Ch 6 Part 1

Chapter 6

A week had passed since their return. Cedren' s parents had returned to their home, they still had their village to run, and besides, Cedren was not the next chiefs support at her home village anyway. Her brother owned that spot. She was way more than happy with her life alongside Nuvaro. Nuvaro' s Father had arranged the town meeting as discussed when they first came back. Everyone had been gathered outside of the main hall. Everyone awaited the news that was to be discussed.

Nuvo Hact: "I have called this village meeting as is was a request of my son and his mate. And a very valid issue came to light in these past weeks. It seems some of the younger generation needs to be more properly educated on our customs."

Nuvaro: "That is right. Everyone is aware of the recent abduction of my mate. That all happened due to one of the village girls here not wanting to respect the mating ritual. When the ritual failed, she decided it was a good idea to sneak out of the village and conspire with slave traders."

Nuvo Hact: "I was too soft on her when she started interfering with village protocol and various other things, due to my lack of action, I almost caused my son and his mate a great deal of pain. I never intend to make that mistake again. Therefore, any future mating rituals to be performed, by anyone in the village will be strictly monitored. If your match up fails, we will not put up with the people who were involved, destroying the village's peace."

Nuvaro: "As punishment to the girl from our village that had my mate taken away, I left her in that slaver's company as a warning to any others from our village or any surrounding village, that if you sell out your home, be prepared to pay the consequence."

Cedren: "As you all know, I am Nuvaro' s mate. Thanks to her misguided idea of following traditions, she figured if I were out of the way, he would go to her. But she did not and would not listen to me when I told her that the soul bond is an intense thing, that we could never be bound to another. But she did not care to listen to me when trying to explain. While in the cart with her, I told her that her punishment was going to be getting left with the very men who took us."

Nuvaro: "That is why I did what I did in that slaver city. I made a grandstand showing letting them know if they dare come to any of the mountain villages, it would be the same as declaring war and my father's friend in the slaver city agreed. With that in mind, we are going to try and work with him to rescue more people from the slavers and send them to the mountain villages in hopes of retraining them in the old ways."

Nuvo Hact: "That is a noble thing indeed. But we will be overly cautious from here on out, anyone who cannot be retrained for anything, will be taken back to the populated cities they came from. We will not have disorder messing up our traditions again. If anyone has objections to the things we have discussed, or the way my son handled the village girl who helped steal his mate away, I suggest saying something now. If not, I will call this meeting to a close."

Nuvaro: "Well said father. I do not wish this horror on anyone else in the village. My mate was only gone for a few days, but it felt like I was being torn apart being away from her."

Everyone looked around to each other and back up to us as they let the words sink in of the girl's betrayal, the girl being left behind as punishment, and the stern warning given to the outsiders if they dare tried again. Confident that everyone seemed content with the outcome of the meeting, we all dispersed and went about our daily jobs. People stopped periodically to apologize for the behavior of one of their own. But none more so than the parents of the village girl, Krista. Hanging their heads in shame, they profusely said sorry. Cedren and Nuvaro both told them to be at ease. There was nothing for them to feel sorry for. They still had children at home. The only thing we asked of them was to make sure their remaining children respected the old ways. I know the loss of their one child would be hard to bear, but they seemed to be thankful that she was still alive. That was the only gift we could give them. And our only hope was that they or their children did not feel the need to try and take revenge. Or else the whole damn family could be expelled from the village, not wanting that, all Cedren could do was pray that they had learned a tough and painful lesson. A short while later, things seemed to calm down some.

Besides, Nuvaro' s father made good on his word to have the town wood craftsman to go nuts making stuff for a child that would still be nine months or so off. She could not help but laugh every time something new was brought. All Nuvaro could do, was given an apologetic look and ask his father to calm down with the crafts, if not, there would be no place left in their room. His father seemed to understand after about a month of stuff had been brought in such a short time. We just wanted to get back to our normal routines. All Cedren could do was be thankful that no one in the village outside the midwife knew that she had been pregnant, or they might have taken her someplace else till the child was born and sold it on her. That would have been the worst thing ever.

Back in the slaver city, Krista had been placed in the auction house as a breeder after three weeks. With the way she was acting, no one wanted to buy her as a personal slave. Krista just sat in her cell as each day passed talking to herself, wondering why the one person she wanted to rescue her was not showing up. Kale the Slaver was doing his usual rounds in the slave market auction house; getting what girls were going to go up for auction ready. Krista just sat in her cage as she watched the girls be rotated out one by one. She continued to act strangely, she just sat in the cage each day picking up a rat carcass she started using like a comb. Rocking back and forth looking into an imaginary mirror. Kale the Slaver decided he had to say something to her at the very least; besides her behavior was starting to get a little weird even for him.

Kale the Slaver: "You do realize that Nuvaro and Cedren left you here as punishment, right?"

Krista: "No, no, no, he will come back for me. This is a punishment he wants me to learn from. He will be back wait and see. I must look perfect for when he does."

Kale the Slaver: "They left you here. You must accept that. Besides, you tried to have me involved in the kidnapping of a chieftain. You are lucky you are not dead; but they are not coming back, especially Nuvaro."

Krista: "He will come for me; he has to come. I do not believe anything you say, you are just trying to trick me. Besides, I am still mad that my nail has not grown back yet. I mean how can I look perfect for him when I've got messed up nails."

Kale the Slaver: "Wow, I don't even have a response for that statement of yours. You have truly gone mad. I may have to just put you in the last resort option. The Pits, though I doubt you'll even notice."