Mum takes her head out of her hands. “My baby girls, I am
so sorry.”
Jessica curls into Mum, letting my hand go. “It’s not your
fault, Mum.” And they cry.
I leave the barn for my hut after an hour of tears and
memories, feeling like my soul has been pulled out of me. Jessica
is staying with Mum tonight. When I arrive in my main room,
Alana is waiting on me. I don’t say anything. It feels so good to
see her face.
She hugs me. “I am sorry.”
I look at her. She’s done so much for me. “Thank you, Alana—for everything.”
She looks me up and down. “You stink.”
I laugh through tears. “Thanks for that.”
She links her arm with mine. “Come on, you need a wash
and food.” She has the tub filled and I strip robotically. I don’t
want to think about anything. “You had a visitor today,” Alana
says from where she sits on the bed.
I stir in the tub, looking over at Alana. She looks tired.
“Who?”
She raises an eyebrow. “A little girl around eight with big
brown eyes.”
“Mei,” I say fondly.
“Yes, she called here every day looking for her princess.”
The poor little child. “I will see her tomorrow.” I lie there
and let the water relax me.
“What happened to Neve?” Alana asks, her voice cracking
on his name. I get out of the bath and wrap myself in a towel.
“Here, I will brush your hair.”
I sit down as Alana untangles the mass of curls. “He died in
Eden Forest. He lost too much blood.” Alana keeps brushing
my hair. “How is Kiar?” I ask.
Her hand freezes. “Not good, Sarajane. But in time he will
heal.” She continues brushing the knots out.
“It is such a mess. I wish…” I stop speaking. I don’t know
what I would prefer. If I never came here, then I would’ve never
met Alana, Tristan, Neve and Kiar. I would’ve been blind to
who I was.
Alana stands back. “All done.”
I turn and face her. “What happens now?”
She purses her lips in thought. “Now we bury Neve and look
out for Kiar.”
She is right. Kiar will be hurting the most. “Yeah, you’re
right.”
I get dressed in clean travelling clothes. I don’t want to be in
a dress. Alana and I eat in my main room. The early hours of
the morning are creeping in.
“You need rest, Sarajane.”
I give her another hug. “Thanks again, Alana.” I go to bed,
but my dreams are haunted by too many dead faces, taunting
me the whole night long.
When I awake a few hours later, I feel as if I haven’t sleep at
all. Banging on my hut door awakens me.
I open the door. Mei stands there, swaying back and forth,
looking up at me. She is adorable. “Hello, Mei, come on in.” I
open the door farther. She looks around and then climbs up on
a chair, her legs tangled from the height.
“I couldn’t find you, princess,” she says.
I sit across from her. “I had to do a job, but I’m back now.”
She bobbles her little head in understanding. Then she twines
her hands together, looking shy. “Granddad said you are sad.”
A lump rises in my throat, but I push it back down. “Yes,
my dad died.” She bobbles her head again. “But he’s in heaven
now with God.” I’m not too sure if the child understands what
death is.
“My mammy and daddy are in heaven too. I will ask Mammy
to take care of your daddy.” She sounds so matter of fact.
“Thank you, Mei. That would be lovely.”
She beams and climbs off her chair, coming over to me. I
don’t know what to do, but she climbs into my lap and curls
into me. Her little hands wrap around my neck. “Don’t be sad,
princess. I will be your friend.” My hands hang loosely at my
side, but I hug her back, her words giving me strength.
“Mei.” I hear Ndee calling her name.
I take her off my lap. “Come on, we better get you home.”
She places her little hand in mine as we leave my hut. I have to
face the world; I can’t hide out forever.
Ndee gives Mei a stern look. “Mei.” And then her eyes fall on
me, full of sadness. “I am so sorry, princess.”
“Thank you, Ndee.” The settlement is quiet. “Where is
everyone?”
Ndee picks up a reluctant Mei. “It is our day of mourning
for the dead.”
I am touched by this act of kindness. They didn’t know my
dad or Neve that well, yet they mourn for them. “Thank you,
Ndee.”
“Princess, Musa requests your company in the main barn.”
I nod and then give Mei a kiss on the cheek. “I will see you
later, Mei.” She waves until her hand nearly falls off.
“Okay, princess.” Her little face makes me smile as I cross
the settlement to the main barn. Everyone is waiting inside—
Mirium, Musa, Morrick, Tristan, Alana, Jessica and Mum.
They sit around the large table. Mirium has taken the head
chair and to the left of him, Musa sits with Tristan, Jessica
and Mum. Morrick is to his right with a space beside him. I sit
down, Alana on the other side of me.
“Now that we are all here, we shall get started,” Mirium
says. I’m unsure what all this is about, but I will find out soon.
