What Once Was Eden Chapter 3 Part 2 of 2
#6 of What Once Was Eden
From now on all updates will be on Friday. This puts it on the same schedule for all three furry sites I post on and meets the contract requirements for posting the story, which was supposed to be no more than once a week. I talked the publisher into an exception to get caught up on the two sites that were started later. I'll dedicate Mondays to new artwork as long as more is coming in and I'll continue to do the writing tips posts on Tuesdays. I'm a little sad to have to reduce the number of posts. While hardly a huge talk fest, this site gets the most feedback of the three. (Scary huh) and I love to hear from people as often as possible. As I've said, I don't get a lot of feedback for my writing so I highly value what I do get.What Once was Eden is Book Two of A Ship Called Hope, the prequal trilogy to my Sajani Tails series. The books are part of the Terah game world by Rossi Publishing Games. You can find the print and digital versions of the first book here. The Amazon Kindle version is also available, as well as one for Apple Books. You can search Chaaya Chandra to find me.
The books posted here are not self contained so you'll want to start on book one here.
Before she rose to be the pirate queen of Terah, Sajani was a rather selfish and uncaring petty criminal. Learn about the events that forged her to be the symbol of hope and loyalty she is now.
Sent to Rhidayar to go to school, the fifteen year old Sajani Adida wants nothing more than to return home to her friends and continue her shadowy lifestyle. When the chance presents itself, she takes up with an escaped vykati slave and tries to make her way back to Drtithen. What should be a difficult trip quickly turns deadly when the human nation not only mounts an all out assault on the young pair, but also begins to prepare to go to war with Vharkylia.
Notes on the previous installment.
It's important to remember that this trilogy was originally supposed to be one book that was bout 250-300 pages long, 150k to 200k words. That meant that the caravan section was pretty small and the caravan had no other stops until Nashtalli. You can almost completely blame Zant for this turning into a trilogy. I realized that Sajani wasn't having to put much effort into the relationship and that lesson is definitely one she needed to learn. Zant and her sister were originally just tent-mates with Sajani that could offer some insight into relationships in general. The two were originally very close in age and weren't even supposed to appear as often as Malanda.
That will be last you see of Magenta and Farnsbeck for a bit. Their section of this book isn't fully written yet. The final book will, of course, have more of them.
Also, in other cool news, the contract for the cover of this book is being worked out as I type this. It might even be signed already, I don't know. But it will include Farnsbeck and Magenta and... a new Aspect.
Art (c)2020 Golden Druid, LLC and Rossi Publishing Games
Story (c) 2020 Chaaya Chandra and Rossi Publishing Games
What Once Was Eden
Chapter 3: Starting the Competition (Part 2 of 2)
The stop for lunch was welcome. Sajani's mouth was very dry from reading, but taking breaks wasn't an option. Any time she stopped for more than a few minutes Zantalla would try to start up a conversation with Gregor--usually in a whisper. Once their wagon was no longer moving, the driver jumped down quickly and started off, "I'll get some food for you Gregor," she said cheerfully. Motioning for the other she-wolf to follow her she said, "Come on Sajani."
Before the copper wolf had a chance to move, Gregor answered, "She's supposed to be resting, but I can..." he looked over at Sajani and quickly amended, "maybe you can bring us both something. I'd really appreciate it."
At least he hasn't forgotten my fear, the copper wolf thought. Not that it would have been much of a problem out in the open with all the other caravan members around her.
The request didn't seem to bother Zantalla at all. "I'll be right back with a few sandwiches and drinks," she promised.
Once the gray wolf was out of sight, Gregor looked over at her and said worriedly, "Are you doing alright? You seem kind of distant today."
Sajani rolled her eyes. "Distant? Well, there's a she-wolf between us, so yeah."
Apparently he thought she was joking because he laughed heartily. "Isn't it nice to be around other vykati? Even when I was with my parents, there weren't this many at any given time."
Well, she had to admit that being away from the school and around people that weren't actively hostile, was nice. She didn't know how exactly to word that to him without sounding desperate for company.
Gregor continued, "I'm a little worried though. You kept reading, but you were sounding pretty, I don't know...tired? Almost like you were upset about something. You sure you aren't feeling..."
She gave him a penetrating stare that stopped him.
"Okay," he amended, "I get it. You're not sick, but maybe if you lay down for a bit, you'll feel a little better. There's space right behind the buckboard. I can find you a blanket to lay on and maybe a pillow."
