Ariana ran frantically through the woods, lifting her skirts to avoid becoming caught in the undergrowth. She could hear him behind her. He was making up ground fast, far faster than her legs could take her. She had to escape him; she should never have ignored the warnings of her mother, should never have tried to see for herself what it was her brother was up to. What he and his group of vicious, ruthless friends were planning.

She’d known they were up to no good, had thought if she could find discover their next move that she might be able to stop them, might be able to stop Valient falling deeper into trouble.

He was close. She knew it. The forest air seemed to close in upon her, her skin tortured by a thousand ice needles, the scent of disturbed debris thick in her nose. Glancing around, she could see that the undergrowth grew thicker here, that the faint path she had followed had come to an end. There was no-where to go, no-where to run. She quickly hid behind the trunk of a large gnarled Oaktree. Leaning against its solid ancient trunk as if to absorb its strength, she tried to silence her breathing as she listened for any sign of her predator.

Why was he doing this? Why had Valient sent Xavier after her?

She stifled a sob, afraid to make any sound that may give away her whereabouts, but her thoughts seemed so loud she feared he would hear her still. Why had Xavier been so quick to follow his orders? She thought he loved her. He had been courting her for months; he’d even asked her to the midsummer dance. You only asked those important to you to the midsummer dance. It was one of the most powerful and influential nights of the year. A magical night, they had had a connection, they were friends; they had plans to...

Why would he?... Why was he?

Her mind was running away with her; she was losing focus. She fought hard to concentrate on her surroundings once more.

A branch snapped. She could feel his breath upon the back of her neck. Screaming, she sprang forward, but she was not quick enough. Xavier had her in his grasp. ‘Got you’, he cried. ‘you silly little girl, did you really think you could outrun me.’ He shoved Ariana to the ground before sitting astride her, pinning her to the rough, damp forest floor. He leered down at her. ‘You should know better than to be spying upon a secret gathering of the Gifts.’

‘You’re not Gifts’, she spat back at him. ‘You’re evil, all of you and when Emmanuel finds out what you’re up to, you’ll be stopped, banished, sent to join the reflections your so fond of calling upon.’

Xavier slapped her violently across her face, sending her head spinning. She looked up at him, hostility showing on her young ashen face. She tried to retain some sense of dignity as she was spitting rotten bark and leaves from her mouth. ‘Emmanuel is never going to find out’, he said quietly, menacingly, not if you know what’s good for you. If as much as a single word gets breathed to Emmanuel, we will kill you.’ He made a slitting motion across his own throat.

Ariana gulped, her body tremored, and sweat ran in rivulets down her face, she had never felt terror like this, and the look Xavier gave showed he knew it. He sneered at her before stroking her face menacingly in a claw-like motion.

‘Emmanuel has no power over us anymore. There are far too many of us now. It will soon be time to leave here and begin an Order of our own. All you’ve done... my dearest Ariana,’ he said, scowling down at her, ‘is force us to bring our plans forward, and you, my dear, have been part of that plan all along. So, supposing all other plans are to be accelerated in their execution, your part must come sooner as well. Lie still, my dear; I know it’s not the fairy-tale wedding night you dreamt of, but if you shake off that frozen princess attitude of yours, you may enjoy it.’ He pushed her legs apart and dragged her skirts up over her head, using them to restrain her, muffling her cries for help. He forced himself inside her, taking her abruptly and ruthlessly, no thought at all for her feelings.

She screamed with pain and terror, but there was no-one around for miles, no-one to hear her or come to her aid. She tried to struggle free, but Xavier struck her across the head. It was a blessing. Mercifully, Ariana was no longer aware of what was happening to her. She didn’t feel the brutal kicking he gave her as an unnecessary warning, didn’t hear the chanting of a spell over her, binding her to keep all she had seen, learnt, and heard to herself.

