Xerxyna's POV
Master Gaius Dayne was to meet my father immediately. He had long heard the news, but desisted from having an opinion on such preposterous claims. No blood of pure magick had ever birthed a "Müree." That was the Alvéne word for witch, and that was the word that had circled all the way back from Alveria to his dwelling in Cazkåzon. As devoted as he was to the King's court, Gaius also feared what the other high lords would have to say of the loyal Thane.
For all he knew, my father was a good man with clean magick that hailed from a long line of pure blood. And a gift of warning was the least of offerings. When he arrived at the Great Keep, Dag, the loyal steward welcomed him once again.
"Lord Zyran will be with you shortly," Dag said as he took the reins from the old man and led the horse aside.
The second familiar face that greeted him was none other than that of my mother. She beamed eagerly as she walked up to him from the veranda.
He embraced her warmly, and held her hand as she led him in. "My lovely Ceraya. Ever so young. I've brought you some fresh cinnamon oils and a nice fur coat for winter."
"You needn't have," Ceraya laughed gleefully.
"And I don't mean to trouble you, but I urgently seek audience with Zyran," Gaius said
"Oh, Zyran… He is always such a good father to his daughters, but these days he can never seem to get away from his favourite."
Just then, the two of them watched as my father rode in on horseback while I rode behind him on my smaller grey steed. Momentarily, Gaius locked eyes with the me- and I looked up at him in wonder.
In a short walk up the steps, father fully embraced the man, and held him longer than he would've if he had only seen him days before. I gave a small bow and quietly excused myself.
"A word with you privately, if you please," I heard him say.
My father favoured it and had my mother excused from their presence. I hid behind the window and eavesdropped.
He took his old friend for a walk in the gardens, where the trees lined their path and the wind tasted of ancient hidden alchemy. They laughed with it, as the memories of the past lingered heavily in their conversation. Memories of the time when my father had only been a soldier under the command of the constable- Gaius Dayne. Even when nobility ran through his veins, my father had proved himself useful to his king and country, and earned every title and respect that was already his.
Now, it seemed that my birth had caused a great ruction.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I came," I heard.
My father was quiet
"It's the girl," said Gaius.
"You ought to be specific," father demanded.
"The seers call her müree, an abomination never meant to have happened."
"The seers are hungry," my father insisted.
"Are the Greats themselves false in their own ways?" Gaius asked. He knew that my father would disbelieve the claims, as would any doting father- yet I was unsettled, because prophecy never lied.
"And is that why you've come here after so long? With your accusations that have no true standing?"
"Oh Zyran, it isn't I who accuses. When word of the girl's true nature reaches the court, as it soon will, the law will demand proper justice," Gaius said and my heart sank.
I knew what justice looked like in the hands of the law- especially when it came to women and the girl child. They would either hang me or burn every piece of my being. I heard the rage in my father's voice as he spoke.
"You're deathly mistaken. The only true nature of my child is that she is pure, and if at any time justice beckons, not a strand of her hair must be missing," he warned and retreated back into the keep. I, startled by his sudden retraction, ran out to meet my mother.
Gaius left the evening after. When he kissed my mother goodbye, even she saw the unsettling exchange between them.
"What did Lord Dayne say was the reason for his visit?" She inquired of her my father that night and counted his silence against him.
"Tell me if it is about Xerxy…"
Silence.
Instead, he turned to his side so that his back was facing her. "Go to sleep, you shouldn't worry about it."
"I know what they've said against her," my mother was crying now, softly. "She's only a child.
"She isn't what they claim she is."
In truth, I was uncertain what I was.
°
I could not bring myself to sleep that night. Even when the hour was late, my mind wandered to the old man who had come to us. He too believed that I was cursed.
Restless, I slid from under the covers and went out from my bedroom. The governess was gone by the time, so I wasn't questioned when I tiptoed my way to the east wing of the keep- where the horses slept peacefully. I found Pennitri in one of the sheds. Quietly, I fastened the saddle just the way the stable boy usually did when I watched him. Climbing was the harder part now- because compared to the horse, I was small and fragile. Still, I held on to the reins for support and struggled to push myself up. Futilely, my left foot slipped from the rings and I fell back, falling to a lump that had curled up near the wall.
"Ow!!" The lump groaned and hissed.
I jumped in fright, backing up against my horse as if it would protect me. Squinting, I tried to see in the dark- the figure uncovered itself from the dirty grey sack cloth it wore. It was the figure of a male, tall and lanky, arching his back in pain as he cussed the Greats.
Stable boy!!
I gasped in relief. "It's you."
"Who's there?" He asked in shock, his mind still fogged from drowsing.
I stifled in my laugh at the sight of him clinging to the small knife strapped to his side. When he saw that it was me, he flushed in shame.
"M-my lady," he stuttered. "What are you doing here by this time?"
I looked at him for a moment, careful to choose my words because I didn't know what he thought of me.
"I'm trying to run away," I said in honesty.
Silence hovered, but there was no mistaking the look on his face. He looked bewildered, even as he tried to keep his gaze low.
"Is it because of the things they say?" He asked and I wondered how much understanding he had.
I nodded. "Do you believe them?"
He was hesitant, as they all were to speak the truth- but even if it was a lie, I needed to hear it.
"I don't know the mind of the Greats," he answered. "But running away won't change it."
Not the response I needed. I tried climbing my horse again, ignoring his presence as it had proven to be useless. I couldn't get on no matter how hard I tried. The rage rose again, and this time I let the tears that had been in wait fall freely. I couldn't even escape my own fate.
I felt the stable boy hover, and turned to see him too close to me. His blue eyes were the only colour that shone in the dark and they looked at me with empathy. He reached into his pocket and brought out a jewel. It was the rose hairpin that I had lost.
"I imagined it belongs to you, m'lady," he said as he offered them to me.
I took them but I could only focus on how our breaths mixed in the midnight air.
"Thank you,' I said, pulling back. I remembered that I didn't know his name and hadn't bothered to ask before.
"My name is Ray," he answered my thoughts as if he read them plainly. "You should head back."
Before I could say anything else, he unbuckled the horse and led it back into the shed. When he was done, he fell back into the same pile of hay he had been laying on and slept.
I looked towards the west wing of the keep, where I had always dreaded and headed back.
Who could change the mind of the Greats?