Keeper of the People (Book One)

by Karah Quinney

  She did not dare complain or let Roark know that she was not feeling well. Surely he would stop and allow her to rest, but she too felt an urgency to get as far away as possible from Marad and his men. Just the thought of Marad’s threat to kill her son was enough to spur her on until she neared the limits of her endurance. Most of the day was spent walking and finally as night descended they sensed a difference in the air. Roark instructed everyone to halt and carefully went ahead until finally he found an opening. He called for them, his voice echoing as if from a great distance and when they reached him they all stood as one upon the edge of the cave staring down into a valley too beautiful to describe.

  The moon was full and sat like a round orb in the night sky casting a bright light upon everything that it touched. Roark could see no sign of campfires or other people and he felt relieved to know that they might be safe once and for all. He turned to Star to express his astonishment at having stumbled upon such a glorious land and as he looked at her in the moonlight he finally noticed the pallor of her skin and the sweat that ringed her forehead and her upper lip. His wife smiled weakly at him and unwrapped their son from his sling carefully handing him to Yaa.

  Star Feather moved towards Roark and she raised her hand to his face before she suddenly collapsed. Roark let out a startled grunt and caught his wife in his arms, surprised to find that her skin was so hot that it seemed to burn him wherever they touched. Yaa bundled the baby up holding him tight against her chest, careful not to wake him as he slept. She looked with wide eyes as Roark swept his wife up and started carrying her down the side of the cliff. Giad motioned that she should follow him, so that he could make certain the way was clear.

  Yaa was careful of each footstep as she protected the baby with her small arms. He was not very heavy, but she had never held a baby before and did not wish him any harm while he was in her care. It took several hands of time to descend from the cave and once they were at the bottom Yaa looked up to see how far they had come. She was surprised to discover that they had walked a long way indeed.

  Roark gently laid Star Feather on her back and checked her over from head to toe. He could find no sign of injury save for the knot on her head that was already healing. Still his wife slept on burning with fever and he knew that if she needed the care of a healer they were lost. Suddenly he thought of the Ada’na, surely if he had been able to make it through the passage then they too were here in this valley.

  The Ada’na could help him with his wife since she was a healer of the People. Roark had had little to do with the mysterious woman in the village, yet he remembered that she had seemed distant and powerful. He had never spoken to her or asked anything of her. But he felt sure that she could be convinced to help him. She had to help him he thought fiercely as he looked at his sleeping wife.

  Yaa sat close to Star Feather watching over her as Roark had instructed. It seemed to Yaa that Star Feather was only sleeping, yet when she touched the woman, her skin was hot and her breathing raspy. Yaa cradled the baby in her arms, careful to keep him propped up comfortably so that he would not awaken. She was very tired, more tired than she could ever remember being but she dared not close her eyes.

  Star Feather might slip away into the night if someone was not there to remind her that she was needed, that her son needed her milk and her mothering. Yaa sang these words softly to Star Feather as she slept, hoping that the beautiful woman would choose to stay with them. Yaa could not remember her own mother, but if she could, she knew that her mother would have been just like Star Feather, loving and kind. Yaa patted the woman’s hair back into place as she hummed.

  In the morning Roark admonished Giad to stay hidden with Yaa and Star Feather. He instructed him to wait for him to return and if he did not return then Giad would have to take care of the woman and his sister. Roark saw the young boy begin to tremble with fear even as he spoke.

  “What do you fear?” Roark asked Giad even as the boy stood before him refusing to shed a tear.

  “I fear Marad, what if he follows us? What if he kills me or hurts Yaa while you are gone?” Giad spoke his fears and hoped that Roark would not shame him.

  “Why do you fear Marad? Has he threatened you?” Roark was concerned, he needed the boy to be strong and it seemed that Giad was at the limit of his endurance.

  “He said that if I failed to return to him after delivering my message to Sirion then I would be sorry. He told me that I would feel pain such as I had never known before.” Giad finished softly, hoping that Roark would understand.

  “Giad we have escaped Marad together and we are close to being able to protect ourselves from him in the future. But I cannot travel with Star Feather so ill and I must find the Ada’na so that she can help us make her better. I need you to help me finish this.” Roark looked at the boy and realized that the child was very close to losing his courage. This boy had been brave far longer than most men could endure without breaking. Roark could think of nothing further to say and so he told him a story that he hoped would give him the strength to endure.

  “When I was a young boy, I lived in a village far different from Aztlan. But my mother and father died and there was no one left of my family and so when a trader came to our village I went with him on his travels. One day we came to the island of Hetmos and shortly thereafter the trader died, but the people of the island offered me a home. I proved myself as a runner and I was good with a hunting spear.” Roark was lost in thought for a moment as the old memories resurfaced but he shook himself as Giad waited for him to continue.