Ariana awoke alone, shivering and bloody with her skirts around her hips. She longed to move, to seek comfort, yet didn’t dare cry or make a sound in case Xavier was still nearby, waiting for her to awaken so he could come back for more. Ariana carefully pulling herself up slowly and resting against the nearby Oak, waiting with bated breath for what seemed a lifetime. She looked around, her bright blue eyes wide and shining, but there was no sight nor sound of Xavier. He wasn’t coming back.

She slowly and painfully exhaled, the taste of bark still strong upon her tongue. Rearranging her tattered skirts, she winced as the fabric brushed against her torn, shredded skin, painfully tearing off a strip to stem a flow of blood. Slowly she got to her feet and set off limping and sore on the long, lonely walk home.

***

The months following passed slowly. And whilst Ariana told no-one the truth of what had really happened, it was evident to all that she had changed. That she was no longer the innocent, carefree girl, she once had been. The hate, fear and secret grew within her day by day.

The people of The Township where she was born and raised worried for her and felt it must have something to do with the troubles the Order were facing, but Ariana said nothing, unknowingly bound to silence. Eventually, the well-wishers went away, leaving her to her fate. Ariana, just a shell of the vibrant girl she once was, wished with all her heart she could express her anguish, but she never could find the words. Even her Mother seemed to have given up trying to find what secrets she held.

***

Many months later, Ariana was walking through the village. It was unusually quiet for a midweek day. With Christmas fast approaching, many of the townsfolk had headed to the larger towns to sell their wares or were squirrelled away, busy with preparations for the upcoming celebrations.

Ariana enjoyed the peace. Walking along the deserted village green, she marvelled at the perfect formation of frost on the grass, the trees dripping with twinkling dew as they thawed in the weak December sunshine. Sitting for a while, she gazed at a squirrel guarding his prize of a peanut as he made his way over garden walls towards the green when she noticed a young girl struggling down the road. The girl seemed distressed, using buildings and trees to steady herself.

Ariana made her way as quickly as she could towards the girl, seeing her now crouched in the road. As she closed upon her, Ariana called out, ‘Savannah, I’m coming,’ recognising the girl that had been her lifelong friend. Although not as close as late, the love Ariana felt for her friend was strong, and it pained her to see her struggle so. She helped Savannah to her feet and across the road to her own front door. All the while wondering what her friend was doing out alone, so close to her time. But there was no time to dwell as Savannah let out a scream of pain and collapsed to the floor. Ariana shouted to her mother for help.

The next few hours were a whirlwind, and Ariana didn’t have a chance to think about anything. She was kept busy helping her mother and Savannah by fetching fresh sheets and water and taking over some of her Mother’s lighter chores. While grinding herbs with a pestle and mortar for her Mother’s ointments, she felt the pain that had drawn the earlier screams from Savannah. Ariana knew that the day she had dreaded for so long had arrived. She cried out before collapsing on the mattress in the corner of the room.

Her Mother came quickly from the other room, ‘Don’t panic, Ariana, it’s your time, that’s all. I’ll mix you something to help with the pain’. She could hear the groans coming from Savannah in the next room. ‘Fancy the two of you starting the same day, must be the full moon. It is lucky for you two I decided to stay home and mix potions instead of heading to town, especially with Savannah’s Mother being away.’ The older lady babbled on, trying to distract the young girl from the pain taking over her body.

Hours later, as night had fallen, her mother called to her, ‘Push Ariana, Push.’ After another long, painful hour, a cry could be heard. Her mother placed the baby within her arms. Ariana looked down at the infant. A squirming ball of warm pink flesh, swaddled in blankets lovingly made by her mother, the baby began to cry, her angelic face still red and squashed from her recent exertions. Instead of a rush of love, Ariana felt only repulsion and pushed her away.

‘Ariana, my dear, none of this is that there babies doing, don’t take like that with her, you will love her darling just look at how perfect and precious she is. She is an innocent, a Gift.’

