Novas Journey Pt 02

WOW!! You guys are amazing, I'm thrilled and very humbled with all the feedback and would like to encourage more on my writing journey! Huge thank you to everyone who commented/favorited/rated my first post and I look forward to hearing more for part two. I hope to finish this story with your continuing support, thank you all so much!

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Chapter 5

I ran into the darkness and felt as though I could run forever, that my energy was boundless. If I had wings I would have flown. I tore through the camp in the moonlight. The sun had long since set, I had missed dinner but Lios would not notice, we ate in a large gaggle in the center of camp, he would not assume that I had been absent. I slowed when I approached my end of the camp, finally out of breath. I stopped for a moment and caught my breath, wiping my forehead of the sweat. Finally calm, I approached the wagon and the tent pitched behind it. I attempted to be stealthy and enter quietly but when I pulled the flap back, I saw that a lamp was still lit.

"Finally back I see,"

For the first time I could remember, Lios' voice struck a panic in me. I entered the tent, knowing there was no way out of this situation. When he glanced at me in the light I saw his expression change from a simmering anger to a rage. He bit his lip.

"What did I tell you?" He growled, approaching me, I could tell he was trying not to be overly loud. "I told you to avoid the boys and what do you do? You show up in the middle of the night with your hair down after missing dinner."

I felt my mouth gape in horror, I reached up to my neck to find I had forgotten to put my hair back up. My entire excuse had just gone out the window, I was now completely unarmed for this.

"Shit," Lios said, pacing with one hand on his head, he turned back to me, "Who was it?"

He was inches from my face and moving closer,

"Who was it?" his voice was barely audible, he enunciated every word.

I was silent, he waited. All I could hear was the sound of him breathing heavily.

"I wasn't out with a boy." I said simply, my gaze had turned to the floor, I was terrified of what might happen if I looked him in the eye.

"Ok, then who? What were you out doing so late?"

I hesitated, feeling myself wanting to lie but knowing that whether or not I did, it would result in the same amount of trouble. I shook my head.

"No? No, what? Why won't you tell me what happened?"

He was interrogating me and I was getting frustrated.

"I know you're not going to be happy hearing about it."

He paused, staring at me,

"What did you do? Just be honest with me."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, he was trying to calm down, I could hear it in his voice. I broke down knowing that I couldn't tell him the truth without it hurting both of us.

"Nova," he said calmly, putting his giant hands on my shoulders as I sobbed, "Did something happen? Are you alright?"

I nodded, wiping my eyes.

"Nothing happened, I'm ok."

"Then what's going on?"

"I met someone," I just blurted out, "the woman in blue."

I felt his hands tighten on my shoulders for a moment, almost painfully. He must have become aware of this, his grip loosened and he dropped his hands to his sides where they balled into fists.

"And what happened?" he was still making words but his face was fixed in a scowl.

I was looking him in the eye but I had lost my ability to talk. I wanted to make words, to express what had happened, but I was so embarassed I couldn't. My eyes fell back to the floor.

"That's all I need to know," he said, walking past me, out of the tent, into the darkness.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked, horrified that he was going to return to Skye and all I would find tomorrow would be a corpse.

"I'm going to have a little chat,"

I ran after him out of the tent,

"Stay here," he growled, I wasn't about to leave him with Skye, "Nova, stay here!" he yelled. His voice raised for the first time since I'd known him and it scared me to the point of stopping. I sobbed in the darkness as he walked off. What had I done? What had I gotten myself into? What would happen to Skye and the others? I couldn't stand here and wait to find out, I had to go. I had started this mess and I had to fix it. I ran after him in the darkness, praying I would reach them before Lios did. I was out of breath from crying and running and had stopped a good 50 feet from the tent where I had left Skye not too long ago. I looked up to see Lios at the opening of the tent, holding a lantern. Fear suddenly ran through me that he might just toss the lantern into the tent and say that a fire had broken out. But my imagination had run off, he stood patiently at the door of the tent and I saw Skye emerge, amazingly unveiled, from the tent. The two of them walked from the tent out behind the wagons and towards a dune. I ran after them, following the lantern up the dune. I ran until my lungs felt as though they would collapse, and then I ran some more. I couldn't stop until I knew Skye was safe. They were standing only a few feet from each other, screaming.

