‹ Prequel: A Good Run
Status: 2 of 7 volumes. Active.
The White Doe
Seventeen
The other werowances surrendered to his plea, but when the day came that Manteo's wife told him that their pale child had experienced her first bleeding, Manteo knew the time had come. With the moon blood came womanhood and White Doe was no longer a child.
After her flow had run its five-day course, Takes From Eagle called White Doe to him and she came at once, as always, eager to please her beloved father. "You sent for me, Father?"
He nodded sadly and indicated that she sit on the floor of their large house and she did so. "Your mother tells me you have become a woman." By the firelight, he saw that her face reddened. It was a reation unique to her; Croatan skin was so dark that the rush of blood could not usually be seen.
"Yes," She whispered. "I am now a woman."
"You are more than a woman, daughter and the time has come for you to accept your duties. Surely you have noticed that you are different from the others?"
"My skin--"
He waved the words aside. "Nothing so trivial as that. Your healing. Your skill. Your strength, your agility..." He took a branch that would soon be used to feed the fire. "Squeeze this as tightly as you can."
She obeyed and he felt a shiver run through him as the branch, thick as his arm, shattered. Calmly, he took a sharp splinter the width of his hand from the shattered branch and he jabbed it deep into the soft flesh of her left arm.
She cried out and pulled the stick free. But once she had wiped off the blood, she saw that the wound was already beginning to close.
"Do you see? You are a gift from the gods, more than we had dreamed. You are the Slayer and whether you will it or no, you must be trained. It is a brave and noble calling. Do you accept?"
She lowered her eyes. "I didn't want to be different... But I suppose I have always known." She looked up at him and her gaze was steady. "I will be the Slayer, Father, if you will teach me how."
After her flow had run its five-day course, Takes From Eagle called White Doe to him and she came at once, as always, eager to please her beloved father. "You sent for me, Father?"
He nodded sadly and indicated that she sit on the floor of their large house and she did so. "Your mother tells me you have become a woman." By the firelight, he saw that her face reddened. It was a reation unique to her; Croatan skin was so dark that the rush of blood could not usually be seen.
"Yes," She whispered. "I am now a woman."
"You are more than a woman, daughter and the time has come for you to accept your duties. Surely you have noticed that you are different from the others?"
"My skin--"
He waved the words aside. "Nothing so trivial as that. Your healing. Your skill. Your strength, your agility..." He took a branch that would soon be used to feed the fire. "Squeeze this as tightly as you can."
She obeyed and he felt a shiver run through him as the branch, thick as his arm, shattered. Calmly, he took a sharp splinter the width of his hand from the shattered branch and he jabbed it deep into the soft flesh of her left arm.
She cried out and pulled the stick free. But once she had wiped off the blood, she saw that the wound was already beginning to close.
"Do you see? You are a gift from the gods, more than we had dreamed. You are the Slayer and whether you will it or no, you must be trained. It is a brave and noble calling. Do you accept?"
She lowered her eyes. "I didn't want to be different... But I suppose I have always known." She looked up at him and her gaze was steady. "I will be the Slayer, Father, if you will teach me how."