The small village just after sunset should have been peaceful with families beginning to wind down their nights and prepare to have dinner. Instead, the entire village and the household of the local noble family is gathered in the square. They are surrounding one woman and her two five-year-old sons.
The woman stands facing the villagers. She has dried eyes and holds her head high. Prea refuses to cry in front of these people or her sons, she will save her tears for later after the boys are asleep and there is no one there to see.
One of her sons, the oldest twin, mimics his mother’s stance. He faces the crowd defiantly. He stands slightly in front of his mother as if his small body could shield the grown woman. The other twin is also dried eyed, but he hides slightly behind his twin and mother afraid of the crowd although trying his best not to show it.
“You have been declared a witch and your sons the spawn of a devil.” The village mayor says smugly. He waves a hand at the older boy. “One of these children has even been cursed by the gods. For the protection of the villagers, you are hereby banished to the forest never to show your face here again.”
Prea knows the truth. Yes, she possesses magic but only of the kind to heal and help people. Her sons are no devil’s spawns, but the product of an affair between herself and one of the local noblemen. A man she thought loved her. She looks up now and sees her lover standing in the distance with his wife. That is the true reason she is being banished and the root of Phayu’s curse, she dared to love a married man for the last six years. A married man with a jealous wife whose relatives know powerful and dangerous magic. They are the real evil witches, but Prea is but a poor healer in the village and they are rich and influential.
So Prea doesn’t try to convince the villagers of the truth, she only takes her sons by the hand and leads them into the forest to make the best life for them she can.
six years later
Rain approaches the village children, determined to make new friends. The six-year-old has just moved to the village to live with his uncle after the death of his parents.
“Hi,” Rain says to the children with a sunny smile.
“Who are you?” One sour looking boy a few years older than Rain says.
“I’m Rain, Niran’s nephew.” Rain says, his smile fading a little. The boy’s tone is troubling.
“Stop, he is the boy that just moved here, the one whose parents died of the fever.” One of the other children says.
The boy, Stop, sneers at this. “Well, I am the son of the mayor. What’s that on your wrist?”
Rain tries to pull his sleeve down to cover the mark but Stop grabs his wrist roughly causing Rain to cry out. “Is that a cat?”
“I don’t know, I was born with it.” Rain cries. Stop is really hurting his wrist.
“Were you marked by a witch?” Stop says, pushing Rain away. Rain falls roughly to the ground skinning the palms of his hands when he puts them back to try to stop his fall.
“No,” Rain cries, “I was just born with it.”
“Go away, we don’t play with the witch's spawn.” Stop says. He makes a threatening move and Rain gets up, running towards the forest afraid the other children will hurt him if he stays. It’s not the first time it’s happened, Rain has often been bullied by the other children in his home town because of the mark on his wrist, but he had hoped here things would be different.
He runs into the forest not paying attention to where he is going until he realizes he is lost. His fright at the other children dies away as he looks at the forest in awe. He isn’t scared by the forest; the summer sun shining through the trees is quite pretty. There is also a stream there with clear water running over the smooth rocks beneath making a soothing sound that makes Rain feel sleepy.
Rain curls up on a patch of grass near the water and falls asleep. When he wakes there is a surprising warmth pressed to him. Rain sits up and looks straight into the green eyes of a pure black panther, this one looks to be a half-grown cub.
“You’re not going to eat me, are you?” Rain asks.
The panther lets out a huff and puts his head back down. Rain smiles at how the cat looks curled up next to him. “You are so pretty,” Rain says, reaching out a shaky hand and scratching the cat behind the ears. There is a deep rumbling in the cat’s chest and Rain is pretty sure he is purring. Rain isn’t even sure if big cats like this can purr but it’s what it sounds like.
There is a sound behind them, and a boy comes into the clearing where they are, “Phayu,” he says, “mae has been looking for you.” The cat gets on his feet and stretches lazily.
“His name is Phayu?” Rain asks. “Is he your pet?”
“He’s my brother.” The boy says, “Who are you?”
“I’m Rain.” Rain gives the boy a polite wai.
“Rain, I am Saifah, and this is Phayu. Are you lost?” Saifah ask him.
Rain nods at this.
“Come home with me and meet my mother, I will let her know I’m going to lead you out of the forest.” Saifah tells him.
