Druidess Found (Druidess Trilogy Book 1) by Machelle Hanleigh (interesting novels to read txt) 📕

"Even for you this blatant disregard of the Queen's authority is out of character. Shall we see if we can get you back in her good graces?" Shimani gestured towards the direction the other villagers moved.

"How is it you seem to always be in the Queen's good graces?" Moto asked with a fair amount of sarcasm.

"I don't get caught." Shimani turned Moto towards the Queen's hut and evening repast.

"Whose going to tell the Queen the girl isn't coming?"

"Me." Shimani said. "I am still in her good graces."

"Fine." Moto cast a last glance at the guest hut. He turned and walked with Shimani towards the evening repast. Their conversation became indistinguishable as they drifted farther from the hut.

Kaily closed the door she cracked open to eavesdrop on the conversation. She leaned against the door and slid to the cool floor. The conversation drifted through her mind as she replayed what she heard. Moto could get her home, but he didn't. Why? What did he want from her? What did he think would be accomplished by leaving her among his people who didn't want her there? Why?

She forgot about what Shimani brought her to eat as she sat there and the tears fell. She hated being at the mercy of others. She hated not understanding what they wanted from her. She wanted to go home. Laughter and music drifted in through the openings where the wall and ceiling met. Her tears fell harder. She was okay being alone as she'd always been for the past five years. Why did she care that the people didn't want her there? The sounds from the evening repast continued to drift in through the opening. Her tears continued to fall even harder. She did care. She'd always be an outsider among the Kahoali. She wanted to go home.

Chapter Seven

"How's our guest this morning?" Shimani asked Moto during one of their breaks from training.

"Fine," Moto wiped the sweat from his face and neck. He hung the towel back on its hook. He took the water skin Shimani offered and took a long drink.

"Fine?" Shimani said. "That's all you have to say?" Shimani grabbed his pole and walked back to the center of the clearing they used for training.

"That's all there is," Moto hung the water skin next their towels. "She's sleeping." He grabbed his pole from the tree it leaned against and walked to meet Shimani in the middle of the clearing. Moto spent a fair amount of time cultivating the area to become the perfect training circle with soft moss carpeting, thicker than in most of the other parts of the forest. He even took the time to coax hooks to grow from the trees themselves. The clearing stood far enough away from the village no one disturbed them, yet close enough it didn't take long to get to, although, with Moto's ability to portal that hardly mattered. He hoped that as other younger males came into their powers that he would train more of them than just he and Shimani. Very few of the Kahoali males or females came into their abilities these days. He could count on one hand how many youths sought Crystal Lake in the last few years. The Kahoali continued to lose that part of their heritage.

His attention riveted to Shimani who leaned against his pole looking far too amused.

"So, let me get this straight. You couldn't wait to see Kaily last evening and this morning you’re content with 'she's sleeping' and 'she's fine', and nothing else? Seriously, didn't you even have a conversation with her, Moto?"

"She was sleeping!" Moto said. He swept Shimani's feet out from under him as payment for his lack of focus on the task. He trained there. They did not answer questions a about a certain girl!

Shimani bounced back to his feet unfazed and took up a fighting stance. "You expect me to believe that Kaily slept? All things considered; I know I wouldn't sleep much if at all in her circumstances."

Moto mirrored Shimani's stance. "You are not in her circumstances."

"Did you check on Kaily or cheat?" Shimani advanced aggressively on Moto.

Moto gave ground while he deflected each of Shimani's blows. He concentrated on not losing his head to respond to Shimani's question which suspected to be the point. When Shimani drove Moto to the edge he let up. "None of your business," Moto came at Shimani hard to drive him back. After all, fair is fair. In all honesty, they were well matched sparing partners. Shimani learned well, and now made Moto work for his victories. Although, today Shimani didn't need to work quite as hard as usual to drive Moto to the edge. He tried to ignore the reason, but he couldn't since Shimani's eyes kept darting to a nearby tree that certain girl hid behind for a while now. Moto suspected Shimani just become aware of her presence what with his sudden persistent questions about her.

"Shall we talk about how slow you've become in your old age then?" Shimani asked.

Moto didn't even dignify it with a response. He focused on advancing his attacks on Shimani so hard that he couldn't draw enough breath to speak. It worked, for the most part. Moto, himself, found it difficult to keep his attention from straying to the girl. He tried to keep his attention on preventing Shimani from making a fool of him. No matter what he focused on, his thoughts strayed back to her, the smoothness of the wooden pole in his hand in comparison to the smoothness of her skin beneath his touch. He forced those thoughts from his mind, tried to force those thoughts from his mind. All in all, Moto found it difficult to focus on Shimani which was the only reason Shimani's blow caught him unawares square in the chest. The blow knocked him off his feet, and he landed a short distance away hard on his back.

"My apologies," Shimani offered as he held his hand