Chateau L'Orange: November 2008

hola all,
Kele here.
So folks have asked me to share some of writing for a while. When that happened I of course went into a frenzy of editing and tryig to choose the perfect passage of my novel to share. I was unable to make a choice. So I am just gonna put up chapter 1. Don't get too excited, I'mm not gonna post the whole novel. but I think I'll add later with a story or two from my first book.
I hope you enjoy. Believe it or not, this right here is a lot of typing for me. I usually don't like to write non-fiction.

p.s. I'm aware that this is public domain. You shaould all be i8nformed that my work has been properly copywrighted and is safe from plagarizm (and spell-checked).

The Black Dot

a fantasy by
Kele Nitoto

The Marronage Trilogy
Book 1

CHAPTER 1

CHOSEN

0

The young woman was not happy about the way adulthood was presenting itself to her. She sat across the fire from the Old Man, and watched him, and felt him, and wondered; had her Mentor had sat across from this old man in just this way, and had her Mentor been this frightened?
‘Why did you call me here?’ she asked. His heart was strange, unlike anyone’s she had ever known.
‘I want to tell you a story.’ The Old man spoke quietly, almost a mumble, and his voice was a hoarse rasp. He hadn’t used it in a while, she guessed. Well, of course. Who would he talk to, way out here?
‘Is that all I have to do? I listen to your story, then can I go?’
She was being unimaginably rude with this old man, but when she was frightened, she showed her teeth. She didn’t know if she had anything to fear from him. He was not really a part of her world. The Old Man ignored her questions, and the fact that she hadn’t touched the soup and water he offered. He ignored her fear, and placed another piece of wood onto the fire, which brightened and cast its light on them both. The Old Man picked up a kalimba. He plucked out a soft melody as he told his story, and captured her imagination completely.

•

‘This is what I see when I close my eyes at night;
‘A Village. But not like any village I have ever seen; too shiny and ordered. Even the trees seem to follow some pre-ordered pattern. It is something out of the past I think. If it is I am glad it is gone. There is no freedom in this village. The people walk by each other without speaking. There is no acknowledgement from one human to the other, no recognition that there is a living breathing person with a past full of joys and tragedies, no passing of the blessings the ancestors have given them. It makes me sick to my stomach to witness this.
‘Through these heartless streets comes a contingent of men dressed in uniforms of brutality. Among them strides a horse, and upon the horse rides a man. This man is covered from head to heel in white. His face is veiled and hooded, but I do not need to see it. I can see how the people on this road part for him. I can see the looks on their faces. It is not the white armor that these soldiers wear or the weapons they carry that inspire such dread. There is magic at work here, and superstition. Do you know the word?
‘The Sorcerer slows after a time and faces one of the strange square houses that stand alone all over this strange village. He turns his head slightly towards the house, and this is the only signal the soldiers require. They storm through the door and search every room until they come upon the child. The boy is brought out of the house. The two soldiers who hold handle him gingerly, as if his crime is catching. The boy is afraid, yet he stares at the white veil covered with barely visible red lines. The Sorcerer stares back, then nods slowly.
‘The boy’s crime is plain to see. Every since he was born he was taught just as everyone here is taught: “Keep your Heart to yourself. Don’t share your feelings. Walk softly and laugh softly and cry softly, lest your Heart run empty and you die.”
But after seven years this boy has not learned these lessons. His Heart is wide and loud. When he is sad others cry around him. When he is happy others laugh, sometimes so loudly they have to cover their mouths, using even more precious energy. Even now the soldiers feel the boy’s fear and curiosity. It is all over them, and though they have been warned of what to expect it is still a scandalous display. It puts them on edge.
‘With a tilt of his head the Sorcerer indicates where the boy is to be taken. The soldiers carry him across the road to an area where trees have been planted in a square. There is grass here and dirt, as if the forest had grown inside the village instead of the other way around.
‘The mother gives a scream of grief and the father is spurred into action. He runs after the soldiers, yelling in their ancient tongue, pleading for them to wait, there must be some mistake. He runs past the man on the horse, trying to reach those that have his son. He crosses the road and comes to the rear line of soldiers. They have turned by this time and are waiting for him, weapons raised. Those shiny white clubs rise and fall, and rise and fall, until the father lies unconscious.
‘The soldiers set the boy down on a raised platform in the center of this fake forest, and retreat to the bottom of the steps. A crowd begins to gather. Some people cry out, and some push halfheartedly against the cordon of soldiers but they do not really know how to protest, or to resist. The Sorcerer waits for quiet before descending from his mount. It doesn’t take long.
‘The Sorcerer’s white robes shimmer as he climbs the steps to where the boy waits. The cloth throws tiny darts of red light into the faces of the people. They have to shield their eyes. They see the Sorcerer raise one gloved hand. It is covered in symbols traced in red. He steps up beside the boy and places that hand over the boy’s chest. The boy looks up at him but there is only darkness there. A voice begins to intone in that dead language. It comes from the Sorcerer but it seems to fill the space and creep into the very Hearts of the people watching. Some of them would leave now if they could, would run with their hands over their ears. But that voice holds them, and will not let them go.
‘And there is the mother screaming. She had been holding her fallen husband, but when she hears that voice, she is up and running. From the back of the crowd she comes, and they part for her. They move aside almost without thought. The mother is shedding anger and fear and grief in huge waves and no one here wants any part of it. They don’t even feel their feet move. The mother moves through them. But it is too late.
‘A pulse passes into the boy from the Sorcerer’s hand. He feels it like a gust of wind. But there is a tiny sting at the center of it. It comes again. And then many times. The sting rapidly grows into a spike of pain. As the boy opens his mouth to cry out, something happens to the world. The boy sees the world dim. Every one begins to move faster and faster. In a heartbeat the Sorcerer has left him and faces the crowd, then departs. He can’t hear anything. In the next heartbeat he sees his mother and father crying over him, but he cannot hear anything. The world has lost its voice. Night turns to day and then to night again. Faster and faster the world moves. Soon his parents are gone, and then people begin to come and go so fast that he cannot make out who they are. That is where my dream ends.’

