Author's Note: okay. I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this chapter. My computer is crap and doesn't work very well so it was hard to finish the chapter. Plus I haven't had a lot of time with school and all. I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up a LOT quicker. Hope you like this chapter…I had to rewrite it like six times. Tell me what you think.
Chapter 5: Rain Dance
Cold and tired and wet. That's what Kalic was. He could feel hunger gnawing away at his insides as well. He was hiding, wedged in between these two incredibly hard boulders. And of course, it was raining. This was the first time it had rained since last spring. He was out there waiting for these guards shift to be over and according to what Nurmai had told him, that should be soon.
He had left his home around midnight; Nurmai had changed his mind about the time Kalic was to leave while he was out "getting things." He had come back empty handed and without explanation.
Nurmai rushed in, dripping wet. I watched him through half-closed eyes, expecting to get couple of hours of sleep before I had to leave.
"Get up."
I sat up, startled. "Why? I don't have to go for a long while…can't I get a little sleep? I'm exhausted…"
Nurmai glared at me. "No, you're going to leave now. It's perfect."
Grumbling, I rose and walked over to Nurmai. I looked at him and asked where the "things" he had to get were. He shook his head and reached for the box that still waited on the table. He opened it.
"Here's what you will need," he explained to me about each thing. Then he said mildly, "Don't screw up."
Kalic looked up and saw the guard turning to leave his post. Here goes, he thought and darted towards the open gate. He got in without anyone noticing; not that there was anyone around to notice a young boy entering the gate.
Deciding to take his time, Kalic wandered towards what looked like a large garden walk. No one would be out there right now, seeing how it was pouring so hard. He wandered in and out of small terraces with fountains, fishponds, and various statues. Tall, evergreen hedges separated each one. He was about to walk into another one when something stopped him.
There in front of Kalic was one of the strangest sights he had ever seen. A young woman was spinning and twirling across the terrace. Her damp wet hair curled around her pretty face and she seemed to have an otherworld quality. And what made the sight even stranger was the fact that she was being followed by an assortment of different animals. None of them seem to be bothered in the least bit by the rain; in fact the girl appeared to relish the wetness of everything.
She spun around again and her drenched skirt swirled out again then clung to her equally damp legs. She must be some sort of goddess, Kalic wondered. She was so graceful and delicate. As he watched she laughed and clapped her hands. Kalic thought she must be talking to herself the realized that she was directing her conversation to the animals with her. His jaw hung open with amazement.
"Hey! You boy!" a strange male voice shouted.
Kalic spun around in time to see a large man charging towards him. Kalic panicked and started running strait ahead to evade the man. Not thinking, he had run right into the beautiful, dancing woman. She stumbled and he rushed to help her.
"I- I'm so sorry," he stuttered, even more struck by her beauty up close. She couldn't have been much older than him, he realized. In fact, she looked a year or two younger.
The girl looked at him curiously. "It's alright, I'm fine." Her gray-blue eyes stared at him as if she was trying to read his mind. In her eye there was a flicker of understanding and something else, possibly amusement. Kalic thought it strange.
The other man puffed into the terrace. "Has he bothered you Miss Salmalín?"
"No, no, not a bit. I told him to meet me here you see…this is my friend…" she paused, thinking.
"Kalic," the boy supplied his name, wondering what this strange girl was doing.
"Yes, Kalic here is my new tutor. We were supposed to meet, what? Half an hour ago? I just lost track of time. I'm sorry to worry you Sir Raoul." She smiled sweetly.
The man looked at Kalic skeptically. "If you say so…" Then he walked away shaking his head, thinking, Where on earth did Daine find that one?
The girl started to walk away after the other man left, only going in the opposite direction.
"Hey, wait!" Kalic called and ran to catch up with her. "Thanks," he said rather dumbly. He wasn't sure why he was doing this. He should just be thankful that he hadn't been caught and moved on. But this girl, there was something about her, some mystery. He couldn't just watch her walk away.
She spun around to look at him, her face was hard. "Why are you here?" she demanded. "Why were you spying on me?" She looked hurt almost, but for what reason, Kalic could not discern. "Did my mother tell you to? Well you can go tell that I can take care of myself!" She shouted this into Kalic's face, which left him rather stunned.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy on you, really. And I've never met your mother. I have no idea who you are. What's you're name?"
She studied him again, those piercing gray eyes seemed to look right into him. He shifted slightly. "Eckalaria Sarasri Salmalín. People call me Ecko." She shrugged and pulled at a lock of her black hair. "Why are you here anyways? Didn't you know it was raining?"
At this Kalic laughed. Raining. Hadn't she just been out here dancing in the rain? Who was she to talk? It wasn't like he had much of a choice, but she, she had plenty of choices. If was obvious that she was well-bred and wealthy. Probably because of his exhaustion and the fact that he was soaking wet, he found this comment hilarious. Oblivious to his thoughts, Ecko went on, "Really? Why would you come out on a day like this?"
This made Kalic laugh harder. Ecko looked at him oddly, then started to laugh too. "You are really strange, you know that?"
Kalic smiled. You have no idea, he thought. No idea.
