Chapter 41

 

This chapter has been copied from the original and may contain typos and grammatical errors.

~*~

Midshore had felt Gloria's anger melting away over the past week, and knew that she would be coming back to her soon.

Everstar had given her enough grief about her behavior with Gloria, and she did feel bad about what she had done. She didn't want to hurt Gloria's feelings, but a young mind is often hard to ration with. Didn't Gloria see how odd it was that she had these dreams? That she had no source of power?

The two priestesses had come to an agreement about Gloria. Midshore wouldn't enter her mind unless she was invited, and she wouldn't bring it up. As far as the matter was concerned, she would act as if the option wasn't there. And if Gloria was projecting, she would sever the connection and walk away from it.

In return, it was Everstar's turn to have a child.

~*~

The nights before, during, and after a full moon were the windows of time that Gloria would have the possibility to have the dream. The night of the full moon she was usually practicing her abilities, but the other nights she had to come up with an excuse to not sleep at night and catch naps during the day. It was brutal on her mind, but if she never had a dream again she could live with that.

She liked to spend the night with Aubade or Mabel and Mara. They were understanding, but her parents were not. Gloria hadn't told them about the dreams and they were confused by her strange sleeping habits. She also tried to play violin on the larger island where she wouldn't disturb anyone in the refugee hole that had once held the family when they had arrived to the Islands, but it had been empty for over a decade with only the occasional refugee to come and need the space. Gloria had fixed it up, dusting the area and finding some spare furniture to make sure the place was habitable. She brought canned food to stock the shelves with for when she got hungry or if refugees needed food. Mostly, the food was for her and Aubade when he came by.

Aubade. She had thought about his proposal often, finding peace when she didn't think about it, and anxiety when she did. She wasn't ready for that sort of commitment. But what was she waiting for? A better man wasn't going to come along. He was beautiful, showed that they would have a life full of interesting conversations and adventures, and he was fully dedicated to her. It wouldn’t surprise her if he became another teacher for another cluster of Islands with all of his knowledge and teaching.

But something held her back. She couldn’t name it, no matter how hard she looked and reflected. She tried to analyse why she wasn’t in love with him the way he was with her, and she just couldn’t for the life of her find out why. Was it her parents’ reaction? They weren’t head over heels for him, but then most parents weren’t about their child showing that they were growing in that department, looking for adult fun times and flying the nest.

It was a large step, one she wasn’t ready to do. She felt so young, should she get tied down now? Which brought her back to wondering if not Aubade, who?

She had decided to go to practice tonight. It made her feel better to stretch her abilities and she felt better knowing that she could lean on the more experienced spellcasters.

The two women were waiting for her, and she took her spot at her stool. They folded into a seated position to start on their meditation. Gloria knew that Midshore would try to not read her mind, but she sent out peaceful thought towards her, wanting her to know that she had put the incident behind her. They could be friends again.

While no one could see, Midshore smiled, knowing that she had been forgiven.

~*~

Blake heard a knock on his door. It was a shack, really, just a glorified shack, but it held all that he needed.

He opened the door to find a verging on elderly councilwoman. She smoothed her hands on her skirt as if her palms were sweating.

“Aubade!” she greeted. “I’m happy you’re home. I have news for you: a new refugee has named you as one of their contacts that may be here on the Islands. His name is Rufus, do you know him?”

Blake’s heart skipped. “Rufus!” he had rehearsed this in his head: what he would say when he was called for. “Of course! He was one of my childhood friends, when can I see him?” he asked.

“As soon as you like,” she smiled wide. She loved to see people be reunited. It was the best part of her job.

“Let me just get my shoes on and I’ll be right with you!” he urged, shoving his feet into sandals and hurrying out the door. He followed her to the round room of the council building where most reunions were held.

His ribcage shook as he imagined what could have happened in three long years since he’d been away. How was his mother? What state was the nation in? Did he bring letters?

“Here he is.” the councilwoman beamed as she opened the door. Rufus stood off to the side of the room, biting his nails. Blake remembered he didn’t like to sail, so the journey must have been tough for him. Still, it must have been worth it to come all this way.

There was no one else in the room, and the council woman smiled as Aubade hugged Rufus. She closed the door behind her, wanting to give them as much space as they wanted and to not interrupt on the feelings they were going to have.

