Chapter IV – Tariel

Tariel was always very much aware of her eyes shaped and colored like almonds and her wide, curled smile that, and she realized this by observing herself in any reflection that offered itself to her, she looked like a pretty cat about to lovingly headbutt her onlooker with a satisfied purr. And almost all reacted to her accordingly. Flattered they moved all their attention towards her and when she seemed to remove herself just a little, they followed her to remain a subject of her thinking. Tariel stayed satisfied with the exclaims of her delightfulness and cuteness whenever her parents paraded her to their friends and acquaintances to a point where Tariel lost all feelings for strangeness in others. She knew how they would cringe and coil with pride and satisfaction before they disengaged from her performance for the faceless people to cheerfully chatter among them. And when she came of age to reveal what kind of potential she showed, her talent almost overpowered her. She started to sing and dance for the guests and when they acknowledged her swiftness and dexterity they told her to pick up a sword. Within a year, she fought in tournaments and won. When the time came for the late Raven to pick a squire, she was chosen. The second she laid her eyes upon that sharp, tall woman she, for the first time in her life, acknowledged exhaustion, and when the Lady of Mtskheta returned the look she was set alight. Not like a simple fire attracting moths but glorious starlight guiding people toward their destination. The invitation for the obsequy came on a day when the only thing u needed to do was to find a timid, cute spot under a richly filled tree to sip on cold, sweet wine. Otherwise, the choking grasp the air had on you would grab more fiercely and sit itself on top of your chest with steadily increasing weight. Tariel could have stayed for hours there in the grass, pleasantly defeated by heat and humidity, but she got the creeping sensation that she should get up and do things. Looking up she imagined herself as a bird trying to maneuver through the tangled branches and leaves of the trees flying towards the blue of the sky with upward dives as if the height equaled the depths of the ocean. Gently her squire sat himself beside her and offered the little scroll to her. By that time she already knew the contents of it by the black parchment. She took it nonetheless and held it in her fist resting on her chest. She already mourned her mentor when she fell. She was the one who saw her glide from her horse. Her face gray, twitching only for a moment until it lost all tension. The mouth slacked upon, the sword fell out of her hand and that was it. She was lying in the mountain snow and Tariel had to fight herself through to her, hoping that she could reach her in time to be granted last words. Thinathin said that she heard her scream. That’s how she knew that something had happened but Tariel could not recall. She could only remember how terribly cold the blood turned on her skin and the taste of iron in her mouth.