After leaving the river, Daysha crossed the camp on her way to the peach grove in the north. Her damp hair sent droplets down her shoulders, cooling her in the breeze. She hadn’t expected to encounter anyone until she reached the grove, and was surprised to hear her name called. Turning to see Yuli approach from behind her, Daysha smiled.

“Are you joining the others, Daysha?” Yuli called as she quickened her pace to catch up to Daysha. “I’ll walk with you.”

Yuli’s brown locks were bound in a smashed bundle atop her head, cushioning a large woven basket she balanced deftly. Lined with enormous flat leaves and bursting with freshly-harvested honeycombs, the basket was one of two that Yuli carried. As she stabilized the basket on her head with her right hand, Yuli balanced the second atop her left shoulder.

“Yes, yes, I am. Don’t run with all of that! Here, let me take one of those,” Daysha lifted the second basket from Yuli’s shoulder and balanced it atop her own head.

“Thank you,” Yuli breathed.

“Well done,” Daysha offered, settling her neck and shoulders under the weight of Yuli’s haul.

“Thank you again!” Yuli released a laugh.

Some women in the tribe thought Yuli laughed too easily and too often. But Daysha loved her for it. She was a flighty thing, but innocent and unfailingly gentle.

“Off we go then?” Yuli started forward. Daysha shrugged her shoulders as the basket pressed down upon her with the first few steps.

As they continued up the hillside, Yuli offered an unsolicited account of her morning, “Koregin was so smug! I told him only the hornets like the rotted logs in the glen and we should have gone straight to the trees near the cliffs. But you know Koregin; he didn't listen. I just collected and bound the brush myself while he searched and searched. I won out in the end though. He took over the climbing.” Yuli's tone shifted from annoyance to admiration and she giggled. “He tries to impress me with things like that all the time."

“If he’d been on his own, he’d have returned with a hornet nest. Why is he trying to impress you with things he does poorly? Maisen tells me he’s an asset to the hunt.” Daysha dipped a little to keep the basket from knocking branches.

“Well, yes, Koregin tells me that too. But he knows I don't like cutting the honeycombs. The smokers set me coughing fiercely. So, yes, when he does it for me, I’m impressed.”

The hill steepened and their chatter slowed as the women panted. They crested the hill and saw the green valley open up to them, with its clustered spray of white-bark peach trees amassed with pink blossoms in the distance. Several figures moved within the leafless peach grove removing fruitless blossoms.

"Koregin will be going to the Chieftain soon," Yuli continued. Her sweet, innocent face beamed as she glanced sideways at Daysha.

Daysha's heart soared to remember when she'd first learned that Maisen had sought the Chieftain about becoming her mate.

“That’s wonderful!” Daysha closed her eyes to drink in the memories, “Oh, there is so much to look forward to.”

“So much more to wait for, you mean,” Yuli groaned. “I know what’s about to come. I know that he’s going to ask me. And I know that the Chieftain will say yes. Why wouldn’t he? So why can’t Koregin just come for me tonight? We’ll build our hut and feast on whatever food we have! Then I could wake up in the morning beside my mate. What’s the use in adding time to something that seems decided already? What would more time change?”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Have you ever seen a hut built in one night?”

“Of course not, I was just saying…”

“Well, that’s your answer, Yuli. I know that since you’re committed to one another it seems there’s nothing more to be said. And maybe there isn’t. But there’s much more to be done. Your father and brothers want to build that hut for you, but they won’t do it until the Chief appoints them builders. And he can’t do that until Koregin seeks him.”

“I know,” Yuli breathed dejectedly.

“The best part is the worst part, you know,” Daysha said coyly.

“What do you mean?” Yuli asked, a nervous quiver in her voice.

“The Watch. I love joining The Watch with other brides, but when it was my turn… I hated waiting. The second it was over, though, I realized it was my favorite part.”

“If your favorite part was when Maisen returned, that’s not the same as loving The Watch. It’s just more waiting. And you’re not making me feel better,” Yuli huffed.

“I hated waiting when it was happening because I didn’t understand it. You don’t understand it now and that’s why you’re complaining. What I’m telling you is that you will understand soon enough. But not until it happens.”

The pair went silent and their next few steps crunched loudly. Daysha knew Yuli well enough to take seriously the matters that made her go quiet.

"Do you remember…" Daysha started, amusement in her voice, "your Bloom Feast?"

Yuli groaned, but a laugh bubbled up beneath it. "A little too well."

Daysha smiled wide at the memory, "You were so angry." She continued through her laughter, "Your mother was mortified when you refused to leave your hut."

"I felt so awful," Yuli defended.

"And she knew. All the women knew. No woman is eager for her Bloom."

"Did you enjoy your Bloom Feast?"

"I enjoyed the feast…" Daysha responded airily, remembering the choice cuts afforded to the honored Bloomer.

"I remember when you came for me…" Yuli's voice dropped pleasantly.

"And what did I say?"

Yuli’s grin widened, "That a Bloom Feast is not just the first celebration of a woman, but the last one she gets until her Mate Day."

"And…?"

"Aaand… that when that day finally came I'd look back on my Bloom with pride because it marked me as a woman that could one day become a suitable mate."

“And did you believe me then? Or do you only believe me now?”

"You were right. I know you’re right. I guess I knew it then, too, which is why I went to the feast at all. You always knew I wanted a mate. That I would do anything to hasten, well," Yuli’s voice cracked, unable to contain her glee, "this day."

"But haste wasn’t the answer, was it? Koregin isn't pining after a silly child. He's seeking to impress a fine grown woman."

Yuli blushed crimson.

“Everything is connected, Yuli. The Chief ultimately isn’t the one Koregin is petitioning, but the Life-Giver. Our men don’t hunt without purpose. And when Koregin leaves for the hunt after professing his intentions, the Life-Giver’s favor on that hunt takes on a whole new meaning. He won’t come back empty-handed because what he’s bringing back is your first meal together. The Life-Giver determines whether you eat, whether you wed, whether you have children.” Daysha’s words came out evenly enough, but her final words made her mouth go dry.

"And I'll tell my own girls your wisdom some day," Yuli added with deep admiration.

Daysha's heart sank and she mustered all she could not to show it in her face. In silence Daysha recalled her many pleas to the Life-Giver, and did so now on Yuli's behalf. She too had dreamed of giving that advice to her own children. So many hopes, now dormant, weighed down Daysha's limbs with grief.

Realizing she needed to say something, Daysha managed, “Enjoy this time. I mean it. Don’t anticipate the way something is supposed to be and let yourself be heartbroken over losing something that was never there.”