1

The cat had been drawn by the smell of blood. The smell was in the air, and here, just inside the Outer Markers, who knows what would be drawn to it. For now, there was only the wildcat.
Kevin had always believed Garlin overestimated his climbing skills. He had been eyeing this slope all week, bragging that it was one of the few that he hadn’t conquered. Well today Kevin and their third mate Sipho, had grown tired of his endless talk and encouraged him to either climb the hill or shut up about it. They had agreed upon a ledge far enough up the hillside to provide a sufficient challenge, yet shouldn’t take too long. They did have to finish they’re patrol before dark.
Garlin had almost made it. A misplaced foot or a lost grip, they never knew the cause. But Sipho and Kevin had watched in horror as the youngest member of their crew fell some fifty feet to come to a boneless rolling stop, unconscious, at the bottom of the slope. He must have been knocked out on the way down. Guilt stricken, Kevin had volunteered to stay while Sipho rushed to bring a Healer.
It wouldn’t just be a Healer, Kevin knew. The Captain would come as well. Garlin had been under his command, and he had gotten himself hurt, possibly badly hurt. Kevin knew he deserved whatever punishment came his way; he just hoped it wouldn’t affect people’s opinion of his Circle’s ability.
Kevin had done what he could with his partner’s obvious wounds, bound up a gash on his head and several smaller cuts on his arms and legs. But he was well aware that Garlin might have internal injuries as well. Kevin had thrown dirt over the splashes of blood that he could reach on the ground and on the rocks. But his crewmate had fallen a long way down the open rock face, and Kevin could not cover it all. Kevin hoped the Healer would come before anything more dangerous showed up. But until then, there was only the cat, and Kevin.
The cat was big, almost two feet at the shoulder. Its ears were tipped with tufts of hair that stuck straight up, giving the cat a ferocious look. But they were shy creatures, especially those that lived close to the Twins. The animal had stopped on the edge of the clearing and would venture no farther. Kevin could sense it losing interest.
Kevin was a lean young man with a serious face. The intensity of his gaze mirrored the cats. He imagined he could be a cat. He began to mimic it. He stopped blinking and became still, cross-legged on the ground. Kevin watched as the cat placed one paw into the clearing. After a moment, it padded the rest of the way into the clearing and looked around. Kevin concentrated only on his senses. He relaxed his heart and his mind, taking in stimulus but not analyzing. He wanted his heart to be as an animal’s heart. He let the simple desire to touch the cat be the foremost in his heart, curiosity the motivator.
The cat felt him and responded, overcoming its natural caution and coming closer and closer. It sniffed at Kevin’s knee. Kevin slowly reached out to touch the cat’s head. It jumped, staring suspiciously at the hand. Any sudden movement would send the cat skittering for safety of the trees. Kevin just felt his own calm and sent that feeling through his heart. Something must have happened because the cat visibly relaxed. It sniffed at Kevin’s hand as it descended, licked at it. Kevin held in his heart only the pleasure of this interaction right now. It was a good feeling.
Suddenly, something changed in the air. Both of them froze. Then the cat bolted. He felt a heart approaching, but no one was in sight. This is new, Kevin thought. I can feel someone from very far away like this. It must have something to do with this trance. But the trance was fading and the sense of a new presence faded with it, becoming fainter and fainter. Just before it disappeared entirely, he felt just the slightest touch of personality from it.
‘Ruby?’
As he heard himself say it, he knew it for the truth. She was approaching. This was very interesting. He would have to mention this experience to Nakeyah when he got the chance…
He saw movement to his left. When he looked that way, he saw a figure furtively working its way towards him. Why was she coming from the North? The road lay to the East. In the shadow underneath the trees the figure stopped and kneeled down, peering into the clearing. When she saw Kevin already looking expectantly at her, Ruby dropped all pretenses and came out into the sunlight. Ruby hiked the large leather bag up onto her shoulder and grinned, opening her arms in welcome.
‘I wanted to surprise you.’
Kevin couldn’t help but smile. When Ruby grinned like she did, her bright eyes could barely be seen for all the cheek on her round face. She was dressed, today, in the Ranger way, worn leather vest and pants. There was a multi-colored knit belt that was her own addition, there was always something. She was like his sister and she could be annoying,
Ruby was the other apprentice of Annemarie, the great Healer/Ranger of the Twins. The two of them, Kevin and Ruby, were the only apprentices Annemarie had ever taken. Kevin would be a Ranger and was already held in high regard because of his mentor. It was enough for him. Ruby, on the other hand, was Annemarie’s Second, and would take over as Healer/Ranger after she was Called. Kevin did not envy her. Though it was traditionally a ceremonial position, the Twins wouldn’t react well to having a symbolic protector who had been a troublemaker most of her young life.
A troublemaker she had been, he thought as she approached, but she was also a good healer and a friend, and he was glad to see her. As she came closer he could feel her heart as he was used to feeling it. She was deeply excited about something. He knew that usually when she had news, she liked to draw out the telling of it. She was a teaser, and it irked him to no end but she had gotten here far too quickly.
‘Where are you comin from? How did you…?’
As she took in the scene in front of her, the playfulness faded.
‘Oh man, he’s really messed up, huh?’
‘Yes, he’s hurt, that’s why you’re here, right? But how did you get here so fast?’
She knelt beside Garlin’s motionless body. He was barely breathing. Ruby began to examine him, checking his pulse and squeezing his limbs.
‘Ruby…’
‘Has he opened his eyes since he fell? Has he come around?’
‘Ruby, tell me what’s going on. Where’s the rest of…?’
‘Kevin? Answer the question.’
The two of them had spent a great deal of time together in the last seven years. Apprenticed to Annemarie. They knew each other’s hearts well. Kevin realized that Garlin might have opened his eyes while he was focused on the cat, and that he might have missed it.
Even while ignoring his questions and playing games with him, Ruby was not only doing her job, but catching him at fault in his.
‘Has he woken up?’
‘I don’t know?!’
‘You weren’t watching him?’
Kevin stood up then. He faced away and took a deep breath. He could not hide his guilt, or his irritation, so he didn’t try. He could only keep them from controlling his responses. It took him more effort than usual to calm himself. He turned back to her.
‘There was a small wildcat. I became distracted just before you came. In the hour and a half before that, Garlin did not wake or move.’
Ruby nodded and returned to her task. She checked the dressing that had been applied to the back of Garlin’s head.
‘Where did he fall from?’
They both looked up the hill.
‘Do you see that overhang?” He pointed. “To the left of the spire, about halfway up.’
‘Yeah.’
‘From there to here.’
Ruby placed her hands on her thighs.
‘There’s nothing I can do for him. Spirit is with him. He’s not hurt much for a fall like that.’
‘He’s not awake.’ Kevin pointed out.
‘Yeah, but …no broken bones, just scrapes. You took care of those. I don’t think he’s bleeding inside. We have to get him to High.’ She laid a hand on Garlin’s head and another on his belly.
‘He’s so far away.’
‘Yeah.’

