"Beyond Dreaming - 02 Selections" by Meike de Nooy

Leila set a high pace towards the palace. She didn’t want to miss this! She had totally forgotten that the selections were today. Of course it was important for Shasti for her to come and watch! She hadn’t realized! Sometimes she could really kick herself in the arse for forgetting such things.

Pretty overheated she reached the palace gardens she had left about an hour before. When she reached the fields behind the palace she could tell from the crowds that they hadn’t started yet. Good, that meant she was in time.

There were hardly any places left so, although the garden shed wasn’t too comfortable she had the keys and so could go inside and climb on top of it and watch from there.

Along the gates she could see the usual groups of people. The village girls, all chatter, looking quite out of place with their nice dresses and perfectly kept hair, the woods in the background and the fighting field in front. No doubt they were discussing the "boys" and whatever else they found interesting, like the latest fashion which had recently come in with the latest peddler. The farmers; a little bit to the back of the green as they wanted to be able to leave half way to go back to their work. The farmers’ girls some with their folks, others with the group of "higher class girls" It really depended if they took a liking to you. Leila had seen how mean they could be towards the other girls and sort of avoided too much contact. She really didn’t care much about them anyway. Some crowned fighters, far up to the top of the fields, close to where the queen would be. They were there either for their own interest, the queens protection or because they had to take part in the selections. Leila, who was looking at all the kids play around, not caring which class they belonged to, suddenly caught sight of the village witch. She wasn’t really a witch, her name was Eunie but only some called her that for she lived on her own near the edge of the forest. She was different. She wore layers of thin colourful clothes and had a white lizard mark at the back of her neck. She was skilled at healing and sometimes knew things about people which was why they were afraid to be around her. Typical, thought Leila, although she had to admit that when she wanted to keep something to herself she also avoided Eunie. She sometimes seemed to look straight through you! Actually she was really friendly but you had to admit she was a bit weird. Once every while Leila would talk to her, sometimes for fun as the Lady did know a lot, and sometimes to ask about her dreams which Eunie seemed to understand better than she did most of the time and as she was the one who had advised Leila to right them down. Eunie looked straight at her and a small smile spread across her lips. Amazing, Leila though. This woman never failed to notice anything, even when she was across from her on the other side of the fields. Leila beckoned her. She nodded her head and disappeared from Leila’s view to show up about five minutes later at the bottom of the shed.

Leila got down and opened the door for her. "You like to come up" she asked.

Eunie nodded her head. They got back up on top of the roof again. "What was it that you wanted to see me about?" Eunie said. "Another dream?"

These were the type of conversations that made her nervous. But she didn’t shy from them. "Yes" she answered.

"Did you write it down?" Eunie asked

"Of course" she replied.

"Bring it to me tonight girl and I will have a look at it. Now look at Shasti as I’m pretty sure that is what brought you here in the first place." Flushing Leila put her attention to the field. It was Shasti who had to start.

While walking to his appointed place he gave a quick look at the shed that Leila and Eunie were sitting upon and smiled a private smile. Leila wished him good luck. Shasti was good in man to man combat but he was even better at tracking and most other things that were practiced in the woods although Leila could still beat him at that. He always carried his bow and arrow around simply because he also enjoyed practicing that for the heck of it. As it was one of the first rounds Shasti didn’t seem to have too much trouble. He was in an advantage most of the time and the youth he had to handle was new to the barracks. The youth, Fian, was not doing that bad though. You could see he was talented though needed a bit more practice. Intensely watching Shasti’s every move Leila started when Eunie said: "You should be careful with his heart Leila, he’s falling in love with you and you like him only as a friend."

"What!" Leila nearly shouted "where did you get that from! How come everybody seems to know except for me?"

Eunie laughed a soft laugh. "So I wasn’t even the first to tell you, who else noticed?" Leila thought of Tara’s little but serious face when she told her: "He’s in love with you, you know."

"Tara" Leila answered in a small voice.

"Tara hmmm" Eunie replied, "I should have seen that coming."

Leila, still in thought about how in the name of the seven moons this could have happened didn’t really hear Eunies reply and when it finally got through to her and she turned around to ask what she meant she found that Eunie had silently slipped away. "Be careful with his heart" she had said.

When she looked at the field again both boys bowed to the queen and the next two came out and readied themselves for the next fight.

