Burnt (Blood and Fire Book 1)
Page 2
himself up, careful not to dislodge her. He stared into her bottomless eyes, trying to comprehend the mysteries floating in them. “What do you mean?”
She shot a quick glance at Sojun, who smiled and gave her the slightest nod. Then she smiled and lifted her hand to run two delicate fingers down the side of his face. “She’s seen strength in your future. And greatness. So much greatness, it was likely blinding. Just wait and see.”
Her strawberry hair was like dying flames rippling over his forearm. Her skin was warm tea, and she smelled of pine. More than anything in the world, in that moment, Kaie wished Sojun was not just on the other side of her, smiling with love for the both of them. For a second, just the barest fraction of a heartbeat, he thought he saw the same desire mirrored in those mysterious hazel eyes.
“Ams is right. The Lemme’s seen you leading the tribe. Everyone knows it. It’s probably the worst kept secret in history. There’s no need to worry over it. We will all support you when the time comes.”
The moment shattered with the sound of Sojun’s deep voice. No one who didn’t know them would believe Sojun was nearly a full year younger than Kaie. Everything about him – broad shoulders, height, stubble across his square chin, even his newly deep voice – seemed to say he was a man. Kaie couldn’t seem to shake loose the boy. Was it any wonder Amorette preferred Sojun?
Jealousy was becoming a part of his relationship with Sojun more in the last few months than the all the rest of their lives put together. Still, Jun was the best friend anyone could ask for. Better. He couldn’t let it wreck everything, just like he couldn’t do anything about Amorette.
Maybe thinking something similar, Amorette stood. Winding her long hair up into a knot with ease and grace that was the well-voiced envy of both her sisters, she quickly set herself back to right. In a matter of seconds she erased all trace of tumbling around in dying grass and was every bit the proper woman of the tribe. Her own birthing day was just a few weeks away and she already managed to look the part just as well as Jun without much effort. When she was done repairing her appearance, she offered them both a hand up. “Come on. The Lemme won’t wait forever. If Kaie’s ever going to be able to speak about things he knows, rather than repeat things he doesn’t, we’re going to have to get him to her.”
Sojun took her hand happily, his face reflecting no awareness of the wicked thoughts souring Kaie’s enjoyment of the last moment of childhood the three of them would share. His trust was as absolute as always.
Kaie hesitated a fraction of a second. When they returned to the valley and went to the Lemme for his destiny, it would make him a man in the eyes of the tribe. He wanted that for as long as he could remember. But Sojun was right. It meant an end to things. Amorette wouldn’t be lying down beside him again. It would cast a cloud of suspicion over the two of them. When Sojun joined them in adulthood it would risk dishonoring them both when they were wed. But more than that, it would mean an end to their time together.
All three of them were apprenticed at the age of fourteen. Kaie and Amorette spent hours learning the hunt, Sojun the shaping of metals and stone. After today he wouldn’t be an apprentice any longer. Next week he would spend his days in the woods providing food for the tribe instead of creeping up to their hill. No more hot afternoons sneaking off to go swimming or lazy evenings skipping stones and contemplating the clouds. Such activities belonged to children. There would be days he was free to do such things with them again, until they all got around to starting their own families. But somehow Kaie knew that this was it. This was the last day on their hill.
This one perfect moment was an ending. Whatever waited for him in the valley, even if it was the greatness Amorette predicted, he could not be sure it would match what he was leaving behind on this hill. Part of him, one not entirely separate from the wicked, jealous one, wanted desperately to stay here with the two of them and cling to his childhood for a little while longer.
He took her hand with the biggest grin he could manage. “That’s right. Amorette is just dying to hear all the details of the sexual exploits I’ll be having. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”
Two
The village was quiet as the trio made their way to the hut positioned at the point furthest north. Only those too young or too infirm were excluded from helping in the orchard. They were as close to alone as any in the village ever were. Even the chickens seemed to be occupied with something that kept them silent and out of sight. It was eerie, like the life drained out of the world he knew so well leaving it strange and still.
