked up her bag.

Mr. Augustin smiled and gave Ms. Slava a light bow.

Outside the school, three young men and one woman were waiting for them. ”You know Terry and Sean. This is Klara, Terry's sister, and he is Tom,” Mr. Augustin introduced them.

Terry and Sean were Mr. Augustin's irregular regular assistants. What Terry really wanted was to learn alchemy but he couldn't afford to study in any city, so he had contended himself to help Mr. Augustin with some brews. Sean was a very nervous type of a person and extremely fussy about details in every matter which was why he could only manage to work a few hours at a time vefore he'd face a nervous breakdown and he'd need to take it easy for a few days. Amina had seen Klara around the town a few times but didn't know anything about her. She could also remember seen Tom around sometimes, and now he was carrying a big axe.

Mr. Augustin noticed Amina look at the axe for a while. ”The old path may have overgrown at some point so we need someone who is handy with tools with us,” he said and smiled at Tom a bit nervously. This time he didn't say anything about wildlife – let alone something potentially worse, people.

Tom was carrying his axe with full confidence, if not arrogance.

”Well, we should be off then to have any chance to get back before dark,” Mr. Augustin said and led the way out of town.

Amina followed with the rest and thought she might have wanted to wear a different dress if she had known she'd be spending the whole day outdoors. She would probably have wanted to leave her school bag at the house as well. It would actually have been very nice to know beforehand that this was the day to go gather the rare flowers. Eventually Amina didn't let any of it bother her as it was a beautiful day and they made good progress on their way.