Alisiyad Chapter 20 ~ Varaneshe (Part 2)

As they walked throughout the day, Currun told Russ various things about Varaneshe, as if he were a young Varaneshan entertaining a naïve northern cousin with stories of the grand capital on the southern sea.  Russ listened with interest, thinking that anything he knew about Varaneshe had to help, but when he thought it over, nothing of what Currun said really gave him an idea of what they were going to do.  He figured it must be just another part of the ruse; fellow travelers would periodically join in on their conversation and exchange introductions.  It was good to have a story to tell and an appearance to go with it, he knew, but still he wished that they could find some time to actually form a plan.  But then Russ supposed that Currun probably already had a plan all worked out, which he just didn’t feel like sharing.

This is really starting to piss me off, he thought late in the afternoon, as Currun conversed with another traveler returning back home.  He wasn’t just baggage, after all, and while he was inexperienced, keeping him totally ignorant sure as hell wasn’t going to help either of them, or Alisiya, or Liseli.  Even if Currun didn’t give a damn about Liseli he should at least want to do the job right, and rescue his niece from her captivity.  Treating Russ like a stupid little tagalong with no real reason to be getting in the way . . . well, that just didn’t seem the right way to do it.  But he didn’t say anything.  He couldn’t with all those other travelers on the road with them.

When Varaneshe came in sight Currun stopped and waved his arm toward it.  “There is it, Rulun.  There it is.”

Before them stretched the ocean, blue and sparkling in the late afternoon sun.  Along the shore to the west sprawled a wide open city, the buildings and walls whitewashed and bright compared to the grayness of Elharan.  The Chaiorra River ran down into a triangular bay, and the city lay on either side, connected by two bridges.  Varaneshe was nearly three times the size of Elharan, but looked even larger because it was wide and open while Elharan was boxed up within high walls.  But it was the sea that Russ stared at longest.

He’d never seen the oceans in person, though he’d tried to imagine that Lake Michigan was the Atlantic the few times he’d been there.  It was different, though, when he didn’t just have to pretend that there was nothing but water for miles and miles upon miles.  He could barely tell where the blue of the sky and the blue of the water met at the horizon, and so he thought for a long moment that he was seeing endless blue.  It reminded him of endless gray.

Currun was saying something, but he didn’t respond at first.  When the words came back into focus Currun was laughing to the other traveler he’d been conversing with earlier, “It’s made him speechless.  He’s never seen a city so big.”

That wasn’t true.  Russ had seen Milwaukee and Chicago, which were both a lot bigger than Varaneshe.  And that was just cities he’d seen in person.  But he ignored the comment; he was far more interested in the otherworldly sea.  “What’s on the other side?”

Currun paused, and darted a glance at the other traveler.  “Ha,” he laughed, and grabbed Russ’s arm again.  “Come along, Rulun, let’s not waste time gawking.  There’s lots more to see of Varaneshe up close.”  He bid goodbye to the other traveler, who said he was going to pause for a rest and a smoke on his pipe before finishing the miles that still lay between them and the city.

Once they had left him behind, Russ repeated, “I meant the sea, what’s on the other side?”

“Idiot.”  Currun glared at him.  “You’re from the north, you live on the northern seashore and fish on the damn northern sea.  So you don’t gawk at the sea like you’ve never seen anything like it before.  ‘What’s on the other side’,” he mimicked, “No one knows what’s on the other side, and everyone who lives in Alisiya knows that.”

Russ shoved him away.  “I didn’t.  If I was supposed to you should’ve told me instead of all that crap about the best inns and—”

“Lower your voice.”  Currun waved his hand sharply as if cutting Russ’s words from the air.  “You should have thought before asking a foolish question that brands you as either an outsider or a half-wit.”

“Get off it.”  Russ straightened his pack with a jerk.  “I can’t know things you don’t tell me.  If you were in my world we’d—”

“You throwing a tantrum is no help to me.”  Currun sneered.  “Accept your mistake and learn from it, instead of blaming me.  We’re not in your world, but I imagine it must be a soft and sheltered place for you to even be able to survive there.”

