Unsung Desire (Book 1)

Chapter 1

There are two deities that the Dihnya people believe in: the feminine deity of the living, Cahzlik, and the masculine deity of the departed, Ohrlu. It’s been said that Cahzlik gave birth to the first Dihns—two males and two females—a day after she and Ohrlu copulated. Once. Just one time. And most Dihns say the carnal act was a mistake. A great mistake…

                                                                                           ֍֍֍

I was seated crossed legs in front of the small bonfire that was surrounded by large stones. It gave out heat to warm my small body and the entire room. The crackles of the wood were a bit faint, and the smoke filled the air and our entire tiny habitation that was made from a six-meter-diameter tree trunk. We resided in a live tree, which was barely seven feet, hollow inside and with four square holes in each direction as windows. The tree was gray and contrasted to the knee-deep snowy ground outside. To my left was a low, small wooden table in an oval shape, and to my right was a shelf where a couple of robes, clay plates and glasses were arranged accordingly.

“Sert! Sert!”

My eyes widened when I turned my head to look at my twin sister Sekkiz standing by the arched doorway. She grinned from ear to ear as she came up to me. I was oblivious to what she was holding in her hands because my eyes darted to her past shoulder-length blond hair. My violet eyes went round to see her like this.

“Your hair! You colored it.” My jaw hung open.

She smiled widely as she kneeled beside me. “I found this plant by the spring. You know, that one with mud-colored tube stems?”

I slowly nodded, still looking at her hair with amazement. Our hair was naturally purple-black, something that was rare for the Dihns. Well, I shouldn’t linger on that thought since we were Dihns from Sorradan—the place where slaves, merchants, cutthroats and others were born. As for me and my sister, we were neither. Our parents always told us we are different. We don’t belong here. But why are we here? This was always Sekkiz’s and my thoughts.

Sorradan was located on the farthest south of Dihnya, where it always snowed, every week. It didn’t belong to either of the two kingdoms, Duskahr and Zarrihm. The former claimed the east side, while the other took the west. Meanwhile, the north was unclaimed, but I heard the two kingdoms were having a treaty to divide it among themselves or so my Dahk said. But none of them cared to try in claiming Sorradan. It was like an independent nation, which Duskahr and Zarrihm kingdoms ignored or just used or hired for certain purposes. Besides, the Dihns of Sorradan had long proclaimed that they wouldn’t ever be under any of the two kingdoms for good. Otherwise, its Dihns will be a threat to them. Thus, the two kingdoms, realizing it was a serious one, didn’t even try, and everyone lived in peace. Somehow.

“The kattup? It’s poisonous!” I blurted out, coughing.

She giggled. “I’m not dead yet, silly Sertti!”

She always called me that. Silly.

My twin sister was always adventurous, brave and curious, which made her reckless. I would rather keep myself safe rather than be sorry afterward.

“Come on, let’s color your hair, too. We’re supposed to look the same!” she said, putting a jar filled with kattup extract that appeared yellow.

I looked at her stained hand. “Is the color going away?” I asked, pointing at her hand.

She pulled her mouth down, thinking. “I’m not sure.” Then she grinned. “We’ll see later.” She slightly pulled my head back and started to work on my hair. I felt her little fingers gently scrub my scalp and down the tip of my hair. The smell made me scrunch up my small pert nose.

“This is my advance gift to you on our tenth birthday. It’s the day after tomorrow!” she said excitedly.

I smiled widely at her but she turned my head to get on with coloring my hair. “Thanks. My gift is… uh… I’m still thinking about it,” I said, coughing.

She laughed softly. “Okay. But I would like you to be fine on our birthday. That should be your gift to me, so we can go out together and maybe go learn to hunt with Dahk!”

I smiled at that possibility. “It smells like… vanilla?” I remarked referring to the kattup and coughed up again.

“I know you don’t like vanilla,” she said, laughing. “But it’s good. You never tasted Mahk’s dish,” she said, referring to our mother.

I grimaced, as she continued to color my hair. “I don’t like much Mahk’s dishes but I do like Dahk’s,” I countered, referring to our father.

A small smile played on my bow-shaped pink lips as I see him in my mind, cooking some acog meat over the fire. I always loved that smell though. But we seldom had it since it was not easy to find that kind of meat. Dihns didn’t like the smell of live acogs because of their natural stench, especially the poop. Nonetheless, some merchants raise this kind of animal for food purposes and to sell them to the rich for their delicious meat. Dahk happened to have a merchant friend, so he had access to this kind of meat from time to time. And it was really good! I loved meat more than Mahk’s vegetables and sweet dishes. In contrast, Sekkiz loved them.

