Page 10 of Married By Wind
She was just trying to make me feel better; she would have done no such thing. Anat couldn’t keep secrets for very long. An hour later, she would have blabbed the news about the lamp to everyone in the tribe.
I continued, “Then the sand devils came and…everything was awful. I decided to use the gift as a sacrifice for the god of Fae Mountain. So I went, and it turns out, this lamp is cursed. Anyway, I found Vinn, and he returned to…” I couldn’t say the wordmarry, so I moved on. “We came to an agreement: he’s going to stop the sand devils, and I’m going with him.”
“Vinn? A mere man is going to stop the sand devils?” Anat exclaimed, and then a laugh burst out of her lips. “You’re joking, right?”
Papa raised his hand, motioning for her to be quiet. “Ulika, is this true?” he asked, his tone calm and even.
I nodded, repeating my words as though that would make them true. “He’s going to get rid of the sand devils.”
“Praise be!” Mama exclaimed, lifting her hands. “I’m not sure how much longer we can dwell with the fear of an attack.”
“You’re not joking,” Anat breathed, collapsing on a rug, wide-eyed.
Papa was not done. “Why are you going with him, Ulika? What are you not telling us?”
I took a deep breath and said the words in a rush. “We’re going to be married.”
Anat’s eyes went wide, and then she squealed. “Married! Congratulations, Ulika.”
Papa stilled, and his eyes narrowed. “So quickly? He only just returned.”
“Hush,” Mama whispered. “Married, what a beautiful thing. We’ve needed a reason to celebrate, and Ulika has brought us two.”
I wished Vinn had come with me, to appease my papa, who stood, his jaw set. “Where is he? I’m going to have a word with him. Leaving like that so long ago and then appearing to demand my daughter’s hand without talking to me!”
Anat, who loved drama, leaped to her feet. “I’m coming too.”
“Papa, please be kind. This is what I want,” I begged, a surge of determination strengthening my voice. “Tomorrow he and I will go into the desert, defeat the sand devils, and return. I’ll only be gone a little while. It’s a small price to pay for freedom.”
Papa shook his head. “I don’t like it. Let me have words with this Vinn. To marry you and then want to take you into danger? It’s wrong.”
I opened my mouth to protest again, but Mama shook her head. “Ulika, you’ve had an ordeal. Take a nap, rest.” Her gaze fell on the lamp, and she stared at it before shaking her head. “You’d better hide that. If it is cursed treasure, we need to get rid of it.”
Papa and Anat swept out of the tent, leaving Mama and me alone. I wrapped the lamp back up, while Mama moved to the tent entrance. “I’m going to find you something to wear tonight. Sleep.”
I wanted her to stay, to speak more about what had happened, but she slipped out of the tent, leaving me in silence. Pressing my lips together, I lay back and let my secret burn within me. I’d dreamed of the day I’d meet Vinn again, but not like this, and now we were to be married. How much of this ordeal could my heart take?
* * *
The sound of laughter woke me, and I startled upward. I was still in my parents’ tent, and daylight had faded. Stretching, I noticed the clothes Mama had laid out for me. A white dress and golden circlet to go in my hair. Clothes fit for a wedding. My skin flushed hot as I went to the basin and wiped down my arms and legs. I brushed my hair until it shone and then dressed. Too bad the sand devils had smashed the looking glass. Leaving my hair loose, I pulled my scarf around my shoulders and ducked out of the tent.
No winds blew tonight, and most of the tents had been packed up and stored in the caves in anticipation of another attack. The caves were cold at night with a bite of dampness that left the older and younger ones—more susceptible to disease—coughing. This evening, though, no one had gone to take shelter in the caverns. Instead, they were by the riverbank. Was there going to be a wedding after all?
Trying to shake off the sense of unease, I hastened toward the merriment. Music played, drums beat, fire had been lit, and people danced around it. Aimee, one of my close friends, whirled around with her husband. She’d gotten married the year before and was pregnant with her first child. Uncle Noah perched atop a rock with a group of children surrounding him. They shouted and shrieked, leaving me to assume he was telling a story of his adventures.
Anat whirled around the fire, long arms in the air, her skirts twirling, while Jadda, the oldest member of my tribe, mixed dye from a henna tree and painted it on arms and legs. The dye helped cool our skin from the heat of the sun, and Jadda claimed the designs she drew were fortunes. She’d be upset that I was getting married without one of her fortune-telling designs inked on my skin.
The rich tang of cooked fish made my stomach growl. We’d had fish and beans and flatbread for days on end since trade had dried up. It was only recently that Uncle Noah had found a supply of spices that hadn’t been ruined. We had little, but I was proud of my tribe for working together without complaint.
I scanned the gathering, searching for Vinn, a mix of emotions roiling within me. I wanted him, but I wanted him to want me too. My heart beat faster when I located him, dancing around the campfire. Someone had given him a shirt, and he blended in as though he was one of us. Yet there was something about him that stood out and attracted us all. His presence had drawn us under a spell. A god was within our midst.
I searched for Mama and Papa, who were going to have words with him, words I feared would lead to some kind of negative consequence. Instead, they sat under a palm tree, sharing a drink. A knot tightened in my belly; this was happening.
Suddenly, Vinn towered over me, grinning recklessly. His stoic demeanor had vanished, and he smelled of spices and fire. A light shone in his deep-brown eyes as he looked me over. “Ulika, you look well rested and beautiful.”
Firelight glowed on his bronze skin, and all resolve to harden my heart against his charms melted away. Stepping closer to him, I kept my voice low. “Vinn, did you speak with my parents?”
“I did.” The smile did not leave his face, but he studied me for a reaction as he continued, “You told them we are to be married and then go into the desert to vanquish the sand devils. Your father is quite fearsome.” He chuckled. “I had to make all kinds of promises to appease him.”
