A few mornings had passed. This morning, Mariyah woke up and had breakfast as usual, thumbing her new necklace which she convinced her mother was a present she must have missed. It didn’t match her parents’ ring much, but that didn’t matter to her.
Before she headed out, she made sure to snatch the pouch of coins from her birthday out from under her bed. She fished out a handful, and ran out to the market after saying goodbye to her mother, grabbing the cloth bag with her lunch.
As she walked down the village streets, she approached a small booth just beginning to set up for the day. “Mariyah! Is your mother going to purchase any jams today? Tell her I made them fresh yesterday!” An older woman named Evangeline called out to her from behind the wooden table of all sorts of fruits, pastes, jellies, and jams.
“I’ll actually take some myself, if that’s alright,” Mariyah said with a smile. “What flavors do you have this time?” Her sweet, soft voice barely was loud enough with the busy street behind her.
“Strawberry, and peach. The best kind there is,” she said with a wide smile and missing teeth. Loose gray and coarse hairs that slipped out of her braid hung by her face. “I even have orange marmalade!”
The girl giggled with excitement. “I’ll take one of each please.” She took her jams and set them in the lunch bag she had brought with her. She walked to the next few booths and purchased some meats and salts.
“Do you mind tellin’ your father that I need a new cleaver?” Clover asked as she put the packaged meat in her bag. “This one’s gotten dull and I ‘seen him makin’ new ones. Let ‘em know I’ll pay for the best he’s got, please, dear.”
“I’ll tell him, Clover, ” she said with a quiet giggle.
I can’t let them see me exit through the gates in this daylight, especially with this bag after buying all that food... After finishing up her purchases, she sneakily found her way to a part of the wall behind homes and hidden well enough that she was able to swing the bag over. She pulled a few wooden crates from behind someone’s house and pushed them a foot away from the wall. Can’t make it too obvious…I’ll just have to jump. She climbed onto the crate and looked up ahead at the tall wall in front of her. She sighed to herself…There’s just no way. It’d be much easier if she could shift.
She grunted and pushed the crate back, before returning into the busy street. She humphed out in frustration before an idea clicked. She bit her lip anxiously as she scurried back into the crowd, ducking her head down and allowing her hair to cover her face as she blended in, just in case her friends were awake by now.
She quickly walked through the busy streets to the corner where she and her friends kept their ball that they’d play with in the streets. She tried to look casual as she began to play with it, kicking it as she walked towards the gates. Suddenly, she accidentally kicked it a bit too far.
She gave a frown and quickly went to chase after the ball as it rolled through the gates and out into the field. She held in her smile. Perfect. After taking a glance at the gates and not seeing any nosy faces, she slipped around the wall and began towards her sack of foods. She grunted as she hoisted it over her shoulder and set the ball down.
If anyone caught her now with sack in hand…I’m going to look for flowers and herbs for my mother. That’s all. The usual excuse. Oh? This bag? I…I like food. Quite a lot. Yes, really. She groaned to herself at the poor excuse. I just can’t let anyone see me with this thing. She began her usual stroll across the surrounding fields, but picked up the pace quite a bit and finally into the forest.
After a long walk, she finally heard the following stream, “Olly?!” she shouted in a whisper as she ran to the bridge. To her relief, he was there. “Olly, look what I have for you!” she said with the widest of grins spread across her face.
Oliver looked over to her as he sat on the bridge, and stood up. “What did you do?” he asked as he made his way over to her.
“I got you food...and your village. There’s enough here to share with everyone,” she said, setting the bag down in front of him. Her beaming eyes searched his, waiting to see his equal excitement.
His eyes widened as he looked at everything that filled the coarse black sack. “No, no. What did I tell you? You can’t waste your money on us like this.”
She breathed out heavily. “Please, accept this. I have more money left, anyways.”
He shook his head. “Mariyah…” he mumbled as he looked at the supplies.“You can’t do this...Do you realize how much trouble you can get in? Did you not listen to me?” he asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not like anyone followed me back here. I just bought some food.”
His surprised eyes turned almost angry. “And if you got caught?”
She rolled her eyes. “We won’t get caught. No one travels to this part of the forest. Naturals are too scared to even leave the kingdom.”