Leila slipped down of the roof as the second round would only be in the afternoon. She might just as well go and find something to eat. The palace provided lunch for those who worked there and kitchens were available for own cookery at night. Most people who worked at the palace had their own room or one to share but all part of the back court. Leila was one of the few who had a room that was part of a building a little further away from the palace and one of the even fewer women that lived outside the palace walls. Leila was quite content with her little room though. She shared her block with two others. Her room was the smallest and the one in the back. To her right side lived an older lady that didn’t come out much. She had served the queen her whole life and was now allowed to live in the room and was taken care of by the palace. To her left lived Bedu. He was an attendant to the queen and so never much around in daytime. He must be about thirty years old Leila thought. You couldn’t really tell though and she had never really wanted to ask. They often shared the cooking that was to be done in the evenings. He was definitely a good cook and didn’t mind it at all. The fourth room was divided in two and was a kitchen as well as a bathroom which the three of them shared.

In this kitchen she prepared some bread and tea. She always seemed to be hungry so she made sure there was always enough food around. For this reason she also prepared some food to take back with her to the fights. She had actually enjoyed watching the fights or actually watching all the people that came to watch the fights. She was worried over Shasti though. How could he fall in love with her? They were friends and she realized they were close friends but she never did anything to make him fall in love with her, did she? With all this on her mind she didn’t hear Bedu come in. At the tap on her shoulder she spun around with a small cry. When she saw it was Bedu she gave him a relieved smile. "I didn’t mean to startle you" he said, "but you were standing there preparing bread and didn’t move for a whole of five minutes and I sort of started to worry a bit." "I’m ok" Leila answered "my mind was just drifting of a bit. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I saw you at the fights and thought I would walk you back, but you were gone so quickly I couldn’t catch up anymore! Will you walk with me now though? I assume you are going back there?!"

"Yes I will go back there and your company will be a pleasure" was Leila’s reply to this and while she was at it she asked:"Will you be there for dinner tonight as well? I’m going to cook anyway and as you seem to be having the day of due to the fights I assume you will join me?"

Bowing almost to his knees he replied: "I’d be delighted young lady" They both laughed. It was time to go though and she ate on her way there.

Shasti was sitting in the changing room chewing a hard peace of bread that he gulped down with some cold water. He felt slightly disoriented and was struggling for the control he needed for the fight. His mind was with Leila though. He was confused, definitely confused. He had wanted to hug her and comfort her when he had found her frowning in the garden. He had wanted to touch her hair and stroke it and tell her it was all O.K… He was her friend for god’s sake, where the hell did this come from?! He was pushing these thought as far away as possible but his mind seemed to be reaching for her constantly. What was wrong with him? He decided to go talk with his best friend Rael whom he also shared a room at the barracks with and who he trusted with everything. How was he going to explain this to him though? He didn’t even understand it himself. No, he had to focus. He had a fight to do and it was important that that was what he was concentrating on. He would talk this over with Rael tonight.

He stuffed the last piece of bread in his mouth and started to do his warming up. He was the first to start again. He hoped Leila would be there. He had felt proud when she had come to look just because of him this morning. Idiot! Why could he not just concentrate on the fight right now? He never had any trouble like this, this was insane! The voice of Rancha shocked him out of his thoughts… "What are you staring at your hand for" he asked "I suppose we have to fight each other as you are sitting here as well and I’m definitely ready!" He looked at Shasti defiantly.

"You’re right" Shasti said in as steady a voice as he could manage. "I should start warming up." He hadn’t even noticed he had stopped and sat down again! And now he even had to fight Rancha who was the stronger of the two of them most of the time. Usually however, he did enjoy fighting him as it was a real challenge but now seemed the worst time ever to him! Maybe it was good though because now he was shocked into concentration and he ran his laps and did his work outs with his mind only on how to beat Rancha. He only thought of her again when he entered the field and saw the roof of the shed was empty.

When Leila reached the field she knew she was late but talking with Bedu had slightly slowed her down. She hadn’t expected Shasti to be the first one up again and felt bad that she hadn’t been there for him. He was however doing perfectly well though and didn’t seem to yield much to the other boy who she took some time to recognise as Rancha. She watched the fight with interest as this was a real test for both of them and it gave her an opportunity to study them without it being obvious about it. However she was pretty sure that Shasti had noticed her only a minute or so after she had sat herself atop the garden shed again, he had glanced right at her and had continued fighting with a tight smile on his lips. Why me? Leila thought. He has so many to pick from! He’s got status and will enter the next level of the trainings for sure! Why me!

