MANNA

As Manna watched them drag Karina from the room, she felt her heart breaking. She wondered if she would ever see the child again, if the last image she would have, of the girl she so loved, would be that of her pained face crying out in despair. And so Manna smiled at her student. She would not have Karina haunted by that same grief she herself would carry to the grave. The girl's life was only just beginning after all. 

Manna had smiled with every once of love she felt for the child she had raised as her own, hoping that the effort might give the girl at least some small comfort. To help Karina see that she had fully accepted her fate. That she was at peace. But once Karina was gone Manna could feel her strength drain from her body. She wondered how long she could possibly remain standing in front of these men who had condemned her.

Avery must have seen her slipping. He put a protective hand on her back and held her arm to help keep her erect. But Manna did not want his pity. This man, this vindictive little man who would do anything to gain revenge for his hurt pride. She did not hate him but she would not allow his murderous hands upon her. Resisting the urge to push him away, Manna perfunctorily removed his hand from her arm.

"I'm fine," she said quietly. Their eyes locked for a moment before Avery looked away with clear discomfort. It brought her a certain level of satisfaction. If he wished to take her life, it was his right by law, but it was certainly not her responsibility to make him feel justified in doing so.

"The Elder Nita Manna Sayers has accepted her sentence," Avery said, stepping away from her and addressing the assembly. "As we have decreed, she will be allowed to spend her remaining time as she chooses." He turned to her again. "Nita Sayers, you are free to go."

Manna bowed her head to him and then to the Council. "I take my leave of your honored presence with the knowledge that I have committed grievous actions against you in my secrecy, for which I will be justly punished," she said. "I am truly sorry for my deception against all who are assembled here today and our entire people. I hold no malice at your decision and fully accept my guilt." The room was deathly silent. Not a man among them returned her gaze as she looked across the Meetinghouse. Manna was glad to know that these men had, at least to some degree, forgiven her enough to feel regret at her eminent demise. They were not entirely proud of their ruling.

"This meeting is ended." Avery's announcement broke the awkward silence and many of the Council members began to rise, departing the meeting hall almost immediately, no doubt hoping to avoid facing her directly.

"Manna," Avery said, offering his hand. "May I escort you home?"

Manna found his audacity almost comical. Did the man imagine she had any desire to remain in his company voluntarily?

"I had understood that I was free of my own recognizance," she answered coldly.

"I was merely offering out of friendship," Avery replied.

Manna took a deep breath to tame the anger she could feel rising within her. She knew whose sway had likely determined the Council's verdict. She knew it was for the Council Leader's hurt pride that her blood would be spilled.

"Avery," she said, with as much calm indifference as she could manage. "I respect the decision of your Council and will, until my last breath, behave as befits my position, but do not think for a moment that there remains even a modicum of friendship between us." She brushed past him without waiting for a response, walking through the lingering crowd with purpose, ignoring their stares and the scattered comments of regret and sympathy a few men tried to lavish upon her. She did not want to hear their words.

In their decision, they had already spoken after all. They had no right to expect that she would give them anything now. They had condemned her. In her death, they would have her repentance. That was where she wished their interaction to end. If they had granted her seven days of freedom, she fully intended to spend them at her leisure, as far from the Council as possible.

Manna started down the path towards her home but quickly changed direction. She had spent far too much time locked within those walls. She wanted to be out in the open. She headed towards the woods. She had not gone far however before she heard the unmistakable sound footsteps moving in her direction. Manna cursed softly under her breath. She did not have any desire to speak with anyone at the moment. Manna increased her pace.

"Please wait!" The familiar voice called out to her and she stopped in her tracks.

Caleb

She did not turn but she did cease in her retreat, listening as his hurried steps drew closer, until she could hear his labored breath directly behind her.

"Manna."

She faced him. Her body rigid. They stood there for a moment in silence before Caleb grabbed her in a fierce embraced, crushing her body into his own.

It was then that the tears came. The tears she had been holding, viciously secreting deep in the bottom of her heart. The acid tears that she had worked so hard to keep at bay. Fiona's death, Karina's loss of innocence, the end of her own life. The tears poured out of her like waters from the mountains at the melting of the spring snow. He held her to him, his coat stained with her sorrow, her wordless grief.

Caleb waited patiently, holding her with all his might until she finally pushed him from her gently. Looking into his face she saw that he too had been crying, his eyes raw and rimed with red. Manna hugged his body again feeling a fresh wave of grief wash over her.

"Manna."

Her name again from Caleb's lips, his soothing voice settled in her ears as warm and comforting as his embrace. His hand stroked her hair as she leaned her head against his chest.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I did everything I could but...I could only do so much,"

The words tumbled out of him. Apology, regret, but he had done nothing wrong. She couldn't bare his guilt. None of this was his fault and she knew he had done everything in his power to help her. He always had. Manna raised her head and put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"Hush," she said. "Please stop. "What's done is done. Let us not waste the precious time we have left with regret." None of it mattered now. A decision had already been made and she accepted it.

