THE JEALOUSY OF JALICE

Delilee ran as fast as she could, and yet every step seemed too far away. The paralytic dread in the initial seconds upon receiving news of her family’s arrest had vanished under the need to get the Temple. She ignored the throngs of people who eyed their alleged chieftess with shock as she plunged past them. The overwhelming fear that she would be too late only forced her into longer strides.

When she came upon the Temple steps, she ignored the possibility the hirishu might strike her down. As she dashed past them, she instinctively braced for the pain of that blow. If they killed her, so be it. Living wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t get to the judgement chamber in time.

By some miracle, no such strike came. Delilee sprinted up the steps and through the open Temple doors. The entrance hall stretched for what seemed an eternity. Her lungs screamed at her to stop, and her legs threatened to falter.

Halting at the rails of the top tier, she took in the scene below within seconds. At the sight of her family suspended in the air by some invisible string, she shouted without much thought. All she knew was that they were moments away from imminent death. As the echo of her cry faded in the chamber, heavy footsteps approached her from behind. She refused to break her gaze even as the two hirishu came up on either side of her. She clasped her hands at her waistline and assumed a poised posture , squaring her shoulders. Neck held erect, she exhaled heavily through her nose, suppressing the urge to hurl as a result of her frantic run.

“Your Tecalica asks that you hold your judgement, Sachem of the Tribes,” she said firmly.

The eyes of the Elders bore into her with deep fury at her interruption, but it was Hydrim’s attention she sought. She made sure his eyes were tethered to her as she moved down the aisle. The carved path sliced through the tiered levels that led down to the dais podium.

Although she’d sprinted to get there, she forced an elegant gait down the stairs to preserve her disguise. The Tecalica always moved with boasted grace—never with clumsiness or erratic need. The flight to the Temple would at some point demand explanation. But for now, a regal procession down to the podium was still necessary to avoid immediate suspicion.

She passed the bottom tier’s last step and crossed over to the podium’s dais, halting at its base without intention of climbing it. The Elders flocked on the second step beneath the Sachem, who loomed over them on the podium. Delilee stood steadfast, knowing it would be a mistake to appear superior to the Sachem. Staying on a lower ground level maintained that unspoken rule.

The Elders gave a disapproving look. It was impossible to miss their fiery stares, but Delilee continued to avoid direct eye contact with them. She despised the adoration that beamed from the Sachem’s face and resisted the impulse to recoil under the passionate gaze of his umber eyes.

Hydrim, staring back at her, seemed like a stranger. Despite their shared childhood, nothing about him felt familiar. She couldn’t believe the man before her was the same boy who had taught her how to fish—the same boy who had led her and her friends on long hikes through the forest.

Some remnants remained. He’d always been thicker and stronger than the other boys, and his tanned, olive skin defined naturally sculpted muscles that pressed against the grey fabric of his clothes. He maintained closely buzzed hair—an attribute he’d kept from childhood. Skin ink sprouted up past the collar line, linking individual squares and patterns in fluid, crescent arches of descending layers on the right side of his neck and face—a mark of Ikaul passage from his childhood.

In many other ways, he’d changed. Streaks of thinly shaven hair ran down the sides of his face before thickening into a full goatee trimmed to a point off his chin. A thick set of eyebrows hovered above stern eyes, which lacked the playfulness he’d had before becoming the Sachem. Instead he held a strained expression that rendered him detached and rigid but left his optimum physique intact.

As if to distract from this, the Sachem paraded in colorful or commanding garments that the tribes had never adopted before his reign. Worse, his attire was often composed of animal furs, pelts, or other accessorized wildlife parts. Delilee’s stomach twisted into knots at the sight of two lifeless snakes encased in tar and resting on his head. Each serpent connected in frozen chase as they consumed the other’s tail end. Black porcupine quills sprang up from the serpentine crown in a descending pattern, with the largest quills standing in the back and shortening in height as they curled to the front. In addition, the Sachem’s full-body tunic draped in the back as a cape, layered with long peafowl plumage in royal blue.

Refocusing, Delilee addressed the Sachem with a steady voice. “You’re casting judgement on people that did not commit the crime of my traitorous decoy.”

Hydrim gave a quizzical expression. “My Tecalica, this is a matter to be handled by the Elders and myself. You need not concern yourself with this. I can’t imagine how upsetting it could be for you.” His eyes flickered to the floating figures bathed in green light. “They are her ilk—kin of the decoy that attempted to kidnap you.”

