When Ivar meets a girl with flaming red hair and eyes that cannot see, he begins to wonder how a sightless girl can see so much beauty in the world... And in him.
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"Princess." The withering voice of an old haggard woman spoke. Her cloak was made of tattered purple, her eyes misty grey, her skin wrinkled and old, and her nose long and protruding from her face. Her hair was long and white like snow, and her thin lips were smeared in blood.
In her hands she held a piece of wood with strange letters carved into it, and a bloody lamb's heart.
"Wise Witch," Ailbe spoke, her voice holding no fear. Many in her village feared the old woman, but not Ailbe. She feared few things in life. And why would she fear a woman just because she was different and knew more than everyone else. Ailbe knew never to fear knowledge, only to learn from it. "I came to learn about my future."
"I know what you came here for, sightless one. I know that the Gods and Goddesses blessed you with this curse so that you could not see what others can but they could not see what you can either. I know that a fire grows within you everyday, a fire that you yourself have not even embraced yet, a fire that will only begin to rise when you meet the serpent. I know that you will be a great woman, one that will live many times over as a thanks for your role in this one. I know everything about you, Ailbe of the Celts and Ailbe of the Northmen."
"N-Northmen? What are you talking about?" The girl trembled, feeling chills run down her spine as the old woman spoke. "What else can you tell me, oh wise one?"
"I can tell you much, but nothing at all. I can tell you the future and the past, things that come and go. I can tell you a riddle, but it is up to you whether you understand or not." The Old witch answers.
"Tell me all you can. I am not afraid." Ailbe persisted.
Outside, a bolt of lightning shook the ground. The small bush caught aflame, until the poring rain silenced it. Roaring thunder filled the air, growling an echo of the many centuries. Acres of endless futures and moorlands filled with new concepts and possibilities.
The world was hazed in mist, and in the distance, a raven flew towards them. The bird landed between the two women, its beady black eyes watched her intensely, the lightning crackling in its eyes. Ailbe didn't have to see it to feel it's eyes upon her.
"You will travel our world, further than our people have gone before. You will encounter people who will make you realise who you truly are. You will marry a God, and your lives will be intertwined for centuries to come. And just when the world thinks that nothing can harm you, an old friend will deal your final blow."
Ailbe gasped in amazement, the small fire in the center of the room reflecting in her eyes.
