Prologue
The relentless rain poured down onto a drenched young woman as she stood in the middle of a muddy road. Lucinda was her name. She was a young lady, married to a man named Victor whom she treasured dearly. They were expecting, and the young mother already could not be more in love with their child.
Few citizens passed by the woman, going on about their own business. Usually, there were children running in the streets, giggling and playing games. But today, it was much too foggy and dreary for any of the village children to be out.
Her chestnut brown eyes slowly trailed across the paper that was nailed to the wooden post for all villagers to read. The black ink words were illuminated by a lit torch that hung beside it. The paper read:
"All Shifters are ordered to meet with the village priest to receive an ink marking so that your kind may be known from hereon. All births hereon are to be documented by a midwife. Shifter newborns are to be marked at birth. Inability to obey shall result in the appropriate punishment."
A red wax symbol was pressed onto the bottom of the letter. These orders must have come directly from the king. Fear twisted the woman's stomach as her eyes read those cold words. Her eyes glistened with tears of worry while she stood there in disbelief, the rain still coming down.
A large snake slithered slowly to the post as well, lifting itself up to carefully read the letter. The snake instantly morphed into a human, his face distressed. He looked at Lucinda who traded a glance of disapproval of the letter.
She nodded her head to him, hoping to relay her deepest sympathies. Breathing in deeply, she bunched the bottom of her hood around her chin with one hand, and lifted her dress with the other before quickly scurrying to her home.
Victor and Lucinda lived in a small home. The bottom level was a blacksmith shop with a kitchen in the front side room. Upstairs were the two bedrooms for their small family. It wasn't much, but it was all they needed.
As the woman opened the door, she looked ahead at her husband who was pounding some sort of sword with a hammer, its yellow and red glow expanding with each slam. The room was dim inside, the only light coming from the large fireplace against the wall. The stone walls thankfully kept the warmth locked inside the house.
"Hello, my love," Victor said as he saw his wife coming through the door. "The rain is rough today, you ought to stay inside."
"Victor…" she said with a concerned tone in her voice. She pulled her hood back and set her cloak on a hook by the doorway. "Victor, there's a new order." She sat down at the wooden table in the back of the shop, watching him work. The fireplace behind her warmed and dried her damp skin. Her long, wavy wet hair draped over her shoulders and down her back.
"What is it?" He set his tools down, noticing the worried tone in her voice.
"They're starting to mark them," she began, almost in a whisper.
Victor stood in silence and looked at his wife for a long moment. The sound of rain pattering on their roof was the only sound in that home for some time.
"It will be impossible to hide ours if it is one," Lucinda continued, her eyebrows slanted with concern as she told him.
"They're marking them?" The husband sighed slowly and walked to the table where his wife sat. He sat down and rested his rough, calloused, and bronzed hand on her soft, tan unharmed ones. Rubbing his stubbly chin, he shook his head. " I should have expected something like this."
"The King won't stop. I know it, Victor. He's taking small steps but he won't stop as long as he's in power. This marking is just the start. And- and I know we don't know yet- I know. But I want to be ready in case our child is indeed one. I want to be prepared for the worst."
He looked over at the fireplace across from them. "I don't want my child growing up in scrutiny." He furrowed his brow in thought. "Then we leave. If our child is a Shifter, we will leave. We'll head to Chaiaysa and start a new life there. Where our child can grow up proud of its ability and not scoffed at or punished."
"Chaiaysa? But what about your life here, Victor? You're the kingdom's best blacksmith, where in Chaiaysa will you achieve such a high ranking?"
He looked at her with a stern face. "With the same work I put into my talent here."
She frowned and closed her eyes for a short moment. "I didn't mean it like that, dear. I just...I don't want our child growing up in a foreign area for all of us. We won't have a home-"
"We will make a home, Lucinda. We have no choice. We either stay here and allow our child to suffer or we make a new home in Chaiaysa. One of peace. And no shame. What other option do we have? Stay? Stay and allow our child to live in persecution? If the price for a peaceful life for our baby is rebuilding a home, then I will do it. And I'd do it a hundred times over if I needed to."
