Ойкумена / Oikumena: Глава 7

Chapter 7. "I'm looking for a woman..."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:22

* * *

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:22

Nothing happened.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:27

There was a moment when it seemed to Lena that her hands were translucent, and her clothes were vibrating finely as if every thread was being electrocuted. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the lights to turn off again, and the outlines of the familiar, so familiar apartment would appear around her...

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:41

But that was all there was to it. Kansas didn't disappear, and the world around her remained where it was, down to the last blade of grass and the unfamiliar star in the alien sky. The episode had passed without any consequences.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:43

She had no strength left to even cry. The immense fatigue, grief, and disappointment enveloped the unhappy woman in a dark canopy, plunging her into a borderline state between sleep and fainting. And so the night passed quietly, without incident. Only in the distance, there was a loud and mighty croaking. Like an ordinary frog, but the size of a bull, no less.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:44

Lena woke up, or rather fell out of a semi-consciousness, in the morning, before sunrise. It could not be said that she had not rested at all. Still, for a city girl, the conditions were more laconic than Spartan - a small felt pad instead of a pillow and a thin, though warm cloak instead of a mattress. But on the whole, fatigue was relegated to the background. Perhaps Lena would have walked on her own feet for a few more hours despite the pain deeply embedded in the ligaments and muscles of her legs.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 12:57

The sentry - it was Kai - was sitting over the cold fire, holding his sword in his lap. He turned his head toward Lena and, after a moment's hesitation, turned back. The girl rubbed her palms together, dispersing the blood. They had tied her up quite neatly, leaving a small gap between the wrists and a short "leash" from a cartwheel. So the blood circulation was not interrupted, and some freedom of movement remained. The knots were very clever. Lena didn't know such, and in the usual fibers were woven thin black threads, glossy in the moonlight. Perhaps the cord was magical, too, so that it could not be cut in secret.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:22

A wizard named Bizo snored in his sleep. A wounded man with a broken leg mumbled softly in his half-slumber. Shena curled under her cloak, cuddling her spear like a long-awaited lover. In her sleep, in the soft moonlight, her angry face softened, and her features smoothed. Usually, sleeping people are serene, but a shadow of sadness lingered on the black-haired woman's face. It was as if she had been dreaming a long and unhappy dream.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:23

But the leader Santeli was awake. He half-lounged and silently looked at Lena with impenetrable dark eyes. Under that gaze, the girl felt very uncomfortable, and she turned in the other direction in the course of the former movement of the small column. There, in the distance, flickered distant lights scattered, merging into a patch the size of a fingernail or even smaller. Fire. And judging by the fact that the blur didn't change, it wasn't a fire; it must have been the Geataichean that the bandits had mentioned several times.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:26

Gate.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:26

"Go to bed," Santelli said softly to the sentry. "There's something about me that makes me sleepy. I'll stay up till morning."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:27

Kai nodded silently and gratefully. After a few minutes, he fell asleep in silence, with his sword on his chest and his tightly rolled-up jacket under his head. He never took off his chainmail.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:30

Lena shuddered, lifted her head sharply, and the remnants of her drowsiness flew off her like an old cobweb in a gust of wind. The girl realized she knew the meaning of the word "Geataichean". And she understood what the leader had said to the swordsman. Apparently, the mysterious shimmer hadn't gone away after all. This time it gave the alien from the other world knowledge of the language.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 15:31

She felt very cold, a shiver stabbing at her heart. Her hands became numb and insensitive under the ropes. Lena was frozen with fear. And incomprehension. And vice versa, a creepy understanding that the seizure did not bring her closer to home but rather cemented her presence here.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:18

"You understand me."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:18

The bearded man was still watching carefully. He spoke softly but not in a whisper. Trustingly, but with palpable superiority. Like a well-fed tiger that doesn't want to kill. Not yet. She wonders if there are tigers here. If so, it would be the beast of choice for the chief.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:20

"Yes," said Lena, just as quietly.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:20

Santelдi frowned, and she belatedly realized that she had answered in Russian.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:21

The knowledge was beating somewhere close by, as if behind the melting ice grid of memory. This is what happens when one learns a language as a child and then does not use it at all for many years. Afterward, the speech seems both familiar and incomprehensible at the same time.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:25

"Dtha," the local "yes," turned out to be very close to Russian.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:26

"That's good," shook Santelli's head.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:27

They were quiet for a while.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:27

"Who are you?" asked the leader. "Where are you from?"

