Sheer netting covered the cot to keep away the mosquitoes and other insects that shared this living space. She’d had a full night of meeting various Elders and speaking with the women of the Topetenia tribe.
Elisa, one of the younger jaguar shifters, had come to the table where Rome and Kalina sat with the Elder Alamar for dinner. They’d eaten on the Elders’ Grounds, which to Kalina’s shock was not Elder Alamar’s personal lodgings. The Elders’ Grounds was a huge hut divided into two halves. On the one side was the temple where the Elders met and prayed for guidance; that side was sacred. The other half was a large space with heavy tables made of cut and sanded wood and benches designed for special occasions. Apparently, announcing the joining ceremony for a stateside Faction Leader was a pretty big deal.
Elisa was garbed in what Kalina’d learned was the traditional outfit for female shifters—a soft leather top with intricate and colorful beadwork that looked like an elaborately decorated bikini top, and a matching skirt that put Kalina in mind of a rap video dancer. She noticed that this was the attire for younger female shifters, while the older women opted for more flowing cotton sarong-type dresses. None of them wore pants—which for Kalina was a huge issue.
“The joining will be tomorrow night when there is a full moon,” Elisa whispered as they made their way down the aisles of tables toward the front entrance.
“Can we see a full moon from here?” Kalina had asked and quickly felt like a colossal idiot for daring.
Elisa smiled, her skin the color of golden-brown leaves. Her eyes were an intricate mixture of orange and gold, which Kalina figured would transform easily to the eyes of a cat. Her dark hair had been cut viciously to her chin, but it worked for the female Kalina sensed might be just a bit unconventional, even by the forest standards.
“Full moons are beautiful in the Gungi. They are sacred times for commitment and renewal. That is why we have joinings at that time.”
She held Kalina’s hand and with her other hand pushed through the screened door of the hut so they both could walk through. Once outside Elisa led Kalina down a winding path to another hut. When she stepped inside, Kalina was greeted with a variety of different scents.
“It is purification,” Elisa said. “Breathe deeply, let them move throughout your body. It will prepare you.”
“Prepare me for what?” Kalina asked while inhaling once more.
“For taking your companheiro.” This new voice was deeper, raspier, and came from Kalina’s left.
Instantly she looked in that direction to see a wide woman with a long graying ponytail that stretched down her back. She was wrapped in dark red material from one shoulder down to her ankles. A thick dusky-tinted shoulder was bare, as well as beefy arms and fingers that folded in front of her generous midsection.
This was an older female, Kalina thought. Not because of her staunch build and webbed eyes, or even the graying hair. It was the look in her eyes, the knowledge stored there that gave her away. She was a woman learned in the ways of the Gungi, one of wisdom whom all females most likely went to for guidance. Kalina didn’t know whether to be fearful or thankful to Elisa for bringing her here.
“This is Magdalena. She is a Seer of the Topetenia.”
Kalina wanted to ask what a Seer was but something kept her from doing so. Maybe it was the stern way in which the lady, the Seer, was eyeing her. Instead she cleared her throat and said, “You have a lovely place.”
Once again she looked around the interior of the hut, which was a filled with candles and incense. There were several tables, some high and some low, all crudely built but sturdy looking. On each was at least one candle along with clay pot burners filled with heating oil. In the far corner of the room there was a fireplace with wood that crackled beneath glowing flames. Along the walls slim sticks jutted from invisible openings, all burning at the tips, filling the space with a spicy aroma.
Alongside another wall hung a dress of flowing white material that was as see-through as a layer of gauze. Along the neckline was more of the intricate beadwork she’d seen on Elisa’s top, except this was different. The beads, unlike Elisa’s, were not multicolored but gold and frosty white. They bordered the neckline and slim sleeves that grew wider at the bottom. They also sparkled from beneath two layers of wavy solid white material at the very bottom.
Elisa whispered in her ear. “This is the dress you will wear to the joining. It is made by the older women when a joining is announced.”
“But he just announced it,” she spoke to Elisa, her eyes never leaving the dress, as if the material were somehow calling to her.
Elisa shook her head. “Elder Alamar knew before he left for the States this would be needed.”
So he’d known a hell of a lot longer than Kalina had.
“You are Topetenia,” Magdalena interrupted. “We believe in loyalty and commitment. Your parents believed and were forever joined.”
At the mention of her parents Kalina’s heart thumped louder. “Did you know them?” she asked, her voice sounding eager to her own ears. She didn’t care. All her life she’d wondered about the people who’d had her and given her up. Wondered why she hadn’t been good enough for them and continued to not be good enough for anybody to keep. If this woman and her scent-filled hut had an answer, Kalina wanted to know.
For a moment Magdalena looked as if she wouldn’t speak, wouldn’t dare tell her about the people who’d created her. Kalina was more than prepared to yell. They’d known about her all along, this tribe of people who’d left her out there alone all her life. They’d known she existed and that someday she’d come back. That’s why they’d designed that dress. She’d bet her life savings the dress fit perfectly. It was beautiful and had almost brought tears to her eyes if she weren’t still full of so much doubt about belonging here.
Magdalena continued, “They were good and honest. It was not their fault that you could not stay.”
“Were they forced to give me up?”
“The choice was never their own. Their lives were soon ending. It was a sacrifice they make to save you, to keep you safe.”
“Safe from who? From what?” Rome had told her the Rogue Sabar wanted her, but Kalina wanted to know why.
“You are of natural power, they knew this. They knew others would want that power. In the Gungi they cannot protect you, so you go away.” She stood a little straighter, her gaze grabbing hold of Kalina’s and refusing to waver. “Now you are back to claim your rightful place as a leader of our people. A leader to walk and fight beside her companheiro forevermore.”
Something about those words, about the way she spoke them, created a shift inside Kalina. Not the weird kind of shift she’d felt when her cat had taken over, but a welcoming revelation. Words couldn’t quite explain it, but her eyes felt brighter; what she could see through them clearer.
“This belonged to her,” Magdalena said gruffly, reaching into one of the deep folds of her dress and pulling out a necklace.
She handed the necklace to Elisa, who quickly snapped it around Kalina’s neck. Kalina’s fingers went instantly to the shiny piece of onyx that hung from the corded string.
“It is the symbol of the Topetenia,” Elisa informed her. “The mark of the jaguar.”
Inside the circle it did look like the paw of an animal, but it wasn’t just the look of it that struck Kalina. It was the feel of it against her fingers, a simmering heat that the cat inside her immediately responded to with a leap.
“I wish I could have known them,” she said in a low voice.
Elisa smiled wanly. Magdalena cleared her throat loudly.
Elisa took a step back from Kalina and gave her a more serious look. “As part of the purification, she will cleanse you for the ceremony.”
Kalina wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think she wanted to be cleansed by another woman. At that precise moment a smooth almond-like scent wafted through her nostrils and Kalina’s shoulders relaxed.
“It will open your mind,” Magdalena said. “You are a shadow but you do not know the Gungi. You do not know our ways or our thinking. I will show you,” she finished, moving her body with an agility that shocked Kalina.
When she pulled out a stool and turned to grab one of those clay pots, Elisa came to Kalina’s side and guided her to the chair.
Elisa’s voice was soft as she spoke. “Do not be afraid, it is customary for the mother to cleanse and prepare