“Okay,” Rain says, happily. This boy is nice to him, unlike the other children.
The boy leads him to a small roughly built hut where a woman is picking herbs from a small garden. She stands up and dusts her hands off when she sees the boys.
“Saifah, who is this?” She says.
“This is Rain, mae. He’s lost and I was going to show him the way out of the forest.” Saifah says.
She nods and comes over to examine the boy. Rain resists the urge to hide his wrist behind his back that will only draw attention to it. To his horror the woman does take his wrist. She glances at the mark and her eyes widen for a moment, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she examines the bruises that Stop left tutting over them.
“Let me put some cream on those for you,” she says.
She goes to the hut and comes back with a jar of sweet-smelling cream. She kneels down next to Rain and gently rubs them on the bruises, immediately they begin to feel better.
“Thank you, auntie.” Rain says. She gives him a sweet smile.
“Rain, Saifah will lead you out of the forest, but I need you to do me a favor. Please don’t tell anyone you met us here. It’s for your own safety. Can you do that for me?” The woman says.
Rain nods, he will keep their secret. “Can I come back?”
“As long as you are careful, and no one knows.” The woman says.
“Okay,” Rain smiles.
“Saifah, take Rain to the edge of the forest near the village, but don’t leave the forest. Make sure no one sees you.” The woman says.
“Yes, Mae.” Saifah says and Phayu also gets up to go with them.
They take Rain to a spot in the forest where he can just see the village through the line of trees.
“I will be at this spot tomorrow morning if you can come, just make sure no one sees you.” Saifah says.
Rain thinks that won’t be hard; the other children will probably stay away from him. This morning that thought would have made him sad but now he is glad about it. He can easily come back and see Saifah and Phayu.
Back at the hut Saifah and Phayu return just as the sun is beginning to set. Phayu pads into the hut while his mother and Saifah wait outside. Phayu likes privacy during the transformation. A few minutes later the eleven-year-old emerges, wearing pants that match Saifahs and pulling on a roughly woven shirt.
His mother sits down on the porch step and pats the seat beside her.
“You found Rain in the forest?” She asks Phayu.
“He was sleeping, and I felt drawn to him.” Phayu says.
She takes his wrist and gently traces the mark there. Phayu had been born with it and it is shaped like a cat. It is identical to the mark that had been on Rain’s wrist.
“I believe that Rain could be your soul mate. Do you understand what that means, son?” Mae says.
“He could be the one to break the curse when we are adults.” Phayu asks?
“Yes that, but it means so much more. Rain is your other half and could be your lifelong companion. The two of you might one day be closer than brothers.” She glances at Saifah. “It also means that Rain is in danger. You and Saifah can’t be harmed, it was part of the agreement when we left. However, if her family finds out about Rain they will try to use him to hurt us. We can protect him while he is in the forest but Rain can’t live here. He will need to return to the village every night.”
“I will protect him.” Phayu says.
“I will help,” Saifah says.
“Good boys, just be careful and remind Rain to be careful as well.” Their mother tells them.
“We will, mae.” the boys say in unison.
“Let’s go get dinner ready then my boys can read until bedtime, okay?” Their mother says.
“Okay,” they both say happily. Reading is one of their greatest pleasures.
After that day Rain spent most of his days in the forest. Saifah begins teaching him how to read and write, something most of the children of the village don’t bother with. The three of them also play games of chase and tag. Phayu with his lithe cat form and powerful muscles easily win most of these games at first but Rain becomes clever with dodging the cat and finding spots the big cat can’t easily follow.
Rain leaves the forest each day before sunset and never sees Phayu in his human form, although Saifah told him about the curse Phayu was born with early on.
By the time Rain is eighteen, Phayu is so big even on all fours he stands above Rain’s waist. The two of them are inseparable, Rain comes to see him every day. Sometimes Saifah comes with them but more often lately Saifah has been traveling to see a young farmer’s daughter on the other side of the forest. The farmer and his family care nothing about the politics of the far away village and the distant nobles. They have taken a liking to Saifah and approve of him dating their daughter.
On Rain’s nineteenth birthday he makes a request. “Can I come see you tonight?” He asks Phayu.
