Hoyaka: Legend of the forgotten kingdom

Chapter one

                    Hoyaka

Hoyaka woke with a start. Yet another dream of the same man. No, not just a man. She couldn't be sure, but she thought there was something familiar about the man and the dream. Scenes of war, blood and piercing screams floated into the dream. It was not as if the dream in itself was horrifying, but the story that it was tied to unnerved her. Disoriented and a bit groggy- she gazed around her hut, as if to make sure that everything was still in place. It was still a little dark, but she could see the outline of everything inside the room.She stayed there awhile and stretched ever so slowly on her sleeping mat, before finally waking up and washing herself. The cock's crows signalled the beginning of the day. But that was not the only noise to be heard. Tensi's boys were out and about in the nearby forest. Poking fun at the village outcast was their favourite pastime as well as being a nuisance in the morning. The town never had accepted Horiya as one of their own. Period.This made Hoyaka frown. She did not think that the way they treated that man was fair. Just because he had been born on a night with a string of "strange events". Hoyaka was not as superstitious as her people would have liked her to be and she took pride in that. She liked solutions instead of labelling things she knew nothing of. It amazed her how hostile people could be in the name of customs. It certainly did not,help that Horiya had a shock of white hair and the strangest eyes to boot. She kept on thinking about it as she got up and busied herself with morning chores. Hoyaka was so preoccupied, she could not even hear that someone was calling her. She was finally broken from her reverie by a pinch on her arm.She was so startled,  Makah laughed so hard, that she almost forgot the clay pot she was holding. Her laughter finally died down when Hoyaka reminded her of the people sleeping inside.

'I  don't care about your aunt,' She retorted.
But she didn't want to cause trouble for Hoyaka so she kept quiet.

' I'm sorry for not responding earlier, my mind is all over the place.' Hoyaka mumbled, shaking her head as if to shake out the very thoughts.

'Your mind is  always all over the place Hoyaka.' sighed Makah shaking hers.

'Fetch your clay pot so we can go.' she told Hoyaka.

Hoyaka quickly grabbed the container and off they went. The two girls were quite different from each other and even more so from the other girls. They did not bother themselves with the norms of their fellow youths; it was a dreaded ordeal. Besides her beauty, Makah was the only daughter of the village medicine man, so no one dared mess with her. This made her grow up with an air of confidence, but she was careful to avoid conflicts unless necessary. Hoyaka though equally as beautiful, was not as lucky. Her parents were devotees of Hoya (creator god)  and had died when she was a toddler, while escaping a man eating lion. She had been left at a neighbour's house. She was an adorable baby and everyone found it impossible not to be charmed by her. They took pity on her and begged her aunt to take the little girl in. Her aunt however, was not as kind and she did not want another mouth to feed. Hoyaka would have been homeless if not for her calculative uncle. Although she grew up in misery, she never took anything to heart. She was known as ever-smiling and there were only a few times that anyone saw her cry. When the two girls finally reached the stream, they were giggling uncontrollably because of the haughty girls, who had got stung by bees. The stream was almost empty of people except for the woodcutting boys in the surrounding trees. The two girls filled their pots and jugs then they went on their way.

'You know, all this strife could end if you got married.' Said Makah continuing an earlier conversation.

'Especially if you marry the son of a rich man.'

Hoyaka sighed. She knew who Makah was talking about and she was not as willing. Not that she was objecting a better, more luxurious life as a rich man's bride. She was objecting the misery of being someone's trophy. Jaez was from a supremely rich family but he was as vain as the days were long. A complete opposite to what she wanted in a man. As for what she wanted, that was an entirely different matter: she did not know what she was looking for. But it definitely wasn't Jaez. The thought of it was unpleasant.

'Makah, you know how I feel about marriage...'

Makah frowned.

'Yes I do know how you feel about marriage. You think it is a small, silly thing of no consequence.' She huffed clearly annoyed.

Hoyaka sighed. She had known that this topic would be a constant cause for disagreements between them. She dared not answer when Makah started giving such lectures. She usually tuned her out or kept on nodding- like she was doing now.

'You know that our youthfulness will fade at some point.' Makah whined.

' I don't care about my youthfulness Makah.' Hoyaka sighed.

'Well  you should. Later on, you won't have much to choose from besides old fat men.'

 'I don't care either way. The man I marry now will eventually get old anyway.' Hoyaka drawled.

Makah let out an exasperated huff and it was quiet for a while. Then when she spoke, her tone was a bit more gentle

'You do know your situation could get worse, if you stay in that household. The Sad'du* forbid but your uncle could take advantage of your vulnerability.'

Hoyaka understood what her friend was saying. She had been thinking of the same thing. It was not unknown how her aunt's  husband had a great parody of escapades. His lustful stares made Hoyaka feel sick. But he never touched her. No one would want a deflowered girl as a bride. If not for the fact that he loved riches more than he loved women, she may have been ruined. So instead he groomed her alongside his two daughters for marriage. And kept his equally amorous son, from making any advances though she did not see the need. Shansi loathed her.

                         
              Author's note 

Hey guys, this is my first time writing, and I'm so excited! I hope you like it and please don't forget to vote and comment. I would love to hear from you and know what you think about the book:) Was this chapter too long? If so, I'll try to make them a little less long. Hahaha.

Q: What's your favourite book?
A: Twilight saga, Circle of friends, The homecoming (Mary Lide), A perilous engagement and more. There's quite a few ☺️