She looked at her lap, struggling to come up with a better idea until finally, her defeated eyes looked up at him but she slowly nodded. "I suppose it is our only choice."
"We don't know if our child is a Shifter anyways, my dear. Don't think so negatively." He gave her a smile. "It will be alright. If it's a Natural, we stay and enjoy our life here. If not, we go to Chaiaysa and do the same. The only difference is that if we move, we will have to rebuild what we have here, but that will be no chore. Giving my daughter a safe home is not a burden for me." He held her hands tightly and kissed her forehead. "It will be okay, my love. I promise you that."
"I trust you. I do…," she looked down at their overlapping hands and shook her head. "I so desperately wish King Ruchar had never passed...Soliath would have never been given power...things would be so different."
"But he did pass. And this is the reality we live now. But that doesn't mean that things won't change." He looked into her eyes with seriousness as he tried to keep her hopeful. "It won't stay like this forever. There's still good people out there. Soliath's thoughts haven't poisoned everyone."
"The ones who weren't so easy to fall into his lies are living in fear silently...like ourselves. That isn't doing much to help."
He sighed quietly. "Something will be done. We can hope. We have to."
His wife remained silent in her own thoughts. She could continue on about how he wasn't thinking realistically and how unlikely it is that things would change anytime soon, but they had talked about it enough. She did not want to kill his hope.
Victor kissed her gently and made his way back to his fire. He lifted his hammer and slammed it down loudly on the tool before him.
As the days and weeks went by, Lucinda's worry grew. But with her husband's help, she tried to keep her worries at bay. Throughout the pregnancy, she carried through with just a few ounces of hope that Victor tried his best to give her. He was her shining light in the midst of the despair that surrounded the two of them, and she was his.
Seven months later
The slam of the hammer against the anvil echoed in the room over Lucinda's shriek.
"Victor!!" she shouted from the kitchen. " I think it's happening now!" Lucinda breathed in shakily, unable to contain her nerves. "Go get the midwife, please," she whimpered. "Quickly, Victor!" She lay down on their bed in their small upstairs bedroom and held a hand to her stomach.
Her husband dropped what he was doing and ran out of the door in haste. He quickly came back with the midwife of the village. "She's right over here," he said, leading the older woman up the steps and into their small bedroom.
"Hello there," the midwife said with a smile, exposing her missing front tooth, as she saw Lucinda. "Are you ready?"
Lucinda nodded her head as beads of sweat began to show on her forehead. "I'm ready," she said through her tightly clamped teeth.
"Alright, sit up a bit for me now, missy, " she said as she tucked some pillows behind the birthing mother to provide some support. She then requested Victor to fetch some water and cloths.
And the pain soon began.
With every straining push, Lucinda held tightly onto the rope that hung from the ceiling and pulled with all her might as the screams poured out of her mouth. Her husband stood nervously by the bedside, watching helplessly but giving her words of encouragement.
Moments later, a baby's cry was heard, and the child was wrapped in cloth and placed in Lucinda's arms. The woman stared into her baby's crying eyes with awe as she looked at the baby she had carried inside her for so long. It was a girl.
Overwhelming love filled her body as suddenly all of the pain and agony she had gone through had slipped from her memory and was replaced with utter awe. "You're so beautiful," she whispered to her daughter.
Victor knelt by the bed with his finger gripped by his child's tiny hand. "You did so amazing," he kissed Lucinda's forehead and watched their child. He was mesmerized. He blinked quickly, his eyes welling up with emotion. As he observed every inch of his daughter, he noticed something on her right hand. "What is that?" he asked the midwife.
The woman took the baby's hand gently and observed her palm after wiping away the blood. There was some sort of small circular marking with a strange golden color that she had never seen on skin before. It was as if someone pressed ink into the child's palm. "I have never seen anything quite like this. I suppose it's just a birthmark. No need to be worried," she said with a small smile. "The name?" she asked the pair, picking up her ink feather and paper.
