by A A Lee
“Well, I guess if it is that important to you, I think it must be of very high quality.” Eva took the stone as soon as Kenda opened her hand. “Although… I wouldn’t hope much if I were you. All of us girls dream of being rich and not having to take care of kids, but that’s just not happening. The best advice that I can give you is to accept that the destiny of the women of our villages speaks only of marriage and motherhood.”
* * *
Goni was deciding between three black jackets in the corner of their house. His wife, Pilly, was not home. She had been absent for several days, helping to choose decorations and assisting the groom’s family with what needed to be included in the ceremony. As the eldest daughter in the family, Pilly was expected to have a say in the matter after the High Priestess and the High Priestess’ husband. Although the High Priestess was Goni’s mother-in-law, nobody recognized him as holding any power in village affairs.
If Pilly was here, she would have nagged him to hurry and choose his outfit. He normally didn’t care about his looks, but they were especially important today. He needed an outfit that would hide his vials.
Doubting that Kenda would be able to escape on her own, he needed to be present to create a distraction. Kenda didn’t understand what she needed to do, and he didn’t have the luxury of time to tell her about the curse.
He picked the baggiest jacket. It had two outer pockets and two inner pockets on either side of his body. He slowly put the vials into his pockets. Carefully, he calculated his moves and made sure that they were not stuck for when he needed them.
Cringing, and despite his aversion to the noise, Goni willed himself to continue walking to the wedding venue. It was a big area covered with banana leaves. The still-green banana leaves were carefully tucked between branches and secured with vines to make sure that they did not come loose in the wind. In a couple of days, they would turn brown and brittle and do a poor job of sheltering people from the rain.
He hoped that Kenda would be far from here by then.
Goni stood a few meters away from the stage, in a space set aside for unimportant guests and non-relatives. The villagers stood nearby were used to him doing that because he was normally treated as an outcast, except when he was drunk; once inebriated, his magic tricks made him into something close to a star. They were not aware that Goni’s drunkenness during those moments was nothing more than an act. He had used his drunken persona to observe the village’s children, showing his magics in the hope of finding the Bringer of Equality. Legend recorded that the Bringer of Equality was said to be so young that nobody would believe in her, so Goni tried to attract children with his magic tricks.
As more people arrived to take their places ahead of the ceremony, the surrounding noise grew louder. Goni desperately wanted to leave right away and go somewhere quiet, but he held it in, thinking about his mission. He was sure that Kenda had not yet used the stone, if for no other reason than that there had been no smoke seen billowing into the sky. Given that the stone was going to create a significant cloud of smoke, he hoped that Kenda would be able to use it to her advantage.
Goni was not the only one with magical abilities here. If Goni had to use his powers, he knew that it was highly likely that gifted ones would attempt to stop him. Since the arrival of Jinja’s family, he had been able to detect the aura emanating from some of the gifted, which seemed only natural considering that Jinja’s bride-to-be was the granddaughter of the High Priestess herself. Of course, they would choose to have people of power nearby, in the event that the ceremony descended into chaos.
Behind a podium in the center of the stage stood a big man holding what looked like a bull’s horn. It amplified his voice as he said, “We know that you have all been waiting for this union.” It was 3 p.m., and as the crowd fell silent to lend their ears to the man’s address, the ceremony had officially begun.
“The day has come for two powerful families of two villages to become one. We thank you all for being here. Firstly, I would like to thank our village chief, Romu, for making sure that this wedding is officially recognized by the government in town.” Romu stood and waved his hand to the crowd. Taking his time, the grin on his face showed his pleasure at being the center of attention. When there was no sign of him sitting down, the wedding host continued talking.
“We would also like to thank the High Priestess for her commitment to making sure that this wedding will go according to plan.” Nora stood for a brief moment and nodded toward the crowd. She also nodded toward Jinja’s family, who were sat in front of the stage to her left.
“Of course, this goes without saying, but we would like to thank the groom, Jinja, and his family in preparing such a momentous event.” Jinja and his family stood and greeted the crowd with waves and smiles alike.
“And now, please cheer for our bride, the granddaughter of the high priestess, Kenda!”
The crowd erupted into claps and cheers as Kenda came out of the mini stage at the front of the wedding venue. The designers had fashioned a white door in the middle of the small stage for the bride to come out from. Goni thought that this was impressive. Nobody in Daa had seen it done before, and it also lent the bride an air of mystery because the congregation could not see her walking to the front. In his lifetime, he had witnessed each of the daughters of the High Priestess getting married, including his own wedding to Pilly, but none of them had been betrothed to the son of a village chief. Nothing was as grand as this.
Kenda was wearing a long, flowing white wedding dress. Courtesy of the red flowers on her head, she looked older than her age, and her entire aura suggested an almost fairy-like appeal. If Goni hadn’t known about the arranged marriage, he would have thought that she was the perfect bride, waiting for her beloved groom.
Hands clasped at her waist, Kenda walked forward. With the stone nowhere in sight, Goni had no other choice but to walk slowly toward the stage.
