by West, Shay
“Hey, Keera! Come help with the wash.”
Keera groaned but went to help Kaelin. She grabbed a shirt from the dirty pile and plunged it in the large tub of lukewarm water. She rubbed the shirt on the washboard, wincing as her knuckles raked across the ridges.
“When I get married, I’m making my husband do this chore,” Keera grumbled.
“Good luck with that. He might insist on you doing the plowing,” Kaelin said.
“I’ll hire someone to do it.”
“Let’s just hurry and get this done so we can get to making some new dresses!”
The thought of wearing a brand new dress that actually fit well motivated Keera to scrub so fast she splashed herself with water and almost drenched Kaelin’s mom, Dayne.
“Easy, girls! Are you afraid the material will disappear before you can make new clothes?” Dayne asked, laughing.
Keera and Kaelin shared a look full of misery and pain, longing and regret. Neither one needed to say a word. Even though the villagers seemed to believe them about the Mekans, they wouldn’t truly understand until they saw them crushing their homes or loved ones.
Gwen.
Keera closed her eyes against the wave of sorrow that threatened to swallow her up. Gwen’s last moments flashed across her brain. Keera gasped, trying to block them out. She didn’t want to watch her friend die for the hundredth time.
Arms enveloped her and she sagged to the ground, unable to stand. The sobs tore from her clenched throat.
“Don’t hold it in, honey. Just let it out,” Dayne said as she rocked back and forth.
Keera’s tears mingled with Kaelin’s. She cried until there were no tears left. Her body felt light as air, as though she would float away if Dayne let her go.
She couldn’t say how long she sat with Kaelin, finally able to mourn the loss of their friend. Dayne never said a word, just held the girls, letting them rage and cry about events in their lives that had brought them so far from the young girls they had been before this whole thing had started.
“What do you say we leave this work for later? I think both of you could use a break,” Dayne suggested.
Keera and Kaelin smiled at one another, wiping tears from their eyes with their knuckles. As they walked toward the Meadows’ Inn, Keera prayed to the good Spirits.
Please tell Gwen I miss her so much.
“Is that Sloan and Brad?”
Keera glanced in the direction Kaelin was pointing. She stopped and frowned. “What are they doing with my brother and your father?”
“Who cares? Let’s hurry! The sooner we get our dresses finished, the sooner we can wear them,” Kaelin said with a knowing grin.
Keera nodded. “I wonder if we can talk our mothers into letting us make the dresses with a lower neckline...”
Kaelin sucked in an excited breath, grabbing Keera’s arm so they fell even further behind Dayne. “Do you really think they’ll let us?”
“We’re women now. I mean, we’ve been away from home, fought a monstrous enemy. We should be able to wear any dress we want.”
Kaelin snorted. “Just because we think we’re old enough, doesn’t mean our mothers will.”
“You’re probably right.” Keera sighed.
The girls spent all afternoon being fitted for their dresses. Keera thought she would die of boredom. Her arms ached from holding them out to the sides while her mother, Kaelin’s mother, and Mistress Meadows wrapped cloth around her, measuring her bust and the length of her arms. The women argued over the style and color of material, and all the while, Keera became angrier as they spoke about her as though she wasn’t standing right there.
“How about asking me what kind of dress I want?”
The women stopped speaking and stared at her.
“I’m a woman now,” Keera was surprised her voice only cracked a little at calling herself a woman. “Shouldn’t I be allowed to pick the style of dress I want?”
Kaelin spoke up. “Keera’s right. You’re treating us like we’re still girls.”
Lily, Dayne, and Nayome stood with their hands on their hips, lips pursed, brows furrowed. They didn’t speak for so long that Keera feared she had gone too far. Just as she was about to mumble an apology, Dayne spoke.
“Perhaps they are right.”
Dayne put up a hand as Nayome was about to protest. “Look at them, really look. They are women, and capable of choosing their own clothing, getting married, moving away. Look at what they’ve done so far.”
