Dancing on Water

Chapter 13

Two eyes stare at me. I see my own eyes staring back. I see wrinkles covering over a memory almost forgotton

"Daddy! Daddy! Again!" My younger self spreads open her arms as she is spun around. 

The memory fades. I remember this man.

"Amelia" The man says. My father says. It's jarring to hear my old name, though the caravan was just screaming it. From his lips, I hear my old name and my heart collapses. It's too painful to remember.

I back away. "You're dead" I say it as a fact. I have just gone insane. Fact. My dead dad is standing in front of me. Fact. Perhaps I am in denial, but I want to stop remembering. My mother told me he had died years ago.

He bursts out laughing, a deep chuckle starting at his gut then echoing through the air. 

"Is that what your mother told you? She has always been dramatic." He makes no motion toward me, which is good because I am ready to run. 

Why would my mother lie about my father being dead?

A gangly boy strides beside him. His forehead is wet with pirspiration. I back away another step.

"She was banished; we should have left her.She should not be here" I stare into his eyes. They are much like mine, but I can see someting waivering inside him. He is just a child.

Banished? What are they talking about? 

"Who are you?" I stand foreward. If this brat is looking for a fight then I will bring one.

The kid's head is thrust foreward as my father hits him roughly. "That is no way to talk to your sister. We saved her because she belongs here."

My father looks to me "This is your brother, Ion"

"Wha-at?" My body succumbs to a daze "Brother?" Not only is my father alive, but I have a brother? Now my anger rises.

Ion flips his hair away from his eyes. His mouth curls down.

"She should not be here" He holds his tongue when my father glares at him. At least I know where I get my temper from.

"I won't be staying" I spit at him.

"Now, don't be rash Amelia" my father steps towards me.

"She has been banished!" Ion yells, and my blood goes cold.

Banishment is the worst fate to any gypsy. I try to remember leaving the caravan, but the reason is  blank.

"Her mother was banished" my father emphasizes. "A final decision was never made on Amelia's banishment. Her mother took her away and chose to leave on her own." His voice hardens to a harsh whisper "She was a very brave woman, but Amelia has no connection to her anymore." My father looks at me, smiling.

My heart throbs. Banished? Why? What happened?

"What are you saying?" I seem to be screaming, but I feel like I can't get my breath out.

Mother, oh how I miss her. Did her leaving have to do with father? Questions swirl in my head.

They look at me, and my brother huffs while my father's eyes soften.

"You don't remember; well, you were very young" he sighs.

"It does not even matter if she was banished or not. Now she is a pirate. She is not one of us." The word pirate is acid on Ion's tongue. I stiffen.

"Don't speak of things you cannot know. Amelia was drowning. She couldn't have been one of them." My father puts his hand on my shoulder.

Oh God, what if they find out what I have become?

I jump away, "You lied to us. I thought you were dead."  My accusation is weak. I am no more mad at my father than ashamed of what I have become. I just need an excuse to get away.

"Amelia," he says, his voice stern, "you are back. This is your home; you cannot keep running forever. I will explain things when we get back home"

Running. Why have I always been running? Everything before the prince is a blur. Why can't I remember? I hold my head. A typhoon of questions swarm. I am a pirate. I am a gypsy? A coward. Cruel? Who am I?

 My father wraps his arms around me and I feel safe and happy, so I go with him. I have to remember what happened. The last thought is drowned out from the happiness ringing in my head when I heard the word "home"

I grasp a warm cup of tea. The plump woman from before has made cookies. Her name is Lala. It means tulips in our language. She sweeps across the room, humming. It's a very fitting name for her.

The tea has calmed me down. The warmth spreads along my arms and back with each sip. 

"I have questions."

"Of course you do, deary." Lala smiles and sits next to me. I back away.

"Why was my mother banished? Where are we? What happened to the ship I was on? Who are you?" The questions overflow and I feel a million more coming.

"Shhh Shhh" She runs her fingers through my hair. "Your mother ran away with you years ago. I was a close friend of hers." Her voice waivers. I wonder who the mother of Ion is and if my father has remarried.

"We are a few miles from the castle. The spring has come and these fields are great for the animals." She smiles and describes the lands that have been sleeping within my memories.

"Why was my mother banished? Or ran away?" My skin is itching.

Lala fowns, "I think that is something you need to remember.  To tell you the truth, I don't know the full story, but your mother betrayed tradition." She gets up and starts humming again.

I curl up in a small bed and, listening to the familiar song, I drift to sleep.