Zshurii's Song (Snippet 1)
Zshurii's Song (Snippet 1)
A story fragment from the Eastsong Cycle
When her subaltern approached in the predawn gloom, rousing each soldier in turn with a hushed warning and quick cuff on the shoulder, Zshurii lay awake already. The gnawing agitation in her mind would not permit her the luxury of sleep. Before Arawah reached her in the lumpen line of slumbering women, Zshurii exerted herself to prop up on one elbow. The subaltern’s shadowy form nodded and passed her by.
Katydids pined for mates from the shrouded, grassy hills surrounding the company encampment. Though the rolling landscape and lingering darkness hid the rest of the Prophet-King’s personal host from view, knowing it was out there lent Zshurii just enough comfort to keep the specter of imminent violence at bay. Even so, once she sat fully upright and began bundling her field blanket, her hands quivered. At least nobody could see.
Silver-tinged clouds fell across the low-hanging half-moon in smoky tufts, like unspun wool feeding her father’s wheel. Already the late-summer air gathered thick about her. It would be another muggy day; the quietly stirring horses knew it, lethargic despite their humans’ palpable tension. Between cinching her bedroll and lashing it to the saddlebag she used as a pillow, Zshurii picked out Cactus’s familiar silhouette from their horse-line, nearer the perimeter.
Cactus would be thirsty. He always ate and drank his fill early. Teetering atop a spindle-tip of deliberate calm, Zshurii couldn’t yet contemplate breakfast. The soft crunch of biscuit rations to either side told her that the other members of her seven didn’t share her stomach’s reservations. That, she supposed, was reassuring. Hastily, she collected her kit—saddlebag, steel cap, scimitar, bow, and quiver—before slipping away to the mounts.
For once, she was the first rider at the horse-lines—the first visible along this side of the camp, leastways. Even in cloud-obscured moonlight, there was no mistaking Cactus, third from right, with his naturally spiked mane. The horses to either side looked to be dozing again, but Cactus’s head was already perked in her direction. Zshurii grinned in spite of her nerves. Her fellow always saw her coming.
“Good morning, sir,” she whispered. His black ears twitched. After tossing her saddlebag on the patchy, dry grass at her feet, she set her helmet beside it. She propped her weapons carefully against Cactus’s hitching post, where his tack hung. The horse nickered. Zshurii straightened, brushed her hands on her deerskin trousers, and fixed him with a stern expression. It helped that they were of a height. “Rude,” she admonished.
She retrieved a biscuit from her bag, anyway, and broke off half, which he accepted politely. Petting his blood-red muzzle, she murmured, “Think thyself too good just to eat grass, hmm?”
Cactus snorted. “Very well,” Zshurii conceded, “I suppose I could manage a bite.” As she nibbled on her bone-dry portion, she knelt to fetch her canteen, near empty. “Now, down to the creek with us.” Sunrise wouldn’t tarry; nor should they.
A Note from the Author
Hi, folks! I hope you enjoyed this bit from Zshurii’s story. (The initial sound in her name is like the J in Jacques.) A very few of y’all might recall seeing a previous draft of this, a couple years ago. In case you’re hoping for more, I thought I’d mention that I intend to extend this into a brief arc of a few snippets.
PS: Though you might’ve noticed the Vaporous Realms tend to feature a lot of megafauna, these horses are on the smaller side—what we’d call a pony.