Shadowsworn

Chapter Six - Bloodlines

Memories blurred in her mind, recalling that word, "Fated? That's what you called me before. Wasn't it? Before, when I was...."

"When you was close to being executed on the spot by Abna!" Nona spat harshly. She paused, looking at the shocked face in front of her, "I apologise Aria. But it would have happened. I used my healing ability to shut you down, before it went too far."

"What damn healing ability? You're just another lowborn like me", Aria snorted with derision.

"How many times must I tell you to watch your language and tone with me young lady!"

"Sorry Nona."

The aging woman sat down, arthritic pain ripping at her knees. She sighed, "This family is not who you think. It's how Tula ended up with three elementals. And how, I myself, carry a trio. Earth, water and light. Spent years healing, in the confines of the Luxite Healer's lands and sanctuary. Till' I realised what damn zealous, power hungry maniacs they were", she grumbled.

"You... you were a Luxite? Those crazy religious nut jobs?"

"For a time. I ran. To the only place I could hide. Learnt to cover my tracks, to move in the shadows. Escape any suspicions. I was in Barley, visiting the market for herbs, when I met your grandfather. So I fell in love, made a home and family here in Kaen with him. And the past was almost forgotten." She dropped her head forward.

"And then?" When Aria caught her grandmother's eyes as she lifted her head, they were glistening.

"Then your mother happened."

The sharp intake of breathe echoed the room, the buried pain filling the space.

"I knew she was going to die. I couldn't stand to watch. I wandered into the woods, to wait. That's when it struck me. The knowledge centuries buried. Of the darkness on the rise. And the birth of the fated one. You my darling. The one to set us free once and for all, like your ancestor almost succeeded at."

"What are you talking about Nona? I don't understand", Aria gasped out, her own tears running down her pale cheeks.

Nona stood, making her way over to one of her tattered and worn cupboards in the swelteringg and cramped room. She dug deep, pulling a loose board from the back. When she turned to face her granddaughter, a small wooden chest lay in her withered palms.

"The female line runs strong. We come from a forgotten bloodline. When Princess Mariana Narilia died, the line didn't die with her. A small child, born out of wedlock and secreted away. A princeling, named Arik, hidden with peasants. Raised as a farmer's child, here in Exol", she stood with all the poise and grace possible, "The rightful heir to the throne, Prince Arik Narilia. And our ancestor."

The silence overwhelmed the cramped room. Only the muffled sounds of life continuing outside in the yard and fields, trickled through the thin walls. The sounds of the carts rolling across rough pathways, children's sweet laughter as they played tag, the elder women gossiping whispers.

Aria could hear a voice closer by, but her mind was racing. Too many thoughts, many more questions.

"Aria darling, we don't have enough time for you to go catatonic right now."

She snapped out her gaze, glancing up at the clear image of her grandmother gripping a box tight to her chest.

"What do you expect me to say? So we have family history? We have a few extra powers? It doesn't exactly change much. I am a lowborn of Exol still," she muttered, with a sense of self derision.

Nona sighed with great force and noise, pursing her lips again "It isn't that simple my girl. We share the blood of our ancestors. And Princess Mariana wasn't your average person. The power she was gifted was beyond immense, beyond the simplicity of calling an elemental. The elements ran through her veins, her heart, her soul."