Madeleine says...
Sometimes I think: if I could choose, would I want to be the Chosen One? The Great Wise? Probably I'll never know. According to my father, it was my choice, many eons ago, but I'll never know. Not even when the last soldier in battle release his last breath, I will understand this choice.
When I was little, my father made sure to bring me to the camp and confirm that I would be the next augur. Even being newborn, I could hear the "ohs" and "ahs" of the Senate in that time. A girl in an important position. A sacrilege.
I was to be raised by the followers of Minerva. Since I was little I learned the art of spinning and singing, and I got used to the life without boys. If it wasn't for my father, I would have been rejected. What is a girl for, even more blind?
But I'm here, following my destiny. I must tell you the true story. I will tell you about moments I wasn't present, or in which I wasn't even born .I can't explain why I know that, because not even I understand. I just know.
Part One: Fire
Chapter I
Fire. The flames looked like tongues licking the precarious wooden construction. The woman ran desperately, the man laughing and making bets to know how long would she die.
- Five minutes? – John smiled with his toothless mouth. A horrible vision.
- Less. Inside that house is hotter than hell– answered Seymour while chewing smoke.
The woman screamed madly as she ran. Her words came out scrambled, almost incomprehensible.
- My daughter! She's inside the house! – repeated.
It was impossible to hear the child's cry. She should be already dead.
The woman entered the house. Right after came a boy who also entered. When they got out, the woman had a horrible burn on one of her arms. She had protected the baby with it. In her arms, the baby was sleeping with a slight smile on her lips. The woman and the boy started to cry of happiness. The baby girl was alive.
- Cha – Charlotte – the woman stuttered.
- My girl of fire– the boy said.
They didn't have any longer to rejoice. John was holding the whip and came up screaming:
- Go back to work! Now!
The woman received two lashes: the first because se really was the target and the second for protecting the boy. She swallowed her tears and told him:
- Take Charlotte to Cassandra and go back to work.
The boy stood there looking at her for a while until she shouted "Go, Louis!".
-So this is why you call me "girl of fire? – Charlotte asked.
- Yeah. – Louis answered.
They were sitting on their mats. Elizabeth was sewing and talking with other women on a mat next. It was night. - You said that when you were five years old?
- Yeah.
- You just say "yeah"?
- Yeah.
Charlotte quickly realized why her brother was so distracted from the conversation. She sat down beside him and heard the women.
-... we can't leave them– caught Cassandra in the middle of a sentence.
Everyone will come with us, but we can't stop. Even when it's Christmas, people won't help us. –Said Abigail's mother. Charlotte couldn't remember her name.
-We can go trough the forest behind the house. John and the other men never go there. – this time it was Elizabeth.
A woman was opening her mouth to say something when John reached the door screaming. He was so drunk that Charlotte could smell the beer even being on the other side of the house.
- Go to sleep, you idiots!
He cracked the whip on the ground. Everyone ran to their respective mats, lying down. Cassandra took a while because of her belly from eight months of pregnancy. Elizabeth, foreseeing what would happen, covered the eyes of the children.
All heard in silence. One, two, three, four, five... Charlotte has reached her limit when listening to the sixth whipping. Her heart was full of hate by John. Soon after, she heard a scream. But it was a male scream. Her mother had taken her hands from her eyes and covered her mouth with them. The man was on fire. Everyone looked scared to the girl. She could hear the whispers:
- Fire ... Her ... Out of nowhere ... Louis looked at her with awe and terror at the same time. Her mother looked her up and down with an undecipherable look. Apparently, the only person who had not seen the origin of the fire was John, who screamed. He left the house running, crazy. Charlotte did not want to pay attention to the glances around, then looked at the night outside the window. She was the only one in the house to notice the blonde hair of Charles.