Leídan Aznawar of Khand

It was more than a week travelling down the river. The day before they would reach the city of Oud Ilaz they stayed with a farmer and his wife. They had no children, but were delighted with the stay. Neida and Leídan stayed with them and accepted a fine vintage of wine. From them Leídan heard as well that it would be the best to avoid the city nearby, because the royal family reigned the city and surrounding lands with an iron hands. Travellers were not welcome really, as they picked them up, locked them and kept them for questioning. If you would not cooperate, then worse things were waiting on you with at the end possible death. The host advised to cross the river and pass the city on the left bank. He knew there were no bridges, and no people lived on the other side. They had to follow the western wall, which protected the river land from the sands of the east march, all the way toward Tirith Amrûn on the west bank. Neida agreed with it that they both should take the road over the western bank of the river.

Neida went sleeping quite early at the hour women usual went to bed. The host’s wife did the same, but didn’t know Neida was actually a girl. In her room, Neida had all freedom to do what she wanted, but still she was careful that nobody found out she was not the boy she gave herself out for. Soft she whistled a song while she bathed and made her bed ready to sleep. Three hours in the night, she woke up from a bad dream and sat right up the coverings up to her chest. It was dark in her room; the window was open to let the cool night breeze come in. It was silent in the house, but from outside she could hear the wind going softly through the leaves of the trees surrounding the stone house. She closed her eyes listening to the rustling sounds, enjoying them allowing the images from the nightmare fade from her mind. She knew her tricks to ease her troubled mind. But sudden she heard more than only rustling leaves and her eyes flung open. Softly she glided out of bed, put quickly on her clothes and the robes over them, her boots and reached for her weapons. Then she climbed out the window and hid under the window outside between the bushes. Whatever it was that sneaked around she didn’t want to be found.

On travels she used to sleep slight in case of danger. Her sense of danger was accurate and warned her always beforehand something would come down her. Neida knew she had to protest herself in the first place; neither her father nor her brothers could protect her always. She was responsible for her health and her good name. Leídan was that also for himself, but the rules were slightly different still. As the noises grew louder and seem to come from inside the house, Neida withdrew herself from under the window and escaped to the back of the garden into the wild garden full of orange trees. There deep in the garden she knew there was a hiding place, which she had found the other day during the morning walk through the fields. She got inside, closed the door as far it would and used her fingers to find her way in the dark. In the corner after a false wall, she made herself small and sat there waiting on what would come. The shehada protected her against the nightly cold.

Neida could not remember when she had fallen asleep when she woke up, still from sitting in the same position for hours. It had become morning as she could see through the shelves of the false wall where the light came through the doorway. She heard nobody, and none had come for her to get. Slowly she arose from her place, stretching her painful muscles and tried to stand. Careful she came from behind the false wall and stepped through the shed to the doorway. Nobody was in the orange tree garden. She left her hiding place and ran back toward the house to see if her run had not turn into paranoid. If everyone was still there, and should now be in the central room having breakfast. But as she came into that room nobody was there, not even the servants. Neida dwelt slowly from room to room, holding her sword into her hand for protection. She came upstairs where the master bedroom was from the host and the door stood open, which was unusual. She stuck her head around the corner to see if anyone was in there. The large bed was empty, as was the next room. Worried she went to see the room her brother had occupied, but even that was deserted as she opened the door. All his belongings were still there; his clothes from yesterday were on the chair. The bed was a mess. She left the room to see where she could see perhaps where Leídan possible had gone.

The front door was open as well, as was the gate of the wall that surrounded and protected this house. In the sand stood many tracks. And the tracks led away toward the south. Quickly Neida hurried toward the stables, where the Azumehda still stood, grazing from the hay of the horses. All the horses were gone. Apparent the raiders had seen no use in the Azumehda and had left them here. Alone Neida didn’t know what to do, she knew everyone was gone and thus she was safe for now. She could not stay here, so she went inside the house and collected all belongings that were hers and her brothers. She was almost sure that Leídan was abducted, as were their hosts as well with their servants. And she had a bold presumption that the raiders had come all the way from Oud Ilaz. Two hours later Neida left the house and set the road toward the eastern bank of the river. She was afraid, but had no choice. Somehow, she had to get her brother back, wherever he was taken. How she would find him back, in what condition, she had no idea either. She would be resourceful to free her brother and leave the city safe. The city was not far off from the crossing where the road from Kupsha would join the one from the south and bowing off east toward Korb Chelkar. She had no idea what happened to the host and his wife, and neither there was much change she would learn what happened to them. But she would try to find her brother. By midday the dreaded towers of Oud Ilaz came into view. Neida halted for a moment, over thinking her chances she could be captured at the gate. Would she be spotted as a traveller when she reached the gate? Or would the guards just ignore her?

While she worried watched the towers an idea began to grow into her mind, but for that plan she needed another human who worn almost the same garb as her, and he would travel also on an Azumeh. Could she find such a person, with she could sneak into the city? Walking with a group was a trick to get into a city where outsiders were not wanted. Neida knew she had to get in, with her Azumehda, she rather didn’t leave them unguarded outside the city, fearing someone would take them. She gave her Azumeh the spurs and whispered soft a prayer that all would go well and that she would be in the city before the evening fell. She found her salvation with a group of acrobats who had both horses and Azumehda with them, but they walked. Neida did the same and took her own animals at the reins, like the acrobats did. She converged at the end with them and walked so unhindered and unnoticed through the gates. The guards didn’t even look at her. After all this was the hour of the day where much traffic left and arrived at the city gates. People lived here. A few streets from the gate Neida fell behind with her Azumehda and dwelt alone through the troubled streets. She ascertained that she had come into a not so good neighbourhood. Perhaps it was to her advantage... with her Azumehda and her dirty robes from the highway she drew no notice by the even dirty men and women walking in these streets. It was narrow here, the buildings high, and the late daylight didn’t reach the streets. Neida wanted to pinch her nose shut as the smells in the streets were everything, except for flowers, soap or perfumes. She felt sick. She had to find a place for the night, but where? At the end of lone street, she found an abandoned building where she could hide her animals and herself for the night. She had to stay awake, even tired as she was, not knowing who all would come here during the night. What would the day of the tomorrow bring, now she was in the bowels of Oud Ilaz?