"How can you be so shallow? You knew exactly what we were the moment you let us in!"

"I didn't know you were predators and you were going to seduce my daughter!"

I ran straight into the middle of the conversation and stood between them, facing Lios with my arms out.

"It's not her fault," I managed, panting frantically

"Bullshit! I'm supposed to believe that you went to visit her of your own accord?"

"Considering you forbade us from meeting," I shot back.

Lios' face erupted in surprise before turning back to anger,

"Who told you!?" he waved his arms angrily, "Who!?"

"I did," Skye answered from behind me, she put her hand on my shoulder and pushed me gently aside, "I thought she had a right to know the truth."

Lios raged for a moment,

"There was a reason why!" He turned to me, pointing a finger in Skye's direction, "There was a reason why I didn't want you seeing these people." he growled.

"And why's that?" I asked, "Don't you think I deserved to know?"

"You don't know anything" he said simply, "You don't understand what else is at play here." His eyes turned to Skye and I saw the anger in his eyes.

I turned back to her, questioning,

"You agreed to the terms," she said simply, "I simply wanted her to find freedom."

I faced Lios, he was scowling and his eyes had fallen to the ground.

"What the hell is going on? What's she talking about?"

"Tell her," I heard Skye's velvet voice say from beside me, "Tell her the truth."

I looked to Lios, waiting. His eyes raised from the ground and looked to me, I could see the pain in the words he was about to say.

"When the Cerulean Order came to us, I knew we could benefit from having them here, there was a lot of money to be made. I was inexperienced and bad at negotiating still, Skye figured me out. She knew I wanted them to join us so she made a bargain." he paused, looking me in the eye. "She said she wanted you, she wanted you to join them when you came of age. So I told her that you could have no contact up to that point."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"You bargained with me?"

He wouldn't look me in the eye,

"Tell her the rest," Skye chimed behind me.

He shook his head,

"I agreed that you would be able to choose whether or not you wanted to join them once you were old enough," he said gruffly. "I didn't want you joining them, becoming a part of that. I wanted you to have a normal life, to have the chance to live a good life. I afforded you all the chances to learn and take up a profession because I wanted something better for you."

His eyes were earnest, I could see tears welling up. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him, I couldn't hold back my own tears.

"I'm sorry, father."

"As am I," he said, releasing me, he wiped tears from my face, "I should have never agreed to such terms. I broke the most important rule, to never bargain with something you are not willing to lose."

I sobbed, I knew he truly loved and cared about me, even though I was not his flesh and blood. He spoke the truth, all he had really wanted was to protect me, to give me the chance to do something I truly wanted, not be condemned to a single path. How would I ever explain to him that I was freely choosing that path?

"I love you, father," I said, still crying, I kissed his cheek. "But I have to choose."

He was suddenly solemn, tears still running down his face. I released him and turned to Skye.

"What will happen if I choose to go with you?"

"You will be taught our ways, our methods, and then stay with us for the next 10 years."

"After that?"

"You are free to do as you please, you may stay or you may return to your previous life."

"Do you plan on staying with the caravan?"

She nodded,

"We have no intentions of leaving, unless Lios decides otherwise."

"Will I still be free to do as I please when I'm not being instructed?"

"Yes, your time is your own, you are under no restriction outside of instruction."

I turned back to Lios, but he already knew what I was planning.

"I see you made your choice," he wiped his face and looked me in the eye, "Do as you like, you are now an adult. Just know that if you ever need anything, you are always my daughter."

He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my head gently.

"Thank you, father,"

He released me,

"You know where to find me."

I turned and walked back toward Skye.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked, "Absolutely certain?"

I nodded,

"Yes."

"You may stay with your father this last night, then you will come live with us, understand?"

I nodded.

"Tomorrow then," she said, turning and beginning the walk back to her tent.

Lios had walked up behind me,

"We should head back as well."

I followed him back to our tent, he said nothing, I didn't even know where to start with what to say, so I decided the best plan of action was to remain silent. We entered the tent, he walked straight to his bed and sat down, facing away from me. I began changing.

"Do you understand what you've gotten yourself into?"

