#9. TAINA I
The sun shown brightly over the realm of Botansa. It was mid-summer here, and though the season had been wetter and cooler than normal, the heat was still enough to form a thick sheen of sweat across Taina’s body. She was lifting up a post, lining it up with the hole in the tough earth, and slotting it in with all the force she could muster.
She had been setting posts all day.
She took a break to drink water from the gourd her father had given her before they all had set off for the days work. She was a fit woman, her muscles showing off beneath the denim overalls she wore. The legs were split on the sides and rolled up, held there by a brass pin. Atop her black hair was a wide, straw hat with a rough edge. Her eyes gazed over the land of her family’s ranch, and she felt a swell of gratitude for being able to be home during such perilous times.
She compared the arid chaparral to the refined city streets of Uthmari’s capital, Yennos. There were no paved streets on Batansa, no towering spires or multistory apartments. No airships or fliers, no moving art or Voicecasters calling out the time on the hour.
No, Batansa was about as rural as any of the realms was like to get.
Her family, like almost all families that lived in the vast stretches around Ley Town, were ranchers and farmers. It was vendors and merchants who came to their realm to procure as many goods as possible for their business back home.
Taina looked to the horizon, towards the places where no one had settled yet. “Unlikely that anyone at all will fill up those distant vistas with how things are.” Her thoughts were dark, but she liked to believe they were not overly negative. It was just a stark reality that with the Leylines supposedly becoming less and less stable, who knew if Batansa and the other realms would even be able to stay connected.
She frowned, her stomach turning sour. The thought of being trapped on Batansa for the rest of her life, it was appalling. She was glad to be with her family now, but she had left this realm for a reason. She had found a home for herself in Yennos, had found a situation that allowed her the freedom she desired without all of the responsibilities she feared. To surrender such a placid life for the life of a farmer… to Taina it was unthinkable.
She sighed, looked up to the sun, and slung the goard back over her shoulder. It was time to lay the next post.
This was the rhythm of her day, her doubts and fears warring for attention while she tried to work. A part of her would want to be nowhere else while the problems with the Leylines unfolded, but a part of her, a part that grew bigger by the day, regretted leaving Yennos and coming home.
“We could have released three paintings this winter, instead we have to wait until my return to release even one.” Her thoughts were bitter now, and she could feel the tension in her jaw and neck.
A voice rang in her memories. “Don’t hold your tension in your face, it will ruin the shape.”
She sighed, breathed, allowed her jaw and tongue to relax. Her neck and shoulders followed suit. She took a moment to breath and allowed herself let go of the tension that had been building in her. Despite the intensity of laying posts, she felt rather good for how much she had gotten done so far.
She sighed harder, looking up to the sky. He was out there somewhere, so far away, that voice in her head. “And he can still command me from all that way.”
Taina shook her head, turning to lay another post.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Taina and her family sat down for dinner just before sunset. She was absolutely drained, and despite her misgivings about Batansa, she was desperate for the meal that was about to be put down before her.
Her and her father sat at opposite sides of the table, each in their own worlds. Tallas was a thin man, balding, and had such a sharp edge to him that she was surprised he didn’t cut everything he touched. Her mother, Imery, was all curves and dresses and aprons, the perfect housewife for a farmer. She moved around the kitchen with a busy exuberance, a little bee preparing her honey.
When the food was ready, they ate in silence. After it became obvious that no one was going to speak, it only hardened into a deafening shell that contained them. As far as Taina knew, they could not stop their meal or leave the table, lest the incur the wrath of Tallas. Her mother, her heart always full of light, could never be consumed by the all encompassing sharpness that was Tallas, nor his expectations.
She just did what he said without contest.
Taina… she was not like her mother in this way. In most ways except for her looks, she was like her father, more that she would probably like to admit. She was not a woman who let others dictate her fate, not if she could help it.
When the meal was concluded, she helped her mother clean up in the kitchen while her father went out into the yard to inspect her work. She tried not to let it rankle her pride, for she knew it was his own pride he was validating. It was him that had taught Taina how to lay posts.
That night, as she lay in her room, she allowed herself to relax. She undressed and put on her favorite silk robe. It was pink, patterned with the outlines of thousands of tiny lillies. The hem was trimmed in bright white, a stark contrast to her tan skin. She ran her hands over her body, reveling of the slip of silk. She posed, then rolled over to pose again.
On the chair in the corner, she imagined Pather sitting there, easel in front of him and pots of paint around the chair. His dark eyes drank her in, his full lips saying, “Roll over on your back. Lift up your legs. Look away from me.” All the while his hands directed the brushes over the canvas, capturing the essence of her in a way that no others could.
She followed each command in her head, felt the electric thrill she was so familiar with while he painted her. Being his muse… it was an indescribable feeling.
But the fantasy began to crack. The intensity of him, it was impossible to contain it all in her imagination. As soon as she distracted herself, a detail faded in her mind, and the illusion fell apart.
She sighed, slumping into her bed. She wished she was back in Yennos.
IF YOU ENJOYED, CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING
redmysterium
A DARKER ENERGY 