Nayome shook her head. “I suppose you’re right.” She reached up and tugged a lock of Keera’s red hair. “It’s just so hard. When you disappeared, I convinced myself you were dead and never coming home. When you returned, I pictured you as you were that day Master Brok came to bring you back to study here in Heart Stone.”
“Oh, Momma!” Keera reached down and hugged her mother around the neck.
“Are we interrupting something?”
Keera smiled at her brother, Thadeus. He looks so much like papa did. Her eyes filled with fresh tears. I’m so tired of crying!
“Getting a new dress, Squirt?”
Keera swatted Thad’s arm. “You know I hate being called that!”
“Of course I do. Why do you think I do it?” Thad laughed as he easily dodged another punch.
“If you don’t hold still, you’re going to get stuck with these pins and end up with blood on your new dress,” Nayome said.
Keera stuck her tongue out at Thad as he wandered over to the bar, helping himself to a mug of ale. She fidgeted and sighed loudly, the excitement of having a new dress lost in the boredom of standing in one place for so long.
“I think we’re done here,” Lily said as she stood, stretching as her muscles protested. “How about I see to getting us some lunch while you girls get changed?”
Keera and Kaelin raced up the stairs. They carefully helped each other out of their pinned-together clothing, wincing when the pins met with tender flesh.
As they made their way back down the stairs, they noticed Thadeus whispering to Nayome and Dayne. He stopped speaking as soon as he caught sight of Keera and Kaelin.
“What’s going on now?” Keera asked.
“Oh, nothing. Why don’t you girls eat? I need to finish the wash.” Dayne forced a smile, though it was clear she wanted to do anything but.
“What did you tell her?” Keera demanded.
“Nothing that concerns you. Just eat your lunch. And make sure you are at the Village Green before sundown. Rome has something he wants to share with the entire village,” Thad said.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Kaelin faced her mom.
“Oh, nothing. Just getting worried about these giant things that are heading our way,” Nayome waved her hand.
“Here’s lunch! Where’s Dayne? What’s going on?” Lily set a tray piled with food on the bar and stared at Nayome.
“Dayne is finishing the wash and I’m about to start sewing these dresses. Care to give me a hand?” Nayome asked.
“Well, of course.” Lily filled two plates with food and followed Nayome upstairs.
“Okay, Thad, what’s going on?”
Keera’s brother backed away, holding his hands up. “Just discussing the coming threat, figuring out what we might do if they come here, you know. Well, I gotta get back to work at the Heath’s. Bart needs a hand with the farm.” Thad worked his way around Keera, ignoring her flashing eyes.
When he was gone, Keera turned to Kaelin. “Something weird is going on.”
“But what could it be? Everyone is whispering and discussing things behind our back.”
“Maybe they don’t think we can handle hearing how scared they are,” Keera said.
“But we’ve faced the Mekans! We know what’s at stake.”
“True, but if they still think us little girls, they’ll never think they can talk to us about grown-up issues.”
Kaelin sighed. “I’ll go find Saemus. He will have a hard time lying to me if he
knows what’s going on.”
“It must be so neat having a twin!”
Kaelin laughed. “Sometimes. Other times, it’s truly awful.”
“But you two seem so close.”
“Oh, we are. Closer than anyone can possibly know. But imagine having to share a birthday and having someone breathing down your neck. He’s worse than Thadeus and my folks rolled into one.” Kaelin sighed loudly. “I remember my first crush. His name was Tyler and he was just the cutest boy in the whole world. When Saemus caught me writing our names in the dirt, he made my life miserable for months afterward. Saemus told Tyler what I had done and Tyler avoided me after that.”
Keera balled up her hands into fists. “I would have killed my brother if he had done that to me!”
The girls found Saemus at the pond. He was sitting on a log near shore, casting a pole into the clear blue water. The setting sun cast long shadows across the lake. A slight breeze whispered through the leaves of the trees. For a moment, Keera forgot about why they had come to find Saemus, the Mekans, Gwen’s death, everything except the serene moment that the good Spirits had laid before her eyes.
