We last met Raye in chapter 4 (Abducting the Princess). Jedite's men were sent to abduct Amy, but ended up taking Raye to their leader instead. At first Raye leads her abductors in a hunt for her friend, but soon realizes that it's too late. By the end of chapter 4 Raye swears to find her friend even if it means joining ranks with her abductors.

Your patience is now rewarded with a short chapter.

-MW

Chapter 9: Gently Coerced

The Priestess with no name came to be detached and alienated from the men of Jedite's tribe. She kept a distance and never spoke a word to anyone. It was entirely obvious that she would not trust anyone with her thoughts and opinions. However, their leader, Jedite, occasionally would catch a foul expression coming from her when he gave a command to his men. He didn't have to look at her sometimes and still feel her violet eyes scorching the back of his head.

At times, Jedite wanted to just go up to the firey priestess and ask for her opinion and wisdom, but like the rest of his men, he found her regrettably unapproachable. Play with fire and get burned by fire. He was hoping that he could someday be able to ask her, "Hey, what do you think of my plan? Do you sense any signs of forebode?" That day would come if he could win his way into her trust.

One day, Jedite finally gathered up his courage to speak to the priestess. Only problem was, he needed old, bald Billy's help to coax the girl out of her gloomy state.

"Excuse the interruption, Priestess. Billy and I have come to make a suggestion," Jedite said humbly.

Billy and Raye snorted at the same time. For a moment the older man and the younger woman paused to acknowledge each other silently. They were mentally sizing each other up, Jedite assumed.

Raye readjusted her concentration from Billy to the leader again. "We're way passed the point of being polite with one another. What's the suggestion?" She inquired calmly.

"I want to have Billy here teach you a thing or two about the world. We are a moving cavalcade that blends with the seasons and befriends nature. The world is are home and our tool of our trade. You'd be surprised what Billy can teach you about the wilderness. Billy taught me when I met him ages ago."

Billy chortled. "When he was a lad, he barely could walk on his two feet. Apparently, all he was taught was how to read, write, and play with swords. This chap used to move like a little girl."

Jedite glared at his old friend. "That was a different time and I did not move like a little girl! I was just a little stiff and unaccustomed to the wild."

Raye turned from them. Billy and Jedite caught the glint of humor, a fleck of burgundy in her violet eyes. Billy jabbered some more, a wide grin stained his face, "I agree—stiff as an old man coming out of hibernation. You can never learn enough, boss."

"The teacher and the student, the subordinate and the master," she half sighed, "I think I'm beginning to understand the aura between you two. I rather like the balance of power and only wish it was extended in the universe." Her eyes hardened and the burgundy vanished from them, leaving her eyes coal-like from the distance. "We passed the point of politeness, but I cannot see myself consorting with you folk."

"We told you, Priestess. We mean you no harm," Jedite said in a mellow tone.

Raye went around them, shaking her head at the same time. "My instincts have always told me not to trust too easily. You should follow your own instincts, too. Following your friend around and learning my way through the wilderness sounds appealing and even fun-"

"Don't count on that, Kid," Billy scoffed.

Raye paused and stared at Billy for a second before she rattled on, "To me it does sound fun because what I do is not fun and sometimes my line of work can be… disappointing. I can't be doing something at my leisure, not when my friend is missing."

"It's that stupid brother of mine who is at fault here."

"This brother of yours sounds like an ambitious man," Raye spoke, thoughtfully.

"Ambitious? He's a womanizer and that's all I've ever known him to be. You don't know what he might do to Amy when he gets his hands on her…"

Raye glared. "You don't have to worry about Amy. I know Amy and she might not seem it, but she's as tough as you if not even tougher."

Shaking his head, Jedite grumbled, "I certainly hope you're right."

"You need major counseling and if I didn't see you as a threat because you kidnapped me, I would be glad to give you that counsel. It's too bad circumstances turned out this way," with that said, Raye departed from view by speedy exit. She maneuvered her way out of the camp to be with her self again. She ignored the petrified and suspicious looks the men gave her as she brushed passed them.

"Trying to win her over is like grabbing a raging bull by the horns, ain't it?" Billy quizzed.

"I beg your pardon, Billy. It's not like that to me."

"You pretty boys are full of yourselves." Billy took off in the opposite direction, possibly returning to his own tent to rest.

Raye spent most of the day, meditating on the edge of a cliff that faced the distant camp. She could hear the bustle of Jedite's camp from the distance as if she were in there at that moment. Away from people, even her judgments seemed potently sound. She could hear everything from her own thoughts to the murmur of the White Moon's breath. The Moon breathed like a child with asthma, but it still breathed, which confirmed that life still went on.

The crackle of sticks startled Raye out of her meditation and she was back in the world with the real people again. She turned part-way to look into the forestry behind her to see Billy coming out from behind a tree.

"Hey, Kid! It's almost time for supper!"

"I'm not hungry," she grumbled, turning to face the sky again.

"Then, what are you?" He asked.

She didn't answer him, but focused a small part of her soul on the spirit of the White Moon again.

"You know," he murmured, plopping down beside her. "If people saw you sitting over the edge of a cliff, they'd think you pretty bizarre."

"I don't care what they think."

He chuckled. "That's good, but you're going to care what I think. Everyone under my care seems to care what I think."

"I'm not under your care."

"You are to me, Kid. And because you are, you need to know what I think of you sitting up here all by yourself; I find it not bizarre, but rather fantastic."

She turned her head, her enormous purple eyes meeting his calming chocolate brown eyes. He continued in his carefree manner, "You know… overcoming your fear of heights is like becoming an eagle."

"What's an eagle?" She asked inquisitively.

"It's a creature that rules the sky in my world. It soars over the horizon of Earth."

She turned back to the sky. "The White Moon has no such creatures. I do wish to meet an eagle of Earth and learn who he is someday."

"You already have, Kid. You're sitting on a cliff that could crumble and you're not afraid of the sky."

Raye straightened her spine and glanced sideways at the balding man. "Perhaps I'm not really fearless. Perhaps I am ignorant to the consequences of my actions."

"Perhaps." He smiled. "I rather like how you think outside the box."

Raye shrugged.

"Hey, Kid. Do you know you're sitting next to a Phaloidin Moon Lily?"

Raye stared at the orange flower by the tip of her shoe. "It's beautiful."

"It is, but looks can be deceiving. It's a powerful poison and one prick of it's thorn on your finger will put you in a coma."

Raye jumped from her seat and took a few steps back.

"You'll be fine if you weren't stroking it," Billy laughed.

"It's not funny!"

"In my world, parents used to tell their children a fairytale. A beautiful princess pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep. The way I remember Phaloidin is through the same fairytale I used to read when I was a kid. It wasn't some witch with her magical voodoo, who put the princess to sleep. It was just the poison from that plant."

"How does this story end?" Raye inquired earnestly.

"The princess was awakened from her coma when she received her true love's first kiss from a prince."

Raye snorted. "That's absurd!"

"Yeah, so don't go pricking your finger, Princess. There isn't a prince between your world and mine or beyond."

Raye dusted the sand from her long skirt with her hands and looked back up at the older man, who crushed the pretty flower under his boot. He returned her stare and asked, "Are you hungry for supper, now?"