Chapter 7
It was another week and a half before the rest of the Cullens showed up at Peter's home, but by then he'd left with Sergeant Lovejoy and his men to check some other nearby tribes. Embry and Jasper did the exact same thing as everyone else when they arrived. They searched the property up and down for any remaining smell, though the wet dog smell had long since dissipated almost completely, and tried to follow where it went. Yet just as all the others had experienced, the smell was completely lost when they reached the brook and they couldn't follow any further. When Embry and Jasper returned to the house, Esme and Alice were still sitting around Bella trying to comfort her.
"What the hell was this guy doing when Renesmee and Caevia were taken?" Emmett asked harshly.
"He told me he'd been in town trying to get a deal set up with one of his friends to sell this jam and butter in town," Edward said.
"Damn pig farmer should've brought her with him," Emmett continued. "She's the one that put all the fucking work in."
"Emmett," Rosalie said, "he's looking for her. That's all he can do."
"This is ridiculous," Jasper said. "What chance does he have of finding her? We should be the ones looking for her. We'll just keep looking until we find that gross wet dog smell."
"And where would we even start?" Edward asked. "How can we even be certain it was Indians that took her? All we have to go on is a wet dog smell and the assumption of bigots that don't like Indians anyway."
"They probably think Caevia's at fault for this whole thing," Carlisle said.
"Maybe she is," Jasper said. All but Edward looked at him stunned and confused. "Just hear me out. Caevia wasn't exactly pleased with Renesmee's decision. She was trying just as much as us to convince Renesmee to reconsider. Maybe Caevia staged it to look like they'd been kidnapped by Indians when really Caevia finally knocked some sense into Renesmee and they're on their way home."
"Then one of us needs to be at home!" Bella yelled suddenly.
"We'll go back," Carlisle spoke up. "Esme and I will wait for her in Chicago and if Renesmee and Caevia pop up, we'll send a message letting you know she's home."
"What if that's not what happened?" Alice asked. She looked as if she might cry were she able. "I can't see her. I can't see her future, I can't see what her plans are or even Caevia's. I can't see anything."
"Alice, don't start placing the blame on yourself," Jasper said rushing to her side. "If anything it's all our faults. We should've started moving our things here the moment she told us about this, wanting her independence be damned."
"Everyone," Carlisle interrupted. "We can spend an eternity thinking of what we should've done but that won't solve anything. We need to start thinking about what we can do now. Esme and I will go back to Chicago and wait for the two of them to return assuming Jasper's guess is correct. I've already sent a message to the Denalis letting them know about this and I'm sure Garrett will fill them in the rest of the way when he gets there. They'll look for her too. We can't assume that's too far for her to have been taken. One of us should start looking around Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho leaving no tribe unturned. No matter what, though, you have to keep your presence discreet."
"I'll look for her," Emmett volunteered. "I'll look over each state until I find her."
"I'll help him look," Rosalie offered, but Edward shook his head.
"We need to keep as many of us here as possible. I told Peter the rest of the family was coming and there's no telling when he'll come back and whether or not he'll have Renesmee with him when he's back."
"If we can't seem to find her, what hope does a pig farmer and a self-proclaimed 'Indian Expert' have?" Emmett asked.
"What matters is that there are a lot of people looking," Edward said. "Bella and I already checked, but look through the Spokane tribe again anyway. You never know whether or not Renesmee and Caevia are being shuttled around."
"No one will be left unchecked," Emmett nodded before running out the door to start his search East.
"We'll leave now too," Carlisle said as he lifted Esme to her feet. "We'll send word if Renesmee and Caevia come home."
"Thank you," Bella said.
After saying their goodbyes to everyone, Esme and Carlisle left the house and ran back to Chicago. When they'd arrived home at long last, Esme kept herself occupied cleaning the house, particularly Renesmee's and Caevia's rooms, so they would have a clean cozy place to come home to. Edward and Jasper periodically searched the area surrounding the house in the hopes that perhaps whatever had caused that wet dog smell would come back and lead them to Renesmee, but the smell never popped up again.
Back at the village, William was furious. Completely, unashamedly, uncompromisingly furious. He was furious that Jacob seemed so unaffected by this, he was furious that Renesmee nearly killed his niece, he was furious to find out that Renesmee was a cold one (whether she was half vampire or not was completely irrelevant) and he was just furious. Sara could do nothing to calm him because she was focusing on Leah. After the whole thing was done and over with, she actually crumbled when it really hit her that Renesmee had tried and would've been fully capable of killing her. It was days before she left the tent she and Seth shared. Sokajili's words weren't sinking in either. Following the incident when Jacob came back with Renesmee, William yelled for Jacob to come to his tent immediately so they could talk. Jacob insisted on bringing Renesmee with seeing as all the villagers were either too scared to approach her or might attempt to hurt her without knowing what else to do. Caevia forced her way into William's tent to help Renesmee understand what was going on and so she could come to Renesmee's defense and tell the whole story. Embry insisted on being there too, leaving William in his, albeit larger, tent with several more people than normal.
"It's bad enough you kidnapped a pale face, but you kidnapped a pale faced cold one!"
