OK…next chapter is up….I actually like how it turned out. Like I said in previous chapters. I don't like the Protector of the Small Series. So I'm ignoring the fact that it exist and making things the way I want them. Alanna's daughter is named Eleni in MY story…and in MY story….she is a Knight….. so PTTTTTTTTT~~~
SMILE ok…enjoy
Karigan
Uncontrollable
The quiet years
The spring came and went, along with her sixth birthday. Most of it was spent with her parents, in attempts to make up for so much lost time. Her father, especially, seemed to want to spend time with his wife and daughter more than ever.
She still had lessons of coarse. Every morning, Atune would walk her outside into the gardens to hold lessons. It made Jade wonder if Atune knew that Jade was much more comfortable out in the open. Lessons consisted mostly of reading, writing, arithmetic and science. Reading was her favorite subject, most likely because it was the only one she wasn't having trouble in. She was already reading books beyond even Amena's level.
But she couldn't write worth a damn. Her fine motor skills seemed to fall increasingly behind. When she tried to concentrate, her hands would shake violently and her eyes would blur. At first, Amena thought that her inability to control her hands was psychological, an after affect of last summers events. But as time passed, Atune noticed that Jade's hands shook on a normal basis; they were just more noticeable when she was trying to hold them still. They had her see a healer about it, but were told the only thing wrong with Jade was her energy levels. "The girl is practically bursting at the seams with unused energy. I can feel it fighting to get out. She needs more open air!" So, they added more playtimes to her schedule. But as the months progressed, her quaking didn't subside.
Atune tried to encourage more arithmetic onto Jade, going as far as enlisting Amena, who was a blossoming genius at math, into tutoring her. It was becoming apparently obvious, however, that Jade was simply not a math person.
Science was an all-together different story. Jade mostly hated it. Didn't care about most of it, Atune realized. Oh, the occasional science tricks caught her attention, but Jade wasn't willing to learn the specifics. Atune almost thought science a lost cause until one day, by mere coincident…
*Jade was running her hands through a patch of pure white daisies one summer morning while Atune read from a book about bugs. "It's funny," interrupted Jade suddenly.
Amena looked up with raised eyebrows. "And what is that?"
"The Daisy," Jade pointed out. "Its leaves look like little arms. It looks like a little person."
"Well, in a way, they are like arms."
"Really?"
"Of coarse, a plant's leaves are very important to its survival. It has as much space as possible on it to collect sunlight."
"What do you mean?"
"Well…look." Atune bent down and pushed the leave aside to see it better. "This entire leaf has one very specific purpose. And that is to collect sunlight."
"Why sunlight?"
"Because plants need sunlight to live. The energy from the sun is their food."
"Wow."
"So, much like we use our arms to collect the things we need to survive, a plant is the same. They just do it a little different, is all." Atune eyed Jade as the day progressed, wondering if Jade's first real initiative into asking a question meant something bigger.
That evening
Atune entered into Jade's room as the girl pulled on her little boots for magic lessons. Jade smiled up at her. "Whatcha got?"
Atune looked down at the book she held in her arms. "Well, I thought you might like this."
Jade got to her feet and walked over, head tilted to the side in curiosity. "What is it?"
"A book. About plants."
Jade's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Atune nodded. "Yes. It had lots of wonderful facts about them. It occurred to me, and your father agrees, if you are going to learn your magic, you should know all about it first. Maybe, by learning more about plants, you could do better."
Jade took the offered book, and sat on the edge of her bed. Flipping it open, her eyes grew larger than life at the wonderful book.
Atune smiled and decided that science would have to be concentrated on vegetation from now on. *
…Jade had turned to science that day like a parched fish to water. And it was of little wonder, too, with her magic the way it was.
The summer months passed without much incident. The only news worthy happenings was the return of Daine's Dragonet, kitten, who had spent almost 3 years in the Dragon realms with family.
Numair and Daine spent most of the summer between Jade and the courts. The tragic events of the past summer had born revenge hungry city folk against Jade. They called her a demon of chaos, demanded the girl be taken to the city of the God's for cleansing of whatever had possessed her to kill. Jade was shielded from them, of coarse. She had very little knowledge of the happenings. She knew, that on occasion, people who knew her face would scream foul words at her. Some of the palace servants were downright terrified of her, ordering their children away from her. Molena and her friends, forbidden to associate with her, resigned themselves on playing malicious tricks.
People say that time heals all wounds…perhaps it's true. But with Jade, who on numerous occasions that summer accidentally grew poison oak in the palace stables, time only seemed to worsen the wounds. People never had the chance to forget her; a trail of rotting vines or a bush that suddenly grew five feet was no longer rare occurrences.
Yet not all were against her. Her parent's closest friends protected her as well. And even…unexpected…support emerged from time to time…
*Jade was running towards the stables, a note clutched in her hands. An errand her mother has sent her on. She hit the last step and bounced out the door into the courtyard when suddenly her feet were no longer under her. She flew forwards, her arms outstretched. She landed hard on her stomach and slid across the hard packed dirt of the courtyard for a good two yards before skidding to a stop. The stinging started then. Her hands, elbows, knees, chin. She wanted to cry…but sudden laughter from around a corner made her head turn. Molena and a group of children she knew were giggling from around the corner, pointing at her.
She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and ordered herself not to cry. It worked, mostly. She let out one little sob of hurt and pain. Green sparks seemed to fly out with her sob and the ground underneath her shuttered slightly before budding a handful of weeds.
