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Genevieve and Delyth looked at each other. “We'll be left tidying up the mess,” they said at the same time.
Róisín glanced down at her daughter. “I'm grateful that my children are safe here,” she said. “I can't imagine what it must be like to bring children into a village like ours must be now.”
“It wasn't easy making the decision to have children when I was young,” Delyth replied. “A few of my friends made the choice not to, because they couldn't bear the guilt they feel. Some couldn't have children, which made them... angry, maybe, and slightly upset, with the women who chose not to have children, because they didn't have a choice to make. Others died in childbirth, and those children, if they survived, were brought up by family members.” She looked at Genevieve. “I was lucky, especially when I had you, Gen, because during any one of those births something could have gone wrong.”
“What would have happened to us if it had?” Genevieve asked.
“If your father couldn't have coped with you then he would probably have asked his brother to take you on. When my sister died I would have been happy to take on her child, but the child didn't survive.”
“I never much liked Uncle.”
Delyth smiled. “Neither did I. I think he was the impetus behind your father researching my family tree. I have no idea how he managed to find out what he did.”
“There's no reason to believe that Father did actually find out anything about your family. It would be easy enough for Uncle to lie to him about your mother or father because they weren't there to say otherwise.”
Nodding, Róisín sighed. “I can imagine Uncle doing just that. He never did like you very much, Mother, and when his wife died it's easy to see him wanting Father to be just as unhappy as he was.”
“Do you really think Father would have been unhappy to lose us?” Genevieve asked, wishing that he was and he did still miss them so much that he had chosen not to remarry.
“I think he would have been,” Delyth replied, “but I don't why. It's possible that he was sorry to lose us because he loved us no matter what my heritage was.” She shook her head. “On the other hand he could have been sorry because marrying someone with a mixed heritage like mine would have affected his standing in the village and with the priest of Herne.”
“Even though it was an accident.”
“It meant that your paternal grandfather didn't do his research properly, which would have affected the whole family's standing. Your uncle might have lost his position on the council, your father would have lost some business, and there would have been people who made the choice not to take your cousin on as an apprentice.”
“How do you know that, Mother?” Róisín asked.
“It happened once in the village, when I was much younger. The woman was found to have a Tein-Igni ancestor and she disappeared, with her children, when I was about eight or nine. Even when we left her husband still had a lower standing with everyone in the village. His son had real problems finding someone who would give him an apprenticeship, so in the end they both left the village. I have no idea where they ended up, or if moving actually had any effect at all because the priests of Herne did talk to each other regularly. Even after they'd left his nephew and niece had trouble, because they were damaged by association. It's horrible, but that's simply the way things are in a Dorma village.”
“Why did you never leave?”
“I didn't have anywhere to go, Róisín, and leaving your father wasn't something I ever wanted to do. All Dorma villages are very much alike.” Delyth sighed. “There was a man who travelled to our village when I was nineteen and three days later his priest of Herne arrived. Soon after the man left because everyone knew that he'd married an Uisdro woman, had three children, and lived in a mixed heritage town for most of his life.”
“There are mixed heritage towns?”
“When I was younger there was a few, but I don't know if they still exist, and they were always well hidden. A story was passed through the Dorma about a High Priest who had once destroyed three mixed heritage towns that he had stumbled across who was executed for his crimes. I don't know if it's true or not, but I wouldn't put it past a High Priest of Herne.”
“What are the High Priests and Priestesses really like?” Genevieve asked.
“The High Priests and Priestesses I heard stories about were always those without a connection to their deities, so I have no idea what a true High Priest or Priestess is really like, but when I was young the Highs always appeared to be a figurehead. I visited the Residence once and the High Priest of Herne I met was eighteen, had just come out of training, and was chosen by the High Priest who had come before him because they were cousins.” Delyth sighed. “He didn't seem to be doing much at all, because I don't think he was meant to be doing anything. It was just habit to have a High Priest or Priestess and they didn't really mean anything.”
“Aisling is the High Priestess of Persephone.”
“Aisling was chosen by Persephone herself, not by a sibling, cousin or friend. She is a true priestess and that means more than anything. When she arrives people will look up to her, no matter how old she is or whether she has just come out of the training temple, because she is connected to Persephone.”
Genevieve nodded. “I feel sorry for her.”
Delyth reached out and squeezed Genevieve's hand. “I feel sorry for all the true priests and priestesses who are out there, because they're all in danger. I am looking forward to the day when they're finally safe here.”
“What can I do to help her?”
“To start with I think we should put together a list of things we're going to need. North Square does have space for us to make almost everything we need, but a lot of people will arrive in a sort space of time, so we need her to bring furniture, clothes, and other items that people will need in the short term.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/42813.html. It currently has
comments.
Read the second part of this story (LJ link).
Read the third part of this story (LJ link).
Read the fourth part of this story (LJ link).