"I've told you," Sokajili said, "She's not entirely cold one and this woman stated the same. What was it you were telling us? Her mother was human at the time of her conception?"
"Yes," Caevia nodded, then turned to Renesmee and told her everything that had been said thus far.
"I don't care! What I care about is the fact that she nearly killed Leah! I can't trust that she won't harm anyone else!"
"I already took care of her," Jacob spoke up. "And now that we know, I can take her hunting regularly. This happened because Caevia wouldn't tell us what was going on when we asked!"
"Don't you dare try to put the blame on me!" Caevia snapped back. "After what you've done you're lucky I told you what Ididtell you. You have no right to demand-"
"This is my people's wellbeing we're discussing! I'm within my power to demand her executed for what happened today if I wanted to!" William yelled, but Jacob immediately stepped in.
"Not another word, father. You know I'll take her and leave before I let you do that."
"Where would you even go?!"
"It doesn't matter where I'd even go. What matters is without me, the chief's position will have to go to either Rebecca's or Rachael's husbands. Do you really want that?"
"Don't you threaten me,"William said harshly. Renesmee had no idea what was going on, but at the moment, she really couldn't muster a care. She was still dazed over earlier and what happened in the woods with Jacob was still weighing heavily on her mind.
"Regardless you're not taking her anywhere," Caevia stepped in. "You've done enough damage as it is thus far."
"Caevia," Embry spoke, "If it's something this serious, why wouldn't you tell any of us about this? At the very least, why didn't you tell me?"
"As I've said many times before, it's not up to me to tell you any of this without her permission. Were it not for what happened today, you still wouldn't know. I didn't tell you for the same reason."
"Listen," William started, "We can't keep her here anymore. You'll have to either take her back or find somewhere else to keep her. She's scared everyone and I won't have her walking around freely as if she's no threat to us at all."
"She won't be a threat anymore!" Jacob yelled.
"How can you be so sure? I don't want that girl here anymore!"
"Then take her home!" Caevia yelled more at Jacob than at William. "She's not happy and keeping her here longer won't make her happier."
"Would you go with her then?" Embry asked, deflated. Caevia just stared at Embry thinking of what to say, but Jacob stepped in before she could say anything.
"Going back won't make her happy," Jacob said.
"He's so bullheaded," Caevia mumbled. Renesmee finally looked at Caevia.
"What's going on?"
"William wants to get rid of you but Jacob's insisting you stay and that you won't be a threat to anyone anymore now that they're aware of the problem. I tried telling him to take you back, but he thinks that won't make you happy either." Renesmee didn't answer and looked at her fingers. "What's the matter?" Caevia asked when she looked at Renesmee.
"I ran this morning because I was scared. Not scared that they'd kill me, though. I could fight them off if I really needed to."
"Then what scared you?"
"What Jacob thought of me," Renesmee answered frankly. Having heard his name, Jacob stopped talking to his father and looked right at Caevia.
"What's going on?"
"Don't worry about that," William said. "You worry about what you plan to do about this woman. I understand she's your imprint, Jacob, but that doesn't give you free reign to compromise all our welfare."
"She's not a danger, father."
"Wishful thinking I say," William said.
"How about we do this?" Sokajili interrupted. "This happened in part because Jacob wasn't around to control the situation as he has promised he would. So from now on, no matter what Jacob, you're never to let this woman out of your sight."
"That's completely ridiculous!" Caevia said. "He doesn't need to hover of her like she's a criminal."
"Until I say otherwise," William interrupted,"she is a criminal. I'll accept Sokajili's plan, but if anything like this ever happens again, she's to be cast back where you got her from."
"I'll take care of her," Jacob said. It was better to accept Sokajili's plan now and let William cool down rather than argue over his alternative plan and make things worse.
"You don't need to take care of her. I can do that just fine. I was able to stop Renesmee before she hurt Leah after all."
"And now I'll worry about that," Jacob insisted, then looked at Renesmee. "You stay with me," he said to her.
"I'm staying with you?" Renesmee asked.
"He's trying to say that he'll be on you like a barnacle to a boat from now on." Renesmee, rather than argue, took a deep breath.
"How do I say I'm alright with that?" Caevia didn't immediately translate. Rather, she stared at Renesmee for a moment, surprised by her choice. "Please Caevia," Renesmee said when Caevia didn't immediately speak.
"She says she's alright with it." Caevia finally said.
"You say, 'I'm alright with you staying close to me.'" Jacob stepped in. He understood Renesmee was trying to ask how to say something. Now that Caevia told him what she was trying to say, it was another opportunity to teach her more Quileute.
"I'm alright with you staying close to me," Renesmee repeated. Caevia looked at the two a moment.
"Why didn't you say you wanted to learn Quileute?"
"I didn't until Jacob started teaching me. Now it just makes sense for me to start learning. We could teach other our languages. I'm impressed how quickly he's picking up English."
"I'm sure Seth will be relieved to not have to teach Jacob English anymore," Caevia said.
"Caevia," Embry suddenly spoke up. "It might help them both if you and I just kept a distance from them for a while."
