There was a scent of flowers in the cool night breeze. Rei let it run through her hair and the thin material of her dress as she sat at the riverbank, feet dipped in the water. It was good weather for the night, she thought, as it was the night of the moon festival.
She smiled as she thought of the food and the music of the moon drums. She thought of the moon goddess' chosen one. Every year, during the moon festival, the moon goddess would send the hill temple's high priest to pick a boy from the village to serve her forever. It was considered an honor to the chosen one's family, but Rei could not understand happiness over losing a loved one. And if they ever picked brother Tzari...she shuddered at the thought.
Then, as if cutting through the silence of the night, the town crier sounded his gong. Once. Twice. Three times.
With a gasp, Rei quickly rinsed her hands in the current and began running towards the village square. She didn't mind the breeze had tousled her long dark hair or that her wet hands had left water stains on her dress, she still wanted to get a decent spot for the festival, her brother Tzari was dancing tonight.
The moon festival had begun.
The picking usually took place after all the other festival attractions, which meant the boys would dance before that. At the thought, Rei went giddy with anticipation. Brother Tzari had spent so much time practicing his parts, and it would be his first time dancing since their mother...disappeared.
She sat through the other presentations impatiently, her mind solely focused on her brother. Mother had always said that she was too attached to him, but she couldn't help it. Brother Tzari had always been a little smaller than the other village boys and his calmness sometimes made him a target to the other boys' teasing. Therefore, although he was older than her, she felt a fierce need to look out for him.
The sound of the moon-drums broke her train of thought. Her brown eyes, amber in the light of the bonfire, went wide. The boys' dance was starting. The boys began their dance with a series of jumps and steps that Rei did not seem to understand, but it was beautiful. They moved with a kind of raw grace and power that awed all the villagers. Then she spotted her brother.
Tzari looked so focused as he danced. He was careful with his steps and rather than the raw power that came from the other boys, he had a quiet aura about him. His body moved like water, swirling and flowing in itself, every movement made her breath catch. Though his face remained stoic, he seemed to radiate a kind of glow and joy. She smiled softly, amber eyes shining with pride. Her brother was his best when he danced.
The boys' moon dance came to an end, and Rei's heart began pounding once more in her chest. But for a different reason. All the boys in the village formed a line, facing the village drums. The moon-drums beat had changed, to a grave soothing tone that made her head spin. In the daze, the drums stopped. She looked up to see that she had not been the only one affected, everyone in the square had fallen forward in a bow. And there was a new presence in their midst, with merciless green eyes that seemed to have an ethereal glow.
The temple's high priest.
The high priest was tall and commanded authority, but Rei found that what struck her most about him was how young he looked. As though he could not have been any older than the boys that knelt in line with their fates lying in his hands. He moved slowly, taking his time as he scrutinized the boys. Rei could feel her heart pounding hard against her chest. And as he inched closer to where Tzari knelt, a sense of foreboding made it harder for her to breathe. Her body ached to run into the line and drag her brother away. But she sat right there, her feet planted to the ground. Then the high priest stopped right in front of Tzari. And her heart seemed to stop as well. The high priest leaned forward with a finger lifting Tzari's chin.
"The boy who moves like water." The corners of his lips turned up in a wry smile. "You'll do."
From where she stood, Rei could not tell if it was the light of the bonfire or a faint sheen of tears, but brother Tzari's eyes seemed to glitter as he nodded. He could not fight the moon goddess' choice after all. The high priest raised his hand and an attendant scurried forward holding a bowl of water.
The high priest dipped his forefinger in and pulled out Tzari's arm. He wrote something across it and closed his eyes. Tzari seemed confused until the water on his arm began to glow in the brightest blue he had ever seen. Then it began to burn through his skin, branding him to the Moon goddess and her high priest.
Rei could not have hated herself any more than she did then. It all still felt unreal and she was sure that the confusion on brother Tzari's face matched hers when the high priest wrote across his arm. She shut her eyes tightly, refusing to believe them. Maybe when she opened them again, she would be by the river bank with brother Tzari skipping rocks beside her. Her imagination was cut short by the sound of brother Tzari's scream. She looked up in a panic, and there was her brother writhing in pain. The marking on his arm was glowing and growing? It seemed to curl around his arm, working its way to his chest and burning the brand of the moon goddess into his skin.
Finally, as abruptly as it started, it came to an end. brother Tzari, now unconscious from the pain, had been laid on a cot and covered with a light blue cloth. the high priest's attendants carried him and began their journey to the moon goddess' mountain.
The square was beginning to empty now; some moved numbly back to their homes, others with relief that it was not any of their own. but the sister of the chosen sat helpless on the cold hard earth, tears streaming down her face. And somehow, coupled with a whiff of burnt flesh, there was a scent of flowers in the cool night breeze.
