Golden eyes

I watched as he lay there on the stone altar, his body glowing, his tattoos a blaze as the light shone around the room. His brother, Kai, and a soldier guarded his body both stood in front of the altar with their weapons drawn. I felt an intense need to go stand beside him and hold his hand.  The look he gave me before closing his eyes keeps replaying in my mind. 

“Something’s not right,” I whisper to my father. 

“I can feel it,” 

 Since we walked into this room, I’ve been feeling uneasy. I look for anything out of order, something unusual, but I'm not even sure what I'm looking for. I look to Kai to see if he feels it too. Kai’s narrowed eyes scanned the room and his hands gripped his twin swords tightly. He looked at me and from the look in his eyes I know he feels it too. I make a step to go towards the altar, but my father grabs my arm and grips it tightly. I looked from my arm up to his face and felt the icy sting of betrayal.

“Mera don’t, this is not our business,” My father whispers.

I rip my arms from his grasp and run to the altar; I don’t know what it is, but the feeling to be by Kane’s side intensifies. 

I make it towards Kai, who raises his eyebrow up at me in question. I can see the indecision in his face, wondering if I'm friend or foe. So I drop my bow and arrow from my back and my short sword from my hip.

“Please,” I pleaded to Kai.

“Something is not right Kai, I can feel it,” his eyes widen a little, he nods his head and I slowly move forward with Kai’s eyes watching me the entire way.

Before I can even make it to the altar, Kane lets out an agonizing scream, his body convulse, his back arched, mouth

open wide as golden light blasted from his mouth, his face is contorted in pain.

It rooted me to my spot as I watched Kai rush forward, nearly knocking me down. I couldn’t move. I wanted to with every fiber in my bone, but I was afraid of what I might find if I took one more step forward.

“Get the healers,” Kai screamed. The agony on Kai’s face was of different pain than Kane’s, as he watched his brother wither in pain.

“Where are those damn healers,” Kai boomed. 

Kai reached out a hand to touch Kane and was immediately burned, his skin turning from red welts to blackened skin you could see bone underneath. 

Everyone around the altar took a step back after that.

“Damn cowards,” Kai  hissed, eyeing the surrounding people.

The doors to the Gallery burst open and four people rushed in. 

Three women and one man. The man wore a satchel across his shoulder. He's an elderly man with faded warrior tattoos, but the Gold tattoos on his hands that signifies him as a healer were still shining brightly as if he just got them painted. 

“What has happened here?,” The old guy asks no one in particular. Kai steps forward to speak and the elderly man takes one look at Kai’s burnt hand and nods to one of the females accompanying him. The young girl rushed forward, removed the satchel from his shoulders and produced a tin. The tin was filled with a purple salve with thick chunks of Sung petals. She slathered the salve on  Kai’s damaged hand.

I watched in amazement as his skin knitted back together, turning from black to an angry red back to its beautiful blue color.  

Kai bowed in respect to the healer and spoke.

“I’m not sure what has happened, he just started screaming in pain,” Kai explained. Walking around the altar with the healer as he examines Kane’s body.

Kane was still withering in pain, but no sound was coming from his mouth.   

“He’s been poisoned,” The healer states quietly as he bends down to touch a red substance that's sprinkled near the altar. 

“Fire salt,” Kai roared. 

There was a collective gasp going around the room.

From what I knew of fire salt, it is only poisonous to people with powers; it dampens a person’s abilities. And there’s only two places it could be found. The Red River that’s located in the Skyy forest. And at The bottom of the Fee mountains, that's in the heart of Akoma. 

“His skin is too hot to touch, he’s trying to fight off the poison with his powers, burn it out of his system, there’s not much I could do until he cools,” says the healer who looks at Kai sadly. 

Kai whispers something in the healer’s ear, who looks at me as if he could read my soul.

My heart is pounding in my ears as the healer walks over to me.

“What I’m about to ask of you is important,” he says you must not be selfish and think of only him. 

I nod my head as I listen, scared of what he might ask me to do.

The healer grabs my hand and guides me to the altar. 

“Grab his hand,” he tells me.When I reach to touch his hand, the room goes deathly quiet.

I can feel the heat coming off him in waves, so I clutch his hand tighter. And the heat lessened a little.

I do not take my eyes off of Kane; I hear the whispers; I know what me being able to touch him in this state implies. Right now in this moment as I look down on Kane I don’t care about the politics or My father’s disapproval, or that Kane chose me as his mate without even talking to me about it first. All I care about is seeing the fire in his golden eyes again.

“Clear the room,” Kai demands 

Everyone leaves the room. Kai gives me a nod of approval, walks out and closes the doors behind him. I’m left with the four healers who stand in the background. 

The elderly healer walks toward me with a sad smile on his

face and says. 

“Never take this matting bond for granted, I wished I appreciated my mate more when she was here,” he admitted. 

I open my mouth to tell him; I haven’t accepted Kane’s offer, or that Kane hasn’t even asked me, or that if he did, I would give up everything I know to be his mate, my tribe and my chance at being Chieftain. But it doesn't matter as I look down at him. Because right now, I’m not sure what I will do.

“Will take it from here,” the healer spoke quietly as if Kane was simply sleeping; and he didn’t want to disturb him. 