•

After the rest of the crew arrived. The Rangers carried him back to Hightown. The trails were steep and narrow for a while and all had their work cut out for them just making sure their wounded crewman remained on the litter. When the ground leveled a bit, and two were able to carry Garlin easily, Ruby hung back to walk beside Kevin. He knew why.
‘Abasi up there?’
She gave him that guiltily smile. Rangers had regulations they were to follow. As an apprentice Ranger to Abasi, Ruby was to heed his word. But Healers had their own procedure, and Ruby constantly found cracks where the two met. Either found cracks or made them. The big bald man at the front of the column took Ruby’s liberties as a personal insult.
‘You’re not gonna be able avoid him forever.’
‘I know. Just until we leave, huh?’ She winked at him, and fell silent. They were coming up on another switchback.
When she did speak, she didn’t look at him. He could feel her excitement again.
‘I have news.’
‘You climbed South Rock, didn’t you?’
She smiled at that, but said nothing.
‘You heard the call, ditched the crew and climbed South Rock so you could there ahead of time and tease me with your news.’
She was grinning now.
‘So tell me.’
For a moment he thought she would just keep on grinning, or start that awful whistling that she did when she really wanted to get on his nerves. But, evidently she was done teasing.
‘Have you made your Last Day list?’
‘What? Why?’
‘Have you made it? Have you written the names down?’
‘Yes, of course I have. We were supposed to do that years ago.’
‘I just did mine today, before I came up here.’
‘Ruby, What are you talking about?’ Although he thought he knew, by this time, what she was getting at. He wasn’t ready to hear it, though. The idea was too big, a fat man trying to get through a small door.
‘We’ve been chosen. We’re leaving the Twins.’
‘What?’
‘Our Protector Circle’s been chosen.’
All of his anger and frustration was gone. He was having trouble just walking straight. There seemed to be a million reasons why what he was being told couldn’t be true. But right now he was having trouble just getting his mouth around one.
‘Uh…What? Wait a minute. Uh… it’s too early. Too soon! We just graduated!’
‘AnneMarie’s first Circle was chosen right after graduation.’
‘That’s Annemarie. You’re not AnneMarie, neither am I! There’s probably a hundred circles that have never been Outside. How did we get…?’
But he thought he knew. Their Mosireletsi had come in with record marks in every trial. They were the best since AnneMarie’s circle all those years ago. Kevin was beginning to believe. The idea was starting to sink in, down to his toes and it was starting to fill him up. There was an almost unbearable anticipation building in him, some part of his insides rising slowly.
‘Is this for sure; not just one council…?’
‘It’s a full agreement; the entire council. Yep! It’s happening! We’re going!’
‘…For what? Who are we escorting? Where are we going?’
Some of the wild-eyed excitement went out of Ruby’s face, replaced with
a measure of solemnity. She answered him with a quote from the Book of Diso.
‘Every generation, three are chosen to walk the Dark Paths so that we may remember where the borders lie. ’
Kevin’s jaw dropped. Three children were being sent to the Black Dot. It only happened once every twenty years. This was one of the most important of their traditions and they had been chosen to escort it.
Ruby’s gravity was short-lived. She dissolved into a fit of giggling. They had fallen behind the line of march a bit, but they could still be heard, the rearmost Ranger glanced back at them quizzically. Ruby tried to suppress her laughter.
‘You should see your face.’
‘Are you serious, Ruby? The Dot?’
‘Yes. We’re going Home.’
Kevin felt something sinking inside him. It was real. They were going Outside. In his heart he knew they were ready, but the suddenness of it, the unexpectedness, shook him, and doubt crept in.
‘Who’s going with us?’
‘I don’t know. I heard no other names, but whoever it is… it doesn’t matter. I would put up with Vaness and her mob. We’re the leaders. Its our show.’ Ruby became serious again.
‘There’s something else.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It’s Jamilah. She’s one of the three.’
‘Jamilah James? Nakeyah’s sister?’ Ruby nodded. ‘But she’s too young. She’s like six or seven…’
‘Seven.’
Comprehension dawned. ‘The Dot is a Spirit Guild isn’t it?’ Ruby nodded again. Children that showed aptitude for a spiritual calling were admitted into an apprenticeship at seven years of age, two years earlier than the other guilds.
‘It doesn’t seem fair, though. It’s not like she can turn around and come back if she doesn’t like it there.’
‘She won’t be formally inducted until she’s of age. If she wants to come back before then, I’ll go get her myself.’
Kevin looked at her. It was a rash thing to say, and Ruby had said many rash things, but somehow he knew, this was different. This time, he believed her.
It was a rash thing to say, to make a vow like that. Kevin looked at Ruby closely. There was no sign in her heart that she was joking or that she didn’t mean what she said. She had said rash things before, Spirit knows. But this was different. This time Kevin believed her.
‘We’ve been doing sending kids to the Dot for hundreds of years, Ruby. How many have come back?’
Ruby frowned but didn’t answer.
‘Ruby?’
‘I don’t know. Very few. Look, I was trying to tell you something but you didn’t pick up on it. I guess I thought you were smarter than you are.’
‘What? Why are you...?’
'Jamilah? Nakeyah? Leaving?’
‘Oh Spirit, they don’t have any other brothers or sisters, it’s just the two of them!’
The connection hit his heart like a hammer. Kevin stopped and grabbed his chest.
‘How can they choose us to take Jamilah? If something goes wrong, if we don’t make it, they won’t have any children left.’
‘I know, it’s not right. But she was chosen.’
He thought hard, and got nowhere. He could hardly get his mouth around the answer to her unspoken question, but Annemarie had taught them to Speak the Truth out loud. It must be said.
‘There’s nothing we can do about it, I guess.’
‘Soft and Hard, right?’
‘Yeah.’
Kevin began to walk again. He finally felt the depth of the old saying. The Spirit was something so soft it couldn’t be grabbed or held. But it could be hard as stone, and when it called for your child, that’s as hard as it gets. They walked on in silence.