Lucinda's eyes were gazing at her daughter's. "Mariyah...Mariyah is her name," she whispered.
The midwife wrote down the name and then looked at Lucinda and Victor before holding her arms out. "May I?"
The couple looked at her and handed over their child, hesitantly.
This was the time they'd been dreading.
The determination of their baby.
The midwife laid the crying baby on a blanketed small table and watched it for some time. She had a small glass jar of ink and a needle on the table beside baby Mariyah. Hopefully, they would not need to be used.
Ten minutes went by and the baby did not shift, though to Victor and Lucinda it seemed like an eternity. She handed the baby back to the happy couple. "She's a Natural, indeed," A flood of relief flushed over their bodies. She wasn't a Shifter. The mother's trembling hands reached out to take her child back and keep her safe in her arms. She almost let out a weep as gratefulness filled her heart.
The midwife set Mariyah down gently with Lucinda. "You oughta be quite grateful. I didn't feel like taking a trip to the river today."
Lucinda looked at the midwife with a puzzled look, until her eyes came to a realization and she swallowed the disgust in her throat. She looked down at her baby once again and kissed her forehead.
Oftentimes, parents do not want to bear the shame they receive with having a Shifter baby. For others, they simply do not see the point in raising a child whose life will be filled with constant discrimination and barely making it by. They consider death being a favor for their child… but who are we to choose for another that their life is not worth living?
Lucinda didn't pay any more attention to the midwife's comment. She was too infatuated with the love she felt for her baby girl. The euphoric feeling of safety and relief was indescribable. Now she could sleep at night, she could sleep with ease as she knew her baby was safe.
Victor was relieved as well, of course. All he wanted was his family to be safe and happy. He could ensure that now, and that meant the world to him.
"Well, I'll be out of your hair now. Enjoy the new life of a mother. It'll get busy for ya, darling." The woman nodded her head and exited their home.
"Thank you for your help," Victor said before the older woman showed herself out.
Lucinda moved over so her husband could join her in bed and they could both marvel at their beautiful child that they made together. He gently stroked the baby's thin black hair and gently brushed his finger against her small warm cheek. She was precious.
A few hours later, after cleaning Lucinda and the baby up, the dark night's atmosphere surrounded their small home. Candles and torches lit up the downstairs area as Lucinda rocked in her chair, nursing baby Mariyah.
Victor stirred the pot of stew that was cooking over the fire.
"I can't even think of food right now, love." Lucinda said, staring at her daughter with a resting small smile on her face.
"Well, you need to get something in ya. Gotta feed that baby of ours now." He chuckled and poured some stew into a small wooden bowl. "Here you are."
Lucinda smiled and kissed Victor as he leaned in to hand her the food. "Thank you, my love."
Victor smiled in return and made his way back to the fireplace to continue cooking.
As Luicinda began to wrap Mariyah in a blanket, she felt strange movements in her arms. And all the joy, relief, and happiness that had filled their hearts,
all shattered.
In Lucinda's arms, she felt the child moving. She watched, confused, as her baby slowly morphed into a small lion cub. "No, no, no, no. Victor, no, no," she said through tears forming in her eyes and a heavy feeling of dread filled the room.
"What is it?!" Victor asked as he approached his wife. His heart dropped as he watched his child shifting. "How? How?!"
"I don't know," she said with her nostrils flaring. "She didn't shift in the first minutes, how is this happening?"
"A lion at that?!" He ran his hand through his hair and stood up, rubbing his eyes in intense stress. "We have to pack up. We have to leave- now," he said as he began grabbing things and throwing them into a satchel.
Lucinda looked around. "Close the windows, Victor!" she shouted.
Victor ran from window to window, shutting each one to hide from the sight of neighbors. "Stay here, I will pack."
