LJI WK2
The child's curious green eyes, were alight with the need to know. She hung back from the other rowdy children, following the man's hands with her luminous eyes, as he flipped shiny coins back and forth through his fingers. Once he had all of their attention -- he tossed a handful of coins into the air.
The urchins squealed, scrabbling in the dirt after them- but not her. She still kept herself apart.
The man tossed a coin deliberately toward her, away from the pack. She quickly darted in and out of the crowd, scooping it up. No sooner had she secreted it away, when a shove she wasn't ready for sent her sailing - and she tasted dirt. Someone else (or two someones) gave her some painful kicks.
Her pitiful pleas for help brought no one, except her nona, the chieftain's wife.
Her Nona wasn't here to offer solace, but to deliver her from her attackers. And to cuss at the children and calling her stupid for causing a spectacle.
Showing the child affection in public would only endanger her, her Nona had whispered once. It would make her spirit weak, and unable to deal with the insults to body and mind that the villagers cruelly heaped upon her.
The child was branded outcast.
*****
Her father- Palon had been an outlander. A green eyed stranger to their world. A stranger to their galaxy, and he talked about strange things. Of science, time traveling, and of fantastic beasts, even how to harvest the Sun's power to keep warm! The villagers thought him a prankster, a charlatan and a miracle worker.
When the village chieftain's daughter- Lena and Palon fell in love they told no one. Inevitably she found herself with child. The chief, cursed Lena and wailed of abomination- he threw her out of his home for how she had shamed him. He turned his back on her declaring her dead to him, and both Palon and she were denied their voices in council.
The villagers helped the couple build a sturdy home. Time passed and Lena, now grown heavy with child, did not roam far from the safety of her home's walls. Truthfully she didn't go far for fear of her father's reprisal; her father was breaking her heart.
She thought he would come and acknowledge his granddaughter. Yet day after day passed with nary a word. Lena, weak and recovering poorly from the birth, sank into a malaise. Death's embrace beckoned.
When news was brought to the chieftain that his daughter was dying, he hurried to his daughter's hut. He arrived seconds too late. The chief fell to his knees and howled with grief. The noise woke the babe, who mingled her cries with his.
The chieftain stared at the infant, thinking how easy it would be to crush her head beneath his heel, assuage some of the pain, but the infant was a part of Lena, and he couldn't bear to do it.
The babe lived with her father, Palon, until he was bit by a sliveryn. Their poison was fatal within seconds. The villagers found his body at the till.
With no one to care for her, arrangements were made and the babe now slept and ate in her Nona's kitchen, and given chores to earn her keep.
******
This will not be her life, the man with green eyes decided, flipping his coin. He has observed enough. He was going to bring his niece home to the lands of her father. He would give her a name...
The urchins squealed, scrabbling in the dirt after them- but not her. She still kept herself apart.
The man tossed a coin deliberately toward her, away from the pack. She quickly darted in and out of the crowd, scooping it up. No sooner had she secreted it away, when a shove she wasn't ready for sent her sailing - and she tasted dirt. Someone else (or two someones) gave her some painful kicks.
Her pitiful pleas for help brought no one, except her nona, the chieftain's wife.
Her Nona wasn't here to offer solace, but to deliver her from her attackers. And to cuss at the children and calling her stupid for causing a spectacle.
Showing the child affection in public would only endanger her, her Nona had whispered once. It would make her spirit weak, and unable to deal with the insults to body and mind that the villagers cruelly heaped upon her.
The child was branded outcast.
*****
Her father- Palon had been an outlander. A green eyed stranger to their world. A stranger to their galaxy, and he talked about strange things. Of science, time traveling, and of fantastic beasts, even how to harvest the Sun's power to keep warm! The villagers thought him a prankster, a charlatan and a miracle worker.
When the village chieftain's daughter- Lena and Palon fell in love they told no one. Inevitably she found herself with child. The chief, cursed Lena and wailed of abomination- he threw her out of his home for how she had shamed him. He turned his back on her declaring her dead to him, and both Palon and she were denied their voices in council.
The villagers helped the couple build a sturdy home. Time passed and Lena, now grown heavy with child, did not roam far from the safety of her home's walls. Truthfully she didn't go far for fear of her father's reprisal; her father was breaking her heart.
She thought he would come and acknowledge his granddaughter. Yet day after day passed with nary a word. Lena, weak and recovering poorly from the birth, sank into a malaise. Death's embrace beckoned.
When news was brought to the chieftain that his daughter was dying, he hurried to his daughter's hut. He arrived seconds too late. The chief fell to his knees and howled with grief. The noise woke the babe, who mingled her cries with his.
The chieftain stared at the infant, thinking how easy it would be to crush her head beneath his heel, assuage some of the pain, but the infant was a part of Lena, and he couldn't bear to do it.
The babe lived with her father, Palon, until he was bit by a sliveryn. Their poison was fatal within seconds. The villagers found his body at the till.
With no one to care for her, arrangements were made and the babe now slept and ate in her Nona's kitchen, and given chores to earn her keep.
******
This will not be her life, the man with green eyes decided, flipping his coin. He has observed enough. He was going to bring his niece home to the lands of her father. He would give her a name...