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The next morning I rose with the sun. Its light was bright and warm and it seemed to melt away all the worry and despair of the previous night. I slowly made my way through the maze of unfamiliar rooms and corridors looking for Kiel. I found him in the backyard, crouched down; it looked like he was a kid making mud pies. "Mr. Kiel," I said approaching him slowly not to startle him..."What are you doing?" I said looking over his shoulder. He smiled then uprooted a long orange thing from the ground. "Carrot...Hime. You can eat it." Came his reply after he handed it to me. "It came from the ground...Are you sure its okay to eat it? My village didn't have things like this. Mostly just rice and meat." I protested. "Yes, after you wash and peel it, it will be fine. I'll show you how in a little while." He said uprooting another carrot from the ground then he placed it in the basket at his side. I help him pick some other vegetables from the ground and he told me about them, giving them names like potatoes and radishes. "I grow my own vegetables Rayne...it's less expensive and they are better for you that way. Some villages have their vegetables grown in another place and then someone delivers them to the village later. Usually by the time the come to the village they are already over ripe and taste bitter." Kiel explained as he walked up to a well and lowered the bucket into it. He pulled it back up and begun washing the vegetables in the water. "The well water is only used for cooking or washing things you eat...the lake is for washing clothes and bathing..." Kiel said as he pointed to the lake in the distance.

"We are somewhat poor here since our lake and rivers offered no gold to the selfish travelers that passed through here without a second look...But it's okay. I have everything I could ever need ...food, shelter, good health, everyone in the village...even you Rayne. I am happy with that." Kiel said as he peeled and chopped the vegetables then he placed them in a large bowl and mixed them together. "Salad...Rayne try it." Kiel said as he severed me a good portion in a smaller bowl. I tried it and to my surprise it was delicious. Kiel was right the vegetables tasted great dispite coming from the ground..."I'll go catch us some fish for dinner..." Kiel said standing up. "Fish?" I said more to confirm that’s what I heard him say. "Yes. Fresh fish will go great with the white rice I just brought this morning while you were asleep. I'll let desert remain a mystery though...You'll just have to wait and see." Kiel replied with a cunning smile.

"Kiel, I think I'm ready to tell you what happened now..." I said after I ate the salad and drank a little more water. Kiel put his chopsticks across the top of his empty bowl and looked me straight in the eyes...as if to say 'you have my full attention'. First I told him about the Amber Heart and how it was passed from my father to my mother then to me...then I told him about how I heard arguing from the living room and climbed between the two mattresses of my bed...my favorite hiding spot. Once things got quiet again I came out and found my parents covered in red and not moving...I found this (shows Kiel the cloth with character "Sabyo" written on it) and when I tried to get help no one listened...so I left the village...I guess that’s when you found me." Kiel came over to me and hugged me then he said "You’re fighting to survive now Hime Rayne...Don't worry though, I'll help you as much as I can." Kiel's words brought me to tears...not like the tears I shed last night or the day before, these were tears of relief...because I wasn't alone anymore.
{End of Chapter 2}