Aran’s Compassion, A Mother’s Love — Part 4 of 4
After Funi and the Aranians discover Forvitni’s true name is Takwin, the camp begins to settle into its normal routine until a visitor arrives…
A little over a week had passed since Takwin’s rescue and Funi was making clay jars with a couple of other women and several children. Rather, she was supposed to be making jars, but was playing more in the clay like the children than actually working.
She was showing one little girl how to draw the sides of the jar out from a lump of clay when someone called out to her. “Ma’hal. Ma’hal, we have visitors.”
“Who is it?” she called back with a slight frown on her face.
The woman who had called out to Funi now came around the yurt that had obscured her. “Ma’hal Indira, and an outlander woman with three children. The Ma’hal wishes to speak with you.”
Funi furrowed her eyebrows at this. It was not unheard of for a Ma’hal to seek advice from another Ma’hal. But to do so in the company of an outlander and children, this was new to Funi.
“Lead them to my yurt. I will join you shortly,” she said as she stood and walked over to a bucket of water. The woman nodded and walked off as Funi tried to wash as much of the clay as she could off her hands and face.
After washing, Funi made her way to her yurt. While walking there, Kason intercepted her. “I have heard we have visitors. Do you know who the outlander is or what this is about, Ma’hal?”
“No, but please accompany me should I need a runner.”
“Yes, Ma’hal.”
When the two reached Funi’s yurt, they found Indira, two women from her tribe, along with the outlanders. The woman’s eyes kept darting around like she was searching for something while the three children, of which the oldest may have been eight, looked tired and fidgety. Seeing the woman, Funi recognized her from Stavir, Takwin’s mother.
“Ma’hal Indira, I welcome you to our camp. Excuse me if I do not greet you properly as I have been working in clay. I understand you wish to speak with me?”
Indira nodded. “Thank you Ma’hal Funi. It is quite alright as I should apologize for not sending someone ahead to let you know of our coming. I brought Pertev from Stavir, as it is she who wishes to speak with you.”
“Come then, let us go inside. Kason, please show our other guests where they may rest. I suspect the children are hungry, so find Brothya and have her feed them and watch them,” Funi said as she pulled the flap open to her yurt. “After that, return here, please.”
“Yes, Ma’hal.”
After Indira and Pertev entered Funi’s yurt, she asked them to sit down on her cot. “Do not worry about your children, Pertev. They will be well tended to.” She sat down on the cot that had been Delea’s. “You wished to speak with me.”
Pertev looked at Indira and then back at Funi as she clenched and twisted the skirt of her dress. Indira reached out and put her hand on Pertev’s forearm in a reassuring measure.
“Yes,” Indira said in Nerian. “She does not speak our language, so we are free to talk.” I
“After we left, Stavir and her husband’s actions were revealed, he blamed Pertev and beat her. I have heard things about him, so I have no doubt about this. She left him and Stavir four days ago with her daughters. They wandered Aran for two days before we found them and she was instant on coming here. She seeks her youngest daughter.”
Indira then turned to Pertev and said in Guician, “Speak to her, Pertev. I have told her some, but you must tell her everything.”
Pertev’s lip quivered as she again looked back between the two Ma’hals. Tears flowed from her eyes as she blurted out. “I want my daughter back. I want Takwin. My husband made me give her up. He cursed and beat me because I’ve only given him daughters. He thought by giving Takwin to you we could have another child, a son.”
Pertev released her skirt and put her hands over her face as she started crying. The two Ma’hals sat in silence until Pertev regained her composure. It took a few minutes before Pertev’s sobbing ceased. When pulled her hands away from her face and looked up, her eyes and cheeks were red.
Funi’s face was stone as she asked, “What is your intent?”
Pertev looked at Funi with her mouth partially open. “My… my intent? I don’t understand.”
“You have left your husband, Stavir, the life you knew. Do you intend to stay in Aran or move on to another village?”
“I don’t know. I just want to be with Takwin again,” Pertev said, shaking her head. “If it means I must become a witch, then I will pay that price.”
Funi’s eyes narrowed at Pertev for her comment. “Her husband taints her words,” Indira said. “She does not mean to insult us. Do you, child?”
“No. It is just that I’m at my wit’s end without Takwin. My husband wanted a son so badly and complained about dowries for our daughters that he thought if he got rid of Takwin, we could have a son. When you came to Stavir and said how you found Takwin, he became angry because the others in the village now despise him.”
There was an uneasy silence for several moments as Funi sat with her hands clasped, tapping her thumbs together. “What is your mind, Indira?” Funi finally asked in Nerian.
“The child is of your tribe, so the decision is yours. For Pertev’s sake, she is welcome in my tribe if you do not accept her, though I think you will have a frequent visitor.”
Funi continued to tap her thumbs together she as pursed her lips and nodded.. “She knows I cannot force a mother to give up a child?”
“I have made her aware of our ways regarding that.”
Funi stood up and went to the flap and looked outside. “Ah, Kason, you have returned. Ask Chana to come here with Takwin.”
