"Come with me, Rajhani," said Cyran, letting the door fall shut and walking toward her. Drops from the storm outside covered his hair and shoulders.
Rajhani shook her head. "You know I can't."
"We've talked about this." Cyran reached out and put both hands on Rajhani's shoulders. Lowering his head and cocking it to the side, he said, "Your sister isn't your responsibility."
Rajhani looked down at the floor. "I can't leave her. I'm all she has."
Rajhani stepped back and returned to the fire pit, piling kindling at its center. Small slivers of wood fell on her skirt and mixed in with dirt and dust from the ground.
Cyran let his arms fall to his sides. He walked over to the fire pit and knelt down next to Rajhani. He watched her slender arms and hands arranging twigs in the pit. Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, he said, "Ra, I need you with me. You're almost to marrying age. The village elders will approve. We can start our own family."
Rajhani leaned over and let her head rest against his chest. "Cyran, you know I love you. But I can't."
"But..."
"Besides," said Rajhani, "what if she found out that you're Ceasixus?"
Thunder boomed outside the hut and a crack of lightning flashed, the brightness finding its way through the crevices of the hut walls. The sound of rain on the roof grew louder. A few drops of rain made their way through the ceiling and pooled on the floor in the corner near the bedding.
"Only you and my parents know that they found me when I was a baby. That their newborn had just died and they thought that somehow I was a gift to them. How would Agnez find out?"
Rajhani let out a sigh. "I don't know. She just always seems to know what I'm doing. She's always there. I love her so much but sometimes I wish she wasn't paying such close attention to me."
Cyran narrowed his eyes slightly. "You don't have to let her do that, you know."
Rajhani nodded. "I know," she said, another sigh escaping her. "But what can I do? She raised me after our mother died. She was only ten. She gave up her chance to marry because of me. No one would have her once she reached marrying age."
"I don't think that was your fault. I think Agnez never intended to marry anyone."
Rajhani looked over at Cyran. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Ra. Think about it. From what I've heard, she never showed any interest in marriage. She spends all of her time in the forest, hunting and doing who-knows-what."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Agnez does two things. Care for you and hunt in the forest. She's already in love."
Rajhani looked down at the floor, bringing her hands together and folding them into her lap. "You mean she loves the forest. She would rather be there."
"Yes," he agreed. "Loves it very much. Maybe even more than she loves you."
"No," Rajhani said, standing up and walking toward the door. "How can you say that?"
"I don't mean to hurt you, Ra. But you need to see the truth. Agnez will never love anything more than Iyhiri Forest."
Rajhani lowered her face to the floor. "I don't believe you." Pulling the door open, she looked up at Cyran. "Please leave."
"No, Ra. I'm not leaving. You need to know the truth."
"What truth?"
"The truth about who your sister really is."
"You're not making any sense," she said, shaking her head. "My sister loves me. You need to leave."
"Ra, give me a chance to explain. If you still don't believe me after, then I'll leave. But at least give me a chance."
Rajhani looked into Cyran's dark eyes, pleading, intense. She couldn't help but love him. The way he gently held her hand when they walked. How he always picked her a kudzu flower. "So that your mother can still be here with you," he would say. The first time she realized she had feelings for him, they were at one of the village festivals. He asked her to dance with him and she accepted, excited to finally be a part of the courting rituals after turning thirteen. He told her that he had always loved her. Had been waiting for her to be old enough to marry. Agnez was furious.
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"Rajhani, you're too young."
"I'm not, Agnez. I'm thirteen. Next year I'll be able to marry."
"Marry? Why now? There's plenty of time to get married. Let me teach you first. To hunt, to survive. What happens when your husband dies and you're all alone?"
Agnez threw her bow down, something Rajhani had never seen.
Rajhani walked over to the bow and picked it up. She handed it back to Agnez and hugged her. "Sister, I need to live my life. I'll be grown soon. Would you have me grow old alone?"
"But you won't be. I'll be here with you."
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"Well," said Cyran, bringing Rajhani out of her memory.
"Okay. Explain. And then you leave." Rajhani let the door close and walked to the fire pit, sat down cross-legged, and looked up at Cyran. "Sit down with me."
Cyran sat down on the floor, facing Rajhani. "Do you remember the time when Agnez wouldn't let you leave the hut for three days because she said everyone was getting sick and she didn't want you to catch it?"
"I do," she said, remembering Agnez saying that half of the village was dying. It turned out to be one family that had eaten meat that had gone bad. Their youngest daughter had died following an infection.
"And how she only lets village elders and leaders in your hut. She won't let anyone visit you."
"There isn't anyone to visit me. Except you."
"Exactly," said Cyran. "And why is that?"
"I'm just busy. It's not like I don't see anyone. There is a lot to do with preparing food, gardening, keeping the hut together." A raindrop slipped through the ceiling and landed in the dirt between them as if to prove her point. "I just finished putting in a new garden. I'm growing fieldcress this season."
"Rajhani, stop making excuses. Spending time with the other women tanning hides and planting gardens doesn't count. There is no excuse for Agnez to take away your chance to live. To have a family. And friends."
"But people do come here."
"Who? The Healer? Of course she was here. Agnez got hurt."
Rajhani threw her hands up. "Stop. You're making it sound like Agnez wants to keep me prisoner here."
"Maybe she does."
"No. She doesn't."
