Rowen gives her confidence

Rowen turns back one more time and tells me, “Last chance to join me, Maeve. I would really appreciate being able to see you every day.”

Part of me really wants to accept his offer, but I’m scared.

“The thing is, this cabin is the only home I’ve ever known.” I explain. “There is a big part of me which fears I will never see it again if I follow you. That is just too big a leap for me to take.”

I Rowen think for a moment, then he says, “Suppose we get a lot of sturdy sticks. And on the way to my village, we stick them in the ground to mark the way. That way, it should be easy for you to find your way back.”

I imagine a path of sticks through the forest leading from his village all the way back to my home and when I see it in my mind, my face lights up. “You’re right. I didn’t think of that. I think I have some sticks like that from last time I went collecting firewood. Hang on.”

I run back into my cabin and grab some sticks that I would have thrown into my fireplace. I head back out with them, then I take Rowen behind my cabin where I have some more firewood stockpiled. We grab as many sticks as both of us can carry. Then, we finally start our journey southward. I am kind of excited about it. It’s my first time going to a village. I wonder how big it is.

We don’t start planting the sticks right away. This first part is where I know my way pretty well, so if I get back here, I’ll find my way. Only when we get to the edge of where I usually walk does Rowen plant the first stick into the ground. He even plants the stick in such a way that it points towards my cabin. That’s so smart of him. We periodically place another stick in the ground, each of them pointing in the direction of my cabin. We keep this up, until suddenly we hear the faint sound in the distance.

“That must be one of the hunters from my village.” Rowen tells me.

I see him bring his hands to his mouth and then yells really loud. Shortly after, we hear the sound again, though this time it happens 2 times. I guess this is their way of communicating.

Rowen and I simply continue our journey forward. We still hear the sound every once in a while, then Rowen shouts and gets the usual reply again. Though every time, the sound sounds closer. After having placed another 2 sticks in the ground we finally get discovered. We see a middle-aged man walking in our direction. I wonder if he’s a close friend to Rowen.

“Rowen! There you are, you little rascal.” Are the first words the man says. He then stares at me and asks Rowen, “Who is she?”

Before anyone has a chance to say anything, we hear another cowhorn. The new guy takes out his and blows it twice, then he throws some clothes to Rowen. “Quick, put those on.” The man says. “Brenyn and Maire will be here soon.”

Another two? Man, they really wanted to find Rowen if they sent so many people after him.

Rowen starts putting on the clothes and introduces me to the man. Apparently, his name is Maeron. They are neither related nor friends, but Maeron went searching for Rowen because that is what he always does when somebody goes missing. That is very dutiful of him. I also notice Maeron’s name is similar to mine. I wonder why that is.

Maeron also has some food, which he offers to Rowen after he is dressed. I am offered some as well. Rowen also tells Maeron about our first meeting. Fortunately, he doesn’t mention anything to Maeron about our mating. That would be embarrassing.

Then another guy shows up from our right, someone closer to Rowen’s age. And after that, a girl from our left. Then Rowen ends up having to tell the story of our meeting all over again.

The girl smirks at me and says, “So, what? The missy here was your Samhain partner last night?”

How could she just say that so bluntly? Is it because … I look at my chest and see Rowen’s white necklace is out in the open. No wonder she assumes we mated. I grab the necklace and quickly push it under my clothes. I don’t want to have my mating with Rowen on display like that.

“Hey, it’s no big deal.” The girl replies. “Look, I finally got caught last night as well.”

She then pulls a white necklace from under her clothes as well. I’m not sure that makes it better, though. At any rate, Rowen informs the hunters that I only agreed to join him if I was able to find my way back to my home. Hence why we are carrying these sticks and are running out of them.

“Alright, we can help with that.” Maeron says. “Maire, Brenyn, you two go and find us some more sticks. One to the left and the other to the right. In the meantime, I will walk these two back to the village.”

Right, so the young male hunter is Brenyn and the rude girl hunter is Maire. Hmm, our names begin similar again. I didn’t know names starting with ‘Ma’ were so popular.

With the help of the hunters, Rowen and I manage to get to the village while leaving behind a trail that can guide us back to my hut. We find some people waiting at the edge of the village. They are family of Rowen it seems, and they are quite happy to see him. I am so happy I chose not to keep Rowen to myself. It would have hurt these poor people so much.

This prompts Rowen to tell the whole story again. Oh god, I hope they also don’t end up thinking I mated with Rowen. I mean, I did, but it’s so embarrassing for all these people to know. Maire and Brenyn stick around but Maeron is quick to leave.

After a while though, when Rowen is about to finish his story, I hear some voices behind me.

“This new person better be important Maeron. Leigh is going to leave today and will only return god knows how many months from now. You are taking away what little time I have left with …”

I turn around to see who it is. It is the middle-aged hunter from before with some other guy his age. But when the new guy sees my face, he comes to a complete stop. His eyes go wide, his mouth falls open and his skin turns pale. I’m pretty sure he also stopped breathing. Is there something about me which scares him?

Eventually, the manages to speak again. He looks into my eyes and asks “Ke-Keyara?”