Heiress: Birthstone Series Book Two (3 page)

I clenched and unclenched my fingers in the wet, packed
sand, in need of something to hold onto while I waited for my pain to be
carried away with the tide. The sun sank lower in the sky and the water
followed, slowly moving further and further away.  As the tide shifted, I let
it take my anguish too.

I could do this. I had to do this – even if it meant doing
it alone. Because if I didn’t, the entire island would be in danger, and that
was just another way Sai could be harmed.

Sometime later, I stood and gazed at the receded shoreline.
The sand had begun to dry around me, but I was still soaked. Cool droplets of
water made a trail down my calves and I rubbed at them, turning ever so
slightly to reach one that tickled. As I twisted my body, I noticed him.

A short distance behind me, on drier sand, was Sai. When our
eyes met, he stood slowly. His forehead was creased with concern, his
expression unsure. I took a few steps forward and tried to smile, but my
composure crumbled and I dropped my eyes.

He reached me, wrapped his fingers in my wet hair, and
kissed me hard, as though I would disappear. I gripped his arms and kissed him
back, pouring myself into the moment. It was all he’d be left with.

When I pulled away with a gasp, I saw him grow still.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. I withdrew my hands from his arms
and took a step back.

“You need to stay in Vairda,” I said.

“It’s not Aluce’s decision.” He laughed in his gentle, easy
way.

 “You’re right. It’s my decision and you can’t come.”

He stared at me for a moment. His eyes flashed with
confusion, then hurt, and finally anger. “Aylen?”

“You died, Sai.  You were killed by an animal. You were
stabbed, fell off a cliff, beaten, taken.” I paused to suck in a ragged breath.
“Every time you came with me, you always ended up dead.”

He looked at me as though I’d gone crazy. Taking a step
toward me, he shook his head. “It was a dream. A nightmare. You’re scared, which
is understandable.”

“No. It was a Wisdom Gem.” I swallowed and placed a hand on
his chest. “Aluce warned me and I didn’t want to believe her, but I saw for everything
for myself. I tried every scenario with you and me together. The only time you
lived was when you stayed on the island and I left.”

“You’re not serious.”

I couldn’t bear the anguish in his eyes. Like a coward, I looked
away, anywhere but at him.

“There’s got to be something we can do.” He stepped closer
and cupped my chin in his hands forcing me to meet his gaze.

“No. It’s simple. If you stay, you live. You come with me, you
die.”

Sai regarded me in silence. His chest rose with each hard,
uneven breath as he processed this information.

“I can’t let anything happen to you.” I lowered my head to
his shoulder. I felt his warm hand reach up and stroke the back of my head but
his motions were stiff.

“Are you sure Aluce isn’t behind this?”

“I’m so sorry,” was all I said.

His hands dropped away from me and he took a step backwards.
Hurt pinched his features. “I was supposed to help with some things at home,”
he said. “I should get going.”

I nodded, swallowing hard. “Tomorrow then?”

“Will you still be here?”

I tried not to cringe at the accusation in his tone. “You
think I’d leave you without saying goodbye?”

Sai didn’t answer for a moment. Instead, he studied me, his
gaze hard and searching. Finally, he shook his head. “I didn’t think you’d
leave me at all.” Before I could answer, he turned his back to me and walked
away.

My feet felt cemented to the wet sand. I couldn’t move as I
watched his retreat. He disappeared into the fringe of trees that bordered the
beach and still I stared after him, aching and lost. It was the agitated squawk
of a gull pecking at a dead crab near my feet that finally yanked me from my
stupor. Suddenly cold, I shivered my way into the jungle, toward home with the
realization that I would have to face my parents next.

I knew what would happen the moment I walked in the door but
then, it was routine in my family. My brothers would have had to fall over dead
before they’d do anything different. And since my parents had been the ones to
start the trend it wasn’t as though they were going to shut up about it anytime
soon.

“You been with that girl again?” my mom asked as the door
swung open. My eldest brother Cord waggled his eyebrows, eager for my response.
I sighed even though I’d expected it.

