Page 87 of Circle of Days
“Thank the gods—what does she say?”
“Not much.” Zad paused. “Only that she loves you.”
Han was elated. “Thank you!” He felt weak with relief: Pia had not lost interest in him. She had not decided that Duff was more alluring. She had not found someone else. She still loved Han.
He wanted to know more—he wanted to know everything. “How did she look?”
“Thin, like most of us. But beautiful.”
“How did you meet her?”
“She’d been gathering strawberries in East Wood—she hadn’t found many, though.”
That news hurt Han. He wanted to be with Pia and help her find berries. She was going hungry and he could do nothing to help. It was maddening.
Zad went on: “I saw her come out of the north side of the wood and look around. I talked to her, and she asked me to seek you out at the Monument.”
“Did she say why she couldn’t come herself?”
“Yes. It seems the Big Man has ruled that women can’t leave the farmer territory.”
Han felt cold with fear. “For how long?”
Zad shrugged. “Indefinitely, it seems.”
“That could mean forever.”
“I suppose.”
Han’s euphoria was dampened. She still loved him, but she had been banned from meeting him. This was a catastrophe. “My mother was right,” he said bitterly. “This has been done because ofMo, the farmer woman who came to live with Yaran. The farmers kidnapped her and took her back against her will.”
Zad was indignant. “They had no right!”
“People here have argued about that. In the end Yaran wasn’t willing to fight for her, so nothing was done.”
“I’m guessing you’ll fight for your Pia.”
“I’ll fight like a wild boar.” Han frowned. “But right now I don’t know just how to go about it.”
“Well, I’ll help you if I can,” said Zad. “I spoke to her for only a few moments, but she’s clearly a special girl.”
“Thank you.”
Zad gave that grin again. “Goodbye, and good luck.” He went away.
Han mulled over the news for the rest of the day, doing a poor job of trading Ani’s hides. He was never going to give Pia up and he would fight for her, but how would he do it? He thought about kidnapping her, the way the farmers had kidnapped Mo. He would have to do that on his own, for unlike Stam he did not have a band of thuggish friends who would do his bidding. And if he succeeded, that would not be the end of it, for the farmers would come after her.
His courage and strength on their own were not enough. He needed to be smart too.
Pia had been in suspense ever since meeting Zad. Would he go to the Rite, or would something happen to make him cancel his trip?Would he forget about finding Han? Would he get the message wrong?
And how would Han react? Would the message please him? Would he have forgotten her? Would he meet someone new at the revel?
Stam had come back disappointed. The festival had been quiet, with few people exchanging goods. “Everyone wanted food but no one was offering any,” he said. “We wanted meat, not ropes or shoes or baskets. The herders were unfriendly—they kept talking about Mo, saying we had kidnapped her, even though she belongs to us!”
Pia said: “How strange.”
Stam missed the sarcasm. “The feast was skimpy. The revel was all right, though. There was a girl who wanted two boys at the same time, and—”