“You can’t guarantee that!” he shouted at her suddenly, causing her sweet smile to disappear. “If you got caught, you would be killed, and your family too, Mariyah. You know this!”
“Don’t yell at me!” she shouted back flustered with anger. “I’m trying to help you and you scold me for it?” She huffed out, her eyes struggling to stay locked in his angry ones.
“No!” he gruffled and shook his head, closing his eyes. “No...I just want you to stop being so-”
“So what?”
“So naive!”
She looked at him with a face of confusion and hurt. “I just want to help you, Oliver. You think it doesn’t affect me, coming here and watching you wither away? You think that I’m okay with sitting and watching this? I’m not!”
He looked at her with his sad green eyes as she spoke.
“I can’t, bear it, Olly, I cannot bear it.” Her face was broken and torn in an expression of grief as the two stared at each other for a long silent moment. She continued through her blurry eyes, trying to explain to him how it hurt her,“I go home every day thinking that I won’t see you next time! I imagine how painful it is for your stomach to be begging for food. Then I think of your family and your village who think no one cares for them. It makes me sick.” She wiped her wet cheeks and looked down at the bag of food. “I brought you food. You need to eat it and bring it to your people so that they might eat it as well.” She stood up and wiped the dirt from her dress. “Be angry with me, I do not care. I’d rather you be alive and hate me than dead and have loved me.” She turned around and took a few steps before Olly stopped her.
“Mariyah-wait,” he called out quietly. “I’m sorry, okay-I’m sorry.” He followed after her and grabbed her arm gently, turning her around.
She looked at him with fiery eyes and red flushed cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m worried about you as well. You think I don’t worry either? Is that what you think too?” He looked at her with wide eyes. “Every time you go home, I imagine some soldier jumping out of the woods and arresting you for being with me. They take you to the prison, they kill your family...I imagine them doing terrible things to you-” He clenched his eyes shut as he pictured the gruesome images. “I hate it just as much as you hate the idea of me starving.”
Her eyes filled up with tears once again as he said these things. Her nostrils flared as she shook her head slightly. “It won't happen to me,” she said to him.
“It could! All it takes is one person seeing us together. It’s already dangerous for me to be seen with you, I’d get a death sentence. But you too? Helping an entire village of Shifters? They’d kill you with no hesitation.”
“Oliver-no,” she sighed as she wished more than anything to tell him about her secret. Her heart pounded in her head as she looked at him with all seriousness. What if he’s angry at me for not telling him sooner? What if he considers me a traitor? She breathed in deeply. But he has to know. He’ll feel better about it knowing I can escape.
“Watch me,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and transformed into a lioness in front of him.
His heart skipped a beat as he almost stumbled backwards. He remained speechless, staring at her in awe.
“Oliver, say something,” she pleaded, taking a step towards him.
He took one back and shook his head. “You didn’t…” he stuttered, “Y-you-you’re a Shifter?”
She looked down at the ground and then back to him. “Yes…”
“Mariyah?” He looked at her forehead. “But you’re not-”
“My parents hid it at birth. I didn’t shift in the first hour. The midwife marked me on the census as a Natural.”
“That’s impossible,” he replied.
“It’s not,” she said back to him. She blinked and looked at him with her lion eyes. She breathed in slowly before shifting into a black panther, then an eagle, then a tiger, all before shifting back into a human.
His mouth fell open and he remained speechless for a long moment. “Wh-how? More than one animal?”
She nodded her head.
“How many?”
“Almost any...but it’s hard for me to shift into animals much bigger or smaller than my body. It hurts too much.” She bit her lip.
A heavy sigh fell from his lips as he ran his hands through his hair.
“Say something,” she begged once more with worried eyes.
“I don’t know what to say. I don’t understand how this is possible.”
“Me neither, Olly,” she said quietly, watching him sit down on the grass as he thought. “Are you upset with me?”
He looked at her for a long moment and shook his head, “No, I just…” he struggled to find the words as he looked at her. “Just taking it in.” His face grew from confusion to worry suddenly, “This makes the risk of you helping me even greater. You won’t just be killed now. You will be tortured, Mariyah. If they found you could shift into numerous things, you would be meddled with and-” He shook his head and grunted. “Just please, do not do this anymore.”
