Azaya and the Central Expanse
There is a river that flows through the Central Expanse with a five feet of rapids and a calm pool below it. Crayfish and small fish live in the shallow areas by the rocks. Elder Kira’s Khuuransh camp is found on the west bank, along with twenty-six yaks and a cook tent and one road down the middle. On the other bank live the Nannanta tribe. People that move with the seasons in painted cart-homes called karukkas, and who nobody on the Khuuransh side has spoken to in over a hundred winters.
Azaya is eight winters old. She is the youngest scribe in the city of Skelderheim, out here on a rest with Orra-Kai. She is bored. It’s quiet. So she goes down to the river to look for rocks.
A girl calls to her from the far bank, and tells her the crayfish in her hand will be needs to get bigger.
Rinna has dried yak in her bag, smoked over tonga wood, cut thin because a tribe that travels wants meat that survives the trip. Azaya has coffee. They share what they have. Rinna tastes the coffee and describes it because in her tribe you describe food by the love and care as well as taste. That way a person feels appreciated even if you did not like the dish. Azaya writes this down so she will not forget it, and then Rinna asks what writing is, and the friendship starts from there.
Here is the thing about the Central Expanse. People live here, and they live by rules. Some keep them together, while others keep them alive.
Family is one of them. Kin is the same as blood here. Lenne lost her left arm on a dock protecting Azaya, and when Rinna’s mother sees the missing arm she understands.
Friendship is another. A friend is a person outside your family who shares food with you. Azaya and Rinna shared food. That was all it took, crayfish, rock hunting, food and of course, the coffee.
Horses are vital to survival. The one tribe steers with reins. Another train a horse to read the shift of a rider’s weight. This is why a horse, found wandering four winters ago, knows things nobody in Kira’s camp taught him.
Faith is important, and there are two versions of faith sitting across from each other, neither aware of the other’s version. One side has the Orra-Kai. The other is praying for her return.
Azaya walks into all of it holding a thermos.