Lina and Seelah, On the Run

Warning: Major spoilers for “Forged in Iron and Blood” herein. If you haven’t read it yet, you can find it in the Best of Deep Magicanthology 2, along with a bunch of other wonderful stories.

I wrote this micro-story in response to a prompt—500 words or less, a secret, and the word “serendipity.” It needed to stand alone, so it kind of rehashes a bit of what happens in “Forged in Iron and Blood.” But it also hints at the future for them.

I wish I could say that I have more stories written for Lina and Seelah; that’s always the first thing people ask after they read the story—what do they do next? I love that there’s so much interest in these two lovely aging women. I still want to write their stories, but for now, nothing has really resolved into a plot.

Next week I’ll be sharing some artwork I commissioned about them, and I’ll be talking about how I see them in the future. But for now, I hope you enjoy this little tidbit.

 

***

 

Seelah leaned over and lit the kindling, blowing on it gently as it caught the nearest twigs. In the last weeks of travel, they’d discovered that Seelah was the better campfire starter—ironic, given that Lina had spent the decades as a blacksmith and before that as a traveling soldier.

“I’m truly the only other person who knows who you are?” Seelah asked, leaning back slowly, her back creaking. “Too old to sleep on the ground like this,” she muttered to herself, and Lina agreed. Her every muscle protested every morning.

Then she shrugged. They’d already covered this ground, multiple times. “It wasn’t safe.” She gestured back the way they’d come, back to the village they’d been forced to flee. “You already saw what happens when someone comes too close to the truth.”

Seelah nodded. Lina was on the run, and Seelah had willingly joined in to protect her—and that was before Lina had revealed who she was. Now she seemed even more determined to help keep Lina safe, in whatever small, grandmotherly ways she could. “I suppose you’re right.”

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Lina whispered thank you. It had been pure serendipity that Seelah had been in Lina’s blacksmith shop when the men arrived. And then it had been Seelah’s sheer brilliance and bravery that had helped Lina escape, right under their noses. Lina owed Seelah her life, of that there was little doubt.

Seelah waved the thanks away. “Couldn’t let them hurt my dearest friend, could I? Even if I didn’t know how important you are to the kingdom.” She shook her head. “There’s still part of me that can’t believe I didn’t guess it years ago.”

Lina smiled. “To be fair, you guessed most of my other secrets.”

Seelah laughed and poked at the fire with a long stick. “True.”

They both went quiet again, each counting down the days to an unknown future when they’d have to stop running and somehow get Lina back into hiding, in a new life, safe again from the men who would kill her so they could start a war. For now, though, there was a friendly silence in listening to the crackle of the fire as darkness descended around them. They were as safe as they could manage, Seelah’s basket was filled with delicious pastries they’d bought in the last town, and the future would have to wait.

“Lina?” Seelah finally said into the quiet.

“Yes?”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Lina released a short bark of laughter. “Please. I’m pretty sure I can keep it.”

“I feel so silly about it. I’ve loved my life, you know. My dear Himleh—he was the best husband a woman could ask. And the children and grandchildren have made may days so full...”

“But?” Lina prompted.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to travel. See the world. Experience new things...”

Lina sat in stunned silence for a minute. “Your secret is that you wish to travel?”

Seelah chuckled. “Well, yes.”

Lina looked around. The campfire warming them, the open road waiting before them, the skies above them. She’d thought she’d need to settle somewhere again, build up a life where she hid her connections to the war like she had before. But maybe she didn’t need that. They had the money, and a moving target was always harder to find. Maybe they’d just stay two silly old women, traveling the world, nothing at all to hide. “Seelah, I think we can accommodate that. Where should we go next?”