Love is a game (Love in the air collection)

Bell in the night

The small village just after sunset should have been peaceful with families beginning to wind down their nights and prepare to have dinner. Instead, the entire village and the household of the local noble family is gathered in the square. They are surrounding one woman and her two five-year-old sons.

The woman stands facing the villagers. She has dried eyes and holds her head high. Prea refuses to cry in front of these people or her sons, she will save her tears for later after the boys are asleep and there is no one there to see.

One of her sons, the oldest twin, mimics his mother’s stance. He faces the crowd defiantly. He stands slightly in front of his mother as if his small body could shield the grown woman. The other twin is also dried eyed, but he hides slightly behind his twin and mother afraid of the crowd although trying his best not to show it.

“You have been declared a witch and your sons the spawn of a devil.” The village mayor says smugly. He waves a hand at the older boy. “One of these children has even been cursed by the gods. For the protection of the villagers, you are hereby banished to the forest never to show your face here again.”

Prea knows the truth. Yes, she possesses magic but only of the kind to heal and help people. Her sons are no devil’s spawns, but the product of an affair between herself and one of the local noblemen. A man she thought loved her. She looks up now and sees her lover standing in the distance with his wife. That is the true reason she is being banished and the root of Phayu’s curse, she dared to love a married man for the last six years. A married man with a jealous wife whose relatives know powerful and dangerous magic. They are the real evil witches, but Prea is but a poor healer in the village and they are rich and influential.

So Prea doesn’t try to convince the villagers of the truth, she only takes her sons by the hand and leads them into the forest to make the best life for them she can.

six years later

Rain approaches the village children, determined to make new friends. The six-year-old has just moved to the village to live with his uncle after the death of his parents.

“Hi,” Rain says to the children with a sunny smile.

“Who are you?” One sour looking boy a few years older than Rain says.

“I’m Rain, Niran’s nephew.” Rain says, his smile fading a little. The boy’s tone is troubling.

“Stop, he is the boy that just moved here, the one whose parents died of the fever.” One of the other children says.

The boy, Stop, sneers at this. “Well, I am the son of the mayor. What’s that on your wrist?”

Rain tries to pull his sleeve down to cover the mark but Stop grabs his wrist roughly causing Rain to cry out. “Is that a cat?”

“I don’t know, I was born with it.” Rain cries. Stop is really hurting his wrist.

“Were you marked by a witch?” Stop says, pushing Rain away. Rain falls roughly to the ground skinning the palms of his hands when he puts them back to try to stop his fall.

“No,” Rain cries, “I was just born with it.”

“Go away, we don’t play with the witch's spawn.” Stop says. He makes a threatening move and Rain gets up, running towards the forest afraid the other children will hurt him if he stays. It’s not the first time it’s happened, Rain has often been bullied by the other children in his home town because of the mark on his wrist, but he had hoped here things would be different.

He runs into the forest not paying attention to where he is going until he realizes he is lost. His fright at the other children dies away as he looks at the forest in awe. He isn’t scared by the forest; the summer sun shining through the trees is quite pretty. There is also a stream there with clear water running over the smooth rocks beneath making a soothing sound that makes Rain feel sleepy.