Six: Zahra

The next morning, Roan takes me into the forest and shows me which fruit is edible and what herbs were useful. After that, he showed me how to track. I hadn't realized that certain things I saw around me were animals leaving their marks. It was the most I had learned in a long time.

We ate midmeal before we moved onto weapons. The first thing he showed me was a knife and how to throw it. I watched and when he offered it to me, I followed his steps and threw. It thunked into a tree, the tip of the blade buried in the trunk

Roan congratulated me and had me throw a farther distance. I hit the tree again. By the time evening rolled around, I felt confident in my knife throwing skills and my ability to track animals and fresh plants. Now, I just needed to learn to hunt.

"I think that's enough for one day," Roan said as he grabbed the last knife I threw. "Let's go back to the cave and rest."

"I want to learn to hunt."

He looks at me. "You're tired, Zahra. Let's rest and I'll teach you to hunt in the morning."

I crossed my arms and stayed in my spot. "I want to learn now."

"Why do you want to learn so badly so fast?"

"Because I never got the chance before and I never know when my chance will disappear. I want to learn now!"

His eyes narrowed and he went still. Then he shrugged. "Go find a squirrel and throw a knife to kill it. I'll be in the cave waiting. You have until sundown."

I faltered. "You're not coming?"

He raised a brow. "I'm tired and I'm not going to teach you if you're going to be rude about it. Go find and kill a squirrel and I'll meet you at the cave." With that he left.

I stood a moment, stunned. Then, I ran.

I ran to Tobyn's campsite, hoping beyond hope, he was still there. I kept running and running. I wanted to get away from Roan. I wanted to get away from whatever he thought I needed and he wanted. I wanted to stay away from him.

I found him crazy. He didn't know what he was talking about. I was not going to listen to anymore of his speech about how we were family and my name isn't Zoe. I wasn't going to continue listening to anything he had to say anymore.

It got dark and I didn't see the person standing in my path, and ran right into them. Arms caught me and I squinted up at the person, who was again, male. "What are you doing?" he asked with irritation.

"I'm trying to find someone!" I snarl. "You're in my way!"

He suddenly dropped me and I squealed as I fell backwards. "Sorry to be a nuisance, then." And then he strode away. I glared after him and stood up, then began my run again.

I had only ran for a few minutes when something swept me up and I was flying. Screaming, I thrashed about, trying to get free. "Stop kicking the horse!"

I paused and looked up. Roan was holding me around the waist while steering the horse with his free hand. He looked beyond angry. But I didn't care. "Let me go!" I screamed. "Let me go now!"

He turned his angry eyes on me and I shrank in his hold. "You are alone in the dark with no way of defending yourself. You have no weapons, no food, nothing! I suspected you were up to something, but was too late to stop you."

"Let me go! I'm not Zahra! I'm not your sister! I don't even know you!"

His glare deepened. "You aren't giving me the chance to tell you anything about myself! To prove who I am!"

"I don't care! Let me go!"

"No." He rode on and I screamed, then accidentally kicked the horse. Next thing I know, we went flying and I crashed into a tree. The air was knocked out of me and I couldn't breathe. It felt as if my back was broken and I couldn't move when I hit the ground.

I moaned, the only thing I could do before someone appeared in my line of sight. They go to lift me up but I scream out in pain. Cursing, the figure leaves. I don't see where they went before my world goes black.

I slip in and out of reality, finding blackness more comforting than the blinding pain of the world. My back hurt and I couldn't handle it. I don't know how long I continued to go in and out, but I assumed days.

When I finally did return to full consciousness, my mind would not let me go back to sleep. And I began to scream.

"Zahra! Zahra, calm down and listen to me!" I hear, but ignore them because how could I calm down when I could hardly think past the pain? "Zahra, I need you to listen to me. You need to drink this. It'll help."

I couldn't shake my head, but my screaming got louder when the person tipped my head up to drink. I wanted to push them away, but my arms wouldn't work. I finally got out, "NO!"

"I know it hurts, but you must drink this, please?"

"No! NO! NO!"

"Zahra! I promise you'll feel better if you drink this. Just listen to me."

Liquid is poured into my mouth and I splutter, then swallow. It feels good on my dry tongue and I moan as I swallow more of it. The figure whispers encouraging words as I drink and when I'm done, takes the cup away from my mouth. I'm laid back down gently and then they move away. I cry and hate the pain, wishing it would go away.

