December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Genevieve: 968 words
Read the first part of this story ( LJ link).
Read the second part of this story ( LJ link).
Genevieve thought for a moment. “I don't remember, Mother. It was a very long time ago.”
“That's true. I was... well, scared and not thinking straight. Staying at home seemed like the only thing I could do, because I wanted to talk to your father and tell him that I had no idea my family was mixed heritage. You walked up to me, a bag packed with clothes for all four of us, and told me that the only real option I had was to leave while I still had a chance, with all of you. Your father wasn't going to listen to my explanations because it didn't matter. When Róisín and Báirbre got home from their training we left and I had no idea where to go, so you brought us all to North Square.”
Nodding, Genevieve thought back to that time, her memory more blurry than she would like and remembered how she had know about North Square. “Hecate told me about North Square when I visited her that night, because she knew Father had been researching your heritage. She didn't tell me why.”
“Your father was getting ready for the time when your sisters handfasted, because it wouldn't be long until their sixteenth birthdays, and usually a Dorma handfasting happened sometime between a girl's sixteenth and eighteenth birthdays.” Delyth sighed. “I don't know how he found out about my family, because it wasn't something even I knew, but he did.”
“Do you think it happened to other people?”
“It's possible, Gen, but there's no way for us to know whether it did or not, and I don't want you feeling guilty for things that you can't change.”
Genevieve sighed. “I can't help wondering what is happening, but at the same time I really don't want to know. There is so much happening, so many groups of people who believe that their points of view and their beliefs are the correct one, that I know it's going to change Thear, change all the races, and nothing will ever be the same again.”
“Things are always going to change,” Róisín said, curling an arm around her eldest daughter, who was still clinging onto the bit of candle she had been given during the ritual. “It's a part of life, but I understand why you feel the way you do. Everything that is happening feels wrong, like it isn't Thearan, as though all the races failed to fulfil their expectations when they arrive here. Instead it's as though each of the races is following a path that they've taken before.” Róisín sighed. “I'm grateful we have a safe piece of Thear, that we can make truly Thearan, and hopefully stop making the same mistakes our ancestors made.”
“I hope for the same thing,” Delyth said. “Now that I know I'm not Dorma I can almost understand why I was always so different to your father, but I don't know if it's because of my heritage or the way I was brought up.” She smiled. “My father, who I wish you could have met, was a wonderful man and he brought me up to see the best in all three of the races, in all of the deities, because he saw the best in them.”
“What happened to him?” Genevieve asked, because it wasn't often that Delyth talked about her family.
“I don't know. He just disappeared, not long after I married your father.” Delyth sighed. “After Mother died, and my youngest sister, Father changed. It wasn't always noticeable, especially when he was with my siblings, but I knew that something was wrong, and I tried to get him to talk to me. He always said he didn't want to burden me with his problems. I wish he had of done, because then I might have been able to help him.” She shook her head. “Up until your father found out about my bloodline I always thought that Father had taken his own life, because he couldn't live without Mother, but now I wonder if there was some other reason he left.”
“What about your siblings?”
“My sister died in childbirth, the same way Mother did, not long after you were born. I always thought she'd been fine because she was six years younger than me. My brother left the village not long after Father disappeared and I haven't seen him since. I'm hoping he might end up here at some point, if he's still alive and someone hasn't found out about his bloodline.”
“I'm sorry, Mother.”
“Gen, I have three beautiful daughters, three beautiful grandchildren, and I think it's much more important that I count my blessings than look back at the past with regret. I can't change it.”
“Do you ever wish that Father hadn't found out about your bloodline?”
“Sometimes, Gen, I do, because I did love your father and we had a good relationship. I may not have been in love with him, but we were happy, we had beautiful daughters, and I miss him, sometimes. Having friends is so very different to having a partner.” Delyth shrugged. “I do often wonder if I ever really knew him at all. It seemed impossible that he would ever choose my bloodline over the relationship we shared, but in the end he did and I'm...” She shook her head. “I regret that he made the choices he did, because we could all have lived here together, but it was his choice to make.”
“Why don't you find someone else?” Róisín asked, and Genevieve could hear the shared loss in her voice.
“I have thought about it, Róisín, but I still feel, even after fifteen years, life I would be betraying your father.”