He reached out to take Kane’s hand from mine. A part of me didn’t want to let go, afraid of what would happen when I did. I stepped back and let the healers work. They began with the salve, rubbing it into his forehead and right above his heart.

I watched my heart in my throat. As they chanted, their hands glowed over his body. He thrashed around the stone as the healers worked, letting out random screams of agony. I wanted to run right back to him. Just when I was about to take a step one of the healers looked up at me and shook her head. 

“There’s nothing left for you to do here,” she whispered softly. 

I walked to the door, feeling hallowed out. A piece of me was missing. I knew if I turned around exactly Where I would find it.

“How is he,” 

I look up to find Kai standing on the side of the door, throwing a dagger up and catching it in his hand as easily as one would do with a ball. Watching me, intensely.

“Better,” is all I can say.

I try to walk past him so I can hide the hurt, pain and anger I feel towards his brother. Kai grabs my arm and turns me to face him.

“Wait,” Kai blurted out.

I’m angry not at Kai but at the person inside that room laying on that stone altar, so I lash out at Kai, fist coming down fast and hard. He caught it when it was a mere inch from his face. He twisted my arm and flipped me over onto my back, knocking the breath right out of me. He placed his dirty boot on my chest and pressed down lightly. 

“This is stupid, you’re being ridiculous,” Kai seethed. 

I let go a huff, kick out my leg, and watch as Kai tumbles to the floor. I make it back to my feet, but Kai’s already standing 

“You knew,” I say while punching the spot his face was just in.

“How, Am I his mate without doing the proper rituals,” I say while kicking him in his side.

“He took away my ability to choose,” I screamed, frustrated with tears streaming down my face.

Kai blocked my next hit, grabbed me by my throat and slammed me against the wall.

“Calm yourself,” he snarled

His teeth coming dangerously close to my throat. The fear I felt caused my body to shake. He pulled his head back, and I looked into his eyes, eyes so different from his brothers. Kane’s eyes are warm pools of molten gold that burns brighter than any star in the night sky.  While, Kai’s eyes are filled with rage. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I miss those gold eyes.

“My brother would never take away someone’s free will purposely,” Kai hissed through clenched teeth. “And for you to think he did something like that, maybe you don’t deserve him,” Kai scolded.

I lowered my head in shame. 

“Then how?” I asked.

“Kane’s power works in mysterious ways, no one knows exactly how it works, sometimes it even surprises Kane,”

“He’s one of the most powerful chieftains to walk these lands,” Kai explains.  

“The goddess chose Kane for a reason, and I will follow my brother to death and back,” Kai said. 

I nodded my head as I listened to Kai as he tried to explain this to me. 

“I don’t know how he skipped the mating rituals, All I Know is

the goddess accepted your union,”

I gasp at that.

“How do you know?” I ask

“Because the goddess interferes in things she doesn’t like,” Kai hinted with a grin.

I smile a little at that.

“We both should get some rest,” Kai says, letting me go and backing away.

“I’m sure the healers will notify us if anything changes with Kane,”

I look to the gallery doors, not wanting to be too far away. 

I bit down on my lip. Unsure if I should stay or go. 

“You need sleep Mera, you would be of better use to him, well rested,” Kai stated.

My shoulders slumped as I gave in. I knew he was right; I haven’t gotten a good night’s rest since I came to Sung. There’s something about Sung that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The manse felt haunted, It’s like everywhere I went something or someone was watching me.

“I’ll go,” I say feeling defeated

I began to walk down the corridor when I heard Kai call out.

“And Mera; If You hurt my brother, know there’s a dagger with your name on it,” Kai threatened as I walked away. 

“I believe you,” I replied as I began my trek down the corridor to the guest rooms. 

As I stand in front of my room, I look across the hall to my father’s door wondering if I should go try to smooth things over with him. Try to explain things and get him to see reason. As I think it over, I realize I have better things to waste my time over, so I make my way through the door without a backward glance at his.

My room is pitch black as I enter. I remember leaving candles burning when I left earlier during the day, so something isn’t right. I make my way in the room slowly, ears perked up listening for anything as my hand goes to my short sword at my hip gripping the pommel ready for whoever to strike. 

A flame comes to life in the corner of my room. The glow lights up the face of my father. I sigh with relief as he gets up to light other candles around the room. He comes to stand in front of me and I could see the anger and disappointment on his face,

I can also smell the wine on his breath.

“Father I,” I Barely get out before my father back hands me across the face. I stumble back a little in shock. hand coming up to the side of my face, I look to my hand to see a drop of blood. This Pain felt different from the pain of fighting Kai, this pain didn’t physically hurt.

“How dare you,” my father spat.

“You think I’m going to let you give over our tribe to these peasants, I have worked to hard for you to mate with the enemy,” He grabs me behind the neck and pulls my face closer to his 

“You will not go through with this,” he spoke through clenched teeth, “I would not have my tribe sullied by the likes of them, when the time comes for you to find a mate I will choose for you,” He spat, throwing me to the floor.

I curled up in a ball on the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest as my father stepped over me and walked to the door.

“Don’t get too comfortable here, we’re not staying for much longer,” my father threatened as he walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

 I lay there on the floor with silent tears streaming down my face. Hours after he had left, wishing for a way out.  I close my eyes to see a pair of gold eyes staring back at me, those eyes give me a sense of home. So I drift off to the most restful night’s sleep I have ever had as those eyes watch over me.