Swatan was a picture of contradictions set against the backdrop of its cloud-kissing hills and dense woods forming Nature’s enclosure for the animals left to roam in freedom. As the group from Jevadhi trotted up the crest of the border, Imay could see the stone monolith signalling the entrance of the village. Painted with a mongoose and a snake twisted around each other, the art was rendered in a thought alien to what was common. The dark snake, a wounded cobra etched in surprising detail, was coiled with its head ducked under the bulk of the mongoose that was facing away from it with eyes raised at the sky. Imay observed that the cobra looked tired at first glance but it’s hood was drawn in a way that signalled alertness, eyes peering towards the ground.

It looked like they were guarding each other, he realised with dawning clarity, these two sworn enemies watching unprotected sides.

“Piba drew that,” Tejo spoke up from where she was riding between the two leaders of Swatan, looking to her right as she seemed suddenly excited, “Isn’t it Piba’s birthday soon? Are we celebrating?”

“Should we?” Leader Gunshi smiled, glancing at Imay and Saakhi as he explained, “Piba is my nephew. The one who left early from Ujwi?”

“I thought it was the boy who met us at Torni,” Saakhi mused, chewing on the piece of sweet grass she had snagged earlier, “What was his name - Ethil?”

“Ezhil,” Saakhi looked inordinately pleased at having gotten the exasperated attention of the person riding beside her, “You know, the one you trusted a teenager with. A teenager you brought from a town you don’t know.”

“Oh, Nami’s smart and Leader Gunshi here trusted the boy too, didn’t he?” Saakhi grinned conspiratorially, leaning off her horse as she pretended to whisper, “I’m not bad with names all the time. Don’t worry, Minar.”

“Why do you keep calling her that?” Tejo demanded and Imay saw her shoot a mildly guilty look at the person she had revealed an unwanted secret about, “You know that’s not what you should call her.”

Their departure from Jevadhi had been awkward for the teenager, who had been surprised when she had been invited despite her gaffe. Imay could see that it wasn’t as much of a mistake as Tejo perceived it to be but for her it was still a point of nervousness. He could see it in the way her eyes kept flitting between Saakhi and Minar.

Paher Minar. Imay was still processing that and he did consider calling her Saanjh but she hadn’t made an issue of Saakhi constantly calling her by the other name. Not yet, at least. Even though Imay could see that Saakhi was using her name way more than any person would need to.

He really hoped they’d last at Swatan for more than one day, the way his sister was prodding at every available hornet’s nest.

They weren’t greeted by anyone at the arched entrance, the bent wooden gate unattended, but Imay saw Leader Gunshi get off his horse and walk towards the right side of the fence. As they watched, he removed a thin strip of wood from his inner jacket and pressed it in the gap that seemed the same as the others but accommodated the wood neatly. After being satisfied that it had locked into place, he led his horse through the entrance and the others followed.

“Is this a ritual?” Imay asked as he glanced over his shoulder at the fence they had crossed.

“Safety trip,” Saakhi replied and he looked at her, following her finger to see the thin barbs of venomous thorns embedded under the arch, which he presumed would have dropped onto them if the key hadn’t been set.

“That would have been a warm welcome,” he muttered to himself and his sister ignored him to jump off her horse when the others did.

The actual village truly did look warm, masterfully built houses dotted with dyed art at entrances, fire burning at lamp posts to cast lively shadows. There were ramps of wood paved alongside the pathways, cloth lines strung across roofs and between them, sounds of metal and laughter echoing even as they came closer. There was someone jogging up to meet them from the sunken valley a few throws away, pottery clay smeared up long arms with dark hair half gathered in a top-knot and the rest falling down the nape. He wiped his palms on his shirt as he came near, a pleasant nod at Leader Gunshi before making a bee-line to Minar. His light eyes looked her over quickly before he joined his left thumb and index finger to make an enquiring gesture. Minar copied the gesture with a tired nod and it made his shoulders ease down before he pressed his palm against her forehead to gently push at it with a chiding expression.

“I told you I’d be back with Val,” Minar ducked the second attempt and raised her palms in mock surrender, “Alright, drop it, come on. Is Oorja home?”

The man rolled his eyes at her but pointed behind him with a thumb at Leader Gunshi, his eyes landing on Imay before he looked at Minar again.

