Goodbye, Singer
It is hard... and not wise to charge a kaiila into battle when one's mind is filled with anything but pure focus. Mine was not focused at all. We sped right into the camp of the First Wagons, right past the Singer. And landed in a heap of splinters as Necessity struggled to regain his proud composure... while a pink painted wagon lay broken down with its front wheel broken clean off the axle.
When I turned my kaiila back, I dismounted and grabbed the woman by her shoulders, shaking her. "Are you courting, T'zuri? Huh? Are you? Tell me if it's true!"
She was just too stunned to reply at first, I think. Which made me realize I had grabbed her. And I was suddenly embarrassed as I pulled my hands back.
"Where did you hear that, Kazhuye?"
"From Arigh. Just tell me if it's true."
The Singer looked down for a few moments, then finally met my eyes again. "I am in love with someone, Kazhuye. Yes. Why do you ask?"
Reaching down, I picked up a stone and further humiliated that pink painted wagon before it ricocheted off and smacked the next wagon nearby. And yet as I backed away from her, step by step... I shook my head and grinned rather sheepishly. "Because... I wanted to say... congratulations. Before it's too late."
I turned and mounted my kaiila again... and rode off without ever looking back.