“We just can’t let the Mekans destroy our homes. We just can’t!” Keera said, picturing a massive leg of a Mekan slamming into the ground, uprooting the aspen trees, gouging the ground into shreds.
Kaelin wordlessly grabbed her hand. She had never felt closer to the girl than at that moment. Gwen and Keera had enjoyed a special friendship, leaving Kaelin feeling very much like an outsider. In the time they had spent traveling together, Kaelin had grown closer to both girls. She wanted Keera to know that she needed her and that she missed Gwen.
Keera squeezed back and wiped a tear from her eye with her other hand. “Guess we better get this over with.”
Saemus looked up and was about to greet his twin with a cheery hello but stopped when he saw the look on his sister’s face. The exact same look was plastered on Keera’s. Both girls stood facing him with their arms crossed over their chests, their feet tapping impatiently.
“Something wrong?”
“We’ve seen people talking behind our backs and we want to know what is going on!” Kaelin demanded.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Saemus said as he cast out his line.
“Oh come on! You have to know something.” Keera fixed him with her best glare.
“I’ve been here all day,” Saemus said.
Kaelin frowned at her twin. She could usually tell if he was lying. He wasn’t fidgeting and he met her gaze without looking away. “Well, something is going on and no one will tell us what it is!” Kaelin said as she threw her arms into the air.
“Maybe it’s just nerves. It’s not every day you find out some terrible monster is coming to destroy your whole world,” Saemus said.
“Perhaps.” Kaelin sighed.
“I’d better get these fish to Mistress Meadows. See you at dinner.” Saemus picked up his pole and a string of six huge trout and headed for the inn.
“Thad said Rome wants to see everyone at the Green. Some big announcement he wants to make,” Kaelin shouted after Saemus.
He waved and continued to the inn.
***
Saemus breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of earshot of the two girls. It had taken all of his strength to meet his twin’s eyes and keep perfectly still while she asked about all the whispering.
Part of him wanted to tell her what was going on, but he had promised to keep the secret. The trouble was that he didn’t know how his sister would react to this particular surprise.
Guess we’ll know in a short while.
ASTRA
“I WONDER WHAT ROME WANTS TO ANNOUNCE?” Jon asked.
Fa’ Vel shrugged his shoulders. “Probably something to make the folks feel better. He’ll tell them all will be well and they will eat it up.” The man sneered at the folks gathering in greater numbers in the Village Green.
“Maybe he has an idea we haven’t thought of...”
“You don’t really believe that.”
“Don’t tell me what I believe!”
“I can sense you’re only trying to convince yourself of what you say,” Fa’ Vel said.
Jon looked at the dark magician in his peripheral vision. “Something you do with the power?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Fa’ Vel watched Jon out of the corner of his eye. “Want me to show you?”
“Yes.” Jon answered quickly, surprised that he felt none of the usual guilt when discussing the forbidden magic. His heart hammered in his chest and his palms were slick with sweat but the only emotion coursing through his veins was excitement.
Rome strode into the throngs of people and waited for the voices to die down. “Thank you for coming. I know you’re wondering what we are doing here. For that, I need to ask Brad and Sloan to come to the front.”
Gasps and murmurs echoed like waves through the throngs of people. They moved to the side as the two Earth Chosen came to stand beside Rome.
Brad and Sloan whispered together for a few moments as if trying to decide who would speak. Sloan held up his hands and moved in front of Brad, who looked relieved and yet terrified at the same time.
Sloan cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming. I’m sure you’re wondering why you’ve been called to this meeting—”
“Are the machines coming?”
“What do we do?”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Should we leave?”
Sloan raised his hands as he was bombarded with questions. “Brad and I will explain everything in just a moment.” He looked back at Brad as though begging for help. “Ummm...are Kaelin and Keera here?”
