Chapter 16 - Origins

Ania learns the truth.

She felt the book slip from her fingers, but did nothing to stop its descent to the floor. Her heart seemed to have stopped beating, her lungs stopped breathing. Her mind was on a loop, the last line of the entry burned into her mind. My baby’s name is Ania. What was this? This couldn’t be real, couldn’t be truth… Could it?

Against her will, Ania’s mind dredged up evidence that threatened to shatter the very foundation of her soul. Lyem had always called her mia, saying that she reminded him of his little sister, the one that had left his family behind not long after she was born. Kleide, Alecgorn’s name for her meant “little lady,” but Geschyichti was a language built on inflection, and if you said it right, the translation was “my little lady.” Alliania had always been slightly paler than Anmita and her other sisters, with hair darker than any of the others, a legacy Ania shared. If seen in the right light, Ania’s midnight blue eyes had always seemed to have a shimmer of green in them. Xanya had always taken care to make Ania happy when she was home. Was it that she was following up on a promise made to Lyem all those years ago?

Tears flowed down her cheeks, while Ania desperately tried to find some excuse that would discount it all; something that would prove that she was Anmita Kyatei’s daughter.

Nothing. 

Everything she thought of somehow pointed to what was in the journal. Even the most innocent of memories destroyed everything she had believed up until now.

It had to be true.

Standing up on shaky legs, Ania walked over to the window ledge where the stone drawer held everything she had ever received from Alliania. Pulling it open, she dumped out the letters that she had treasured for the past eight years. Ania read them all again, feeling the pain all over again when she read how her aunt�"mother�"predicted her own death weeks before the Battle of Je BlizteFälle.

Again, nothing to dissuade, and with her newfound knowledge, everything to prove.

Her eyes fell on the small, intricately folded piece of paper that had been in the box with the medallion, the knife, and the first letter her mother�"she had to consciously think the word�"had left her. She hadn’t thought about it in years, waiting for the right time. Touching it again, she read the words again, When you need it, you’ll know.

She needed it.

But she wasn’t sure what to do.

Unsure of exactly why, Ania picked up the folded paper, the journal, and�"for some reason she couldn’t fathom�"Alliania’s wedding ring. Unable to think of the woman that had been her aunt for the last eighteen years as her mother, Ania found a halfway point in that she called her by name in every thought she had. It made more sense that way.

Walking out of the door, she let her mind wander to all she had learned. It was a thousand times worse than any other revelation she had received from Alliania. Why was nothing she knew real? What was she? Was anything she had ever thought real, anything true? Ania felt an emptiness in her heart, a pit just waiting for her fall in, never to get out.

As she meandered around the Compound, Ania let her feet take her where they would, as she merely stared ahead in a tear-blinded stupor. In a moment of clarity, she looked up seeing the familiar form of Skaught at the far end of the hallway, his back to her. She took a few halting steps towards him, eager to feel the deadening comfort of his arms, but an almost tangible force held her back. The part of her that always seemed to remain alert no matter the circumstances spoke up, and she could almost see Alliania standing before her, a righteous scowl on her face. She rarely got angry, but when she did, it was terrifying.

She could hear the familiar voice in her head. What do you think you are doing? Ania, you know fully well that what that boy offers is not comfort�"it’s an escape route! You use it to ignore your problems, ignore your worries. That’s just about the last thing you need right now. Just because you can forget it doesn’t mean that it goes away. One of these days you’re going to ignore your problems to the extent that one of them will run you through as you deny its existence! Think, girl! You know what you need. You need to face it, learn about it, and accept it. Go. Turn around. TURN AROUND!

Ania all but ran the other direction, and she didn’t stop until she made it to the gardens on the top of the Compound. The full moon shone out over the trees, giving everything a silver tint, her tears shimmering on her face. Wandering about, she found herself walking towards the bench that was surrounded by white rose bushes. The place Alecgorn had proposed to Alliania.

When it came into view, Ania stopped when she realized there were two men walking towards the bench from the other direction. Unsure of what to do, she tried to stay in the shadows of a massive willow tree, but her traitor feet brought her out into the uninterrupted moonlight. Both men looked up, and Ania was stunned to see that they were Sir Alecgorn and Lyem. The two people she desperately did not want to see right now.

But perhaps…

The two people she needed to see.

Alecgorn looked at her, taking in her red eyes and silver tears, and then looking down to where she held his wife’s journal, he understood. She knew the truth now.

