Heiress: Birthstone Series Book Two (5 page)

With a sigh, I lowered the trunk lid and stood, looking over
the few things I would bring with me scattered on the floor. The sword given to
me by my mother, a set of arrows and a bow Sai had taught me to use, the
necklace I’d retrieved in the serpent’s lair last year, and a few changes of
clothing. Abandoning them, I wandered from my quarters and into the main living
area of the hut. My parents had already finished sorting through most of their
belongings and I knew Aluce had probably been packed for months.

“I’m need to take a walk,” I said as I fingered the speckled
rock at my throat.

“You should probably go say your goodbyes. Aluce plans to
leave in the morning,” my father advised.

“I know,” I said. I kissed both of my parents on the cheek.
My mother, absorbed with the pile of my baby things she’d kept over the years,
clasped my hand before I slipped out the door.

I headed toward the village hoping to find Sai but I didn’t
get very far before I nearly ran into him.

“I was coming to find you,” I explained. I bit my lip when I
noticed he refused to meet my eyes. I didn’t blame him. If the devastation in
my face was anything like his, it was much easier to focus elsewhere.

“You’re really doing this?” he asked. I answered with a nod
of my head. “When?”

“Aluce says sooner is better. She decided on tomorrow, early
morning.”

“Of course.”

“I think she’s afraid I’ll change my mind.” As the words
left my lips, Sai's eyes finally found mine. I wanted to shrink away from the
pain and exhaustion I saw there, knowing I had caused it. Instead I lifted a
hesitant hand and placed it on his warm cheek. He covered it with his own,
clasping my fingers.

“You won’t though,” he stated. It amazed me how well he
understood me, better than Aluce who, with all her years of observing me,
seemed to understand nothing more than her own convictions.

I moved toward him and he wrapped his arms around me. I
sensed the words he wanted to say but realized he was fighting them when he
remained silent.

“I don’t know when I’ll come home,” I said. “I’ll do
everything I can to get back to Vairda, but I don’t know what’s going to happen
in Miranasch.”

Sai hugged me tighter. “Have you checked with the Wisdom
Gem?”

“Not yet. Aluce says things can change with any decision I
make and I’m afraid to rely on something so indefinite right now.” I tipped my
head back to look at him. “Do you want me to check it?”

For a brief moment, his features tensed, but they relaxed
again before I could contemplate the reason. Sai shook his head, suddenly
vehement.

“No. Let’s just stick to the plan.”

I couldn’t help my surprise. He seemed much more accepting
of my departure than he had the last time we'd talked. He appeared almost
relieved. I pulled away slightly to study him. “You’re fine with everything now?”
I asked.

“I have to be, right?” He raised one eyebrow, almost a
challenge to argue. He knew I couldn’t.

“Yes, but . . .” I halted, my words stuck in my throat.

“You’ve made a choice and I have to accept it.” Sai stared
at me, his jaw set. His eyes carried only a hint of the warmth I’d often found
refuge in. I stepped away from him. He was right, after all. I had made a
choice and I’d excluded him from any part of my decision. Even if it had been
for his own safety, he'd still see it as a desertion. He was steeling himself
for the final goodbye.

“I don’t want our last moments together to be like this,” I
said, a slight plea in my tone.

“Like what? I’m not going to pretend to be excited you’re
leaving me. If anything, I think I’m doing a pretty decent job of staying in
control.”

“I never said you needed to be in control.”

Sai folded his arms across his chest, a solid barrier
between us. “Then, you want me to cry?”

I stumbled backwards a few steps and shook my head. “I want
you to do whatever makes you happy, Sai.”

Something sparked in his eyes and he dropped his arms. Two
large paces toward me and his fingers were wrapped around my shoulders. “Do you
mean that?”

“Only if it means you don’t come with me,” I said. His
intensity radiated off him like heat from a flame.

“Other than that. I can do whatever will make me happy?”

I tried to shake him off. Was there some new girl he was
already interested in now that I would be out of the picture?  “Do you really
need my permission?” I asked.

