Echoes of Home
Nordun's Way Book Three
take the wrong path to do the right things.”
When Karma asks Nordun to help him find his long-lost mother in Mongolia, she doesn’t hesitate. Even if she fears he might never return home with her.
Joined by old friends and family, they set off on the treacherous trade roads to the far east, crossing rickety bridges and traversing narrow rifts, to where the Mongol warriors’ cries roar on the battlefield, and victory is granted to those who deem themselves Gods.
As they uncover the traces of Karma’s precarious past, suspicions arise between the traveling companions. Nordun knows the secrets she’s harboring—but what are the others hiding?
When they reach their destination, a terrible truth unfolds and Nordun loses everything she holds dear.
Now even her precious faith has deserted her—where will she find the strength to fight for what she believes in?
Read on for a sneak peek at ECHOES OF HOME.
ChAPTER 1
1412 (1285 AD)
Dawn has broken. She basks the kitchen in pale hues of purple and pink, the stove murmurs a mellow good morning. It’s my first time waking at home after a long and eventful pilgrimage to Lhasa. All went well, and all should be well on this fine fall morning—except it isn’t.
“Let me get this right.” Father’s voice sounds eerily calm as he takes his seat opposite Karma. “You left my daughter in Lhasa without a word, disappeared for many moons on all of us, and now you’re back, asking my permission to take her to the jaws of hell?”
My empty stomach clenches. That subtle dark tinge in Father’s voice—it’s the reaction I expected. He’s my father, so it goes unsaid. Besides, the facts are not in Karma’s favor, and Father got them all right—except for one.
My heart goes out to Karma, sitting opposite Father, his head bent, his hands on his knees. I knew he would leave me in Lhasa. After all, I let him hear his mother’s voice, her desperate call for her long-lost son to come home to her. How could he not give in to his mother’s plea?
“Yes, Palden-la.” Karma’s manner mirrors Father’s calm. “I am asking you for your permission.” He looks up. A faint ray of morning sun catches his eyes and reveals the rich shade of emerald in them.
Karma, my love.
We’d gotten so close on our journey to Lhasa, but I had to let him go. Little did I know our parting would hurt so much. His absence ripped right through the tender hollows of my heart, leaving it raw and exposed. I would do it all again—even though I didn’t expect him to come back to me.
“I made a grave mistake by leaving.” He straightens his shoulders. “I betrayed your trust, the family’s trust, but most of all, I betrayed Nordun.” His eyes search and find me as I sit at his side. “I shouldn’t have left like you like that, my love.”
I wring my hands around my cup and nod. “You’re here now.” My heart is his, no matter what happened, and he knows it.
“I’m sorry for all the grief I caused.” He puts his hands on the table and faces Father. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to set this straight, Palden-la.”
Father’s eyes narrow on Karma in a harsh stare, and I bite my lip. This is not looking good.
Father shakes his head. “I trusted you with my daughter.” A sharp edge rims his voice. “Abandoning her like that. What the hell were you thinking?” Bitter blame soars over the table at Karma, and I cringe. Father’s going to fly off the handle any moment—for sure, he will.
Heavy boots resound in the hallway, rapid thumps paired with a few rough huffs. A sharp outcry roars from the doorway. “He wasn’t thinking, the idiot!”
My spirit lifts—it’s Dendup, my trusted family elder, who came with us to Lhasa. With his shirt wide open, and his chuba slung across his chest, he lurches into the kitchen in his typical boisterous way.
“You fool!” He charges at Karma and takes him in a mean hold, saving us all from Father’s expected show-down. “Disappearing on us in the middle of the night,” Dendup croaks.
For a moment it looks like he’s going to wrestle Karma, but then his face bursts into a rowdy laugh. “At least you’ve got the decency to come back.” He throws a cheeky smile my way. “Knowing we’re
going to give you hell, right, sister?”
A fierce heat flushes my cheeks, flaring all the way up to my temples. Dendup teased me all the way to Lhasa and back, and I’ll never get used to it—silly me.
Dendup squeezes himself on the other side of Karma and gives Father a curt nod. I tear myself away from the looming silence and hasten to pour the men tea.
“What were you thinking, taking off like that?” Dendup slurps his tea with delight while our cups stand untouched. He’s a master at savoring the pleasant in a tense situation like this.
“You’ve been trying to hide it on me, but I know you’ve been wanting to search for your blood relatives for a long time—why now?” Dendup’s cup lands with a bang on the low table.
Blood relatives. The sheer contempt with which he utters that word makes me shudder.
Karma shrugs, and I wring a cloth between my hands. How to explain?
“It’s me.” My voice is thin, but the words grab everybody’s attention. “I told him to go look for them.”
Karma’s eyes flash at me and Dendup jumps in his seat. Father doesn’t even blink. I wish he would.
“You?” Dendup snorts over his tea. “Why?” Foam sprays from his mouth, and I bow my head.
Dendup’s been nothing but good to me, and I never told him, not once. So many times, he comforted me on our way home, thinking Karma had left me for no reason. My fingers fray the fringe of the rag. What must he think of me now?
“It came to me that Karma’s mother is still alive.” The words slip from my lips, but I don’t know how to tell them more. For sure they would not understand? Only Karma does, for we share our dreams, he and I. We’re bound by them, but how to explain?
“I told him that night in Lhasa.” I fling the cloth next to the stove and sink down at Father’s side. “So you see, he had to go.”
Karma’s hand moves across the table and his eyes lock mine in a tender hold.
