Chapter 6
As I returned to the house, my mother was sitting on the old wooden bench overlooking the flower beds. The light from the kitchen window was illuminating the front garden, and my mother was snuggled up under a thick wool blanket.
My father had planted the garden many years ago so that my mother was never without fresh flowers.
The summer flowers with their bright colors had disappeared and the russet colors of orange and dark red had taken over.
My mother was sitting there between the flecks of color and I noticed once again how gray her hair had gotten and how paper thin her skin looked.
I silently cursed the Fates for not letting me heal her.
She smiled brightly as she saw me approach, but the happy tilt of her mouth quickly disappeared when she took in my taut shoulders and pale skin.
“Something has happened, Mae, what is it?”
I slumped down next to her.
“Do you believe in destiny, Mother?” I asked and her brows rose up in response.
“Well… That is a difficult question to answer… what has brought this about, my darling?” She stroked her hand over my hair.
I blew out a breath. “I don’t know… I see you sitting out here in the garden and I think you are right where you belong.
You are content, despite everything the Fates have taken from you, and I wonder where I fit into all of it.
I was given a heka and I heal people, but I can’t heal you.
” Her eyes softened and she overlooked the garden.
“I believe the Fates weave our lives. Every thread in its place, every knot purposeful. But I can’t tell you what the Fates have planned for you. That is for you to find out, darling.”
I sniffed. “I used to believe that too. I even used to find comfort in it, the idea that everything was already written, that every choice and mistake had its place in the pattern. When I believed in destiny, I didn’t have to be afraid of the future.
I could tell myself that no matter what I did, it would all unfold as it was meant to.
” I swallowed hard, my voice faltering. “But after…” My throat tightened.
“… after what happened in Tyskir, I stopped believing.”
My mother patiently waited for me to finish my thought.
“Someone approached me today and asked me to make a decision and I don’t know what to do.”
Because now, standing on the edge of this decision, I felt unsteady, as if the threads under my feet were fraying.
What if I left, and it was the wrong choice?
What if staying was the greater mistake?
The Fates didn’t whisper their secrets to mortals like me.
How could I know which path was the one I was to take?
They say destiny is a guide, not a chain.
But what if that wasn’t true? What if the moment I stepped outside the lines, I unraveled everything?
And yet… wasn’t there a part of me that wanted to unravel it?
To see what lay beyond the edges of this carefully woven life?
To stop being the dutiful daughter, the hidden mage, the girl who fitted neatly into everyone else’s expectations?
My mother looked at me intently, silent for a few heartbeats, and then asked gently, “He has called for you, hasn’t he?”
It took me a moment to catch up. My mouth opened, then closed.
“What… what do you mean? How did you know?”
She patted my cheek.
“I guess it’s time to tell you the truth. Let’s go inside and get some tea. Tea makes everything better.”
I followed her, my thoughts spinning—questions tumbling over one another faster than I could form them into words. My mother moved with her usual calm, but I caught a flicker of tension in her shoulders as she carried two mugs over to the sofa.
“The day the doctor told me that I was expecting, a man came to the house. He explained that the pregnancy was a gift by the Fates and that my daughter would bear a special blessing. He said that one day, when the world was in danger, Auretheos would be calling her to aid him defeat the evil. For a long time I was scared of this day, but the years went by and nothing ever happened. And when you turned thirty and there still had been no sign of an old God calling you to his aid, I was sure that the prophecy had been wrong. But now… it must be a dire situation indeed, if Auretheos himself is calling you to his side.”
The God of Wisdom had called me. Me. The one who had destroyed lives with her heka and who would never know peace for it. The Fates might have chosen me for this path, but what if… what if it wasn’t about the choice they’d given me, but the choice I was brave enough to make?
How could I leave my mother? How could I explain that some part of me felt like I’d lose her either way? That if I stayed, I’d lose myself?
I had no answers to my questions and so I simply laid my head on my mother’s lap.