“No. But I care about what you think. I always have.” As the
words left his lips, he dropped his hands.

I lowered my gaze, unable to look him in the eyes when I
said, “I only want what’s best for you. Whatever or whoever that is.” With a
breath somewhere between a sigh and shudder, I added, “Even if it’s not me.”

Sai didn’t answer. Instead, I felt his finger lightly brush
the side of my jaw and trail its way toward my chin. With a tender touch, he
tilted my face up so I had nowhere to look but at him. A trace of a smile
played at the corners of his mouth, and in spite of the pain in his eyes, they
were soft.

“Then I know my path,” was all he said. He kissed me, his
hands cradling my face and holding me there. I tasted the final notes of
goodbye on his lips and when he finally pulled away, I was left chilled and
hollow.

With one last look, he turned his back to me and walked
away. I observed the straightness of his shoulders and the lines that sculpted
his form as he retreated from me. I’d memorized every part of him for as long
as I could remember. Everything about Sai had been branded into my mind with
such clarity, I doubted I could ever forget. At that moment, I wished I could.

I turned away, knowing my last image of Sai would be of him
being the first to leave. I didn’t look back.

It was just before dawn when I found Aylen, her parents, and
Aluce the next day. The calls of newly awakened birds and the click and chatter
of insects hid the crunch of my footsteps as I followed them through the
jungle, down to the edge of the shore. Maybe Aluce heard me, but she didn’t say
anything. She’s like that- only telling you what she wants you to know and when
she wants you to know it. I didn’t have to worry about her giving me away.

When everyone halted near the water, I stopped in the trees
where I’d be shrouded in shadow. Aylen stood close to her parents, shivering
despite the already warm Vairdan morning. Paelor’s arm curled around her
shoulders and pulled her close. Beside them, Tereg pulled out a white glowing
rock and grasped it firmly in both hands.

“Put one hand on Tereg’s arm,” Aluce instructed them all.
“And be prepared to swim.”

All three women gripped a part of Tereg’s arm before he
whispered something to the gem. In the moment that passed before the gem
responded to his instructions, Aylen turned her head. Through the jungle brush
where I hid, I thought our eyes met.

Before I could be sure, the rock in Tereg’s hands grew
brighter and with a crack so loud I thought my skull would split, they had
vanished.

I stared at the place where they’d stood, dumbfounded. That
was it? Eleven years of my life gone, just like that? With the exception of her
footprints on the beach, it was as if Aylen had never come. I was sure there
were plenty of people in Vairda who would be fine with that. They could go on
as though the outsider girl had never arrived and changed Vairda’s history and
future forever.

But I couldn’t.

With my shoulders slumped, I turned to go. I didn’t know
where I was headed but I needed to be anyplace except the beach where I’d seen
the last of Aylen.

 I didn’t get very far.

“Sai!” Faema’s voice called through the trees. A moment later,
she appeared, pushing her way through the foliage. Her hair was a mess and her
eyes were puffy. I figured the noise of Aylen’s departure had woken her. “A few
of the other villagers heard something coming from this area. Did you see what
it was?”

“Yeah, I saw.” I looked past her and saw several more people
making their way through the jungle in our direction.

“And?” Faema rested her fists on her hips. “Not more
mainlanders?”

“Aylen and her family left.” I maneuvered past her and hoped
she’d take a hint. Instead, she kept pace with me.

“Really?”

I winced at the elation in her voice. “Don’t take it so
hard, Faema.”

“But you’re still here. I thought you always said you’d be
going with her.”

I glanced at her from the corners of my eyes. She gazed up
at me all wide eyed like I’d just told her she’d been crowned Vairdan princess
for life.

“Apparently I wasn’t invited.”

“So that’s it? What now?” Faema grabbed my arm and pulled me
to a stop.

“What do you mean?”

“After a year of being all- you know,” Faema made a kissy
face, “you’re alright with this?”

“Do I look alright?” I gave her a hard stare. She looked
back at me, really studying me. It might have been the first time she’d
examined anyone’s emotions other than her own. Her face fell when she came to
the right conclusion.