That'd work. It'd put her right behind Gregor while they rode. "Yeah," she lied, "maybe I just need to rest for a bit." She lay down on the buckboard so that her head was near his lap and smiled at him. He smiled back and that improved her mood.
Since she wasn't looking out, she didn't notice when Farleesha came by to check on the wagon.
Gregor did. She heard him try to call out to her. "Miss Qistara?" he said hesitantly.
Sajani sat up as the merchant came to the side, "Yes," she answered. "What can I do for everyone's favorite resident stutterer?"
He probably would have stammered no matter what she said, but the comment most likely made it worse. "I...," he began, "I was wondering if maybe...Sajani could use..."
Farleesha waited patiently. Normally Sajani would have interrupted, but with her current record for speaking to the merchant, she decided it might be better to let the one of the two with tact do the talking, even if it was labored.
"A blanket and pillow?" he managed.
"Finally admitting she's sick, is she?" The merchant said with triumph. "Sure, I'll get that for you." She started walking to the wagon in front of them.
"Thank you," Sajani offered.
Gregor smiled at her. "I want my friend to feel better."
It definitely helped her feel better. She returned his smile.
Farleesha returned quickly with a wool blanket and a feather pillow. They both looked expensive. "Be nice to them," she warned as she handed them over. "They're my personal set."
Sajani decided that a polite response outweighed the risk of her saying something stupid. "Thank you," she offered.
"You're very welcome kalura," the merchant answered.
"I'm stuck with that stupid nickname, aren't I?" Sajani complained, forgetting that she was trying to not say anything.
Farleesha laughed. "Yes, you are. It definitely fits." She started moving from the wagon.
Sajani was about to respond with a comment about how well vhemato fit the merchant but thought better of it. She didn't want to be the one to ruin that long of a running joke.
While she'd been whining, Gregor had folded up the blanket and laid it down so it made a nice place to rest. He set the pillow opposite the side where he was sitting.
The copper wolf grabbed the pillow and tossed it behind him and then lay down. She had to admit, it was pretty comfortable. And being close to Gregor was a huge bonus.
He turned sideways so that he was facing her and smiled. "I was thinking it would be easier to see you on the other side, but this works too," he said happily.
His comment brought a warmth to her nose and mouth.
Sajani was sure that Zantalla picked that exact moment to show up. "Got the food," she said happily as just jumped up on the wagon. She handed Sajani and Gregor a couple of sandwiches each. "I don't know why Messy insists on sandwiches for lunch. My mouth is dry enough before the bread."
Sajani had to agree. "I know! Did they have anything to drink?"
"Yeah," Zantalla said carefully, "but they were down to two cups of starfruit juice. I brought you each one and a whole waterskin, so you can drink something while you're reading."
That was surprisingly nice, Sajani couldn't help but think. "You know," she said quickly before Gregor could say what she was pretty sure he was going to say. "Water is better for reading. You can have my juice."
Zantalla smiled at her. "Thank you," she said and it sounded honest. "I'm glad you're here to read. It makes the trip seem so much shorter." Again, it sounded truthful.
"I was thinking I could read," Gregor offered. "Give you a little bit of a break."
That would keep him from talking to Zantalla. As soon as the thought came to her, she felt bad about it. The gray she-wolf had been nothing but nice to her so far and if Zantalla did have an interest in Gregor, that would be good for everyone concerned. He'd have a friend while she was in jail. Being able to spend time with a really nice person was good for him too. "If Zantalla doesn't mind," Sajani suggested.
"Not at all," the other she-wolf said amiably. "And please, call me Zant. You, Malanda, and my sister are the only ones here that call me by my full name." As she finished speaking, she shook the reins and the wagon started forward.
Sajani reached up and rubbed the lower part of Gregor's back. He stiffened slightly, but soon relaxed. He stuttered for a little bit as he started reading, but that soon ended. The copper wolf relaxed and rested, continuing to rub his back.
He was a good reader and even changed his voice slightly for each of the characters. There was no way he'd qualify as a professional actor, but it did make the story more interesting to hear.
They'd only been travelling a few minutes when her friend began stuttering. She took her hand off his back, but the hesitation continued. Looking down the buckboard, she noticed that Zant's tail was rubbing against Gregor's--possibly on accident.
Part of her wanted to kick the other she-wolf soundly, but instead she closed her eyes and started rubbing her friend's back again. After only a moment, the stuttering stopped. Sajani couldn't bring herself to see if it was because he'd gotten used to things or if Zant had stopped trying. It was probably better if she didn't know.