Chapter 6
Naia’s brother came into the world with birthmarks on his face.
The first time she held him, her heart grew until it strained at the seams. She stroked his butterflies with a fingertip, wondering if hers had ever been so lovely.
Had they? She couldn’t remember now.
That very afternoon, Elias came marching up the hill.
This time, he only had half a bucket of water, but Naia barely noticed.
She rushed from the hut to show off her new brother, and oh, how strange it was to feel her heart beating outside her body, now.
To clutch it wrapped up in muslin, to hear it make those contented little cries.
“My love.” Elias set down his bucket and opened his arms. “I’ve nearly died from missing you. Come here.”
“Yes, yes, in a minute,” she said. “First, meet Kano. Your future brother-in-law.”
“He’s born?” Elias’s violet eyes lit. He stepped close.
Naia beamed up at him. She peeled back the cloth to show the baby’s face.
Elias’s expression fell. “Oh. I see.”
When he drew back, her gut clenched. In the sticky silence, she lived through their meeting in the village all over again. Oh. I see.
Elias cleared his throat. “Sorry. It’s... He’s...”
The quiet beat in Naia’s ears like thunder. “Perfect. That’s what you meant to say, isn’t it? He’s perfect.”
“Yes. He’s very...um, perfect.”
When Elias refused to look at the baby again, Naia’s eyes narrowed. That thorny place inside her, the one she’d nearly forgotten, bristled with new life. She cradled her brother close. “Elias?”
He gulped. “Yes, my sweet?”
“Why do you love me, exactly?”
“What?” He paled. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen. The most beautiful girl in the village. Everyone knows it.”
“Yes, but what else?” Her voice iced over, despite the boiling day. “I mean, do you actually know me?”
“I know everything about you. Everything.”
“Do you? What’s my biggest fear, then?”
Elias looked panicked. “Um. Spiders?”
Naia’s insides went cold and still. “No. Being alone. Like I’ve said. What’s my favorite book?”
He looked like he might throw up. “Erm...the dictionary?”
“Granger’s Fairytales,” she snapped. “I’ve said so a dozen times. How could you not remember?”
Elias threw himself at her feet. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, my love. It’s just that your splendor blinds me, sometimes. It’s all I can see. All I can take in. But I love you, I swear it. How can I prove it to you? I’ll do anything.”
Naia studied his beseeching, upturned face. Thorns of ice pierced her heart.
“Please,” he begged.
Her gaze drifted past him, to where the distant mountain shimmered against the azure sky. She clutched the baby closer. She should have listened to her mother, all those months ago. She should never have let herself forget.
“Slay the beast,” Naia said.
“What?” Elias squeaked.
Another suitor crested the hill behind Elias, and Naia shouted to him. “That’s right. Tell everyone. I’ll marry whoever defeats the beast. No one else. Until then, leave me alone. All of you, just go away.”
She turned and carried her perfect brother inside, slamming the door behind her.