Ch. 1 | The Complication

A secret romance between the son of a clan chief and a commoner hits a potential problem.

Long nimble fingers picked at the green grass as Seth Thimira sat against a tree, waiting. It was quiet out there in the woods beyond the main village of his clan. Only the rustle of the leaves and the chirping of birds. No hustle and bustle of people going about their lives. No braying of donkeys or neighing of horses. No shouting fathers. 

The young man’s hazel eyes gazed off at nothing, just letting his mind be still and at peace for once. That was not a common thing in Seth’s life, it seemed. Peace. The constant business was something that came with being the son of a clan Chief, he supposed. His clan bore the name of his ancestors, and that put the weight of his peoples’ future on his shoulders. There was a problem with that, however, and the sound of footsteps coming closer alerted Seth that said complication was approaching.

“You out here, Seth?” called a soft voice as another young man, maybe six feet tall, came into view through the brush. His jet black hair, grown out from where it had been cropped short a few months previously, was the first thing visible, followed by his blue eyes. Those gorgeous eyes. Seth had fallen for them instantly. The man behind them, however...

“Yeah. I’m here, Raven.” Seth stood from where he had been sitting, taking a step towards the man. Raven smiled softly, stroking Seth’s cheek before gently pressing their lips together in a soft kiss. In just about anyone else, such a tender gesture would make a heart flutter. Not Seth’s. The only flutter in his heart was that of anxiety. There was always the threat of being caught. They could be kicked out of the clan, or executed in various ways for being together. Why did he stay with Raven if he did not feel the same love the other man felt for him? Rebellion. The longing for excitement and a chance to express himself in a way he never could in front of anyone else in his clan. He thought it was worth the risk. There was only so long he could manage to hide who he was before his real self began spilling over in front of his father.

Pulling away from the kiss, Raven gazed into the smaller man’s face. Seth put on a soft smile to hide the emptiness in his eyes. “You doing okay today?” Raven asked, lightly brushing Seth’s short, light brown hair out of his face.

Seth shrugged. “Okay as ever, I suppose.”

“Chief getting to you again?” Concern crossed Raven’s face as he asked the question, continuing his gentle touches. He’d always been a very physical man when it came to romance. Seth had learned that quickly after they had begun seeing each other when they were seventeen. 

Three years they had been together in secret. Three years. And still, Seth had not learned to love him in return. But who else was he supposed to find among the Thimira people? He couldn’t very well run either. With his mother unable to bear more children, that would leave his clan leaderless. Once he took over after his father died or passed down the mantle of Chief to him, perhaps he could change things. Though going against the clan religion was not likely to be well-received, Chief or not. And besides that, he had to survive long enough to get there. Every time he and Raven met was another chance for someone to find out about them. Kita help us, he prayed silently, knowing their god would not be listening to two sinners like themselves.

With a sigh, Seth shook his head. “No, it’s nothing. I promise.”

“He didn’t hurt you again, did he? I swear, if that man doesn’t die on his own I’ll kill him first for laying a hand on you.” Raven’s expression had gone dark as he wrapped his arms around Seth’s waist, holding him closer to himself. 

Seth gripped the back of Raven’s gray tunic, leaning his forehead into his chest. “It wasn’t anything that bad, I promise. Stop worrying about me, okay?”

“I will never stop worrying about you. Not until that evil man is dead or has stepped down.”

There had been worse days. It had only been a slap across the face that morning from his father. At the moment, Seth could not even remember why his father had been angry with him, but it did not matter anymore. Even if he did not love Raven the same way, he felt safe in his arms. Warm. Comforted. “I know,” he murmured, burying his nose into the soft cotton fabric.

The two men stayed like that for some time, just holding each other and feeling each other’s breathing. But eventually, when their legs got tired, they sat in the grass by a tree together where they talked for hours about anything and everything that popped into their heads. Seth leaned his head on Raven’s shoulder, their fingers entwined together as the shadows of the trees lengthened with the slow lowering of the sun in the sky. 

“It’s getting late, Raven,” Seth said, suppressing a yawn. His eyes were closed, his lover’s soft hand caressing his hair and playing with the little braid that hung down in front of Seth’s left ear. “Father will be expecting me.”

“I don’t want to let you go…” murmured Raven before he sighed, gently lifting Seth’s chin to give him a kiss. “But I know you’re right. Be safe, okay? And I’ll be on time tomorrow, I promise.”

“You better be.” Ruffling Raven’s hair, Seth stood and stretched. One last smile cast back at his lover and the young man was on his way again, heading back to his home where if he had the choice, he would never go back to again. Well, technically he did have a choice, but the choice he so badly wanted to take would mean the death of his clan and his family name. He couldn’t do that. Only one thing would get him to leave, but he had done a good job of keeping himself and Raven from being found out.

