Chapter Two

My breath caught as the vicious crowd closed in on me.

"What's the matter?" one taunted.

"Look at him. He's scared." One drawled.

"It's cause he don't have that set of shiny knives with 'im." A boy stepped forward, parting the crowd. The other voices hushed instantly. They all knew him,

just as I knew him. He was the son of the Priest in our village, a highly respected individual who went from cottage to cottage, praying and healing the sick

people.

I stared him down as he placed his hands on his hips and flashed a toothy grin. "Well, well," he said pleased, "Looks as if we caught you midst your sinful

act."

"I don't know what you're growling about, Renji," I began, "but whatever it is, it's a lie."

"So, you deny the accusations." He arched one brow. "Living proof that you are guilty as predetermined."

"Why you—"

"Koda!"

I immediately turned at the voice. My sister Maya was approaching at my right. Her haste made me wonder who had alerted her of this nonsensical prank.

"Maya," I said quietly.

"How could you?" she exclaimed sliding into Renji, who slipped his arm around her waist. Her features were pinched into a painful expression. Surprise and

anger welled in my stomach. I hadn't known they were seeing each other.

"How could I what?" I asked harshly.

"For this act of disloyalty," Renji said, more for the crowd than for me, "I hereby banish you from this village."

"What?" I exclaimed shocked. What disloyalty were they talking about? I had done nothing wrong.

"I don't know what you're—"

"Don't." Maya warned violently. The hurt lingering in her eyes pained me.

"Just go," she said looking in the distance. She was desperately trying to hide something. What, I wasn't completely sure.

By then, a gap in the crowd emerged behind me. Nodding sadly, I took one last look at her and Renji before slipping away. My eyes stung as hot tears ran

down my cheeks, temporarily blinding me in the process.

After following the river for a few miles, I collapsed near the border of some trees. The sun was still high in the sky, but it was well past noon when I had

been confronted openly. I lay there for a while, willing myself to rest until I was able to continue my journey.

I stared blankly into the small fire I had started minutes before. Balancing on my haunches, I flippantly tossed a twig into the hungry flames.

"I'll get him for this." I said out loud. The tears were long since forgotten as revenge took precedence in my heart.

"Who does Renji think he is, anyways," I went on as the fire snapped. "Taking my sister from me is one thing, but banishing me afterwards, without so much

as asking my blessing, is barbaric."

Another twig fell into the flames as my anger rose.

"What's that dog up to anyways?"

Shadows shifted as the clouds began to cover the full moon. The slow, yet steady, hum of the river did little to change my mood. The trees in the dim light

appeared as towering giants and monsters from stories of old.

"Well, whatever he's up to, he won't get the best of me."

The snap of a twig made me jump up, my hand instinctively going for the dagger at my belt.

"Koda," a sweet lullaby touched my ears.

I relaxed.

Maya stepped out of the shadows. Her long dark hair swept around her waist as a light breeze picked up. The simple dress she wore complimented her sky

blue eyes.

"Sister," I said shocked.

Glancing around hesitantly, she relaxed once she saw I was alone. Taking a seat by the fire, she waited patiently for me to say something. When I didn't,

however, she spoke up.

"I came to tell you what happened since you can't remember," she whispered.

"I can't remember because I didn't do it."

"I know."

"And perhaps if you would have just given me the chance," I stopped. "Wait . . . . You know I'm not guilty?"

She nodded.

"Then . . . why didn't you say something?"

"Because I knew that if I did, we would both be banished and then there would be no way to help you survive." She pushed back a strand of wayward hair.

"I came to tell you that you were not banished for an unjust thing, brother. Our parents are no longer alive, and this is why they banished you."

My vision blurred.

"I know this is hard news for you to take in, but please, listen to me carefully." She reached into her dress pocket and took out something wrapped neatly in

a kerchief. Caressing it, she smiled to herself before glancing at me with a strange determination that was not so unnatural for my baby sister.

"It is true that our parents were murdered," she said bluntly, "but it is a falsehood for the villagers to blame you."

At that I was grateful for the fact I was sitting. If I had been standing I would have fallen to the ground, miserably embarrassing myself.

"The reason why Renji blamed you was because he believes the town would have tried to attack him and his father if the murderer was not found. He

determined to take this matter into his hands quickly and without fault, hoping that it was you in the process. But, because of your confusion, Renji felt it was

his duty to silence you by over powering your voice and immediately banishing you. If we had held a trial you would have walked free, seeing as there is no

evidence pointing at you as the criminal."

She motioned for me to sit beside her and I obliged. Once close to her, I let her wrap an arm around me and bring my head to her shoulder. "You may cry for

our parents, Koda, but remember, their deaths were not in vain. They did not die because they did not know." She sighed and kept her hand on my head.

After a few minutes, I was able to sit straight and meet her gaze. "Maya, why didn't you tell me about you and Renji's arrangement?"