* * *
The crowd fell silent as Kenda appeared from the stage door. She saw the jaws of several women near the stage dropping. Kenda’s beauty alone outshone everyone and everything today, but it did not make her happy.
She looked at each side of the stage to where the two families were seated. Jinja’s family looked happy, while her own were expressionless. As Kenda’s eyes flicked across the gathering of guests beyond the stage, she could see that they, too, were happy and, most probably, eager to eat.
In just a few hours, the ceremony would be finished, and after a few days, the food and the wedding venue would be gone and everyone would go back to their normal lives.
Everyone, except her.
She remembered that she needed to be angry in order to use the stone. She looked at Jinja to give rise to her anger, but, surprisingly, nothing happened.
“Now, the groom may stand next to his bride!” The host’s voice was fired-up, barely maintaining the formality required for the wedding. As Jinja got closer, Kenda could feel herself becoming angrier. She touched the stone on her necklace, but there was no smoke, nor any commotion from the crowd. Most of the people were just smiling from ear to ear. Kenda’s anger was replaced with frustration.
From what she could remember of Daa tradition, weddings were usually short. The ceremony would be over once the two of them shared rice from a coconut bowl.
Lost in thought, Kenda did not notice when the girls came up the stage and surrounded her and Jinja. They were wearing white dresses and looked like little brides. The girls held hands to form a circle which placed her and the groom in the middle. Only then did Kenda realize that they would be performing.
They began tapping their little feet, and the crowd started clapping to the beat. Their ages ranged from anywhere between six to ten years of age, but all Kenda could see was these tiny cherubic girls getting married. How many of them were already promised to other families? she thought. How many of them will lose their innocence and not get a chance to be themselves, just to satisfy the needs of men? How many of them will on
ly succumb to marriage as a means of avoiding death?
Kenda clenched her fists, not hearing the chants of the little girls. Someone had to take a stand, and she was sure it was her. But just when she was about to speak her protest, her chest suddenly felt hot, and the stone began to vibrate on the thin chain against her neck, begging to be released.
Clutching the stone, she shouted, “Come out, smoke! Come out and hide me!”
The stone erupted in a big explosion.
The girls froze. The crowd scattered in all directions. Jinja looked in Kenda’s direction but was unable to see her due to the blanket of smoke now curling around her.
Lifting the hem of her dress, Kenda jumped off the stage.
Oddly, she couldn’t see her dress, even though she was holding it. She looked at her hands, and they, too, were invisible.
Kenda understood now that the smoke and explosion were only a distraction.
The real magic of the stone had been to make her invisible.
She gathered her wits before the crowd could get ahold of themselves. Kenda ran toward the direction of the pass leading down the mountain. Her long dress stopping her from running fast, she tore the skirt with her teeth.
She didn’t know how long the magic would last, but Kenda hoped that it would be long enough before her grandmother understood that she had escaped.
Chapter 7
Run
All Nora could hear was the thumping of her chest.
She tried to go near the stage to make sure that Kenda was okay, but it was almost impossible to reach due to the number of people running in all directions. She pushed forward, only to be pushed back by screaming women. Craning her neck to see the stage among the sea of people, she noticed that Kenda wasn’t there. Jinja looked bewildered, the broken circle of small girls crying uncontrollably around him.
Something was wrong. The stage was unblemished. There had been a loud explosion and a sea of smoke, but everything looked normal except for the confused and horrified people. She braced herself, pushed toward the host’s podium, and picked up the abandoned bull’s horn. As the high priestess, she had to take control of situations when people were afraid, especially when it came to the unknown.
This was one of those situations.
Nora dashed across the stage to Jinja. Gripping his shoulders, she shook the dazed groom. “Where is Kenda?”
“I… don’t know. I’m sure she was just here. She... disappeared after the explosion. I haven’t seen her leaving.” Jinja slowly looked around him, looking more disoriented.
Nora sniffed the remnants of smoke. Most of it had dissipated. So had the people. Some of the guests still lingered near enough for them to see the stage but were far enough from danger. Her husband, Cesar, joined her on the stage.
“The smoke smells odd,” Nora said absently to herself. In deep concentration, she examined the floor. Now that she was standing on the stage, she could clearly see that there was not even a scratch on the wood. A sudden realization hit her.
“Find the bride!” Nora shouted into the bull’s horn. Everyone turned their heads toward her; she, on the other hand, turned to Jinja. “Gather your village’s strongest men. We need to find my granddaughter. I hope she is not in danger.”
“Do you think she was kidnapped before our wedding was proclaimed?” Jinja seemed focused now.
“I don’t know for sure, but what I am certain of is that the explosion was just a distraction. The smoke smells of a magician’s powder.”
Jinja jumped from the stage and darted to the remaining guests lingering near the wedding venue.
Goni, seeing that Nora had caught on quickly, watched the scene unfold before following Jinja. In just a few minutes, the men of Taa were all gathered like a hunting team.
Unfortunately, Goni detected that gifted people were a part of it.
* * *
Kenda followed the same path she had walked the first time she had tried to escape. She knew that she would not survive without proper clothes, and she wouldn’t risk taking the path full of leeches to the west.
