The Way Back

Chapter 2: Chai

I watched Alexa walk by my house with a boy. I didn't recognize his face, but I knew that Darius would send him my way soon enough. He always sent me the new Warriors. I had told him dozens of times that I had chosen to be a Maiden, but he didn't believe me. I'm sure he thought that I would choose to love again, but I didn't want to love anyone but Matthew.

I looked down at the Mark on my left arm. Every Daughter had a Mark that was chosen for her. They were each special, no two exactly alike. I was the Daughter of Chaos, but I didn't understand what my Mark meant for me. It looked like shards of glass around ribbons of black. There was runes and other markings in it. I had a tattoo of a spider's web on my right wrist. The spider was spinning its thread around to my palm. I got that one done right after Matthew died. It was almost exactly like the one he got after he took the Oath to be mine.

I noticed a figure walking across to my porch. I smiled when I recognized his auburn hair. "Gray! Haven't seen your face in a while," I waved him over. Grayson was one of the few people in this place that I trusted my life to. He knew me better than anyone else, even Matthew.

"Oy, lass. Yer finally out of yer house today. Isn't the breeze just lovely?" That's one thing I loved about Gray, his optimism. It could have been hailing outside, and he would have found the good in the day anyways.

"It is lovely. How's the security in the east wing? Are all measures accounted for?" I could always count on him to treat me as a fellow Warrior, not just a Daughter. He knew that I was capable in overpowering him in a combat match. I had earned his respect, and he had earned mine.

"Aye, lass. All the measures are there. If anything gets in this camp again, I'll be tradin' my kilt in for trousers," he flashed his famous grin.

Grayson was from the city of Viria. They were known for being downright strange, but Grayson was, by far, the strangest person there. His accent was unique, one I had never heard before meeting him, and one I hadn't heard from anyone else. He also paraded around in a skirt – sorry, a kilt – all of his life here. He could also smile, even in the saddest of times.

"You'd never trade in your kilt. It means too much to you," I laughed. I had heard that he even slept in a kilt. I was just going to take the Scouts' word for that one.

"Ah, finally, I made the young lass laugh. It's about time ya started smilin' again," Gray was right, I hadn't really been happy for three years, but I hadn't found a reason to change that. Without Matthew, my hope was gone. I had no other family. The Rogues had taken the rest of the family in the winter, so it wasn't a season I celebrated well anymore.

"I'm not that young, Gray. My age doesn't affect my sense of humor either. Zak needs you apparently," I pointed towards the trees after seeing Zak wave at Gray. "Run along, Gray. I'll see you at dinner."

I turned to head inside my hut. Once inside, I could be myself. I didn't have to hide from my past, I could embrace it with open arms. I represented chaos, so it fit that I had a strange past. I grew up in a part of the Highlands, but was taken into Dalton when I was eight. I was told to forget who I was there. My brother told me to forget everything, to make a new life. All I had was my name, Kiara. When I was brought to the Latian camp, and I was told that I could make a life here, I shortened my name to Chai. I had a new name, a new life. No one could hurt me here.

I grabbed the black stone on the cupboard as I passed. I rubbed my thumb over its smoothed surface as I normally did when something troubled me. I kept that stone by my side for years, and I wasn't changing that any time soon. I crossed the living room area to the only mirror I kept out in the open.