Read Online The Dove (Prophecy Series) by Sharon Sala - Free Book Online
Authors: Sharon Sala
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promise.
“So when does this happen?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, but soon in the days to come. There are many things I need to learn first and I will learn them from the New Ones.”
“What can I do to help you?” he asked.
She laid a hand on his chest. “Just help me stay strong, as strong as your heart.”
He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “It will be done,” he said softly. “But not today, not during the festival.”
She leaned closer.
“We will do it after the festival?”
“Yes. We will do it after.”
****
After the discovery of Ah Kin’s body, Cayetano went to find Singing Bird. He had no stomach for celebrating today, yet he would not leave her down in the city without him. But when the people saw their chief and his guards coming through the streets, they ran out with food and drink, wanting to share their bounty.
Cayetano and his guards accepted graciously and his disposition improved as the food settled in his belly. They ate as they walked, following the drum sounds all the way to the sector where the New Ones lived.
He didn’t come down into the city often, but every time he did, he could see the changes in the people’s lifestyle and the influences the New Ones had brought to their world.
The streets in Naaki Chava were made of limestone-type bricks like the playa surrounding the temple, but the small bamboo huts and thatched roofs the people had always lived in were slowly being replaced with what Singing Bird called houses, like smaller versions of the palace.
They had found different uses for the edible plants growing wild in the jungle that they’d taken back into the city and cultivated into their fields.
They trapped young tapirs in the jungle then carried them back to their homes, put them in pens and fed them out for killing as needed, instead of having to always go hunt. A few years back, some traders from the mountains had come in with birds they called chickens that laid an egg every day and raw wool, which the women turned into blankets. The cotton grown in the Naaki Chava fields, they turned into their style of clothing. Now, after some bargaining, the traders came at least twice, sometimes three times a year, keeping the New Ones in chickens and wool. In return for the shelter the New Ones had been given, they had brought a new way of life to Naaki Chava.
As Cayetano neared the houses where the Nantay brothers lived, the drumming was so loud he could feel the beat inside his chest, and the singing that accompanied it made the hair rise on the back of his neck. He didn’t understand the words. Singing Bird said it was in the Navajo language, but he liked how the rise and fall of the voices matched the rhythm of the drumbeat.
He quickened his step, anxious to see the dancers in their ceremonial dress. It was unlike anything the people in Naaki Chava wore, but beautiful just the same.
He was greeted warmly as he walked toward their dwelling, but his gaze was on the crowd around the drummers. Singing Bird would be somewhere nearby. And then he saw her still wearing her ceremonial dress, but with more feathers in her hair in the tradition of Layla Birdsong’s Muscogee tribe.
It was always hard to watch, knowing there was a part of her heart and memories that he would never be able to share, but it was part of his penance for helping create the discord that had led to Firewalker’s wrath.
Within seconds of his arrival, it was obvious Singing Bird had sensed his presence. She suddenly turned, scanning the crowd until she saw him, then lifted her arm into the air and waved.
And just like that, the spark of Cayetano’s jealousy was gone and he felt nothing but gratitude that she was alive and well and still his woman.
He moved toward her, threading his way through the crowd, and as soon as the people saw who it was, they gave way. She slipped a hand beneath his arm and gave him a questioning look, knowing he’d gone to confront the old shaman. He
“So when does this happen?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, but soon in the days to come. There are many things I need to learn first and I will learn them from the New Ones.”
“What can I do to help you?” he asked.
She laid a hand on his chest. “Just help me stay strong, as strong as your heart.”
He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “It will be done,” he said softly. “But not today, not during the festival.”
She leaned closer.
“We will do it after the festival?”
“Yes. We will do it after.”
****
After the discovery of Ah Kin’s body, Cayetano went to find Singing Bird. He had no stomach for celebrating today, yet he would not leave her down in the city without him. But when the people saw their chief and his guards coming through the streets, they ran out with food and drink, wanting to share their bounty.
Cayetano and his guards accepted graciously and his disposition improved as the food settled in his belly. They ate as they walked, following the drum sounds all the way to the sector where the New Ones lived.
He didn’t come down into the city often, but every time he did, he could see the changes in the people’s lifestyle and the influences the New Ones had brought to their world.
The streets in Naaki Chava were made of limestone-type bricks like the playa surrounding the temple, but the small bamboo huts and thatched roofs the people had always lived in were slowly being replaced with what Singing Bird called houses, like smaller versions of the palace.
They had found different uses for the edible plants growing wild in the jungle that they’d taken back into the city and cultivated into their fields.
They trapped young tapirs in the jungle then carried them back to their homes, put them in pens and fed them out for killing as needed, instead of having to always go hunt. A few years back, some traders from the mountains had come in with birds they called chickens that laid an egg every day and raw wool, which the women turned into blankets. The cotton grown in the Naaki Chava fields, they turned into their style of clothing. Now, after some bargaining, the traders came at least twice, sometimes three times a year, keeping the New Ones in chickens and wool. In return for the shelter the New Ones had been given, they had brought a new way of life to Naaki Chava.
As Cayetano neared the houses where the Nantay brothers lived, the drumming was so loud he could feel the beat inside his chest, and the singing that accompanied it made the hair rise on the back of his neck. He didn’t understand the words. Singing Bird said it was in the Navajo language, but he liked how the rise and fall of the voices matched the rhythm of the drumbeat.
He quickened his step, anxious to see the dancers in their ceremonial dress. It was unlike anything the people in Naaki Chava wore, but beautiful just the same.
He was greeted warmly as he walked toward their dwelling, but his gaze was on the crowd around the drummers. Singing Bird would be somewhere nearby. And then he saw her still wearing her ceremonial dress, but with more feathers in her hair in the tradition of Layla Birdsong’s Muscogee tribe.
It was always hard to watch, knowing there was a part of her heart and memories that he would never be able to share, but it was part of his penance for helping create the discord that had led to Firewalker’s wrath.
Within seconds of his arrival, it was obvious Singing Bird had sensed his presence. She suddenly turned, scanning the crowd until she saw him, then lifted her arm into the air and waved.
And just like that, the spark of Cayetano’s jealousy was gone and he felt nothing but gratitude that she was alive and well and still his woman.
He moved toward her, threading his way through the crowd, and as soon as the people saw who it was, they gave way. She slipped a hand beneath his arm and gave him a questioning look, knowing he’d gone to confront the old shaman. He
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