Delilee bit her tongue. Interrupting the trial trumped even the ultimate danger she put herself in each time she drank the sour lyprow root. Her rash actions were out of character for the person she mimicked. Jalice would never have challenged the Sachem over this. In fact, she would’ve been oblivious to the entire ordeal. Delilee couldn’t recall the last time Jalice had set foot in the judgement chamber.

But this was Delilee’s family—her father, her mother, her siblings. They were about to be executed for her actions. Actions she couldn’t explain or justify to them.

She wrestled with the gnawing question of why the Sachem had chosen now to enact judgement. Her family had been arrested the night of Annilasia’s flight from the Fortress with Jalice. Guilt over not warning her family plagued Delilee, so she’d utilized her disguise as chieftess to remain aware of their whereabouts and status. A few inquiries and necessary feats of manipulation had lent her information that only the role of Tecalica could uncover. The news of her parents’ daily torture, and her siblings’ emotional abuse, only worsened her guilt. Yet their ultimate demise had been postponed, more than likely a decision made to try and elicit information from them.

Perhaps the Sachem had realized they knew nothing of their daughter’s insubordination. Or perhaps he’d grown impatient. Without Delilee in custody, he had turned to her family to quench his desire for retribution.

Don’t cry. She had to remember she wasn’t herself. She was Jalice, the Sachem’s Tecalica. Delilee collected herself in one short breath. She gave a pleading expression to the Sachem in the hope that he wouldn’t misinterpret her.

“My near kidnapping has troubled me over the last week,” said Delilee. “I’ve lost sleep over it, and I can’t go anywhere without fear. So, I hope you can understand why I’m interested in the punishment that’s enacted for that atrocity.” Delilee suppressed the panic that rushed over her as she thought about her parents and siblings, dangling above her head.

“No blame is placed on you, my beloved,” said the Sachem, his gentle tone far out of context. “I simply wish to shield you from seeing the unfortunate consequences this type of crime demands on those involved.” Brown eyes, like coals ready to be set ablaze with fire, stared back at her with intense zeal.

Delilee summoned a similar passion onto her face, hoping it entered her eyes as well. “I understand, my Sachem. But this is a complicated matter. As you know, the treasonous decoy is my cousin, and by blood, these people you’re about to execute are my family. The stars will witness punishment, but I wish death only on the decoy.” She gestured towards the prisoners above without glancing up. She didn’t want to see the terror they wore, or the rage they might be bestowing her as Jalice. The sight would break her. “Let their loss of her be the suffering they bear for their remaining years.”

The Sachem’s impassioned gaze wavered, and a frown tugged at his lips. “Your decoy no doubt was fed treasonous ideas from her kin. They’re Vekuuv. Those of that tribe have proven untrustworthy.”

Delilee’s mind raced to compile a response. “I am Vekuuv. Do you not trust me?”

His eyes softened. “I trust you always, Jalice.”

“Then trust me now.”

The Sachem considered behind a stoic expression. Delilee struggled not to falter in her falsely empowered demeanor. Fixating over the Sachem’s quietness bred worries in her head that he was suspicious and privy to her ruse.

His eyes broke away to observe the prisoners. A half snarl curled his lips, but it vanished quickly. Delilee paled. She knew that look. Annilasia called it the dokojin’s grin, and it always preceded something horrible. A shiver ran down her spine.

“The Tecalica is merciful,” said Hydrim. “She is a star in the night sky, ever leading me to brighter ways of seeing the world.” He paused and surveyed the prisoners. “The father and mother are to be sent to Vekuuv to finish their days in penance. The children will serve in the Temple.”

Delilee swallowed back a cry. Her lips twitched as the sound attempted to escape from her throat. Those who were sent to Vekuuv never returned. Delilee would never see or hear from her parents again. Hydrim had given them a death sentence. Most of her tribal kin had been exiled there. As for the Temple, a prolonged life of servicing vile and wretched souls awaited her siblings.

She couldn’t stop from trembling. Sahruum, don’t let him look at me. Tears formed in her eyes, but she willed them back into oblivion. Clenching her muscles, she forced the trembling to cease.

The Sachem searched her face for approval of his merciful sentence, and so she faked a smile of validating grace in return. I’m not Delilee but Jalice, the Tecalica of the Sachem and chieftess of the Unified Tribes. Her family was nothing more than prisoners. They were not her parents, brothers, and sisters. They were traitors who deserved punishment, if not so fatal a one as execution.