“Sai, she left
you
. That should tell you something.”

“She left me because she had to. Not because she wanted to.”

Faema withdrew her hand and folded her arms across her
chest. “All right, let’s just say I believe that without knowing any of the
facts. There’s nothing you can do about it other than accept it. Surround
yourself with your friends who are still here, who care about you. We aren’t
going anywhere.”

Faema fought to keep from beaming but she didn’t succeed. I
wasn’t in the mood to deal with it.

I abruptly turned from her and pushed my way through the
jungle. As I walked, I ignored the questions hurled at me by curious villagers
who’d come to find the source of the noise. Normally, I wasn’t the type to be
rude. I’d always been held up as the easy going guy who never got angry at much
of anything. But in the last few days, I felt as though I’d been smacked with
reality too many times.

I tried not to notice the confused stares from those I
brushed past. I didn’t have time to dwell on hurt feelings or their concern for
my sanity. It wouldn’t matter before too long anyway. In time, my presence
would hopefully be a distant memory on the island of Vairda.

I walked aimlessly for hours until I was sure most of the
island was awake. When I finally returned to my parents’ hut, I was grateful to
find it empty. I figured my mother was probably visiting with Chief Atarom’s
wife, Kesla. They’d become close friends in the last year even though they
disagreed on a few island issues, like how accepting mothers should be of
foreign girls marrying their sons. Kesla had always liked Aylen.

Once I was sure the hut was empty, I unbolted the weaponry
cabinet and yanked open the heavy door. After my brothers had begun to bring
their children over to visit, my mother had insisted on having a closed off
space to secure our hunting tools. My father had ignored her until one of my
nieces had gotten ahold of a poisoned dart. The poison was useful in hunting,
especially because it was ineffective after our catch had been cooked. However,
on a small child, it could prove deadly. When my niece pricked the palm of her
hand with the sharp point, she’d survived, but just barely. After that, the
cabinet was built in a matter of days with my brothers’ help.

The cabinet consisted mostly of shelving where we stored
poisoned darts, arrows, knives, spears, and even the sword I’d inherited from
Tereg. My parents had never been too thrilled with that addition to our arsenal
but it had become one of my favorite weapons even though it wasn’t as useful
for hunting like the others.

Carefully, I selected my best, thick handled spear, several
well-made extra spearheads, and a large, roughly woven oilcloth. Once I’d
deposited those on the floor, I grabbed two thick, bound bundles of poison
darts and arrows. Finally, I reached for my sword. If anything alerted my
parents to my plans, the disappearance of the sword would. It could almost
always be found in the same place but once my father noticed its absence, he’d
guess something was wrong.

I carried everything with me to my section of the hut and
placed it all on the ground. Leaning against one wall was my bow as well as the
sword’s sheath. I reached for those as well as the leather ties I used to strap
my weapons to my body and added those to the pile. I grabbed the oilcloth,
spread it out, and moved everything on top of it, cautiously situating each
weapon so it wouldn’t poke through the tarp or be damaged in any way. When
everything was arranged, I began to roll up the fabric, tying and wrapping with
twine until the bundle was bound and concealed. With a grunt, I hefted it onto
my shoulder and made for the front door. Gerigo, my third eldest brother threw
open the door and nearly bowled me over before I almost smacked him with the pack
on my shoulder. We stared at each other stupidly for a moment before I finally
cleared my throat.

“Hey Ger,” I said, trying to pull off the “
I’m just
hanging out and doing nothing important
” look.

Gerigo raised his eyebrows and eyed the giant mass resting
on my shoulder. A trickle of sweat dribbled down the side of my forehead.

“What you got there, Sai?”

I stared at him blankly. My mind raced as I tried to conjure
up some way to distract him. “What are you doing here?” I finally asked.
“You’re not borrowing more darts are you? Dad was ready to use them on
you
last time he found out you’d taken his.”

Gerigo shifted his feet and glanced at the weaponry cabinet.
“Navin takes forever to make them and I need something to go hunting with. I
have a family to feed.”

“That’s why we request them in advance, before we run out.”