"Fine. Don't believe me. But tell me this. How can she have any right to keep you from love and a family of your own? If you don't marry when you come of age, you'll miss your chance. Then what?"
Rajhani looked past Cyran at the wall behind him. "I'll be here with you," she whispered.
"What?" Cyran reached out and took her hand. "What did you just say?"
"She told me she would be here with me. I asked her if she wanted me to grow old alone. She told me she would be with me so I wouldn't."
Cyran slid next to Rajhani and wrapped her in his arms. "I don't want you to be alone. I want you to be with me. We can be together. We can have a daughter and a son. Don't you want that?"
Rajhani's lip trembled as she spoke. "You know I do." It was barely a murmur. She let her face fall toward the floor as Cyran held her.
"Ra, I'm seventeen. My parents wanted me to marry last year. I told them that I wanted to wait for you. They agreed but they won't let me remain in their hut unmarried for much longer. I'll have to start my own home. Do you want me to start it by myself and have to marry some other girl?"
"Would you really do that?" Rajhani asked, looking up into Cyran's face.
A pained face looked back at her from beneath a shaggy mop of bangs. "I don't want to, but what can I do? I have to marry eventually."
"Why? Agnez hasn't married yet. She'll be twenty-four in a few moons."
"Ra, Agnez isn't like everyone else. She didn't want to marry. That's why the tribe members think she's strange. And why they leave her on her own to hunt. She brings in good kills. She has a purpose here. But no one wants to marry her now, anyway."
Rajhani stood, bringing her hands up to her face and smothering a sob. "Why does this have to be so hard?"
Cyran stood with her. "I know. But I'm here with you. We can do this, Ra. We can be together."
"What about Agnez? She'll be alone."
"She'll never be alone. She has the forest. And she can visit us anytime you want."
Cyran held his hand out to Rajhani. "Come with me."
"You promise she can be there any time?" Her voice was muffled behind her hands.
"Of course."
Rajhani let her hands fall from her face and looked around the hut. Kneeling at the side of the pit, she collected up a few basic cooking items: a pot; some crucith leaves, already cleaned and ready for cooking; a wooden spoon Agnez had carved for her. She placed them into a woven basket. She went to the bedding to fold up her blanket and saw that Agnez's had been thrown over hers. She lifted it, intending to set it aside, and caught the scent of her sister. Musty, like the forest, but fresh, like the smell after it rains. She remembered Agnez playing a game with her years earlier.
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It had been raining that day; thunder and lightning seemed to envelop the whole world. Rajhani was terrified of the sound. Agnez called her into the corner of the hut.
"Little sister, come here. We're going to play a game."
Rajhani, then seven, hugged her doll to her chest. She tried to pretend she didn't want to play with toys anymore, and be more grown up like her sister. But when she was scared, she held onto the wooden doll. It made her feel safe, having been carved and given to her by the bravest person she knew: her big sister.
"Come on, Rajhani," Agnez repeated, smiling and waving her sister over to her.
Picking up her blanket, and finding the center of it, she lifted her arm up as high as she could and let the blanket fall around her. Reaching the other arm out in front of her, she lifted one side of the blanket and called to Rajhani again.
"Come on, come on."
Rajhani walked over to Agnez and slipped under the blanket. When Agnez let it fall, they could see nothing but the inside of the blanket and the dim outline of each other underneath it.
"Okay," said Agnez. "Are you ready?"
Rajhani nodded.
"Let's sit down."
The sisters sat down on the hard floor and crossed their legs, facing each other so that their knees touched. "I go first," said Agnez.
"First to do what?"
"You'll see," Agnez answered. "Hmmm... I'm in a forest, in a big clearing. And there are birds all around. And the sun is shining so that big rays of light reach through the canopy. The birds are singing songs. Oh, there just went a deer. It ran right by me. Okay, your turn."
"What do I do?"
"You pretend, little sister. Where are you?"
"I'm here with you."
"No," said Agnez, laughing. "Where do you want to be?"
"Oh. I want to be in the forest, too. But there are lots of flowers. Red and yellow and blue. And Mommy is there. And we can all swim in the river together."
"That sounds wonderful. What else?"
"It's sunny. And warm. And happy."
"And am I there with you?"
"Uh-huh," Rajhani said, smiling.
"And I always will be. I'll always love you, little sister. And I'll always take care of you."
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Rajhani stopped placing items into the basket and stood up. She turned around to face Cyran.
He walked over to her. "What's wrong, Ra?"
"I'm sorry, Cyran. I can't go."
"Ra..."
"No. I hear what you're saying. I can see why you think she's keeping me from living my life. But you have to understand something."
"What's that?" he asked, taking a step back. His temples were starting to throb.
"The last time I was upset during a storm, Agnez helped me to not be scared. It's storming out right now. And all you're doing is making me feel worse. I'm sorry, Cyran, but it's time for you to leave."
Rajhani walked back to the door and pulled it open. The wind blew outside, driving rain down to the earth at an angle. Drops flew inside the hut door and landed at Rajhani's feet, splashing little bits of mud up onto them.
"Is this really what you want, Rajhani?"
"Yes."
Cyran nodded. "Okay, then. I'll go. As promised."
"Thank you," she said quietly as Cyran stepped forward, his face twisting into an expression of anger and determination.
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Thanks for reading this far. Next chapter, we'll get back to Yaalon and Agnez. And find out what happens to Ra.
*Photo by Andre Cook from Pexels