“I will. I didn’t show you this for you to worry. I showed you so that you won’t worry. I won’t let them kill me, I’ll be able to escape. The only thing I worry about is my parents.”
“If someone caught you with me right now, what would you do?”
She swallowed and looked around them. “I’d shift and we’d both run away.”
“No-no!” he shouted. “No shifting. If anyone ever finds us, do not shift. You need to remain a Natural as far as anyone else is concerned. You might stand a chance at keeping your regular life...Or else they’ll have more to hold against you or your parents if they find out what you really are.”
“I don’t care about a regular life anymore-”
“But your parents? If someone saw you shift, you could run but your parents couldn’t.”
“I would keep them safe-”
“How? Soliath owns the Ports. You won’t be allowed on a ship. Can you carry two people across the ocean to Chaiaysa? Can you fight off an entire group of soldiers, Mariyah?”
She remained silent.
“These soldiers are much colder than you think. Much colder than what you see in the kingdom. There are things that go on in this forest…horrible and terrifying things that you do not know of. And I will keep you from knowing for as long as I can. You don’t know how bad it is out here. Trust me on that. Do not risk shifting, even if you’re caught. Pretend you’re scared of me or something...just don’t ever let them see you shift.”
“Okay...okay,” she whispered.
He looked at her for a long moment. “Your parents are brave to be keeping you in the kingdom.”
“They wouldn’t have if I was marked.” She rubbed her eyes and looked at the grass below her. “I don’t know why they want to stay so badly...I never understood it. They tried to leave when they first realized what I was. But they had nowhere to go. Now that I’m grown, I can take them. I can fly them away as a griffin. But they always say that this is their home, they can’t leave it.”
“Home means more to people than you might think. If you’ve grown up here, it’s your land. It’s your home. Because a man walks up and starts trying to take that away from you...doesn’t always grant a reasonable enough reason to leave. People don’t know anywhere else. Especially if your parents have a way of keeping you hidden.”
She frowned. “I suppose.”
“You know, bird Shifters sometimes stay too. They have families. Staying together is more important to them than safety.” Oliver sighed and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry it’s like this,” he said to her. His arms wrapped around her tightly.
She hugged him back with tight arms that dreaded letting go, dreaded returning home…and dreaded leaving him. “I am too.” She shook her head into him as she pictured the friends around her who would banish her if they knew what she was. With the lies the king feeds, she stood no chance, despite living alongside them. “The people just don’t know,” she whispered into him.
He pulled back after a few moments, looking down at her chest. “Hey.” His lips tugged up. “Didn’t take it off?”
She lifted her brows, reaching her hand to her necklace. “Take it off? Why would I?”
He shrugged his shoulders, still smirking. “I like it on you.”
And her cheeks suddenly felt warmer than usual.
Mariyah was sitting inside her home with her mother. It’d been a week since she brought Oliver food. She’d be leaving in a few short moments once she finished her early breakfast. She was munching on her toast and jam, when she turned to the door after hearing loud commotion outside. The sound of shouting came from the streets right outside their home. Mariyah stood up and rushed to the window, perching her arm up on the window frame as she took a look outside.
“NO! You can’t do this!” a woman cried out.
Mariyah watched as a tall guard clutched a woman by her hair while struggling to drag her down the streets. The woman looked young, and her face looked panicked. Her legs thrashed about in resistance as they dragged across the cobblestreet. “Let me go, please!”
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The soldier heaved her against a building beside Mariyah’s house in frustration, a scream leaving the frantic woman’s lips. “Animal scum! I oughta slice off your legs,” the soldier shouted, unsheathing his sword. “Get up and come with me or I’ll kill you right here and let your blood drip down the street to your doorstep. Then maybe your husband can see what mistake he’s made!”
The woman shook her head and held her hands up in surrender. “We aren’t married sir, I promise you! It was a lie to get me arrested!”
“A lie? You expect me to believe an animal? Enough of your blabber. Silence yourself, or I’ll cut out that dog tongue of yours.”
The woman’s long gold hair covered her face as she attempted to compose herself.