He grasped her wrist and kissed her finger as he pushed her hand down gently. "I need you to know. I need you to understand," he said, still desperate to convince himself of his own innocence though she already forgave him completely.

"I spoke for you. Once it was agreed that the girl would be spared I thought only of you. There were others as well. Not all wished to see you pay the ultimate price. You need to know that. Avery was just too strong. The councilmen... They were angry. Afraid..." His words failed him. The pain in his eyes was heart breaking.

Manna reached up, taking his face in her hands, and stopped his words as she placed her lips on his. Caleb did not resist. Their mouths pressed to together, first gently and then with more urgency. Drinking in each other with the desperation of mad men. His large hands on her body, so strong and yet so gentle.

"I love you," she whispered, breathless. "I love you completely and I always have."

At her words Manna felt him tense. He grabbed her shoulders in his hands, holding her at arms length.

"I won't let them do it," he said, his face intense. Almost frighteningly so.

"Caleb," she said gently, reaching out a hand to touch his chest. She could feel the frustration emanating from his entire being.

"No!" he said, pushing her away and shaking his head. "No. Karina was right. They cannot do this to you! You have been acquitted. There is no purpose served in your sacrifice."

"Caleb, it is my time. I accept it."

"It is that vengeful bastard Avery Trenton who should die!" he fumed. "The God should strike him down for even considering exacting his petty revenge on you. You of all people. You who have done nothing but serve. You who have given everything to the Senmin for your entire life." He stretched out his arms and spun around in a circle calling out his accusation into the silent woods. "Avery Trenton should be condemned to death for his sins against the Nita!"

Manna grabbed his arm to stop his orbit and slapped him hard across the face. "Stop it!" she hissed, horrified by his reckless outburst. "What if someone was to hear you! Do you wish to die yourself?"

"I wish to tell the world the truth," he answered, unfazed. "Whatever the consequences, I cannot stand by and pretend to agree with this miscarriage of justice. I would happily follow you to the grave. We can live among the stars Manna, reunited in heaven. Finally given the chance to live together. The chance we were so cruelly denied in this life."

"Caleb stop," she begged, but his fervor only seemed to grow.

"We will watch over our people from above. We will guide Karina with our love from afar. In death no one will keep us apart!"

"No," Manna said firmly. Her harsh tone seeming to call his attention back to her. "I cannot bare to have your blood on my hands," she said. "Would you be so cruel as to make me do so?"

Manna watched as Caleb's manic rage slowly began to sober, his face falling into broken sorrow once again. But she did not want his sorrow. It would serve no more purpose than his anger. Manna took his hands in hers and kissed them gently.

 "No frowns either my love," she said. "You rail at the fates, but there is nothing we can do to fight the path set before us by the heavens. I am so tired. I am prepared to rest." She grasped his arms tightly. "But you, Caleb, I can see it. You still have so much life left within you. So much strength. Your journey is not yet done. You are needed here." She leaned into his body and his arms wrapped around her again.

"We will be together again someday," she said. "In my heart I know is it true. We will be reunited in the stars, just as you said, and there will be no pain or sorrow, and all of our sins and mistakes made in this life will be forgiven. But for now, we must part." She looked up at him, hoping to see some level of acceptance in his face, but he would not meet her gaze.

"And you will let the Council take their revenge?" he asked in exhausted frustration. "You will accept the petty misuse of their power?" When she did not answer, Caleb pulled her even closer. "They do not deserve your life."

Manna turned to face him, a smile on her face. "Do not let it concern you another moment," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What's done is done. Please, for my sake, concern yourself only with what is here and now." She craned her head up to kiss him gently.

He sighed and nodded."But I will stay with you," he said. "I will not leave your side until the very end. And if it is discovered, let them say what they will. You have already been acquitted of treason. Even if they learn of it, here is no crime in our association."

"Caleb," she began to protest, but he shook his head silencing her immediately.

"Manna, this is my final request of you. Do you not owe me at least that much? Let me deal with the consequences if there are any to be had. Trust that I can handle my own safety."

She nodded slowly. "I will. Thank you, Caleb. Thank you for everything that you are. If I lived one hundred years more I could not possibly express how grateful I am that you were part of my life."

"You and me both," he answered with a smile.

Manna sighed, contented to feel his arms around her. To be in the presence of the one person that had ever made her feel truly safe. In the end, he was with her, dedicated to remaining by her side. It was more than she could ever have asked for. Maybe more than she truly deserved. Caleb was hers, and she was his, and nothing could ever change that. Not the Council, not death, not even the God himself.

"Let's go home," Caleb said softly, wrapping his arm around her waist. Manna nodded and allowed him to lead her towards the path to his cabin.

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Anyone else majorly ship Manna and Caleb? I just kinda love them. Someday they might even get a prequel to tell their story ( its in the works as a side project at the moment;-)). Thoughts on the chapter? On the council's decision and Manna's reaction? Karina chapter coming on fri.