“What am I going to do?” I asked.
She gently stroked my hair and smiled. “You will go to the God realm and do what you always do. You will be a light to those that need you and you will do so in the knowledge that you are one of the greatest blessings of my life.”
* * *
I slept in the next morning. The surgery was closed on Solis, the last day of the week, and so for once I had no reason to wake up before the sun was up.
Sleeping had been difficult, I had recounted everything that had happened the previous day over and over again.
Truthfully, my talk with Caelan had left me with more questions than answers.
Shoving my blanket aside, I decided to take a quick, cold bath before putting on some fresh clothes. I opted for a light blue dress that matched my turquoise-colored eyes and braided my wet hair before going downstairs. My mother watched me wearily as I helped myself to a cup of tea and a scone.
“There was a man here earlier, who said he needed to speak with you urgently,” my mother informed me. I had hoped that maybe Caelan would give me more time to consider his request, but I had a long list of questions for him anyway and started to get ready.
“Did he say where I could find him?” I asked.
“He said to meet him at the old Peterson’s farm,” my mother supplied while continuing to knit. That was an odd place to meet, but then again was there anything not odd about Caelan?
I made my way across town through the narrow streets of Rivermond and stopped at a yarn store to buy some more supplies for my mother.
When I finally made it to the old barn, I called out for Caelan, but got no response.
I sat down in the shade of the barn, taking up a book I had brought with me and waited.
After thirty minutes of reading, I started to ask myself whether my mother had heard correctly.
Standing up I rounded the barn once, but there was no sign of Caelan anywhere.
I was about to walk back to my original position in the shade, when I heard a noise behind me.
Before I could even make out who was behind me, a sharp pain exploded along my spine, the force of a kick sending me stumbling to my knees.
Another blow landed across my shoulders, knocking me down fully this time.
With my face in the dirt, I tried to reach for the dagger in my boot, but as soon as I moved my arm, a heavy leather shoe crashed down on my hand.
“If you are as clever as the Oracle thinks you are, you’d stay still now, little birdy,” a raspy voice murmured. “Took us long enough to find you in this Fate’s forsaken place, puppy. We won’t let you escape now!”
The shoe on my hand eased and I felt the man gripping me under my arms, heaving me up to my feet. The pain in my shoulders and back was intense, I felt sick to my stomach and there was blood pooling in my mouth from when I must have bitten my tongue while falling to the ground.
“What do you want? Did Caelan send you?” I hated how meek and fearful my voice sounded.
“I don’t know who you think you were meeting here.
You were probably hoping for a little romp in the hay with the local farmer, huh?
” I heard laughter behind me and saw from the corner of my eye that a group of people were approaching us.
The man who had kicked me spit on the ground while tying my hands at the back.
He turned me around and I could finally see the face this unpleasant voice belonged to.
He was older, probably in his mid-sixties and his face looked like old leather.
His eyes were a clear blue, nearly white.
From the tip of his nose down to his throat his face was covered in a black mask, making it impossible for me to interpret the expression on his face.
He was wearing the same uniform Bogus had been wearing, a dark red ensemble with golden buttons, not matching his weathered face and hair.
The group of people I had seen approach were wearing similar attire.
I counted. There were 19 people here, including the man who had restrained me.
“They will be paying us a nice bonus for capturing you, little birdy.” He chuckled and pushed me towards the barn.
It was a warm day, the ground was dry and as we walked, clouds of dirt rose up from the ground.
It wasn’t the first time I had found myself in an unfortunate situation like this, but certainly the first time I had no idea who my attacker was.
Don’t anger him, be apologetic, validate his feelings, escape.
Breathe. Don’t anger him, be apologetic, validate his feelings, escape.
I took a breath.
“Excuse me sir, I think you have the wrong person. I don’t know why you are here or what you want from me, but I am supposed to meet someone and they are probably wondering where I am by now.”