This scene is a flashback to the past when my main character, Caillet, was young. She is in training to be a "Soul Bearer" (a person born with the special gift of being able to draw people's soul mates for them). Marjory, her aunt, is raising her, but Nations, The Guardian of the Soul Bearers doesn't approve of how she is teaching Caillet.
Note: Caillet is pronounced "Kah-lay."
~
“You have a special gift, Caillet.” Marjory whispered into the ear of the eight-year-old girl in her lap as they sat together in a rocking chair. Caillet shook her unruly curls and looked up at the speaker. “Aunt Margi,” she said, in a childish attempt to whisper that was anything but quiet, “I’m a Soul Bearer!”
“Yes, dear, just like I’ve always told you. You have a special ability.”
Despite her age, Caillet was petite and small, allowing her to still be held and coddled. Caillet rocked her body back and forth on her aunt’s lap, trying to get the rocking motion of the chair started again. Taking the hint, Marjory began to tip the chair back and forth with her foot, gently.
“I will be able to draw,” Caillet said, in another failed attempt at a whisper.
“Of course, dear. Soon you will be able to draw so many faces, each one with a personality and a name to match. You will be able to give them to people, and then those people will go out into the world and find their soul mate.”
“Aunt Margi, what is a soul mate?”
“A soul mate is someone who a person is meant to be with forever and ever. A soul mate is someone you love.”
“Are you my soul mate?” Caillet asked, looking up again into her aunt’s face. “I love you.”
Marjory’s face tightened for a moment, and then released the micro expression. “No dear. That isn’t how it works. Soul Bearers will never have soul mates.”
“Never have soul mates,” Caillet repeated back as she fidgeted with the lace on the hem of her nightgown. “Never have soul mates,” she repeated again. “Aunt Marji, can I go play outside?”
“May I go play outside,” Marjory corrected.
“May I go play outside?” Caillet repeated.
“No dear. It’s dark out and nearly time for bed.” Carefully, Marjory arose, lifting the little girl in her arms, and carried her to the little canopy bed against the wall. Caillet went willingly and without a fuss, allowing her aunt to tuck her in under the covers.
Turning out the lights, Marjory looked back towards where the little girl lay drowsily under a heap of downy covers, her tiny little face illuminated only by the light from the unicorn nightlight.
Closing the door quietly behind her, she stepped out of the room.
“You lied to her.”
Marjory jumped, partially because she was frightened by the sudden intrusion of the deep, hushed voice, and partially because she recognized it.
“Nation!” she whispered as she tried to calm her furiously beating heart. “I do wish you would stop sneaking around like this! How do you get in, anyway? The doors are all locked!”
“Now Marjory, you know I don’t need doors.”
“What do you want with me anyway? You said I’d be able to raise her how I wished.”
“I said I’d allow you to raise her as a Soul Bearer,” Nations replied as he followed Marjory down the dark hallway, leisurely walking behind her quick, purposeful gait. “You know that I intend to stop in from time to time, to make sure that you are…well…bringing her up right.”
“Just because you have spent your life, or lives, or however it is you measure time and existence,” Marjory cut her eyes towards Nations who was now standing beside her in the dim light of the parlor, “teaching young Soul Bearers the way of the trade, doesn’t mean you have to come barging in here to check up on me.”
“Actually, it does,” Nations replied, taking a seat near the fireplace. He picked up the iron poker and began to stir up the dead embers, rekindling a small flame. The room grew a little brighter.
Marjory huffed and said sarcastically, “Take a seat, why don’t you.”
“Thank you, but I already have,” Nations replied, ignoring her sarcasm. “I do apologize for barging in on you like this, especially at this time of the night, but I couldn’t help but notice that you aren’t telling your daughter the full story.”
“She too young to know everything.”
“No she isn’t. When you were her age, you knew everything about being a Soul Bearer. You were a most promising pupil.”
Marjory smiled wryly to herself, unsure whether to be pleased with the compliment or not. “But this is different. Caillet is delicate and much too young for her age. I simply can’t tell her everything yet.”
“You told her she will never have a soul mate, but you, of all people, know that this isn’t true.”
Marjory stood tall and dark, like a shadow in the corner. Nations sat illuminated by the golden glow of the firelight.
“I told her what I knew she could handle right now,” Marjory replied.
“But you know that isn’t true. Caillet is smart enough and old enough to handle the truth. What you told her is a lie. I need you to tell her that Soul Bearers will meet their soul mates, but that the difference between her and all the other mortals is that she must never fall in love with her own. She must know the consequences.”
Marjory stared at Nations, her eyes boring into his, yet, he didn’t flinch. He could not be intimidated.
Nations continued, “I don’t want to lose another Soul Bearer, or have another ‘incident.’”
Marjory cringed at the word “incident.” “Please, Nations. Don’t taunt me. You know that is all over.”
Nation’s manner softened a bit. “I did not come here to taunt you. I came here in the role of the Guardian. Despite how you feel, ultimately Caillet’s wellbeing is my concern. Marjory, we lost so many Soul Bearers in the incident. I won’t lose another one. I won’t have her found out and ousted. I won’t have another innocent life snuffed out. Remember. Even I don’t make the rules. There is always someone greater.”
Marjory choked back a sob and refused to let even a single tear roll down her face. “I understand, Sir.”
“Good. Then I’ll be on my way. Good night.”
Marjory had closed her eyes for a moment, trying to keep back a tear. When she had opened, Nations was gone. The fire had gone out, and she was alone in the darkness.
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