by Sandra Lang
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A half cycle passes and finally the traders are to leave. The people of the village are more relieved to see them go than I think anyone has before. The celebration we have is for honoring our guests and the alliance we have made with them; secretly, we are all celebrating their leaving.
I have been lucky not to have any more of those dreams, even though the one I had still sits heavily in my mind. I did not tell Tarok about it, despite his curiosity. I think it is best he does not know and does not worry. The dream I had of the cage still has not yet come to pass and I desperately hope that this one will not as well.
“Akari, come dance with me!” Tala says tugging at my arm.
“Should you not be dancing with Merick?”
“I want to dance with my sister. We have hardly seen each other since my binding and then rarely since yours.”
“We live only a few yards away from each other.”
“It does not matter. You are dancing with me right now.”
Grudgingly I get up and dance with her. I will admit that I have missed being around her. Before our bindings we were together quite frequently.
“I will make more of an effort to spend time with you when the men are away for training.” I say.
“Why have we not thought of it before?”
“Too busy resting,” I reply with a wink.
“Very true indeed. I honestly could not tell you where he gets the energy from! We stay up late into the night and he still gets up early.”
“Tarok’s often gone and come home for breakfast before I even think about getting out of bed.”
“There are no children to take care of. I do not see any reason as to why we should get up when they do.”
We both laugh and dance like we did before we were bound to our mates. It does not take long before our mates decide to dance with us, eliciting more girlish giggling from the two of us.
“Come,” Tarok whispers in my ear, “let us go home.”
“Why? We are having so much fun here.”
“I promise you will have much more fun at home.”
I smile up at him and take his arm. “Only if you promise to sleep late.”
“You can either agree to come with me willingly or I can carry you home.”
“As much as I would love for you to carry me, I do not think that would be very becoming of a couple in our position. I will come willingly. At least until we are out of sight of the entire tribe.”
Tarok grins at me and puts his arm around my shoulders. “A very wise choice, Wise Woman.”
We begin to walk away from the celebration when I am called back. I turn to see Namira standing behind us, waving. I release Tarok’s hold on my arm and walk over to her cautiously.
“Is there something you need, Namira?”
“I do not want to keep you. But can we talk in the morning?”
Everything about this strikes me as off. “Sure. Where would you like to meet?”
“I was thinking near the break. If that would not be too much trouble, Wise Woman.”
“Of course not, Namira. I will meet you there tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Wise Woman.” She turns on her heel and walks back to the celebration.
I have a fleeting thought of danger run through my mind but do not dwell on it. I hurry back to Tarok so we may continue on with our evening.
Chapter Twenty-Three