"Don't panic, dear! We will get our things and leave. There is nothing to worry about, no one knows-"
Interrupting the conversation, Lucinda felt her child squirming again...but when she looked down, she saw what looked like a coyote pup. Her heart stopped as she stared. The couple stood speechless as it took place again, but this time it was a bear cub. They remained silent, both too scared to speak as if the second they moved, the second they had to face reality.
"More than one animal?" Her frantic eyes watched her child's body morph, "Shes-she's shifting into different animals..." her mother finally whispered in shock.
Victor stared at his daughter with no words forming in his mouth. This was unheard of. Shifters are humans whose bodies allow them to morph into one different animal. One.
"This is impossible. This is impossible!" Lucinda almost screamed.
"We have to go. Now. If anyone finds out she's a Shifter at all, her life is already a struggle here. If they find out that she can do this...the experiments they'll do- No, they can't find out." The urge to vomit built up in his chest, thinking about what they could do to Mariyah.
Knock, knock.
"Sorry, Vic!" a voice called out. "I know I'm comin' late to ya, but my clever's ruined. Need some lookin' at if you don't mind."
Victor clenched his jaw, cursing, and quickly walked to the door. "Sorry, Clover. I've-I've got some business to sort out-"
"I'll play double, friend! I need it for the morrow. Sunday's are my busiest days!"
"Stop his shouting!" Lucinda whispered.
Victor groaned in irritation and opened the door, pulling Clover in by his shirt and quickly closing the door behind him and locking it.
Clover's eyes wandered to Lucinda's cradling arms. "What in the...Why didn't you tell me?! Polly would be cookin' somethin' for ya both now!"
Lucinda looked at Victor with wide eyes, who just looked at Clover unsure of what to say.
"What's the matter with you?" He studied his friend's face before looking at the child that shifted into a tiger cub before all of their eyes. "Oh, my, Victor…"
"That's not all," Victor finally forced out.
"Not all?" Clover looked from him back to Mariyah as she shifted into a wolf cub. "What in God's name…"
"I need your help, Clover." Victor stood in front of him and held his arms. "Please, get us a ship at the Ports. To Chaiaysa. As soon as possible. I need this from you."
Clover's shocked face nodded his head, speechless. "I-I- I can do that. You need to leave tonight, I'll tell Lucius to get a ship ready." He pulled his attention back to Victor and nodded his head. "I'll be as fast as possible." And with that, he departed into the night.
The second their door shut, Victor continued on with his panicked packing.
"Victor," Lucinda said softly with worried eyes. "Victor!" she repeated.
He paused and set down the bag he was stuffing, looking at his wife.
"Surely there will be no boats that are out to sail at this time, my love. There is no need to be in such a hurry. We have our plan, we are okay. Calm down, my dear. Come here."
"Lucius will figure something out for us, you know he will. Victor exhaled loudly and slowly walked over to his wife, kneeling beside her chair. "I'm sorry...I just...I want to leave as soon as possible."
Not long after, Clover returned with a defeated look on his face. "Victor, I…" he cleared his throat as he stared at the wide eyed couple.
"What is it, Clover?" Victor pressed.
"The Guard has taken over the Ports."
"The Guard? When? When did this happen? There was no post about this, was there? Lucius didn't mention anything!"
"A week ago...I've not heard of this myself. Lucius had no warning this was happening until the day they came. I've noticed a few soldiers on my recent fish pickups but I saw no sign...I never would have suspected…but now there lies a post. A post that declares no service to Shifters."
Lucinda's heart thudded in her chest. "Well, that's okay, right? She's a baby, they won't know. A-and she's unmarked. She didn't shift in the first minutes."
"How can that be?" Clover asked with narrowed and confused eyes.
"I don't know," she answered. "But she is not marked. She can remain hidden-"
"They could see her shift, Lucy." Her husband looked at her sadly. "If the Guard is in control, someone will spot her. Whether before we board or once we're on. She can't control her shifts...someone will see, Lucy."
"Lucius already said it's no good, the guards check all that comes in and goes." Clover puffed out. "It don't make sense to me. Soliath wants Shifters gone, but won't let them leave?"