Phayu raises his head and looks at Rain, it’s always been their rule that Rain be back home before sunset.
“Please,” Rain asks. “I will be careful and make sure no one sees me.”
Phayu seems to consider this and then pushes his head under Rain’s hand. His signal for agreement. Rain laughs delightfully and says, “I can’t wait to see you as a human.” He scratches Phayu behind the ears and listens to the big cat purr contentedly.
That night Rain slips out his bed and down the hall past his uncle’s room. He can hear his uncle snoring softly. Unlike most of the people in the village, his uncle had been kind enough to Rain but he works hard every day and comes home exhausted to care for the two of them. Rain chose to go late because most of the villagers will be asleep by now. He slips into the forest at his usual spot.
There is a tall man waiting there for him, black hair pulled back in a knot at the back of his head. The moonlight shining through the trees gives him an almost ethereal glow.
“P’Phayu?” Rain asks, uncertain.
“Well, am I a disappointment as a human?” Phayu asks him with a teasing smile.
Rain shakes his head, “You are so handsome.”
“Come here sweet boy and let me see you with my human eyes.” Phayu says.
He pushes Rain’s hair back from his face and looks at him, “Pretty.” he murmurs.
“P’Phayu, I am a man I am supposed to be handsome not pretty.” Rain pouts.
Phayu puts a finger on his nose and laughs, “You are both, sweet boy.”
Rain grins at this. “Will you kiss me, for my birthday?”
“I thought seeing me as a human was your birthday gift, are you being greedy?” Phayu teases.
Rain nods, “Yes, I am so greedy. Please Phi?”
Phayu leans down and kisses him gently on the mouth. He pulls back and rubs his thumb over Rain’s lower lip. “There is your birthday gift. Now you should go home for now.”
“P’Phayu,” Rain sulks. “I want to stay here with you.”
“It’s late, you can come back to see me another time. As a human, that is, we will see each other tomorrow.” Phayu says.
“Oh, that’s right.” Rain laughs. “It’s hard to remember that you are my cat.”
Phayu gives him a little playful growl at this. “Go home, or you might find it’s the human me that bites.”
Rain laughs and leaves Phayu with a happy wave. “See you in the morning.”
The next Sunday when Rain is doing the marketing for his uncle, he hears a strange rumor going around.
“The manor house has been deserted for the last twenty years, right?” One woman says.
“Yes, after the witch was banished from the village the woman and her husband moved away, so he wouldn’t be tempted by the seductress any longer or so they say.” A man says.
“But the husband is dead now.” Another woman says. “Now she is opening back up the house and moving in with her brother.”
“They never had children, right? Does that mean her children stand to inherit?” The first woman asks.
“I doubt her ladyship would let that happen,” the man answers.
“But the law?” the woman asks.
“That family has always lived above the law.” The man answers then lowers his voice to barely above a whisper, “It never sat right with me what they did to Prea and those boys.”
“Yeah,” the women say together, but then look around guiltily to make sure they weren’t overheard. Rain moves quickly away so they don’t realize he was listening. He’s not sure what they were talking about, but it seems to be something that happened before Rain was born so probably doesn’t affect him.
Phaelyn looks over the house with a frown. If it had been up to her, they would have stayed in the city, but Paitoon had caused trouble there and they had to flee back to this wretched little village. While Sakda had been alive, he had been able to keep her brother in check with a monthly allowance but once he had died Paitoon had gone wild. He had gambled and whored his way through most of the remaining money their parents had left them and had tried to bully Phaelyn into turning over Sakda’s money as well. If only Phaelyn had inherited the magical gift from their grandfather rather than her useless brother she would leave him in the street to starve.
Paitoon glanced towards the forest nervously, “Do you think she is still there with his children?”
Phaelyn shrugs. That bitch Prea was always a crafty one. If anyone could make a life for herself and two boys out in the middle of nowhere it would be her. Her eyes narrow on Paitoon, “Why do you care?”
“You know Sakda’s dying wish was that we look after the boys.” Paitoon says.
“My husband was an idiot, and you are a bigger one if you think I will give Prea and those whelps anything but the end of a knife.” Phaelyn says.
“But the prophecy, we can’t touch them.” Paitoon says with a fearful look.
