Confessions (Part 2)

JP with mdman and Cindy

Ch’Truta’s face tensed along the jaw. He felt heat rising up the back of his neck. His brows wrinkled in anger.

Yes, to some Ch’Truta had done horrible things. They were done to survive. However, he had never sold anyone. And this Vasant man, perhaps he was what Ch’Truta had been sensing from his trance. This may be the danger Ch’Truta had been dreading.

“It angers me that one could sell another, especially you,” Ch’Truta replied. “I know there is danger ahead. Someone is seeking you. I have sensed this since my trance. I will kill this Vasant if he is pursuing you. You must tell me when he finds you. I will be by your side.”

"He is pursuing me, but he won't come after me himself. He's sent a bounty hunter, a man who goes by the name of Alcuin, or at least that was the name he was going by when he found me." Islana proceeded to go into details about what had happened to her since arriving in Arcadia. Investigating the cult. Being almost sacrificed, but then rescued. Her friends that she had made, some who had become like family to her but she had, in ways, lost all of them. Ending up on Fang, then on the run with Hunter, chased by a psychotic bounty hunter. Sold to the Odonine village. Rescued by Shalia Nix. And how Islana ended up in the desert, where she received the call. She left the details of the pilgrimage for another time, not mentioning the Skara, because the night was getting late. But she did add, "While I was on the pilgrimage I met a young girl named Madaya who was also on the pilgrimage. She became like a little sister to me. She made it through the pilgrimage, but didn't make it past the trial. She is still alive in Gra'akast but locked inside her mind, unable to do anything." Islana looked up at the stars, "I pray for her every night though I have to admit, at this point, I no longer know if praying for her to survive is maybe a little selfish on my part. I don't know what kind of shape she would be in if she did."

The recalling of all that, had made the redhead's heart hurt. She had lost so much, missed her friends greatly. But also gained so much. The woman was always waiting for the rug to be pulled out from her again. Like nothing could truly last.

Ch’Truta struggled understanding her losses. It had been a way of life in the swamp. People were lost every day. So, Ch’Truta thought of how he’d feel if he were to lose Islana. His heart sank.

“You are not selfish,” Ch’Truta acknowledged. “Your heart is large. You would think the Twins would do what you ask.”

The one who had bought Islana also paid to have her hunted down. What kind of man was this? Does he not understand that love cannot be bought?

“This Alcuin,” Ch’Truta emphasized, “will suffer the fate intended for Vasant.”

Saying the word fate struck Ch’Truta as odd, as if he had recently heard it elsewhere. He shrugged it off and kept focused upon Islana.