"How would that help them exactly?"
"Look how much good it always does us," Embry smiled.
"You and I can understand each other. Those two can barely communicate. How would being alone do either of them any good when there's such a big language barrier?"
"I'm learningEnglishand I'll keep teaching her Quileute. There's no reason this can't work."
"I don't care what you do so long as you never leave her unsupervised." William said.
"Unsupervised?!"Caevia snapped. "What is she, a juvenile delinquent?"
"For the time being, yes,"William said. "Now all of you get out. I'm sick of talking about this."
Everyone save for William left the tent and that was the end of the subject matter for that day. Caevia and Renesmee stayed in Jacob's tent together for the rest of the day so the villagers could decompress from the day's happenings while Leah remained in her tent. William had to announce to everyone what they'd come to a consensus on and most everyone was less than pleased due simply to the fact that they really were scared of her now. Jacob, far more so than William, came to Renesmee's defense and demanded that despite what happened that day Renesmee was to be accepted as one of them.
Jacob was initially met with resistance, no one willing to accept her. One man spoke up and called Jacob a hypocrite. He and his pack as well as all packs before his had fought cold ones and shunned them as monsters and rightfully so. It was a cold one that nearly led to their demise. Were it not for the sacrifice of Taha Aki's third wife, there would be no Quileute tribe today. Now, a descendent of Taha Aki was telling his people to accept a cold one as a member of the tribe and, one day, the wife to their future chief? That prospect wasn't going down well. William stood by Jacob's demands though and that made it official. They had to accept her and be good to her whether they liked it or not.
After Jacob and William spoke with the tribe, William insisted Jacob go to his tent and look after Renesmee. Embry came with Jacob so he could spend time with Caevia since she was refusing to leave Renesmee alone, at least for the time being.
"This certainly explains why she bit you when you started running off with her," Embry said when they were all together in Jacob's tent.
"Yeah," Jacob replied quietly. At the moment, he was deep in thought over the people's reaction when he told them to accept Renesmee. He couldn't pretend that their fear wasn't warranted. "Would you mind taking Caevia and leaving me and Renesmee alone?"
"Whatever you want to discuss with her, it's certainly too complicated to talk about with both your limited English and her limited Quileute."
"I still would rather talk to her alone. I'll draw it out if I have to."
"Caevia," Embry said. "Let's just leave them alone. Please?" Caevia looked at Embry a moment, who kept his eyes pleading so she might do what he asked. Eventually, Caevia looked at Renesmee, who'd spent the remainder of the afternoon staring at her hands solemnly.
"Renesmee," Caevia said, "Jacob said he wants to talk to you alone. Are you alright with me leaving with Embry?"
"Sure," Renesmee said without even looking up.
"Are you positive? I can stay if you want me to."
"No, you can go."
Finally, Caevia left the tent with Embry and went to his own. When Renesmee and Jacob were alone, he took his time getting the conversation started. He needed to think how to word what he wanted to say. He knew a lot of it would end up being drawn in the dirt. It broke his heart how depressed Renesmee looked and trying to find the right words to attempt to comfort her was extremely frustrating.
"How you feel?" Jacob started with. Renesmee looked up at him and shifted a little. She wrapped her arms around her legs and started rocking back and forth.
"How do I feel?" Jacob nodded. "Ask me, 'How do you feel'?"
"How do you feel?" Jacob repeated. "It was…a hard day."
"Very good," Renesmee praised. "Your English is improving."
"Renesmee," Jacob said, "please tell me how you feel."
"I nearly killed your cousin. How do you think I feel?" Jacob didn't understand enough to know what she was saying. "I'm upset," Renesmee rephrased. Thankfully, Jacob understood that.
"I spoke with people," Jacob managed after thinking a minute. "Give time."
"Time won't change that I nearly killed your cousin," Renesmee mumbled more than anything.
That wasn't what was really bothering her, though. She was more concerned about the fact that despite everything, Jacob was beginning to grow on her. Dare she say, she was even starting to really like him. She'd always felt strange looking at him. She could only imagine it was attraction. She could live with being attracted to him but developing feelings for him? In short, she felt guilty. How could she have feelings for a man that forced her from her new husband? It made her feel like a bad wife. She'd barely been married a month and she was already failing as a wife. She was ashamed of herself.
"Renesmee," Jacob said. "It is alright. Give time, everything be okay."
"'Everything will be okay'," Renesmee corrected.
"Give it time, everything will be okay," Jacob repeated. Renesmee couldn't help but look up at Jacob now, impressed he'd caught his other mistake.
"You're doing so well," Renesmee said.
"Don't worry about me," Jacob said, once again, in impressive English. Suddenly, Jacob crawled to her and sat beside her. Then he took her in his arms in a hug. Renesmee was so surprised, she didn't react immediately. "I want to make you happy, Renesmee," he said. "Please let me make you happy."
