The Chosen

by K. J. Nessly

  A sudden thought came to mind and she imagined some of the water leaving the pool and floating in the air. The water reached up to form a long pillar of fluid reaching up towards the sky, but after several a dozen or so centimeters it stopped and Kathryn couldn’t make it reach any farther. She paused and considered how to get the water from the pond to her. She decided to try a different tactic. She imagined the water flowing over the edge of the pool in a small river the size of her thumb, curling its way up the side of the boulder like a snake. The concentration it took to perform such a feat was staggering, leaving her muscles trembling and her back soaked in sweat, but a small film of water began pooling on the surface of the rock before Kathryn. Grinning, she imagined the water rolling into a ball and brought it to her hand. For a long time she looked at it, wondering how playing with water in this way was dangerous. Could Lady Blackwood be wrong? Kathryn doubted it, but she also was beginning to wonder why the ability to make a tree grow and water to leave a pool was deadly. Looking up at the sky, she was startled to see that she’d been out for at least two radians. Apparently her ability to work with water hadn’t come back as fast as she’d thought. Slowly she returned the water back to the pond, already wincing in anticipation of the beating she would no doubt receive. With any luck the Blackwoods would still be arguing by the time she returned.

  She turned to leave—and froze. Standing a few yards away was the woman outcast.

  The woman stepped forward and opened her mouth to say something but Kathryn didn’t stay to listen. The instant the woman began to move, she bolted. The woman called after her but Kathryn didn’t stop. Clutching the little bird to her chest she hurried back to the manor, and to safety.

  She managed to get back inside the manor without being seen and stowed away to her small room. Once inside she tucked the little bird on her pillow, opened her top dresser drawer and found a piece of dried venison that she had been saving, tore it into small chunks and offered it to the bird. Without hesitation the bird took it, tilted its head up and drew the morsels down into its craw in a jerking motion. Somewhat surprised as to how quickly the bird took to the food she prayed it would be all right, and then left to find her mistress.

  Moving quickly through the numerous halls, she was almost to Lady Blackwood’s room when she heard sharp footsteps and a painful yank on her ear. “Where have you been?” Lady Blackwood’s shrill voice demanded, her angry face staring down at Kathryn. After a few moments of silence, Lady Blackwood rolled her eyes, and unrolled a leather strap. “Even after five years I keep forgetting you’re mute,” she muttered as she pulled the little girl into a separate room. Ten minutes later she sent her slave to assist with the preparations. Kathryn didn’t let the tears, brought on by the sharp sting of the strap, fall as she hurried to the great hall to begin scrubbing the floor-stones. Her shoulders ached and her back stung as she hunched over to clean the filthy floor. After four radians of steady scouring her muscles felt like they were on fire and her neck wouldn’t turn. But there was no respite for her or for any of the servants at the manor. It was the King’s birthday and the entire manor was in such an upheaval to be clean that Kathryn wondered if perhaps the King himself was joining them for dinner.

  All day long Kathryn worried about the little bird nestled on her pillow, however with the King’s birthday celebration she was worked harder than usual and was left no time to check on it.

  Eventually she was called to her mistress’ room to help her dress for dinner. The Lady of the Manor wasn’t exactly beautiful, at least not compared to the outcast woman with hair like the night, but she could still turn the heads of virtually every knight and nobleman in the near vicinity. Aware of her effect on others, she took twice as long to dress and choose jewelry. Her servant couldn’t comprehend why. It wasn’t as if the Lord and Lady were entertaining visiting nobility and needed to make a statement about themselves and their position within the noble ranks. Finally Kathryn had dressed and adorned her mistress and both were on their way to the dining hall where a feast awaited—or at least awaited the privileged. Kathryn was sent to the kitchens to help the servants prepare and serve the food.

  Upon entering the kitchen, Kathryn learned that the manor had guests for dinner, which explained her mistress’s need to look her best.

  “I swear,” the kitchen maid whispered to the cook, “the guests arewizards.” The whole room gasped with the exception of Kathryn who didn’t have a clue as to what a wizard was.

