Books I Hope To Write

Faith Knows Best

Prologue

Lightning lit up the sky and was followed by the crackling of thunder. The ground beneath Marietta's feet shook and the puddles of water rumbled around her as well. The trees surrounding her whispered nonsense into her ears. The voices told her to turn back and turn herself in. They said she'd never make it out alive. She shook her head and kept running, running from everything and everyone around her. The rain began to fall upon her harder and her body shivered from the impact.

The cries of the child in her arms were faint to those around her due to the storm, but she heard them as clear as birds chirping on a peaceful afternoon. This was anything but peaceful. "Please stop" she begged with tears running down her face. The blue eyes of the beautiful baby girl looked back up at her and remained silent.

Marietta smiled to herself at how her daughter was already a great listener. Within that small moment Marietta was savouring, she tripped over a root of a tree and they both went tumbling down. She let out a loud yelp at the contact her head made with the ground, while her baby remained in her arms and stayed quiet. She held her bundle of joy closer to her chest.

Marietta had sensed the others gaining on her and scrambled to her feet and began running again. She ran until the bottom of her feet began to bleed and her knees began to give out. What would they do to her if she were caught, she wondered. Would they let her go? Should she turn herself in in order to end both their pain and suffering? That wasn't an option.

It was now early morning and the sun was just about to rise. She had wandered through that terrible forest all night in fear. Her running had slowed and her body ached with bruises from low tree branches and a limp leg from sliding around on mud. She knew that the fight within her was dwindling and that this needed to end. She would not be making it to their destination.

The men and women that followed her through the night were in no rush at all. They could sense the determination in her at its end. They took their time surrounding her from all corners of the woods and knew they'd soon have the both of them. What they would do to Marietta was quite simple, they'd kill her on sight. What they would do with her daughter was still unknown. What could they possibly do with someone like her when they didn't know the full extent of her abilities?

Marietta made a decision she had hoped she never had to make. Nearby one of the old trees had a hole in the bottom of it, perfect for hiding. She limped towards it and knelt down to check if it was big enough to hold one of them. It was.

She looked down at her beautiful daughter. The sun had quickly risen, allowing Marietta to admire her daughter's features. Red hair shimmered in the sunlight with a strand of white hidden beneath it all. Dark blue eyes bored into hers that became lighter when in sunlight. Marietta sat there for a moment with tears running down her face, admiring how beautiful her child's face was. "Everything I'm doing is for you. Please don't ever forget that" she whispered to her child. "You will bring nothing but faith between the two worlds and I wish I could be here to witness it."

With her final words to her daughter she then gently placed her within the burrow. Marietta took the locket that was hanging around her neck off with shaky hands. She placed it on top of the blanket that was keeping her daughter warm. Marietta then placed her hand out in front of her with her palm facing the burrow, but nothing happened. She could still see her daughter clearly.

My powers must be at its lowest, Marietta thought to herself. She placed her hand out again and began a spell, "Keep her hidden, keep her safe. Until the password is put in place." she said, causing the burrow to remain empty. "I love you so much." She whispered feeling defeated.

The power that surrounded her was now becoming stronger and she knew that her time was up. She took the flare gun that was in her coat pocket and shot two fires into the air. One to let the others know her daughter was hidden, and then another to let them know she will not be returning.

Marietta limped her way around the forest for a few more minutes until she found a beautiful flowing river surrounded by tulips. "My Faith will show everyone that we can live in harmony." She spoke as she walked towards the river. The sentence was more to herself than the men and women that stood behind her. If it weren't for them she wouldn't be standing there alone by the river. She'd be safe at home caring for her newborn baby with her husband at her side. She didn't hate her husband for what he did, she knew his time would come. His karma will get him soon enough.

"Your Faith won't get to see another day by the time we're done with her. And neither will you." A gunshot blasted through the forest and into the head of Marietta. The sound caused everyone's ears to ring but no one flinched since they've heard that sound for years.

Marietta's daughter was affected by it. Her screams filled the forest as she cried out, afraid of the noise but not fully aware of what was happening. No one was able to hear those cries thanks to Marietta's spell. The men and women knew her child was somewhere within the forest and they searched day and night for her with no luck. They walked right past the burrow dozens of times with a screaming child hidden inside of it.

After 5 days of searching and no sight of the child they called off the search. Marietta's child had finally stopped crying due to exhaustion and lack of nutrition. If they had called off the search any later she wouldn't have made it another night.

The flare gun had been a message to Marietta's brother Joffrey and her mother Amelia. They waited on the outskirts of the forest until they knew everyone had stopped searching. It didn't take them long to locate the burrow and remove the spell placed upon it by Marietta.

Amelia placed her hand out in front of her and thought of the Latin words that would reveal Marietta's child. Fides nostra. Inside they found the child sleeping and her breathing faintly there.

"We have to get her home, mother." Joffrey spoke. Home is a place where you felt welcomed and loved by those around you. Home is where you're not hated by your own kind and don't have to watch your back every second of every day.

Amelia looked at Joffrey with sad eyes, "We no longer have a home. We must bring her to the academy."

Neither of them had any Faith in the plan Marietta had created, but it was her final wish. She needed her daughter to be kept safe so no harm would come her way. She needed her mother and brother to trust her judgement and make sure that she would arrive safely to their destination.

Neither of them had faith the little one would survive on the way there or that one girl would bring the two worlds together. But what they didn't know is that the little girl in their arms would be the greatest Faith of all.

______

This story is still a bit of a mystery to me. The main character will be a witch with an unknown power, a power that has people looking for her because they see her as a danger to the world.