Lilly kept brushing her hair, first she was thinking about Erek and now she was thinking about Indra. Indrasena, she thought, Lady Utpahl, who did she think she was? She continued brushing her hair with more force than necessary, nearly pulling it out in large clumps. What in the world was happening with Erek? First, he gets smart and acts like a proper man, not that he was improper before. It’s just that Erek was stupid, and everyone knew it, simple Erek, she thought. Now though, his speech was articulate, and he was thoughtful to everyone, even Lilly. Why was, or better yet how can Erek suddenly be smarter?Now Rognvald was talking about Indrasena, how Lilly despised Indra, she had never liked lady Utpahl’s pretentious demeanor. Lilly had always thought better of herself; she was not below anyone especially not Indrasena. She always had to smile and pretend to enjoy Indra’s company; she loathed her company. Always preaching about helping others and being moral. Lilly had been wonder

Tombold sat in the front of the cart holding the reigns, beckoning the horse to go faster but the animal was reluctant to comply. He took his daughters advice and asked Mr. Talbot for a horse other than the stubborn old Percy. So, what he got instead of Percy the crazy horse, was Cronner the magnificently slow. Tombold’s last stop was just before Jan Talbot’s stables, he was planning to ask Jan if all of his horses had mental disabilities. The horse pulled the cart with a reluctance all his own, refusing the go any faster than a slow walk. The leather straps creaked, and the cart groaned and rattled down the road towards the water well. The evening sky was graying to the east, and the air had a nip to it. The hearth fires were burning as well as some bonfires where the hunters were gathered, telling stories, and getting ready for another hunt. The horse pulled the cart slowly down the road.Most of the people liked Tombold and his family. His easy-going nature and warm smile endeared

“Well then, what were you talking about?”“Hunting, we were talking about hunting, Kaya.” Said an exasperated Marx before Callum could answer.“So how has the hunting been?” Kaya nudged Callum with her elbow.“They have been good,” Callum nudged her back, “we are one of the better groups right now, we bring back food more often than not.”“I was telling him how proud I was of him.” Marx noticed how Callum had covertly gotten closer to Kaya.“You were?”“Yes, I was, now you just shush.”“Hey, did you see that?” Kaya noticed a flash in the sky.“What was that?” Marx said with a hint of wonder in her voice.“That was a shooting star, my Ba’ba told me that sometimes you can see them in the fall. He said the land is pointed in some direction or other in the autumn and stars shoot across the sky.”“Are you sure that’s what he said,” Kaya slid her hand into Callum’s, “you sound a little vague on the details.”“Yeah, some direction or other, what kind of navigation is that?” Marx laughed.“I

“Sorry Callum,” Kaya said, after reestablishing her connection to the ground.“It’s really alright, I always get welcomed like this after a hunt.”“Really?” Kaya was looking sideways at Callum.“Really!”Kaya kicked Callum in the shin. “Don’t be a shit.”“Ouch, Jeez Kaya.” Callum dropped the gear he was carrying to rub his damaged shin.“When a girl runs up to you and kisses you because she misses you, don’t even joke about kissing other girls in front of her.” Kaya sounded pissed.Callum rarely saw Kaya angry, mainly because she wasn’t angry often. When she did get angry it was often seismic.“I am sorry. Ok, ok,” he held up his hands defensively when Kaya flinched towards him. “Stop.” He said with force.“Stop what?” She replied.“Stop acting like a child. I am not a child anymore; I am a hunter and a damn good one at that. I am sorry, I was joking and hurt your feelings. I’ll just see you tomorrow, I’m tired.” He said, while rubbing the back of his head.“Don’t, I...” but Callum al

“Fine.” A rough sounding voice responded.Baylie went in through the flap, it closed gently behind her. The room was lit by two candles, one on each side of the bed, but the room had a quality about it. A quality of sadness, of desperation, of darkness. Baylie saw a lump on the bed and sat down close to it. She put her hand on the lump and it moved.“Honey! Are you ok?”“I’m fine.” A muffled voice answered from under the blankets.“Explain to me how you are fine?” Baylie, still sounding concerned, added a tone to her voice. A tone that said, “stop lying to me.”Indra appeared from underneath the covers, her head was pointing away from Baylie, she didn’t want to look at her friend.“I’m pregnant.” Like that was some kind of answer that spoke for all her problems.“Women get pregnant all of the time in Ondu, why is yours different? What is going on with you? Is it just morning sickness? Maybe the baby will have a lot of hair when it’s born.” Baylie let a little excitement creep into her