2

Etunake walked his mule slowly up North hill road in Low Town. He was well dressed, neat and elegant in purple fabrics with a gold trim. His shoulders slumped. His brow was furrowed and his face, with its well-used laugh lines, hung in hopelessness. All this gave him an air of a man much older than his thirty-seven years.
Etunake, Etu to his friends and customers, was a Trader, a successful merchant, practiced in making deals, and getting things done. All of 4 generations of the wealthiest Traders in the Twins came down to him. And he was the best. But today he had lost. There was no deal he could make, no loophole to exploit. He had to tell his wife, somehow, that he could not save their children. Decisions had been made, and it was out of his hands. His hands: What good were hands if they could not hold on to the things you loved.
Etu was jarred out of his thoughts by sounds of activity somewhere up ahead. He looked up to see the lamplighter, a boy of twelve, raising his pole into the lower branches of an evergreen. After the lamp was lit, the boy blew out the flame on the pole and attached it to his cart, a scooter with a large metal lined basket that Etu knew carried hot coals to light the tapers. Realizing that the boy was about to head in his direction, Etu called on his years of professional mannerism to fix his face, all that was left was to throw a veil over his heart. This, he was having difficulty with. The information he had just received from the councils tonight, and the thought of having to tell his wife in just moments, weighed too heavily on him. His sorrow and regret were too much. He could not hide his feelings.
The cart was rolling down the hill toward him. Ah, it gets worse, James thought as the boy’s face came into focus. It was one of his apprentices. He had only just finished lecturing the young ones on the importance of knowing the state of the customer’s heart. They would be practicing their craft on every available soul.
This boy will surely wonder at my bitter state. He will ask me what has hurt me so. And what will I say? When I can’t even imagine what I will say to my beloved, what can I say to this boy?
Etunake could only stare in wonder as the cart rolled towards him gathering speed. The boy cried out as he passed.
‘Good Evening Ta Etu!’ He then let out a yell of exhilaration as he was flew down the hill. Etunake stood for a moment, the smile fading from his face, his hand slowly falling from the half-completed wave to hang at his side. He stood there and felt to the depths of his being how not ready he was for this moment, how envious he was of the young lamplighter, so thrilled at the smallest joys that he could forget his lessons even in the presence of his First. Etunake once more began his sad shuffle, making his way home.

