Marked by the Four Beast Lords After Transmigration

The knock came near midday.

Nia had a bundle of spring greens open beside the preparation board. She was pulling away the toughest outer leaves while Shen rinsed grit from the smaller ones at the washing side.

Another knock touched the wooden frame.

“I’ll get it.”

Shen kept working while Nia crossed the room.

When she lifted the entrance screen, Ren stood outside.

He carried the narrow satchel he usually wore on the road. Dust marked the lower part of his trousers, though his boots were cleaner than they had been after some of his longer eastern trips. His dark-red hair was tied back, with two shorter strands loose near one temple.

Nia looked into the passage behind him.

“No Kael?”

“I found him below.”

Ren adjusted the satchel against his side.

“He had questions about two loads at the shelter.”

Nia raised the screen farther.

Ren removed his boots near the entrance before stepping fully inside. He crossed to the basin and washed his hands without being directed.

Shen glanced over from the greens.

“You came back quickly.”

“I was at the trade shelter this morning.”

Ren dried his hands and sat on the stool nearest the entrance.

Nia returned to the preparation board.

“Did something change with the river-sour?”

“No. The half-cord went east. Nothing has changed with the agreement, and your twenty-four pieces are not coming north yet.”

Nia nodded and picked up another leaf.

“Then I can leave it alone.”

Shen brought Ren a cup of water before returning to the washing side.

Ren drank while Nia separated a torn edge from the next handful of greens.

“Did Kael get what he needed?” she asked.

“He did.”

Nia glanced at the satchel still crossing Ren’s chest.

Ren followed her gaze.

“There is something else in here.”

“A sample?”

“No.”

“A trade slip?”

“No.”

Nia set down the leaf in her hand.

Ren opened the satchel and reached inside.

He drew out a folded piece of plain cloth small enough to fit in one palm.

Nia stayed near the preparation board while he unfolded it.

A stone rested inside.

She stared at it.

The stone was a little longer than the end joint of her thumb and flattened on two sides. Water had rounded every edge. Most of the surface was blue-green, dark enough through the center to approach gray, while a pale white band curved across one side.

Nia wiped her fingers on the work cloth and stepped closer.

“What is that?”

“Riverstone.”

“I can see that.”

The corner of Ren’s mouth lifted.

He held the cloth toward her.

Nia took the stone.

It was cool and smooth against her palm. She turned it toward the light coming through the partly raised entrance screen. The thinner edge showed more green beneath the darker surface, and the white band crossed the middle in a clean curve.

She rubbed her thumb over it.

The pale line continued into the stone rather than sitting on the surface.

“What do people use these for?”

“Nothing that I know of.”

Nia looked up.

“A woman near the eastern reed road keeps a bowl of them beside her other goods,” Ren said. “Her household picks up the smoother ones after the river drops.”

“And people take them home?”

“Some do.”

“What for?”

“They like them.”

Nia looked back at the stone.

She turned it over once, then again.

“Do they all look like this?”

“No. Most of the ones in her bowl were gray or brown. There were a few darker green ones.”

Nia tilted the stone until the blue-green side caught more light.

“This one is prettier.”

“I thought so.”

She traced the white band with her thumbnail.

Ren took another drink from his cup.

Nia looked at him.

“Why did you choose this one?”

“The color stood out.”

He paused long enough to look at the stone in her hand.

“I thought you might like it.”

Nia lowered her eyes to the blue-green surface.

“I do.”

Ren’s tail shifted once behind the stool.

Nia turned the stone onto its other side.

“The white part almost goes all the way around.”

“Almost.”

“You checked.”

“I was waiting.”

“For your buyer?”

“Yes.”

Ren folded the empty cloth once across his knee.

“The seller he was dealing with had three baskets to open. I had time.”

Nia could picture Ren beside another seller’s stall, waiting while goods were untied and inspected, his attention moving over everything within reach.

She held the stone toward the light again.

“Was the woman selling anything else?”

“Reed ties, two kinds of small shell, and several carved pins. The stones were at the end of the board.”

“Did people actually buy them?”

“A child took two while I was there. His mother made him put one back because he had nothing left to trade for lunch.”

Nia smiled.

“That sounds fair.”

“He disagreed.”

“I’m sure he did.”

Ren’s mouth curved.

Nia ran her thumb over the smooth edge one last time before holding the stone toward him.

Ren did not take it.

He lifted the folded cloth instead.

Nia looked from the cloth to his face.

“This is for me?”

“You said you liked it.”

“That was not my question.”

Ren held the cloth open beneath her hand.

“It does not need to come back with me.”

Nia put the stone into it herself.

He folded the cloth loosely around it and passed the bundle back to her.

Nia accepted it.

The small weight settled into her palm.

Shen brought the draining bowl to the preparation board.

His gaze moved briefly toward the bundle.

“Riverstone?”

“From the eastern reed road,” Ren said.

Shen nodded.

“I have seen darker ones farther south.”

“This one was the lightest blue-green in the bowl.”

Nia looked at Ren again.

Shen set the greens down.

“The greens are clean.”

“I’ll finish them after Ren leaves.”

Ren glanced toward the entrance.

“I need to go back to the shelter before the afternoon load leaves.”

Nia carried the wrapped stone to the low shelf near the bedroom entrance, away from the food work.

“Will you be back through Hearthfang soon?”

“Possibly. One of the loads Kael asked about may need another route answer.”

Nia nodded.

Ren finished his water.

Shen held out his hand as he passed, and Ren gave him the cup. Shen carried it to the washing side.

Ren stood and settled the satchel strap across his chest.