Mariyah’s wide eyes watched through the window. “Mother…” she said in a low voice, not breaking her gaze with the scene outside. A feeling of disgust began to grow inside her stomach and started rising in her chest. She hugged her elbows, anxiously as tears tugged at her eyes.
Finally, the woman stood up. Her puffy eyes stared ahead at the man in front of her. “I will not go with you. I will not die at the hands of that man you all call a king. I will not sit through the tortures of that dungeon! You can smite me down here and now, but I will not be imprisoned!”
Mariyah swallowed the pit in her throat, “Mother, is he going to kill her?”
Her mother sighed and set down her things, walking to the window behind Mariyah. “Mariyah, do not look. It is not our business.” She put a hand on the back of her daughter and gently led her away.
Mariyah pulled her gaze from the window and took a few steps away while her mother went back to her cooking. She stared at the wooden door in front of her, considering. More screams filled her ears. The woman’s shrieks turned Mariyah’s stomach, and sickened her to the core. Hearing another loud shriek sent her heart pounding far too fast for her to take, and she suddenly pushed the door open and rushed out into the street.
She looked around, but people were walking past the scene, noses turned up in ignorance of what was going on. Her heart thudded inside her chest as her eyes watched the guard point the tip of his sword to the woman’s neck. “Sir.” Mariyah whispered in a faint voice, too quiet to hear. She cleared her throat and took a few steps closer to the guard. “Sir,” she croaked, trying to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t make her look suspicious. “Sir- I, uhm, I need help with-with something.”
The soldier turned his head and cocked a brow at the young girl in surprise. “Why do you ask now?!”
“MARIYAH!!!” Lucinda shouted from the doorway. She ran out to the streets and grabbed her daughter by the arm. “Forgive us, sir. She does not know any better,” Lucinda said with eyes of worry as she tried to tug Mariyah inside.
“No, Mother please! He’s going to kill her, Mother!” She whispered out as she struggled and pulled against her mother’s firm grip.
She looked back at Mariyah with fury, “Mariyah, I swear to you if you do not come with me this instant you are going to be in grave trouble.”
Mariyah’s eyes looked behind the soldier. The woman shifted into a golden colored lab and immediately bolted down the busy street. A hidden smile fell across Mariyah’s face as the soldier turned around, seeing her get away.
The soldier quickly turned back around and stormed over to her as he threw his hand against Mariyah’s cheek. “You idiot!” he shouted before he took off down the street, chasing the dog and shoving people out of his path.
Mariyah held her burning cheek with her hand, remaining faced towards the street as she feared turning around to see her mother's reaction. She looked up at the castle in the distance as anger began to fill her heart and tears filled her eyes.
“Get inside.” Lucinda said in a cold tone, releasing her daughter.
She let out a deep breath and made her way back into her house, staring at the ground as she walked inside.
“What were you thinking?!” Lucinda shouted as she closed the door, her face red with furry.
She remained silent, sitting at the table.
“Answer me!”
“He was going to kill her.”
Lucinda stood across from her daughter. “That does not concern you! If she committed a crime, allow her to be punished! It is not your business, Mariyah. Especially with what you have hidden!”
“Allow her to be punished?!”
“You know what I mean, Mariyah!”
Mariyah’s eyes stung as she quickly wiped a tear. “I’m not sorry.” She could still feel the burning on her cheek.
Lucinda’s intense eyes stared at her daughter, as if she didn’t know how to react. She shook her head finally and sat across from her, calming down slowly. “You cannot be doing these things, Mariyah. I’m so sorry you have to see this happen, my dear. I wish more than anything that I could protect you from these things, but I can’t. I can’t. I’m so sorry, my love. I want you to be safe and I want you to enjoy your life. But what we have set up for you is so fragile. You must be careful, Mariyah. And you’re not. You’re not being careful. If it was any other situation, I wouldn’t ask this of you, please know that, my love. But this is different. This is about your life.” She quickly dampened a rag and pressed it gently against her daughter’s red cheek. “Please, Mariyah?”
Mariyah met her eyes with her mother’s and nodded her head silently. She understood what she was saying, but that didn’t make it any easier to sit by and watch. Not any easier at all.
