Lilliark

The water of the ocean was still very cold, but the pool that collected in the grotto when the tides came in retained heat from the spring sun. Voah had come to the grotto at night without Hunter for a solo tribute to Cambena. Besides, it would not be prudent to be alone with a taken man whilst doing what she would be doing.

Hunter’s contribution to the shrine was exceptional. The newly carved wooden effigy of Cambena had been painstakingly stained and oiled. This would ward off weathering by the elements, retaining its shape for a longer period of time.

After lighting the candles and incense in the grotto, she dropped her robes and entered the tepid waters. The smoke cooled and sank, hanging like a cloud of whispers over the pool.

Voah laid on her back, staring up at the stars and taking in the night. She hoped that she was doing right by the Pillars, right by the people, and right by herself. Soon she was in a meditation that eventually gave way to memory.

———

She was a little girl, little more than five years old, on the road with her family. Back then there were always several groups of travelers in the convoy with them. They were singers, musicians, dancers, actors, tumblers… entertainers. Her parents were no exception.

One night, as a storm rumbled off in the distance, when most of the group was busy chatting and laughing around a warm communal fire. Voah split ways with the other children who were running around playing. She snuck into someone’s wagon.

It was that of a dark haired, merchant man named Kleese who kept a beautiful bird in a gilded cage. He claimed it was from the Forsaken Lands. It was vibrant cerulean blue, its breast was cloud white. It’s wings gave way to purple at the tips and long tail feathers trailed behind it.

Kleese just called it bird, but Voah named her Lilliark. All the children loved that bird, especially Voah, but it occurred to her after a while that maybe the bird needed to be free, like Cambena says. Like her mother taught her through songs.

The dogs of the caravan were free enough. They had no ‘one master’ and went off to roam during the day if they weren’t being asked to hunt, but they always came back. Wouldn’t the same be true for the bird?

Kleese seldom let ’bird’ out to play with the children. Only when it was clear there were no dogs or cats around to try and eat her.
The children would laugh as Lilliark took baths in the dirt and made little clouds of dust. Kleese had clipped her wings regularly so that ‘Bird’ couldn’t fly away, but it was coming time to clip again and Voah knew it because Lilliark had to stay in the wagon.

“Hello, Lilliark, my beauty. Do you want to go exploring with me?”

She grabbed the cage and quietly crawled out of the wagon heading away from the fires and into the dark to a nearby pond where she set the cage down in the reeds.

Lilliark chirped and cocked her head as if asking, ‘what are we doing?’

Little Voah opened the door of the cage and rested her finger flat next to it. Lilliark hopped out onto her finger and sweetly peeped more questions. Then Voah transported her to her shoulder. Together they sat watching the stars reflect off of the inky pond. Ripples breaking the picture every now and again.

Lightning flashed far off over the borders of the Forsaken Lands. After a few minutes, the bird hopped in a flutter back down to Voah’s hand. Voah gave Lilliark a few kisses on the neck and the bird nuzzled back. In bird speak she said, ‘ararar’.

“Be free.” whispered little Voah.

If she was lucky, Lilliark could fly now. Voah stretched out her hand to the sky and said again, “Go on, my Lilliark. Be free.”

The bird pivoted a few times, glancing around as if determining what to do. She looked back at Voah and blinked a few times before turning and taking flight in the direction of the storm with a series of long consecutive peeps.

Lilliark never returned, but Voah always hoped that she ended up somewhere happy. It was better to chance the storm than to live in a cage.