  “Oh, rubbish!” The chef called to the huddled maids. “Wizards ain’t been seen in thousands of years. Left with the Elves, they did. Now stop yacking and git yer serving done!”

  Before the kitchen gossip could begin and Kathryn could learn what a wizard was, the head manservant entered and announced it was time to serve the feast.

  “Kathryn!” The cook bellowed at the small girl.

  Immediately Kathryn made her way forward and stood before the cook, waiting patiently for her assignment.

  “You look like a village beggar,” she sniffed. Moving to the largest linen closet she reached inside and pulled out an overgown that would adequately cover the child and yet would still be large enough to hide her malnourished frame. “Put this on,” she ordered.

  Immediately Kathryn obeyed and stood quietly while the chef tucked the material in several places. Finally the woman seemed satisfied with the way the fabric lay and reached across the counter to where several pitchers sat.

  “You’re in charge of the wine.” The plump woman handed her a pitcher, and leaned down. “Make sure you give them enough,” she hissed.

  Kathryn nodded and hurried out the door. She hadn’t even taken five steps into the great hall when she caught her first glance of the manor’s guests. She froze, and panic threatened to settle in.

  There, seated at the table with the Lord and Lady, were the four outcasts from the forest. A poke in her back jolted her feet back into motion. Making her way to the table, she began automatically pouring the wine. The Lord and Lady of Blackwood Manor were in lighthearted conversation with their guests prompting Kathryn to wonder if her mistress knew who exactly it was she was entertaining for dinner.

  Throughout the entire meal Kathryn kept her eyes on the floor, hoping against all hope that the strange lady wouldn’t recognize her. Unfortunately, all of the guests seemed to take some notice of her, despite her desperate attempts to blend into the background throughout the whole meal. It was the woman who scared Kathryn the most. Throughout the whole meal the dark haired lady kept one eye on Kathryn.

  Kathryn was struggling with what to do. If the outcasts were as dangerous as Lady Blackwood had told her, then her mistress deserved to know who she was entertaining. But to expose such a thing would reveal Kathryn’s own secrets. Finally Kathryn decided to leave everything alone. Perhaps there was a chance she had been wrong in the forest and these people weren’t outcasts. She didn’t want to risk losing her small freedom of the forest or the calming power of the water. She would remain silent—as always—she could only pray that the guests would remain silent about what they had seen in the forest.

  After the meal was over the privileged retired to a different room and the servants cleaned up the mess. Kathryn felt the guests’ eyes on her as they retired to the sitting room, and knew that they were going to ask about her. Her only hope was that the Blackwoods would conduct themselves as they had in the past with other guests; speaking mainly of themselves, their estate, and their ancestors…leaving very little room for their guests to comment themselves.

  For the next three radians she was constantly glancing down the hall where her mistress and her guests had gone. Worry making the time feel three times longer than it actually was.

  Kathryn’s last job was to wash the floor, a chore she looked forward to with great apprehension as the scabs from the last time still hadn’t completely healed and her neck was only just regaining its full range of movement. She was halfway done, ready to run back to her room to che
ck on the small bird and hide herself away from the rest of the manor, when a manservant appeared.

  “Come with me,” he ordered gruffly. Kathryn’s heart pounded as she realized he was taking her to her mistress.

  The manservant entered the room first, bowing. “Milady.”

  Kathryn followed, giving her mistress a brief curtsy, before lowering her eyes to the floor.

  “Are you sure this is her?” The Lady of Blackwood Manor’s voice was suspicious.

  Kathryn forced herself to remain still. Lady Blackwood’s tone left no doubt in her mind that her actions in the forest had been the most recent topic of conversation amongst the Blackwoods and their guests.

  “Yes, Lady Blackwood. I am sure.” The woman’s voice was light and musical, but still firm, nothing at all like Lady Blackwood’s stern, cold voice. And not at all what Kathryn had imagined an outcast’s voice to sound like.

  “Kathryn, look at me,” The Lady of Blackwood Manor commanded. Slowly Kathryn raised her head and looked her mistress in the face.

