1Chapter 2
I left the prophetess's dorm with a numb sensation rolling over my body. I couldn't believe the words I had just heard. I was a thirteen year old girl. I was nothing special. My life was destined to be a house servant until I was to hopefully find a good marriage, not become a priestess and seek greatness. I walked eastward, feeling the moonlight touch my skin. After walking for about half an hour in a dazed like trance, I finally stopped at a small stream that bore the title Amnis Asrai, in respect to the fairy peoples that resided near the water.
I remember laying next to the sparkling stream, twirling my fingers in the graceful water. I started to feel my body relax as I heard little giggles all around me. I lifted my head to discover a dozen little people with wings dancing around me. They were laughing and singing. The music is something I could never forget. It haunts my mind even today. Listening to the beautiful song of Sidhe, I became entranced. The music made me feel weightless, as if I, too, could fly with the wind. I had no worries and no cares. I felt nothing but pure happiness. Behind me, a figure started to walk towards me, gently calling me name, "Argante. Argante."
I suddenly awoke from my spellbound dreams to someone else calling my name.
"Argante! What are you doing by that stream? You promised me you'd go into town with me today," said my older sister coming towards me. Rowena was tall and slender with her flowing wheat hair put tightly in a bun on the back of her neck. She was probably the fairest maiden in Gwynedd. Being 16 years of age, she was already behind in finding a suitable husband, which I found odd, since all the men, wedded and unwedded, wanted to be her suitor, even though we were of a lower class. "I wake up to find your bed exactly as you had left it yesterday! Why did you not come home?"
"I'm sorry, Rowena. I...I guess I just...lost track of time." I felt nervous. I knew I could not tell my beloved sister about my visit with the prophetess, nor about the nightly visit the fairies paid me.
"Don't tell me you've been visiting another fortune teller or soothsayer or whoever it is you go to," Rowena said tapping her impatiently.
"Of course not!" I avoided her stern gaze. I glanced down in the stream and caught a glimpse of my reflection next to my sister's. It had just occurred to me how different we really looked. I was at least a head shorter than my sister and had curly locks of dark brown hair that bounced as I walked. My eyes were so dark, they looked black, while Rowena's were a light blue grey. And although Rowena and I did the same work in the same household, I always found that my hands and knees were not only rougher, but also caked with more dirt than hers.
"Come Argante, if we are to be back from town before the high noon for Master." She strolled off with a natural grace. "She belongs in a real home, with nice things. She belongs in a home where people should care for her, not where she cares for other people," I thought to myself.