She decided she would not bring the subject up until he did. She could still hardly believe it was true but as even Eunie had told her she couldn’t discard it as nothing. She wondered how Tara knew though. She’d ask Eunie about that tonight when she brought her the dream.

Rancha had dropped to the ground and pulled Shasti down with him. It wouldn’t be long now before the fight would end. Either one of them would win or the time would be up and it would be a draw which would be in favour of Shasti as that meant he had shown the Queen that he had grown more than Rancha had over a short period of time. Last year he had lost the fight. The bell went and the boys helped each other up and shook hands. They bowed to the queen and then walked to the dressing room talking, probably discussing tactics and the other fights. Leila smiled in spite of herself. He was good! And she was proud of him for it!

On coming home she found Tara sitting at her doorstep her hair still neatly braided like she hadn’t moved the whole day. She was amazed how a ten year old girl could manage that when she at nearly twenty always seemed to come home a mess. Tara had seen her and came bouncing towards her. "You’re leaving in four days aren’t you?" she asked and in the same breath: "can I come with you?" Leila nearly laughed but then saw the seriousness on Tara’s face and started explaining that she couldn’t do that as this was part of the ritual she would go through herself once she would turn 20. Tara looked at her with regret. "I’d so much like to have an adventure some time and all I ever see is the house and our fields and I know them all by heart now. I can’t go into the forest alone and mother never comes with me because she is always busy!" Leila felt sorry and told her: "If you ask your mother nicely I’ll take you into the woods when I come back from my trip, ok?" Tara gave her a thankful smile but said: "Can’t I come with you to Eunie after dinner? She said she would like to see me soon?!" Leila confronted with all her worries again absently nodded her head. "Be here as soon as you can and we will go there together" I’d like to be there when she sees you she thought to herself. "Now off you go" she told her and gave her a little shove in the direction of her house. Then she walked to the kitchen and started preparing dinner.

She gave a start again when Bedu started talking to her. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked and was angry at herself for letting him sneak up on her again.

"Not so very long" he told her "but you seem very absent minded today having me sneak up on you twice! Anyway, I’m hungry! What’s for dinner?"

Leila smiled and showed him the rice and lentils and told him the other pan was full of vegetables. He sat down against the wall and they talked about the fights. "Did you know about the gala?" he asked. "Of course" she answered. Everybody knew about the Gala which was held at the palace at the end of the fights before the queen. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious! I thought you might be going"

Leila laughed "With whom?" she said "Someone should ask you, you know!" but while she said it she thought: Shasti! Would he? And then would it be as a friend or would he be hoping for more.

Bedu had obviously spotted the sudden change of mind, because he asked: "You were there to watch someone, well weren’t you? You hardly ever go so you must have a good reason now!" Leila needed to talk to someone and so told him the whole story, only leaving out Tara because that was none of his business. Bedu listened quietly until she was entirely finished and then shook his head and said: "I think you should find this one out for yourself. Either wait until he tells you more or confront him with Eunies words and see his reaction. If he simply asks you for the Gala go with him, have a good time! He could ask you just as a friend couldn’t he?" Leila nodded but wasn’t entirely convinced yet. It did however feel good that she had talked about it to someone though.

After dinner she excused herself to Bedu who was eager to talk some more but told him she had to go see Eunie. Tara, who had shown up five minutes earlier, was glad they did as she didn’t care much about the discussions she and Bedu were having. Leila went to fetch her notebook and then left for Eunie who lived just a little way into the forest, Tara happily babbling to her as they walked down the path.

With Leila deep in thoughts Tara was the first to recognise Shasti and ran up to him. Shasti looked from Tara to Leila and when Leila saw the look on his face told Tara to run along. "I will catch up with you in a second." Tara looked at her and said: "Now do you believe me?" Tara didn’t wait for an answer and ran off.

"What was that all about?" Shasti said.

"Nothing" Leila replied and added: "You were pretty good at the fights today!" I only missed the beginning!"

Shasti smiled proudly. "I felt pretty good about it too! Thanks for being there! But that isn’t why I’m here; I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to the Gala with me. It’ll be fun!" Good, he thought, that was out there, he asked her and now he couldn’t take it back anymore.

Leila was only slightly taken by surprise and inwardly thanked Bedu for preparing her for this. "Sure" she said, but then suddenly remembering: "What am I supposed to wear though? I have nothing fit for a Gala!"

