Page 3 of Shadow Kissed
Asen was a peaceful realm until one-hundred-and-four years ago when a crack appeared in the atmosphere in the northern district and through it came vicious creatures with purple eyes who hunted our people and fed upon their fears, killing them. Their numbers grew and there was no weapon that could kill them—they appeared to be immortal. My people would still find that this was just the beginning of everything changing on Asen. Just three years later a gateway opened into our realm and the Shadow Borne came through, pretty much taking control of our realm. Years of war had ravished their lands, and they were seeking to find somewhere with new resources, in particular they were looking for onyx crystal because it rejuvenates and strengthens their shadow magic. They took control of land to the south as their main base on Asen and it became known as Shadow Valley. Not only did they take our land, but they also took our young men—offering them generous sums of dreck for enlisting and fighting in their war. As well as taking our resources, they decided they needed our women too. Infertility was rife among their females, but they needed to breed to ensure the survival of their race. So, in exchange for protection from the mutts and the use of their resources to help our crops grow, every twenty-five years females from each district are born as Shadow Kissed, bearing distinctive violet eyes that mark them as a sacrifice to the Shadow Realm.
I know I should be excited about my birthday but all I feel is dread. My birthday is just another reminder that my time in Terleigh with my family is quickly coming to an end. I will leavethe only home I have ever known in just a few months’ time, and I will never return. My family will have to survive without me. I check in on my brothers in the bedroom they share and, for a second, I just watch them sleeping soundly; then I turn away from them, heading to my own bedroom. It hurts to think I won’t get to see them grow up. No, it doesn’t hurt—it angers me. Why does it have to be me? Of all the girls in this town, why me? Maybe Arkynn is right. If I survive beyond the reaping, maybe I can help the rebellion take down the Shadow Borne. After all, no one hates them more fiercely than I do. I strip out of my work clothes, that smell of stale ale, and sink down into the warm water in the tub. My aching body sighs in relief. I think back to Arkynn’s teasing about my birthday present. I wonder what it can be. He knows me better than anyone, so I’m sure I’ll love it, whatever it is. If things go the way I plan them to tomorrow, then this birthday will be one I’ll never forget. Tomorrow is the beginning of the end.
2
REYA
“Happy Birthday!”
I rub my eyes and open them to find two of the biggest smiley faces hovering over me. My two brothers are standing at my bedside with our mother behind them. They are identical twins, and no one can tell them apart other than Mother and me. If you study them closely, you will see that Corym has a rounder face than Elian.
“Hold your hands out,” Corym commands me. His blue eyes dancing with excitement whilst Elian bounces on the balls of his feet, barely able to contain himself. “We have a present for you.”
I sit up in bed and hold my hands out, palms up. Corym drops a small, wrapped package into my hand.
“Hurry, open it,” Elian urges me excitedly. “Mama has made a birthday breakfast feast for us all this morning.”
I laugh as I prise a corner of the wrapping open with my thumbnail. Elian is always thinking about food. If he isn’t eating, he’s thinking about what he is having for his next meal. Luckily, he has boundless energy, so he is lithe despite the amount offood he puts away. “Okay, I get it. You’re hungry, little brother.” I unwrap my gift and it’s a beautiful crystal carved into the shape of a heart on a leather strap. I hold it up and study it in the light. It is amethyst but there are some tiny elements of a darker coloured crystal inside the piece. “Wow, it’s beautiful. That is a sizeable piece of amethyst.” I make a point of looking at my mother as I speak.
She holds out her hand, ready to defend herself. “Before you say anything. I have been putting some by every month since you were little.” She leans over my brother’s and takes the necklace. “Turn around. Let’s put it on and see how it looks.”
I jump up from my bed and turn to face the wall, sweeping my long blonde unruly curls over my right shoulder. Mother places the pendant around my neck and secures it in place. I look down at it and wrap my hand around the pendant. “It’s beautiful, but you shouldn’t have.”
Mother bats away my comment, taking both my hands in hers. “Happy birthday, my darling girl. I want you to promise me something,” she urges, and I nod my head in response. “I want you to promise that you’ll always wear this. Never take it off. Swear to me, Reya, by the Mother Goddess.”
