Callillilli, or Calli, watched the youths playing in the orchard from inside her room. She smiled wistfully; gone were those days of joyous energy, gone was the sweetness of innocent childhood. Her mother may had gone into denial (and no doubt into another man's bed), and her sister Brachet may seek revenge for her father's cruel death, but Calli was trapped in her own self, unable to seek a course of action. It would be twelve years ago tomorrow. Brachet was still searching for Lothe, and no doubt she would now feel a burning desire to kill him even more than when she had first set out. Kitt would act as if nothing had changed until the sun set, when she would sob uncontrollably for her lost husband.
Calli fidgeted with discomfort. The dress she wore choked off her air supply, however pretty, and the young people, about her age, maybe a little younger, some of them older than her sixteen years, were enjoying themselves immensely. Calli fought between remaining a dignified, strangled 'lady', or a free and breathing child. After a few moments, she chose the latter.
One change into a looser, plainer dress and a few flights of stairs later, Calli was barefoot in the sweet grass of the orchard. The gentle sunbeams danced merrily in the damp shadows, and Calli thrilled to hear laughter and the scuffle of wild birds flying from tree to tree. She skipped nimbly to the group of children and was accepted into their enthusiastic happiness. They all joined hands and danced in a ring, singing 'fae' songs meant to entice those ephereal beings to give the children faery presents. Calli couldn't think of any present better than to simply forget the twelve years past and drift aimlessly in a world of freedom.
As the suns drifted lower toward the horizon, the younger children scampered home, leaving the older ones to sit and chatter with each other. Calli tired quickly of the petty, small-time gossip that the 'lower-class' class girls had to talk about, and soon she regailed them with more feisty tales of where she lived.
It grew darker, and many of the young men and women excused themselves, speaking of chores and mealtime. However, one young man stayed behind, his gentle eyes aglow. Calli didn't notice him; she was busy brushing bits of moss and mud off of her clothing and hair and skin.
"Miss?" The deep voice startled her and she turned toward the boy.
"What?" she asked.
"If I may be so bold as to ask your name?" He walked to stand in front of her, and bowed, taking her hand and gently kissing it, his eyes locked on hers. Calli rather liked the feeling, and held out her other hand. The young man laughed and obliged.
"My name is Callillilli. What is yours, fair sir?" Calli inquired.
"Ah, a lovely name to fit an even lovelier lady. Mine is True'Min." Calli tasted his name on her tongue, and smiled.
"Please, if you wish to call me anything, call me Calli. It is much less of a mouthful," Calli said.
"You may call me True."
True'Min much reminded Calli of her long-departed father, not so much his face, but his firm build and his voice, his manner so chivalrous. True was an apprentice to his father, who was the local creature Healer. He enchanted Calli, and soon they were chatting like old friends. The moons lit the orchards almost better than any lantern, and the stars were bold and beautiful in an indigo sky.
"True?"
"Mm?"
"Do you..believe in...Fate?" True smiled indulgently, and Calli felt a fool to have asked him so early in what she thought of as a relationship. She realized True was probably simply flirting with her, and that he thought her a mere child compared to his twenty-one years. But True surprised her yet again.
(Those opposed to kissing, don't read on)
"At some moments, I do believe in Fate, quite strongly." True stopped walking, and so did Calli. He tilted her face upward, and she smiled shyly at him. "As I do now," True murmured, and kissed her.
Calli whirled in a celestial sky, and as True kissed her gently, she responded with the energy of her youth and the shyness of her inexperience.
"Calli.." True murmured, and she opened her eyes. The moons were almost gone, only three of them left above the horizon. Shades of red and orange ripped the indigo open, and it faded..
"Oh!" Calli turned away and True kissed her face and her neck. He took her hand and kissed all the way up her to her shoulder. Calli pushed gently at him, and he moved away.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Calli pointed to the suns.
"I have to go home; my mother will be worried sick." Calli turned suddenly shy. "Will I see you again?" she asked tentatively. True nodded and whispered warmly in her ear:
"Fate."
What happens Next?