Phaelyn gives her brother a thunderous look. “I know.” Some people might dismiss a prophecy as mere superstition, but Phaelyn knows the truth. Their family laid a curse on the son of Sakda, Phaelyn herself had initiated it. If she were to harm Prea or her sons, the curse would rebound on their family.
“Doesn’t the prophecy also mention a mate? One that can break the curse?” Phaelyn says. “We might not be able to touch the boy but if we can find his mate, we can get to him through them. Prea would be destroyed by the loss of her son, probably the other boy too.”
“How do we find out who his mate is?” Paitoon asks.
“We need someone from the village to help us. Doesn’t the mayor have a son that would be about the same age as the twins?” Phaelyn asks.
“I think so.” Paitoon says.
“Call him here tomorrow. I will talk to him.” Phaelyn says.
Phaelyn looks at the boy, Stop, with amusement. He is practically swelling with pride at being invited to tea at the manor house. He is obviously the type that cares about appearances and status. That’s good, she can use that.
“You are obviously an intelligent young man, I can see you taking over the village after your father.” Phaelyn gushes. Stop puffs up even more. “I need someone like you to help me.”
“Of course, ma’am,” Stop says.
“Oh, call me auntie, we are all family here.” Phaelyn says, trying not to grimace with distaste.
“Okay, auntie. What can I do?” Stop says.
She seems to consider, then says. “There is a small matter. I am looking for someone, probably a villager. This person will most likely be your age or younger.”
“Boy or girl?” Stop asks.
“That’s the thing, I don’t know. The only thing I know is that the person has a mark somewhere on their body. It will be a mark that they were born with but in an odd shape. It might look like a cat.” Phaelyn says.
Stop’s eyes widen, “Rain.”
“Rain?” Phaelyn asks. Rain and Phayu that fits the idea of soulmates as well. “Who is Rain?”
“He’s a boy that moved to the village several years ago when he was five. He thinks he’s better than the rest of us and keeps to himself. Some people say he even visits the haunted forest. One of my friends swears he saw him going in late one night. He has a witch’s mark like what you described.” Stop says.
Phaelyn tries to keep from smiling, these small-town villagers and their superstitious ways. “Do you think you could bring Rain here, without anyone knowing?”
“He won’t come willingly with me, we aren’t exactly friends.” Stop says.
“Did I say anything about willingly?” Phaelyn says. Stop's eyes widen with understanding. “The most important thing is that no one from the village knows where he’s gone or who took him. If you are the cunning boy I think you are, you will figure it out.”
Stop nods trying to make himself look even more important. Phaelyn gloats inwardly these idiots are so easy to control.
Stop and three of his friends wait near the forest where Bas has spotted Rain entering before. The spot is out of the way enough that they can’t be seen from the village. They see Rain leave the forest looking behind him and waving at someone before heading towards the village. They wait carefully until the forest is out of sight but before the village then slip up behind him. Rain struggles but they easily overpower him, to tie his hands and gag him before forcing him into a small wagon nearby. Lady Phaelyn has lent them a horse from her own stables to make it easier to transport Rain to the manor house. They move quickly before anyone can spot them.
Phayu prowls pacing back and forth. It’s almost sunset and Rain hasn’t shown up today. He comes every day except Sunday when he has to do marketing and chores for his father and sometimes, he even slips out and comes in the afternoons then. Something is wrong, Phayu can feel it.
His head jerks up and he stares at Saifah who says, “Maybe he’s not able to come today for some reason? It could be nothing.”
Phayu growls and turns to run back to their hut. It’s almost time for his transformation and he will dress and go find Rain if he has to tear the village apart. Banishment be damned.
His mother is of course waiting for him after his transformation, but to his surprise instead of trying to stop him she hands him a thick concealing cloak. “Be careful son, bring Rain here if you find him.”
“I’m going with you.” Saifah says.
“No,” Phayu and their mother say together.
“Son, don’t misunderstand me,” their mother says, “I just think you should go bring Heam and her family if they will come. They are possibly our only allies.” Saifah nods grimly at this. He doesn’t want Phayu to go on his own, but Heam’s family is their best chance.