After her mother settled, Mariyah departed from her home and slipped out into the forest unseen. In addition to the food, she bought some seeds so that they might plant their own food now. She brought the sack to Oliver, who was looking much healthier and now actually had color in his face.
Week after week, she would bring food or seeds for them to start growing crops. It wasn’t until one day that things changed. This time, when she reached the bridge on their scheduled time, he was not there.
Fear sprouted inside her as she waited with her large bag of food. She moved her black waves behind her ear as she began waiting...which turned into her waiting for almost an hour. “Oliver…” she mumbled to herself. She stood up and paced around anxiously. What if something happened to him? What if soldiers raided the village and took him like they took Margaret?!
No, no…stop thinking so dark. She shook her head and began to search for some flowers along the creek side to keep herself occupied while she waited. She picked a small purple one and put it in her hair. Soon, her search turned into looking for mushrooms. She found blue ones scattered all along the side. Their beauty distracted her worry, giving her a peaceful relief every now and then.
After she trailed along the entire creek, she came back to her sack of food and took a bite of cheese to hold her off. It’s been two torturous hours. Still no sign of Olly. Soon it would be sunset. She couldn’t wait long after that, she’d have to go back home and hide the sack...which would be even more difficult than getting it out of the kingdom.
Sighing, she played with her hair, and began to intertwine flowers into a braid of her hair. She smiled at her design and then dipped her feet in the creek for some more time until it felt like forever. I have to go... Home?
No, not home.
Idiot, Mariyah. Idiot, idiot. Don’t do it..
With a deep breath, she began to walk down the trail that she always saw Olly take after their meetups. A place she’d never been before…Further into the forest she went. Nerves were piled up inside of her as she ventured deeper and deeper in.
She looked up into the sky and saw smoke from a supposed campfire. With her heart thudding in her chest, she continued on the trail, speeding up her pace. The further she walked, the less trees that surrounded her. Soon the dark, moist dirt ground turned into dry pale dirt with tall grass growing out of it. She continued on in this change of scenery, until she came across a collection of small straw huts in a flat opening of the forest.
Few villagers were outside, all having the small line tattooed on their forehead. They were all farming, some of the kids ran about and tossed a small ball around. Others sat by the large bonfire in the center of the group of huts.
She swallowed her nerves and forced herself to step further onto a dirt path that led to the village with her bag of food over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes, her breath escaping her lips as she saw a wolf walking alongside a tall boy around the camp,
along with a monkey chasing around a large snake. There were others, a small reddish bear, and another wolf. They were loud, talking among each other and laughing.
Some who were outside turned and caught a glance at the young girl. Murmurs began to spread around and every animal was soon in the form of a human instantly. They looked so young...many of them seemed to be her age. She squinted her eyes to get a better look.
The villagers quickly scurried into their homes after seeing her blank forehead. She swallowed nervously as she continued forward, and looked around. There was a large wooden building, made from sticks and mud. She turned around and looked at more little tents all spread out. They must live in those. This place was much bigger than she had imagined.
She smiled as she saw an older man walking up to her. Nervously, she spoke up, “Hello,” she said quietly with shyness. “Does a boy named Oliver live here?” She had such a mouseness to her shaky voice.
The man finally answered her after an eternity of awkward silence, “No, try another village,” he said shortly, his old hazel eyes studying hers.
She bit her lip and nodded her head. “Okay, thank you,” she said and gave him a small smile before turning around to walk away, her face pinkening at the awkwardness.
The old man lifted a wrinkled white brow at her rare politeness towards him. “Whaddya need him for?” He called out after watching her begin to depart.
She turned back around with hopeful eyes, “I had some gifts for him…”
He looked at the other villagers who stood and watched, and then to the girl again. “You’re the one?” he asked her. Villagers who had gone into their huts, poked their heads out. The ones who were still outside stared at the girl with confusion. “You?” the old man asked again.
“The one?” Mariyah asked, confused.
“You’re the one bringing Oliver all these things?”
“Oh...yes,” she said awkwardly, setting down the sack. She pressed her lips together nervously.
There was a long moment of silence before a woman who looked to be about in her forties with short blonde hair walked slowly out of her hut, and stood in front of Mariyah. “You?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears. She embraced her tightly in her arms and began to cry.
