Destiny's Awakening

5. FIVE

FIVE

Iwas being shaken. Aggressively.

My hands batted away the grip Zinnia had on my shoulders. For a blissful moment, it was quiet, and no one was trying to wake me up.

Zinnia poked at my ribs. "So help me, Aster, if you don't wake up right this instant, I will dump a bucket of water on you."

"Go. Away." I grumbled, rolling away from her.

My bed shook, and then she tucked herself into my side. She cooed melodically, "Aster, please. I cannot wait a moment longer."

"Don't be a pest, Zin," Vi gently scolded as she joined us.

The spicy aroma of Mama's breakfast tea hit my nose after Vi set a cup on my bedside table, pulling me toward wakefulness. Zinnia harrumphed, and I smiled as I sat up without looking her way. Methodically, I arranged the blankets around my waist, then stretched my arms high above my head.

Zinnia's eyes followed my every move, her lips pressed together as she watched me wrap my hands around the mug and take that first glorious sip, eyes falling closed as its warmth and spicy sweetness washed over my tongue. I released a contented sigh, her eyes narrowing when I leaned back against my headboard.

Casually, I dropped a hand into my lap, knowing my Elementai would be visible. It took a few beats for her to notice, but when she did, her eyes grew wide as saucers. She snatched up one of my wrists, turning it this way and that, inspecting the mark on my skin. Her finger traced the mark, and she gasped when it briefly swirled. "What does it mean?"

Vi pressed in behind Zinnia, looking over her shoulder. "Air?"

With a nod, I cautiously released my power, allowing it to breeze through the room, ruffling the curtains and teasing Zinnia's red curls. The fragrance of jasmine unexpectedly filled the room, reminding me of summer nights watching the stars.

My sisters gaped at me. There was no longer any room to doubt the veracity of my story.

"It's amazing!" Zinnia clasped her hands to her chest. "I cannot wait for my turn."

Laughing, I lifted my eyes to Violet's alarmed face. I narrowed my eyes, ready to ask, but Zinnia was demanding I tell them everything, lowering her voice to say, "Feel free to skip ahead to the part about your Chieftain, though."

She giggled when I pushed her away. Even Vi laughed at that.

I gave them all the details, waiting until the very end to tell them about Lysander—enjoying Zinnia's squirming.

"Why wouldn't they just tell you where he is?" She asked with a pout.

"I'm sure there's some lesson in it." I shrugged, and there were no more questions for a while.

The shape and scope of our world had shifted, destabilizing all we'd known before we'd fallen asleep last night. I'm sure I wasn't the only one assessing her place in our new reality.

Zinnia seemed to shake herself, perking back up. "Now what?"

I released a breath. "I have to tell Mama and Papa."

"And convince them to allow us to go with you," Violet tacked on, surprising me.

"Couldn't be simpler," Zinnia chuckled.

It would be anything but.

I’d gone through the motions all day—eating breakfast, doing my chores, helping Mama prepare dinner—but my mind had been elsewhere.

We'd finished dinner before I worked up the nerve to tell Mama and Papa I needed to tell them something important. They gave me their full attention as I spent the next hour detailing my dream, everything the Mothers had told me, stopping short of sharing the mission they'd given me to find Lysander. Fearing their skepticism, I even offered a demonstration of my powers to drive it all home.

Mama and Papa stared at me, stunned but unshaken, which I found odd. Then Papa rested his hand on Mama's shoulder, his voice low and circumspect, "It's time to tell them, Calla."

Mama dabbed at her eyes with a napkin as my fingers twisted in my skirt. Beside me, Zinnia practically vibrated with impatience, while Violet looked suspicious.

"The Mothers visited me as well," Mama shared. "Before any of you were born, and well after your father and I had accepted that children wouldn't be part of our lives together."

Her voice broke, and my hand shot across the table to rest on top of my father's. After she'd collected herself, Mama told us the Mothers had promised she would birth a daughter destined to change Monari. She'd awoken hopeful, yet cautious. When she'd become pregnant with me, there was the same fear it would end in disappointment and trauma. When it didn't, that had been enough for them.