Panting, she stopped for a second to catch her breath. When she finally reached the point where she had been caught before, she tried to stop herself from panicking as memories of her capture flooded in her mind. She took a long, deep breath, and with a steely determination, her feet hopped from stone to stone, avoiding stepping on the sand that would leave tracks for the men to follow.
She leaned on a rock to gather her strength as she approached a mountain with a sheer rock face. The path was called Budlay, which translated as “difficult” because it was hard to follow the path. This part was one of the most difficult areas when going to town. Small footholds were carved into the sturdy of the mountain. A good grip and a good balance were necessary to avoid falling.
The opposite bank of the river was also bordered by a rocky mountain. Due to frequent erosion, the paths that had once been traversed on that side were now abandoned. The river below was calm, but the raging current a few meters further downstream had claimed the lives of many people.
Kenda’s greatest concern right now was being spotted before she could finish traversing the rocky climb. It was a long way, and the magic of the stone, having only lasted for about an hour, had worn out.
She was sure that people would have figured out by now that the explosion had been nothing more than a distraction. She was also sure that they would be trying to find her. By now, her grandmother would have been perfectly sure that Kenda had taken this route. Sometimes, Kenda thought that her grandmother had some sort of telepathy, even though Nora admitted that her powers were only limited to talking to those who had passed away.
She quickened her steps. Fortunately, she was used to climbing rocks, her strong legs steadying her steps.
When just a few steps were left, she heard dogs barking. She turned and saw more than two dozen people running toward the path that she had taken. She caught a glimpse of her grandmother, and her pulse quickened. There was a good distance between them and it would surely take some time for them to catch up, but with Jinja’s group joining the hunt, Kenda was afraid that they would soon close the distance.
It was getting darker and colder. Without the sun to dry the water slipping through the rock, the climb was becoming more slippery. With the barking of the dogs ringing in her ears, Kenda was close to panicking. She took one more look at the people chasing her and saw Goni. Would Goni betray her? It seemed like he was helping the men from Taa to catch her.
Her legs now wobbly with fear, she took one more step. Her foot missed the outcropping and, screaming, she tumbled from the rock face.
Her world turned upside down as her head hit the water first. Kenda moved her arms and legs frantically, but her body kept on sinking. Afraid to look into the depths of the water, she closed her eyes.
Her feet hit the bottom of the river, and, in a panic, she flailed her arms and kicked hard. Longing for air, she gave a strong kick that propelled her upward, and as soon as she broke the surface, she inhaled as much air as her lungs could draw before coughing at the water also entering her mouth.
She opened her eyes. In that brief moment, she saw her grandmother approaching the shallow part of the river ahead of the Budlay path.
“Kenda!” Nora waved her arms. “I will throw you a bamboo. Just stay where you are, and we will help you.”
As she started to plummet again, Kenda saw men holding bamboos reaching the water’s edge. She was exhausted and had taken in too much water, and she couldn’t seem to move her hands anymore. She felt the strong current begin to reach toward her, but something stopped her from getting carried away by the water.
She thought she was dreaming, but a hand gripped her wrist and pulled her up. Her face broke the surface, and a man helped her stay afloat by offering her the bamboo. Kenda clung to it like it was her savior. She coughed uncontrollably, and the man now in the water beside her gently patted her back. Wrapping his arms around her, the man swa
m for the shore, pulling Kenda through the water.
“Thank you,” Kenda said as they approached the riverbank.
“My pleasure.” The man bowed his head. He helped her to stand when they reached the sand. “I am glad that you are safe.”
“I have a favor to ask,” Kenda spluttered. “I know that it is ridiculous, but I just want you to let me go.”
“I’m afraid that is not possible. I might lose my life if I do.”
“Then I’m sorry.” Kenda quickly jabbed two quick punches to his chin, and the unconscious man fell to the sand with a thud.
Kenda regretted using her training against a man who had saved her life, but she didn’t have a choice. She was also thankful that Goni had trained her well enough to knock someone unconscious without killing them. She just wished that he had taught her how to swim.
Nora and the men pursuing her were quickly gaining pace, now running toward her from further along the riverbank. Kenda knew that she would surely be caught if she chose to just run. Despite the fear, she jumped back into the water and kicked her legs until the bamboo moved down toward the raging current.
* * *
Thanks to the current, Goni estimated that Kenda would have covered twice the distance that she would have achieved through running. Goni also assumed that she had conserved energy by letting the water carry her. Now, Kenda was nowhere to be seen, and there was no trail by which she could be followed.
“Idja, I don’t want us to be running blindly. We need to be sure where my granddaughter is.”
Nora stopped in her tracks and faced Idja. The face of the man before her had no wrinkles yet, but he looked older than his age, thanks to his long, white hair. Idja’s white beard was also about five inches long, at its longest in the middle and shorter on the sides. Goni had always suspected that he had a gift, and now it had been confirmed.
Nora used her staff to support herself. “I can’t use my ability now, because I need to be physically strong.” Whenever Nora used her spiritual ability, she quickly became exhausted.