  “Like you and Yaa, I could run for long periods of time without stopping, always pacing myself, never losing sight of my goal. Finally one day the village decided to have a festival and hold a race. The race was between the two fastest young men in the village and I was chosen as well as Marad. I knew that I could outrun Marad if given enough time but I was fearful.” Roark stopped as Giad gasped and said to him “You were fearful of Marad? But you are bigger than him and a faster runner, so what did you have to fear?”

  “It is true that I am bigger now, but at the time Marad was the grandson of our village elder and his mother was a woman of power. I knew that if I beat him in the race things would not go well for me and so I was fearful. Remember Giad, I had no family and no one to protect me from Marad’s schemes.” Roark stopped again as he bent to sift through his pack, taking with him only the things that he would absolutely need.

  “Finally the day came for the race and early that morning I woke, knowing that I would have to lose or suffer the consequences. Still I was a boy and it did not seem fair to lose a race on purpose especially when I knew I was much faster than the other boy. I wasn’t sure what I would do, even as the time came to start the race and I was standing right beside Marad. When his grandfather began to beat the drum sweat broke out on my face and all over my body, I knew that at the final beat of the drum we were to take off at a dead run.”

  “What happened, what happened at the final beat of the drum?” Giad said and this time Yaa asked as well, for she was not sitting so far away that she could not hear the story.

  “Well, the final drum beat sounded and off we went, racing through the village and up the trail that led into the mountains, as we ran by the villagers they cried out and praised us, shouting the name of the one that they wanted to win.” Roark waited expectantly as the children asked the question, “Whose name did they shout?”

  “Well they shouted for Marad of course, for he was the best the village had to offer of all the other young men and they did not know that I was faster, though Marad knew it well.” Roark remembered pacing himself from the very beginning, even as he watched Marad take the lead, running full out, using all of his strength.

  “Finally as we entered the trail that led up the mountain and rounded back to the village Marad began to lose his strength, lagging behind me even as I felt a renewed burst of energy, for remember I had held back at the beginning not allowing the excitement of the
moment to force me to run with everything that I had.” Roark stopped speaking as he gathered a few more items and shifted them to Star Feather’s pack.

  He waited as Giad and Yaa silently begged him to continue and seeing this he let their anticipation build. Finally he said, “I could see the smoke fires and smell the feast that awaited us even as I rounded towards the village. Marad kept up with me though his breath was coming in sharp painful gasps, I could barely hear myself over his own breathing and cursing.”

  “Cursing? Why did he curse?” Yaa asked, unable to wait for Roark to tell them.

  “He cursed me, as we ran he cursed me for being faster and better than him at anything. He was the elder’s grandson and it was his right to win this contest, he was the best he told me and everyone knew it. He swore to beat me until I could never run again if I won.” Roark explained that he began to doubt his own ability to win, to run faster than Marad simply because Marad told him he wasn’t good enough. Fear began to take hold of him and his body began to tremble, even now he remembered exactly how it felt to be that scared little boy.

  “It seemed as if my legs lost their will to run, my lungs faltered when I tried to breathe, my body ached as it never had before and finally I just stopped running.”

  “You stopped? How could you stop running when there was a race to finish?” This came from Giad who could not believe that Roark would give up when he was so close to winning.

  “I stopped because I was afraid of winning and it was all that Marad needed to finish the race. He told me that I could not do it and I believed him and even worse, my body believed him. As soon as I heard his words I gave up and I could not stop myself from doing so because I had not prepared myself to be stronger than Marad’s words. I allowed his words to have power over me and worse, I feared him. I watched Marad finish the race ahead of me and I could do nothing but watch as he ran into the waiting arms of the People.”

  Giad frowned in consideration since the story had not ended the way that he thought it should. Still he did not wish to hurt Roark’s pride by telling him this so he kept silent.

  “Marad won the race that day, but I did not walk away empty handed.” Roark waited as he saw curiosity spark on Giad’s face and the little girl Yaa perked up visibly. “I too won something very valuable that day.”

  “What did you win?” they asked in unison.

  “I won the mastery over my own mind. I learned that I could not allow fear or the things that others said to have an impact on what I knew was the truth. Marad told me I could not win and I believed him even though I knew that he lied. I believed him because I was afraid. Marad cursed me and told me I was worth less than nothing, even though I knew that I had every right to run in that race. I was worthy but I let his words make me weak, I allowed fear to take away my courage. I walked away with something far more valuable and to this day I still hold that memory close, for it taught me much about life, courage and endurance.”

  Giad thought about everything Roark said, unconsciously nodding his head in agreement. Surely that was a valuable thing to learn, the mastery over one’s own mind. Only Giad knew the limits of his own strength and endurance and he could not allow someone else to tell him what he was capable of achieving.

  He could not allow fear to paralyze him and make him weak. Even as this thought occurred to him he realized that this was the reason Roark had told them his story. Marad could not do what Giad did not allow him to do. Giad realized that by choosing never to return to Marad he had made a choice that set him on a different path and now if he allowed his fear to disable him it would take away from all that he had accomplished.