A little while from where Rain left them yesterday, Phayu spots what looks like horse hoof prints and wagon tracks. No one in the village owns horses, there are a couple richer families with mules. The tracks lead away from the village. Phayu looks between them and the direction of the village trying to decide. Finally he turns and follows the tracks, but not before he takes out a small knife and carves a rough tornado symbol in a nearby tree. A few more times while following the tracks he stops to carve the same symbol. Somehow he isn’t surprised when the tracks lead to the old manor house. Phayu knows the story of his curse and their banishment. He remembers the day they walked into the woods clearly despite his young age and his mother has told them more after they were old enough to understand.
“Wow, you really were stupid enough to follow that boy here.” comes the voice behind Phayu. “If you don’t want us to hurt him you will come with me quietly.”
Phayu puts his hands up to show he isn’t a threat and turns to face the man behind him, “Let Rain go.”
“If we let him go you won’t do what we say.” The man says. He motions Phayu towards the house.
Inside the house, Phayu is taken to a storeroom where he sees Rain tied to a chair. The boy looks like someone slapped him hard and there is drying blood at the corner of his lip. Phayu automatically moves towards him but is stopped by a woman’s voice.
“You look just like Sadka.” She says quietly. “You’re the oldest twin right? Phayu, the cursed one?”
“You should know,” Phayu says angrily, guessing who this woman must be. “Your family is the one that cursed me.”
“Rain has nothing to do with this,” Phayu says.
Phaelyn laughs and holds Rain’s wrist and Phayu’s side showing the matching marks. “I think this boy has everything to do with this.” She turns to Rain and says, “Do you think Phayu loves you, he is just using you to break his curse.”
Rain shakes his head vehemently trying to say something through the gag.
“Kneel.” She tells Phayu. When he doesn’t move she motions to one of the boys who holds a knife to Rain’s throat.
Phayu kneels at once. “You can’t hurt me,” he says. “I know about the curse and how if you hurt me it will rebound on your family.”
“It’s true, but will you really want to live as you see your lover hurt in front of you, while you watch helplessly? Let’s see whose life you value more, his or yours.” The man with the knife and Rain makes a pained sound as a small trickle of blood runs down his neck.
“No stop,” Phayu says. “I will do what you want me to.”
Rain struggles screaming against his gag at those words.
“Good,” Phaelyn says. She takes a second knife from her belt and plays with it thoughtfully. “Obviously your mother told you about us. What did she tell you about your father?”
“That he was a married man, and that she made the mistake of thinking he loved her and us boys.” Phayu says.
“Oh, he did, never doubt that.” Phaelyn says angrily. “I wouldn’t have cared if Sadka had just had an affair, or even if children had been conceived. But he gave your bitch mother the love he never had to me, and that I couldn’t have. That is the real reason that if I touch you or any of your family the curse will rebound. Your father’s love made it so. Love has its own powerful sort of magic that not even the most powerful sorcerers in the world can counteract.”
“So that’s why you think you can get away with hurting Rain, and me through Rain because he was someone that my father didn’t love?” Phayu asks.
“Of course, Sadka never even met this boy.” Phaelyn says.
“Your plan is flawed.” Phayu says. “My father may not have known or loved Rain, but by your own admission he loved my mother, brother and I.”
“So.” Phaelyn says.
“I love Rain. By hurting him you hurt me, the one that my father loved.” Phayu says. “That’s your very plan, but you can’t. What you don’t realize, maybe because you have never truly loved anyone, is that there are worse things than physical pain. To hurt Rain would be even worse than taking that knife in your hand and stabbing me with it. You won’t escape the curse that way.”
Phaelyn stops, suddenly seeming uncertain. She looks at the man her age sitting near the fire. “Paitoon, is that true?”
The man shrugs, “I don’t know, it could be if Phayu really does love the boy.”
Phaelyn screams in frustration. “Bind him. We will figure out what to do later.”
Three of the men direct Phayu to a second chair, across the room from Rain and tie him to it, gagging him.
“I suggest you don’t try to escape. I might not be able to kill the two of you but I have other ways to make you regret it.” Phaelyn says.
Phayu is facing Rain and he gives him a slow blink, a signal he often uses when in panther form to comfort the boy. Rain still has tears streaming down his face but he also gives Phayu the best smile he can in spite of the gag.