“You’ve read it?” He spoke quietly, as if he already knew the answer. He probably did.

“Enough of it to know. Not enough to understand.” As she spoke the words, she felt the truth of them radiate through her body. She didn’t understand. How could she?

“What don’t you understand, Ania?” Lyem spoke, and she suddenly saw him as a sad, ten year old boy confronting the woman she had always thought of as her big sister, threatening retribution on any who hurt his baby sister. It was so real. How could it not be true?

“Everything!” Ania let out all the pain and frustration of eighteen years, of losing the one true source of happiness in her life, of learning that everything she ever knew was wrong. “Why didn’t she ever tell me? Why did I have to become a Knight? She always talked like it was my choice, but her letters made it seem like I was predestined to do it? What’s so important about me? Why did she pretend to be my aunt? Why did she give me away? If she was actually my mother, why did she pretend? Why didn’t she tell me?”  She all but screamed the last few words, and as she said them, all the strength left her limbs, and she collapse, feeling like she was being crushed by a thousand tons of solid rock. The journal fell from her hands, as did the small piece of paper, but somehow her…mother’s…wedding ring stayed in her hand.

She curled into a ball, the tears flowing freely, the sobs that wracked her body stabbing deep into her heart. Almost without her knowledge, Alecgorn�"her father�"came over to her, sitting down in the perfectly trimmed grass, picking her up so that she was cradled in his strong arms. Lyem knelt beside them, stroking his baby sister’s hair.

“That isn’t something I can explain. It’s part of the Legacy. Mother teaches daughter, down through the line.”

“But she’s dead…!” Ania was amazed she could even get a sound out around the tears.

“Has that ever stopped her from helping you in the past?” Ania shook her head, thinking of all the letters and the guidance that she had thought mere idol situations�"thinking what Alliania would have done in a specific setting. “Don’t think that will stop her now.” Alecgorn motioned for Lyem to retrieve the journal and paper that lay abandoned on the ground. Handing it to Ania, Lyem returned to his position at her back. He remembered that day when he was ten, how it had hurt him to see his mother cry. She hadn’t been the Lady then. It was just his mother, the sad, scared woman that didn’t want to let go of her baby. The sad cry of the baby played through his mind, and he had a hard time removing it from the very real tears of the young woman before him.

Ania took the paper, staring at it for a long moment. Her tears seemed to exhaust themselves for the moment, although she knew from experience that they would come back in full fury once given even the smallest reason. She looked up at her newly discovered father, and he nodded to the folded paper. Returning her gaze to it, she suddenly remembered something Xanya had said when they were learning how to channel magic. They had been discussing how to bind objects with magic, and Xanya had said that any object that was meant to be opened would have a trail of magic around it, and that it was fairly easy to sense, and therefore, unbind.

Ania closed her eyes, cupping her hands around the small object, and probed at it with her gentle streams of magic. There was an orange-yellow trail all around it, but when she opened her eyes, it wasn’t there. She could only see it with her mind. She continued to probe around it, and found a trigger area that, when she pushed at it with her silver tendrils of magic, sent a pulse of magic down the strands of orange, dissolving them as it went, and then surrounded the whole thing with a gentle orange glow. Opening her eyes and hands, she watched in amazement as the paper unfolded by itself, blooming like a beautiful white rose. She found that it was several sheets of paper, and, strangely, when unfolded, there wasn’t a crease mark to be found.

Sitting upright, she held the small stack of paper in her trembling hands. Glancing at it, she recognized her…mother’s…handwriting.

 

Ania, if you are reading this, I can only assume it means that you have read my journal and now know the truth. Yes, I am your mother. And I know the confusing and terrifying feeling it is to have everything you know crumble around you. But I also know that you are a strong, brave girl, and you have the courage to understand.

My daughter, we are of an ancient lineage that is traced back to Nephin Corifalle himself. This is the Legacy. When he and Aima Verisanth created the Knights, they knew that someday the Queen would be threatened by a danger from within, and so they ensured that there would be a savior, of sorts, there to protect her. Nephin’s daughter, Zana, was already a Knight, and so Aima, a skilled TruMage, cast a spell over her house that continues to this day. The first born daughter of the Corifalle line would always become a Knight, but in order to become a true member of the Covenant, a child must choose that way, not have it forced upon them. And so, the daughters would be given to another family, outside of the Knights, to choose for themselves. They would inevitably become Knights, but it would be of their choice. The only kind of Knight there could be.

