EXCERPT
“Athine, hold the sword in one hand and cast a spell with the other!” My mother, Raelin, was always barking orders. It was always practice and then practice some more. Didn’t she know how bored I was? I had been practicing for eons to protect a land that was at peace. I could cast magic with my eyes closed and my fighting skills were second nature to me. Why did I need to practice so much if my skills were already honed?
“Mother, this is useless. No one has attacked Olympus, Draosia, or
Ximira for several centuries. Why must I
keep practicing to be a protector of the lands with these poorly made weapons? They break when I use them. How can I possibly fight with this stick?”
“Athine, you are a goddess of war born
from three different bloodlines. You
must to live up to your legacy. That is
why you have to keep practicing. I do
not know why the weapons keep breaking.
Maybe if you focused more on using your Sh’cersay and less on your poor
attitude the weapons would perform better.”
Ah yes, my ever present poor
attitude. Perhaps it was borne out of
sheer boredom. I had no desire to be a
warrior protector. That was supposed to
be my mother’s job. Yet, she kept trying
to make it mine. Something about a vision or prophecy; I never really paid
attention.
“Athine, stop day dreaming. Andraste and Sabrina will be here tomorrow
for your A’samrad. Do you want to
embarrass your grandmother by not completing the rite of passage? As a potential ruler of Ximira and maybe
even Olympus you are expected to do well.
Anything less would be an embarrassment to the bloodlines; all three of
them.”
“Embarrassment? Potential ruler? Has anyone asked me if I cared lately? I practice day in and day out just for the
possibility that I may be ruler of a humdrum, peaceful country. Maybe if I did fail the A’samrad you all
would let me be. I have no desire to be
a ruler. I do not care that my entire
family is of noble immortals that love to rule.
I want to see other worlds. I
want to live a life of adventure.”
How much clearer could I get? I had no desire to rule any of these lands,
yet they all hoped I would rule one day.
Any of my other siblings, cousins, aunts, or uncles would love to play
this role. I was meant for so much more,
but alas no, becoming a “ruler” keeps being dumped on my lap. I secretly wished I could fail the A’samrad
and become an embarrassment. That way I
could go off on an adventure and discover what lay beyond the walls of our
palace. I knew there were harsher worlds
out there ready for me to conquer. I
just had to get out of this world to find them.
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