He really was trying very hard. That touched her how hard he was working to communicate with her and yet it made her feel even more ashamed with herself. She started crying and pushed him away from her. Then she laid down on the blanket with her back to him. Seeing that broke Jacob's heart, but rather than let that push him away, he laid down beside her and held her in his arms again with her back to his chest. His arms were so warm, his chest so broad and warm. She couldn't push him away. His embrace was comforting no matter how much she didn't want it to be. Jacob's chin rested atop her head initially, but then he moved his head so his nose was in her hair. She really did smell sweet. He couldn't deny that. But it wasn't too sweet. It wasn't the disgusting, cloyingly sweet smell that vampires had. It was just a pleasant sweet smell like breathing in fruit. As much as Jacob wanted to kiss Renesmee, he resisted the urge. It was a miracle she was allowing this. He didn't want to risk ruining it.
The next morning, Renesmee refused to leave Jacob's tent and he stayed with her. Caevia left Embry's tent, but no one was scared of her. If anything they were shocked that she'd been able to be with cold ones for so long and be safe. But Caevia was more concerned about Renesmee. Yet despite her concerns, she stayed with Embry the whole day watching him fish and then learning how to debone and clean a fish. One of the women insisted that Caevia change out of her impractical pale face dress and wear the same leather, fur lined clothes everyone else was wearing. Caevia agreed and felt comfortable. She was shocked that she'd forgotten how comfortable it was not to wear those tighter, restrictive dresses most women wore. Embry sat with her while she did any chores with the other women. She found herself constantly defending Renesmee through all the chores and it became frustrating. Eventually, Embry decided to just take her away and they went for a walk along the beach. Eventually, they reached a white log that sat at the water's edge.
"Let's sit for a while," Embry said when they reached the log. Embry and Caevia sat on the log together and looked out into the distance. The sun was beginning to set and the waves crashed against their bare feet. "I'm sorry about today. I know you don't really want to talk about what happened yesterday."
"No," Caevia said, "I really don't."
"This will blow over eventually. Once this blows over, everything can go back to normal."
"Back to normal, huh," Caevia mumbled a little. Embry heard her strange tone of voice and sighed a little. He knew he'd have to ask her a hard question and he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to it.
"I want to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me."
"What is it you want to ask me?" Before he asked his question, Embry closed the remaining distance between them until their hips were touching. Caevia got tense and he noticed, but he pressed on.
"I want you to be completely honest with me, Caevia. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me the truth."
"Alright," Caevia nodded.
"Good," Embry said. Then he took a deep breath and prepared to ask his question. "Forget about how you got here. Forget about everything except the time you and I have spent together. Now tell me: are you happy with me? Do I make you happy?" The honest answer was he did. She'd never been this happy before and she knew it. She wasn't planning to admit that, though. What good would it do her? But when she looked Embry in the eye prepared to say none of it really mattered, she couldn't say that. Not with the way he was looking at her. No one had ever looked at her with such love and tenderness. That look made it impossible to lie to him.
"I'm happier with you than I've ever been in my whole life." The smile Embry gave her was so genuine. It warmed her heart even more. Then Embry took a hold of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.
"I want to keep making you happy Caevia. I want you to be happy here."
"Renesmee's not happy. How can I be happy when she's not? Staying here would mean abandoning her."
"You wouldn't be abandoning her if she stayed here too with Jacob. Think of how I feel about you and think about what you feel for me: what I know you feel for me. That's what Jacob feels for Renesmee. He'll make her happy if she'll let him. Just like I'll make you happy if you let me."
"Embry," Caevia began to protest, but he stepped in.
"Caevia, I want to be with you. I really do. I've been waiting for you all my life and now I want to be with you forever."
"You don't want me," Caevia said, shaking her head.
"Yes I do, Caevia. I want to marry you," Embry said. Caevia began to look teary eyed and Embry continued. "I want us to start a family." When Embry said that, she broke down and continued to shake her head.
"You don't want me, Embry. I'm not worth having."
"I do want you, Caevia. I'll do anything to make you happy. Doesn't that prove how worthwhile you really are?"
"You wouldn't think so if you really knew me," Caevia said.
"Nothing you could tell me would change how I feel about you." Caevia actually laughed a little, but it was a dark and somber laugh.
"That's not true," Caevia insisted. "If you knew, you wouldn't want me."
"Fine," Embry said. "Try me." Caevia looked up at Embry expecting him to look irritated. He was smiling gently at her, trying to be encouraging.
"I've been pregnant five times. Three were dead before they were born and two were forced from me before I could even hold them and thrown off the Pedestal. I had sex for the first time before I was even a woman." Embry wasn't sure what to say. It was a statement that was so out of nowhere he wasn't sure what to say. "I told you I wasn't worth having. I'm damaged goods, Embry."
"Start from the beginning," Embry said, seizing the opportunity to help Caevia finally talk about what happened. The two stared at each other. Embry kept his eyes encouraging and Caevia seemed as if she were challenging him with hers. He didn't change the way he looked at her, though.
"I told you I'm only half Thunderbird. My mother was of the slave class and my father was a Thunderbird. Mother never told me who he was, though, so I never knew my father. My mother was married at the time of my conception, so she was able to blame the pregnancy on him. My false father knew the truth though. My mother's husband always knew I was the result of rape from a Thunderbird. I think I was a constant reminder of that and he shunned me. My half brother shunned me, my false father shunned me, and my mother and I had virtually no relationship. Her husband wouldn't allow it."