‘She’s not a Gift ‘, Ariana cried. ‘She was born from evil; she comes from evil. Take her away.’ Her mother sighed sadly and took the baby over to the fireside. Once the baby was bathed, she wrapped her tightly and warmly before laying her down in a wicker basket and placing her beside Ariana’s bed.

‘No child is born evil, Ariana, ‘she said softly, ‘evil is made not born.’

A short while later, Ariana looked over at the beautiful sleeping child with her head of dark curls, and her heart started to soften. She leant and picked the child up from the crib, holding her close to her chest for a few moments. Feeling her breath warm against her face sent a maternal wave washing over her, slowly at first as if trying on motherhood for size. Then it hit, with a rush so powerful, it almost took her breath away. She pulled the child close to her breast and muttered into her soft down of hair, ‘I will protect you,’ she said, ‘I won’t allow the evil to ever touch you’.

‘What are you saying to that child?’ Ariana looked up. Savannah, the pretty blonde girl, was smiling at her from the doorway, cradling her newborn son in her arms. Ariana rose slowly, never taking her eyes from her child’s face. Together, they made their way companionly to the fireside chairs. ‘I was just telling her I loved her ‘, Ariana said.

‘I know,’ Savannah replied, ‘I can’t believe how much love I have for him already. Savannah gazed down intently at her blonde-haired, blue-eyed son, his handsomeness already present in his soft infant face. ‘Imagine Ariana, you and I being blessed with gifts on the very same day. They’re going to be great friends, these two, they’re going to grow up to do a great many powerful things. I can feel it. I’ve seen it.’

Looking down at her sleeping child, she smiled. Savannahs sight was strong. Ariana could only imagine the adventures the children may have as they grew. Still, she now knew for sure; she was looking forward to every moment. Looking at her lifelong friend, Ariana smiled knowingly, ‘She truly is a Gift,’ she said quietly. Ariana knew she’d only get one, her first born. ‘I’ll treasure her always.’

The evening of the next day, Ariana sat peacefully nursing her daughter. Savannah had returned home to her family, who were relieved and thankful that she and the baby had been delivered safely. Her mother had gone to a town meeting to make plans for the Christmas Festival. Mother and child had nodded off to sleep in the chair by the fire when the door slowly opened, and a man stepped into the room.

‘How are you, Ariana?’

Ariana awoke with a start to see Xavier standing in the doorway. She looked around wildly. With the entrance blocked, there was no other way to escape. The child in her arms started to wriggle uncomfortably, sensing her mother’s fear. Trying to calm her erratically beating heart, she forced herself to turn and face him.

‘What do you want, Xavier’ she snarled at him, trying to sound braver than she felt.

‘Now, now, my dear is that any way to speak to the father of your child’ he smirked at her, obviously amused by himself.

‘Get out of here’, Ariana hissed. ‘Or I’ll scream so loudly the whole town will come running.’

‘Oh, calm yourself down,’ he replied, stepping forward into the room as if he owned the ground he walked on, ‘you’re going to have to curb that dramatic manner of yours once we’re married. I won’t stand for it. Still,’ he stroked his chin in a display of mock thought before adding, ‘there are ways you can be trained, I suppose.’ The cruel intention was written all over his face. ‘But you’ve time yet.’

She looked at him, shocked, words failing her. He went to walk out of the house and looked back one last time. ‘Look after my Gift,’ he said. ‘I shall let you know once the arrangements are made’ he walked away, leaving the door swinging in the cold winter winds.

Ariana ran to the door and slammed it shut, the bang startled the baby, and she began to cry. Looking down at her beautiful daughter, it pained her to see the tears coming from her beautiful blue eyes, tears of fear. The noise spurred Ariana into action. She knew what she had to do. Placing the baby in her crib, she grabbed a few things together. After swaddling the baby to her chest, she headed to the door, carefully studying the road outside until she was sure Xavier was gone. She looked around the room one last time, tears running down her face, but she knew it was the only option. She knew she had to go to protect herself and the baby.

‘Come on, Ellie’, she said. Let’s go.