Kason raised an eyebrow at this request before saying, “Yes, Ma’hal,” and setting off.
Funi returned to her seat on the cot. Looking straight at Pertev, she said, “Ma’hal Indira has told you that another is now mother to Takwin. And that I can not force them to give her to you, even if you were to join my tribe.”
Tears once again came to Pertev’s eyes as she nodded. “Yes.”
“This is not fully my choice. When the first of us arrived in Aran, they were fleeing slavery. Women who had their children and babies taken from them without their consent. Those first Aranians said no more to taking children like that.”
“Then they saw people abandoning children here in Aran. They began the practice of taking those children and raising them as their own. Those two facts make us, in part, who we are. I can no more go against that than I can make the sun set anywhere except in the west.”
Just then Chana called from outside the yurt, “Excuse me, Ma’hal. You called for me?”
“Yes, Chana. Come in.” As Chana entered wearing a baby sling, Funi stood up and beckoned Chana to join her on Delea’s cot. “Chana, this is Ma’hal Indira and Pertev of Stavir. Pertev is Takwin’s birth mother. Indira, Pertev, this is Chana who serves as Takwin’s mother.”
Chana nodded to Funi’s guests before sitting down.
“M… may I see my daughter?” Pertev asked. Her voice cracking as she asked.
Before Funi could respond, Chana stood and stepped over to Petrev, opening up the sling. “I just fed her, so she is sleeping right now.” She leaned over so Petrev could see her daughter. Through the tears that seemed non-stop from Petrev, a smile came to her face.
“Her lips are red,” Pertev said with a little laugh. “Berries?”
Standing up and closing the sling, Chana said, “Yes. She seems to like them. Particularly raspberries.”
Funi sat down next to Chana. “Pertev has left her husband and is considering joining us in Aran. I think she has many questions that need to be answered first. Pertev, please, tell Chana all.”
Pertev recounted her tale to Chana of how Ledbic was overbearing and wanted a son. She told how he beat her for giving birth to girls and that it was Ledbic who took Takwin and left her in Aran. When she talked about Takwin and how she didn’t want to lose her and how much she had missed her, she began crying again. Pertev said that Takwin was the reason she left her husband, and she just wanted to be with her daughter.
When she was done, Chana looked at Funi and asked, “What is your decision, Ma’hal?”
Sitting up straight, Funi said, “She has made herself clear she would join us if she can be near Takwin, so I will accept her into our tribe. That is all I can do.”
Pertev looked at Funi, her mouth moving as if she wanted to say something. She swallowed hard before saying, “But what of my daughter? Is she to stay with Chana?”
“I cannot force Chana to give up Takwin. I would no longer be Ma’hal or an Aranian if I did. And I have never heard of such a series of events as we have here. Have you Ma’hal Indira?”
Indira shook her head. “I have not. We could ask during the next coven, but that is not until midwinter. There may be other Ma’hals who know of such a situation.”
Chana suddenly stood up and looked at the two Ma’hals. As neither reacted to her standing up, Chana turned to Petrev and asked, “You wish to become an Aranian and forsake the world you knew only to be with Takwin?” Petrev slowly nodded. “Then sister, welcome. I have done my best to care for your daughter in your absence.”
Cradling Takwin with one arm, Chana carefully lifted the sling over her head. She then handed Takwin over to Petrev and helped her put the sling on. Again, Petrev started crying as she opened the sling to look at Takwin. When she looked back up at Chana, she said, “Thank you.”
Indira’s eyes widened slightly while Funi’s narrowed slightly. “Chana…,” she started to say.
“I do this of my own will. I have heard Pertev’s story and I believe she would have joined us sooner if she knew what was to befall Takwin. Also, it was not her choice to give up Takwin. He took her from her.”
A slight smile crossed the two Ma’hal’s lips and Funi nodded slightly. “Very well then. Show your sister to your yurt so she may rest some. Afterwards, introduce her to some of the others. Tomorrow, we shall talk more, as I must decide on some other matters concerning Pertev’s arrival.”
“And what of Delea?” Chana asked.
Laughing, Funi pulled at a lock of her fading black hair. “I have raised five children. This was once black as night, but it took only three of Delea’s brothers and sisters to cause it to fade. Delea will stay with you to help you both.”
Chana bowed, saying, “Yes, Ma’hal. Come Pertev.”
As Chana helped Petrev stand, Petrev looked at Funi and said, “Ma’hal.”
Raising her hand, Funi cut her off. “Later child. Do as I have advised and rest for now.”
It was several minutes after Chana and Pertev left Funi’s yurt and the two Ma’hals sat in silence. Finally, Indira turned to Funi. “It looks like the problem we foresaw has found its solution.”
Nodding, Funi replied, “Yes, it has. Or maybe it was not a problem for Ma’hals to solve to begin with.”
Patrick S. Smith is a retired vet venturing into the world of poetry and short stories on Medium. If you like or dislike it, please feel free to leave a comment. I can be followed at The Writings of Patrick S. Smith
