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“I did hear once about there being a mixed heritage village somewhere near my village, but I don't know if it ever actually existed.”
“At one point there were mixed heritage villages, and Grandmother actually lived in one for the first few years of her life after her father handfasted a Tein-Igni woman, but the priests don't like them. Most of them are kept off the map and they're moveable, so if someone finds out about them then they can move on.”
“That must be a difficult life to lead.”
“I wouldn't want to live like that, so I'm thankful that Grandmother decided to move here, but I know both her half brothers still travel the country because they can't stop for any length of time.” Sophia sighed. “Hopefully North Square will be a place of safety for them too.”
“How do they work?”
“Apparently each one is slightly different, but Grandmother lived in a house with wheels until her father sent her to live with her aunt. I think she was about nine then. Since then she's lived here and only seen her family once every two or three years, when they have a chance to stop somewhere near and send her a message.”
“That probably doesn't help your family's standing in the village.”
“No, it doesn't. Zander was lucky that he wanted to follow in Father's footsteps and become a fisherman, because I don't think he would have got an apprenticeship any other way. Father is from another village and that doesn't help any more than Mother being the granddaughter of a man who married a Tein-Igni woman or having a blind sister does, and I do feel sorry for my brother having a family on the buttom rung of the ladder.” Sophia shrugged. “Hopefully things will be different in North Square for him, because I want him to be happy. Living here, with all the restrictions that being a part of our family has, will stop him from being happy.”
“He seems happy enough, Sophia. He has friends and there's a girl who likes him, so I don't know if it's as bad as you think it is.”
“Zander will never handfast someone in the village.”
“You don't know that. The girl's father may see past all the problems and decide that Zander is the right person for his daughter.”
Sophia shook her head. “Why would someone permit their daughter to marry into our family when they know that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren will be affected by us for their entire lives?”
“Is that another reason you think no one will handfast you?”
“Maybe a little, but I know that one day I'll be living in North Square and I will have opportunities I've never had before. I just don't think that anyone will want a blind wife, no matter what race they are.”
“What if North Square doesn't happen, Sophia?”
“I don't know what I'll do then. This isn't somewhere I want to live for the rest of my life, because I know what everyone thinks of me and there's no chance of me every getting handfasted, but I don't think I'll have a choice if North Square doesn't happen.” She sighed. “When Aisling sent me a letter telling me of a safe town I didn't let myself hope too much. It might never happen. I just want it to, because I need to live somewhere I don't feel like I shouldn't exist. Mother could have given me up without any repercussions, but she didn't, so I am the only blind girl in this village, probably the only blind girl alive in the whole of Thear, and everyone thinks she should have done the right thing.”
“Your mother did the right thing.”
Sophia smiled for a few seconds, and then it faded. “I'm glad you think so, Conall, because sometimes I don't. I hate feeling like that, because I know I'm lucky to be alive, but it's hard.”
“The people who know you, and I mean really know you, love you, Sophia, and my life wouldn't be the same if I had never met you.” Conall squeezed Sophia's hand. “I understand that life has never been easy for you, or your family really, but I'm always going to appreciate the way you took me in. If I had never chosen to become a healer I would have been close to the top rung of the ladder, due to my family's position, and it's not somewhere I would like to be, because you all have this amazing amount of love for each other that doesn't seem to exist in other families, especially my own.”
“Conall....” Sophia shook her head. “Thank you. Sometimes I forget that I do have the most amazing family, and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have someone like you to remind me that I would never want to be anyone else's daughter. Mother and Father love me, even though I have a disability, Zander has always looked after me, and now I have you.” She smiled. “You are going to come if we go to North Square?”
Conall looked over at Zander for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Sophia. He saw North Square in his mind, a town where the three races could live together, and knew it was somewhere he could call home, even if it wasn't perfect. The family he had become so close to would be there, he could hopefully put his skills to good use, and in all honesty it wasn't really a decision he needed to think about for long.
“Of course I am,” he replied, smiling back at Sophia, even though she couldn't see it. “When I left home I was looking for something, although I'm not entirely sure what it was, and I found it the day I walked into your home. For the first time I'm a part of a loving family and I want to stay a part of it, no matter where you go or what you do.”
© K A Jones 2011
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).
“I did hear once about there being a mixed heritage village somewhere near my village, but I don't know if it ever actually existed.”