•

After summoning one of the Armah girls to take the mule, Etunake closed the garden gate and chose the long path of stones. This path wound around in loops, visiting every corner of the garden before making its way to his front door. Etunake placed his feet carefully on each stone, making sure that his weight was centered just so, before moving to the next one. This was a meditation that for years had helped to clear his mind so that he could enter his house free of the day’s troubles. This path was a place of release; it helped him keep his household full of joy and harmony. Tonight he got halfway through the maze and realized that he didn’t feel any better at all. Tonight it wasn’t going to work.
‘I don’t think you should worry too much about it.’
The voice floated to him out of the darkness. Etu just didn’t have it in him to be surprised. The path had led him to a corner of the garden that was deep in shadow, he had been finding his way by memory, and the old storyteller was apparently sitting on one of the benches in the dark.
‘There will be fire and ice in this house tonight whatever you do. It’s in the stars.’
The old man was as adept as ever in reading Hearts and divining meaning. It was Hearts he was reading and not the stars as he always claimed and Etu had once believed. Still, Etu squinted at the sky, searching for … well; he didn’t know what he was searching for. He found no clarity in the stars. He looked at his house. The house that he had built with and for his family and friends, and the pain threatened to overwhelm him again. He stumbled sideways, found his way somehow to the bench and sat down. In the dark he felt better, he didn’t know why, it was like his troubles couldn’t see him. A deep sigh escaped him, and the shadow beside him grunted in response.
‘T’sa?’ another grunt, this time a question.
‘Why do you still live here? Tell me. Everyone knows who you are. You could easily have your own compound and household. Why do you still serve my family?’
In the quiet that followed, Etu pictured the storyteller in his mind, painted him sitting next to him in the dark. He could see the long face that always seemed on the verge of a mischievous grin; the eyebrows ready to jump in the air at a moment’s notice. The features that could somehow transform from comic to serious and back, taking every child with it, and not losing a single one. Etu was reminded strongly of how he had campaigned for this man’s approval as a child. Distracted from his sorrow for the moment, Etunake’s Heart opened to the moment. He first felt the eternal warmth of the old man’s love for him. That warmth opened him further. He sensed the deep vein of contentment within his former teacher and knew the answer to his question.
T’sa knew that he knew. But as the best of teachers he would answer anyway. T’sa had savored the question. Holding it in his mind like a particularly succulent piece of meat. After a time he chuckled.
‘There are many ways I could answer, most of which would take half the night, but that’s not what you need, na? Being in the state of Heart that you are, you need the answer that will be most useful at this moment, now, that is the short answer, the one I will give, is this:
‘A long time Ago in a young village there met two men. One of these men was Wakalle Tope, from the Ancient People of the desert, the other man was Diso, the Wandering Wounded. These two peoples did not always get along. When the Diso would have died in the desert, the Tope helped them learn to survive. They became well and found a place to settle and heal from their wounds. But over time these people began to look down on the ones who had helped them. They believed that because they had once lived in cities, in places where every man had a horse to call his own, that they were better. They believed they had knowledge the Tope did not, even though no such knowledge helped them when they were dying in the desert. So the two peoples parted ways, and those Tope who chose to stay out of love or loyalty had a hard time of it.
‘So these two men met one day in a young village. They decided to treat each other as equals and all prospered because of it. They made a pact that their families would always share a home. Because of an unbreakable friendship between two men, my family and your family have been together a long time, that is to say, when I am doing well, you live with me and when you are doing well I live with you. Many generations have passed this way, because of these two men. We were not always Traders and Storytellers, not always two Djali under one roof, or even one. But we have been together. That is the way it has been. But just because they have done it that way, doesn't mean we have to. And so on… see?’
Etu nodded, then he began shaking his head because he really didn’t see. He couldn’t believe he actually felt himself smiling; something he felt he would not be able to do for years. T’sa nodded, as if this was no more than he expected from his former student.
‘As I was comin up I had some realizations about myself, my family and our Life Circles. Two of these were the realization of place, and the realization of purpose. Now if you’ll allow me I’m gonna stray a bit and talk a bit about your suggestion that I go get my own compound, like you got here. Let’s see, I invite all my sons and daughters to live in my compound and their families, got to have a housekeeper, a herdsman and a plant-man so’s we can eat. Ya know Artisans are always looking for a nice place to set up and my place might be better than some.’
T’sa’s eyebrows jumped at this point. It was too dark to see it for real, but Etu knew the Old Man’s mannerisms backwards and forwards, he could see them in his mind’s eye.
‘Also the place will probably be on the fringe even if it is nice, and it’ll be nice, so I guess I should invite a Ranger or Hunter or two to live there as well to watch for stray animalia or some such. All those people on all that land? That takes upkeep and food and trade. So me as the Head of the House got to do for those people. How do I that? Who am I? What can I do that’s so valuable?’
Etu was almost laughing out loud. In answering his question as the Teacher he once was, T’sa had transported Etu back to a happier time and lightened his Heart. Etu responded to T’sa’s questions as the child he had been.
‘You’re the greatest storyteller in the world!’
Etu imagined the look of shocked surprise, who me? Then denial, No, not me, you must be mistaken. Old friends he knew so well.
‘Even if I was the greatest storyteller, djali of djalis, king of stories, (and I must tell you I haven’t been to even a local contest.) If I had all those people to take care of I would have to tell stories day and night to make a living. Now you know, and I know, that telling stories is giving, and if you forcing the giving, then that’s stealing. I’m a storyteller, this is true, to make one living, I must have two.’
Etu could see T’sa in his mind, holding out a hand at each example.
‘Storyteller, and teacher of children, though they are not much different, those two.’
He felt the Djali moving beside in the dark. Then he saw the silhouette of those hands against the stars. T’sa was stretching. As he sat back down Etu felt the storyteller leave him. When T’sa spoke again, he was just an old man, in the darkness between stories.
‘That was part of my realization of place. My realization of purpose did not come until I had children of my own. My daughters won’t be storytellers. Only Mercy wants to do it. He’s getting invited to many houses now, but in the long run he may not want to settle somewhere else or he may run out of stories, it’s been known to happen. It is not an easy life being an Artisan, but whatever Spirit has in It’s Heart for my son, As long as I honor the pact that our Ancestor’s made, I have a place here with you. And that means that my children also have a place here with you. Mercy can do this work, teach your children, and tell your children’s children stories about me.’
Both men sat in silence, contemplating their children’s fates. Etu was suddenly and completely angry.
‘It’s not right to send both my little girls off Outside! There should be a law against it. …Anybody’s children. No family should have to lose their children like this. It’s wrong!’
As quickly as it had come, the anger faded, leaving only exhaustion in its wake. ‘It’s not right.’ He said again, not exactly whining, but close.
‘The Ancestors will look after your children.’
‘I don’t want them to. I want to look after them!’ Now he was whining, but he didn’t care. Etunake let out a sigh, ‘…at least for a little while longer.’
‘A little while is all we get. For a parent, it’s never long enough.’ Etu could hear T’sa rummaging through a bag, then smelled the sweet odor of tobacco. Part of him longed for a smoke, but smoking was relaxing and he could not relax, not now. Etu shifted on the bench. ‘I’m going in…I have to go inside… but I don’t know… I can’t… how to face her. I told her I would fix it and … I couldn’t.’
‘You are just a man, and human, and you cannot do the impossible.’
‘But what do I say? What can I tell her?’
‘Tell her that you tried, and that you hurt. You have to share pain as you share your joy.’
T’sa struck a match, the flame brilliant and blinding after so much darkness. The old storyteller’s eyes reflected fire as he spoke these next words.
‘Go to her, tell her what has happened, hug her. Hold her until the pain becomes love.’
Etu still hesitated.
‘Go.’ T’sa gently pushed him with the hand that wasn’t holding the pipe.
‘Love your wife.’
Etunake went.

