We arrived at the meeting spot before the sun rose. It seemed to be a small party today. It was my father, myself and two others.
"Anecus you will track." I heard my father say "Yes father."
This had been a theme Anecus has noticed with his father lately, he'll trust him with such important tasks yet not with others. 'He trust me with all of these important roels…Why won't he let me practice my second pillar?'
The forest was filled with mist this early in the day apparently this helped with masking out scent. Crouching in the dirt I noticed faint tracks, twin pointed and nearly weightless.
Falling into thoughtless awareness I could feel a pull to the northeast. When touching the print.
"Emerald stag passed through this morning, alone. Heading northeast towards that rock shelf."
Trip, who was the third on this hunt, eyed Red, "did you teach him that? Impressive."
Red simply gave a polite grunt. "Lead the way son." 'How do you know how to do things so naturally?'
Keeping downwind they enter a part of the forest with old shadows that pronounce the silence here. Suddenly Anecus raises his hand, halting the group.
Across a sunlit glade half shielded by hanging vines the emerald stag grazes. Tall, antlers glasslike and tinged with a verdant hue. Its coat glistens white.
'Its beautiful'
Red slightly behind him "Take the shot Anecus."
Drawing my bow silently my breath begins to deepen as a fervor comes over me. One inhale…one exhale. 'Does he not trust me with it?'
I channel the water around my arms. A ripple of water forms along the arrow edge twisting around the shaft like a serpent.
The bowstring hisses in my ear as I pull back. Water compresses into razored tension.
Then I release, 'Whsshk!'
The arrow whistles though the air, the stag lifts its head just in time to catch the shimmer of the droplets slicing though the clearing only to land perfectly, just behind the shoulder.
It falls without a sound.
Trip "That was a clean kill, maybe you should give my son some lessons" he said with an innocence that was meant well to Anecus It only further separated himself from his peers.
Phillip leaning over to Red jokingly says "hey if you ever think of finding him a bride I have a daughter about his age." Red raised an eyebrow. Phillip cleared his throat and stepped back.
As the stag bled out Anecus kneeled next to it paying his respects and giving thanks to it. As the final moments of its soul leaving Anecus could feel this strangely cold but comforting embrace that left him feeling sorrowful and longing for life.
A crowd had gathered, 'I hate crowds…makes my chest hurt.'
Red and Anecus had parted ways with Trip and Phillip "world travels fast." Red commented while carrying the stag.
It was a big deal whenever a hut was successful, they did not import food or rely on any outside support. All their goods were self made so when a rare animal like an emerald stag was caught it was cause for celebration.
Especially if they sold the emerald antler to the empire, they went for a fortune to make sought after jewelry in the cities.
Anecus got this information after Phillip mentioned his wife selling similar material. This gave Anecus a perfect idea for what he wanted to do with it 'I need to practice metal work first…'
Anecus wanted to head home right away and tell Naia and Cassia about the hunt but the townspeople wanted to congratulate him. "I know you wanna go home but let's just give them this."
----
Naia smiled, her own pride blooming in her chest, she started walking to him just to say well done.
But she wasn't the only one moving.
From the crowd a soft voice "Go on, darling he wont bite." she gave a little nudge from behind.
Turning just in time to see Lira, the youngest daughter of a rival bakery who had just turned nine. Slipping forward through the crowd, her cheeks were red, her eyes locked onto Anecus.
Anecus didn't even see her until…kiss
A shy, nervous, fleeting kiss to his cheek. The crowd let out a mix of surprised chuckles and good natured teasing.
"Oooh!"
"Get 'im girl!"
A mother to the side shook her head "He's gonna break hearts."
Naia though… her stomach dropped. She didn't know why though, it didn't mean anything 'did it?' Fingering curled at her sides, the back of her neck prickled as a chill came across her spine.
She didn't move but if someone had been watching closely, like Cassia had been. You'd have seen Naia's hair shifted slightly rising as if caught by an unseen breeze. Her eyes narrowed, It wasn't rage, it was hurt. Something possessive, she didn't have words for it yet.
Anecus had gone still the moment it happened his ears rang with sensation. The warmth on his cheek was nothing compared to the heat in his chest. His fire flickered like a candle catching a wind.
'What was that? Why did that feel wrong?' with a flushed face he turned to say something to Lira but the glimpse of Naia made his throat close.
Stepping forward "Naia I didn't even... wait!"
Naia didn't want him to see the ugly face she was trying to hide and ran off through the crowd.
Back in their bakery where Amara was kneading dough for the morning's bake. With the firelight on the ovens dimming, throwing glances at Naia who came storming in moments ago to sit next to the oven for its warmth.
Naia to herself but hoping also someone would hear "...she kissed him."
Amara continued to knead the dough, ' Oh dear' she looked to her "who sweety?"
Not answering her mother's question "it was just the cheek…"
Amara shook her head "Mhmm." 'This girl of mine.'
Naia "and everyone laughed like It wasn't even a big thing, she probably won't even remember it tomorrow."
'I would.'
Amara "but you would?" Dusting flour off her hands comes to sit beside her. Silence hangs for a moment. Naia fidgets with her fingers.
"It's dumb I don't even know why I care."
Amara tried to hide her amused smile "oh sweetheart…" She brushed some loose flour off Naia's shoulder "You're so kind and pure, you can't even say it out loud."
Tilting her head in confusion "say what?"
Amara "You like him…don't you."
Naia freezes as her eyes go wide. She looks at her mother as if she had read the deepest part of her mind. "What?"
Amara sighed 'this was inevitable.'
"Naia, you've followed that boy like a shadow since you could walk. You talk about him in your sleep. You blush when he smiles at you, and I swear you bake better bread the days he comes in after working all day in the fields."
Naia opens her mouth to retort but then closes it again.
"You like him, there is no shame in that. It just means your heart is starting to learn a new language."
Naia "...is that way it hurt so much? I wanted to scream when it happened. I wanted to yell at him for it being unfair."
That's your heart getting loud. It's okay, baby you don't have to tell him yet or rush, but now that you know what this feeling is you can look at him with a new lens."
Naia "he doesn't know yet…but he will soon right?
"Oh, I'm sure he will. It is Anecus after all, He always gets there… eventually."
Naia laughs a little, curling into her mother's side. Amara wraps an arm around her shoulder and squeezes.
"Thanks mom."
The Journey for some can either tak mere moments or last a lifetime but for Naia the hunt for the words to describe what she has been feeling has finally bare fruit.
'...I like Anecus.'