Akira Rises Read Free Page A

known to stand up to the young village bullies with nothing more than a stick and her tongue. Granted none wanted the baron to find out anyone dared lay a hand on her, and that fear of the baron in itself was protection, but she had already got into a fist fight pushing match with a village boy beating a dog. Akira ended up with a black eye, a new dog, and a new respect. The villagers feared for the boy. However, word came back from the manor’s servants that when Akira was questioned about her black eye, she told her father she had thrown a rock at a tree, and that the rock bounced back and hit her in the eye. The villagers never forgot how she protected the foolish boy.
    The villagers also appreciated that more than once she had hooked her war bred horse, Pegasus to a plough to help till the earth.
    No one wanted to see her grow up, get married and leave them. On the other hand, they did not want her to become a nun or a shriveled up old spinster. They did not want to see her free spirit dampened and subdued. She was of marriageable age, and rumors were her father would be accepting suitors soon.
    There was something special about Akira, beyond her kind acts. That she was the antithesis of everything her father was, was a miracle. The villagers watched over her as if she were one of their own. She was their child. That her mother shared her daughter with them endeared Lady Shy to the villagers even more than her other acts of kindness. The sons of Lady Shy had yet to prove they would not follow in their father’s footsteps. Akira defended her brother’s reputations. She would sometimes criticize their actions, but she allowed no one else to do so. Never did Akira defend father.
    It seemed as if Akira had a magic that made everyone around her feel good. Akira proudly wore the flower garlands little girls would give to her. And when Akira asked for lessons on how to make a slingshot, there were several boys that volunteered to teach her. Under the watchful eye of a village elder, Akira learned how to hit a target with amazing accuracy. She became as accurate as the best of the young boys in the village.
    She cried when she killed her first rabbit. When she realized how much her companions needed the rabbit meat for their supper, Akira dried her tears. In front of her companions, she said, “Oh mother, all that we have, mother of the forest and animals we thank you for this rabbit. Oh rabbit we I thank you for your life, for your body provides sustenance.”
    The smallest boy looked at the older boys. “What is sustemince?”
    “Sustenance you idiot.” His older brother elbowed him as he corrected his little brother.
    “It means it will fill your belly,” another boy added. Everyone chuckled when the little boy once again mispronounced his words. “Oh! I like sustamince.” He smiled a goofy smile.
    Akira was about to present the rabbit to the smallest boy who hunted with her. She wanted to thank him and his older brother for teaching her to use the slingshot. Akira realized if the boys were caught by her father’s men with a poached rabbit, they would be in trouble.
    “I am afraid if I send anyone of you home with this rabbit, you will be accused of poaching. I do not need the meat. So what do you think of starting a fire and roasting it and eating it here with me? I have never roasted a rabbit. You can teach me.” The boys stared at her. They grinned.
    Such was Akira’s thoughtfulness for their safety. If they could fill their bellies in the woods, they would need less food at home. To thank her, the youngest boy searched for the most round and even small stones he could find, round stones, suitable for a slingshot. He presented them to Akira shyly.
    “Thank you for sustemincing our bellies,” he said. He looked quite proud of himself using the new word. His older brother was about to correct his pronunciation when he caught the warning look in Akira’s eyes. Akira accepted the stone gifts with a gratitude