3

Jamilah felt blessed, like in Spirit when everybody hummed and sang and threw a white light around her. She felt untouchable. She knew there was danger outside, but that’s how she would know for sure, right. I mean what’s the point of being blessed if you can’t test it out?
Jamilah was in position in her quiet corner, but she was not quiet. Instead, she was bouncing up and down on her pillow. She had made up a little song, but Nakeyah said she couldn’t sing it. And she was her elder older sister so she had to do what her older elder sister said, cause she’s olderberry. Nakeyah’d said Jamilah couldn’t sing but she didn’t say she couldn’t hum. So Jamilah hummed her new song to herself as she grooved:

We’re gonna go Outside
And it’s gonna be real fun
Nobody’s gonna get hurt
Cause we’re really blessed, really blessed

Nakeyah was moving around the room like she was depressed or something, grabbing a jacket here, and some rope there. But all super slow. She was putting their packs together. Because they were going Outside, where the monsters and the spirits were and the wild forest. They were going to be in the wild forest for …a month? Or was it two weeks?
‘Nikky, am I gonna be in the wild forest for two weeks or a month. I know you guys are gonna be in the wild forest for longer than me cause you gotta come back, but was I gonna be in there for a month or two months or two weeks or three weeks or what?’
Nakeyah didn’t look at her. ‘You’re supposed to be relaxing, Mimi.’
‘You can’t even answer my question? Look, I’m relaxing. Look!’ And Jamilah put on her best relaxing position. But Nakeyah wouldn’t look. Why was she acting like such a poop-head when they were actually going to see the other side of the Hill?
Every monster ever in the stories had come from over the Hill, and every hero, too. Now, Jamilah would be going over the Hill and maybe Home will be in trouble when they get there and they’ll have to save it! Jamilah imagined a monster with three arms and an eye on the top of its head. Her sister’s Protector Circle began to fight the monster, but they needed help from just one more person. Jamilah to the rescue! Jamilah sang her fighting song under her breath, but it was just a little too loud.
‘Mimi!
‘Whaaat?!’ Jamilah sighed under her breath. She knew perfectly well what. But if Nakeyah could be all Drama, then so could she. Her sister was ‘not-looking’ at her in that way she got from mother. Nakeyah always acted like mother when she was upset, as if that would make be a grown-up faster. But Jamilah knew her sister wasn’t grown. Nakeyah hadn’t even been Called yet.
‘Girls… girls.’
Their mother’s voice drifted through the doorway. The two sisters looked at each other. Jamilah’s heart began to beat harder as it always did when their mother came to check on them. They heard their mother’s hard-sole shoes echoing from the hallway across the pond. Jamilah quickly centered herself on pillow and calmed her heart. From the corner of her eye she could see Nakeyah straightening the bed and trying to make sense of the mess of their packs.
‘Girls?’ Closer now.
‘Yes, mother.’ The sisters responded in unison.
‘Ah, there you are.’ Their mother’s voice floated to them through the curtained doorway. It was cultured voice, and controlled. Perfectly manicured nails parted the curtain and Ama James stepped through, smiling.
Jamilah knew something was wrong as soon as she saw that their mother was showing her teeth. She usually never smiled wide. She was ashamed of the gap between her front teeth. Jamilah looked at her sister but Nakeyah didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. Ama looked over the room; the bed with materials for the trip spread across it, the two girls. Ama nodded. When she spoke, she gave no hint of the contradiction her daughter sensed.
‘I’m so proud of you both. Words cannot describe. I’ve always told you that’
Once again there was that smile, so out of place. Jamilah shuddered.
Nakeyah also felt something wrong with their mother. Her heart, for one thing, the distance between it and her words, her tone. Nakeyah spoke carefully.
‘Mother, what it this about?’
‘Shhh…’ Ama closed her eyes and tilted her head and a small line appeared between her brows. ‘Please understand that I and your father would never let you go off Outside alone.’
‘Mother!’ Nakeya blurted. What was she saying? Of course they weren’t going alone. There were five more people in her Mosireletsi.
‘Nakeyah, don’t interrupt!’ Nakeyah flinched and went quiet. Ama took a deep breath. ‘This will most likely come as a shock to you, but please remember that yours is an old and respected family. We must do what we can to see that it continues. You were born into greatness, into the strength of generations. Now is the time that prove ourselves worthy to be James’s, to be of this family.’
But something other than her mother’s words pulled at Nakeyah’s awareness. Something about her mother’s heart felt familiar but she couldn’t place it.
'Your Father has gone to the Councils to petition that they rescind their decisions. In the unlikely event that they cannot listen to reason, your father and I have decided that all of us will leave here and go north, away from Home, away from those who would try to tear us apart. We will stay together.’
She held out her hands. ‘Come with me now, girls.’
Nakeyah waited for her sister to rise. She did not want to take that hand. This was all wrong. It would not happen as her mother said, but Nakeyah could not speak. Her mother was walking a cliff in a high wind. What she suggested was a betrayal of all that they knew. Nakeyah took the offered hand and, in a move that was totally unlike her, looked directly into her Mother’s Heart. This was something that wasn’t exactly forbidden, only very disrespectful, like walking in on your mother when you knew she was naked. Nakeyah was surprised by her own boldness, but she even more surprised at what she found. The core of her mother’s heart came clear to her, and she knew what was wrong. Ama James was using her mind to combat her Heart. And that was ever a losing proposition. Nakeyah could feel walls there. Walls created by her mother's mind to deny the truth her heart knew and would project if given the chance. Heat seared through the cracks in her defenses as if the act of walling it up only made it burn hotter.
What scared Nakeyah the most about this was her mother seemed to have no idea that Nakeyah had felt her so closely. She was that removed. Nakeyah had been trained as a diplomat and had access to what little research ordinary folk were allowed into the Heart. She knew that it was more than a spiritual thing. There was no vengeful spirit holding her mother’s heart. Ama was doing it herself. But why, and what could she do about it? That was the question, wasn’t it? If she tried to get through to her mother, She could push her over the edge completely, with no hope of return. Maybe she’ll come back on her own.
Her mother’s hand was hot, as if the blaze of her Heart had caught, and lit a fever in her body. Ama pulled her daughters out through the hallway and down to the pond. The dirt and grass were cold. The light from the torches along the walls barely reached them. The pond was black and ominous, showing an altogether different face than the daytime. Nakeyah knew that from now on the dark pond would always remind her of this night, of her mother’s madness.
Ama pulled her daughters to the waterline. The hem of her dress darkened as it touched the surface. She knelt there, pulling her daughters down beside her. Nakeyah saw her sister’s wide eyes. There was fear in Jamilah’s Heart but there was also trust. She still thinks that Mother’s going to be all right! That thought more than any other led Nakeyah to realize that she would have to try to stop this. But she didn’t know how.
Their mother cupped her hands and dipped them into the water. Without hesitation she poured a double handful of the pond water over her head. She began to speak as she dipped her hands again.
‘The time for meditation is over. Now is the time to ask the Almighty Spirit to hear us. Now is the time for prayer.’
Nakeyah knew what would come next but there was no time to warn Jamilah as their mother brought her hands up again dumped pond water on her youngest daughter’s head. Nakeyah couldn’t say whether or not Jamilah would have held still for this had she known it was coming. Both of them were afraid of their mother and obeyed her in most every way, and even with her acting so strange, it was a habit that hard to break. But Jamilah had not known it was coming. She had been caught up, scared and astonished at her mother’s behavior. The water was cold. It brought her right into the present like snapped rubber band.
‘Mother!’ Jamilah screamed, breathlessly, and tried to pull away from the water’s edge. Ama held until she stopped struggling. Jamilah began to cry, each sob pulling at Nakeyah’s heart.
‘I know. It’s cold, honey. But we’re James’s, a water family. Water is how we connect to the One Spirit. I’ve told you this before.’
Nakeyah had prepared herself, but she was still shocked at how cold the water was. Must be getting on towards fall she thought. And laughed to herself. She blew out a breath. The water dripped from her braids onto her shoulders.
‘Try to use this water. Use it to find the spirit inside you. Find that place inside that is the One’s doorway. Go through that door ask humbly that we not be parted.’
Ama swayed back and forth, her eyes closed, giving over all of herself to the prayer. ‘We humbly, Oh One Creator, humbly ask that you spare us and keep us a family, Oh Spirit, Yours is the Power, and all happens in your Wisdom, we know, We are but drops in your Ocean, Lord, and we know that our will when are silent is your Will. We humbly ask you to just let us in, for a moment, Spirit, to know your will and act accordingly. What would you have us do? Would you have us stay or would you have us go, you let us know, stay or go…’
Etunake’s voice broke into the prayer. ‘Honey, what are you saying?’ Etu was standing on the far side of the pond. He had come in from the front during the prayer.
‘Daddy!’
Jamilah tried to get up and run to her father but her mother pulled her back down. Ama stared at her husband, her face a trembling mask with leaking eyes, her voice a low rasp.
‘Tell us. Tell us the will of the Almighty. Shall we stay or shall we go?’