Mirium turns to me. “I know this has been very hard on you,
Sarajane, and you have not been told the reason you are here,
but…” He looks at Morrick and Musa. “We spoke and agreed
that you are strong enough for the truth.” I shift in my chair
before Mirium starts. “This world was created by four fallen
angels. It was their punishment. But after centuries, they were
forgiven. So God allowed them passage back into heaven, but
they still remain here.”
There is an intake of breath from everyone around the room.
Obviously, not everyone knew this. That makes me feel a bit
better. I’m not the only one in the dark.
“The four of them can only return to heaven when they join
together, but there is one angel missing that will not complete
the circle.” This all sounds like a child’s story. “So God created
a vessel that he filled with great powers beyond our beliefs. This
vessel would vanquish Lucian, the angel who has turned to the
dark world, and help the other angels return to heaven, giving
Saskia back to the people that now live here.” Mirium stops
to let this all sink in. I was following perfectly, but just don’t
get what this has to do with me. “The vessel would come in
the form of a young lady who would not live in this world, but
would pass through fire to get here. The door would be closed to
her until her destiny is complete.” I squirm in my chair, feeling
uncomfortable with the way Mirium is looking at me. “You,
Sarajane, are the vessel.”
I am finding it hard to breathe. It makes too much sense; I
can do too much. “I’m only a girl, Mirium. I’m emotional, and
I can’t fight or make
sense of a lot of things. I can’t be…”
Mirium gives me a sad smile. “You are the one, Sarajane.”
I look at my mother, who looks absolutely horrified. “You
expect my daughter to go up against Lucian? Mirium, you know
what he is like. I won’t allow it.” My mother rises, her body
visibly shaking. “Sarajane, Jessica, we’re going home.” Then she
looks at Morrick. “I won’t loose her, Morrick. I’m sorry.”
Morrick stands then. “Marta, Saskia will no longer exist.
The longer the angels are here, everyone will die.”
My mother lets out a tortured scream. “I don’t care! I will
not lose my daughter. No.”
Morrick really loves my mum. I can see by how torn he is
when he looks at her. “Marta, she can’t leave.”
My mother moves around the table, grabbing my arm. “You
can’t stop us.” She tugs me to get up.
“Marta, she can’t leave because the door is closed to her. You
can try, but she has to stay here.”
Fear runs all over my body. My mother lets me go and hits
Morrick. “How could you do this to her?” He stands there as
she repeatedly hits his chest, and then she crumbles in his arms.
“How could you?” she whispers.
Everyone says nothing and stays perfectly still. Jessica and I
are standing. I feel so far out of my depth, but the only thing
running through my head is that I would never see home again.
Josh. What about my dad? Would I get to bury him?
“Marta, please sit. This isn’t helping,” Morrick says gently
and carefully. My mother sits beside me, taking Jessica on the
other side, and holds our hands. She dries her face with the hem
of her skirt.
“Sarajane, I know this is very overwhelming, but it is your
destiny,” Mirium says.
“I can never go home?” I ask.
Mirium’s grey eyes look sad. “Not right now. No, but we are
all here to help you.” As if that will give me comfort.
I feel too shocked. “So I have to kill an angel and help the
other three back to heaven or else everyone dies?” Mirium only
nods. “So I must save the world?” The irony is a joke.
“Yes,” Mirium replies.
“And this is why either everyone is trying to kill or capture
me or use my family against me?”
“There is far more to explain, Sarajane. Deception runs deep,
but there are lots of people willing to help you. But later I will
try and educate you on, let’s say, our political front in all of
this.” I nod my head, not sure of what else to do.
My mother looks at Mirium with hate. “You knew this and
still took my daughter from her home and dropped her here?”
Mirium looks tired. “Marta, the clock has started to tick.
We left Sarajane as long as we could. If we didn’t bring her here,
someone would have tracked her down and killed her, leaving
us all with no future. You have seen that yourself with Bellona
and Lucian.”
I look at Mirium. “Why kill me if it will kill this world?”
Mirium lets out a deep breath. “Because you are too powerful
and fear of something greater makes people want to destroy it.
They do not see beyond their own personal goals or greed. They
see only what they want to. And then others do not believe
that the angels will destroy us. They haven’t so far, so you are
just a threat they must eliminate or use for their own personal
gains. Sarajane, we will continue this conversation later, but
first, Musa would like to address us all.”
Musa rises, nodding at Mirium. “I will be brief. Firstly, I
am truly sorry about Neve and John. You have my deepest
sympathies. Neve will be buried here tonight.” He looks at my
mother. “You will return to the mortal world.”
My mother hugs Jessica. “Yes, with Jessica.” Then she turns
to me. “But we will come back to you.” I can’t reply. The pain
is too much so I just nod.
