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Chapter Three
Calai
With everyone else in the compound currently doing their tasks for the day, it feels wrong to just walk by them without doing anything I’m normally responsible for. I was finally given a robe to cover up with, which I appreciated since everything feels hyper-sensitive right now, and I just want to curl up somewhere cozy and rest.
We stop by the bathing chamber which we have to ourselves, both of us slipping into a bath that’s been filled and ready for anyone’s use. The water is cold, but it’s unused and clean. Eln begins washing my hair, soaping up my body, rubbing some of my muscles, and holds me for a minute before I return the favor.
There’s some strange need in me, pulling at me, making me feel anxious for something I can’t discern. The room feels too open, the windows too bright.
When the itchy feeling becomes too much, I tell Eln I’m ready to leave, hopping out of the water so I can wrap the towel tightly around myself. The little bit of pressure helps, but the more I stand in this open space, the more nauseated I feel. Even though I’ve just bathed, I’m sure I’m sweating.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“I’m…not sure.” I look around the room, walking absentmindedly towards the corner. “It just feels…too big in here. I need something different, though I don’t know what it is.”
“Are you uncomfortable?”
Eln dries herself off as she assesses me, no doubt trying to figure out how to help me, but how can she if I don’t know what it is I need myself?
“Maybe you just need to lie down and have a rest. You’ve had quite the eventful morning,” she says with a slight smirk.
“You would know. You pull those moves on a regular basis and your arm is going to be the strongest one in the compound.”
She laughs and it eases something within me, but I still need to get out of this room.
“Let’s get you to our new home then, shall we?”
Because Great Mother doesn’t want the vessels interacting with the rest of the women most of the time, the cabin is where we will remain until I’m called for the ritual, and then there we will remain until the babe comes. We might come to occasional events or be summoned to meet with the Great Mother, but for the most part, food, linens, and health providers will come to us.
I’ve never seen the cabin since it is forbidden unless chosen, but everyone knows exactly where it is. There is a dirt path behind the compound that leads into the forest, winding out of sight. The cabin is hidden in those woods, supposedly in a mountainous paradise of lakes and trees. There aren’t many predators here at night, so we should be safe enough alone as long as we keep the door barred.
Walking through the hallways of the compound makes me feel a little better, but I pick up my speed, needing to get to the cabin sooner. We have to walk by the room the choosing was held in, and for some strange reason I’m tempted to follow that back door to where the…being…disappeared to, an urge to find him needling at me.
“Come on love, the path is this way.”
I let Eln tug me along, stumbling through the forest for what feels like miles. It’s not exactly close to the compound, but in my training courses for the choosing, we were told that the distance will encourage the vessel and her companion to bond and stay in a stable piece of mind, with no one to bother us.
“It feels strange to be leaving the compound, doesn’t it? I didn’t think I would ever do this. It’s different out here. Quiet.”
I nod at Eln’s assessment, breathing in the pure air. “It is strange. I hoped this would be our outcome, but I was afraid to hopetoomuch. Are you sure you’ll be happy with me out here?”
“Didn’t my touches earlier assure you of my dedication?” Eln spins around so she’s facing me, walking backwards, a teasing tilt to her lips.
“You seem freer. Like there’s a spark in you that wasn’t there this morning.”
“Gee, I wonder why. I finally got to claim you in front of everyone, no one can stop us from being together, and you got chosen. Cala, oops,Calai, that is wonderful. I just…” she trails off and bites her lip, shaking her head when she can’t figure out what she wants to voice. “I think it’s leaving those walls that has me feeling this way. I know my place in there, and I accepted it, but being beyond it? I feel as if I’m alive for the first time. We can run, and no one will punish us for being too frivolous. We can play fight, and no one will pound on our door and threaten extra chores for making too much noise. We can speak freely to each other, and no one will tell us to stop. Calai, you’ve saved us, can’t you see that?”
I smile at her exuberance, thrilled to the core. We aren't allowed any personal belongings, so being able to give this gift to her makes me swell with pride. “I guess I did.”
“What was the ritual like?”
She still whispers, as if afraid Great Mother will be able to hear us from all the way back at the compound, or as if the very birds in the trees will somehow report back to her.
“It was…intense. We were blindfolded of course so I couldn’t see anything, but... it seemed that after the Great Mother finished her prayers, and He Who Watches was made corporeal, which was amazing by the way, he made a near straight line to me.
“Maybe he glanced at the other candidates, but someone was crying within minutes, sounding like they were down on their knees, because his rejection was so swift.”
“Do you actually think it washimthat showed up?” Eln asks quietly as she runs behind me and hops on my back, making me carry her.