•

Etunake tried to make sense of the scene in front of him. His wife, his two children, frightened, the water, the prayer.
‘What’s going on? Ama … your heart!’
He felt the walls and the heat. He had known her to do this before, but her Heart had never been so bright, so hot. He sensed a danger for her but he did not know exactly what it was.
‘Tell us!” Ama almost screamed at him. He could see their daughters wincing as she bore down on their arms. Etu started around the pond.
‘Ama, let them go! What are you doing? You’re going to catch a chill.’
His wife wasn’t listening.
‘We are on our knees. We are humble. You have to tell us. Shall we stay or shall we go?’
He reached them, and hovered there undecided. His daughter’s looked up at him, tears in both their eyes now. Jamilah was all fear and confusion. Nakeyah was calm and present, spirit bless her. She was frightened, but she would take her cue from him.
Ama held herself straight as a tree, and didn’t look at him. Etu’s hands went out to his wife, stopped, trembling. ‘Ama?’
Ama let go of her daughters suddenly. They fell away to either side. Her hands went to the sides of her face.
‘Please! What did the councils say? Why do you torment me? I ask but you don’t answer! You don’t answer…’
Etu fell to his knees beside her and folded her into his arms. Her Heart had begun an irregular pulse.
There was no rhythm to it, Hot then cold, then hot again. She was trembling. Oh Spirit, he thought, I love her so much. Please don’t take her too. I couldn’t live through this without her. His own Heart felt like it was near bursting. He could sense his daughters coming together behind him. He could hear Nakeyah whispering to her younger sister, comforting her. Etunake took his wife’s head in his hands and raised it. Their eyes met. Ama was barely there. Her hands clutched at his shirt, and her face swung from stern to anguished and back. But she was able to meet his gaze.
‘Ama’ Hearing her name again seemed to calm her. ‘They said both of our children must go.’
She convulsed in his arms and gave a wordless cry of negation that went on and on. He spoke louder but still calmly, trying to get through to her.
‘Jamilah will join the Dot but Nakeyah, Honey, Nakeyah will come back to us.’
Ama shook her head and that wordless cry dotted itself into an endless string of no’s. Over and over and over. Etu rocked her in his arms, telling her over and over that it was going to be all right; everything would be fine, they would survive this. All at once Ama was with him again, caressing his face and whispering in his ear.
‘We could run away, and take the children. Yes, we could. Remember when my father opposed our marriage even when the whole of the Twins said yes? You remember, sweet Tutu. You said we could run away. We could run all the way to North Point. They would never find us. Baby, let’s go now and take the children! I’ll do it, this time. I’ll go with you. Let’s run! They won’t follow.’
Etu could only shake his own head at that. He felt the pulses coming from her Heart faster and faster now. What could he do to stop it? She was on the verge of collapse. What could he say to stop it? Ama looked to him for an answer, but it was Nakeyah who gave it.
‘No, mother, that cannot happen.’
Both of them stared at their daughter, amazed. They had forgotten that anyone else was there. Nakeyah firmly but gently, pushed Jamilah her away, catching her eye to make sure she would be okay. Nakeyah faced her parents and knelt. She placed her hands on her thighs, taking the position of deference. When she spoke, she did not look at them.
‘I love you both and I will always love you. But please forgive me, I will not run away with you. And I will not let you take Jamilah from what she is meant.’
Ama’s eyes widened and she whispered, ‘…will not let us…’
Nakeyah continued with barely a pause. ‘All our lives you have taught us that our Hearts were a special thing, something to be grateful for. Our Hearts keep us strong, peaceful, and aware. It keeps us close and connected. You’ve taught us that the Black Dot protects the Heart. It keeps us from the ways of the Ones Before, whose ways were cruel and terrible.’
Here Nakeya paused and hesitated. She bit her lip, trying to decide if she should all that was on her mind. At her next breath, she continued speaking. Come what may.
‘I… I don’t know what to believe now. Are these just stories for children? Were there really such people that had no Hearts that they could feel? I only know what I feel, and that is… I am a Survivor. I have been charged with seeing my sister safely Home to become a member of the Black Dot. My Council of Elders who speak for my people, the people of the Twins, has charged me. It has been agreed upon by the Council of Youth who are my peers.’ She took a deep breath, and looked up into her parent’s eyes,
‘So, I must go. I love you, and I don’t want to leave you. But Jamilah will join the Dot, and I will take her.’
At those words, Etunake James felt a wonderful thing. His wife’s Heart, as it should be. Burning with the heat and fire of her confusion and grief and love. She was by no means healed. There was great turmoil within her. But there was none of that awful pulsing. His relief was so great he felt near passing out. Etu kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair from her face. She had withdrawn within herself. She trembled and she cried, but she did not try to deny the truth of the parting any longer. Etunake felt almost full to bursting with love for the woman in his arms.
‘Nakeyah.’ He called softly. ‘Please fix your mother a glass of tea, with lemon and honey.’
‘Yes, Father’ Nakeyah was relieved as well. She could feel the change in her mother’s heart. The walls were gone and she was dealing, as her father might say, she was holding her own. The way she had spoken to her parents and the way they had accepted it somehow changed the relationship between her and them. She wasn’t sure how or what it would mean. Worried, she got to her feet, sent her sister a wave of love, and went to do as her father bid.
‘Jamilah.’ Jamilah wiped her tears and sat up straight at her name.
‘Yes, Father.’
‘Please run to Mrs. Harper’s and Mr. Mills’ and ask them to call the Spirit for Mrs. James. Then come on back.’
‘Yes, Father.’
‘Good. Go on, then.’ She got up and, with a final look at her mother, left to follow her father’s instructions.
Only then did Etunake James allow himself to weep along with his wife.

