Tears of Darkness
By Tru Eve
As a Dea al Mon girl blessed with Birthright Gray, Sohielle was her mother's pride and joy, but as a half-breed almost broken by the taint that was seeping from Little Terreille, she was her mother's worst nightmare. Sent to live with her Aunt Gabrielle, the Queen of the Dea al Mon, Sohi grows from child to Queen, just as her "Aunty Jaenelle" destroys the taint that threatened to ruin her life.
Disclaimer: Basically, everything belongs to Anne Bishop except Sohi and her mother. Bow to her greatness and spirit, for ye shall never write with such blinding grace and wit!
Sohi lay on her back, staring up at the bright sky, which was lit by the sun that shone over the trees. Her young hands danced above her face, practicing her Craft lesson by creating tongues of witchlight on the ends of each finger. She giggled and rolled over onto her stomach, letting her straight, black hair fall around her face, shining like spun ebony. Balancing on her elbows, she examined each little flame with intense scrutiny, concentrating hard to keep all ten going as she sang out a child's tune in a singsong voice.
She amused herself by the hour out here, in the clearing that Mother always told her not to enter because it was too close to the border, too close to the taint of Little Terreille. Sohi had always laughed at the warnings, at the threats. She would just puff herself up and declare proudly that she was Dea al Mon, one of the Children of the Wood! No one would threaten her. Besides, she wore Birthright Gray, something that had always made her Mother beam and her aunt, Gabrielle, the Queen of Dea al Mon, sputter.
That might have been why she didn't hear the footsteps, didn't hear the male snickers until it was too late. One of them grabbed an arm and pulled her roughly to her feet, never giving her a chance to catch her balance before slamming her back into a tree, while another pinned her wrists above her.
Sohi panicked, frightened, confused, and trying desperately to clear her head, trying to force herself not to breathe when a third man shoved a damp cloth to her face, a drugged damp cloth. Her fingers clawed and scratched at the man containing her, her feet kicked at the man in front, her teeth tried to clamp onto the third man. That was when one of them punched her in the stomach, forcing all the air from her lungs, and thus forcing her to inhale again quickly. But it wasn't air that entered her nostrils when she did. She gasped and fought until she felt the affects of the drugs. It felt like her whole body was stuck to something sticky and she couldn't move, couldn't make herself move.
The first man ripped off the front of her dress, and Sohi's eyes widened as she tried to scream. No! You can't have my body! I'm too young! No! No! - NO!- She hadn't meant to sent that thought, she couldn't even comprehend who she had sent it to. Things went fuzzy, she fought it, fought them. She could feel them distantly, feel them groping her, touching her, ripping, tearing. From her distance, she could have sworn she heard a loud cry before everything went dark.
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Kallean watched her little girl sleep, tuck tightly into the warm covers of her bed. It was so easy to forget the trauma her daughter had experienced no less than 2 days ago, so easy to remember the day she was born, her first word, her Birthright Ceremony… She could have accepted this fact, save that she wanted to forget, needed to forget that there were males in the world cruel enough to try and rape such a little girl, that Little Terreille's influence was spreading beyond the borders, even after their Queen had taken up court in Ebon Askavi.
She'd always been so proud of her little Sohi, despite the obvious physical signs that practically screamed that she wasn't purely Dea al Mon: her midnight black hair, her sun-kissed tan skin, even her voice held a little Hayllian accent. She knew that as her mother, she shouldn't judge her on it, that it would be hard enough without her input. It was just hard, so, so hard. Every day she looked at her little Sohi, her little, beautiful, powerful Sohi, and saw her ex-lover, an immigrant from Terreille that even her open-minded sister, Gabrielle, hadn't approved of. And now… now she'd come so close to losing her, maybe not to death, but at least to the endless pain a witch suffers when broken.
Kallean braced herself, gathering her courage and her strength as she saw her little baby girl stirring. There's only one thing you can do. No, one thing you must do. She'll be able to look after her, love her, teach her, and if anyone can protect her, she can. It was her only choice. "Sohielle?" She murmured gently, sitting on her daughter's bed and trying desperately to mask the pain she felt.
"Mama?" Sohi asked sleepily. She didn't remember. Yet.
"Mama's here, baby." She brushed a shining black lock from her daughter's face.
Sohi tensed, and her voice turned shaky. "Mama…?"
She remembers. Sadly, Kallean swept her daughter up in her arms, "It's alright, baby, Mama's here. You're okay now."
Sohi started to cry, "Did they… did they…" She managed before she burst into sobs
"Hush" Kallean held her daughter close to her chest, humming softly for a few moments before the small girl calmed her wails to sniffles, "No sweety, Mama got there in time, everything's all right."
Sohi pushed away from her mother's chest and curled her knees under her, looking to her mother as she wiped her eyes, remembering her mother's past words of strength. "What's gunna happen now?"
Kallean swallowed, "Going to. What's going to happen now is that you're going to go live with your Aunty where you can be safe, and play with the kindred, and learn all the wondrous Craft spells that I can't teach you." As a Dea al Mon witch, she hated the idea, but as Sohi's mother, it seemed like the only option.
Sohi cried for a very long time, even after her mother's explanations. Soon, their tears mingled. It's the only way, she reminded herself, it's the only way she'll be safe and still be happy. Lady Jaenelle will help her, heal the emotional wounds that you can't, and Lady Gabrielle and Prince Chaosti will be there… No matter how many excuses filled her mind, nothing made the pain lessen. This was her daughter, and since Sohi's Birthright Ceremony, she'd been clinging to the dream of seeing her little girl make the Offering to the Darkness and set up court, ruling as she had never been able to do. It's the only way. Their friends will be back to finish the job and to avenge their death. It's the only way.
Oh yes, very fun much.I'm really interested about feedback for this little piece, too much drama, not enough emotions, description... anything! If you have a thought, I'd love it if you'd send it my way .
I actually haven't written the next bit, but since I'm ahead with DD, this is top priority .