"Why did she go along with that?"
"Fear most certainly." Caevia began to cry and she felt Embry squeeze her hand. "Once, I asked my mother if she loved me. She said, 'I want to, Caevia.'" Embry her hand again to offer comfort. He knew nothing he could say would make that pain go away. He had to settle for comforting touches. "Both my mother and her husband died of disease when I was very young. My half brother ran away around that time too. I begged him to take me with him. I literally begged, but he wouldn't. He wouldn't let me go with him and I was left alone when I was still a child."
"How did you go on from there?"
"I just did it. I took care of myself like I'd already been doing. I fended for myself until Kuruk came along." When Caevia said that name, Embry noticed her voice weaken and her grip tighten. He realized whoever this person was, this person had hurt her.
"Who was Kuruk?" He gave Caevia time to brush away the tears that fell before she continued.
"He was the man that started taking care of me. He told me I was pretty and he gave me food and clothes. I sort of latched onto him as a father figure and that worked out for a while. But one day things changed radically."
"How so?" Caevia stopped again and started shaking.
"He took me to his tent when his wife was away. He gave me food and a new dress. This time, though, he started touching me. He touched my hair, my back and before I knew it, he told me he wanted me to try on my new dress. I put it on and he told me how cute I looked. But then he made me take it off and he started touching me again. I didn't understand what he was doing at the time."
"What was he doing," Embry said as calmly as he could. It took Caevia a moment to continue.
"He was touching me intimately. We didn't have sex that day, but he did make me perform oral sex on him." Now Embry was shaking, but he kept his eyes gentle. If he let her see how angry he felt, it would discourage her. He wasn't angry with her, though. He was angry at this man that had forced himself on her and seemed to justify his behavior by feeding and clothing her.
"How long did this go on?"
"A long time, that's all I know. I wasn't a woman when it started, but I was a woman shortly after it did. He was the father of my first three children. The first time I got pregnant, I didn't know what was happening to me. I was sick, my stomach got bigger, and I thought I might be dying. I told Kuruk what was happening to me. I thought he would know what to do or what was happening. After I told him, he said he knew what to do and asked me to stand up. Then he…." Caevia stopped suddenly as tears prevented her from continuing.
"He what?" Embry said as calmly as he could.
"He punched my stomach so hard that I just fell over. I was in so much pain for so long. A woman came to my tent to examine me. I think Kuruk must have sent her. A few hours later, she apologized to me and said I'd lost my baby." Caevia's voice cracked and she began to cry more. This time Embry couldn't keep his eyes from showing how upset he was. He couldn't understand how this man could do that.
"He did that to you?" Caevia nodded. Embry gave her time to cry and he needed time to stop shaking. He was livid. She didn't deserve any of that.
"After I'd lost the baby, Kuruk came back to me and said he was sorry. He said he'd panicked and that he didn't want to hurt me. He said he hadn't meant to hurt my baby. I didn't want to accept his apology, but I was scared what would happen if I didn't. So things went back to normal after that. I don't know how long it was before I got pregnant again but the second time around, I caught it. I did everything I could to hide it. I wore looser clothes, I made sure I was covered during sex or that my stomach wasn't exposed to his view. I got further along that time. The bump got bigger and I started to feel kicking. I thought I might be able to hide the pregnancy from Kuruk and have my child. But he figured it out eventually. One day when he came to my tent, he suddenly asked me to stand up for him, but I refused. I kept refusing until he lost all his patience and forced me to stand. He punched me as he had before, but it didn't stop there. He beat me up so badly that I couldn't move for so long. I lost my second child that day."
Caevia cried more from there and Embry waited for her to finish. He was really beginning to understand why she'd been so cold initially. How could she not be after everything that happened with this man? Yet this wasn't the end of it. She'd spoken of losing five children, which meant there were three more stories to go.
"He told me never to disobey him and I didn't get help until someone overheard me. I didn't see Kuruk for a long time after that. I wanted to get back at him for killing two children, so when I was well enough, I waited until his wife was alone and told her that her husband and I had been in a relationship. I told her about the two pregnancies and how he'd beaten me to force them over. She was furious and tried to fight me, but I ran away. Later that day, Kuruk came to me and began beating me for telling his wife about our relationship. He raped me after beating me and he told me to never do that again. That was the third time I got pregnant. You know what happens next."
"He forced you to lose that baby too?" Caevia nodded and continued to cry.
"Our relationship ended after that, but he wouldn't let me move on. I fell in love with another man, but he told that man about our previous relationship and he refused to marry me. I was heartbroken. I had to move on with my life, but things kept getting harder. Then the Thunderbirds took notice of me. They found me attractive and they did to me what they'd done to my mother. The only difference is I didn't have a husband to blame my resulting pregnancies on. It was the first time a child of mine was born, but it was delivered by the Thunderbirds' medicine man. My daughter was born, but he wouldn't let me hold her. He took her away from me. I tried to crawl after him, but I just couldn't move far. The tribe has a tower from which our birds would launch off. It was also used for executions. And that's how my daughter died. They just threw her off."