“I promise I’ll wear it always,” I assure her, feeling intrigued. “I’ll treasure it always.”
“It will protect you,” she informs me. “Keep you safe.”
I bob my head. I am well aware of the protective properties of amethyst. Growing up in the home of a crystal weaver, there wasn’t much I didn’t know about the properties of crystals. Amethyst decorated our entire house. My leather belt was embedded with the crystal and even my beds headboard was decorated with the purple crystal. You could say mother was a little obsessed with the crystal and its properties.
“Now get dressed and we’ll meet you downstairs for breakfast. Come on, boys. Let’s leave your sister in peace to get ready.”
Elian dives forward and drapes his arms around me. “Happy birthday, Rey-Rey.”
“Thank you,” I say, holding out my other arm for Corym to join on our hug. My little brothers mean everything to me. I would gladly lay my life down for them, and I guess in a way I will be. By giving myself up at the reaping, I will secure protection for my hometown for the next twenty-five years. My brothers will grow up safe and well in the bosom of our little town, protected from the night mutts that stalk our walls in the dark of night.
We enjoy a family breakfast together before mother heads to her workshop at the back of our house and I walk my brothers to school. As we walk through town, people wish me a happy birthday. It may seem odd that everyone knows it’s my birthday, but no one could ever forget the date a Shadow Kissed female was born. When I was born, there was a full day and night of celebration. The town chief declared a day off work and people ate, drank, and danced until the early hours. My birth ensured the town would remain safe and that peace and prosperity would continue here.
I leave my brothers at the school gates and decide to make my way home via the markets. It is my birthday, after all. I stop at a stall that sells feminine wares, with hair ribbons and braid ties. My eyes linger on a pretty purple ribbon.
“Ribbons won’t change the fact that you’re plain,” says a dulcet voice I know all too well. Dropping the ribbon from between my fingers, I turn to face my nemesis.
“I don’t recall asking for your opinion, Mayla,” I reply dryly, as I throw a scathing glare her way. I grimace at her pale pink dress. Pretty and delicate—the complete opposite of her soul.
Mayla stares at me, her arms folded across her chest. She has a pink ribbon in her braided auburn hair. Ashara and Calla, her two sidekicks, are standing on either side of her like two trusty bookends. “How does it feel to know you’re one step closer to…” She mimes slitting her throat and her two friends chuckle delightedly at her words.
I roll my eyes, pretending that her words don’t affect me when, in truth, Mayla has always got to me. From a young age, she has targeted me, being cruel and scathing. It is because of her that I didn’t have a single friend growing up. She made sure all the other girls and boys in our class shunned me and called me a freak. They refrained from doing it in front of our teachers or any of the parents, since they knew that their mistreatment of me would lead to severe consequences. After all, I’m the town’s saviour. At every opportunity, she’d been there to tell me I’m ugly and not worthy of their time. When I was ten, a girl called Iryssa had approached me at school and invited me to a sleepover at her house. I’d been wary at first, expecting it to be a cruel prank, but she had been insistent that she wanted me at her party and not to worry what Mayla had to say about it. I’d believed her and the evening of the sleepover; I’d practically skipped home and picked out my sleepwear. I’d been so excited about that sleepover. My excitement quickly turned to dread when I arrived at the house and Iryssa came to the door, flanked by a smug Mayla and one of her loyal followers.
“Why are you here, freak?” Mayla spat, her face smug and victorious.
I’d held my head high and told her that Iryssa had invited me, and she could keep out of it. Mayla had arched a brow and snickered at me. “You think it was a real invite? Gods, you’re more stupid than I thought. It was a joke, you stupid freak. No one wants you here, with your freak eyes and messy bird hair.”
“She invited me,” I’d insisted, pulling my shoulders back and standing firm. “Tell her, Iryssa.”
A flash of guilt crossed Iryssa’s face before she caught Mayla glaring at her and the next words out of her mouth shattered my innocent soul. “It was just a prank. As if I’d want you at my sleepover, freak.”
I’d gasped and taken a step back as they all giggled at my discomfort. “Run along freak,” Mayla had sung, before she swung the door shut in my face. I’d ran home that night, climbed into bed and cried my little broken heart to sleep.