While I tried to formulate an answer, three of my nieces
converged upon my legs at once, sticky sweet mango juice transferring from
their fingers to my leg hair. I pretended not to have heard my mom and instead
scooped up all three of the girls and spun them around the room. I laughed as
they squealed in delight. When they were dizzy enough to bump into walls, I let
them go.

“Dinner smells good, Mom.” I sniffed the air and flopped
into a seat.

“She asked you a question,” Cord said. He raised his hand to
smack the back of my head but I blocked it and punched him in the arm.

“Getting slow in your old age, huh?” I kept my hands up, anticipating
another hit. He laughed.

“Sai, you don't eat until you answer my question,” Mom said.
Her blade moved in a blur as she cut fruit into small chunks.

I snorted. “
’That girl’
has a name. And I’d be more
willing to answer your question if you’d show her some respect.” As the words
left my mouth I inwardly cringed, knowing I was about to receive one of Mom’s
dreaded verbal thrashings. Cord whistled softly and ushered his daughters
toward the door. I stuck my foot out and tripped him on his way which earned me
a death glare. Good. Bring it on, big brother.

After Cord left, I waited for my mom to respond but she took
her time, her lips an angry line as she chopped and diced the fruit into
useless pulp. I almost pointed out the waste but decided it was better she kept
her knife turned on the fruit than me. When juice began to run in sticky
rivulets down the table and onto the floor, she dropped the weapon and sighed.

“I know what her name is, Sai, but does it really matter? Is
this relationship really going anywhere?” She curled her work-worn hands into
fists and rested them on her hips. “Aren’t you bored yet?”

“Bored?” This was new. I’d been reproached for being
undutiful but being accused of using Aylen to cure island boredom was a change.
How shallow did my parents think I was?

“We know you’re at a difficult age, but if you aren’t
interested in any of the girls in Vairda, go to a neighboring island. That
should give you something to do. They even have some different customs on some
of those islands.” She waved one hand around, flicking juice droplets
everywhere. “It will give you a taste of adventure.”

“If you think I’m only with Aylen because I’m bored, then
you must believe it won’t last. Why look for another girl to pass time with if
this is so short lived?”

She shook her head and turned her back to me, as though I
hadn’t presented a valid point. That was the part I hated about being the
youngest of six sons. Nothing I said was taken seriously. I might as well have
been picking fleas from my skin like a monkey for all the consideration she’d
given me.

“It would be one thing if you were with a girl from the
islands, Sai.” She leaned over the coals in our fire pit and urged the smoke up
into the chimney with an exasperated wave of her hands. “But if you don’t move
on soon, we worry Aylen is going to convince you the island is no longer good
enough. She’s going to lead you away from the Vairda and from us.” She turned
to look at me again. This time her eyes betrayed her sadness. Usually, my
mother was about as emotive as a totem but tonight worry wavered in her voice.
With a shake of her head, she ended her speech with, “There is nothing in the
world that would make it worth leaving the island.”

It took a moment to absorb what she was telling me, mostly
because I didn’t want to think about the truth behind her words. I had never
openly discussed Aylen’s eventual need to go to Miranasch but no doubt my
parents guessed it would happen someday. Still, I was surprised to hear her
voice her concerns. Leaving Vairda seemed impossible to most people and I
didn’t think their worries about my relationship with Aylen would lead them to
consider the possibility that I’d go with her. Choosing my words carefully, I said,
“Aylen is worth it.”

“Is she? Even with all the other girls you can spend time
with? The girls you knew growing up? She’d be worth leaving everything?”

“Yes,” I said. I dipped my thumb in a river of juice and
then sucked off the sour-sweetness. “If she’d let me go with her. But she won’t
so you don’t need to worry about it.” I glanced up at her and saw her eyes
light up with relief.

“She’s going?”

“Yeah. Without me.”

“Maybe she’s a better girl than I thought.”

I sighed. “She's always been. You just never gave her any
credit.” I waited for her to get angry but instead she nodded.

“Maybe not, but this could be a good thing. A chance to
start fresh.”