Another woman with thick long red hair, who looked more around Mariyah’s age, followed behind, and hugged Mariyah as well. Others who had gathered around out of curiosity for the newcomer began to slowly step forward and embraced her or placed their hands on Mariyah.
She looked around nervously as people she had never seen before fell down at her feet and thanked her. “What are you doing…?” she asked quietly, wanting to step back. Her cheeks were kissed by weeping old women who came up to her. Her heart raced while people continued to thank her, as if she was a hero. “It’s really nothing,” she said softly as a large crowd of people had formed. “Really, it’s nothing,” she said with a smile. But they didn’t listen, only wanting to get close enough to touch her, or mutter a word of thanks. Groups of teenagers stood from a distance, watching everyone gather around the new girl.
She smiled at the others who embraced her, their gratitude almost made her weep out loud. Her lip trembled as she tried to remain composed. But her throat was straining in an attempt to hold in her emotions. They were so thankful for what should already be given to them.
Coming to her rescue, Oliver stepped out of a small tent. Mariyah’s eyes found him immediately. She felt her heart speed up even more when they set on him. He really was looking better, even more so than when she first met him. She could see his face had filled out, and his arms showed muscle rather than bone. She swallowed the rising butterflies in her throat, questioning her reaction silently.
As he moved toward her, the butterflies only increased. She must have forgotten the inches he had on her, it was much more noticeable now that she wasn’t analyzing his starving body.
He looked around, searching the crowd until he saw the source of the commotion. “Mariyah?!” he called out in a loud voice.
“Olly!” She said loudly, wanting to run towards him, but she kept her composure in front of everyone else who had gathered around. She looked at him with happiness as he looked at her with confusion and shock.
“Mariyah, no, what are you doing here?” He asked her with such worried eyes. He stepped through the crowd, and soon everyone began to pull away. He quickly embraced her, “Why have you come? This is so dangerous.”
“I have things for you. But you weren’t at the creek.” She pulled back after hugging him and looked at the others who had backed away to give her and Oliver space.“I’m sorry things are how they are,” she said to them quietly. “I wish I could do more.”
“No,” the older man said, “You’ve done enough. You’ve been saving our lives. Day after day we were growing weaker and weaker...watching as starvation picked off each of us. But one day, Olly came with some seeds, fruits, breads, and meats. Then he would come back again with more each week. Now you’ve come yourself...” He looked into the eyes of the young girl.
Mariyah gave him a smile and an unsure shrug as he watched her. “I’m glad I could help,” she said with a shy laugh. She’d never been around Shifters like this before. For some reason, it was almost intimidating.
After a long moment of taking her in, the man nodded his head once and let her and Olly be. Oliver took her by the hand, and pulled her to the side. “I can’t believe you actually came here. You’ve gone mad, haven’t you?” he asked with a concerned look.. He tilted his head, “You have to go back, you can’t stay here.”
“I will, I will. I just didn’t see you at the creek. I just wanted to make sure…”
“I’m alright. I’m sorry- I was trying to finish up the garden before I headed over. It took a lot longer than I thought, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”
“That’s okay.” She looked around. “I didn’t know it was so...big. So many people, and so many of them look our age,” she said, her eyes skimming over the villagers who still stood around.
He kept his eyes on her. “Well...most of their parents didn’t want them. So if they weren’t killed at birth, they came to the Shifter villages. Most of us are teenagers or young kids.”
She pressed her lips together and breathed in deeply.
“But we’re doing alright. Thanks to you,” he said, with a bit of a smile.
His smile warmed her heart, and she nodded her head. “Good.” She looked at him quietly, wondering if he truly would make her leave. She knew she should, but something about being here made her feel a bit less helpless. And that was almost an addicting feeling.
He studied her face, reading her easily. “You know this is dangerous? Very, extremely, dangerous?”
She nodded, but lifted her chin. “Only if I get caught.” She set a hand on her hip. “And you saw what I showed you. I won’t get caught.” She gave him a smirk and she watched his tense face slowly relax and his lips tug up into a grin.
“You enjoy making me worry so much, huh?” He reached around and poked her side.
She laughed and pushed him away, poking him back harder. “I could say the same for you!”