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:31

Again it took Lena some time. The newfound knowledge worked like an old water balloon toy with inscriptions on plastic tablets. First, the memory had to be well shaken, and then the right wording, or rather words that had to be tried together, popped into her head.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:32

"I ... talk... bad," she said with difficulty.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:33

"I understand," Santeli said, not objecting but rather stating. He looked around, listening, cocking his head and wiggling his ear amusedly. And then he repeated. "Who are you?"

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:35

"I... don't know."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:35

"You don't know? Or don't ..."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:36

Her answer didn't seem to surprise him at all. But Lena did not understand the last word. Or rather, several possible meanings jumped into her head at once. "Memory"... yes, "memory" seems to be the root word here. So, most likely, Santelli asked - does not know or does not remember, has forgotten.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:37

And how should she answer that? To tell a story about suddenly falling out of her world to no one knows where?

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:38

"I don't know," she decided.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:39

"I think you're trying to trick me," smiled the bandit. His smile was kind of scary. Quite open, without a vicious grin, but... it made the bearded chieftain look more like a tiger, fully aware of his power.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:42

Lena gritted her teeth and clenched her awkward, still numb fingers into fists. She doesn't want to go off on a tantrum or an excuse. Or ridiculous attempts to tell him about her former life. Hold on, hold on, under the cold gaze of the man with the axe!

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:43

"Anything can happen. Maybe you're running away from someone. Maybe you've lost your memory with a spell," Suntelli said thoughtfully. "That's none of our business. The question is... What can you do?"

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:44

"Do?" repeated the girl mechanically.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:44

"Tomorrow, even before sundown, we will return to the Gate," explained Santelli kindly. He spoke slowly and very intelligibly. "There, we will have to decide what to do with you. I can sell you. I can put you to work as an apprentice, as a servant, for a fee. What can you do?"

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:52

Things got very confusing. It seems that from the ringleader's point of view, selling people was something quite ordinary. Jesus, what is this place so creepy?

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:52

"I ... probably ..." Lena wondered.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:53

And what can she really do that is useful in the here and now?

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 16:59

"Do you know any other tricks like that?" Santelli made an eloquent gesture of putting his fingers to his neck, imitating a pulse check.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:00

"N-not much," Lena said quickly. "I guess so. I need to remember."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:01

"Try to remember," Santeli advised him very seriously, without a trace of humor. "That will decide your fate. Tomorrow.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:02

"And if you let me go?" This time the verbal construction came out almost immediately.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:02

"Someone else will sell you," now, Santeli seemed a little surprised at the naivete of his guest. Such an expression might have appeared on the face of a man in front of whom they began to eat soup with a knife and pulled a shoe over the head.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:08

"You're not from around here," it sounded like a statement again. It was as if Santelli were thinking out loud.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:09

"Yes, yes," Lena repeated the answer to be sure. "Distant lands. Very."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:10

Again a distant and huge frog squawked. As if to echo it, something howled from the opposite side of the camp. The howl sounded like a cat's snarl, laced with very high-pitched shrieks. The leader didn't even turn his head, so there was probably no danger in the night.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:11

"It's all amazing," Santelli sighed, running the braid between his fingers. "And mysterious. You're strange."

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:11

He looked at her point-blank. Lena tried, out of sheer stubbornness, to hold his gaze, and lasted ten seconds, even a little longer. Then she looked away.

Camrad_RIP 25.05.23 в 17:12