Chapter 12: Qualith

The early morning sun was just beginning to peak up over the now slightly hilly lands. The scattered trees were becoming more common, though the grasses had not become much thicker. Kload knew that there were very few places where the land looked better than this though. There were occasional creeks, which some called rivers. They came from small and scattered lakes which provided the main water source of the land. Water was a commodity to kill for out here, often literally. There was enough here that people didn’t fight over it as often as in the wastes and desert, but there had still been a few wars on its account.
Kload gently held Yevish with one hand and the reigns with the other. There were more people traveling through these lands and Kload had to constantly keep up her act. She had donned her face mask again, though her now short hair moving across her upper neck and chin made her jump occasionally. It felt so odd to her.
Yevish was still sleeping and Kload now woke him gently. He stretched out his arms, careful not to hit Kload or Darkstar and looked around. Yevish had become accustomed to sleeping and waking on Darkstar. It was exciting in a way, as he always woke up in a new place, although it didn’t always look different and he sometimes wondered if they had traveled anywhere at all.
“Morning Kload.” Yevish said cheerily as he looked up at her. He had started calling her Kload more since he had been saved by Yeshua. Now that Kload had explained to him that she was really his sister, it seemed even stranger to call her father. If there hadn’t been the large age difference he would have been more comfortable calling her brother. So he simply called her by name.
“Morning Yevish.” Kload smiled down at him. He could tell by the slight way that the face mask moved, and the look in her eyes.
Yevish dug in the saddle bag on his left and brought out a piece of bread. He split it with Kload, and they rode on in silence while they ate. Darkstar was eating better now that they had come to the grassy part of the country. After a few moments Yevish solemnly asked the question that had been troubling him since they left the inn. “Kload,” He paused, “what did you do to those men? The ones at the inn?” He looked up at her as he finished.
Kload looked straight ahead, the battle replaying itself in her head. “I knocked some of them unconscious and tied them all up. Then I left.”
“That’s the truth?” Yevish looked at her questioningly, wondering if she was pacifying what she had done.
“Yes, Yevish.” She sighed slightly. It would be natural for the child to assume that she had killed them. That would be the normal thing for people to do here. “It perhaps would have been smarter to kill them. They have seen my face and are a liability. But it would not have been right. I learned that many years ago.”She paused to ask God for the right words. “When God sent Yeshua to earth, He didn’t send Him just for those who do right, He sent Him for those who do wrong. Yeshua said while he was on earth ‘They that that are whole have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ The honest truth is that everyone is a sinner, hence Yeshua came to call us all to repentance. He also loves us all, including those men that attacked us. God also commanded us to love everyone, just as he loves them. Yeshua also told us that we must love our enemies, and pray for them.  What I am saying Yevish, is that God loves those men, He commanded us to love those men, and through his love I was able to love them as well. God did not want me to kill them.” Kload paused again. “It is a lesson that is long and hard to learn, but it is a necessary one. But in learning that lesson, we must also trust God. In leaving those men alive, I am trusting that God will take care of us, and not allow them to find us and cause us trouble. You see?”
Yevish scrunched his face up. “Not really.”
“You will understand in time. We’ll talk more about it later. For now look up ahead.”
Yevish looked forward and there before them, still a good distance out, yet close enough to be easily visible, was a large city. Its walls were made of a strange brown rock and there was a steady stream of people in and out of its gates. Its appearance was much different from that of most of the other cities, simply because it was made of rock instead of clay and wood. Indeed, in the context of this land, it looked quite majestic. “Which one is it?” Yevish asked, a tone of awe in his voice.
“It’s Qualith.” Kload whispered to him, excitement running through her voice. She knew this was her lucky and likely impossible shot at finding her brothers, but it was the only shot she really had. And the thought of seeing her brothers again made her heart race with excitement. Though she would have to reveal herself secretly to avoid breaking her cover.
“Do you really think we’ll find them?”
“I don’t know, but I hope so.” Kload smiled slightly, her hope outweighing her doubts.
Within the hour the horse and riders were merging with the stream of people entering the gates. There were caravans of workers and traders, traveling groups of soldiers, and one group which appeared to be a traveling royal man. This made of the stream of people rather colorful, even if the city itself wasn’t. Kload reigned Darkstar to the right as soon as they entered the gate, and they rode down a still semi-full alley. It was obvious it was only a main alley for farmers and such. It had several stables, several farriers, equipment shops and blacksmiths. Most of the people in the alley had some sort of animal or equipment piece with them and looked and smelled of years of hard work under a hot sun. Yevish was tempted to plug his nose with his hand, but in truth, the smell was homely and spoke of honest work. That was something that was rather rare in this land. Kload reigned Darkstar up in front of one of the stables, which boasted a large sign with a muscled oxen on it. The name on the bottom of the sign read “Sun’s Oxen”. It was a name which attempted to make their oxen sound both special and better than anyone else’s. Whether it was actually affective or not, Peace had never been sure. She did remember the place having many loyal customers however.
