"I am glad Batu brought you back," Ghoajin said. "When he was six, his mother died. He left his father's clan and … disappeared." She paused to catch her breath. "For ten years. He was gone. And then he came back, to us, his mother's … people. He knew how to fight and was determined … to become a champion warrior."
I listened, fascinated by the story about a man I barely knew.
"He was consumed by the need to prove himself," his ex, a woman named Suvdin, added.
"He was," Ghoajin agreed. "He never spoke of … what happened when he left. But he came back … with fire."
It was difficult for me to imagine a child of six surviving this brutal world on his own. Then again, I could almost believe it about Batu.
"He is fire," Suvdin said. "He consumes or is cold. He does nothing or he conquers all. He is much like the tales we heard of Genghis."
Ghoajin nodded proudly.
I detected some … wistfulness or maybe regret in the soft tone of Suvdin. Batu claimed not to be dwelling on his choice of duty over the woman he cared about, but she seemed to be. I shivered at her description, able to understand how right she was about Batu. His fierce devotion and loyalty, coupled with his athletic prowess, was a combination that would be explosive in a real relationship. She was right; he would burn up the woman of his focus with possessive passion.
Hearing her talk about him made me feel awkward around her, a little too aware that I slept in his bed, albeit platonically. He wasn't mine, and I had no intention of ever marrying again, but for the sake of his people's customs, I was the woman at the center of his world.
Two girls sat down behind me. "Moonbeam, can we touch your hair?" one asked.
"Yes," I said with a smile. They'd been eyeing me for most the morning.
One pulled out the pins holding it up in a bun, and they both gasped when it spilled down my shoulders. The two immediately began whispering and alternately braiding or twisting my hair. It felt nice to have someone mess with my hair the way my aunt used to every once in a while. Content, I gazed out over the encampment below the hill we sat on.
This … this was my new life. It was foreign, scary and very different, but it was where I had landed and where I'd remain. I wanted to be more like Batu, to let go of the decisions of the past and live for today. It was going to be a struggle to learn their world and customs, but I also had a great deal of time.