Genevieve and Delyth looked at each other. “We'll be left tidying up the mess,” they said at the same time.
Róisín glanced down at her daughter. “I'm grateful that my children are safe here,” she said. “I can't imagine what it must be like to bring children into a village like ours must be now.”
“It wasn't easy making the decision to have children when I was young,” Delyth replied. “A few of my friends made the choice not to, because they couldn't bear the guilt they feel. Some couldn't have children, which made them... angry, maybe, and slightly upset, with the women who chose not to have children, because they didn't have a choice to make. Others died in childbirth, and those children, if they survived, were brought up by family members.” She looked at Genevieve. “I was lucky, especially when I had you, Gen, because during any one of those births something could have gone wrong.”
“What would have happened to us if it had?” Genevieve asked.
“If your father couldn't have coped with you then he would probably have asked his brother to take you on. When my sister died I would have been happy to take on her child, but the child didn't survive.”
“I never much liked Uncle.”
Delyth smiled. “Neither did I. I think he was the impetus behind your father researching my family tree. I have no idea how he managed to find out what he did.”
“There's no reason to believe that Father did actually find out anything about your family. It would be easy enough for Uncle to lie to him about your mother or father because they weren't there to say otherwise.”
Nodding, Róisín sighed. “I can imagine Uncle doing just that. He never did like you very much, Mother, and when his wife died it's easy to see him wanting Father to be just as unhappy as he was.”
“Do you really think Father would have been unhappy to lose us?” Genevieve asked, wishing that he was and he did still miss them so much that he had chosen not to remarry.
“I think he would have been,” Delyth replied, “but I don't why. It's possible that he was sorry to lose us because he loved us no matter what my heritage was.” She shook her head. “On the other hand he could have been sorry because marrying someone with a mixed heritage like mine would have affected his standing in the village and with the priest of Herne.”
“Even though it was an accident.”
“It meant that your paternal grandfather didn't do his research properly, which would have affected the whole family's standing. Your uncle might have lost his position on the council, your father would have lost some business, and there would have been people who made the choice not to take your cousin on as an apprentice.”
“How do you know that, Mother?” Róisín asked.
“It happened once in the village, when I was much younger. The woman was found to have a Tein-Igni ancestor and she disappeared, with her children, when I was about eight or nine. Even when we left her husband still had a lower standing with everyone in the village. His son had real problems finding someone who would give him an apprenticeship, so in the end they both left the village. I have no idea where they ended up, or if moving actually had any effect at all because the priests of Herne did talk to each other regularly. Even after they'd left his nephew and niece had trouble, because they were damaged by association. It's horrible, but that's simply the way things are in a Dorma village.”
“Why did you never leave?”
“I didn't have anywhere to go, Róisín, and leaving your father wasn't something I ever wanted to do. All Dorma villages are very much alike.” Delyth sighed. “There was a man who travelled to our village when I was nineteen and three days later his priest of Herne arrived. Soon after the man left because everyone knew that he'd married an Uisdro woman, had three children, and lived in a mixed heritage town for most of his life.”
“There are mixed heritage towns?”
“When I was younger there was a few, but I don't know if they still exist, and they were always well hidden. A story was passed through the Dorma about a High Priest who had once destroyed three mixed heritage towns that he had stumbled across who was executed for his crimes. I don't know if it's true or not, but I wouldn't put it past a High Priest of Herne.”
“What are the High Priests and Priestesses really like?” Genevieve asked.
“The High Priests and Priestesses I heard stories about were always those without a connection to their deities, so I have no idea what a true High Priest or Priestess is really like, but when I was young the Highs always appeared to be a figurehead. I visited the Residence once and the High Priest of Herne I met was eighteen, had just come out of training, and was chosen by the High Priest who had come before him because they were cousins.” Delyth sighed. “He didn't seem to be doing much at all, because I don't think he was meant to be doing anything. It was just habit to have a High Priest or Priestess and they didn't really mean anything.”
“Aisling is the High Priestess of Persephone.”
“Aisling was chosen by Persephone herself, not by a sibling, cousin or friend. She is a true priestess and that means more than anything. When she arrives people will look up to her, no matter how old she is or whether she has just come out of the training temple, because she is connected to Persephone.”
Genevieve nodded. “I feel sorry for her.”
Delyth reached out and squeezed Genevieve's hand. “I feel sorry for all the true priests and priestesses who are out there, because they're all in danger. I am looking forward to the day when they're finally safe here.”
“What can I do to help her?”
“To start with I think we should put together a list of things we're going to need. North Square does have space for us to make almost everything we need, but a lot of people will arrive in a sort space of time, so we need her to bring furniture, clothes, and other items that people will need in the short term.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/42813.html. It currently has
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Date: 2011-12-31 07:48 am (UTC)That should say "I don't know why."
>>“When I was younger there was a few<<
That should say "there were" above.
>>a lot of people will arrive in a sort space of time<<
That should say "short" above.