“At one point there were mixed heritage villages, and Grandmother actually lived in one for the first few years of her life after her father handfasted a Tein-Igni woman, but the priests don't like them. Most of them are kept off the map and they're moveable, so if someone finds out about them then they can move on.”
“That must be a difficult life to lead.”
“I wouldn't want to live like that, so I'm thankful that Grandmother decided to move here, but I know both her half brothers still travel the country because they can't stop for any length of time.” Sophia sighed. “Hopefully North Square will be a place of safety for them too.”
“How do they work?”
“Apparently each one is slightly different, but Grandmother lived in a house with wheels until her father sent her to live with her aunt. I think she was about nine then. Since then she's lived here and only seen her family once every two or three years, when they have a chance to stop somewhere near and send her a message.”
“That probably doesn't help your family's standing in the village.”
“No, it doesn't. Zander was lucky that he wanted to follow in Father's footsteps and become a fisherman, because I don't think he would have got an apprenticeship any other way. Father is from another village and that doesn't help any more than Mother being the granddaughter of a man who married a Tein-Igni woman or having a blind sister does, and I do feel sorry for my brother having a family on the buttom rung of the ladder.” Sophia shrugged. “Hopefully things will be different in North Square for him, because I want him to be happy. Living here, with all the restrictions that being a part of our family has, will stop him from being happy.”
“He seems happy enough, Sophia. He has friends and there's a girl who likes him, so I don't know if it's as bad as you think it is.”
“Zander will never handfast someone in the village.”
“You don't know that. The girl's father may see past all the problems and decide that Zander is the right person for his daughter.”
Sophia shook her head. “Why would someone permit their daughter to marry into our family when they know that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren will be affected by us for their entire lives?”
“Is that another reason you think no one will handfast you?”
“Maybe a little, but I know that one day I'll be living in North Square and I will have opportunities I've never had before. I just don't think that anyone will want a blind wife, no matter what race they are.”
“What if North Square doesn't happen, Sophia?”
“I don't know what I'll do then. This isn't somewhere I want to live for the rest of my life, because I know what everyone thinks of me and there's no chance of me every getting handfasted, but I don't think I'll have a choice if North Square doesn't happen.” She sighed. “When Aisling sent me a letter telling me of a safe town I didn't let myself hope too much. It might never happen. I just want it to, because I need to live somewhere I don't feel like I shouldn't exist. Mother could have given me up without any repercussions, but she didn't, so I am the only blind girl in this village, probably the only blind girl alive in the whole of Thear, and everyone thinks she should have done the right thing.”
“Your mother did the right thing.”
Sophia smiled for a few seconds, and then it faded. “I'm glad you think so, Conall, because sometimes I don't. I hate feeling like that, because I know I'm lucky to be alive, but it's hard.”
“The people who know you, and I mean really know you, love you, Sophia, and my life wouldn't be the same if I had never met you.” Conall squeezed Sophia's hand. “I understand that life has never been easy for you, or your family really, but I'm always going to appreciate the way you took me in. If I had never chosen to become a healer I would have been close to the top rung of the ladder, due to my family's position, and it's not somewhere I would like to be, because you all have this amazing amount of love for each other that doesn't seem to exist in other families, especially my own.”
“Conall....” Sophia shook her head. “Thank you. Sometimes I forget that I do have the most amazing family, and I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have someone like you to remind me that I would never want to be anyone else's daughter. Mother and Father love me, even though I have a disability, Zander has always looked after me, and now I have you.” She smiled. “You are going to come if we go to North Square?”
Conall looked over at Zander for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Sophia. He saw North Square in his mind, a town where the three races could live together, and knew it was somewhere he could call home, even if it wasn't perfect. The family he had become so close to would be there, he could hopefully put his skills to good use, and in all honesty it wasn't really a decision he needed to think about for long.
“Of course I am,” he replied, smiling back at Sophia, even though she couldn't see it. “When I left home I was looking for something, although I'm not entirely sure what it was, and I found it the day I walked into your home. For the first time I'm a part of a loving family and I want to stay a part of it, no matter where you go or what you do.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Date: 2011-12-31 10:06 pm (UTC)The early lines of dialog need speaker references so that we know who is saying what. Always make sure the first exchange in each installment is tagged with character names.
>> on the buttom rung <<
That should say "bottom" above.