25 | Beginning (I)

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Marin sighed as she steeled her nerves

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Marin sighed as she steeled her nerves. She raised her fist to the wooden door and knocked. A garbled voice answered from the inside for her to come in. She twisted the knob and swung the door to a woman dressed in a loose tunic and a skirt which covered most of her legs. Grayish white hair flowed long, limp strands up to her waist. Pale skin bore all types of scars and bruises. The woman was poring over a map laid on a lamp-lit table.

Marin cleared her throat and the woman looked up. Their eyes met and Marin found her green eyes staring back at her. No way...

Suddenly, it all clicked. Marin knew this woman. She was at the Ice Capital siege and had even saved Marin. The battlefield isn't a place for children. Marin remembered the cold voice that emanated from a face that looked so much like a marquine doll.

"You...called for me?" Marin said against a lump in her throat.

The woman blinked before something dawned on her. " Ah, yes," the woman stalked closer to Marin. "He will be here soon, too."

Before Marin could ask who, the door opened again and Malin stepped through, accompanied by none other than the Temple of Magic's High Priestess, Ymbril.

"Malin!" she cried as she ran to her brother's side. She was embracing him before she even registered his face. "I've missed you!"

"Marin," her brother pushed her away. "You are speaking gibberish."

She raised her eyebrows. "You still haven't learned Keijula?"

Her brother merely frowned.

The woman cleared her throat, garnering Marin's attention again. She nodded at the High Priestess. "Thank you, Ymbril."

"My pleasure, Commander," the High Priestess bowed and exited the room, leaving Marin and her brother alone with the stern woman.

The woman sighed. "I do not know how to say this," her tone carried so much uncertainty. "But I wanted to apologize for how things turned out for all of us."

Marin knitted her eyebrows. She shielded Malin with her body. "Who are you?"

"My name is Geradine," the woman put a hand to her chest. "Geradine Draswist."

Marin's heart sank. The mother her father kept on telling them. The one that supposedly died on a purge. Geradine...

Beside her, Malin was quiet.

"You're lying," Marin hissed in Keijula. "You can't possibly be our mother. She's dead."

Geradine blew a breath. "Jarvik's favorite tea was chamomine. I know because I used to make that for him."

Chamomine tea...

"Y-you..." Marin stepped back, wagging an accusing finger in Geradine's direction. "How did you do it? Father said he saw you get executed."

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