The noise from the crowd grew even louder as people looked around them, trying to catch a glimpse of the pair. Fingers pointed toward the furthest reaches of the large crowd as the two girls were spotted.
Kaelin met Keera’s blue eyes and found the same confusion mirrored there. They stood rooted to their spots, even after Sloan and Brad waved them forward.
“What are they up to?” Kaelin asked.
“I have no blasted idea, but I’m going to kill them,” Keera whispered fiercely.
“Well, they are waving at us so frantically I fear they may take flight.”
“Should we go up there?” Keera crept closer to Kaelin, looking around at the faces of the villagers surrounding them.
“I don’t see what else we can do,” Kaelin said.
Kaelin gripped Keera’s hand even tighter as they walked through the crowd, head swiveling back and forth as she tried to look at the townfolk and Brad and Sloan at the same time. She wished the ground would open and swallow them up.
Sloan came to stand in front of Keera and Brad stood in front of Kaelin.
“What is going on?” Kaelin whispered fiercely.
“You’ll see,” Brad said, his throat so dry that he could barely make the words come. He looked at Sloan and nodded vigorously.
“We asked you all here to be a part of this special moment. Ummm...well, with everything that’s happened, we needed to make sure the girls knew how we felt. Wait...Brad and I wanted to show our undying love...” Sloan gulped audibly as his face flushed.
Brad groaned and ran his hand through his hair. He’d been so sure Sloan was the perfect one to speak for them both. He’s blowing it!
“Look, we asked everyone here to witness what we have to say,” Brad looked out over the crowd, mainly to avoid looking in Kaelin’s eyes. She was angry and growing angrier by the second. We need to finish this fast!
The crowd was growing restless. They mumbled among themselves, pointing to the four standing in the middle of the Green as well as staying as far away from the Kromins as possible. There was a clear space around the three, as if people were too afraid to stand too close. The telepaths stood and watched the villagers placidly with their huge almond-shaped eyes.
“Would you two please tell us what’s going on?
” Keera faced Sloan with her hands on her hips.
“We’ve really made a mess of things. We were hoping for this moment to be perfect and special, just like you deserve,” Sloan said.
“What moment? We’re just standing here with everyone staring at us,” Keera said.
“We’re trying to propose to you!”
Sloan turned to face Brad.
Brad threw up his hands. “Your way wasn’t working and we can’t keep these folks here any longer.” Brad grabbed Kaelin’s hands and knelt at her feet.
Sloan took Keera’s hands and knelt at her feet, trying to smile while fighting the urge to vomit.
“I humbly ask for your hand in marriage. I promise to be your provider and protector as long as I draw breath. Everything I have is yours.”
Both men spoke the words as one. As soon as they spoke, the crowd went silent and their words carried to the furthest corners of the Green. The soft sound of crying broke the silence.
“What are you doing?” Kaelin hissed.
“Asking you to marry me,” Brad said, uncertainty in his voice.
“How could you do this to me? And in front of my family!” Kaelin snatched her hands out of his.
“We talked to your families. Isn’t this how it’s done? We made sure to memorize everything,” Brad said.
“Well, technically, yes. But the girl usually has some idea of when the proposal will occur so she can plan,” Kaelin said.
“Well, we thought this was best. We don’t exactly have a lot of time to plan,” Brad said.
“You really talked with our families? And they were okay with this?” Keera asked.
“What do you think all the whispering was about?” Sloan asked with a smile.
Keera closed her eyes, needing a moment to collect her thoughts. She’d been daydreaming about this moment since she was a little girl.
And this wasn’t how she’d pictured it.
“It took some convincing, but they are in support of this. Do you not want to become my wife?” Sloan asked.
“Well, I never gave it much thought, to be honest with you. With Chosen dying left and right, it just seemed like something that would never happen,” Keera said.
“This is why we have to do it now. Don’t you see? This might be our last time of peace before the Mekans come. If we don’t get married now, we might not get another chance. If I’m to die, I want to die as your husband,” Sloan said.