Watching Caevia cry made Embry want to. And yet this still wasn't the end. Caevia told him of her fifth and final child, another girl ripped from her and thrown off the Pedestal without a name and without Caevia ever being able to hold her daughter in her arms.
"How did you come to be sold by the Thunderbirds? You said that's what happened right?" Embry couldn't believe he'd spoken with an even and calm voice. Caevia nodded.
"Yes. Pale faces came to our village and wanted slaves so our chief sold some of us. I've been sold to so many pale faces." Caevia pulled up her dress to show Embry her thigh. On it was a large symbol that looked like a T. Then on the other thigh, she had a brand that looked like a K. Then she turned her back to him and pulled the ties of her dress and showed him all her scars. "I've been beaten, I've been branded, but the worst was the whip."
"What's the whip?"
"It's a long leather string with sharp pieces on it. The one holding it lashes it against the victim's back and it tears flesh away. It's the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced save for when Kuruk would punch my stomach to force me to lose my babies." Caevia pulled her dress back up and tied it so her back was no longer exposed. Then she returned to looking at Embry and her eyes looked cold and serious. "I told you. I'm not worth anything. I'm damaged."
"No," Embry said. Then he surprised her by bringing his hand to her cheek and kissing her on the lips. She just stared at him, her eyes wide. He took back a hold of her hand and continued to kiss her. Caevia's eyes stayed open the whole time and when Embry finally took his lips away, he looked at her just as serious, but without a shred of coldness in his eyes. "None of that will happen to you ever again. No one will lay a hand on you. No one will force our children from you. You and I will have as many children as you want and they will all be born strong and healthy."
"Embry," Caevia whimpered.
"I can't change what happened. But I can make you happy now. And I can love you." Caevia started trembling again, but for completely different reasons. "I love you, Caevia."
"I love you too," Caevia admitted without a second thought. Embry kissed her again and this time Caevia closed her eyes. If she'd had any doubts before, they were gone now. If this man could love her despite her past, if he could love her regardless of everything, then she could love him too and she really did. Were he any other man, she would assume he was lying to her in order to achieve his own ends. It was something Kuruk had done many times over, but with Embry, she knew that wasn't the case. She knew he was different and that she could trust him. As they kissed, she felt something around her wrist. She took her lips away and looked at her wrist thinking it couldn't be what she thought it was. Yet there it was: a bracelet woven from thin wood to create a band proposing marriage. When Caevia looked at Embry, he smiled and brought her to her feet with him.
"Will you marry me, Caevia? Will you be the mother to my children and spend your life with me?" Caevia kept shaking. It was so sudden and she couldn't believe it. He looked so loving and his touch was so gentle. She might've fallen were he not holding her up.
"Yes," she finally said. Embry smiled the brightest smile she'd ever seen from him and he lifted her into his arms and spun her around while kissing her. When he put her back to her feet and ended the kiss, he looked at her and rested his forehead against hers.
"Let's go to Sokajili. He'll tell us when we can get married."
Caevia and Embry walked back to the village slowly, not even holding hands once they arrived. It was considered bad luck to prance into the medicine man's tent like that when one wanted their wedding night to be chosen. Sokajili was mixing herbs when they came in and asked for him to perform the moon ceremony. Caevia knew her tribe had a similar practice of choosing when a couple's marriage would be blessed though this would be the first time she'd ever see it.
"This is certainly unexpected," Sokajili said when Embry told him why they were there. "Though I suppose everyone needs a wedding after yesterday: brighten everyone's spirits."
"Let's not talk about that," Embry requested. "Are you ready?" Embry asked Caevia.
"Yeah, I'm ready. How do we do this?"
"Well usually I'd need your father to be here initially so he can confirm for me that he's allowing this marriage, but since that's not possible, I'll only ask you, Caevia if you're sure that you're ready to marry Embry."
"I'm sure," Caevia answered firmly.
"That's a good answer. I'll light the fire, then, and we'll get started." Sokajili began lighting a fire and once it was strong enough, he told Embry and Caevia to hold their hands above the flames. They held their hands over the flames together until it started to become uncomfortable, but Sokajili eventually told them to remove their hands from atop the fire and immediately threw specific dried, crushed flowers into the fire which produced a sweet smell. Sokajili's eyes rolled into the back of his head momentarily and he began to chant something. Caevia saw some shape appear, but she couldn't distinguish what it was supposed to be. Thankfully, Sokajili knew and his eyes returned to normal after the chant. Caevia hadn't imagined the ceremony would be so quick. "Congratulations to you both. For greatest happiness and prosperity, you must marry under the new moon."
"When is that?"Caevia asked.
"In three days. Preparations will begin as soon as you both announce your marriage." Sokajili returned his attention to his previous task while Embry looked at Caevia with a bright smile.
"We'd better make the announcement. Are you ready?"
"Actually," Caevia started, "I want to tell Renesmee first."
"Sure," Embry said.