A few minutes go by I think before the person comes back. I finally open my eyes and see Roan there, a wet cloth in his hands to wipe my face. His eyes are dark with sadness and there are dark patches beneath them. I open my mouth to speak, but he shakes his head.

"Don't talk. It'll hurt worse. Just stay silent for now until the medicine kicks in." He takes the cloth away and then just sits beside me. After a while, the pain does ebb and it's more bearable.

I try to speak again. "Roan..."

He looks over at me and moves hair from my face. "You're going to be alright. I won't leave until you're better. Just rest."

I furrow my brows and feel another tear run down my face. "I'm scared," I rasp.

"I know," he whispers and crawls under the blanket beside me, then I feel him take my hand and interlock our fingers. "I know."

We fall asleep together and the next time I wake, it's dark outside and Roan has a fire going, giving off warmth to the point I'm sweating. I try to look for him, but can't move my head, so I call out his name instead. He's beside me instantly and I ask for water.

Roan carefully lifts my head and I sip the liquid to sooth my throat, then let him feed me some stew even though I didn't feel like eating.

When I was finished and Roan gave me another dose of medicine, I finally am able to breathe without sharp pains. I see he's panicked and that he hasn't slept well. I also see that he's upset about the accident, even though I caused it. I was the one who kicked the horse, not him. I was the one who got us thrown off, not him. I was the one who ran away without anything to survive, and all he did was come and brought me back to safety.

I swallow the lump in my throat and say, "Roan, I'm sorry."

He looks at me and shakes his head. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't scared you that first night, you might have listened to me. You might not have ran away."

"You came for me, though." And it was then that I understood he did care about me. "You came for me and you're helping me."

He nods. "You're my sister, whether or not you believe it. I want to help you and I'm trying and failing."

"Father wasn't like this," I say and feel more tears begin. "He didn't care like this."

Roan got closer and wiped my tears. "He wasn't always like that. He wasn't always so harsh."

"Will you tell me about yourself?" I ask. "Tell me about mother?"

He smiles. "You have her nose and lips. She was beautiful and was so happy to have a baby girl. She loved you very much and would have wanted to see you as the woman you are now."

"What was she like?"

"She was stubborn, but like you was curious about everything. She told stories every night and loved being by the water." He fingered the necklace around my throat and seemed lost in memory. "When I heard I was getting a baby sister, it was the best moment of my life, second to actually holding you for the first time."

"Did she love me?"

He glanced up at me and cupped my cheek. "Of course she did. Before she died, she was with you every moment of every day. She wouldn't let you go. She gave you whatever you wanted and because of that, you never cried. She spoiled you. You were her pride and joy of the baby girl she always wanted. And she never wanted to die so young."

"And father?"

Roan sighed. "Father was a different story. He loved our mother but he never wanted children. He didn't want that burden. And yet, for some reason, he kept you." It was silent for a while until he continued. "There are times though when I think he enjoyed our presence. But mother was the only one he cared about."

"What happened to you? Why did you leave? Why didn't you save me?"

"I wanted to. But father kept me from getting too close. After mother died, I had been asleep when he took you and disappeared. When I finally found him, he disowned me."

"Why?"

Roan shook his head. "I don't know. I think part of the reason he kept you was because you look so much like our mother. He still had a part of mother in you, but always recognized that you weren't her and he hated that."

"Where did you go?"

"I found a place I now call home." He smiled at me. "I have a family there and friends. But now I have found you. You've always been part of my family, no matter that father kept us apart."

"And Juniper?"

"She's a friend. A close friend I have counted on for years. She helped me find you, helped me when I was younger and I was lost."

I remember the night I first met June and say, "You tease her."

"And she teases right back," Roan says, chuckling. "Once you're better, and you are more comfortable, I'll tease you too."

"It looks fun," I say and frown. "Really fun."

Roan gazes at me for a while and has a smile on his face that seems almost sad, but maybe it wasn't. He said, "If you want fun, we must first get you up and moving again. After that, I'll show you fun. Deal?"

I smile, the first genuine smile I gave him since meeting him. "Deal."

He sighs and grabs the waterskin. "Drink up, then rest. It's going to be a while before you can do anything that involves being up and running around."

So I drank and rested. And for weeks afterwards, Roan and I got to know each other and I finally felt like we were family. We shared laughs, we teased each other, we comforted the other, and we shared memories of our separated lives. I didn't feel so lonely anymore. I didn't feel like running away. And for the first time, I felt safe and like I had a home.