Prologue
She came into the world when I was seven. I was one of the first to hold her, to see her, and touch her. She did not enter this world kicking and screaming, no; she came in, quiet as a lamb.
She was covered in her mother’s blood and the fluids she’d spent the last nine months being protected in.
From the moment she entered this realm I felt her. I had no knowledge of such things, no understanding of the strange force of emotion that overtook me.
All I knew was that this little being, no bigger than a doll, was somehow mine. I was in awe, the enormity of the moment maybe too much for one so young, but nevertheless, I accepted.
It was the way of my people, we’re a strong lot, from a great line, or so I’ve been told all my young life.
She had drawn me here, to this place where I was not allowed. But from her first stirrings in her mother’s womb, I knew that it was imperative that I be here.
Excitement kicked in my belly, my heart raced, and my mouth went dry. It was here, whatever it was.
It had been building for the past nine months, or however long it was that she’d slept in her mother’s womb.
The pull had grown stronger in the last few days; that’s how I knew tonight, was the night.
I could barely wait. For what, I hardly knew, but I knew that it was going to be something amazing; even better than the new puppy I’d got last summer. Anticipation flowed through my veins in a loud rush.
I felt the tension in the room, the sorrow, before a word was uttered. I sat hidden in the corner, quiet as I could be, my eyes peeled to the place from whence she would arrive.
I was not supposed to be here they’d said, but no force on earth could’ve kept me away.
She’s been calling to me since she was in her mother’s womb and I as always, answered her call. From then until now I’ve stayed close, ever watchful.
Slowly I came to my feet, a sudden fear making my heart tremble. There was a sense of darkness but one that I could not see with my eyes, I could only feel in my soul.
I crept forward, ever closer, my eyes drawn to the little form as it was held within the light of the moon, as it peeped through the branches of the trees outside and into the room. Slashing a bow of color across the bed.
“I’m sorry Anna but the babe…she’s dead.” The mother’s wail was full of torment, torture, and despair. I understood this even before I knew what the words meant.
They wrapped her in swaddling, but not as one should a newborn babe, no, they covered her face.
They all turned at the roar that rent the air. I too turned to see from whence it came, until I realized that it was I who had emitted the sound of rage. Flying out of my hiding place I confronted them, with one purpose in mind.
“Get away from here you bad boy, you should not see this.” I fought like the demons of hell. Kicking and scratching and biting until I reached her where they’d laid her.
I removed the cloth from her face gently, my young heart racing with fear. I alone cleaned her up, I alone opened her mouth and it was I who placed my lips above hers and breathed my life into her.
Her eyes flew open, eyes as beautiful as one of mama’s gems. We stared at each other for what seemed like forever before I turned back to the room that had gone deathly still.
“She’s mine.” I warned the room at large, even as she opened her lungs and wailed for her mother’s breast.
I did not know how I knew this, but I did. I felt it with everything that was in my young mind and heart.
The room became a flurry of movement as the grown ups sprung into action.
I released her only because I knew that now they would help her, but I stayed glued to the midwife’s side.
“You know you really shouldn’t be in here.” I ignored the woman as I watched her every move. Never taking my eyes away from my baby. Mine.
I felt the sense of excitement, of things to come. The pressure that had befallen me in the last hour or so was no more; it had eased with her first breath.
She was so tiny, no bigger than one of my arms, I felt fear for a moment as that darkness that my young mind had sensed loomed, but beneath I felt strength. No harm will come to her, I will see to it.
The little one held my eyes as they tended to her and I felt the pull from those deep orbs. Even then as a child, I knew that they were unusual.