The homeland was quiet when Niomee Hath crawled out of her parents home and then, standing up strode out across the grass towards the graveyard. The small enclosed field near the edge of the homeland was her favourite place to be as it contained, among others, the grave of her grandmother Ira Hath the prophetess. And beside it, standing proud and silent, the memorial stone for her namesake and mothers sister Kestrel Hath, who had given her life to save the Manth people from the approaching evil of the Morah.
Niomee's full name was Niomee Kestrel Hath, after her mothers sister who had sacrificed herself to give her family a good home safe from evil. Niomee only knew the truth about what had happened on that final night from her Uncle Bowman, who as well as being Kestrel's twin brother had been there when Kestrel gave herself up to the singer people. Her mother, Pinto Hath, had married Mumpo shortly after Kestrel's death, and Mumpo had slowly grown to love Pinto, even though she was the younger sister of the woman he truly loved.
Niomee had been shocked by the news that her father hadn't truly loved her mother, but she had grown out of it, and to save her heart from the worry it was giving her she had spoken to her father about it. His words echoed in her mind as she crossed the grass towards the tall stone that could be seen from across most of the homeland.
"Kessy, listen to me now." She remembered him saying. Her family always called her Kessy or Kestrel, even though she asked them not to when she saw the pain in their eyes. It didn't really matter what she said to them about it, because deep down Pinto and Mumpo were both proud to have their daughter named after Kestrel Hath, and the whole family wanted to keep the name alive. "I love your mother very dearly, and she has always loved me. I love her almost as much as I loved your auntie Kess but a love like the love I had for Kess can't be got rid of easily. Don't let anyone tell you that I don't love your mother because if they tell you that then it's a lie but I won't deny it and neither will your mom, I did love Kestrel Hath and I will always love her. Pinto is my wife, and I love her dearly, but Kestrel is my love. I'm trusting you with this now Kessy, don't go spilling mom and dad's secrets around the rest of the village." She had promised, and run off to play on her own like she normally did, but deep in her heart she had understood that the knowledge of would effect her for many ears to come because it was so personal about her mother and fathers relationship. Now she finally understood the truth about how they lived and how sometimes they seemed to not be married at all, almost to be best friends brought together by some common loss. She had always thought she was just imagining things when she thought this before but now she understood that she had been simply seeing the honest truth; that her parents had been brought together by a common loss. Even this fact wouldn't have bothered her so much, but to know that your father loved your auntie better than he loved your mother is an impossible thing to accept lightly. In fact, for several days she had taken the knowledge so badly that she had refused to talk to either Mumpo or Pinto about anything, no matter what questions they asked her about what subject.
However that was a long time ago, and Niomee had accepted the truth about her family. She now took it as a good thing that her father had loved her aunt so much, as it gave her someone other than her uncle Bowman, who was rarely in the homeland anyway, to ask about the woman she idolised. Niomee was now fifteen and old enough to be wed, but she had no wish to be yet. She had met someone who her family agreed to be suitable, and she felt that she loved him, but her deepest dream in life was to become a singer and to do this she would not be able to be married. It wasn't that she really didn't want to either, for Niomee and Ross were very close and she wouldn't hesitate to marry him, if only she didn't have a wish to follow her aunt.
Her parents, her father particularly, weren't keen on her idea to become a singer, the pain of loosing Kestrel rested heavily on their hearts even though it had been seventeen years since they had come to the homeland. However both her parents had told her that it was entirely her choice for what she wanted to do in her life, and, as Niomee was constantly arguing, her uncle Bowman had been trained as one of the singer people before he had realised the truth of his destiny, that of the meeting-place. She was proud to be related to both the singers of her mothers generation, and was even more proud that her parents didn't have too great a problem with her going away from the homeland to learn as a singer.
"Kessy?" A voice asked behind her as she drew near to the graveyard, and she replied without looking back, knowing that the only person to call her Kessy apart from her parents was Ross and that only Ross would be out walking in the dark at this time of night.
"What's doing?" she asked, and stopped to wait for him to catch her up. "Not often we see you out here at night." She smiled gently as he caught up with her and stood beside her.
"I came to pray to Ira." He replied. "I need the prophetesses help on something important." It had recently become a habit of the Manth people to come to the graveside of Ira Hath and ask for guidance. It didn't matter whether it was a big thing or just a question about something small like whether to buy a dress or not, everyone who went to Ira claimed to get help in some unknown way.
"Oh, what's the problem?" She asked. It was normally thought as rude to ask why someone was visiting the Prophetess but Ross and Kessy never felt like this.
"It's something I feel I need help on. It's nothing serious," He replied, not looking at her.
"Oh, okay. I'll come with you, I'm going to visit Kestrel anyway." She didn't push him for information about why he was going to pray and they walked on in companionable silence for several minutes, until Ross took her hand in his and drew to a stop beneath a large tree.
Chapter one up. Chapter two will continue straight after chapter one left off so will start with the conversation between Niomee and Ross. I'm not sure exactly where this is going, and I reckon it was probably fairly confusing but I'm only starting with Wind On Fire so be patient. Please Read And Review this chapter, any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Love and peace as always, Stargazing Maiden.