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Chapter Two - All The Right Reasons

     Mara sat waiting for the door to open, desperately listening though she knew it was pointless. She had been here for nearly two hours and had failed to hear a single word. Her stomach felt heavy to her, awkward. The bottom of her belly bared a bump she had never seen before the last few weeks. She had never expected this to happen, never hoped for it, and yet here she was...sitting, waiting, suffering. If she was to say it was not in part for herself she would be lying, and that was one thing Mara did not do. She would not lie. What she did was wrong on some level, but her feelings were real. She had loved Adel, in every way possible, and this was the product of it. A child born of mixed blood and love. Surly that ought to count for something.

      The room on any other occasion would prove to be most comfortable with its ample supply of seating. Rich, velvet curtains loosely covered windows. It was unfortunate, Mara did love the sun. Unable to help herself, Mara stood to run her hand along the deep amber chaise across from her. The shade, she thought, resembled the highlights in Adel's hair. A pain shot through her heart and a tear fell weakly from her eye bringing the bright green pigments dancing to the surface. She had loved with all of her heart, with out caution, carelessly. Now here she was, paying for it.

     The door opened slightly and the council flowed into the room. They were radiant, even through her pained vision, she could tell this much. Perfect in every way. Strong and powerful. They flowed with an unnatural grace, almost as if they were not touching the ground at all, but floating just above it.

     Taking seats around one of the deep wooden tables resting in the room, Iara gestured for Mara to join them before she started to speak.

     “We have come to a decision. As you well know, Adel and yourself have broken an important law of our kind, perhaps the most important. Not only have you disregarded the elemental boundaries, but you have created a child of which none of us can predict the outcome of with any amount of certainty. The possibilities are endless. Tales have been passed down of mixed children possessing powers, also of children who bear no power at all. Weak children who suffer a painful existence until they meet an untimely, unkind end. This child could bring war between our kingdoms. It could entice us to turn on our brothers and sisters for power. We do not like to admit this possible, but any logical mind can see that it is indeed a valid worry. Even is we did manage to avoid a war between out kind, we could not avoid a war with the others. If they were ever to hear of this it would be only a matter of time before they came for the child. They would not look past the possibility to possess such great power. You do understand out our concern, do you not?”

     Mara felt as if her heart was being cut open, pain searing, burning in her chest. Her throat was on fire as she tried to swallow around the lump quickly forming, cutting off her breath. Her eyes were burning and the room was quickly blurring before her.

     “Our decision is made. You will remain here, out of sight from the rest of the kingdom. We will tell the others that you have left to rid yourself of child and recover before you return to your old life. Here we will nurse you, Avanees and Adomas will perform the delivery themselves. When the child is here, we will then place it in the care of a human, in the mortal world. There, the child will grow, showing either the extent of its power or the lack there of. If the child is to have little or even no power, then it will life a safe life in the short amount of time it has with the least possible suffering. If it proves to be too powerful, we will deal with it then, provided more information. No one must know of this, not a single word must ever leave your lips.”

     Mara had no idea how she found her voice or words to use, her heart was broken indeed. She was unsure if she could ever feel any emotion after this, her hearts capacity full to the brim and leaking its own sorrowful tears.