  Satisfied at the response Lady Blackwood continued. “These people say you were using your...” Kathryn caught the brief glimpse towards her guests, “…talents. Is it true?” Her tone of voice was dispassionate, suggesting that she didn’t care one way or the other what Kathryn’s response would be, but her eyes were cold, and it was the coldness that frightened Kathryn. She had seen it before and the events that followed still gave her nightmares.

  But what could she do? She couldn’t lie. Not with the outcast woman in the same room. There was nothing to do but tell the truth.

  Bracing herself for a blow, Kathryn reluctantly nodded.

  Lady Blackwood let out a horrified gasp, as if she had been struck. Fury and indignation burned in her eyes and Kathryn winced at the sight, quickly lowering her eyes back to the floor.

  “What am I going to do with you Kathryn?” Lady Blackwood may have phrased it as a question, but her tone left little doubt to Kathryn as to what she planned to do. She resigned herself to more pain and nightmares.

  “You will turn her over to me.” The strange Lady spoke this with such authority as to startle everyone in the room.

  Lady Blackwood looked in astonishment at the speaker. “And why would I turn my servant over to you, Lady Jasmine?” She asked incredulously, some of the anger she felt at Kathryn seeping into her words.

  “Because this girl has a gift and she cannot learn to use it if she’s a servant,” The dark haired lady said severely.

  Listening intently, Kathryn thought to herself—gift? What gift?

  “Kathryn has been with us for six years, I have come to depend on her. You cannot take her from me. And no local sheriff will support your demand that I simply hand over my servant to you without reparation. So how, pray tell, will you abscond with my servant?”

  “I will involve the Guardians.”

  Lady Blackwood sniffed disdainfully. “They are far too busy keeping the peace between villages and farms to be bothered with the fate of a simple servant. Besides, how would you call them? Only their vaunted Council knows the locations of their homes.”

  “There are ways,” one of the visiting men commented slowly.

  “Perhaps, but until then you are no longer welcome in my castle or on my properties. If you wish to involve the Guardians than by all means, involve them. But until you ride up to my gates with them behind you, take your leave of my estate.”

  “And have the child disappear in the time it takes to fetch the nearest Guardians?” The vertically challenged visitor asked sarcastically. “Not likely.”

  Lady Blackwood stood. “I don’t give one wit about your feelings in this matter. Kathryn is my servant. My property. Without a legal dispensation from the King giving you the right to take her from me, she belongs to me. You can threaten all you like, but not even the Guardians have the right to take a child from her home without the consent of her custodians.”

  “They can if she’s gifted or if she’s in danger,” the fire-haired man argued.

  “Kathryn is hardly in danger here,” his host replied haughtily. “In fact, if my Lord and I hadn’t taken up her guardianship, the local townspeople would have hung her years ago.”

  Even though she tried not to, Kathryn couldn’t help but cringe at Lady Blackwood’s accurate recount of the villagers’ hatred of her.

  “She is a child,” Lady Jasmine protested in dismay. “Who would hang a child?”

  “She’s a murderer and a sorceress,” Lord Blackwood interjected oily. “Or at least that’s what the townspeople believe,” he added after a moment.

  “Maybe you have protected her from the village people,” another of the visiting men spoke up, the light haired one this time. “But you cannot deny that she is gifted. At the very least the Guardian Council will want to examine her gifts.”

  “Kathryn’s powers are weak,” Lady Blackwood said dismissively. “Hardly worth entrance into the Guardians.”

  The guests of the Manor all exchanged significant looks. Lady’s Jasmine’s eyes hardened. “You would deny the child her birthright?”

  “She has not used herbirthright as you call it since she was seven. Now she is ten, years past the admittance age for the school,” Lady Blackwood returned sharply, looking pleased with her victory.

  The dark-haired lady’s jaw tightened. “Are you telling me you knew this child was gifted and deliberately didn’t report it?”