Victor answered him. "Because the man doesn't want them gone. He wants them dead."
Clover tensely rubbed his neck and Victor just stared at the wall in thought.
Lucinda breathed out with a heavy look of worry in her eyes. "Any way we go, we're either surrounded by an ocean with no way of crossing, or a large and massive forest that leads to more ocean with no way of crossing." She bit her lip, thoughts swarming through her head. "It was never this difficult to travel...never." She held Mariyah close to her chest. "Things truly have gotten dangerous…" She scoffed. "The king hides it so well."
Clover's face gleamed as a sudden thought sprouted in his mind. "Aye, why not the Shifter villages that have begun? Have you heard? They're forming villages in the king's forest."
Victor looked at Lucinda, waiting for her thoughts before he said anything.
She remained silent for some time before speaking. "I've heard a bit of them recently. Shifter villages...it sounds ideal but...remember what Victor said? Why is the king preventing Shifters from fleeing?" She looked at the faces of her husband and their friend, her face now pale.
"Victor might be right," Clover muttered.
Lucinda shook her head to herself. "That can't be safe…not for long, not with what King Soliath seems to be doing. I don't trust it." Lucinda's heart sank as she understood the true reality. Fear held the room in silence for some time before Lucinda finally said the words none would. "Then we keep Mariyah here. We stay."
Victor furrowed his brow. "What? You want to keep this a secret?"
Lucinda nodded, staring at Victor closely.
"How? What do you want to do until she's old enough to understand how to stay in her human form? You wanna lock her away in here and keep her from the public eye? That won't work, Lucy. It won't. We have to take our chances in the villages."
"But it might," she pleaded with him. "Victor," she reached out and grabbed his arm. Things are getting worse and you know it. Those villages won't always be protected from persecution. " Her eyes quickly jumped from each of his as they widely pleaded with him, filled with tears. "Unless someone does something- the king will not stop his hate. Don't you see what's happening? It's safer here in the kingdom where you have a career, money, a home, food, and where we have a baby who is a Natural as far as anyone else knows." Her hand tightened around his arm with desperation. "Please, Victor, please. We can keep her in hiding until she grows to control it." She stared at him with expectant eyes, eager to hear his response.
Victor grunted as he returned her stare before rubbing his coarse chin in frustration. "What do we do when people ask to see our child? When they want to celebrate the birth of our child? They're going to want to see her, Lucinda-"
"We tell them she is sick and must wait until she can fight illnesses before she comes out! That she has a disease!"
"No, no, that's far too dangerous. It'd be safer if we just did as they said, and leave this place. At least in Shifter villages, they're not shamed!" he said firmly.
"And when is it until they start persecuting the Shifter villages? We have an entire life ahead of us to think of, the state of this kingdom will not remain as it is presently. In the direction it's going, it will only get worse. You said it yourself! He doesn't want them gone, he wants them dead!" she shouted.
Lucinda continued, "They don't even view them as part of the human race anymore. You see what they've done so far. The king is a dangerous man. He has a way with his words, and you know it. He could tell people anything and they'll believe him with the way he decorates his hate. We know what he is capable of. We've been seeing this slow, burning fire since I was with child!" The veins in her neck strained as she shouted.
Victor remained silent as he stared at their infant in thought.
Lucinda lowered her voice as she continued. "We have two choices. We can live with Mariyah as a Natural, living a normal life... or we can live in a Shifter village… barely making it by and fearing for our lives every day. Just waiting for the king's continuous laws building against us. What do you want for her?"
Minutes went by with him in deep thought, battling every idea and going through it all in his head. He looked at his beloved wife and stared into her deep determined eyes. "If someone finds out that we hid our child's identity, we will be imprisoned...and very likely be killed. You know this?"
She nodded her head. "I'm willing to risk it. I think we can do it-I know we can do it."
He looked at her for a long moment before releasing a deep sigh. He leaned forward and kissed her lips softly, "I'll do it for you both then," he said quietly.