The First

Reina Maria

1687

Outside, the air was warm and the grass soft. The sun shone brightly, and the sky was a brilliant blue, flecked with clusters of white and gray clouds. Reina Maria lay on her back, tracing images of wild animals out of the clouds. A rabbit on hind legs jumped after a carrot, a turtle stretched out its long neck, and a wolf crouched low to the ground, preparing to strike. She turned her head and examined the animals from a different angle. Their billowy white texture reminded her of cotton from the fields in May. She loved to jump in head first and pretend that she was swimming in a sea of clouds.

From the time she was a young girl, Reina Maria had an active imagination. Her mother and father used to say that she lived in her head, dreaming and fantasizing about a world that did not exist. A world with magic, mystery, and above all else, true love. She often day-dreamed about her neighbor, Francois, imagining what it would feel like to hold his hand or kiss his lips. She wondered if his skin was smooth or rough. She admired the chiseled features of his strong jaw and sharp nose. She longed to stare into the depths of his blue eyes, and run her hand over the sharp bristles of his beard. But this would never happen, she knew. Francois was a man and she was a simple, silly girl.

"Reina, chérie, go fetch your sister. Dinner is almost ready," her mother said.

Reina Maria sat up on her elbows and looked back over her shoulder at her mother, who leaned out the window. Evelyn, Reina Maria's older sister, had been gone for an hour. She had gone to gather fallen branches and twigs for the night's fire. She should have been back by now, Reina Maria thought. She probably got distracted by a patch of wild flowers, she laughed to herself. Evelyn loved and appreciated nature's beauty and was often lost in the forest for hours.

"Hurry now," Reina Maria's mother said, interrupting her train of thought. Reina Maria sauntered into the woods, becoming aware of the silence of the particular night. It was an eerie stillness that brought shivers down her spine. Reina Maria preferred to stay out of the forest. She was once like Evelyn, entranced by its mystery. But on her tenth birthday, she had discovered her father's mangled body near a creek. He had broken his leg, in the midst of a hunt, and was left to die alone, consumed by the beasts that lingered in the shadows. It was then that Reina Maria had learned the darkness and evil of the forest.

After ten minutes of walking, Reina Maria stumbled upon a strange site. There, pinned against a tree with arrow through its hind quarter, was a large Jack Rabbit. They were not uncommon in the area, but she had never witnessed one of these creatures in such a still state. Reina Maria stepped closer to the rabbit, watching as it gave way to its pain and seized its frantic struggling for its last few moments on Earth. Reina Maria pulled the arrow from the tree and examined its handiwork.

Where was its owner? These were dark times and food was scarce. No sensible mind would have left fresh game unwatched for even a moment.

There was a soft moan. Reina Maria turned her head and saw ten feet away her sister Evelyn, pinned against the tree with Francois' naked buttocks exposed. Reina Maria felt her blood boil as he pressed the weight of his body against Evelyn. Evelyn was sixteen years old, two years older than Reina Maria, and had yet learned the touch of a man. Yet there Francois was, stripping Evelyn of her innocence. Francois let go of Evelyn's body, and she fell to the ground, clutching her lower abdomen.

Reina Maria realized that she still had the arrow in her hand. She lunged forward and stabbed the tip of the arrow into Francois's shoulder blade.