“I know that, silly Sertti! You just don’t appreciate Mahk’s dishes.”

“Where are Mahk and Dahk, by the way?” I turned my head to look at her but she righted my head to continue working on my hair. I felt it already wet my hair. I could just imagine it was already dripping on the black stone floor, where we always spread a thick red cloth and lie down to sleep as one family—me and Sekkiz on the left and Mahk and Dahk on the right.

“Dahk is hunting koshille up on the mountain.” The mountain near us had a lot of koshille, a kind of red furry animal that had a height of three feet or so, with six legs, three crimson eyes lined up vertically, a long nuzzle with big teeth, a slender body, a small elongated head, a rainbow triangular horn on its head, a long spiky tail and without ears. “He’s going to sell it at a high price in the market later and maybe buy us some food and drinks. And Mahk… well, I think she went to gather more woods for our fire. I left her near the spring because I got excited to color your hair, too!” She chuckled.

“I’m supposed to go with Mahk,” I said with a regretful tone, feeling guilty. I slept late last night since I didn’t feel so good and just stared outside the window, at the starry night. I tried to not cough up loudly, especially that my sister held my hand while sleeping. She always does that.

I coughed, and Sekkiz stopped running her fingers in my now wet hair. “Okay, it’s done!” Her eyes twinkled with satisfaction.

She got up to get a basin outside. She poured water in it from the jar that was kept warm through burning charcoals underneath to not freeze up. The water was from the newest snow, which was clean enough for us to drink and use for other things such as bathing. There was a made-up covered place just around the back of the tree where we take our baths. We usually go near the river, some meters away from our dwelling, where there is a hole not far from it, and there we give way to nature’s call. The hole was covered with planks and was surrounded by white bushes, which was convenient to not be exposed to other Dihns. Anyway, where we lived was the most remote part of Sorradan.

“You’re not supposed to go out with your cough, silly Sertti.” She passed the basin to me and I looked at my reflection.

I smiled and looked up at her. “We always look the same,” I observed.

“Because we’re twins!” She rolled her eyes and washed her hands in the basin. She threw the dirty water outside. When she came back, she wiped her hands with her ragged robe to dry them. “What do you want to eat?”

“I already ate Dahk’s grilled meat that was the leftover last night,” I replied, turning my back to the fire, to dry my hair. I coughed again. “I’m sorry. I don’t do much around here because I always fall sick!” I pouted.

Her face went serious as she looked at me. “Don’t worry. It’s not your fault. Don’t be silly now. So, how do you like our hair?” She grinned, blinking.

“I can braid your hair if you want,” I suggested. Dihns could always tell a child at our age by our hair. Girls either keep their hair in a bun or let it hung loose, straight or wavy. As for the boys, they were always kept tied, high or low, or in a braid. It was seldom to see male Dihns with short hair. It was unconventional. But in Sorradan, it seemed to be the norm, though.

“No, you know I always like it loose! Just like yours.”

“Okay.” I looked at the doorway when Mahk arrived. Her long and wavy blond hair was all over the place as usual. Because the arched doorway was low, she ducked before entering our dwelling. She carried some woods in her arms.

“Hey, you’re up. How are you feeling now, Sertti angel?” Mahk asked as she put the woods near me. She bent to give me a peck on the cheek.

“Better, I guess,” I answered in a small voice and coughed. It’d been days since I had a cough.

She wiped her hands first before she lay a hand on my forehead. “You don’t have fever anymore. I think that’s good. But tomorrow, I think it’ll finally go away. I got this medicine from our neighbor, Kumssu, who lives a couple miles away from here. He’s a medicine man. He gave me this,” she said, taking a small black vial from the inside of her brown robe. “You have to drink all of it. Okay?”

I took the black vial from her hand. I noticed it had a half-moon embossed on its side and opened it. The small cap gently hissed and I winced at the foul smell inside it that wafted to my nostrils.

“What’s this, Mahk?” I grimaced. It smelled like rotten fruits and meat. It was disgusting!

“I told you, it’s medicine. Don’t ask, just drink it.” She turned to Sekkiz. “Get some saccharine nectar, Sekkiz dearie.”

Sekkiz left without any protest. I supposed she would go to the nearest sweet tree to get some nectar to down my medicine. The sweet tree was only seven feet tall with four branches that faced the four directions, with red-orange leaves. The golden orange fruits were like a bag of sweet nectar. One must be careful in picking them from the branches or the nectar would burst and be wasted.

“You sure it’s not some kind of poison, Mahk?” I queried with a frown.