The Wolf and The Blossom

Chapter 12

Waya

The voyage took seven days. It was long and hard, but now we are here. The land of old. Fog hovers over the people, the buildings. If this is the hell hole the white men lived then I understand the need for change.

Despite the sites and sensory overload, I can still hear the screams of Anne, crying and screaming in anguish, the crowd and fighting too thick for me to reach her. Not this time. We have come and we will find her. These people have no idea what just arrived on their land.

Once the fighting was over, I devised a plan with Onacona to get my adsila. We took the white man's clothes and hid our hair under the ridiculous hats, took their boats and sailed to England. Vengeance sings in my veins. I will get her back.

Onacona's hand falls onto my shoulder. "Come, you must be strong, Waya. We follow you. Remember everything Anne told you about her home."

I steel myself and take a deep breath. "We move at night. People will be too drunk to notice our appearance. There are things call coaches, pulled by horses that can move us around, once we get to London we move on foot. We listen for any snippet of Natives or a girl brought back after being with us." I thank the Gods Anne taught the village English. "Any details could help. They are a gossipy lot. Someone is bound to say something.

"What do we do with the information? We can't steal her off the street. Her residence must be securely guarded."

"Diwali, we are warriors aren't we? Hunters and protectors of our tribe. One of our own, my wife was taken! We do everything we can to bring. Her. Back." I growl.

The men nod and we disperse.

Hold on, Anne. I am coming.

-~-

Winter looms and it makes me worry for the trip back home. We have been in London for two days with no word of Anne. Discouragement weighs heavy on my shoulders. Two days and absolutely no word. We left a mere day after the ship that took her. I lean against a stone building, rain pouring from the sky, drenching our search group.

I run a hand over my face. Where are you, Anne...

Onacona claps my shoulder. "Wake up, young Waya. Look what Atohi found." he grins, holding up a stack of parchment with Anne's beautiful face plastered all over it.

First it looks like her that last time I saw her, then her in elaborate dresses and tight hair. I don't understand the words written on the pages. I let out a breath and chuckle. "The Gods have smiles down on us, oginallii."

Onacona and I walk into an establishment where peoples words slur and brawls often break out amongst the patrons. We sit at a back table, ears open, listening for any information about my adsila.

"Sequoyah would be proud of the man you've become. He was always about love over conflict. When you and Anne are together it reminds me of when he was alive. She's been great for the tribe as well. She has opened their minds and hearts," he says.

My resolve cracks as I remember her helping anyone who needed it, protecting the tribes children even if it got her taken. The selflessness inside her so extraordinary and different. She took being taken in by the tribe flawlessly, Anne broke my barriers swiftly with her laugh.

The image of her jumping from the water, long hair plastered to her skull and pale arms, laughing, begging me to throw her again and again until I physically couldn't anymore. Her light brown eyes gazing up at me during our wedding. Her breath soft as a butterfly, the sound of her sucking in a breath when I pulled her against me for the first time, her feather soft lips that pressed against my skin after I came home from the hunt.

She is one of a kind. Sticking to her values while also accepting our way of life.

"He would have loved her, wouldn't he?" I ask, smiling slightly. Oh the trouble they would have gotten me into.

He laughs and nods. "Whole heartedly."

"The savages tainted her. She refuses to have a season, but Richard has planned an arranged marriage for her with Lord Darwell."

"Oh, what a handsome match they will be. He will make her forget all about that savage man."

Onacona and I stay deathly silent as we listen to two women talk.

"He will be at the Farington Estate tomorrow morning to set a date. She has no idea. Her father is afraid she will run."

"Well of course. She believes she's some Native, poor dear has forgotten her roots." their shrill laugh fills the dimly lit establishment.

I tilt my head towards the door.

Once outside I walk down the stone road. "Onacona, ready the boat. I am getting Anne, tonight and we need to leave as soon as possible."

The men disperse and I catch a carriage. "Farington Estate." I tell him, getting in the strange contraption.

I am on my way, Anne.

-~-

The estate is vast, covering acres and acres, trees as tall as the sky, statues and bushes litter the lawn. A man walks beside a woman. A man whose face I will never forget. The man who killed my brother is Anne's father. The night we got revenge, I saw his wife, a small child and a young woman. When I saw the child and young woman, I decided to spare him.

It wasn't worth it.

When I went back to the house I heard crying and thuds on the door. Everyone should have been gone. But when I opened that door and saw the young woman, Anne, I knew I should have ended him. He didn't deserve to live when he left his daughter to die.

Seeing him now, having a personal connection to Anne, I still want him dead. But I have a mission. Save Anne. Get home.

He will get what he deserves eventually.

Under the cover of night, I make my way around the back, watching my surroundings. Guards linger at the outskirts of the estate and I easily evade them.

A dim light in one of the higher rooms catch my attention and I glimpse Anne... She runs a brush through her long hair. The inner light seems sucked from her face, then she disappears.

Looking around, I see a trellis covered in vines and... orchids. Seems fitting. I climb up, the Englishmen clothes I am wearing making it difficult. The window is open and I silently lean against the wall, watching her from behind until she notices me.

My heart thunders in anticipation.

Slowly, she turns around to grab her novel, when she sees me, her beautiful eyes wide. "Waya?" she breathes. Her belly is constricted by some pad tied in the back, her cleavage prominent.

They dress her like some doll.

Instead of letting her see my anger, I cross my arms and smirk. "Well, look at you."

Her face is still stunned. "You are really here." she touches my arm and I rest my hands on her hips that are so padded I can't even feel them.

"In the flesh." I grin.

"You cocky, arrogant man!" she punches my arm, laughing.

I raise an eyebrow and laugh. "That's not what you were saying last time we were this close." I cup her cheek. "Hi, love."

She relaxes and leans into my hand. "Hi." Anne smiles and I know, if I had any doubts, that everything I did to get here was worth it.