As soon as Blake hear the door close, he pulled away from Rufus. They had never been the affectionate type. In fact, Blake hardly knew Rufus. He had gone to school with him and other well-off kids, but he hadn’t been close.

“Good heavens, why were you sent to this Islands? Getting here is the pits.” joked Rufus. “The views are amazing though, and the women! Have you seen what they wear? It’s a third of the clothing that the mainland women wear!”

“I know! It’s been hard to get used to it, it’s distracting! But quite enjoyable to observe.” Blake gave a guilty grin.

“Blake, I have news, and you may not like it.” Rufus started.

~*~

Gloria stormed into his room looking furious and confused.

“Why are you leaving? Since when do people leave here?” she demanded.

“I’ve received word that my father is declining, and I need to see him before he dies.” Aubade said as he packed up his sparse belongings.

“Can’t he just come here? We have healers here, we could give him a better life-”

“He can’t come here!” Aubade shouted abruptly. Gloria flinched.

“He can’t come here,” he repeated. “Because he is… He’d never leave the mainland. He loves it too much. So I have to go to him.”

“That’s insane, how would you even get there? Boats don’t go that way.” she tried to rationalize.

“Over the years there’s become a bit of a surplus of boats, in case you hadn’t noticed. I talked to the boatmaster and he sold me one for cheap. I leave tomorrow morning.”

“What about us? What am I supposed to do?” Gloria chest felt heavy with the thought of him leaving her. They had been together for three years, three whole years of seasons, harvests, dances, anniversaries. All of that was dissolving before her eyes.

“What us?!” he turned to her, frustration in the lines of his shoulders. “I asked you to dedicate yourself to me three years ago! You haven’t pledged yourself, you haven’t even said you love me! For three years! I have been here to support you, to spend odd times with you, to help you in every way I can and you won’t promise yourself to me? I can’t stay,”

He turned back around and Gloria felt like she could cry. She walked up to him slowly, and she tried to wrap her arms around him, but he shook her off. She persisted though, and she inserted herself between him and his bed where he was packing and embraced him.

“Aubade, how do you not know? I- I love you.” she took a deep breath. “I can’t live without you. Please, don’t go. I need you here, with me.”

“I must go.” he said, drawing away from her. “But you can come with me.”

She looked at him with the most puzzlement he had ever seen, as if he had not two but three heads. “But my family? My brother and sisters? My grandmother? All of my cousins? I- I don't know that I can leave them.”

“We could come back, one day. Perhaps a year from now, maybe two. You’ll see them again.” he shifted his weight on his feet. “Gloria, every refugee who comes here is looking for a better life, they all take life into their own hands. We can do the same. I have to go, and you can make the choice to come with me. You can take control of your destiny and live while you’re young. Come with me, let my father see the woman I have chosen to be the vessel of my love, and then we can return home. You can meet my mother, I know she’d love to meet you. You’d get the true princess treatment from the family, I assure you. Foods you’ve never fathomed, silks from across the sea for sheets.

“Come with me, Gloria, please. I can’t live without you either, and without you by my side I am half a man. My love, my never-ending joy, please, come with me.” he whispered, so close to Gloria.

She looked up into his eyes. The thought of her leaving the only home she’d ever known was intimidating, but she was hardly unprepared. She had been hypothosising with Aubade for a while about her moving in with him now that she was old enough to be considered an adult. And as he said, she would be back in a year or two, and then she would be home forever.

“Yes.” she breathed, hardly believing her mouth had formed the words.

“Really?!” he seemed surprised. “Oh my Creator, thankyou!” he picked her up and twirled her around the room.

Dear Mom and Dad, Robin, Lana, and Skye

I have gone with Aubade to the mainland. His father is dying and he wants to see him again before he dies. I couldn’t part from him, so I have decided to go with him. Aubade thinks that we should be able to return in a year or two, so I will be counting the days until I can see you again.

I want you to know that it was the hardest thing I have ever done, leaving home, and without so much as a goodbye. But if I had said goodbye, I wouldn’t have lost all my courage to go. As it is, I can hardly leave without feeling that it’s the wrong choice.

Know that I will love each and every one of you everyday I breathe.

-Gloria