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Chapter 3
Miyako sat on the rim of the small
pond in the forest at the edge of the village. Her feet swished back and forth
in the clear water aimlessly. She had managed to sneak away from her lessons
with her father. She sighed, both out of guilt and confusion. She felt bad for
skipping out on her father of course, but she needed to think of how to approach
him at dinner. “This is all your fault Reoh...” she said to herself. Miyako let
out a small laugh, knowing very well there was no truth in this. Her father
liked Reoh, he thought Reoh was a good friend for his daughter. There was no
question about her father denying her for any reason concerning Reoh.
The only real reasons for him to
decline were the fact that Miyako had never been outside the village before, and
that it would be rude to leave when Kyohei was staying with her family just to
get to know her. ‘Knowing father he would want a better reason than wanting to
see Reoh to go to the city’ Miyako thought, scowling.
Too bad she couldn’t use what
little magic she had to ask Reoh what to say to her father. Sending a letter
would take at least two days to deliver, even if she had one of her father’s
fast messengers take it. Yes, Miyako had magic, but not as much as her mother of
father. Unlike her cousins, and the rest of her clan, Miyako and her parents had
a different kind of magic. Sure, Miyako had some element based magic, her
element was light. She could do quite a bit with it, but the other type of magic
her parents and herself had helped her very little.
This special magic hailed from
Miyako’s parents ancestors who had settled in this village from the kingdom of
Tortall. It was called the gift there, one could not learn that kind of magic,
you had to be born with it. Her mother and father had told Miyako all about
Tortall when she was younger. She had eagerly learned the history of the
mysterious land from which her ancestors came. They had helped build the village
and some of the village customs had come from the Tortallian ancestors. No
one in her mothers or fathers families had been born with the girft for many
years until Miyako’s parents were born. The two families had come to tis land
together and the oldest son and duaghter had married.
“Mother had much of the gift
supposedly...what a waste that she died so early.” Miyako muttered aloud. Her
father she had not seen use the gift since well, he had tried to heal his
beloved wife with it.
When mother died..father and I were
closer.” said the girl. Miyako and her father had been mildly close before
the departure of Tamaka. But when the beloved wife and mother died, Miyako and
her father shared one another’s grief and were much closer. It had been the
same with Reoh when his mother died, Miyako had understood the pain of such a
loss, but the closeness and stayed and was still there. When people asked if the
death of her mother had caused Miyako grief she merely said, “I didn’t know her
very well but it did pain me”
The truth was Miyako and Tamaka had
been very close. Until Miyako’s own grief had went from a constantly beating
pang to a an occasional thump that only welled up and caused tears when
mentioned, Miyako and her father were very close. Sharing and easing each
other’s pain. But the closeness soon vanished. Miyako and her father did have
conversations yes, during training, but nothing heartfelt was said. The
questions of “Has anything interesting happened?” and “Is your day going well?”
were the basis of every conversation.
Miyako suddenly brought out of her
thoughts by the slight snapping of a twig. She turned around to see a young man
of 16 with forest green eyes watching her. Miyako scowled inwardly, it was
Takenaga. He was the son and future heir of the second most powerful clan in the
village, the Oda clan. He at a a good 6 feet even for someone his age. Takenaga
had light dirty brown hair that went slightly past his ears but did not curl,
but kept a messy look about it. He was considered handsome to most of the girls
in the village. But not to Miyako, mainly because of the malicious glint in his
green eyes that clearly showed his dark side. Miyako stood up abruptly and
slipped on her slipper like shoes. If she could avoid talking to Takenaga she
would.
“Ah Miyako-hime how good it is to
see your beautiful face.” the young man said warmly. “Do not call me that,
address me as it is proper.” Miyako said sternly. She wanted to leave as fast as
possible. She could hardly ever muster the courage to stand up to Takenaga as
she just had. His eyes with their menacing glint scared her, no one should have
such and evil look. “As you wish Miyako-san” Takenaga replied, his voice as
smooth as silk. “What is it you want?” she asked, a bit of defiance welling up
inside her. “I have heard that Kyohei Koto is staying within the Chiba clan’s
first branch house, tell me why is that?” Miyako remained silent. Takenaga
slightly scowled at her silence but quickly replaced it with a warm smile.
“Miyako-san might I have an answer?” he asked again a bit more insistent.
Miyako hesitated before saying, “It is not your concern, I must go” With that
Miyako left not looking back at the young man.
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