Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Was it possible that Aura was a member of this ancient race? Was that the reason she was never seen with her family? Safia had met Aura’s mother once or twice. She always seemed distant and sad. She appeared ill to Safia, as if she were already gone from this world. That made Safia feel bad for Aura, but she didn’t say so, because Aura never commented on her mother.
If Aura wasn’t human, why hadn’t Safia’s mother just come out and told her? Clearly her father and grandfather didn’t know. She wasn’t going to stay in the dark. She’d ask her. They would have several hours with no one around, and hopefully Aura would answer her questions. She planned on asking a lot of them.
“Nothing about this makes sense.” Usem agreed with Safia’s assessment. Her brother, usually so good-natured, looked like thunder.
“When Illi was born, we thought the cards would go to her in the natural order of things.” Gwafa took up the commentary. “She was the firstborn and female. Your grandmother and mother were prepared for her to be chosen to be trained as the defender of our people. One is born into that position. Chosen before birth. The cards are normally passed to the firstborn female. She has the sight. The moment we realized Illi wasn’t chosen, our hearts were heavy. That was the first clue that this time might be one when evil would rise. It is why we pushed all of you to learn to defend yourselves from such an early age.”
The sorrow in her father’s voice made the situation even more real.
“How did you know?” Safia asked. “When Illi was first born, how could all of you tell right away that she wasn’t the one chosen?”
Again, Gwafa and Amastan exchanged a long look. Amastan frowned. “It was obvious to your mother and grandmother. We are men, and this gift is handed down mother to daughter. Your mother knew immediately Illi wasn’t the one. And she was born with blue eyes.”
“It was . . . unsettling,” Gwafa said. “The boys were born, three in a row, before we had Lunja. Again, the expectation was that the gift would be passed to her. Her birth was very tense, with all of us waiting. When your mother announced Lunja was not chosen, there was relief that she was safe, and yet it only reinforced our belief that evil was going to rise in our time, and we would have to be prepared to fight it. How could we have two female children and yet neither was chosen to read the cards?”
Amastan turned his loving gaze on Safia. “You were born two years later. The moment you came into the world, it was very apparent you were our little warrior. There was not a single doubt in your mother’s mind or your grandmother’s. Without even seeing the beautiful jade of your eyes, I knew. There was something different about you, a light that clung to you, and even as a newborn, when I spoke to you, you looked directly at me, as if you understood every word I said.”
“We concentrated on training you,” Gwafa added. “Morning, noon and night. Your mother, grandmother, little Aura—every single person we knew with skills helped train you. It wasn’t until the first man approached your grandfather and offered for you that we remembered the old stories of the promises made to the warrior.”
“I immediately went to the cave of our ancestors to consult,” Amastan said. “I knew we couldn’t make any mistakes. It was difficult to get the exact answers I sought. You were promised. I asked the ancestors, was he a good man? They answered that he was the warrior sent by the moon, unmatched in his abilities to fight these demons and vampires. He would come and bring others with him. If he did not, all hope was lost, and every man, woman and child would die.” He cleared his throat. “They used the words in the song honoring the moon knight: Ayur uzend aghzen addigh imagh.”
Moon sends the monster to fight with us. There was a long silence. Safia let out her breath slowly. She could see that her grandfather had felt he’d been trapped. She understood. Their people had to be saved. This man—this monster—was necessary. He must be a superior warrior. But what kind of man was he? Maybe he wasn’t even a man.
“But you didn’t tell me what to expect,” Safia pointed out, trying to rein in the hurt and sense of betrayal. Everything they said made sense. She could see that they hadn’t known about the ancient man making a claim on her for very long. She needed time to process before meeting a man who would take her from her family and everything familiar to her. How could she possibly embrace him, knowing she might never see the ones she loved again?