At the entrance, he put his boots back on while Nia lifted the screen.

Two workers came around the upper turn carrying a narrow drying frame between them. The man walking backward nearly caught one end against the wall.

“Higher,” the other worker told him.

“I have it.”

“You have the wall.”

The backward-moving man looked over his shoulder and lifted his end before the frame struck the stone.

Ren waited until they passed.

“If anything changes with the river-sour, I’ll send word.”

“Good.”

He stepped into the corridor.

His gaze moved briefly toward the shelf where Nia had left the wrapped stone before returning to her.

“Good day, Nia.”

“You too.”

Ren headed downhill.

Nia lowered the screen to its partly open position after he cleared the turn.

Behind her, water moved in the basin.

Shen washed Ren’s cup and his hands before returning to the hearth.

Nia picked up the wrapped riverstone from the low shelf.

She carried it into the bedroom and crossed to the shelf beside the bed.

Her comb rested there beside the small bowl she used for hair ties and several folded cloths.

Nia opened Ren’s bundle.

Against the darker wood, the stone’s blue-green surface looked deeper.

She placed it beside the tie bowl.

The white band faced the wall.

Nia turned the stone until the pale curve faced outward.

She folded the cloth and left it beside the stone.

Then she returned to the main room.

Nia washed her hands before sitting at the preparation board again.

Shen had left the cleaned greens in the draining bowl at her place.

She picked up the knife.

The tender spring leaves needed little cutting. Nia removed the thickest lower sections and cut the rest into broad pieces, passing the first finished handful toward Shen.

He had a shallow pot warming at the hearth.

When she handed him the greens, he checked the heat before adding them.

“Not too long,” Nia said.

“I know.”

She returned to the board.

The next handful went into the pot a short time later. Shen pressed the leaves beneath the hot liquid with the spoon as they softened.

Nia finished the remaining greens and handed him the last portion.

He added them and covered the pot briefly.

Nia carried the tough stems and damaged leaves to the food-scrap bowl. She washed the knife and set it on the drying frame.

When she returned, Shen had already uncovered the pot.

Steam rose from the greens.

He lifted one piece with the serving spoon and held it above the pot until it stopped dripping.

Nia waited for it to cool before tasting.

The leaf had softened, but the center still held enough texture that it did not collapse against her tongue.

“Take it off now.”

Shen moved the pot away from the heat.

Nia brought two bowls to the table while he divided the greens and broth between them.

They sat together for the midday meal.

Outside, Hearthfang continued around them. Someone passed carrying a bundle of narrow poles, and farther down the level a basket scraped against stone before its carrier shifted the load. Voices crossed near the water turn without coming close enough for Nia to understand the words.

She ate another piece of green.

The leaves were milder than the sharper spring greens they had used earlier in the season. Their flavor sat easily beside the broth.

Shen picked up one of the softer stems.

“This batch is younger.”

“I think so. The stems are softer too.”

“We should use these first.”

“Yes.”

Nia ate another spoonful.

Shen’s attention shifted briefly toward the open passage when quick footsteps crossed the turn.

A child ran past the entrance.

A man farther behind called, “Slow down near the water.”

The footsteps slowed for three beats.

Then they sped up again.

Nia looked toward the screen.

“He listened for a very short time.”

“He slowed.”

“That is generous.”

Shen took another bite.

The child’s footsteps disappeared farther uphill.

Nia finished the last of her broth.

Shen carried the empty bowls and spoons to the washing side. Nia brought the cooking pot after him.

Together they cleared the midday work. Shen washed the pot while Nia rinsed the preparation board and removed the few pieces of leaf caught along one edge.

When they finished, she dried her hands.

A cloth she had meant to mend before Ren arrived still rested on the household shelf.

Nia took it down along with the small sewing case.

She settled near the table.

Shen sat farther along the room with a short length of cord and the worn tie from one of the household baskets.

Nia threaded the needle.

The cloth had begun thinning along one folded edge. She pushed the needle through the stronger section beside it and drew the thread tight.

Across from her, Shen loosened the old basket tie and examined the place where several fibers had started to separate.

“Replace it?” Nia asked.

“Yes.”

“Is the longer cord still good?”

“It is.”

She returned to the seam.

For a while, they worked without speaking. Water dripped softly at the washing side. Cord slid through Shen’s fingers as he measured the replacement tie. People passed beyond the screen at intervals, and a child laughed somewhere near the upper turn before another voice called the child farther along.

Nia finished the first side of the repair and checked the seam with her thumb.

Shen pulled the new tie through the basket loop, tightened it, and tested the knot.

Nia looked up.

“Better?”

“Yes.”

He set the remaining cord back with the household repair supplies.

Nia tied off her thread and clipped the end.

The repaired edge held when she pulled lightly against it.

She folded the cloth and returned the sewing case to the shelf.

The afternoon light had shifted across the main room by then.

Shen stood and checked the entrance screen.

“Warmer.”

Nia felt the moving air against her forearm.

“A little.”

He retied the lower fastening so the opening remained wide enough for air to pass without leaving the screen loose against the wall.

Nia picked up the folded cloth and put it away.

Later, she went into the bedroom to retie one section of her hair.

The riverstone sat beside the tie bowl.

Nia picked up her comb.

She loosened the section near her temple that had started pulling, combed through it carefully, and secured it again.

When she returned the comb to the shelf, her knuckle nudged the small bowl.

The bowl shifted against the stone and turned it slightly.

Nia looked down.

The white band no longer faced outward.

She moved the stone until the pale curve showed against the blue-green surface again.

Then she left it there.