•

Jamilah and Nakeyah made themselves ready for bed. It was early for Nakeyah, but it had been a long, long evening. She was emotionally exhausted. Most of Ama’s Spirit Circle had answered the summons. At first the girls had been allowed to stay, even encouraged to participate. The Circle performed a Communion ritual. This was the first time she had been in Spirit with the adults outside her own family. It had been humbling to feel the Hearts of so many strangers at one time. They all knew her mother as she knew the members of her own Spirit. So she felt as if her family had been increased by twelve in an hour.
She wondered how the Gathering would compare, with all the people in the Twins participating. Overwhelming, probably. She had been in gatherings before of course, everyone had. But she had never been in the center of one. Would it feel any different? She thought so, with all that energy going through you it would have to be. It was almost inconceivable, and very scary. Nakeyah decided again not to think about it. It would come when it came, that was all.
The small part of this ritual that the girls had been involved in tonight had been trying enough. Her throat was raw from chanting and the adults had gone on for hours after the sisters had been dismissed. Even now she could still hear the flutes. They would go on all night she knew, to hold the harmony of the House.
During the portion of the ritual they had witnessed, they had been battered by waves of fear, anger, regret, grief, and pain from their mother. All these emotions had to be held and accepted by the Spirit Circle before being dissipated. It had been exhausting. The girls were very ready to go by the time they were asked to leave. The Spirit had decided to try a linking, and the girls’ untrained hearts would be a distraction. They had gone forward one at a time to kiss their mother’s forehead. Jamilah went first.
Then it had been Nakeyah’s turn. Ama James lay quiet and spent inside the circle of her friends and family. And Nakeya had been overwhelmed by love. It took her completely by surprise. Yes, Ama had always been sharp with them, and strict. But the caring and the fear in their mother’s heart had been plain to see. And Nakeyah loved her back, fiercely. Ama opened her eyes and saw her daughter, and smiled.
Nakeyah knew something then. She did not want to leave this woman. Not now, when things might be different between them. Her Mother had been calmer than she had ever known her to be. Who would she be when she was fully recovered? How would their love deepen and grow?
Nakeyah might never know. That smile. Nakeyah could not get it off of her Heart.
Nakeyah fixed a small dinner for Jamilah and herself, and then went to bed. Nakeyah lay sleepless on her mat for a long time. She was very tired, but she kept seeing that smile. There had been a curtain over her own heart as well; she now realized that she had never wanted to go on any mission of consequence, never thought she would.
All Youth joined a Mosireletsi, a Protector Circle. And all spent at least one night past the borders of the Twins before they were Called, and began their lives as adults. For most, the trails and training were just games to keep them busy. Only a fraction of them decided to be Rangers. Most would grow into their chosen trade or pick new ones, get married, live happy lives, have children and die, all without really leaving the Twins.
And what was the Dot really? Nakeyah realized that she had never asked herself this before. How did they watch over us? The Spirit Guild took care of them here in the Twins. What was she taking her sister into? Was she supposed to take it on faith that they would care for her?
They called for a child of seven once every generation. It was supposed to be an honor for a family to be so chosen. And it had been for the James’s, until their daughter was chosen
Will it be a blessing truly? To separate Jamilah from all she knows for the rest of her life to become a member of some mysterious circle of hidden magicians? All at once, Nakeyah was glad she was going. She was not about to stand on tradition when sister’s life was at stake. She would be there to ask questions and see what she could see. These magicians would have to prove themselves to her. She would not hand her sister over to anyone unless they could give her some damn good reasons. Lying there in the dark, Nakeyah could not think of a single one.

To be continued...

Now y'all not getting away scott free, now. Gimme two things. First impressions, feelings about the work, and constructive criticism. either or both you can mail to me at kelenitoto@yahoo.com. I love and need and want criticism, so that's the price for the free sample. I hope you enjoyed it. see ya round.

kele