Though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, he wished it was his mother and father with him. He appreciated Sojun and Amorette, but they weren’t his parents. He already missed the way his mother hummed and ran her fingers through her curly red hair. He missed how his father, constantly munching on peanuts, would toss the shells at him whenever his attention drifted. And the way his mother’s humming always seemed to lead to the two of them singing together as they cleaned up dinner. He was so embarrassed by those things when Sojun was visiting but now he couldn’t imagine what life was going to be like without them.
They were not allowed today though. This was his rebirth as an adult in the eyes of the tribe. His parents could not be part of that. His father built him a home of his own, at the southern-most side of the village. Once his time with the Lemme was complete, he would go straight there. Everything his parents thought he would need in his new life was already there. He would spend two days in near isolation, not even leaving for food and water, contemplating the destiny the Lemme laid out for him. Only Sojun and Amorette, his witnesses, could see or speak to him.
His parents would be at the ceremony, after the two days. They would listen, with the rest of the tribe, as he shared what understanding he gained from the Lemme’s words. They would celebrate his future and say goodbye to his past. And if his friends were right and he was to lead the tribe, he would spend much of the time he wasn’t hunting learning how from his mother. But it would never be the same. His life with his parents was over the moment he stepped outside the door that morning. Now he wondered why he never took time to appreciate it.
This wasn’t stuff he could admit to his friends. Not even Sojun. He loved them both, but Kaie wouldn’t give either one of them the chance to see him as a mewling baby, clinging to his mother’s skirts. So he smiled and laughed at Sojun’s corny jokes. He teased Amorette and kicked at the stones in the path as though it were just another day. Until they were standing in front of the Lemme’s hut, he thought he managed to be pretty convincing.
They all stopped at the entrance. Clinging desperately to what he hoped was a casual grin, Kaie stared up at the door and waited for the eagerness he felt all morning to return. A cool hand slid into his own. With surprise he looked down to discover Amorette’s fingers lacing through his. He dared a glance up to her eyes and saw an understanding that lanced through his pride and bolstering. A second later Sojun’s hand dropped firmly on his shoulder.
A wash of gratitude nearly swept him away. He blinked back the tears threatening to unman him and swallowed words that would shame him. Neither was needed. They both knew already. They weren’t the parents he longed for, but they were still his family. He could never find better witnesses than the two at his side. Letting the fake one drop, he gave them both a true and shaky smile and then pushed open the door.
The smell hit him first. It reeked of incense, herbs and all matter of other things he couldn’t identify and made his head spin. According to his father, it was all to facilitate the Lemme’s visions. So far as Kaie was concerned, it did far more to ensure her isolation. It was starting to make him feel like his mind was so light it might float away. Who would want that sensation more than was absolutely necessary? He knew his mother visited regularly, but few others were interested in anything more than what tradition demanded. Underneath it all, so faint he almost missed it entirely, was the smell of sickness.
The woman crouched in the far c
orner, just outside the arch of light from the open door. She was every bit as intimidating as the cloying stench. Kaie heard the stories of the beauty she once was and his mother was not the only one to tell them. There was even a rumor that many hearts were broken when she declared the Lemme line would continue through his mother rather than her. It was hard to believe seeing her now.
She was bottom heavy, to the point where it seemed unlikely she could do more than waddle. Her face was a stark contrast, gaunt and heavily lined. Apparently all the food she ate went straight to her hips and left the rest of her body starving. Every bit of her skin was an unnatural yellow. With the flickering light of the fire pit Kaie thought he saw some of the buttery color leaking into the whites of her eyes. Her lips were the only part that seemed immune from the saturation, adopting a faint blue tint instead.
“Kaie. Son of Alma and Lodan. I expected you two hours ago.”
He grimaced. She wasn’t going to hurt him. He knew that. But he couldn’t shake the fear. “Yes. I’m sorry Lemme.”
“At least you’ve brought your witnesses. I half expected you to arrive by yourself, all balls and brass, with little sense behind