Musa continues. “Secondly, I cannot house any of you much
longer.” Morrick and Mirium look at Musa in outrage, but
Musa raises a warning hand. “I am sorry, but I cannot put my
people in any more danger. Your traitor was already too much
of a threat.”
This shocked me. They had found a traitor. “Who was the
traitor?” I ask Musa.
“It was Liber, Sarajane.” Alana looks at Tristan shyly. “That’s
how I knew about the fence and the horse when I…” She let the
rest die. I didn’t blame her for not finishing.
“I will house you for a few more days, but that is it. I cannot
put my people in danger,” Musa says.
“Musa, think about what you are saying. She is our vessel.”
Morrick objects, but Mirium puts a hand on his shoulder
“It is the way it is meant to be, Morrick. We need to leave
anyway and make our way to Hummus.” So not only do I find
out I have to save the world. I have to leave to another unknown
place. “That is all, my friends. I will leave you now, and,
princess, God is gracious.” Very insightful. Then Musa leaves.
“We will leave it there for now,” Mirium says. You would
think we were just chitchatting, but everyone starts to get up
and leave. I’m the last to make my way from the room.
Mirium walks with me through the settlement. “I will come
to your hut tonight and you can ask me any questions you want.
I will answer them to the best of my ability.”
“Thanks, Mirium.”
is there, but only a few whisper and talk amongst themselves.
Conversations cease as soon as I walk in. Just great, now I’m
a freak.
I get a bowl of soup and a roll and sit down beside Alana and
Kiar. Alana tries to muster up some enthusiasm when I arrive.
“So you are our saviour.”
I give a small smile. Kiar doesn’t look up at me. All he does is
cut his fish into tiny little bits. “Kiar, how are you?”
When he finally looks at me, his eyes are bloodshot. “How
do you think I am?” He gets up and leaves.
Alana shifts over so she and I are face to face. “He does not
mean it, Sarajane. He is just upset.”
I bite my lip to hold back my retort. “Alana, what do I do
about everything?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I really don’t know, but it will
come to you. You are smart.”
Yeah, really smart, getting everyone killed around me.
“Princess.” I look at Mei as she smiles up at me. Ndee walks
over to take her away, but she is a welcomed distraction
“It is fine, Ndee, really.” She gives me a sceptical look. “Cross
my heart,” I say and Ndee helps Mei up beside me.
“Now be good, Mei,” she says before leaving.
“She never lets me have fun.” Her little grumpy face causes
Alana and me to laugh.
“She cares about you, Mei.” But I know that is a hard thing
to understand at such a young age.
“I wish you were my mammy.” That would mean I had her
when I was sixteen.
“Maybe sister would be better?” I smile at her thoughtful
face.
“Can I tell you a secret, princess?” I wink at Alana, and she
looks away as if the wall is so interesting. I bend down so she
can whisper in my ear. “My brother would really like you.” She
looks around once she has it said.
“Why is that a secret?” I whisper back to amuse her.
Her little face looks bewildered that I didn’t know. “We don’t
speak of excels.”
I am, taken aback. I know she means exiles. My heart is
pounding. “What is your brother’s name?” I look at her sad
face.
She doesn’t whisper in my ear this time. She just whispers
his name while looking in my face with her big brown eyes.
“Carew.”
Oh God, he looked like this tribe, but what did he do to be
exiled? I couldn’t ask this child. Alana clears her throat and
Mei sits up straight, looking a little frightened. I give Alana a
scowl. “Don’t worry, Mei. Your secret is safe with me.” I kiss
her forehead, the poor child.
She sits with us, telling us all about her friend who can make
water balls they launch at other kids. The more I spend time
with this child, the more I know I’m going to miss her.
Alana pulls me away. It’s time to bury Neve.
Kiar, Tristan and Morrick are already there and Neve’s body
is tied to a wooden raft, ready to be set free into the water.
“Would anyone like to say anything?”
Kiar moves beside Morrick. “Yes, I would.” I bow my head
as he speaks. “You were the best guardian I have ever worked
with, Neve. You were more than my friend; you became my
brother and I will never forget you.”
My heart breaks for him. Tristan speaks briefly then, saying
he died an honorable death in the path of war. Alana shakes
her head when she is asked if she wants to say anything.
Then it is my turn. My stomach tightens. I feel I should say
something. “Neve, you made me laugh at times it felt it was
impossible. You put your life in danger for my sister, and I will
always be grateful. I will miss your big smile and crooked nose,
and I’ll always keep my promise to you.” I nod at Morrick that
I’m finished. It doesn’t seem enough, but it’s the best I can do.
Alana squeezes my hand as Morrick, Tristan and Kiar push
the raft out and light it on fire. His body drifts out to sea. Kiar