Then they'd been further blessed with Violet and Zinnia, and they'd dedicated themselves to raising us honorably so we'd be worthy of the destiny the Mothers had foretold.

"So, you knew all along that the Mothers were real?" Zinnia questioned. "And that they had a plan for Aster?"

Mama dabbed at her eyes again, nodding quietly. Papa, though, confessed, "We did our best to prepare you, certain a day would come that the Mothers would make good on their promise. We worried, too, what it would mean when they did."

A weighted silence fell over the dining room as my sisters and I processed what we'd just learned. Surprisingly, I didn't feel overwhelmed by the news. More than anything, I felt relieved. All the doubt I'd felt recently about my future, the disconnection I felt in Jacob's presence, it all made sense now.

Knowing I had to tell my parents about Lysander, and the Mothers' requirement that I find him, had nerves mounting in my gut. My finger found a dent in the table from a casserole dish Mama had dropped years ago, rubbing its now smooth edges.

In a hushed, somewhat shaky voice, I told my parents, "There's one last thing."

Zinnia shifted, and Papa looked away from Mama to give me his attention. Mama, though, was still dabbing at her eyes.

"The Mothers have instructed me to seek my Chieftain—Lysander. They haven't told me where he is exactly, so I can't say how far I must search, or how long it will take." Realizing I was rambling, I took a deep breath and refocused. "I'd like it if Vi and Zin joined me."

From one beat to the next, the mood shifted, punctuated by Papa's hand landing with a smack atop the table.

"Absolutely not! My daughters are not gallivanting about the country to find some man."

"But, Papa, she has to," Zinnia protested, her fists balled tightly in her lap, defying our parents for what might've been the first time. "The Mothers have given her this task."

"She doesn't require your permission, Papa," Vi interjected, causing Zinnia and me to glare at her for her brazenness.

Papa's eyes whipped to Violet, his face turning several shades of red. They stared at each other for one moment. Then two. Finally, with gravel in his voice, he said, "Aster may not, but you and Zinnia certainly do."

His lips thinned and his brows rose as he let his words sink in.

"I'll allow you to try again, Vi." He almost sounded calm. Almost. "But if that is the extent and depth of your argument, then the only thing you've convinced me of is how woefully unprepared you are for this level of responsibility."

He leaned forward on his elbows, staring at Violet, whose response was to fold her arms across her chest. I knew she wouldn't yield. Even if doing so meant gaining ground with our father.

Reaching out to grip my father's hand, I looked into his eyes. "While I may not require your permission, Papa, I would like your blessing. And having my sisters with me on this journey would make it much less challenging and much more enjoyable. So, I'm asking you to please agree."

Papa didn't relent right away. Our discussion stretched late into the night. But by morning, I was climbing into my saddle with Zinna and Violet alongside me. They chatted energetically while I fought to still my shaking hands. When I'd gained control of my nerves, mostly, we waved farewell to our parents and turned our horses toward the main road.

I couldn't help but look back, or silence the small nagging doubt at the back of my mind, when we reached the signpost—east to Ferriers Canyon, west to Smithy Gulch, or back home to Granger Falls. We halted there, waiting for me to get my bearings.

After a minute, Zinnia asked, "Do you feel anything?"

The nagging doubt reared its ugly head the longer I felt nothing. I shook my head.

Maybe this was a mistake. What a fool I am to think I could do this.

Violet leaned against the pommel of her saddle. "If the Mothers said you'd know the way, then you will. Just get out of your head about it."

My eyes widened, but she just shrugged.

With little other choice, I tried to do what she'd suggested. Closing my eyes, I pictured Lysander's face—his blue eyes with the barely there wrinkles at the corners, the lopsided smile the Mothers had shown me. I reached for a man I'd never met, but strangely wanted to, concentrating harder and harder until I felt something like a thread unfurl from me. Starting in my chest, it stretched into the distance as if winding its way through the countryside, searching for the man the Mothers dictated I find. When I felt the thread grow taut, thrumming with a power that vibrated through my bones, I knew it had found its target.

And I knew which way to go.

Pointing to the west, I urged my mare on. "That's where we're headed."