Then.
Two weeks from now was
Midsummer.
Onua had always loved
the Midsummer festival because the dancers were so beautiful, in robes of light
orange and yellow, dancing around the fire. That was how the festival opened of
course, with the Sun Dance. Then there was food, hundreds of dishes of good things,
spicy things, sour things, sweet things, all extremely delicious. Then were several
more dances, where anyone could dance, not just the people who had been trained.
Then came a marvelous display of magic: Fireworks shimmering in the sky.
This lasted until about
midnight, when the last part of the evenig commenced. It had been, up until last
year, Onua's favorite part. A 14-year-old girl would come out and dance, slowly,
and gradually faster. It was supposed to be a display of how the Horse Lords created
the K'miri. Everyone loved it, excpet Onua.
Because the girl had to
wear a crown made from thorns.
Last year, Onua had watched
the dancer, a girl named Leilani, and seen tears stream down her face, and blood
stream down her forehead. Before, Onua had just thought that the thorn crown and
blood were just effects, but as she watched the pearly tears roll down Leilani's
cheeks, she knew they weren't.
And today, today was Choosing
Day.
On Choosing Day, the whole
tribe gathered round the village healer, who announced who would be in the ritual.
Onua was afraid. Her friends, Rhia and Sarra, were fourteen. They might be chosen
for the ritual.
It never occured to her
to be afraid for herself.
"Onua Chamtong shall be
our final dancing girl!" boomed the village healer. Everyone erupted with cheers.
It was an honor to be the dancing girl, and even her father, a strict and stoic
man, enveloped her in a bear hug.
"She shall go to Leilani
to be trained."
Onua didn't hear; all
she could think about was blood mingled with tears...blood and tears...
Later, Leilani grabbed
Onua's hand, and said, "Come on."
Onua followed her.
"They don't tell you,"
Leilani said bitterly, "Honor, yeah, right. I'm so sorry, Onua, so, so sorry. I
would do it again for you. You have always been my friend. But the village healer
has spoken. And wasn't he one of the ones that...? A man of the Gods, and he...They
don't tell you, and I can't either...And you can't run, Onua, because they always
find you."
"What are you talking
about?" asked Onua, wondering if Leilani had lost her wits.
"I'm sorry," said Leilani,
and to Onua's surprise, tears began to pour down her cheeks.
Leilani had led Onua to
a small clearing in the woods. "Let me teach you the dance, Onua."
"Leilani, what is it?"
Onua asked, persistent, "Is it really that bad to wear the thorn crown?"
"It is that bad. But the
rest, the rest is worse. Now, let me teach you the dance."
Onua watched her for a
second, and began to try the complicated dance steps. After several days training,
Onua had mastered the dance. Then Leilani took Onua to her house, and opened a
small wooden box. Inside it was a crown of thorns.
"Here," she said, picking
it up and giving it to Onua, "Here's the crown." Leilani said "crown" in a completely
disgusted way.
Onua took it, and the
thorns tore her skin.