They left Sokajili's tent together and went straight to Jacob's tent. It wasn't tied from the inside, so Caevia and Embry let themselves in. Jacob and Renesmee were in the middle of a mutual language lesson when they both looked up to see who came in.
"Oh, Caevia," Renesmee said. Caevia kneeled down with Renesmee before she looked up at Embry.
"Could I speak with her alone?"
"Why, what's going on?" Jacob asked.
"We went to Sokajili and he said we can marry under the new moon."
"You two are getting married?" Jacob nearly shouted in surprise.
"Oh God, what's going on now?" Renesmee asked, assuming the worst based on how Jacob just yelled.
"I'll tell you in a minute." Caevia turned her attention to Jacob. "Both of you leave so we can talk."
"Why do you need to be alone to tell her you're getting married?" Jacob asked.
"Jacob, we can stand right outside, but just let them have some privacy,"Embry stepped in.
"Fine," Jacob said and the two left the tent and waited outside. When they were alone, Caevia finally felt comfortable talking with her.
"How are you feeling?"
"I nearly murdered someone yesterday. I'm still trying to make that image leave me head."
"It will eventually."
"So what was Jacob yelling about. Please tell me they're not getting a stake ready for nailing me to."
"No, Jacob seems to have handled that. They're all scared of you but Jacob made it clear they're to accept you. At least, that's what the women I spoke with earlier told me."
"I see. So if they're not planning to execute me then what's all the yelling about?"
"Jacob was just reacting to what Embry told him. Embry asked me to marry him this afternoon."
"Embry proposed to you?" Renesmee said, having nearly the same reaction as Jacob. "What did you say?"
"I said yes," Caevia answered. "I told him everything," Caevia began. "I told him about Kuruk, I told him about all the children I'd lost, everything. He didn't judge me, though. Instead he held me, kissed me and said he would never let any of that happen to me again. Were he anyone else, I don't think I'd believe him. But the fact that he accepted me touched me deeply. It made me love him even more."
"So you're happy to marry him?" When Caevia smiled, Renesmee knew her answer.
"I am," she answered honestly. "I'm happy with him."
"And I want you to be happy," Renesmee said as she took a hold of Caevia's hand. "If Embry makes you happy, then I want you to marry him. Stay here with him and start a family like you've always wanted. I'll worry about everything else."
"Are you still planning to escape?"
"Yes. But at least now, I won't have to carry food or anything. I can just run and keep running until I find my way back. I'll think of something to tell Peter on the way home. I can just tell him you were attacked by mountain lions or something."
"Just tell him I went down in glory," Caevia joked.
"I'll tell him you died wrestling the lion away from me." Caevia and Renesmee laughed together a moment. Then Caevia took Renesmee in a hug.
"I don't want you to leave," Caevia said.
"I don't want to leave you either, but I have to go back."
"Will you stay for my wedding?"
"I wouldn't miss that for the world," Renesmee promised.
After that, Caevia came back outside so she and Embry could announce they were getting married. The people cheered for them when Embry made the announcement and they village was immediately active, hustling and bustling over getting things ready for the wedding. The first thing was to start gathering potatoes to give to the bride and groom. That would take the longest to find enough potatoes to give to Embry and Caevia and to feed the village after the actual ceremony. Renesmee stepped out of Jacob's tent for the announcement, but immediately recoiled back inside when she saw the looks some people gave her at the sight of her. The only time Jacob left Renesmee's side since the incident was during nightly patrol. The night Embry and Caevia got engaged, Jacob and Quil patrolled the woods alone. Jacob hadn't been able to understand much of Renesmee's and Caevia's conversation, but he'd understood enough to know Renesmee was still talking about leaving. Jacob asked Quil for advice, at a loss of what else to do, but Quil had no better an idea of what to do than Jacob.
Do you think she's just not comfortable yet? Jacob asked Quil.
I don't know, Jacob. I would think all things considered, it's more complicated than that. Are you going to try and talk to her about this?
I'll try to, but I don't know what to say or even how to appropriately say it. I might have to practice a conversation with Seth or something.
I don't know, Embry relayed hesitantly. Seth isn't too happy with Renesmee either right now.
That doesn't mean he can't help me.
Whatever you think is best,Quil said.
From there, patrol went on normally with no cold ones coming around and no other issues. Renesmee was in his tent when Jacob returned, sound asleep. People would start working on the wedding before long. He knew Renesmee would probably want to help Caevia with anything she would be doing. As far as he knew, she would be getting the dress fitted to her today for sure. They wouldn't sew in on her until tomorrow, but they would need to make sure it would fit when they did. Jacob didn't want to ruin the day for either Renesmee or Caevia, so Jacob decided he'd wait to talk to her until after the wedding. Jacob walked over the Renesmee and sat down next to her and stared at her. The more he looked at her, though, the more his thoughts wandered. Maybe he really wasn't doing the right thing. Maybe this wasn't really what she wanted. He had to be honest with himself and realize that he wasn't making her happy. The thought crushed him, but he needed to admit it. If she were really happy, she wouldn't still be planning to run. He'd thought that maybe once Embry won Caevia's heart, he'd win Renesmee's too but that didn't look like it was the case. After looking at Renesmee for a long stretch of time and thinking, he decided he wouldn't confront her. He wouldn't stop her from running away, no matter how much he wanted to. He'd check up on her from time to time, but that seemed to be all he could hope for. The more he thought about it, the more his chest hurt and he began to feel sick. He noticed Renesmee begin to steer, so he took a deep breath and remained as stoic as possible. He hurried to brush away the tear that had escaped his right eye in a desperate attempt to continue the façade.
