Chapter 6

Kalani raised her wet, soft emerald green eyes to Sasha’s. “I thought our life would be so different. I thought we would get to marry for love. I thought we would really have forever with each other.” She sniffled. “This is so wrong, Aja.”

She hugged her tight. “I know, baby, but it is going to be ok. I got you. I promise you that.”

She sniffled again and wiped her nose on Sasha’s dress. “I know you do. You always do. That has never been a concern.”

“Let’s go home. We need to change and I have to hunt for dinner. There was poison in the milk this morning and I will not risk your life. I know you are hungry.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime. Let’s go.”

She took her hand and led her to the house. Sasha quickly changed into camo clothes. She took off into the woods after giving Kalani orders to climb a tree and not to come down until she came back for her. She hoisted the handmade bow and arrows over her shoulder. She checked to make sure her crudely made dagger was in its holster, before beginning her slow maneuver through the forest. She crouched behind a bush to wait for their dinner to scamper through the clearing. After about an hour, the bushes a few feet from her hiding spot began to rustle. She silently pulled an arrow from their satchel and set it on the bow. She slowly drew the bow back, poised for when the animal came out. She let out her air quietly, letting the arrow loose as soon as the rabbit hopped into view. It let out a loud squeal as the arrow pierced its body directly through its chest. Blood erupted out of it and she knew the arrow had hit its heart. She hurried over to it and checked it for any signs of life. Finding none, she pulled the arrow out and picked up the lifeless critter.

“I am so sorry, little guy, but I need you to feed us tonight.”

She jogged back to the tree Kalani was in and gave a bird call. In no time, she was jumping back to the ground with a grin on her face.

“That was fast.”

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Come on. It’s your turn to build the fire.”

They walked deeper into the woods, heading towards the small stream about a quarter of a mile away. Kalani picked up twigs and leaves along the way to build her fire with. She laid the rabbit on a tree stump and sent up a small prayer to the goddess for the animal that would soon become their dinner. She cut the head and the feet off, before she sliced down the rabbit’s stomach and removed the organs. She set aside the heart, liver and kidneys for consumption. She began to meticulously peel the skin away from the muscle below. She flipped the rabbit over to finish, having to swallow down the bile that rose in her throat. No matter how many times she had hunted and done exactly this, she never got used to it. Every time she had to take a life to sustain theirs, she prayed it would be the last time. After the skin was completely off, she quickly cut the little meat on the animal off the bone and then cut all the edible meat up to toss in the frying pan Kalani was carrying.

Kalani set the meat to cook with the single potato and few carrots they had managed to steal from the kitchen at home. Sasha washed up in the stream before laying on the ground to wait for dinner. She stared up at the sky, wondering what her life had turned into. She was as much of a mother to her little sister as she would ever have. She was doomed to either be killed after bearing children for a strange man, probably decades older than her or be put to death after being caught trying to kill the king. She sighed when Kalani handed her a small bowl of the meat and vegetables.

“You know, Lani, you are a good girl and I love you very much.”

“I love you, too, Aja.”

They ate silently for a little bit before heading back to the house to sleep. Tomorrow they would be going shopping early in the morning, before packing their bags to leave their childhood homes forever the next day. They climbed into bed almost immediately when they got home, choosing to once again ignore the moans coming from their mothers room. Sasha pulled the folder out again to read the reports in the moonlight. She had made it to the fourth page when Kalani sighed above her.

“Hey, Aja?”

“Yeah, love?”

“Can we cuddle?”

“No, sweetie. You need to learn to sleep alone without me. In two days time we won’t be able to sleep together anymore. We will each have a man in our beds.”

She groaned. “I know.”

Sasha closed the folder. “I will tell you about my favorite dream, if you want.”

“Yes, please.”

“So, I’m standing facing this really handsome man. He’s tall, like 7 feet tall. He has thick shiny black hair, almost like a crow’s feathers. His eyes are grey. The color of the clouds before a tornado hits.” She paused as her words pulled up his image and her body began to drip in arousal. “His skin is tan and he smells like cedar and walnuts. His voice is so deep that it sends shivers down my spine when he asks me if I want to fly. He then turns me around and pulls me back against his body before he shoots up into the sky with me in his arms.” She began to rub on her breasts, pinching her nipples. “His hands are rough on my skin as he touches me. We fly for hours-”

Her sister’s gentle snores cut her off. She fell silent as she continued to play the rest of the dream in her mind as she massaged her breasts until her body locked up and she orgasmed. She collapsed in a puddle of her own desire, panting. Fuck. She didn’t know who that man was or if it was even her he was holding, but goddess, she wished it was and hoped even more that he would really make love to her in the sky like that. He had haunted her dreams for years. Ever since she had been almost 15, the man had been a nightly visitor. He was the reason she hurried to bed and the only reason she slept through the night peacefully. She sighed.

“Wherever you are, I hope you are happy and don’t mind being my fantasy,” she whispered into the night air, trying to let her body come down from its high. “I hope you are real and whoever is in your bed knows how lucky they are to have you. I hope that one day I can feel your lips on mine and hear you whisper in my ear. I hope, above all else, that one day you will make me yours and I can have you as mine.”