He gave her a look, the slight grin still on his face. He held his finger up. “One time. Just because you’re wearing my necklace.”
She smiled. “I don’t plan on taking it off.”
His smile widened. “I’ll show you around. Just for a few moments.”
She gleamed happily and nodded. “Deal.”
He gently led her over by her arm, bringing her over to a group of people that looked to be her age. “The old man you met, his name is Peter. He’s the leader of our village. Now you’re gonna meet all my friends, alright?”
Mariyah nodded her head, growing a bit nervous again.
“This is Rose,” he said, motioning to a girl with long, red, thick hair. The same one who had hugged her before. Rose’s blue eyes lit up as she smiled and shook Mariyah’s hand, “Hello, Mariyah. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done,” she said.
Mariyah smiled back, shyly, intimidated by the girl’s beauty. “It’s nothing, really.”
“This...this is the one and only Dyelen. He’s a rascal, but a good one,” Oliver reached his hand out and ruffled the young man’s hair. He looked to be about thirteen or so, with short blonde hair.
“Stop that,” Dyelen knocked away his hand.
Mariyah giggled, loosening up a bit, and shook his hand, “Nice to meet you.”
He went on to introduce almost everyone there. There was Xila, a young girl who was glued beside Dyelen. Then, a few younger ones who were extremely talkative. Their names were Browen, and Mickey. They adored Mariyah from the start-partially because she actually showed interest when they spoke about their exciting adventures of hunting bugs and lizards on the outskirts of the village.
Others she was introduced to were more around her age. Jace, John, and Krill were some of the names she remembered, mainly because those three boys looked like troublemakers. More who caught her eye were Sylve and Sare. Those girls seemed to be the most welcoming ones out of the others.
“These two are brothers,” Oliver said to her quietly as he led her around to two tall boys standing by the fire, “They’re very close and protective of each other...That one is Jos,” he nodded to a tan boy with thick black hair. “And he’s Steph.” The boy beside him matched his skin tone and hair color, though his curls were more prevalent.
She nodded her head as she observed him and followed him to another part of the village where she met a small group of boys who all seemed to be quite close with each other. Huntro, Bray, Cae, Jis, and Gare. They seemed lighthearted and goofy, which she loved.
She turned her head as someone came up to her, “And I’m, Kai,” a tall boy with dark brown hair said. He laughed and shook her hand, “You’re dumb for almost getting yourself killed helping us, but we appreciate it,” he said with a wide smile.
“Nice to meet you,” she said with a smile back.
Oliver rolled his eyes and led her to some more of those in the village. He introduced her to his friends and his mother, who ended up being the woman who had first hugged her. Gil and David were two friends who could pass as brothers, they were tall and toned boys about Mariyah’s age, maybe older. They seemed quiet, but they gave her friendly smiles. They both had fair skin, David with short cut light brown hair and Gil’s brown as well but just a bit longer.
But there was one girl who she felt most intrigued by... A young girl about Mariyah’s age with short brown hair that was cut just below her ears held her hand out. “I’m Marcy,” she introduced herself. “I’m more than grateful for what you did...well- what you are doing. You really are saving people. We all are so thankful, I hope you know that.” She smiled.
Mariyah listened closely to how she spoke and the kindness in her voice. “Thank you, Marcy. That means more to me than you know.” She shook the girl's hand and gave her a big smile back. She couldn’t help but feel so comfortable here. Despite the consequences of getting caught, she felt happy around her people.
Even with Oliver’s clear boundary of this entire day being a “one time thing”, seeing Mariyah’s face light up alongside the others and hearing her giggles and laughs with his friends told him this wouldn’t be the last time. And when she asked to return, he couldn’t say no. After she convinced Oliver of her safety and the plan for if soldiers’ visited while she was there, Oliver relented and let her continue her visits.
And that’s how it began. Mariyah started a relationship with the outcasts. She began to visit twice a week, bearing food of all sorts once a week. She’d sit around with them and formed friendships with them. She laughed with them, and she ate with them. She was a part of their village now...at least during the late afternoons or early mornings. And she was happy.
But of course, suspicion rose within her family, and at times she’d have to come up with more excuses other than flowers. She hated lying to them but...if they found out, they would be torn.