Shasti looked her over and thought out loud: "I’ll ask Rael to ask his sister if you can borrow one of her dresses, she has many and probably has about the same size as you do although they may be slightly wide! It is the day after tomorrow and I will pick you up an hour after dinner if that’s ok with you? I’ll ask about the dress soon but I have to go back to the barracks now! Ok?!"

"Sure" Leila said while he ran of with a shout "SEE YOU!"

When she caught up with Tara the first thing she asked was: "Did he ask you out?!" "Sort of" Leila replied.

"How can he sort of ask you out?" Tara said.

"Oh never mind" Leila said in a tight voice which brought Tara to the silence in which they walked the rest of the way to Eunies house.

Eunie hardly looked surprised at the two of them coming at the same time. "I was expecting you both; I shall have a look at the dream first. Then we’ll discuss the rest." Looking at Tara she said: "can you make us some tea or are you to young for that?" Tara was gone within the second. "Tea is in the bottom right drawer!" She shouted after her.

Eunie red the dream carefully and kept nodding her head. "Hmm hmm" she said. "She is definitely a witch and one of great skills as well! You said you were sure she wasn’t your mother?"

"Yes, definitely not! Why was my mother a sorceress?"

"Oh she was! And a good one at that! She didn’t practice anymore though because she wanted her children to have a normal life and…"

"Children?" Leila asked

"Yes dear. You had an older brother who had the moons blessing as well but he died young for he had more of it than he could handle as he was begotten in the ritual."

Leila was staring at her in disbelief "Why are you only telling me this now? You knew all along and you never said anything!"

"I wouldn’t have said anything if it wasn’t for the dream you had and the coming up of your 20^th birthday. I think you might be blessed as well although not as strongly as your mother or brother once were. You are likely to meet the person from your dream somewhere this year and remember her, because you will have too seek her out as she will be able to teach you a lot. If you do not find her and with that deny her teachings you will never learn to use the gift you have. But don’t worry, as you are probably not so strongly infested with it she will only come towards the end of you’re 20^th year so you will be ready then. The dream was simply a warning; you will have another in which you’ll probably see the woman’s face so you can recognise her. That is all I can tell you so far."

Tara came in carefully holding a large teapot.

"Put it next to the stove" Eunie directed her.

Tara took a look at Leila and settled on the couch next to her. "You’re ok right?" She asked.

Leila nodded and put an arm protectively around Tara’s little shoulders. It was nice holding the small girl against her, even if it was as much for her own comfort. As it was for Tara’s

Eunie directed her words to Tara this time: "You seem to know a lot about others, don’t you? It comes to you all of a sudden but you’re very sure about it. Am I correct?"

"I think so" Tara said

"Please keep that knowledge to yourself for now, ok? Some people might think it really strange and you don’t want people to start feeling awkward around you like they do around me."

"Ok" Tara said simply.

Well I suppose that is it for now, I suggest you have a good night’s sleep and oh, Leila, come upstairs with me for a second."

Eunie opened a stuffy old chest and pulled something out folded neatly in paper. "I think this will fit you perfectly for the Gala, don’t you think?"

Leila stared in amazement as a long silky dark blue dress was unfolded. It would fit snugly and fall freely from her waist downward and was stitched through with silver thread.

"How did you know?"

Eunie smiled and said: "That my child was a calculated guess! I think it will look fabulous on you!" Finally she took out a see-through shawl in the same colour blue as the dress. "This goes with it. You can keep them as I’m sure I’ll never wear them again. See it as an early birthday present."

Leila was still staring in amazement and realised her mouth was open as well so she shut it with a snap. "Thank you so much, she stammered" and not really knowing what to do with herself she hugged Eunie.

Eunie was slightly caught by surprise and only endured it for a second. Then she softly pushed Leila away and muttered: "Come on child, I’m not used to people hugging me, you should take Tara home so you can both get some sleep."

Leila nodded and started wrapping the dress back into its paper. Thank you Eunie she thought, I think this is what it feels like to have a mother.

Downstairs Tara had fallen asleep on the couch and Leila softly pushed her to wake her up. "Are you coming home Tara?"

Tara smiled and looking straight at Leila said: "You’ll look wonderful in that dress!"

An awkward couple I have here Eunie thought. I’m pretty sure they’ll keep me busy for quite some time to come.