Lord Jaias watched as the carriage that had brought his sister and estranged niece to his doorstep finally pulled away. Tobias stood a step behind him. There was an icy silence. Jaias’ normal countenance was marked with agitation, his brow furrowed and forehead wrinkled. But, he only stood there, hands folded behind him.
“What will you have done now, sir?” Tobias asked, watching the carriage disappear into the distance.
“For now, we simply sit and wait. Have Matthias watch Cixithara. I’m sure that she will be returning to House Silvacce."
The elven lord turned to head back up the stairs and into the house again, "My niece will come back, Tobias. She knows that she is one of us now.”
“The Heads of Council?” Tobias asked, "What will they be told?"
“I will do my duty as the head of this House and tell them what I found. Cixithara Daybreaker is a candidate to be the next Vessel and should be treated as such.”
The inside of the carriage was silent. The only sound was the rolling of the wheels against the dirt roads that left Silvermoon City. Both Cixi and Alara had taken off the fancy clothes and make up they had been decorated in for the past several days. It was back to simple clothes and plain faces, but everything between the mother and daughter seemed changed somehow. Cixi didn’t speak to her mother. She didn’t even look at her. She simply stared out the window, pretending to pay attention to the passing scenery outside.
“You were never supposed to know,” Lady Alara said in a low voice.
“Know what? That I was forced to be something else that I was never any good at in the first place?” Cixi spat out, a tinge of bitterness edging her words.
“You are were chosen as Guardian for First Hunt. The Elders recognize you, just like they recognize your brothers and recognized your father. Do not let Lord Jaias’ words poison everything you know about yourself.”
“What about Zendier and Taulithran? Are my brothers the same as me?”
Lady Alara ran her hand over her mouth before she spoke. The words slowly came past her lips, obvious that she was measuring the weight of every word coming out of her mouth.
“They are gifted, but not like you. You were different. Even when you were little, there was something about you and magic that your brothers just didn’t have.”
“Why didn’t you give me a choice?” Cixi asked, finally turning her face away from the window, “If you knew what I could do with magic, why did you not give me the choice of being a mage?”
“Because I was afraid that you would chose to be one of them,” Lady Alara answered back, "And you have no idea what they would have made you become."
"At least they were honest."
Cixi didn’t bother going back home. She wanted to be by herself for a while, Just to at least straighten things out in her head. The carriage dropped her off at the front gates of the Silvacce Estate. Cixi didn't smile and wave as the carriage left. Instead, she shoved her hands in pockets and watched as the brightly colored hawkstriders pull the carriage away.
Cixi's mind raced with a thousand thoughts as she slowly walked down the dirt paths that laced the Silvacce estate. Most of them starting with “what if”. Then, it came suddenly. A sharp pain behind Cixi’s eyes. Unlike any headache she had ever experienced before, in a matter of moments, the pain became excruciating. Cixi’s head throbbed, like someone was shoving a spike between her eyes and into her skull. She grabbed the sides of her head and crumpled her to knees. Bright blinding lights streaked across her vision. The only thing she could hear was the thumping of her own racing heart beat in her ears.
Moments later, Cixi fell over in the grass, writhing, her screams of pain caught in her throat, the piercing pain only going deeper into her skull. The last thing she remembered before passing out was seeing an outline of a woman’s face in the blinding flash of light.
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