Russ stopped and turned to face Currun.  “Y’know, I really don’t have to take this shit from you, and—”

“Ha!” Currun tilted back his head and laughed, but the next moment Russ felt a sharp pain in his chest and found himself falling heavily to the ground.  He looked up from his sprawl, and Currun crossed his arms, smiling down grimly.  “Don’t make me laugh.  You have no survival or fighting skills whatsoever; lucky to even be alive right now.  I would rather take Eliasha on this mission with me; she at least has a brain and some spirit.  If you are what passes for a man in your wor—”

“I’m the one going on this fucking mission!  Alisiya told me to take you along.”  Russ stopped as his voice nearly squeaked with indignation.

Currun just snorted and raised an eyebrow.  Russ stayed on the ground and glowered up at him.  “I’m serious,” he insisted.  “You wanna insult me, fine, be my guest.  But you’re not doing a damn thing to help me figure out what the hell we’re gonna do here!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Currun said, spreading his hands out, “I didn’t realize that I was to be your guide and teacher.  Unfortunately, I am no one’s guide and teacher, and you will have to accept that fact and use your own head instead of waiting for me to tell you how to wipe your own ass.”

“Fuck off.”  Russ tried to roll away and push himself up.  But his pack was heavy and he was in an awkward place on a downward slope of the hill, and it didn’t work.  He just rolled halfway onto his side before sliding down the hill.

Currun’s laugh was mocking, but he bent down and held out his hand.  “Get up,” he said deprecatingly.  Russ looked from the hand to the face for a moment, then reached out.  Currun seized his hand in a tight grip and started to pull him up, but Russ suddenly leaned back into the ground and twisted to the side, yanking Currun off his balance.  Currun swore and fell onto his shoulder next to Russ, downhill, rolling a couple times when Russ let go of his hand.

Russ shrugged out of his pack and pulled himself to his feet, as Currun did the same a few yards away.  “You’re wasting my time,” said Russ.  He pointed at Currun and raised his voice, “Alisiya told me that you would help me, not go off on an ego trip.  This isn’t your one-man-wonder-mission, it has a damn purpose and that’s all I fucking care about!”

Currun slapped dust from his clothes and stepped toward Russ.  “Maintaining our disguise is very important,” he said in a low voice, squinting his eyes.  He stopped and crossed his arms.  “And as I said, tantrums are the last thing we need.  If you cared about the ‘purpose’ you wouldn’t complain about your role.”

“Yeah.  Well, you told me to do what you say.  So far that’s been nothing.”

“And so you will do nothing!” Currun took another step, bumping up against Russ and glaring into his eyes.  “Be assured that I will tell you what you need to know, if you can’t figure it out for yourself.  But I am in charge.  That, I would imagine, is the kind of help Alisiya had in mind.”

Russ fought the urge to take a step back.  “You just fell for the oldest trick in the book.  I don’t think I trust you.”

“Ha,” Currun turned away and went to retrieve his pack.  “You’re one to talk about trusting me.  I was merely testing you.”

“For what?”  Russ didn’t believe him.

“Spirit, nerve, half a brain,” Currun knocked dust from his pack and swung it over his shoulder.  “Pride, even.  It’s one thing to be able to control your temper, it’s another to let people walk all over you.”

“Huh,” Russ shook his head.  “You expect me to believe—”

“I don’t care what you believe.”  Currun turned his back on him.  “I have my answer.”

“Oh really.”  Russ still didn’t move.  “And what’s that?”

“If you don’t know yourself I can’t tell you.”

“I can lose my temper, if that’s your big test.  Getting mad never did any good, though.”  Russ bent to pick up his pack.  He felt like an idiot again, wasting time bickering on the road when all that mattered was getting back to Elharan with Alisiya so she could help Liseli.

“Ahhhh, sage words,” Currun snorted.  “Lecture me while walking, if you have more pearls of wisdom gained from your extreme youth to share.”

Russ just rolled his eyes and bit his tongue.  He wasn’t going to be baited into a fight again.  He followed Currun in silence, staring ahead at the city.  He wondered if Currun was planning on sacrificing him as a diversion.  What other tactical reason could he possibly have for keeping Russ in the dark about what the plan was?