“Father may have rehandfasted.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/42405.html. It currently has
comments.
Read the second part of this story ( LJ link).
Genevieve thought for a moment. “I don't remember, Mother. It was a very long time ago.”
“That's true. I was... well, scared and not thinking straight. Staying at home seemed like the only thing I could do, because I wanted to talk to your father and tell him that I had no idea my family was mixed heritage. You walked up to me, a bag packed with clothes for all four of us, and told me that the only real option I had was to leave while I still had a chance, with all of you. Your father wasn't going to listen to my explanations because it didn't matter. When Róisín and Báirbre got home from their training we left and I had no idea where to go, so you brought us all to North Square.”
Nodding, Genevieve thought back to that time, her memory more blurry than she would like and remembered how she had know about North Square. “Hecate told me about North Square when I visited her that night, because she knew Father had been researching your heritage. She didn't tell me why.”
“Your father was getting ready for the time when your sisters handfasted, because it wouldn't be long until their sixteenth birthdays, and usually a Dorma handfasting happened sometime between a girl's sixteenth and eighteenth birthdays.” Delyth sighed. “I don't know how he found out about my family, because it wasn't something even I knew, but he did.”
“Do you think it happened to other people?”
“It's possible, Gen, but there's no way for us to know whether it did or not, and I don't want you feeling guilty for things that you can't change.”
Genevieve sighed. “I can't help wondering what is happening, but at the same time I really don't want to know. There is so much happening, so many groups of people who believe that their points of view and their beliefs are the correct one, that I know it's going to change Thear, change all the races, and nothing will ever be the same again.”
“Things are always going to change,” Róisín said, curling an arm around her eldest daughter, who was still clinging onto the bit of candle she had been given during the ritual. “It's a part of life, but I understand why you feel the way you do. Everything that is happening feels wrong, like it isn't Thearan, as though all the races failed to fulfil their expectations when they arrive here. Instead it's as though each of the races is following a path that they've taken before.” Róisín sighed. “I'm grateful we have a safe piece of Thear, that we can make truly Thearan, and hopefully stop making the same mistakes our ancestors made.”
“I hope for the same thing,” Delyth said. “Now that I know I'm not Dorma I can almost understand why I was always so different to your father, but I don't know if it's because of my heritage or the way I was brought up.” She smiled. “My father, who I wish you could have met, was a wonderful man and he brought me up to see the best in all three of the races, in all of the deities, because he saw the best in them.”
“What happened to him?” Genevieve asked, because it wasn't often that Delyth talked about her family.
“I don't know. He just disappeared, not long after I married your father.” Delyth sighed. “After Mother died, and my youngest sister, Father changed. It wasn't always noticeable, especially when he was with my siblings, but I knew that something was wrong, and I tried to get him to talk to me. He always said he didn't want to burden me with his problems. I wish he had of done, because then I might have been able to help him.” She shook her head. “Up until your father found out about my bloodline I always thought that Father had taken his own life, because he couldn't live without Mother, but now I wonder if there was some other reason he left.”
“What about your siblings?”
“My sister died in childbirth, the same way Mother did, not long after you were born. I always thought she'd been fine because she was six years younger than me. My brother left the village not long after Father disappeared and I haven't seen him since. I'm hoping he might end up here at some point, if he's still alive and someone hasn't found out about his bloodline.”
“I'm sorry, Mother.”
“Gen, I have three beautiful daughters, three beautiful grandchildren, and I think it's much more important that I count my blessings than look back at the past with regret. I can't change it.”
“Do you ever wish that Father hadn't found out about your bloodline?”
“Sometimes, Gen, I do, because I did love your father and we had a good relationship. I may not have been in love with him, but we were happy, we had beautiful daughters, and I miss him, sometimes. Having friends is so very different to having a partner.” Delyth shrugged. “I do often wonder if I ever really knew him at all. It seemed impossible that he would ever choose my bloodline over the relationship we shared, but in the end he did and I'm...” She shook her head. “I regret that he made the choices he did, because we could all have lived here together, but it was his choice to make.”
“Why don't you find someone else?” Róisín asked, and Genevieve could hear the shared loss in her voice.
“I have thought about it, Róisín, but I still feel, even after fifteen years, life I would be betraying your father.”
“Father may have rehandfasted.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/42405.html. It currently has
comments.