Kload helped Yevish down, and loosely tied Darkstar to the tie-post. This made it appear as if Darkstar was a more average horse and had to be tied, while still allowing the tie to be loose enough for Darkstar to pull away should he need to. This helped to make Darkstar more settled with the whole idea.
Kload patted his strong neck and then she and Yevish headed inside. The stable was basically that. It had large double doors to allow animals easy passage. They were currently both wide open. The interior contained rows of stalls lining each side, each containing one or more oxen. In the very back of the shop there was a staircase which led to the upstairs living quarters. Nothing had changed about the place since Peace had last been there. In fact the only thing different was that there were no longer a few work horses for sale. The business had become more specified and sold its horses apparently. Kload walked towards the back of the stable where a man could be heard whistling. Peace recognized both the tune and whistle. It was very distinct sounding, much like a badly tuned horn. Peace walked up and leaned over a stall door. There inside the stall, busily wrapping the foot of an injured ox, kneeled a short stubby man. He had thinning curly hair, which was now of a dirty grey color. Peace remembered when he had had a very full head of lighter black curls. He had been a fairly young business man, not much older than Justice and Zeal. He had inherited the business from his father. He had always been a very good and kind boss, and friend. Peace was quite tempted to throw off her mask and give the man a bear hug, but she feared what the repercussions might be. He had always treated her and her brothers well, and he could always find something for Peace to do that wouldn’t be too strenuous and hard. Indeed it seemed to Peace that he was one of two in this land, outside of family, that had treated her like a lady. His father had been the other one, and he was surely long dead now.
“Hello Dafrin.” Kload greeted the man, whom had not yet turned and seen that she and Yevish were there.
“Oh, Hello.” Dafrin called back cheerily. “I’ll be with ya in a moment. Ole Buster here done busted ‘imself up.” He broke out in a small bout of laughter at his joke and Kload joined him, struggling to keep her ‘man’s laugh’. She had remembered all the ridiculous things Dafrin had used to say to make anyone smile. Dafrin finished wrapping the oxen’s leg and then stood and turned to face Kload. She and Yevish backed up as he came out of the stables. He was about two inches shorter than her, which made him roughly four to five inches shorter than her brothers. It had been quite a point of teasing among them, especially considering that Dafrin was done growing at the time, and Justice and Zeal were not.
“Well welcome friend. I’m afraid I don’t recognize you. My old noggin don’t work as well as it used to.”
“It’s been many years since I’ve been here.”
“Well what can I do for ya?” Dafrin’s friendly attitude was not even affected by the mask that Kload wore, unlike most.
“Well truth be told Dafrin, I’ve come looking for Justice and Zeal.”
“Ya have aye? Well wadda’ know. It’s been a long time since anyone’s come lookin’ for them.” Dafrin cocked his head at Kload a bit. He was obviously trying to bring up a memory of her, or him, as he believed she was.
“Are they still here?”
“What? Oh, yeah.” He chuckled a bit. “They’re upstairs takin’ lunch.”
“May I go up and see them?” Kload could barely contain herself. She wanted to kiss the man for the news he’d just given her.
“Of course, go right ahead. Though don’t be too surprised if they shove you right back out for disturbin’ their lunch.” The man added the last statement on an undertone, and then broke out in boisterous laughter and waved them on. Kload took Yevish’s hand and walked as calmly as she could towards the stairs. She wanted to run, but she knew she mustn’t. Kload quickly climbed the stairs and stepped up onto the second floor, watching the small table and its two occupants from the moment she could see them. They looked so grown up, and yet as if they hadn’t changed at all.
The older of the two, by only a few minutes, Justice, looked up at Kload. “May we help you sir?” He put his fork back on his plate as Zeal followed his gaze.
“Justice, Zeal. Is it really you?” Kload asked, her voice full of near wonder.
“Of course it’s us. Who else could it be?” They responded together, smiles on their faces.
Peace quickly pulled Yevish up into the room with her and closed the stair hatch. Justice stood abruptly, a slight bit of alarm showing in his eyes. Peace pulled her mask off and quickly tucked it in her belt. She put her hands back down on Yevish’s shoulders and he could feel how shaky they were. “Justice, Zeal,” Peace looked at each as she said his name. “It’s me. It’s your sister.”
Zeal stood and both he and Justice stared in amazement for a moment, as realization suddenly dawned on their faces. “Peace!” They both called out excitedly as they rushed forward. Peace stepped forward, in front of Yevish and met their hug, thus preventing Yevish from getting bowled over and squished in the process.
The three siblings stood their embracing each other and tousling each other’s hair. Questions whizzed around so fast that Yevish and possibly the rest of them, had no idea what was being said. After a few moments they quieted down and stepped back, broad smiles on their faces and a most wonderful light in their eyes.