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with these men, you will travel farther than anyone could follow, and you will ne’er see anyone from your family again. You will die and be reborn, your former life reduced to a fading dream.”
    Syawa was still on his knees before me, but I would not look up at him, for I knew he must still be smiling with those expectant eyes. Beside me I heard Eliza whisper something, and then my mother leant across William to take my upper arm in her hand and squeeze tight. I felt more than saw Syawa tense up and heard all the spectators inhale and hold their breath as one being.
    “Yer not actually considerin’ goin’ off with this puny devil, are ye?” Mother gasped, and the translator’s hands flew. “Yer the daughter of a nobleman, the great-great-granddaughter of kings, and yer of pure marriageable age! How dare ye e’en consider abandonin’ yer poor mother in her darkest hour? M’husband’s gone, the only son left me here is wounded, and yer sister has lost her man an’ boys both! ’Tis yer Christian duty to care for me the way I cared for my mother all her days. If the heathen says you may refuse him, refuse him you will, y’miser’ble slut!”
    The crowd stirred as they watched the gestures of the translator. William whispered he was prepared to fight should the savages turn on me when I refused the offer. When I continued silent, Liza hissed, “Katie! D’you not see how unhinged this dark runt is? He grins like a cat night and day, he fumbles endlessly with his hands, and he boasts of wild dreams as if ’tis a badge of honor, not a mark o’ madness! How can y’e’en consider goin’ off with him?”
    Mother snorted derisively. “Yer just fool enough to do this, ain’t ya, Katie? So let me tell ya what’ll happen if y’do. That little squirt there believes yer something y’know damned well yer not. ’Twill go hard on you when he realizes how wrong he was! Mark m’words, Katie—he’ll make ye pay for his mistake! And ye’ll pay dear!”
    I thought of my mother’s marriage, of all the marriages I’d seen through my seventeen years. In a flash, I saw the infinite hardships of my early days, the perpetual quarrels and recriminations, the constant conflicts and endless posturing for power. I saw all the potential outcomes for my life if I stayed within the bosom of my family—the struggles, the contempt, the shame, and the greed. ’Twas all so petty, so painful, and so utterly meaningless. I believed with all my heart that Eliza was right and Syawa was most likely mad, but for the life of me I could not understand why I should choose sanity o’er madness when sanity hurt so much and madness seemed so sweet. I could feel my mother’s claws digging through my sleeve into the flesh of my upper arm, and I squirmed the same way I did when I was five and she was trying to keep me still in church. As I moved, my gaze shifted and I happened to see Syawa’s face.
    He was staring at me with such warmth, such affection, such complete and utter confidence. Yes, he was short and strange and perhaps simple-minded and undoubtedly insane. But he made me feel so special, so treasured, so important. I’d ne’er felt that I mattered at all, much less that I mattered so much. Sad to say, I’d ne’er in my life felt appreciated in any way, and it was intoxicating, that feeling. I loved it. I wanted to keep feeling that way.
    Besides, I ne’er could pass up a chance to torment my mother.
    I came back to myself, suddenly, as if the me that had been watching these events from the edge of the forest floated right o’er the crowd and fell back into my body. I jerked my arm from my mother’s grasp to crawl over to Syawa. I knelt before him and lifted my right hand to point to my chest. Then I made a walking motion with my fingers, moving toward him. I pointed at him and nodded.
    Syawa lifted his face and whooped in joy. The entire populace joined in, like a pack of wolves howling at the moon. Only my family did not