Simple Fate

1. Destiny

Dareia Blackstead knew that she wasn't special. She knew that she was never going to leave her tiny, sleepy town of Aldenia. She was never going to explore the world or do anything of importance. No one would remember her once she was gone. But Dareia Blackstead was perfectly content with this--as long as she could live peacefully and comfortably, she didn't mind a bit if her life faded into an obscure blur of menial events.

So, when Dareia's mother gave her an old ring for her eighteenth birthday, she didn't think much of it. She didn't care for the story that her mother wove for her about the ring; a story about the generations before her that had owned it, and how it had come to represent the perseverance of the Great Blackstead Name. Dareia found this story quite displeasing indeed, for it only reminded her of the misfortunes that had taken the Blackstead family from one of greatness to one of complete inconsequence. She had never seen the wealth or power her mother waxed-poetic about. But she didn't mind; she liked her life, and herself, exactly the way they were.

Even after her mother passed, leaving her very much alone in the world, Dareia never wished she could return to a time when the Blacksteads were still being invited to dine with the queen. Never daydreamed about wearing fancy dresses and eating exotic dishes. No, she went about her business as usual. She went to do her work at the textile factory during the day, came home, alone to her tiny flat and read her adventure stories at night, and always paid her rent on time. The only person she ever thought to call "friend" was her landlady, who she only saw once a month. Not many people noticed or remembered her, and that was quite alright.

Until one day, while Dareia sat by the warmth of the stove, reading a particularly enthralling story, when she started hearing a very strange noise coming from the cupboard.

"Could I have rats?" she wondered with a frown, for she remembered a time when she had to help rid her house of rats when she was very young, and both her parents were still live. Her father, not one to waste anything, had cooked them up and served them for dinner, and thats what they ate for almost an entire week.

"They ate our food, so now we eat them. That's how life goes," he had said.

Dareia pulled the cupboard door open reluctantly, but immediately found that it wasn't rats at all. Instead, she heard more clearly a voice.

Not only was it a voice, but it was singing, and very badly, too. Such a wretched, tone-deaf howl, Dareia wanted very much to cover her ears, but she was faced with the much bigger problem of possibly having an intruder in her home.

"Who's in there?" she called. "Please come out before I send for the constable!"

"I can't come out, Dareia..." the horrible voice sang from somewhere within. "Come and find me, Dareia... come and find me..."

She quickly fetched the candlestick she'd been using to read by and held it up to the open cupboard. The flickering light cast wavy shadows over the sacks of flour, grain, and potatoes stored there, but there was no one to be seen.

"Where are you hiding? Show yourself!"

"You put me away, Dareia... You must find me Dareia... You must claim... your destiny!"

She took a cautious step inside, holding the candle high, but there was still no one there.

"In here! In here!"

The singing was so close, and she peeked behind the sacks of food and other storage boxes, but saw nothing. The voice began to sing a long, drawn-out note, and Dareia winced at the sound.

"Alright, alright! I'm looking for you, could you just stop that awful racket for a moment?"

"Your destiny, Dareia! Your destiny..."

In a fit of desperation, she began pulling open the sacks and boxes, searching anywhere and everywhere for the source of that ghastly singing. Finally, she happened upon a small box she hadn't opened for many years and quickly unlatched it. Inside sat the Blackstead ring, with its thick, gold band and polished, black stone. And all at once, she realized that the singing was coming from this very ring.

"You've found me, Dareia... you've come to claim your destiny--"

"Yes, yes, I've found you, now will you stop that singing!" she practically shouted down into the box, feeling quite insane.

"Yes, you're quite right," the voice coming from the ring spoke normally for the first time. "I believe some introductions are in order."

The voice sounded female, but Dareia wasn't sure if rings claimed a gender, and either way it didn't much matter. What did matter was that an inanimate object was talking to her, and this was something she hadn't planned on dealing with at all that evening.

"My name is Solani, and I have been in the Blackstead family for many generations. For many generations--"

"Oh please, don't start that up again," Dareia begged, cutting off Solani before she could continue singing.

"Yes, sorry, old habits. I have appeared to you because the time has come for you to claim your destiny, Dareia. It is time for you to restore honor and greatness to the Blackstead family name."

She frowned down into the box, carrying it out of the cupboard and returning to her seat by the fire, for she felt she needed to sit down after such a turn of events.

"What if I don't care for restoring greatness to the Blackstead family name? What if I like things just the way they are?"

"But it is your destiny, Dareia!" Solani enthused. "Don't you wish for something more? Don't you dream of taking a great journey?"

She was about to answer with a stern and assured "no," but then she caught sight of the adventure story she been reading only moments before discovering Solani in the cupboard. How she loved to read about heroines traveling the world, going on daring quests in exciting places. But did she wish to be one of them, to go on her own quest? After glancing around at the walls of her shabby abode, she felt for the first time in her life that she might actually want her own adventure. And, maybe, this was the only chance she would get.

Or, the voice in her head told her, maybe you're crazy for talking to an old ring.

She sighed and looked back down at Solani.

"I suppose one little adventure couldn't hurt. So, let's hear it. What's my destiny?"

"Your destiny, Dareia..." Solani began singing deafeningly again, "is to become... a chambermaid."

Dareia almost began to laugh, until she realized that Solani was being quite serious.

"A chambermaid? That's my destiny? To become a common servant? Is this some sort of joke?"

"No, Dareia--"

"No singing!"

"No, Dareia, this is no joke. It is your one and true destiny!"

"I think I'll have to decline the offer, then," Dareia huffed before snapping the box shut and returning it to the cupboard. Solani continued to screech about destiny and greatness, but Dareia stuffed a bit of cotton in her ears, blocking out the terrible noise.

Adventure, she thought cynically, returning her attention to her book. Of course I'll never go on any sort of adventure.

But, little did she know, her destiny had already been set into motion.