This chapter dedicated to: Bards Soul
#3
Cecilia woke to find herself on her bed, and the first thing she saw was her mother, wiping her face with a damp cloth.
As the memories rushed back into her mind, she grimaced and flinched away from the hand, turning her head and her body away from the woman.
"Who are you?" she tried to say, but it came out silent. She cleared her throat and tried again. "How long was I . asleep?" this time the words came out fuzzy, but they were there.
"About 15 minutes. It does not matter, if you are awake now then you are fine." She woman squeezed the water out of the cloth and took it and the bowl of water into the next room, where Cecilia could hear the sound of it being poured away.
"Who are you? I mean, if you're not my mother?"
"I will answer that question, but you must listen to me.
You have been told all these lies for a reason. It was not to hurt you, or to kidnap you or for any purpose other than to keep you safe. My name is Lyra, Lyra Belaqua or Silvertongue. The former is a name given to me by my own mother, who I hated with a deep passion. The latter is the name given to me by someone I loved dearly, and who was as close to my heart as one of his kind ever got. I carry him with me everywhere. The name you have known me by is Elzabeth parry, a name I had to use so that my enemies couldn't find me. William parry was the only man I have ever loved. I met him as a child and together we shared a love never equalled, never to be experienced again. His mother too, was special, but he loved her more than anything in the world. Possibly more than me. No, definitely more than me, but in a different way.
We separated as children, and I have only seen him once since then, although he knew not that I was there. He did not recognise me. It hurt me deeply, to see him swing his children in the air, and to see him hug his wife. But I could not reveal who I was, lest I risk breaking my heart a second time. Possibly breaking his too. But that was soon swept out of my mind, until later, because I came to be in possession of you. You are the daughter of a nobleman, a man who strove for much the same things as my father did. I hated my father, for he was cruel and uncaring and callous. But your father was different. He was loving and balanced and he cared more for you and your mother than I would think possible. But unfortunately even his diplomatic nature and love of everything did not stop others from hating him. Certain . people did not wish to see him succeed in his task, but he strove on. Even he couldn't see or think about how far someone would go to stop his voice from being heard.
One day, ten years ago, someone broke into your father's estate when you and your family were asleep. They set the curtains in the dance hall alight, and locked all the doors and windows. The blaze caught onto the Christmas tree and spread upstairs to the family sleeping quarters. Within an hour the whole house had burned to the ground, killing almost everyone in it.
Except you. Somehow, you managed to escape the burning house, and you hid in the hunting forest on the grounds. I came to the house as soon as I heard that the whole family had died, but a mystery greeted me. When the . bodies were removed from the house, they had found no trace of you. No one knew, but you had run to your fathers cabin, and where living there quite comfortably, for about three days. The snow melted a bit by then, and I left my group staying in the nearby village to come and find you. I suspected that you had gone to the cabin, as I knew from letters from your father that it was the place you and your brother most liked to visit. Yes, you had a brother, although he was kidnapped by the same group who killed your parents, about a year before the attack. I found you weeping in the melting snow outside the cabin, and I took you back to the village, handing you into the care of a local woman who I knew could keep silent about your identity. From being Cecilia Lyra Ivanovitch, you became Cecilia Narcissa Parry. You lived with the woman until I came back for you, when you were seven. I had killed the leader of the group that assassinated your parents, and I had killed most of the group itself. It had taken me three years, but I avenged their deaths.
I took you from the woman and placed you in Sank College, where I had an old friend. I became Elzabeth parry, and I worked at becoming one of the most famous female scholars. And that is where this story ends. Now, it is your turn to carry on extending the story, the legend." Exhausted, the woman allowed herself to shed a tear, and Cecilia watched it track a path down her smooth skin, then drop from her cheek onto the counterpane, where it mad the smallest of dark marks. "Do you have any questions?"
"Why?" Cecilia had made the question as short as physically possible, but Lyra seemed to understand.
"Because I know that you are planning to leave the college through the chimney, and you must not go unarmed, for if you do, you shall surely fail in your task."
"Who was my father? What was his name? What was he fighting for?" she could feel the strength slowly seeping back into her limbs, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes and trying to get over the enormity of what she had just been told. She ignored the fact that the woman knew about they chimney, at least for the present moment.
"His name was William Ivanovitch, and he was fighting for freedom from oppression. For freedom for the whole world, and all of the worlds."
"Ivanovitch means son of John. I know I am not Russian, so I know that Ivanovitch is a pseudonym. Stop lying and tell me the truth." Her eyes flashed dangerously know, and seemed out of place in the morning sunlight, like finding something sinister and knowing in a place full of light and innocence.
"You are more clever than I had known, I did not expect to have to tell you all of this."
"Expectations that people have of me are rarely held true. Tell me."
"His real name was William Parry, my first and only love, holder of the Subtle Knife, fighter for freedom from the Kingdom of Heaven."