“Not me,” she answered the obvious question, jerking her head in Leader Gunshi’s direction, “He picked them up at Ujwi. It’s a long story.”

“This is Piba,” Leader Gunshi introduced, coming forward to hand his nephew the reins of his horse, “Piba, this is Saakhi Por and her brother Imay. They’re our guests.”

Piba had a face that was made to make people feel warm, courteous in the half-smile he graced them with and an easy acceptance of their presence in the way he faced them without the edge of suspicion that straightened spines when strangers met. He began addressing them after wiping his palms on his shirt one more time.

“I hope you had a favourable journey,” Minar spoke as Piba’s fingers shaped into words, her voice gliding smoothly over his intentions with an ease that spoke of familiarity and permitted practice, “This is a pleasant season to be at Swatan and we’re glad you could join us. Am I right to presume that you’re knights?”

“She is,” Imay replied before Saakhi could, feeling like he was a bumbling schoolboy in front of a refined senior who was greeting him just before he would go over to charm a crowd with a natural grace, “I’m a navigator. We’re both nomads.”

“Adventurers!” Piba’s eyes twinkled with impressed excitement and Imay didn’t know anything remotely exciting about them to get this reaction but he wasn’t complaining, “Lady Por, you use a swordand a bow with ease? Leader Oorja will be impressed. The only other people here who can wield more than one weapon with equal expertise are him and this one here.”

Minar didn’t modulate the same pride as was on his face but Saakhi raised her brow curiously.

“More than one weapon, huh?” she asked, beginning to gesture on her own as she spoke, “I thought she didn’t use any weapon. Especially when she came to stop a mad elephant with no defence in hand.”

“You know the language?” Minar asked, ignoring the surprised glance Piba shot her, clearly wanting to know more details about the elephant incident.

“Learnt a few things while travelling,” Saakhi quipped, moving a step forward when Sahas grunted impatiently behind her, “I definitely don’t know your language of talking to animals though. Maybe they’d like me more if I learnt that ?”

Minar’s face expressed her doubt but she stepped from beside Piba, reaching Sahas and projecting her movement before gently cupping his neck. Saakhi didn’t warn her that Sahas had a habit of biting when annoyed but the horse didn’t seem averse to the new person touching him, instead looked curious. When Minar scratched under his neck, he looked downright happy and Saakhi let out a huff of impressed interest.

“You’re something else, Paher Minar,” she observed and Imay noted Piba shooting her a wary look, one even more curious than the one he had when he had heard about the elephant.

“Aren’t you worried about the girl you left in Ezhil’s care?” Tejo spoke up from behind them, purposely butting in to make herself be known and Piba turned his attention to her with a wider smile.

“Tejo, you came,” his arms opened enough for the girl to squeeze in a hug and he pulled back after a minute to continue, “Did you finally clear your tests?”

“You don’t have to continue translating,” Minar informed and Imay realised that he had picked up when she had stopped, “I was translating in case you both didn’t know. Tejo knows. And no, she didn’t clear yet.”

“I did!” Tejo refuted but Piba didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“Did Nami reach here safe?” Imay asked at the reminder and Piba nodded, looking at Leader Gunshi.

“You could go check on her,” the older man told Imay as he looked over his shoulder, “We should go meet Oorja. Piba, could you guide Imay and Saakhi to the guest house?”

“Actually, I’ll come with you,” Saakhi interjected and shared a look with Imay looking back at Leader Gunshi when he nodded, “Might be a good thing to meet the third leader before we settle in. Imay can handle the kid.”

Minar raised a brow at that but didn’t comment, letting Piba guide Imay and Tejo to rest. When Imay looked over his shoulder, he saw Leader Gunshi walking in the front and Saakhi walking beside Minar. It didn’t surprise him that Minar was now holding the reins of both her own horse and Sahas, while Saakhi attempted to engage her in a one-sided conversation.

Turning back to Piba, Imay exhaled as he let himself be guided to their new rest stop. He hoped Nami wouldn’t kill him any worse than he suspected Paher Minar was going to kill Saakhi if he knew his sister in any way.

“So,” he spoke to their guide as they trudged along the path, “I hear your birthday’s coming up soon?”