by M.M. Shelley
Chapter Twenty Four – Mnemosyne II
Mnemosyne was now alone. She had traveled so far to this desolate planet. Had it been for nothing? As she walked through the lush tropical island she wondered, lost in her thoughts. She envisioned him, her general.
His hair was as black as a raven’s and his eyes were as blue as turquoise. He had a dimple in his check as he smiled, and when she looked upon him, she never noticed the scar which marked his cheek.
He had been the strongest in his platoon, the quickest and the deadliest. His campaign to become general had been ruthless. Mnemosyne felt that he had done what was necessary. He fought to make the race stronger. Even the senate eventually turned to the general’s way of thinking.
She had been there, at the day of the ceremony. Mnemosyne’s father was part of the senate. Her father had been the last to sign his name onto the decree making the general their supreme military ruler.
Mnemosyne watched from afar as one by one, the members of the senate came to congratulate him. He stood before them so proud, so certain. “Are you going to come with us?” It was one of her friends who asked Mnemosyne the question. Her name was Nyla.
“In a moment, I’m waiting for my chance to speak to him.”
Nyla looked over at the general, she gave Mnemosyne a smile before saying, “Good luck.”
Mnemosyne didn’t feel that she would need luck. She was so certain that she knew how it would play out. Seeing that he was alone at last, she hurried over. “A moment, please?” she asked as she was always so polite.
The general heard her call out before he saw her. A petite young girl with long blonde hair approached him.
“Of course” He held his hand out so that he would be able to take hold of hers. He had seen her a few times before. He recognized her as one of the daughters of the senate. “What can I do for you?”
She placed her hand into his, felt his strong grip. “You looked so bored today as they initiated you as our general. I came to ask if your mood had changed.”
Instead of answering her question he asked one of his own, “You’re Mnemosyne, the daughter of Schwaben?”
“Yes. Do you know my father well?”
“I do.”
“I didn’t know that.”
The general’s attention was called away from Mnemosyne. She watched as he stepped a few feet away to speak to one of the officers. Mnemosyne was able to hear every word as they spoke.
It was then that she learned what she could do for him, what would make him happy. It would be easy enough for her to accomplish. After that day she began to find reasons to spend time with him. Soon she began to think of him as her friend. She hoped that more would grow between them.
It had been her friend Nyla who told her that she heard the general speak kindly of Mnemosyne.
A year soon past and Mnemosyne felt sure of his feelings for her. Although she couldn’t be sure, she didn’t mind the wait.
Negative rumors were running throughout the senate, rumors of the general’s brutality. She would not listen to the grumblings. Her friend Nyla was soon to marry. She was to marry one of the general’s officers. For a bride, Nyla’s excitement was lacking.
Mnemosyne had asked her about it many times before the wedding took place. Nyla kept her feelings to herself. It was like she was hiding something. She grew jumpy at the slightest noise. Mnemosyne couldn’t understand why her friend was unhappy at the prospect of her marriage to such a significant friend of the general’s.
Mnemosyne’s father had tried to dissuade his daughter from continuing her friendship with the general. He said that there were things taking place that were not right.
She brushed her father’s fears aside. She knew who the general was. She knew the man behind the name.
As another year past, her friend Nyla become distant. She was not the same girl Mnemosyne grew up with.
Weeks after the last time Mnemosyne had tried to speak to Nyla, an announcement was made. The general was leaving. He was gathering his army for war. Word came that something important had been found on one of the planets that was being mined.
Mnemosyne searched out the general. She needed to see him before he left. When she finally found him, she saw that he was not alone. He was saying a tender goodbye to another woman. Mnemosyne had never seen her before. The woman cried in his arms.
Mnemosyne remained hidden. Although she was too far to hear what they said, their behavior angered her and she decided she wasn’t going to remain hidden.
She walked straight to where the general stood with the lady. It was the first time Mnemosyne was ever impolite. “Who is this woman? Why does she behave as if she has some claim on you?” Her voice slightly rose as she questioned them.
The general turned to Mnemosyne, a surprised look upon his face.
Behind him the lightning was beginning to gather and grow.
“Mnemosyne, I was coming to look for you,” he said.
“Really? Look for me? Why, to say goodbye? You seem to be doing that already.” She quickly turned her green gaze to settle on the woman. She was so plain, so simple. Mnemosyne spoke rudely to her., “I don’t know you. Why is that? I know every noble daughter of the Senate.”
“I’m sorry,” the woman said. She was barely audible.
Mnemosyne lost interest in her. Her attention was back on the general. “I have stood by you all these years. I stood by you when others told me horrible things about you, even when they told me what your agenda has been all this time. I stood by you in support!”
“You misunderstand what is going on here, Mnemosyne.”
“No. I saw everything!”
The lightning was being tethered to the ground. The lightning connected to the ground vibrated as the various bolts waited to depart with a rider.
“I know why you’re leaving! I know what it is you want.”
“You are confused. You don’t know what’s going on here.”
“I know about the Painite and what its use is for.”
“It’s not used for anything,” he protested in denial.
Tears came to Mnemosyne eyes. She would show him that she was no ordinary girl and that she was just as capable as anyone. Her eyes locked onto his.
The general watched as the color of her eyes liquefied. They became pools of light. Mnemosyne raised her hands. She pointed them at the tethered lightning bolts. With a jolt of her hands, they snapped back from the ground shooting straight back into the sky.
Only one remained, waiting. Mnemosyne was furious as she shouted at him, “I will prove to you how capable I am!”
The general watched as she vanished before him. She reappeared inches away from the remaining tethered lightning bolt. Didn’t she realize how much she already meant to him?
Within seconds she stepped into the lightning bolt. As she did, the tether was released, shooting back up into the sky.
Mnemosyne came to earth and had been here trapped ever since. She sat before a pond, looking at her reflection. She took her hand to trace her image as it reflected in the water.
She knew that the general was on his way. When he arrived, she would hand over the Painite stone to him. Then he would see how capable and worthy she was.
