Free The Dove (Prophecy Series) by Sharon Sala

grip on the ball. His throw was strong, but Tyhen’s legs were long. She was almost home before the ball left his hand.
    She caught sight of the ball from the corner of her eye as it sailed past the pitcher. She threw herself into a slide. The shift she was wearing rode up her legs as she slid into home in a cloud of dust.
    “Safe!” the umpire called.
    Tyhen was grinning as she got up dusting off her backside. She looked around for Yuma and saw him laughing and cheering just before her teammates came rushing to congratulate her. Her home run had won the game.
    “Tyhen! Tyhen!” they shouted while laughing and clapping her on the back.
    The sun was in her eyes and she could taste blood where she’d bitten her lip as she slid home, but this was a feeling she would never forget. Someone thrust a cup of juice in her hand. She drank it thirstily then handed it back for another.
    The players began gathering up their belongings, making way for yet another pair of teams to compete. They could have stayed to watch, but Tyhen was hungry and Yuma was waiting.
    One of her teammates patted her on the back, still smiling from the victory. “You are so fast! You have to promise be on our team every festival,” she said.
    And just like that, the joy was over. Tyhen managed to keep the smile on her face as she nodded in agreement, but that was never going to happen. When Yuma came up behind her and slipped a hand around her waist, she leaned against him.
    “I’ll bet you’re tired and I know you’re hungry,” he said. “Let’s go find something to eat.”
    Even though she felt hollow inside, she kept a smile on her face as she nodded in agreement.
    “That hit was amazing!” Yuma said.
    “It made a loud noise,” she said.
    “Sounded like a gunshot,” Yuma said, then caught himself. She might not remember what that meant, but when she didn’t comment, he realized where her thoughts had gone and knew there was nothing he could say to make it better.
     
    ****
     
    Singing Bird visited with the friends she’d invited to the palace and ate the food she served them without giving herself away. She hid her sorrow as they left and continued to keep it within her all through the evening, until the sun was gone.
    She was standing at the window, staring up at the moon, when emotion finally overwhelmed her. She dropped to her knees and began to sob. It was a full-circle moment. She’d lost Niyol in the Arizona canyons, and now she was losing his daughter as well. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. She’d sacrificed herself to change Cayetano’s fate and fallen in love with the spirit he became. Now she was losing the child she’d made with the Windwalker, and it was like losing him all over again. How many times could a heart break before it quit beating?
    Cayetano heard her crying before he opened the door, and the sound lent speed to his steps. He raced into their quarters, slamming the door behind him as he scooped her up in his arms.
    “My love! My heart! What has happened to make you so sad?”
    She just shook her head and covered her face as he carried her to their bed. His voice was gruff, betraying his building anger and concern.
    “Has someone harmed you? Did they insult you? I will find them and break their neck.”
    “No, no, nothing like that,” she said and began wiping her face, trying to get her emotions under control. The last thing they needed was for Cayetano to go on a rampage. “Tyhen told me this will be her last festival. She will be gone from Naaki Chava within the year and we will never see her again.”
    Cayetano closed his eyes against the pain. This was his fault, his penance, his price to pay. The woman he loved more than life had not only sacrificed herself to save his soul and their people, but now she was sacrificing her only child to the quest as well.
    “I am sorry.”
    Singing Bird heard the devastation in his voice, quickly wiped away her tears, and put her arms around his