“I took off too hastily,” he says. His restless gaze darts from me to Father and Dendup. “But I didn’t want to burden any of you with my obscure past—or my uncertain future.” His fingertips brush against mine.
“Uncertain it is, as these kinfolk of yours are brutes.” Dendup’s face twists in a grimace. “We’ve all heard the stories, butchering everybody who stands in their way.”
Karma’s jaw sets, and I slide my hands over his. Dendup speaks the truth. Karma’s kinfolk came from the North over our mountains, and established a truce with our tribes a long time ago. Seems we have been fortunate though, as the tales of their conquests in other lands speak of a cruelty that can only be whispered. Ruthless plunder and vicious slaughter of boys and men alike, of young girls and women violated and enslaved until death, and of entire settlements and even monasteries burned down to the ground. These men have no mercy, it seems. Still, it has no bearing on my love, as he grew up on Grandfather’s side of our family, and has only known of our way.
“But surely, their Khan has turned to Buddhism now?” I try, but Dendup’s scornful laugh swipes my argument right off the table.
“Buddhist or not, their ways are barbaric.” Dendup’s smug tone says it all.
Of course, he’s right, but how conveniently he seems to forget the reason he and Karma went to Lhasa. They didn’t go on pilgrimage. No, they went to hunt down and kill my father’s brother—on orders from the family to avenge my mother’s death. Luckily, they didn’t succeed—but they sure came close.
I rest my head against the wall. He seems so calm, so quiet, my love, but only I see him for real. Regret and restiveness cloud in the far yonder of his eyes. How my heart longs to hold him close.
“Dammit, Karma, I’ve cursed you all the way from Lhasa to here.” Dendup sighs and rubs his bushy brows. “Hell, I even cursed you getting up this morning for pulling a stunt like that.”
I can’t help the brief smile peeping through my lips. He sure cursed Karma—all the way.
“But I’ve known you since you came to the family, being no taller than my knee’s high.” A grave shadow falls over his face. “We’ve been on the road together a long time and you’ve proven to be a real brother—more than that. You’ve proven your loyalty to the family over and over again.” My ribs tighten and my mouth goes dry.
Loyalty to the family. How neatly Dendup places these tricky words. Karma never mentioned it, but Lanying, my sister from the Han side of the mountains, explained it to me. Loyalty to the family means executing the family’s orders, and Karma’s done more honor killings than anybody ever had to.
“I can’t stop you from venturing out there. You’re too damn stubborn, like me.” Dendup’s sneer is snarky, that’s for sure, but there’s an airy undertone sounding through.
“I guess the only way to make sure you return safe is to come with you on the search for those kinfolk of yours.” His arm slides over Karma’s shoulder. “Besides, it’s time we conquer that side of the mountains once again in favor of the family’s trade.”
Karma shoots up, and my heart skips a beat. Father still doesn’t move.
“You are?” Karma’s voice soars with surprise, and I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. All I’m thinking about is how Dendup’s company will strengthen my case for going too.
“I am.” Dendup’s tone is persistent. “But first we prepare.” He slaps Karma’s shoulder and hands me his empty cup with a shifty smile.
I gather the other cups, still full with lukewarm tea. It’s a done deal for Dendup—but for me? If only Father would say something, anything. I don’t dare to look.
“Winter’s coming and the mountains won’t let us pass.” Dendup’s all reasoning now. “We’ll leave some time after Losar.”
Father sips the cup I poured. Still, there’s not a word from his lips.
“That’s great.” Karma beams a smile at Dendup. “But I’m not leaving without my love.” He bows his head to Father, but there’s still no reaction from his side.
“I’ll wait for you.” I swing the kettle. Steam hisses as tea slushes on the scorching stove.
“I’m not leaving without Nordun.” Karma lifts his chin and looks Father straight in the eye. “Tell me what it will take to get your permission, Palden-la.”
I have to give it to these two, the two men I love most—they’re quite a match. I hold my breath as the stony silence between the two of them submerges the kitchen in a suffocating solidity.
With reluctance, Father shifts in his seat.
“I’ll think about it.” His response release my trapped breath and I gasp for air. He’ll think about it. This is good.
“Nordun and I will go to the ngakpa this morning.” Father sits back. “He deserves to know what happened to his wife in Lhasa firsthand.” He rests his hands on his knees.
The ngakpa. An iron fist locks around my heart. It was the ngakpa’s wife who provided my father’s brother with the snake spell that killed my mother. The two of them fled to Lhasa when their devious play came to light this summer. Now Father wants me to tell the ngakpa how Karma and Dendup hunted them down. This is not good.
“We’ll be back by midday.” Father gets up. “We’ll talk after that.” He moves out of the kitchen without saying another word.
“I’m sorry, love.” Karma jumps up, and I freeze.
I don’t want to go. His hands hold mine.
“All of it?” I blink and he nods. Of course, all of it. It’s all or nothing for us now.
My feet stumble through the hallway. My mind cries out. What a fool I’ve been.
For only a fool would expect Father to be satisfied with the vague account I gave him of our Lhasa adventure yesterday. Just as only a fool would expect him to let me go with Karma in search of his mother and kinsfolk.
After all, what father would let his daughter go off with her lover to the far grasslands of Mongolia like that?
***
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ECHOES OF HOME (Nordun’s Way Book Three)
Join Nordun in her search for far-away kin as she finds that the definition of family isn’t always in the blood—it’s in those who treasure you for who you are, no matter what.
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