It was not long before the buildings of the village were once again visible through the trees. Being the home of the Chief and his family, it was the biggest of the villages in the clan’s territory. Homes and shops lined the dirt streets and sat along the bank of Lank Arnmeda, making for a pleasant and peaceful-looking place. People smiled as he passed by on the street, calling their greetings to him. Right, he was the Chief’s son. He had to act like it. Seth straightened himself up, holding a stiff posture as he made his way through the winding streets towards the largest home. It was set up on a hill overlooking the rest of the village. It was tall and stone, like a castle built for many more people than their family held, but rather plain, Seth had always thought. Not very colorful, other than the red trim around the windows and the red flags hanging from the parapets. Though he supposed the carvings of bears, lions, and magical creatures on the stone doorframes and windowsills made up for it. 

Entering into the courtyard of the manor past the guards at the front gate, Seth walked silently and cautiously, not wanting to draw attention to him as he was already late for dinner. However, he paused by the stables, his eyes meeting those of his mare, Skydancer. The young man’s gaze softened as he stroked her outstretched nose. “Hey there, Sky,” he whispered to her. “One of these days you and I will get out of here. You’ll get to run in those big open fields, just like I know you want to.” Seth sighed. Like that would ever happen. The horse nickered quietly, nuzzling against his fingers as he bid her goodbye again.

Seth’s next destination was the dining hall, where his family was waiting for him around the long table. His father at the head, his mother to his left, and his own chair… halfway down the right side. He did not even have the privilege to sit directly next to the Chief.

“Where were you?” asked the tall, burly man at the head of the table, his mouth hidden behind his bushy red beard and his beady eyes barely visible under his thick eyebrows.

“Reading,” Seth replied simply, taking his seat and serving himself off of the platters of food that lined the tabletop. The faster he ate, the faster he could get out of there.

His father frowned, his eyes disappearing. The woman beside him continued eating. Slowly and silently, her eyes not lifting off of her plate. “For the entire day, eh? You missed your training, boy.”

Seth flinched at being called ‘boy.’ The Chief’s tone was angry as he spoke the word and Seth instantly knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. “I got… really into Kita’s Words…” he lied. Hopefully bringing religion into it would quell his father’s fury.

Thankfully for the young man, the Chief seemed to relax slightly at that. “Finally taking your faith seriously, I see. But next time I say you have training, you will be there. I will not have a weakling for a son, understood?” he added harshly.

It was better than Seth had expected so he nodded firmly and quickly devoured his dinner. He did not wish for anything else to come up in questions or conversation. Better to just leave while he still could. Seth stood and excused himself from the dining hall as soon as his plate was clear, heading straight to his room. 

Seth resided in one of the upper rooms of the castle, his window holding a beautiful view of the tops of the trees that stretched out around the village and the sunset splashing colors across the sky from behind the treetops. He spent many nights gazing out of it and that one was no different.

As he was standing there, his elbows resting on the windowsill as his mind drifted into nothing, he felt something small strike his cheek. A small pebble clattered onto the windowsill. Then another flew past his ear, landing on the floor of his room. Glancing down, Seth spotted the black-haired young man staring up at him, his hand full of small pebbles.

“Raven, what are you doing here?” he hissed. No one was around, thankfully, but what his lover was doing was incredibly risky. 

“Someone saw us earlier, Seth,” Raven whisper-shouted back, his voice urgent.

That made Seth’s heart lurch. He could feel it rising in his throat following a wave of panic. “Are you sure?!”

Raven shook his head. “Not entirely, but I heard something run off into the woods after you left. It could have been someone who would turn us in!”

Just as quickly as the panic had arrived, it faded away. Seth sighed, raising an eyebrow at Raven. “It was probably a deer or a rabbit. There was no one else out there with us. You’re just trying to get me to leave with you again, aren’t you? You know I cannot!”

The black-haired man huffed in exasperation. “You fool, I’m not trying to manipulate you. Yes, you know I want to leave, but I really thought--”

Seth held up a hand to stop him. “Listen, Raven, if someone had caught us we would already be in the executioner’s hands. We’re going to be alright,” he assured the other man, smiling.

“Fine,” Raven consented, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not going to leave you behind. But if I was right, not even Kita can save us from your father. I love you, Seth. Sleep well.”

“You too.”

The young man disappeared out of view once more and Seth closed the window. The view had been spoiled by the possibility that they may have been caught. He did not want to believe Raven. They were always so careful, there was no way… right?

No. He was wrong. So very very wrong.