her pale faced lover

Chapter 1

"Nayeli? Nayeli, where are you? I want to show you something!" Naira Nadeau, Nayeli Nadeau's  younger sister searched. 

Nayeli laughed as she brushed her caramel colored hair out of her hazel eyes, "I am here, making corn bread. What is it dear sister?" 

  "Come on!!" Naira groaned as she carelessly dragged Nayeli away from her work; pulling her outside to see a beautiful sunset that reflected its lively colors on the girls' tan skin. 

Nayeli's eyes widened,   "Amazing! This is prettier then last winter's snowfall!" Nayeli lived with her tribe, Movajolk, which means sweet but strong warriors.  "Sayen! Look up!" Nayeli pointed to the sky painted with heavenly shades of pink, orange, and blue, as her beautiful best friend, Sayen came along. 

Sayen's jaw dropped while the wind blew her cacao colored hair out of her face, "It is truly wonderful!"   

"Nayeli, I'm going to make dolls with Zyanya," Naira informed, gesturing at Sayen's younger sister. "Would you like to join us?"   

Nayeli laughed,"You pulled me away from work, remember?" 

Naira shrugged and responded, "Oh, true.. I was just being respectful and kind like Mami always tells me to. I was hoping you would not join us, anyway! You never remember any of the dolls' names right!"

Nayeli stuck her tongue out at Naira who blew a raspberry back. Sayen then pushed Zyanya with the words, "Run along, now!"  Naira and Zyanya giggled and skipped away. 

     Nayeli and Sayen started to small talk. "Are your parents talking about your marriage?" Sayen questioned. 

"Of course! They do not call it wedding season for nothing!"

  "True, we are 18 now!"  

"Have you met any suitors yet?" 

"Only a couple idiots. Who we obviously rejected."

"Same here! But we may have found the one. Pardon me. My parents may have found the one."

"That does not sound good..who?"

 "It is not confirmed yet, but I might be wed to..." Nayeli sighed. "Achak." 

Sayen gasped, "Oh my spirits! Achak?! He is our best friend! More like brother! We grew up like siblings!!  Your parents want you to wed him?" 

"Apparently! Our families are really good friends, right? Father says a way to make our families' bond stronger is for me to marry into their family. But I hate this decision. It is not fair if I do not get to decide if I want to marry Achak or not. I know he is not right for me, but my parents beg to differ." 

Sayen took a deep breath, and thought a little, "Well, Nayeli.. I understand how upset you are, but you do know it is not traditional to decide who you marry. It is called an arranged marriage, not a decide-who-you-want-to-marry marriage. Actually... to be honest, it really is not the end of the world... Achak will make a big attempt to keep you happy."

"I know Sayen," Nayeli dragged. "But I do not even love him that way. He is my best friend. Not my husband to be. I want to marry someone I love; not someone who is like family." 

"I understand. Rememeber when the rest of us girls had a crush on him, while you never did? He was always your brother when we played family."

 Nayeli laughed nostalgically, "Or the dog!" 

"When are you to be wed?" Sayen questioned after they stopped laughing. 

"In a few months. We have not even decided the marriage date yet, so there is still hope!"

"True. After that date is settled, you really cannot go back."

"Knowing that and knowing me, Father is in a huge rush to decide it, but our horoscopes just do not seem to match up well on any day."

"That is a true sign from the spirits!" Sayen laughed. 

"I hope so!"

Nayeli and Sayen kept talking throughout the day and were heading back hom when a screaming voice came from the forest. Nayeli and Sayen ignored it, as many young children loved to play hide-and-seek, thieves and chieves, and other silly games; often followed by squeals and shrieks. 

          Then screaming voice came again. "Help!" it cried. "I am in danger! Something- something is trying to attack me! HELP!" Nayeli listened carefully and thought there was something familiar about the shouting noise. 

After a moment of consideraton, Nayeli recognized that voice to be her sister's, Naira.