I stopped but remained silent,

"One day, Nova, when you have your own children, you will understand what it is like to want to protect them."

I continued in silence before lying down in bed and pulling a blanket over me.

Lios sat in silence, staring at the side of the tent with the lamp burning. It was still burning when I fell asleep. I wish I had known then, had I been able to understand and grasp what horrible pain he was going through when I told him what I did. I still can't say that I have the insight to understand entirely, but I think I grasp it somewhat better now. The pain, the disappointment, the huge letdown of investing so much time and energy into giving someone something only to discover that they do not really want it. Still, I would not have chosen differently, nor would I wish that on anyone, to have to choose something that makes them unhappy when there is clearly something that would make them happy waiting on the other side of a difficult decision.

The next day, when I awoke, Lios was gone, off tending to his many duties. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Morning sunlight baked the tent and rays of sunlight poured through the small space between flaps at the opening. Last night felt like a dream turned nightmare and for a few moments I wondered whether it had really happened. I dressed and began packing. I didn't have much to pack up, a few changes of clothes and some bathing supplies. I heard the tent flap and I turned to see Lios coming in,

"You're up, good, Skye is looking for you,"

I stood and grabbed my bag of packed belongings.

"I'm on my way out now," I said simply and began to walk towards the flap.

"Wait,"

I turned and saw him approaching me, he reached for a pocket and produced a single gold ring. He held it between two fingers and took one of my hands.

"This is the first thing I ever traded for," he said, slipping it on one of my fingers, "It was going to be my gift to you when you became the leader of the caravan, but now I just want you to have it, as something to remember me by."

I dropped my bag and hugged him,

"How can you think I will ever forget my father?"

he chuckled, hugging me back,

"Just don't forget where you came from." he said releasing me.

"Some awful town infected with the plague, got it."

He laughed,

"Be safe and be careful, Skye is very good at what she does, I know she will take good care of you."

I nodded, picking back up my bag and heading out of the tent. The sunlight blinded me at first but I blinked away the blindness as my eyes adjusted and noticed a blue figure standing next to our wagon about 20 feet away. I headed towards her,

"Follow me," she said, it wasn't Skye this time, but I followed as she led me to the tent I had been in last night. She stood to one side and held the flap open for me and I walked in to the familiar earthy smell.

"Where should I go?" I asked

"Head towards the back," she replied, pointing to the back of the tent, "Many of these are unclaimed."

I stepped over the beds and dropped my things by what seemed like a vacant bed. She approached me and looked me up and down,

"We need to get you some new clothes," she shook her head, "But first lets get you introduced and started on some basics. My name is Embry" she did a curtsy of sorts, "I'm currently the only one not working, everyone else is out at the moment, one of us needs to stay back and ensure the safety of the tent and the wagon, today that is me."

"Do you have to be veiled all the time?"

"No, but you haven't been officially initiated yet, so I can't reveal myself to you."

"Where's Skye?"

She laughed,

"You will be very fortunate if you can get a hold of her before sundown, she is a very busy woman."

"So what exactly needs to be done around here? Or are you going to teach me something?"

"Since you haven't been initiated, I can't say much, so today will be mostly chores and basic delivery."

"Alright, what needs to be done?"

And that was the start of my day of busy work. I retrieved food stores from the vendors, cleaned beds, fed the horses, and did some wagon maintenance. I was busy hammering out some metal for a wagon wheel when a hand lit on my shoulder.

"What are you up to?" The velvet voice asked,

I turned, smiling, to face those familiar green eyes and blue veil.

"I met Embry and she's kept me hard at work," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead with the back of one arm, "You have a bad wheel, so I thought I'd might as well fix it."

"Take a break and come eat lunch with me,"

I couldn't have dropped what I was doing any faster, I followed her into the tent where the other women were sitting.

There was a groan when I entered and a bunch of women fussing to find their veils.

"Relax," Skye's voice punctuated the movement, "She is our newest initiate, your secret is safe with her."

They all sighed and put down their veils, resuming their lunch. Skye removed her own veil, shaking out her hair as she dropped it onto a bed.

"This is Embry," she pointed to a fair skinned girl with brown hair.

