Chapter 2

My mother took Ahiga’s position when he left and turned to me. My father had his eyes filled with love-longing after her. I longed to have that sensation for someone.

“Dear, Naga informed me that you kicked her daughter.”

I pealed my eyes from my father and rolled them again. “She tried to trip me as I was walking. I gave her a little nudge out of the way.”

Leave it to Aila to go tattle to her mother.

Mother eyed me, but smirked. “You know, doing nothing would get you the same revenge you seek? Especially, if this is over you marrying Ahiga.”

“So, she will tattle on me even if I didn’t kick her?” I raised my eyes.

She pursed her lips. “You know what I mean. Marrying that man will shut her up.”

I crossed my arms and pouted. “If only being engaged to him would do the trick.”

In response to Ahiga returning and standing by my father, she struck my upper arm with the back of her palm and turned to face them. I looked behind him and saw a form of a guy slowly emerge from the trees.

The enigmatic visitor walked across the deck and right to my father. Warriors gathered around him, ready to fight if he decided to harm our Chief and his family. When the guy saw the Chief, he lowered his head and held out his hand to shake his. They spoke their welcomes in low tones so that the public would not be able to hear what they were saying.

As the Chieftain spoke to the warriors alongside him, the stranger turned to face us and crossed his hands in front of him. Amid the crowd, he searched until his gaze fell on mine. The most beautiful set of eyes I had ever seen looked back at me. It was the first time I'd ever seen a shade of green in someone's irises, and I was intrigued. A strong desire to touch his face pulled me from my bench.

Everything around me was deafeningly quiet, even my mother's yelling for me to go back in my seat. As I got closer to him, he took a few steps closer, almost falling off the platform. I wanted to feel the smoothness of his skin, skin that had been tanned but had not been destroyed by the sun, the way Ahiga's skin had been. His jet-black hair, which hung just below his chin, piqued my interest, and I became intrigued by him. Only traitors would get their hair chopped to that short a length.

I was barely a few inches away from this man when I jerked back to awareness. As I raced back to my seat alongside my mother, I shook my head and apologized to my father for my actions. The moment I sat back down; my gaze was drawn once more to his. His eyes had brightened with a glint of levity in their depths. Was he laughing at me?

“You can’t have all of the pretty ones, Kiera!” Shouted Aila, embarrassing me.

“Yeah! Stop hogging them!” Another girl yelled.

I turned away from the guy and looked at Ahiga, who was looking at me with disdain. For a split second, he had a look of betrayal painted on his face before he replaced it with seriousness and returned his attention to my father.

“Enough!” The Chieftain shouted at the girls. “This man is Calian, Chieftain of the neighboring Tribe, Paliko.”

“Greetings.” Calian spoke, revealing a deep and scruffy voice sending chills down my spine.

“I release everyone to go about their normal duties. Everyone except my family, Ahiga, and Mako.” My father instructed.

Mako was the second in command. He was also the best warrior in the tribe but was still unmarried. My father said it was because we had yet to have a woman who matched him. I think it was because he didn’t want him distracted.

As soon as everyone had fled away, the Chief escorted us inside the battle tent. This was a place where only individuals who had acquired respectable titles, or those who were married to those who had, could enter. Being in this spot was considered an affront to the spirits and entering without showing respect was considered an insult to the spirits.

We gathered around the round table, which had a built-in map of the surrounding region on the surface. When my father arrived, he sat beside my mother and kissed her hand before taking his seat. I took up the position opposite her, beside him, and with Ahiga beside me. Mako took up a position next to Kaora. The beautiful Calian sat across from my father, with only a few seats between him, Mako, and Ahiga. He was truly stunning.

The room was adorned with ribbons and posters depicting the colors of our tribe. Bright colors could be seen everywhere in this space, and they would give you a headache if you looked too long at them.

Not caring if anybody else saw that I was staring, I let my gaze lock into his for a moment. There was something I needed to know about him that I couldn't find out anywhere else. What was it about him that was so attractive? What was the reason behind his short hair?

“Calian, where did your tribe originate from?” My father asked.

Pulling his gaze from mine, he met my father’s. “We ran from our original tribe which was located Northwest in Nakinata.”

We were located Southeast in Nakinata. That was a far run.

“You ran that far?” I inquired.

He chuckled making my heart race. “We didn’t actually run. Horseback is the fastest for sure.”

I blushed as he winked at me and felt Ahiga tense beside me.

“Why did you leave your tribe?” Ahiga questioned him grouchily.

Calian shrugged. “Something about not wanting to eat other people, you could say.”

“You’re from a tribe of cannibals!?” Mako yelled.

“More or less. We weren’t at first until a plague took out all our other food sources. The leaders decided we should start eating our own population until we could farm and hunt again. We refused to. Before we could get away, we were marked as traitors and locked up.”

“Your witches couldn’t fix the problem?” My mother asked.

Calian shook his head. “We do not have witches in our tribe. Something killed them all about 25 years ago. Since then, we’ve had laws against practicing.”

“What are YOUR views of witches?” My father asked.

“I believe there should be witches everywhere. White witches, of course.” He nodded.

“Why is your population increasing? We have not seen any travelers.” Ahiga asked next.

Calian smirked as he caught on to him being spied upon. “When we first left, a lot of tribesmen and women were afraid to leave but wanted to. After we left, we sent a messenger to tell them that we made it and are doing well. Our numbers are growing from those traveling to use. For your not seeing traveler’s thing, I can’t answer it because I do not know why.”

“Why do you have green eyes?” I stuttered before I could stop myself.

His eyes met mine, drawing me to him. I wanted to climb across the table and sit in his lap. Anything I could do to get closer to him, I was tempted to do.

“Genetics I guess?” He smirked.

My father grunted. “Kiera, please leave and prepare for the wedding.”

I jerked my attention to him. He was kicking me out! I didn’t want to be away from Calian, the thought dreaded me. As I glared at my father, I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off.

“Now.”

I shoved my seat back and stood angrily.

“Wedding?” Calian questioned.

“Yes. Kiera and I will be married tomorrow. You are welcome to attend the ceremony.” Ahiga invited.

As he met my gape, his eyebrow was lifted, but irritation could be seen in his expression. I had a strong want to weep. I wanted to scream at everyone and inform them that I would not be getting married. Instead, I rushed out of my spot next to my father's chair. The sound of a murmured "Yum" followed me as I walked past Calian. I brushed it off, thinking I was going insane, and walked to the door as I heard him respond to Ahiga.

“I would love to attend.”