“Fresh? As in, ‘hey girls, if you want to cure my boredom,
I’m now available but keep in mind, I’m in love with someone else?’”

Mom’s eyes grew to the size of limes and she took a step
toward me. “You think you’re in love with her? A girl who is leaving you and
who never belonged on the island in the first place?”

I jumped up, making the chair screech against the hard-packed
floor before it toppled out from under me.

“I don’t
think
anything.”

Before she could respond, my fourth eldest brother shoved
the door open and sauntered in with my father. They each hefted a massive eel.
“Another family feast tomorrow night. This’ll feed everyone.” He slapped a hand
into my stomach as he dropped the slippery fish onto the mess of fruit pulp and
juice. “It might even be enough to fill your gut, Sai, unless you have plans
with the mainlander girl.”

I didn’t bother to respond. Brushing past all of them, I
fled for the door and shoved it open with a vengeance. Outside, Cord and his
wife played with their daughters while they waited for the rest of the extended
family to arrive. Eating together was a near nightly event and my mother seemed
to believe anyone who missed deserved a day of shunning as punishment. I’d
always wanted to invite Aylen, but figured they’d shun her anyway. I never
wanted to put her through that. At that moment, though, I wished I had. At
least maybe they would believe me when I told them how much she meant to me.

I stormed past Cord, smugly jumped over the leg he stuck out
to trip me, and headed for the forest. My goal was to get lost in the trees, a
place where no one would question me about my choices and tell me I was being
selfish by caring for a girl they couldn’t accept. I wanted silence and
solitude and a chance to think over Aylen’s decision to ditch me for the
mainland. Soon, I found myself wandering toward the upper waterfalls. It was a
place where I had hung out as a kid with most of my schoolmates after a day
spent on lessons and chores. Whenever I’d had the opportunity, I ran to the
falls and on the days when my friends didn’t toss me into the pool, I threw
myself over the edge of the cliff. I loved the freedom I felt as my body soared
toward the warm water below.

When I reached the falls that evening, I didn’t waste time.
I simply jumped through them and relished the sensation of nothingness that
enveloped me moments before I crashed into the water. Refreshed, I rose to the
surface and positioned myself on my back. I floated there, my eyes fixed on the
canopy of trees and sky above me. A bird twisted and twirled in the air,
showing off its plumage and for once I was glad I hadn’t brought my arrows. I
would have felt obligated to bring it home for dinner but it was too pretty to
kill.

For a while, I let my mind drift to thoughts of hunting and
archery and what I could do to improve my form. They were easier subjects than
my problems with Aylen. Lost in thought, I almost didn’t hear a female voice
say with slight embarrassment, “Hi, Sai.” I jerked my head up in search of the
source and saw one of my closest friends, Haji, sitting on a rock at the edge
of the pool. She was dripping wet.

“Hey, Haj. Nice night for a swim?”

“Yeah. You too, huh?”

“Sort of.” I dunked myself under and bobbed up again. As I
emerged, I spewed streams of water at her, an old habit from when we’d swam
together as kids.

Haji flicked water from her fingertips and searched for a
dry spot on her rock. “That’s really gross,” she said.

“Nah, it’s still funny.”

She rolled her eyes at me in response.

“So, why aren’t you with Aylen?” she asked. Leave it to Haji
to get right to the point. I didn’t want to answer her so I went underwater
again. This time I stayed submerged for a while. When I came up for air, Haji
was still waiting, her question hovering in the lift of her eyebrows.

“Going home any time soon?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“You’re a real pain, you know.”

“Such a flatterer, Sai.” She grinned and I knew she would
wrestle the information out of me somehow anyway. Haji was one of the most
determined girls I’d ever met and she rarely cared what anyone thought about
her. I could have teased her without mercy for hours and she would have simply
yawned and braided her hair like it was nothing.

“Fine.” I flipped onto my back again. “Aylen is leaving for
the mainland and she says she has to go without me.” I lifted my head to look
at her. It was a stupid thought but I hoped to get some sign of sympathy from
her. With how emotional girls can be sometimes, I figured my news would conjure
up a bit of compassion. No such luck.