"Morning," Jacob said. Renesmee looked up at him and then pushed herself up to a sitting position.
"Morning," Renesmee replied as she rubbed her eyes. "Is it late?"
"No," Jacob answered. "Sun come up now."
"You mean it's dawn?" Jacob just stared, indicating he wasn't certain what she was saying. So Renesmee grabbed a stick and drew out dawn in the dirt. Just as an afterthought, she actually wrote 'Dawn' above the picture and made an arrow from the word pointing at the sun and it's position. "Dawn," Renesmee said.
"Dawn," Jacob repeated.
"When the sun is here," Renesmee pointed at the position, "the time is dawn. Do you understand?"
"When sun here," Jacob pointed where she pointed. "Is that what pale faces call this time of day? Dawn?"
"Yes, this is called 'Dawn'," Renesmee confirmed only really understanding small bits of what he said.
"Dawn," Jacob repeated. Then Renesmee erased that picture and drew another one, this time showing the sun high above the horizon.
"This is called 'Day'," Renesmee said. "When the sun is here, it's likely noon. Noon is the middle of the day."
"I don't understand," Jacob said frankly. Unsure how else to explain herself, she wrote the word out and put the actual time of 12:00 next to the picture hoping the visual aspect would make it easier to understand.
"Noon," Renesmee said, pointing at the time she'd written down.
"Noon," Jacob repeated.
"Noon is also called mid-day."
"I don't understand," Jacob said again and Renesmee sighed a little. Then Renesmee had an idea. She erased the picture and redrew the picture of dawn. Then next to that, she put the picture of noon, and next to that she made a new picture. She drew the horizon and above it drew a moon, indicating it by making a quarter moon hoping that would make it more apparent what she was talking about. Then she wrote 'Dawn/Morning', 'Noon/Midday', and 'Night' next to their respective pictures.
"Dawn," Renesmee said, pointing at the picture. "Also called Morning," she said simply.
"Dawn," Jacob repeated. "Morning," he went on. When Renesmee smiled, he knew he'd said the correct words. When he realized what she'd done, he decided to return the favor. "Morning," Jacob said, pointing at the picture.
"Morning," Renesmee repeated.
"Good," Jacob said kindly. Then Renesmee pointed at the second picture.
"Noon," Renesmee said. "Also called Midday."
"Noon," Jacob repeated, "or Midday."
"Very good," Renesmee said. Then Jacob pointed at the same picture.
"Midday," Jacob said.
"Midday," Renesmee repeated.
"Very good," Jacob replied. Then finally, Renesmee pointed at the last picture.
"Night," Renesmee said.
"Night," Jacob repeated, then said, "Night."
"Night," Renesmee repeated. After that, she went back to the first picture and listed the times of day again. "Dawn or Morning," Renesmee said. "Morning," she finished.
"Dawn or morning," Jacob repeated.
"Noon or Midday," she began and ended with, "Midday."
"Noon or Midday," he repeated.
"Night," Renesmee finished, "Night."
"Night," Jacob said. After that, Jacob pointed to the words Renesmee had spelled out. "What is this?"
"The words I just taught you," Renesmee said. "Dawn, D-A-W-N," Renesmee spelled out.
"D-A-W-N?" Jacob asked.
"Yeah," Renesmee said. "That's how you spell Dawn."
"What is 'spell'," Jacob asked. Renesmee realized then that Jacob wouldn't know what spelling is. As far as she could tell, there was no written language among the tribe.
"I guess I should've realized you wouldn't know what I'm talking about," Renesmee said.
"I'm willing to learn," Jacob managed an answer based on what little of her sentence he fully understood.
"Let's start with teaching you to speak," Renesmee said with a gentle smile and Jacob smiled back. Maybe she wasn't planning to run after all. Maybe he'd misunderstood the conversation she'd had with Caevia. He'd understood so little, so it was fully possible. Despite any tiredness, Jacob stayed awake and got Renesmee to teach him as much English as she could while he taught her as much Quileute as he could.
Caevia popped in just after midday to check on Renesmee and tell her what she'd been doing all day. She'd been fitted for the ceremonial dress and she'd been helping some women in the village look for potatoes to serve at the wedding and for her and Embry to have.
"I found out Sara is acting as my mother for the wedding," Caevia said after telling Renesmee about the dress fitting.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'll be at her tent all day waiting to get married and she'll be the one sewing me into the dress. I wondered if I could get you to help me with that. It's supposed to be something the bride's family does and you're the closest I have to family."
"And all I have to do is sew you into a dress?"
"Yeah, that's all you have to do."
"Then I would be happy to," Renesmee agreed with a smile and the two shared a tight hug.