The Dragons Egg : Chapter XIV : White Bay: Maethilda: Preview

XIV

White Bay

Maethilda

The salty sea air of white Bay stuck to Maethilda’s skin and hair as she bent low upon the thick white sand, her feet bare, her long golden hair free and her sparkling piercing eyes upon the great outline of Merelle City of in the far distance. She could feel the thin layer of material touching her calves as she penetrated the great coastline of Taer. Close to her she heard the joyous laughs of her young friends, playing together with their wooden swords and shields. Turning her eyes she caught sight of Evalean, Aabe and Morad, all jumping over the great waves, the warm rays of the sun upon them.

“You’re quiet today,” a soft voice declared. Maethilda turned her bright green eyes around and found Anvin staring down at her, his eyes tender and keen. “Why are you not playing with your friends?”

“I am finding it hard to summon the emotion of pleasure today,” the young Maethilda replied with a faint groan as she plunged her small hands into the sand.

“Why ever for?” Anvin returned, his arms now crossed before him, long tresses of his greying hair swaying in the light breeze.

“Sometimes I feel…sad.”

“And what is making you sad today?” Anvin asked as Maethilda brought herself up onto her feet, lifting her head slightly as she looked up at the tall wizard. Without a word she lifted her right index finger and pointed it in the direction of Taer. Anvin followed her gaze and closed his eyes briefly.

“I cannot explain the pain I feel when I am close to her,” Maethilda whispered, hot tears welling in her eyes. Anvin stepped forward and lifted the small child up into his strong arms, both their gazes upon the coastline of the great Kingdom. “I have never laid my eyes upon her, but I feel her here,” Maethilda said painfully, placing a small hand upon her heart. “Am I silly?”

“No, no child you have never been silly,” Anvin smiled kindly into her eyes. “You are a bright young girl with a keen gaze and wise soul.”

“They have a family and I have no one,” Maethilda said pitifully, dabbing at her wet stained cheeks.

“They are your family,” Anvin said sternly. “We are your family.”

“But sometimes….sometimes I don’t feel it…I feel…alone.”

“As do I,” Anvin admitted with sigh. “Even the most loved child in the world can feel alone.”

“Why do you feel alone?”

“Being the barer of such responsibility can leave you lonesome and isolated,” Anvin returned as he stepped forward, his bare feet now awash in the water. “Everyone who is dependent on me constantly fixes their gaze in my direction and sometimes when I am unable to meet their needs, I feel as though the whole world has turned from me. But when I am surrounded by my little family, I feel as though the cooling fire within awakens. I never want you to feel as though we love you less because we are not bound by blood, love is a greater and deeper bond and transcends the bond of blood.”

“Morad says he will avenge his parent’s death when he is older,” Maethilda said with wide eyes. “Can I avenge my parents?”

“I think you are too bright to seek such a thing as vengeance, it is not what your mother wished for your life,” Anvin said seriously. “She wished you to be safe and happy, to be without pain and suffering and to know the goodness that dwells within the soul of man. There is no relief in vengeance, there is no goodness in spilling blood. Your mother would wish you to use your skills for good, to see you grow into a content and happy woman, free from the bonds of war and strive and so I will endeavour to keep my promise to her and to protect you as best I can and keep you from harm. Morad is older, he watched his parents die and so his bloodthirsty need for vengeance comes from a dark and confused place within. You were spared such a scene and the fire drenched lust for revenge that it brings, do not fall victim to the jaws of deceit.”

“Did she…love me?” Maethilda whispered as she wrapped her arms about Anvin. Anvin smiled deeply, the lines around his eyes rising softly.

“She said to me upon placing you into my arms, that she had been a fool in love until she had brought you forth into the world,” Anvin said, his eyes sincere and true. “She said that you had given her hope for the future and her kingdom.” Maethilda held Anvin’s gaze as large tears fell silently from her eyes before lowering her head down upon his shoulder for comfort. “You are in her image child as it should be and as she wished it to be.”

*




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