This caught her off guard because she didn't say anything at first. Then, as if by some invisible force, she hung her head and began to tell me a story.

"When I was out at the fields, Renji would walk by each afternoon on his way to the nearby village with his father. Every day I would see them pass by, and

every day Renji would look at me and smile with that air of his.

"At first I thought nothing of it, but as it went on, it soon became a habit of ours until a year had passed, and finally he decided one day to visit me while his

father went alone." She clutched the object inside the kerchief to her chest. "He would walk with me in the fields and help with some of the harvest. Before

long, I began to gather feelings for him and it was then decided that I wanted something more of our relationship.

"When I brought it to his attention, he had admitted he felt the same way. So, in that manner we began to see each other more publically. When our fathers

found out, it was quite a discussion. Father did agree to let us marry with his blessing. At least, that is what Renji told me. That was right before they were

murdered."

She was silent. The shadows once again shifted, revealing her pretty porcelain face. I knew that father had loved her just as he had me, but for me it was

more determined as pride. I was proud of the woman she was becoming. And I was certain Father had been too. However, I could not see him blessing the

two of them. Father and I had many talks, many of which had been town politics and such.

Not once had I heard an encouraging word about that Priest, nor his son. They were always spoken about with mixed emotions. None of which, I was aware,

would lead to a marriage between Maya and Renji.

"I see," was all I could manage as she looked at the kerchief in amazement.

"I never knew he would choose me."

Something about what she said struck me hard. Did Renji really want to marry Maya or was it his way of manipulating things in the village to meet his needs?

I knew Renji better than anyone because we had grown up together in a sense when we were very young. And just like now, he had been ruthless and

aggressive about getting his way. Now that he was bent on taking my sister, he was prone to legalities in the village. He could hold a council and if needed

could become a great voice among the others.

Something about Maya's involvement in all this scared me. I had to tell her what Renji was up to. Unless . . . unless she already knew . . . .

"Maya," I said suddenly, interrupting her.

"Yes?" she asked; eyes wide.

"I think Renji is setting you up as well." I didn't mean to make it sound painful, but as I realized the words I said, I couldn't think of any other way to express

my revelation.

"How do you mean?"

"I think he is using you as an excuse to have a higher voice in the village." I said slowly. "Once he is married, he can hold a council and a vote. He can then

make something of himself that won't involve following his father every last place he goes." I frowned. "In a way, he will become fully free from his father's

instruction and have no need to subject himself to any authority."

Maya frowned as well. "He would use me to do that?"

"I'm sure of it." I concluded. "Have you forgotten that I used to venture with him when we were children?"

"No," she replied sternly. "I have never forgotten . . . which is why I came to you as I did. If he knew I had come to you in this manner, he would call me the

sinner of the village and make me stand on that stupid stage in the square."

"Maya," I said gently, "Promise me you will not marry him until I have gotten to the bottom of this. Please," I pleaded.

She did not reply as I tugged her hands gently. "Please promise me you will heed my words, if not for your own sake or mine, then for mother and fathers'."

She stared into the licking flames as they crackled and snapped. She was soaking in my words, slowly turning them and digesting everything that would

happen if she told Renji she would not marry him until she had set her parents grief aside.

Finally, after much debate played on her face, she nodded. "I will not marry him until this grievance is settled permanently."

"Good," I said.

She snuggled in closer to me and handed me the kerchief. "This is the ring he gave me. I do not want to wear it anymore, but must hold onto it until our

wedding day unless he is found as a lying beast who desires power over love."

I kissed her forehead then leaned her against my shoulder. What would I do out here in this wilderness without her? She was the apple of mother and

father's eye—and mine as well.

"I will come back for you soon."

Her head moved vividly from my shoulder and her eyes locked evenly with mine as if to say, how could you leave me?

"I won't be gone long."

Looking to the full moon, I pondered. "By the next full moon I shall return here to this very spot. I will remain in the cover of those trees and when I return it

will be to take you away from here and that boy who will soon become a man. I will not allow him the pleasure of using my sister in this way."

She smiled and hugged me. "Oh, before I leave," she motioned to the trees. A shadow moved quickly, startling me.

"I brought something for you." A girl who lived in our village was carrying a medium sized load with her.

"Here are some clothes from the house and a pack with food. I also fetched your bow and the arrows you made this last summer. I hope they are of some

use to you. I know it's not much, but I figured it would be useful for you, something to help you survive out here."

After she had finished I clung to her in a giant hug then kissed her cheeks. "My Maya, you are becoming quite the lady." She blushed before taking up the

bow, wrapped in white linen cloth, and placing it in my open arms. I slung the quiver of arrows around my neck and shoulder before taking the pack and

setting it close to the fire.

"I will keep these things close."

"Good, now I shall be off. I don't want anyone to notice me gone." She grabbed my hand and squeezed it before turning her back on me and walking beside

her companion. A sad smile brushed my lips as I watched the most important person in my life walk away into the unknown.