A Court of Heritance and Destiny

Chapter 13 She

Snow covered the ground outside of the cabin, the winter solstice had arrived with its darkness. She sat there on the sofa again, the only palace she truly used in the cabin. The tea in her hands warmed her as a winter storm raged outside.

Winter solstice... A night of celebrations. A day she had spent listening to Dorotheas speeches about The Mother and Fate. Hours after hours of listening hidden in her former room. Far from everyone. In some ways it was the same now as before.

She, alone, listening. But this time she listened for the wind that sang outside of the cabin, the sparks from the fire, the snow that hit the window. She sat alone by her own choice. Not feeling ready to face her family on a day like this, one so celebrated and important. But they knew she was there, she was not hiding, not being forced to stay away.

Orion had left a few days before, and was due to come back once the storm allowed for travel. It had been hard seeing him leave, he had been there for so long now. But the stillness she now had around her was needed. A moment for her to reflect.

The last four months had gone past fast, so much had happened, and still it felt like a hundred years. Not once since coming here had she been sick, not once had she been in pain. Tired yes, exhausted yes, but in a different way. Now it came from training, not from something outside of her control.

She placed her tea down and wrapped her arms around her legs. She had done much, and things still remained to be done. Like facing her family for real.

"You can just be there for a moment you know? Just to say hi." Orion had said before he left. "They would all be happy to just see you."

"I am not ready." She had said back. And that was true, she was far from ready. To be ready meant that she needed to face herself, face her past, face the parts that she had not known about before. It meant accepting and embracing a new legacy, heritage and destiny. Something she was far from ready to do.

But a part of her wanted to know who they all were. To have faces to the names Orion sometimes spoke of. To see how a family more loving and supporting then the one she had grown up with could be. She wanted to talk about The Mother, Caldron and Fate, hearing how they related to the teachings. She had talked a lot with Orion, learning about how he had grown up with his mother. A priestess who had lived in Sangravah, but left. A possibility she had never fully thought of before. That she could have asked to join the Order, and left once they needed her back. It was still an alternative.

She had played with the idea as a child, but that had soon turned to dust when it became clear what Doro- No, she would not say her name again. Not even thinking about it. When it became clear what her abusers had decided for her, not Fate, no, they had decided her path. They had decided where she was heading in life, and now she could pick her own path.

Maybe joining the Order was what she would do now? Yes it would mean that she needed to leave the Night Court, and the blood family she had here, but if she did it, then... Then she didn't need to know them any closer, she could start a new life, pick a new name just like Orion had told her to.

The night outside was pitch black. Truly capturing the darkest night of the year... To leave also meant leaving this place, this night, behind. It meant leaving her training, traditions, and other things she was yet to discover.

Her former life had been a path set out by someone else, the path to the Order was clear and set. But the one she was on now, leading into an unknown future. One she could claim as her own... She got up and kept the blanket tightly around her as she walked outside into the night. Taking the glowing stars high above her.

The crisp winter air filled her lungs, making her wake up from her deep thoughts. Snow was something new to her, just like this cold, but it felt like home. Like something she had needed all of her life. A part of her that had been lost, but now returned.