Molena gasped in horror. "See, she is a freak!" The lovely little dark haired girl expected the other children behind her to laugh. When she got no response, she turned to see what the deal was. All four of the other children stood, faces down, avoiding her gaze. That's when she noticed the fifth person. But, taller. Much taller. Molena's face rose with the figure until she gulped in realization.
A tall young woman stood there. She had long (reaching to past the middle of her back), slightly curled, mostly blonde hair. But when she moved slightly, the natural red streaks shone in the sunlight. She had hazel eyes that burned with some emotion. Her nose was larger than beautiful, but still, not unattractive. A dusting of freckles on light skin and elfish ears made her seem mischievously dangerous. She was tall, slender, and yet very strong. In breeches and a tunic that wrapped around her upper body tightly for training, her well-developed muscles were obvious to even to the least trained eyes.
Molena gulped at tried to smile. "Good Morning, Sir Eleni of Pirate's swoop."
"Good morning." Alanna and George's daughter looked around. "I just came down to the practice courts to meat a friend of mine for a practice bout. I noticed that rope you placed at the entrance of the courtyards." She looked down at Molena and the children with disapproving eyes.
"Well, I, I mean, we…"
"Save it!" Eleni held up her hand in emphasis. I think old Stephen in the stables needs help mucking up the horse droppings, his stable boy has been sick for a while. There should be enough horse stalls for the five of you to clean to last the rest of the day…you should probably go tomorrow as well, don't want to push the young lad to hard before he is fully recovered, now, do we. Oh, and…I'm sure there are potatoes that need pealing for tomorrow's dinners; after you've cleaned up from the stables, why don't you go help the cooks with that. I'm sure that way your free time can be put to better use."
The five children trudged away at Eleni's stare. Turning back to the small person now sitting on the dirt ground looking at her knee, Eleni walked up to her and kneeled down. "You all right, Jade."
Jade looked up with pain filled eyes and nodded.
"Well, you look a bit scratched up there. Why don't I take you to the healers, hmm?" With that, Eleni reached down and scooped up Jade with ease. *
From that day forward, the young woman seemed to show up at the most inopportune moments for Molena and her friends. Jade was grateful, of coarse. Though they never really talked to each other, there seemed to be some kind of relationship. Like cousins, one much older, assigning herself to look after the other on occasion. Jade didn't feel so alone after that. Amena was wonderful, just like a sister. Jade had begun to worry she would never have any other friends that weren't adults. Though technically, Eleni was an adult, a full-fledged Knight and all. But still, it was the thought.
Summer zoomed by in peaceful glory for Jade. Her parents seemed mostly happy. On occasion, they were worried for some reason. She knew it wasn't about her. Her magic, that is. It was about something else, perhaps the same reason they had been forced to take their trips the past year. And it wasn't just them. When all the palace names walked around in a temper over something, her parents seemed to be a part of it. When she asked Atune about it, her tutor simply said. "They all have a kingdom to protect, Jade. Sometimes, that takes a lot of time and hard work."
Fall, was exactly like the last one. Except, this time, both her parents were there to share it with her. Numair began to worry that Jade wasn't progressing with her magic. Meditation, numerous visiting masters, even a chat that had been held during the spring solstice with Daine's parents had yielded no fruit in their endless search for answers about Jade's magic. "I've never heard of it," the Green Goddess had said. "But you must remember, I am still a very new Goddess. I will ask your father about it."
But despite all that, Numair refused to give up, burying himself in the library for countless hours at a time.
When winter came, every thing inside Jade changed. She never said anything to anyone about it. But she could feel it. For the first time, she could feel her magic moving inside her body. Could feel it move into her toes and fingers, legs and arms, feel it rush through her heart. She didn't think much of it, until one day, while trying to move a chest across her room, she stubbed her toe. She had felt the magic inside her suddenly unite into one big ball in her stomach and explode out of her when she yelped in pain. Green magic had ripped from her body and hit the wall of her room. Within five seconds, the entire wall was covered in thick-knotted vines of Ivy. Her parents surprised faces that evening had been a sight, to say the least. But she never told them about the feelings inside of her. She couldn't. Because that was the first time she had felt terrified of her magic. She knew what she was capable of; the market place had proven that. But while she had been unhappy about her magic then, she was now horrified by what was inside her, because now she could feel it. Which, the though, was possibly a good think…but in the end…fear won out.
As winter progressed and the snow returned, so did her nightmares. Dreams of being smothered under blankets of white kept her up at nights. Her parents comforted her, taking turns sleeping next to her. But it never stopped the dreams. The only good thing about that winter was Jade's magic slowing again, slumbering.
But just like nature, when the spring arrived that next year, her magic returned with a bang. Stronger than ever. Accidents were less frequent, but larger, more troublesome. Her seventh birthday came and went; and she hardly noticed she was so busy with lessons.
But to her delight, as summer came, Jade's magic seemed to take a break. And for the first time in years, she felt like she could venture outside without causing trouble. Her seventh year was the best of her life, she would recall years later. It was the year everything seemed to be perfect. She tried to hold onto it as best she could, but the wonderful summer changed into a peaceful fall, and the shifted into a quiet and nightmare free winter. Before she knew it, her eighth birthday came As did the worst year of her life.
*****
Ok…I've already started my next chapter…so it should be up soon. Hope you like this one. I didn't get as many reviews for the last two chapters as I'd hoped. But I'm SURE I'll get more this time, RIGHT???!!!???
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