  They were just a few days away from the finish, if Giad could only be strong enough to withstand his fear of Marad until that time, then they would be free.

  Giad looked at Yaa who averted her gaze, he felt shame flush over him as he realized that his sister believed that because Giad was afraid then she too should be afraid. Yaa imitated him in all things, she believed everything he told her because he never lied to her and always kept his promises. If now, she saw him tremble in fear over Marad’s threats then he would be letting her down and he could not do that. He had promised her that she would be safe and he meant to keep his promise.

  “Roark, it is best that you hurry on your travels to find the Ada’na. The sooner that you are gone, the sooner you can return to us with medicines for Star Feather.” Giad smiled at Roark as the man stood and patted him on the shoulder.

  In the moonlight Yaa memorized the image of Roark standing close to Giad and she hoped that he would return quickly so that her brother could keep his promises.

  “My brother will protect us while you are gone.” Yaa spoke softly allowing the breeze to carry her words to their ears. She hoped with everything in her heart that Roark would be able to find the Ada’na. She was their only hope for Star Feather, as Yaa looked up at the morning sun she thought to herself that it was a good thing that they followed the Ada’na and the trader here to this valley. It was a good thing indeed.

  Roark set off in the direction that he hoped the Ada’na had traveled. Their trail was long gone, but it was instinctive to set off towards the middle of the valley where he could just make out a river. Any person living in an unknown land would first make their way to the river where water was readily available. Roark did not know how he would compel the Ada’na to help Star Feather, but he could not sit idly by while his woman perished.

  Her death would haunt him all of his days, not to mention that if she died he would also lose his son, the thought alone was enough to stop Roark in his tracks. Finally, he gathered himself together and continued through the brush at a steady pace knowing full well that he had a long way to travel and as he had told Giad Roark would waste even a moment by allowing fear to paralyze him.

  Jon’lan set out early in the day to hunt hoping to return with something before his wife went about preparing for the midday meal. He also planned to check the area around the cave to make sure that no one followed them. He could barely believe how fruitful this land was, it was as if the hares had thrown themselves in front of his arrows. Jon’lan had never seen such abundant animal life in one place.

  The valley was teeming with rabbit, deer, antelope, moose, squirrels and other animals that he had never seen before. It was a gigantic melting pot of wildlife. He had seen tracks from Anaay’s panther Rhea earlier in the day. He hoped that it was Rhea marking her territory and not some other cat.

  Jon’lan discovered new things on each hunt; yesterday he found large prints that worried him still, those of a bear. Careful to watch where he tread Jon’lan quickly made his way back towards their new camp which was situated high up on the valley wall that ringed the side of the largest cavern that Jon’lan had ever seen.

  Anaay had once again proven himself to be a most valued son of their band by finding the hidden cave that lay in the crevasse of the crater. Not only did it protect them from any attack but it also proved to offer adequate shelter for them, keeping them dry from rain, cool in the harsh afternoon sun and keeping the warmth from the fire inside their cave each night. Anaay had stumbled upon their new home by following Rhea after a kill.

  He had hoped to share the spoils of her victory over a deer that she had brought down and instead he found her resting in the cave they now used as a temporary shelter. If Rhea had not been dragging the deer along with painfully slow steps Anaay would have never been able to follow her to the cave which was completely hidden from sight and difficult to get to because it was at such a height.

  Kii jokingly said that perhaps Rhea walked and climbed slowly so that the cat could show them their new home. It certainly seemed as if Rhea led them all here on purpose now that they were comfortably settled in. Their first camp was abandoned and all traces of their presence had been removed.

  The morning sunshine felt good to Jon’lan, warming his face and arms as he walked. He strapped his kills to his back, making quick work of cleaning an
d washing them in the river. He decided to keep them with him instead of hanging them high up in a nearby tree. He knew that Rhea could climb with an agility that was stunning and if she were tracking him she would make quick work of his bounty.

  He enjoyed the cat’s companionship and he was aware that she followed him each day as he hunted for food. Anaay would stay behind to guard the women eager for Jon’lan’s return. Rhea seemed to think that she was in charge of the hunting for their band and often Jon’lan would see her streaking through the brush while she flushed out prey. He would take careful aim and if he was successful he didn’t mind if she took her fair share. Rhea would return time and again to help him hunt and they had developed a system. Even now he felt the cat’s presence.

  In the past Jon’lan had also put Hawk to good use while searching for small animals. Hawk would take flight and circle until Jon’lan was in the vicinity of whatever animal the eagle had spotted from the air. He would lay in wait only to see Rhea streak by snarling as she ran. It went without question that Rhea would flush out whatever animal was hiding, camouflaged against the land, leery of Jon’lan’s arrows that would surely fly true.

  Jon’lan kept an easy pace as he headed in the direction of the passageway that had first brought them to this valley. He kept alert, careful to watch for any movement, ears listening for any sound out of the ordinary. A few times he sent Hawk soaring into the air to scout ahead, the eagle would let him know if anyone was nearby.