"Dammit, now she knows what I look like," Embry said gruffly

"Oh shut up," the girl next to her said, "She was going to figure it out sooner or later,"

Skye pointed to the girl who had spoken, she had dark hair and mid toned skin,

"Miras," she moved to a slightly older woman, probably somewhere in her mid to late 30s, she was also a blonde with lighter skin and blue eyes, "Lena," the woman waved with one hand, eating with the other. "Then there's Mitra and Thenra, they're twins," there were two women in their mid twenties with dark complexions similar to myself but they too had piercing blue eyes, one had shoulder length hair, the other had a long ponytail, respectively. They didn't respond, only continued eating. "Have a seat," Skye said, gesturing to the floor. I sat at the end near the twins.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Nova," I said simply. Mitra, the shaggy haired one, nodded.

"They don't talk much," Miras said simply, "Kind of the quiet type."

"I see."

Skye returned from outside holding some fruit and a couple wrapped sandwiches, she came in and sat next to me, handing me a sandwich and a piece of fruit.

"How are you doing with this?" she asked me, very intent on her food. Mine was already in my mouth, I hurriedly swallowed it so I could answer.

"I'm doing alright, but I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?" she took a small bite of her food.

"Is there any way I could continue working with the smith? Or maybe even just dancing or swordsmanship? I want to keep up my skills in those fields."

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your learning here, I don't see an issue, just know that you cannot discuss your work here."

I nodded,

"Of course, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Don't overwork today," she said simply, taking another bite of her sandwich, "tonight is the official ceremony and you're going to need your energy."

I felt my heart sink into my stomach with anticipation. I couldn't deny that I was excited for what might come, I secretly hoped it would involve Skye.

"I'll make sure I don't overwork then." I said simply, beginning to eat the piece of fruit, I had devoured the sandwich. She turned to me and gave me a devilish grin, I thought for a moment I could see some excitement in her eyes as well.

"Not sure what's going on over here, but I feel some sparks!" I heard Embry say from the other side of the group.

"You know, just because we have sex all the time, doesn't mean we always have to be pervy!" Miras harassed her, "Haven't you ever heard of friendship?"

"That is not a look of friendship..." Lena added, without looking up from her sandwich.

"I have to go," Skye said abruptly, hearing the chatter among the other women, she tossed the piece of fruit to me, "You might need this more than I do."

"Good luck and be careful," I said to her, then realized just how personal that sounded, "All of you," I said turning to the group, trying to sound less attached. They all began to get up and put their veils back on. Skye took a moment to tidy up, the other women headed out. I turned to clean off the beds when I felt two arms wrap around my stomach and gentle kisses on my neck. I chuckled, wrapping my arms over hers, I looked over my shoulder, her green eyes soft, gentle for once. I didn't want her to go, and I didn't want her to let me go. I leaned in and kissed her softly, she released me.

"I have to go," she grinned, pulling her veil over her face, "I'll see you tonight."

I nodded,

"See you."

She was out the flap and gone before I knew it. I turned back to resume working and saw Embry before me, she was standing with her arms crossed, looking at me critically.

"That explains a lot."

Again, I felt the urge to lie, but I knew it would get me nowhere, I was still a horrible liar. Perhaps the truth was less threatening. I shrugged,

"It is what it is," I said as I walked past her to continue my work, I could feel my face burning, I was thankful for my dark complexion, it hid some of the redness in my face. But I couldn't deny, some of it was lust, some was love, and some was pride.

Chapter 6

The sun was going down and as it did my anticipation was rising. The sky was tinted with an orange hue as the sun descended below the horizon line, beneath the dunes surrounding our camp. I had occupied myself with sweeping out the wagon of the finer sand that had accumulated inside it. Their wagon was a curious thing, it was wider than most of ours with space for far more than 6 or 7 of us, I figured I knew why. The floor was carpeted with a fine oriental rug, made of bright reds and yellows, it seemed fairly new. There was sleeping space for about 14, or so I counted, the interior of the wagon was made from mahogany and innately ornamented in places. They clearly were not at a loss for funds if they could afford such a big, grandiose wagon. I heard a clicking tongue behind me and expected to see Embry's critical face staring back at me when I turned.