#3
Cecilia woke to find herself on her bed, and the first thing she saw was her mother, wiping her face with a damp cloth.
As the memories rushed back into her mind, she grimaced and flinched away from the hand, turning her head and her body away from the woman.
"Who are you?" she tried to say, but it came out silent. She cleared her throat and tried again. "How long was I . asleep?" this time the words came out fuzzy, but they were there.
"About 15 minutes. It does not matter, if you are awake now then you are fine." She woman squeezed the water out of the cloth and took it and the bowl of water into the next room, where Cecilia could hear the sound of it being poured away.
"Who are you? I mean, if you're not my mother?"
"I will answer that question, but you must listen to me.
You have been told all these lies for a reason. It was not to hurt you, or to kidnap you or for any purpose other than to keep you safe. My name is Lyra, Lyra Belaqua or Silvertongue. The former is a name given to me by my own mother, who I hated with a deep passion. The latter is the name given to me by someone I loved dearly, and who was as close to my heart as one of his kind ever got. I carry him with me everywhere. The name you have known me by is Elzabeth parry, a name I had to use so that my enemies couldn't find me. William parry was the only man I have ever loved. I met him as a child and together we shared a love never equalled, never to be experienced again. His mother too, was special, but he loved her more than anything in the world. Possibly more than me. No, definitely more than me, but in a different way.
We separated as children, and I have only seen him once since then, although he knew not that I was there. He did not recognise me. It hurt me deeply, to see him swing his children in the air, and to see him hug his wife. But I could not reveal who I was, lest I risk breaking my heart a second time. Possibly breaking his too. But that was soon swept out of my mind, until later, because I came to be in possession of you. You are the daughter of a nobleman, a man who strove for much the same things as my father did. I hated my father, for he was cruel and uncaring and callous. But your father was different. He was loving and balanced and he cared more for you and your mother than I would think possible. But unfortunately even his diplomatic nature and love of everything did not stop others from hating him. Certain . people did not wish to see him succeed in his task, but he strove on. Even he couldn't see or think about how far someone would go to stop his voice from being heard.
One day, ten years ago, someone broke into your father's estate when you and your family were asleep. They set the curtains in the dance hall alight, and locked all the doors and windows. The blaze caught onto the Christmas tree and spread upstairs to the family sleeping quarters. Within an hour the whole house had burned to the ground, killing almost everyone in it.
Except you. Somehow, you managed to escape the burning house, and you hid in the hunting forest on the grounds. I came to the house as soon as I heard that the whole family had died, but a mystery greeted me. When the . bodies were removed from the house, they had found no trace of you. No one knew, but you had run to your fathers cabin, and where living there quite comfortably, for about three days. The snow melted a bit by then, and I left my group staying in the nearby village to come and find you. I suspected that you had gone to the cabin, as I knew from letters from your father that it was the place you and your brother most liked to visit. Yes, you had a brother, although he was kidnapped by the same group who killed your parents, about a year before the attack. I found you weeping in the melting snow outside the cabin, and I took you back to the village, handing you into the care of a local woman who I knew could keep silent about your identity. From being Cecilia Lyra Ivanovitch, you became Cecilia Narcissa Parry. You lived with the woman until I came back for you, when you were seven. I had killed the leader of the group that assassinated your parents, and I had killed most of the group itself. It had taken me three years, but I avenged their deaths.
I took you from the woman and placed you in Sank College, where I had an old friend. I became Elzabeth parry, and I worked at becoming one of the most famous female scholars. And that is where this story ends. Now, it is your turn to carry on extending the story, the legend." Exhausted, the woman allowed herself to shed a tear, and Cecilia watched it track a path down her smooth skin, then drop from her cheek onto the counterpane, where it mad the smallest of dark marks. "Do you have any questions?"
"Why?" Cecilia had made the question as short as physically possible, but Lyra seemed to understand.
"Because I know that you are planning to leave the college through the chimney, and you must not go unarmed, for if you do, you shall surely fail in your task."
"Who was my father? What was his name? What was he fighting for?" she could feel the strength slowly seeping back into her limbs, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes and trying to get over the enormity of what she had just been told. She ignored the fact that the woman knew about they chimney, at least for the present moment.
"His name was William Ivanovitch, and he was fighting for freedom from oppression. For freedom for the whole world, and all of the worlds."
"Ivanovitch means son of John. I know I am not Russian, so I know that Ivanovitch is a pseudonym. Stop lying and tell me the truth." Her eyes flashed dangerously know, and seemed out of place in the morning sunlight, like finding something sinister and knowing in a place full of light and innocence.
"You are more clever than I had known, I did not expect to have to tell you all of this."
"Expectations that people have of me are rarely held true. Tell me."
"His real name was William Parry, my first and only love, holder of the Subtle Knife, fighter for freedom from the Kingdom of Heaven."