Page 72 of Moon Chosen

Mari smoothed her sleeve down. “No, my skin’s not moving. It’s what happens when I draw in sunlight, and it’s no more disgusting than drawing down the light of the moon.”

Sora shook her head. “This is insane. Are you really Leda’s daughter?”

“Of course I am!” Mari balled her hands into fists. “Don’t ask that! Don’t ever ask that again!”

Reacting to Mari’s outburst, Rigel snarled and moved forward threateningly toward Sora. The young Clanswoman skittered backward, her heels digging furrows in the soft moss.

“Stop him! I didn’t mean anything bad!”

Mari touched Rigel soothingly. “It’s okay. Don’t bite her. Yet.”

“Yet?” Sora’s voice squeaked.

“Yet,” Mari said.

“Hey, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you or him. I think we need to calm down and reason through this. And that’s not me trying to tell you or your canine what to do. That’s just me trying to make sense of a very strange situation,” Sora said.

Mari drew a deep breath and then slowly she sat beside Rigel. She kept her arm around his neck, but that was more for comfort than control. Unless Sora actually attacked her, Rigel wouldn’t do more than growl and snarl at the girl. Or at least Mari didn’t think he would.

“Okay, let’s make sense of it,” Mari said. “Ask your questions. I’ll answer them. Then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”

“All right. Did a Companion rape Leda?”

“No! Mama and my father were in love,” Mari said.

“That’s impossible.”

“And yet here I am, so it’s obviously not impossible.”

“Okay, if that’s the truth then where is this Companion father of yours?” Sora asked.

“Dead.”

“I don’t want to offend you, but your Companion father being dead seems rather convenient.”

“No, it’s not. Had Galen lived he and Mama and me were going to leave here and find a place where we could be together as a family, but he was killed by his own people before we could get away,” Mari said.

“How do you know that?”

“Mama told me all about it—how they fell in love—their plans to go away—and how Galen was followed by his people and killed when he wouldn’t betray her or me to them. She watched it happen. I was just a baby, so I don’t remember it. But Mama remembered. She remembered it every day of her life.”

Sora studied Mari silently, and Mari saw something shift in the girl’s eyes. “What?” Mari asked.

“The sadness of it surprises me, that’s all,” Sora said.

“Ask your other questions and let’s get on with this.”

“Right now I can think of only one more. So, the truth is you’ve trained your entire life as a Moon Woman, and the only reason Leda didn’t name you as her apprentice and heir was because of that canine and your eyes and skin?”

“It’s more than just my eyes and skin. My face is different, too, but I cover it.” Mari’s fingertips brushed her brow and her nose. “So is my hair. I dye my hair. Well, I used to dye my hair.” She grimaced in disgust when she touched the matted mess. “I’ve stopped.”

Sora squinted at her. “It’s light colored, like a Companion’s hair, isn’t it?”

“Is that your last question?”

Sora frowned. “No, that’s just an observation with a question attached to it.”

“Yes, it’s light. Or I think it is. I haven’t seen it free of dye and clean for a long, long time.”