Zania’s Discovery

It’d been four years since Zania’s parents died, leaving her with her godmother, Esmeralda. Zania had misgivings about her. Some nights, she saw her conversing with a shadowy figure, and ever since, Zania kept her distance.

On a cold day in the middle of the twelfth month, Zania decided she was going to find out what her godmother had been doing those times she had been whispering to the suspicious figure. Zania slipped out of the house and glided over to the edge of the clearing, where dense underbrush provided her with cover. Zania observed all the commoners going about their business. It was almost midnight when Zania saw Esmeralda slinking across the fields of waving grasses. Zania followed silently.

When Esmeralda stopped, she entered a small area. The dark figure was already there. He growled, “Esmeralda, how did it go? Did you succeed in putting the poison in the Kurone’s cup? For if we are to take over the tribe, their leader must be dead.”

“Oh, yes. All went as planned.”

“Good. Now we’ll feed the entire tribe my poison. It’ll . . . I smell human.”

The figure pointed its bony fingers to where Zania was. He advanced and swiped at her. Zania ran. She ran with no destination in mind.

Finally, she ended up at the entrance to her village. Dawn was breaking, and Zania knew this would be the best time to announce what she had found. She rang the bell, calling everybody to the clearing. Zania called out to them, “People of the Grasslands, I have made a discovery! Last night I followed my godmother, Esmeralda, into the woods. Lately she has been doing that. So, when she reached her destination--”

“Wait!” Esmeralda burst into the village, gasping. “What she says in untrue! I didn’t meet with a shadowy figure and plan to take the tribe as mine! I’d never do that!”

“You just stated that you are guilty. I hadn’t gotten to the part when you converse about treachery, and here you are, just arriving out of the woods. She’s guilty!”

“Ay!” the crowd cried.