Prodigy

Gilt

The next memory started quickly. Kate stepped into the atrium. The skylight showed only darkness, while the clock showed midday, so it was winter. Linda sat in a chair near the reflection pool. Kate paused a moment.

Her mother was tired, not so much in the physical sense, though with the sickness raging in her body, she was physically tired also. Her mother was ready for death. Kate could feel it. She wanted to change it, but she couldn’t. She considered leaving.

Her mother turned from the pool and studied her. The pain, not just physical, was in her eyes. “I know you don’t want to be here, you don’t want me to say it…Please, will you sit with me?”

She didn’t want to sit, she wanted to run. She cursed the abilities she had, they had brought her nothing but pain. She couldn’t run when she had received her powers, she had also gained a code of ethics that forbade her from running from responsibility. So, despite her feelings, she took a seat on the stone bench next to her mother’s chair. It had been her mom’s favorite spot, but the pain made her seek something more forgiving. For a moment she simply sat.

Over the last six months, her mother had learned what she was. She could feel the struggle within her mother and was tempted to make her mother’s mind up for her, but once again, her code stood in her way.

“Kate, I know I don’t have the right to ask this of you, but I need you to let go. Winter has always been hard for me. I don’t want to see the next spring.” A tear streaked down her face. “This is wrong, on every level. You’re only six.”

“Mommy,” Kate paused. “I understand more than you know.”

She nodded, accepting the fact without question. They sat in silence for a few more moments. Finally she spoke again, “Kate, as long as I live, you can’t enjoy life. You fight for my life, even when I’m in too much pain, but I can’t take not being in pain because I know if I don’t feel the pain you hold it…”

***

Movement in the cabin caused her focus to change for a moment. Adrian had lifted Kate into his arms and was cradling her like a baby. Kate was weeping openly. She buried her head against her father’s chest.

***

“Mommy, I’m made to take pain. I could take the pain of a battalion of soldiers. It is a magua’s responsibility to serve,” Kate said.

Linda looked at Kate. “You are going to make me order you, aren’t you.”

Kate stood. “Just say it! You don’t love us enough to wait for me to figure out how to heal you. I will. You don’t believe in me. You want to give up!”

“No! Baby…I know you are mad. I have no doubt that you could eventually heal me…How long? How long would you suffer for something that can’t be healed?” Linda paused. “Stop holding my life…If I can live with the aid our specialist gives us, then I will fight…but I will not have you hold my pain for another day!”

Kate fell to her knees. “You are ordering me to kill you!”

“No, baby, I am ordering you to live. I will fight with all my strength to stay with you…”

“It won’t be enough, my father has waited three years and he isn’t patient,” Kate whispered. Then she turned her back on her mother.

“Linda, as your attending magua, I must submit to your desire. You will have seven hours. Call your husband, have him join you for dinner, but do not tell him it is your last. The moment I leave this room, you are dead to me. You will not see me again.” Her tone softened. “Mommy, If I see you again, I won’t be able to let go…please understand. I’m mad…” she let the words hang, not being able to formulate the correct words and stormed out of the room.

***

“Kate, you did nothing wrong. There was no right or wrong answer in this scenario.”

Kate looked up and her eyes widened. “You understand…you’ve made a decision like mine.”

Danika shook her head. “No, I was an adult, and it wasn’t me keeping my father alive.”

Kate looked down. “Did your father ask, or were you forced to decide without consulting him?”

“I found a letter. The doctors were sure that he would eventually recover, but his letter said he didn’t want life-support.” Danika shrugged, but the tear trickling down her cheek showed she wasn’t untouched. “I was also an adult.”

Kate nodded. “Children shouldn’t have the power I have. Normally, I’d be awakening around now, or maybe a year or two ago. My curse is that I’ve been awake since before I was legally alive.”

“Kate, I’m here. These memories make me love and respect you more. You made a decision at the age of six, that I could not have made.” Adrian’s voice cracked several times in those couple of sentences.

“Why do I want to be condemned? If what I did was commendable, why the guilt?”

“As smart and gifted as you are, you mistake sorrow with guilt. It is easy…people can’t read themselves as well as they read others,” Danika answered.

Kate didn’t argue. She glanced down. “I can’t forgive myself instantly. I’ve held onto this for over half my life.”

“Kate…I’m here if you need me.” Danika said.

Kate sobbed again. “I…need that. I’ve been so alone.” Her eyes got big. “Daddy, it wasn’t your fault.”

Adrian nodded. “It was our fault. I am the adult.”

“Father, forcing me isn’t easy.”

Adrian smiled. “You are more predictable than you think. You have a code that I never understood, but that I learned. You’ve never directly disobeyed me. If I had ordered you to divulge your secrets you would have obeyed.”

“I could have prevented that eventuality without breaking my code” Kate replied as the flier landed. “I’m going for a hike. I think the two of you need to talk.” She added.