Ania, I am not Anmita Kyatei’s sister, at least not in the way that you have always thought. My mother was Keila Vohnam. She gave me to the Kyateis as I gave you to Anmita. Trust me, Ania; there was nothing I wanted more than to keep you. But there is a dark side to the Legacy spell. If the daughter is not given to a new family within her first week of life, she will die. That was the one thing I would never risk, even to keep you for myself a little longer.

The Legacy is more than a spell passed down through the ages. It is a part of us. As much a part of us as is our blood, our mind, or our spirit. Have you ever noticed that a part of you seemed to be constantly focused? It never rested, always trying to keep you on the right path? That is the Legacy spell inside you. When you let yourself be commanded by that part of your being, it changes you. When I embraced it, I changed enough that Lyem started thinking of me as two separate people. His mother and the Lady, as he called me.  It started when he was two or three, and he still does it. Most people can’t tell the difference, but his child like eyes can always spot it.

Ania, with the Legacy come the Covenant Prophecies. The Legacy is a pivotal part of those prophecies, as are the daughters who become a part of it. Every part of the Prophecies lead to the passage about the  One, or the Savior, who will fulfill the Legacy by protecting the Queen from the greatest danger ever to face her and, in turn, put in end to the constant enemy that has always plagued our people. 

Geschyichti was once a very different language. It evolved from the time of its creation to the time of Nephin and Aima. It was used primarily to name children.

Ania means “The One” in ancient Geschyichti.

My name means “Preparer for the One.”

Ania, you are the child the Prophecies speak of. You are the one destined to save our country. I know how scared you must be, but believe me, I know you can do it. I saw it in your eyes the first time you opened them. If for no other reason, remember this, and I think you will find the courage to do what you think is impossible.

If you can do it, the Legacy will be fulfilled and no other mother will have to give up her child. You will not have to give up your daughter.

Remember this always.

I love you.

Your mother

Alliania

 

Ania stared at the words on the white piece of paper, barely able to believe that she was actually reading this. Her, a savior? What did that even mean?

Looking up at her father, she spoke in a weak, barely audible whisper. “Did you know about this?”

He nodded. “Your mother told me everything as she learned it. I knew most of this before I even married her, but I did it anyway, knowing I’d have to give up my daughter someday.”

She let out a sigh that came out raspy, barely able to keep it from turning into a sob. “How am I supposed to save anybody? I fall apart at the simplest things. How am I supposed to save the whole country?” She was about to go on, but Alecgorn stopped her.

“We’ll help you deal with that later. For now, just remember why your mother did what she did. Do you understand?”

She nodded slowly. “I… I understand. It’s still confusing, but… I think…I think I understand it now.” Meeting her father’s gaze, she felt the hole in her chest begin to heal over. On a sudden impulse, she reached around his neck and gave him a hug that reminded her of days long gone and innocence long left behind. “I love you, Father.” Her words were muffled as she pressed her face into his shoulder, but by the way his embrace tightened around her, she knew he had heard her. She felt Lyem join in the hug, and when she felt her father press a kiss to the top to her head, she knew they were just as glad of the reunion as she was. Because as she sat there, surrounded by the two people that loved her more than anything in the world, her heart rose up out of the hole it had long since sunken into.

They walked her to her room, but before going to bed she went to her friends rooms. She knew they must be asleep, but she needed to talk to them. When they were all gather, sleepy eyed, in her room, she told them everything she had learned. Echo sat next to her, a friendly hand on her arm and Randen held her to his shoulder as she cried. Aimon sat on the desk chair, looking to be deep in thought, but Ania knew him to be paying close attention.

Just as they were about to leave, the moon having long since set, Echo turned to her. “I always knew you were special, Ania. Part of what drew me to you that first day was how happy you looked. You seemed like you belonged here, and you were so good at what you did that I just had to know you. You’re my best friend, and I know you will do whatever it is that those musty old scrolls say you will. You’ll do it perfectly, and then we can all go home and leave all this Legacy stuff in the books where it belongs.” Ania smiled, the simple honesty of her friend making everything seem less…demanding. Echo’s words made it seem easy.

Ania fell asleep with her mother’s wedding ring around her neck, finally knowing, for the first time eighteen years, who she really was.