… Fifteen Years Earlier, Jintessa Time …
Jannah ran through the village, past houses built on stout bamboo stilts as thick as her arm, the windows dressed in bright fabrics that flapped in the stiff breeze. She careened around a corner and onto a narrowed roadway lined with shops but empty of customers. The stores had closed at noon for the second high day of Peca-Shin, the words translating roughly into “The Days of Freckled Teeth.” The name alluded to the carved faces of the gods, etched into the soaring golden pillars of Temple Coricancha.
Jannah grimaced. Every year it was the same. As the high days approached, the inevitable teasing began. Born with white speckles on her dark cheeks, she was different from the average Pecan. Tight ebony curls framed a tanned face filled with large brown eyes with golden streaks that caught the light. She snarled down at her reflection as she trotted by a puddle of water on the ground, examining her overly large teeth.
Peca-Shin was a revered holiday, anxiously anticipated throughout the year. The most ardent adherents began preparation for the next year’s celebrations as soon as the sun set on the second day. Typically, it was filled with puppeteers performing for the crowds. They carried puppets of every size from tiny handheld marionettes to full-size animations. Plays were enacted on every street corner and bamboo walkway. Makeshift stages were erected in the center of the larger intersections. The two-day festival culminated in the grand parade, which wound through the village and up to the temple on the hill.
School-aged children crowded the stone bleachers, grabbing the closest seats, wriggling with anticipation. Each child clutched an empty bag, ready to swarm the pit before the raised stage, for the puppets threw sweets and nuts to the waiting children.
But Jannah was not in a hurry to join the others. She had learned long ago to avoid the festivities, for the teasing always began. She could hear the words in her mind already. A blush spread across her dark cheeks at the remembered embarrassment.
“Jannah, Jannah, eyes so bright,
Cowardly running, always in flight.
Jannah, Jannah, skin so dark,
Go and hide, you’ve still the mark.
Jannah, Jannah, hair of bear,
Witches daughter, demon’s heir.
Jannah, Jannah, teeth so white,
Carrier of the crystal blight.
Jannah, Jannah, mind insane,
Peca’s heart, Citadel’s bane.”
Preorder the next exciting installment in this award winning series, coming in June!
Genre: Fantasy
Jannah ran through the village, past houses built on stout bamboo stilts as thick as her arm, the windows dressed in bright fabrics that flapped in the stiff breeze. She careened around a corner and onto a narrowed roadway lined with shops but empty of customers. The stores had closed at noon for the second high day of Peca-Shin, the words translating roughly into “The Days of Freckled Teeth.” The name alluded to the carved faces of the gods, etched into the soaring golden pillars of Temple Coricancha.
Jannah grimaced. Every year it was the same. As the high days approached, the inevitable teasing began. Born with white speckles on her dark cheeks, she was different from the average Pecan. Tight ebony curls framed a tanned face filled with large brown eyes with golden streaks that caught the light. She snarled down at her reflection as she trotted by a puddle of water on the ground, examining her overly large teeth.
Peca-Shin was a revered holiday, anxiously anticipated throughout the year. The most ardent adherents began preparation for the next year’s celebrations as soon as the sun set on the second day. Typically, it was filled with puppeteers performing for the crowds. They carried puppets of every size from tiny handheld marionettes to full-size animations. Plays were enacted on every street corner and bamboo walkway. Makeshift stages were erected in the center of the larger intersections. The two-day festival culminated in the grand parade, which wound through the village and up to the temple on the hill.
School-aged children crowded the stone bleachers, grabbing the closest seats, wriggling with anticipation. Each child clutched an empty bag, ready to swarm the pit before the raised stage, for the puppets threw sweets and nuts to the waiting children.
But Jannah was not in a hurry to join the others. She had learned long ago to avoid the festivities, for the teasing always began. She could hear the words in her mind already. A blush spread across her dark cheeks at the remembered embarrassment.
“Jannah, Jannah, eyes so bright,
Cowardly running, always in flight.
Jannah, Jannah, skin so dark,
Go and hide, you’ve still the mark.
Jannah, Jannah, hair of bear,
Witches daughter, demon’s heir.
Jannah, Jannah, teeth so white,
Carrier of the crystal blight.
Jannah, Jannah, mind insane,
Peca’s heart, Citadel’s bane.”
Preorder the next exciting installment in this award winning series, coming in June!
Genre: Fantasy
Used availability for Susan Faw's Heart of Peca