Tortall Read Free

silly, but wise creatures let them be, and they feasted among thorns.
    My goats were exchanged for Ogin’s old cattle herd when I turned eleven, while Ogin was made a hunter. As I learned the ways of cows, I studied the plains and the rocks. In the tall grasses and wiry trees of the plains I was free to join nature in its blood and power. There I practiced running, hitting, and kicking, using the blows to break fallen branches for firewood or to give a wounded animal a quick death. I learned more kicks from zebras, a double hand strike from lions, and a back-of-the-fist blow from elephants.
    Sometimes I dreamed about the world beyond the plains, trying to imagine its shape. My first taste of it would come when I was thirteen, when I would be allowed to attend the Nawolu trade fair for the first time. It was a week’s journey from our village, a gathering where tribes came from hundreds of miles to sell and to buy, to marry off daughters and sons, and to hold games of strength and speed.Daughters were presented when they were thirteen, though they were not actually married until they were sixteen or seventeen. During my twelfth year, my next-oldest sister went with the others to the fair. She came back talking of nothing but boys.
    Iyaka, who was seventeen, returned quietly. Mama told us the good news. A chief’s son, a young, wealthy man named Awochu, had seen Iyaka race. He had fallen in love with her. It was odd for young people to choose their own mates, but Awochu’s father could not deny his only son. It did not matter that Iyaka’s dowry was tiny. For a bride price Awochu would give us thirty cattle and accept Papa’s blessing in return. Awochu would marry Iyaka at the next trade fair.
    “What can I say? I am so honored by my family-to-be,” Iyaka said when we begged for details. “Thirty cattle will make Papa rich and respected. I could not have refused even if I had wanted to.”
    When she put it that way, she made me ask myself what I would say when a man’s family offered for me. I thought about it as I watched over my cows the next day. Did I want to be married? I would have to leave my days on my beloved plains and never see the world beyond. I would retire behind a wall like the one around our village to weave, cook, sew, and bear children. No more watches for game at the watering hole. No more entertainment from zebras and giraffes. No more gazelle and cheetah races.
    I could wait to marry.
    Still, every girl must turn thirteen, and so did I. The time of the trade fair came around. Our whole family went toNawolu for Iyaka’s wedding and my first fair. Nawolu was a walled city on a deep river, beyond anything I had seen on the plains. In the distance towered a lone mountain dusted with a white powder on the top. Everywhere there were travelers, animals, bright cloth, and flawless animal skins. I thought my eyes would burst from all the new sights.
    Our village had its place on the fairgrounds outside the walls. Before we had even pitched our tents, friends from other tribes came to visit and stayed for supper. Our chief finally sent them away so we could sleep. In the morning we would wash and dress in our finest to meet Chief Rusom, who governed Nawolu and the lands around it.
    I was close to sleep when Mama whispered, “I did not see Awochu.”
    After a very long silence Iyaka said, “He did not come.”
    In the morning we girls fixed our hair, put on our best dresses, and decked ourselves in our few pieces of jewelry. Then, with our mothers to guard us, we went to the fair. There was so much that was new. I saw the wonders from the world beyond my plains and felt a tug on my heart, a call to see where it had all come from. What exotic creatures wove the wispy cloth called “silk”? Who made fine jewelry from countless tiny gold beads, and small stone pots of cosmetics? What ingredients went into the strange new perfumes? I wanted to know these things. The people who sold the goods would only