  Her words were cold and there was a fire burning in her eyes, in all of the visitors’ eyes. It should have been warning enough, but Lady Blackwood was too far gone in her anger over such mistreatment within her own walls to notice or heed it. “And have theGuardians take my servant from me?” Lady Blackwood let out a cold laugh. “You must be delirious.”

  “My dear,” Lord Blackwood interjected nervously, uncomfortably aware of the crime his wife had just implicated them in. “I think you’ve said enough.”

  “Yes. I do believe you have,” The black haired man said coldly. All four stood abruptly.

  “The child is coming with us and if you continue to object I will take the matter to the king.” The fire haired guest said and turned to Kathryn who had not moved since the conversation began. “Come child.”

  Lady Blackwood leapt between the man and her slave. “Take one step out of this manor with my servant, Sir Landen, and I will have the entire contingent of knights at this manor throw you and your companions into our dungeons.”

  Sir Landen’s jaw worked as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. “You will do no such thing,” he replied calmly after a couple heartbeats.

  “I most certainly will! I will not be ordered about in my own home,” she said emphatically.

  “If you make any move to detain anyone in this party, you will be guilty of treason against the crown,” the dark haired man said slowly.

  Lady Blackwood eyed him skeptically. “Who are you to make such a claim?”

  Lady Jasmine stepped forward. “You may not recognize my companions, but you will recognize me.” When Lord and Lady Blackwood looked at her in confusion and anger the woman continued, “I am Dowager Princess Jasmine. The king’ssister,” she added this last bit as if emphasizing a point that Kathryn was unable to comprehend.

  For a few moments there was utter silence in the room, and then, “You expect us to believe that the Dowager Princess travels without a retinue due to her station…with only three men to guard and protect her and no ladies to attend her?” Lady Blackwood asked scornfully. “Whoever you may be, you most certainly arenot the Princess Jasmine and I demand that you leave our residence before we detain you in our dungeon.”

  The woman reached into her sleeve and pulled out an object that glittered in the dull light of the torches. “My signet ring,” she said simply as she handed it to the manservant. Kathryn watched Lady Blackwood receive the ring, an air of impatience and irritation surrounding her. That aura rapidly changed as she studied the ring. Her face paled visibly and she hel
d the ring out to her husband with a trembling hand.

  “Are you satisfied that Iam Princess Jasmine?” The woman asked.

  Mutely, Lord and Lady Blackwood nodded and fell to their knees. “Forgive us, Princess. We did not know you.”

  Princess Jasmine ignored them and walked over to where Kathryn stood, her eyes still on the floor.

  “You cannot take Kathryn!” Lady Blackwood cried. “She…she is like a daughter to me.” There was no hiding the desperation in Lady Blackwood’s voice. Everyone but Kathryn knew the punishment for failing to report a gifted child. And the slight that the Blackwoods had just delivered to a member of the royal family guaranteed that the punishment would not be overlooked.

  Turning to face her, Jasmine spoke severely. “First you claim Kathryn is your servant and property, and now you claim she is like a daughter to you. Which is she, your daughter or your servant?” When Lady Blackwood gave her no answer, she turned back to the trembling girl. “Look at me child,” she commanded gently.

  Kathryn raised her eyes to look at the princess, who smiled down at her.

  “Would you like to come with me, Kathryn?” Her voice was gentle and calm, so unlike Lady Blackwood’s.

  Looking into her eyes, Kathryn sensed something, not pity or sorrow or hatred, but kindness, genuine kindness. It was an emotion that was so rarely directed at her that she was confused. Unsure of what to do, she glanced over at her mistress, who glared at her. Looking back at the Princess, Kathryn shook her head.

  Mystified at the unexpected, Jasmine turned to look at Lord and Lady Blackwood. All it took was a look at Lady Blackwood’s face. She returned her gaze to Kathryn. “I think you do. Go and pack your things. You are leaving with me tonight.”

  “Kathryn doesn’t have any possessions,” Lady Blackwood interrupted.

  Jasmine turned to Kathryn. “Is this true?”

  Kathryn started to nod, but then stopped. What about her bird?