Rainbow
My name is Iris Asala Cousland.
I have two homes: one in Highever with Uncle Fergus and one at Vigil's Keep with Mama.
I wish I could live with Mama always, but Uncle Fergus says that a barracks is no place for a little girl to be properly raised. Mama agrees sometimes, but I know she misses me terribly when I am far away from her. I can tell when she hugs me when she leaves me in Highever and when she hugs me when she returns to fetch me. It is all happy and sad and safe and hard and soft at the same time.
I asked Uncle Zev where people learn to hug like that.
He said, "It is a talent that only the best people learn with practice."
Uncle Zev always lives with me, regardless of where I am. He watches me. I am not sure why, but he is good at it.
He calls me, "Miastraya."*
He says it better than me, though. His voice gets all crinkly and runny with the letters.
I asked if I could learn to say it like he does.
He said he would have to take me to Antiva so I could learn how to speak it right.
I asked Mama if she would let Uncle Zev take me to Antiva so I could make my voice do crinkly letters.
She said no.
Uncle Zev says we will ask again when I get older.
Uncle Oghren says it will not matter how long we wait, I will be an old woman before Mama would allow it.
He said it with more bad words and cussing though, but Mama says I am not allowed to use those words or she would scrub my mouth with soap.
During the last time Mama visited Uncle Fergus and me here in Highever, I had snuck down to his study so I could see her. They were talking really loud and the door had been left open a crack, so I could hear them.
"She needs a father, Elissa!" Uncle Fergus said, his voice was not angry, but it had edges.
"She has a father. He said he would come back." Mama said back.
Uncle Fergus' voice got softer and I could only hear, "He may have…but it has been years. Something might have happened. Maybe he is not coming back. Maybe you should move on. You have a right to be happy."
"Who says I am not happy?" Mama asked.
Uncle Fergus made that noise he makes when he does not like what he is hearing but is not sure what to say. I did not hear what he said next because Uncle Zev found me and carried me away quickly.
He can find me wherever I hide and I will not even hear him when he comes for me.
We went walking in the garden and he held my hand.
"Would you be my father, Uncle Zev?" I asked him.
He looked surprised when I asked, and looked down at me, "Why would you ask that, Miastraya?"
"Uncle Fergus says I need a father."
His jaw got all tight and his eyes looked a little sad, "I would love to be your father, but I seem to be meant to be your Uncle Zev. That is all."
"Then can I marry you when I grow up?"
He laughed then, it pushed all the sad away, "Somehow I think your Mama would say no to that too. Besides, you will meet someone wonderful who will make your heart flutter and, if he is a good man, I will let him live and he can marry you. If he turns out to be a bad man and hurts you, then I make no guarantees on his continued health."
"What does that mean, Uncle Zev?"
"What it means is…." He paused before picking me up in his arms and looking me in the eyes, "it means that I will always be here for you, watching over you. You are Miastraya. Never forget that. Alright?"
I nodded and he put me down again so we could continue walking.
I wondered if I should tell him about the funny voices I heard sometimes, or the strange dreams. They are not bad dreams exactly, just strange.
I decided to just ask, "Why is my hair white? No other children have white hair."
"Because no other child is as beautiful as you are," he answered, "Only the most beautiful little girls have white hair. It is the color of pure stars."
"Mama is beautiful and she does not have white hair," I said.
He nodded, "Yes, your Mama is beautiful. Perhaps someday she will be so beautiful that her hair will be completely white like yours. Some beautiful people have to wait for white hair, you see. You got lucky and received it all at once."
Mama came and found us then. She hugged me and then she gave Uncle Zev a hug. It made him smile big. We went inside for dinner. Mama had brought some chocolate with her as a treat for dessert.
I did not get a chance to tell Uncle Zev about the beautiful woman I had seen in my dream. She had white hair too and wore a strange hat. She did not say anything, but she winked at me like Uncle Zev sometimes does when he has a good secret he cannot tell but he knows I will find out later.
Author's Note:
*"Miastraya" is actually supposed to be "Mi estrella" in Antivan, but it is written how Iris interprets and hears it. It means "my star."
Well, I promised EmbersofAmber chocolate and a rainbow at the end. "Iris" means "rainbow" in Greek, so I have delivered on what was requested.
Thank you to all who have been following. It has been a pleasure. I have learned a great deal from all of this. I may continue this story in a sequel at a later point, but this is the end of the first part.