39 A New Ara (2)

A-Narah walked to the training grounds. No one paid any attention to her on her way, so she let down her guard and lost her nervousness over her outfit. Like yesterday many girls were crowded around the training grounds and admiring the young men train. A-Narah walked over to them and saw Lael, Uzzi, Uri, and Launch all out there training as well. She looked around the girls and went over to Anis, who was standing off to the side.

A-Narah never saw Anis interacting with the others. Maybe that was why she had approached her. Maybe she didn't have any friends among the girls in the village and was hoping to make one out of herself. Maybe she was outcasted by them. Feeling some pity for the lonesome girl, A-Narah looked at Anis in a different light. Maybe this girl wasn't so much like her sisters after all.

"Hi Anis," An-Narah said approaching her from behind. Anis jumped in surprise when she felt A-Narah tap her shoulder.

"Oh, hello," Anis said a bit breathlessly.

"Do any of the girls watch anyone besides Adom?" A-Narah asked. It was silly for this galley of girls to chase after one boy. It's not like they could all marry him. It was better to find an option that could at least pan out.

"Yes, some actually watch your companions," Anis said.

"Who?" A-Narah snuck a glance at the girls that were close to her. Trying to see which ones might have taken a fancy to her friends.

"I don't know, but you can hear some of the girls cheering for them sometimes," Anis said, brushing over A-Narah's question.

"Well those girls are going to have a tough time of it. I doubt any of the girls here will turn their eye."

A-Narah didn't notice Anis's sudden stiffness. With a forced voice Anis asked, "Why is that?"

Oblivious A-Narah answered, "Well it's not like we are going to stay here permanently. We have somewhere we have to go. They won't stay and make a family here."

"But what if they found someone or something more important than their mission?" Anis asked. She tried to act uninterested. She didn't want to give herself away.

"Trust me, to them, nothing will ever be more important than their mission. The only reason why we got off track was because of Elon's injury. If I hadn't said so, we wouldn't have even come here."

Anis was surprised and said nothing more. So Ara wasn't just their friend or traveling companion. She was their master. Anis bit her lip. It would be much harder to get one of them to take a liking to her and stay. It wouldn't happen unless Ara allowed it.

"It looks like they are taking a break. I'm going to go say hi."

"Wait, Ara—" Anis stretched her arm out to stop her, but A-Narah had already run off. Women did not enter the training grounds. Accidents were too likely to occur.

"Uzzi, Uri!" A-Narah called out and ran up to them. They were off my themselves, taking a break. Away from the action.

They looked up and smiled at A-Narah in greeting, but their faces soon fell.

"What is it?" she asked. She could see that their reactions weren't right.

"What are you wearing?" asked Uzzi in a low voice.

Hearing his tone, A-Narah pulled down on her top, trying to lengthen it. "These are clothes I borrowed from Feme. I wanted to fit in more with the other women here."

"Go back and change now. A daughter of the Talley house should not be caught seen in something like this. It is a disgrace to your parents and the family name," Uzzi said with a hard frown.

With wide eyes she looked at Uzzi. The guards had never once said one harsh word to her before. A-Narah took a step back.

With a teary voice she said, "I am no longer a daughter of the Talley house. I have no last name. No where to belong, and I don't see how what I wear would reflect on anyone. Except for myself." A-Narah turned and sprinted away. Wanting to get as far from Uzzi's judging eyes as she could. No one had ever looked at her like that. She had never realized how much another person's judgments could hurt.

A-Narah's commotion gained the interest of the others and they turned to look. Seeing A-Narah flee in haste, Lael and Launch went over to Uzzi and Uri.

"What happened?" asked a Lael. He came and loomed over Uzzi, his fierce stare forcing Uzzi to look away guiltily.

"I might have said something," Uzzi mumbled.

"Well go after her! You shouldn't make the little lady sad," said Launch.

"I can't. She is the last person who would want to see me right now," Uzzi guiltily said. Uri rolled his eyes and explained what had happened to the others. After hearing what had transpired, they all stood there, confused. None of them knew how to comfort a young, teenage girl.

A-Narah ran all the way back to the tent and crawled inside. She wrapped herself in a blanket, sobbing. When Feme came back she found A-Narah laying on her side, curled into a ball. She heard a loud sniffle and chocked sobs coming from under the blanket. With concern, Feme walked up and sat by A-Narah's head and began rubbing her back.

"Tell me what happen." A-Narah, through her tears, told Feme what Uzzi ha said about her outfit.

"You don't need to worry about him," Feme said in a gentle tone. "He only said it because he is afraid that too many men will now look at you. He doesn't want the men here to look at you disrespectfully. He is not used to seeing you like this, but he has nothing to worry about. At most you will get some admiring glances, and the men here are used to women dressing like this. It is normal. Your friend just has to have some time to get used to the change. It has nothing to do with you. It is his own problem," Feme consoled.

A-Narah listened to Feme, but she couldn't stop the tears. Even if what she said was all true, hearing it didn't make her feel better. She felt wrong. All she wanted was to get out of these clothes. With drooping shoulders Feme continued to rub A-Narah's back.

"Let me get some cold water to wash your face. I will be right back."

A-Narah nodded and curled tighter into her ball. Leaving Feme went out and ran into Adom.

"I saw her running from the training grounds. Did something happen?" Adom asked.

Feme looked up at the serious face of her son and sighed. "She will be alright. She just lost confidence in herself. It's common for it to happen to girls at her age."

"Why would she lose confidence? She is pretty enough."

Hearing her son's reply, Feme paused. Had her son really just complimented a girl to her face. Was he showing interest? Feme shot her a son a sly look. This was something to ponder. She liked Ara. Ara was a good girl. She wouldn't mind having her as a daughter in law.