he knew better. If she was wrong, if he was a seer, his father would be bound by oaths and duty to tell the tribe. Being his son, Lodan would hesitate. But in the end he would not be able to hide it.
And Sojun was right. The things the Lemme said, they separated him. There were no murders in the tribe, not in over four centuries. There were no armies to lead, no battles to be fought. The Zetowan tribe fought with their words and their faith. They only took lives of animals to feed the tribe, offering thanks to the spirit of the fallen after each kill. Any who wished it to be otherwise were not of the family. They were driven away to protect the peace and for the sake of the spirits of the people. Kaie didn’t want war, didn’t want death. But if there was a chance he was a seer, his wants would not be enough to change what was needed. They would drive him out.
With despair he dropped his gaze from Amorette. He loved her and wished her ferocity was enough to make her words true. But she was wrong and if he followed her path he would find himself alone the next time the Finders came to the woods.
“What do I do, Jun?”
Sojun hugged him hard enough to hurt. Kaie nearly took the excuse to sob, realizing that this might be the last gesture of kinship he would receive from anyone. Being the one destined for the oath meant nothing if he was not of the family.
“You will stay in your home, heart’s brother. You’ll think on your destiny. I will sit with you today. Together… together we’ll find the meaning that won’t turn the minds of the family to fear. And then tomorrow Amorette will sit with you. She’ll hear what we have found and will say it’s the truth of things.”
Meaning they would lie. On the morning of the third day, before the ceremony, Amorette and Sojun would be called separately to speak on what the Lemme foretold. Each was to give their understanding of her words. They were allowed to discuss it during the day they shared together but only for the purpose of helping him understand his destiny. They weren’t supposed to allow his interpretation to impact their own. What Sojun was suggesting was more than forbidden. There weren’t rules to cover such a thing. The Lemme’s visions were the foundation of the tribe. To alter them, even to soften them… It was unfathomable.
He looked back to Amorette. She wouldn’t agree to it. She couldn’t. She was always extreme in her reactions, but this was just crazy. He didn’t want her to agree. It was bad enough that his future was already changing Jun so much.
Her pale eyes flashed with emotions he couldn’t name. Her lips were pressed so tightly into a thin line they lost their color. She glanced over to Sojun, no doubt trying to figure out how they could both become so corrupted in such a short time. He waited for her to refuse, to shun them both as they deserved. Anyone who could harbor such thoughts could not be family.
Slowly, tears sliding down her cheek, Amorette nodded. Then, just like she was supposed to, she walked out the door. He and Sojun were alone for their day together.
Four
“I figure,” Sojun began as he helped Kaie gather wood from the pile his father left and arrange it in the fire pit, “the most important thing to speak on is the oath.”
Kaie pressed the dried grass in along the bottom of the pile, taking longer than was necessary as he sorted through his thoughts. “You shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t let you. If you lie you and Amorette will be exiled too. You won’t be family either.”
Sojun’s easy smile didn’t look quite as convincing as usual. “There won’t be any driving off. We just have to sort out the right things to speak on and the right ways to say them. Then everything goes on like it’s supposed to.”
“Until the fires and the armies,” Kaie muttered. “It’s lying, Jun. The barbarians lie to family. We keep no secrets, harbor no dishonesty.”
“I know the words Kaie,” Sojun growled as he handed him the flint, not playing at happy and carefree anymore. “If you know another way, tell me. Love of the gods, tell me. The tribe is our family but it was you and Amorette that put me together again after mother left. Without the two of you, my family is broken. I won’t have that. Not again. So if it’s a choice between being a barbarian and saying goodbye, I will lie happily. So will Ams. And when we’re done, things will be right. Like I said, with the three of us together.”
Unbidden, the Lemme’s words sprang to his mind. All you love will know strife and death. How long would his friends stay by his side, when they were faced with nothing but sorrow for it? Had it started already? Maybe it was his fault that Jun’s mother left the family. Or maybe the Lemme was just an old, sick woman and her mind was leaving. Maybe his whole destiny was nothing more than the ravings of a dying woman.
He tried to believe that for all of a minute. He also tried to figure out some words that could touch on the depth of his gratitude or the guilt he felt for already ruining his friends, even if none of it was his doing. Not yet, at any rate. Not until the glimpses of his memories caught up with him. As he blew the sparks to life he gave the task up as impossible.
“I haven’t seen you this serious in years, Jun. It’s scarier than anything that old terror had to say. If you don’t crack a painful joke soon, I’m liable to start puking my stomach out all over again.”
The younger boy smiled but the expression didn’t touch his eyes. “I’m sorry. I think I used up all my wonderful jokes this morning.” Sojun sighed heavily. “Honest, Kaie, I can’t think of anything to laugh at in this. My sense of humor left at the thought of you seeing visions of ashes and dragons.”
“They weren’t visions,” he insisted, then sighed himself. “I know what you mean.”
Sojun nodded grimly. Kaie didn’t know if it was in acceptance of his non-visions or if it was just a general nod of acknowledgement of the whole horrible mess. “So. I need you to pull yourself together and help me think this through, Rosy. You’re the one who traded Delia for her own flowers. We’ll need that silver tongue to get through this.”
Kaie rolled his eyes. “That was ten years ago. And she only did it to keep me from crying.”
“Exactly,” Jun insisted. “You had her so convinced you were about to start sobbing I almost believed it. You know you’re good at making people think what you want them to. So quit obsessing about why we shouldn’t and start figuring out how we will.”
Despite everything, Kaie couldn’t help but to smile. That was a good day. And no matter how he denied it every other day, Jun was right. He was good at making people believe what he wanted without ever lying. “Alright. You’re right. The oath is the most important part.”
Sojun grinned and nodded. “We’ll leave of the part about ‘none and all and none again’ right? That sounds kind of ominous.”
He shook his head. “That’s good stuff. She flat out said I’m to lead the tribe there. If I’m supposed to marry a High Queen, they’ll expect me to lead.”
“But the ‘none’ part is kind of creepy.”
Kaie flexed his hands over the fire, wondering how awful it would be to have a summer birthing day. The fire was as much ritual as every other part of these days and, while he was lucky enough that the weather was starting to turn, it was still warm enough to make his home a bit stifling. How much worse would it be if it weren’t cool outside? “No, it makes sense. My mother leads now. Until she steps down, I lead no one. When someone else takes over for me, it will be no one again. It makes it sound like I’ll live a long time. Long enough to have an heir and step down, too.”
Sojun nodded, cracking his knuckles. “It does make sense. And sounds good. I guess I’m seeing phantoms when there’s just an old woman being cryptic.”
“I don’t think that’s what she was doing, Jun.”
The other boy pursed his lips. “Maybe not. But everyone else will. That’s all that matters.”
Kaie watch the fire growing to consume the wood they arranged. That was true enough but only if the Lemme said nothing about her visions. So far as he knew she didn’t tell anyone but the person involved. And the witnesses, of course. But that
was when everyone was honest. There was no telling what she would do in this situation.
He needed to go back and see her. The thought made his stomach roll all over again in all kinds of uncomfortable ways. But there wasn’t any getting around it. If he was going to lie, to let his friends lie, he needed to be sure it wasn’t all for nothing. For all they knew, she saw their deceit coming and was already planning to tell the whole village.