Phayu has no idea if what he told Phaelyn is true or not, but his real purpose is to buy them time and hope Saifah can follow the trail he left him.
As sunrise approaches Phayu becomes more apprehensive. Will Phaelyn fear his transformation enough to take desperate action regardless of the consequences? He tries to listen to the sounds of the house to get a clue of what is going on, but jumps when there is a loud crash near the door.
Phayu braces himself as the door opens but to his relief it’s Saifah that enters. He moves to Phayu and takes out the gag, he starts to untie Phayu, but Phayu insists that he look at Rain first. The boy’s face is battered from the slaps and there is a trail of dried blood on his neck but as soon as he is freed he runs to Phayu asking if he is okay.
Once Phayu is untied he takes Rain’s face carefully in his hands and says. “I should be asking you that. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine now,” Rain says, giving him a smile, but Phayu doesn’t miss the wince of pain from his bruised cheek.
“What happened?” Phayu asks Saifah.
“I went to Heam’s house and her uncle, father, and several of their workers came back with me. There wasn’t even a fight. The village boys ran off, but you can be sure the villagers will find out about the mayor’s son being involved in the kidnapping and torture of a village boy.” Saifah says, “We have Phaelyn and Paitoon in custody.”
“What can we do with them?” Phayu asks.
“Turns out that is up to you.” Saifah says.
“What?” Phayu asks.
“Well Paitoon let some interesting information drop. It seems that you are father’s heir and new owner of this house and all the titles that go with it. It’s why Phaelyn was desperate to act before anyone found out.” Saifah says. “So basically you control all the lands and the attached village.”
Phayu raises an eyebrow thoughtfully but doesn’t comment. Instead he says, “Is mother with you?”
“She is and she brought her medicines, I’ll call her to look at Rain. What about you, it’s almost time for your transformation?” Saifah asks.
“Is there a nice bedroom near here where we can take Rain?” Phayu asks.
Saifah nods and moves to help Rain. When Rain looks back at Phayu he says, “Go with Saifah, I will follow in a minute.”
After his transformation Phayu finds the room where they took Rain. He curls up on the bed next to the boy laying his head on Rain’s chest like a loyal dog. Rain automatically scratches him behind the ears. Phayu closes his eyes, enjoying the sensation.
Phayu’s mother examines Rain and declares it’s only his face that is bruised. She sends one of the farmer’s workers to the village to find Rain’s uncle and let him know where he is.
“I’m going to give Rain something that will make him sleep, he needs to rest.” Phayu’s mother tells him after putting some cream on Rain’s bruised face. “You can stay here with him today if you like.”
Phayu puts his head back down, he isn’t leaving Rain’s side. Not ever again if he can help it.
Phayu sleeps periodically during the day and spends the rest of the time watching Rain sleep, smiling at his quiet little snores.
He only gets up at sunset to get dressed after his transformation back to human, then immediately returns to Rain’s side taking the chair next to the bed this time. Not long after that Rain wakes up and Phayu feeds him the porridge his mother brings in.
“Did you mean it?” Rain asks.
“Mean what?” Phayu says.
“That you loved me?” Rain asks. “That woman said you just wanted to break the curse.”
“Don’t you understand, sweet boy. It’s only by loving you, and you loving me that the curse can be broken. Yes I love you.” Phayu says. “I’ve loved you for a long time.”
“I love you too.” Rain says. He sits up and kisses Phayu, wincing when he remembers his bruised cheek making Phayu laugh.
Phayu does become lord of the manor. His first act being to send Phaelyn and Paitoon to live as beggars with their extended family. His second act is to replace the mayor or the village with Rain’s uncle. This is a welcome change to the people who had spent many hours working to pay the unfair taxes levied by the old mayor. They celebrate the new lord of the manor.
His third act is to marry Rain, effectively bonding them together and breaking the curse. Saifah has moved in with Heam’s family after their own marriage but Phayu’s mother comes to the manor house to help him.
Phayu also searches high and low and finds some of the best people to help him run the manor and the village. He brings in a man named Prapai and his mate Sky who immediately becomes some of their dearest friends.
The area becomes good and prosperous under the new lord of the manor and his people. It grows quickly as people flock to live in the area.
Prea, Phayu and Rain are widely loved and celebrated by all the people of the land.