A Fairytale In The Making

3. CINDERELLA

DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND AND WEEP

I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
I did not die
                    
                         - Clare Harner 

ISOLDE'S POV

After the nameless deity had bestowed its wisdom upon me, it returned to the forest as if nothing had happened, leaving me rooted on spot.

The daze was gone as soon the unknown one was out of my field of vision. And I did what any girl would do after encountering an ancient deity who was fond of looking like a chimera ... I ran.

I ran as fast as I could, leaving behind the flower garden, the lake, and the forest, swearing inwardly to never step a foot here ever again. I ran and ran until I was in front of mama's grave.

It was a simple grave with a white headstone that read "Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there." It was the line from a poem papa had written to her before he went away. She had kept the letter safely in her old jewelry box which didn't actually hold jewelry . Sometimes she would take it out and read it out loud to me.

I kneel before the grave and do exactly what mama forbade me to do; I cry. I cry because I was scared back there and wanted to call her, I cry because I don't know what to do about that haunting event. I cry because I want her to tell me what to do; I want her to tell me something, anything.

I sit there until people start to come out of their houses to do their day-to-day. Mr. Jones brings out to put his freshly baked goods on display, Old lady Olga's voice rings around the market as she bargains with a customer, the temple bell rings announcing the start of today's day. I walk slowly, lonely among this crowd, back to my small house. I could feel their accusing glares on the back of my head.

Did they know? About the incident?

I hope not. I don't want them to blame me for anything else.

I sigh. Without anything to sell today, I might have to make do with yesterday's leftovers.

I hide under my blanket as soon as I reach my room and stay there until I can't feel the stare of the deity.

"Miss Isolde! Miss Isolde! Is anybody in there? " shouting of an unknown man accompanied with harsh knocking on the front door wakes me up from my untimely slumber. I look outside through the window to see the sun setting.

The unfamiliar voice shouts again, "Please don't be alarmed. We mean no harm. We come in the name of the holy ones"

What? Is this some kind of new scheme for the count to exploit money again?

I open the door wearily to find a man standing in front of my house and the villagers crowding around.

I notice the question in their eyes like I always do . They were thinking what did this Soli forsaken bastard child do again?

What was going on?

The man in front of me was wearing the most beautiful robes I had ever seen. It was black with exquisite-looking white crystals adorning the collar. His hood was on but I could still see his face by looking up. Dear Soli, he was tall!

He was a very good-looking man with long brown braided hair falling across his shoulder. His features were unlike any I have seen on people around here.

Wait a minute! He's way too sophisticated looking to be from around here! Who is this guy?

"Madam, if you don't mind, could I please trouble you to let me take your blood sample?" he said completely calmly as if that wasn't the weirdest thing to say to a stranger!

"Excuse me, um, who are you exactly and why would you need my blood?" I asked, scared that he might be from some cult who needed a virgin blood sacrifice.

"Oh, how stupid of me! I haven't even introduced myself, my apologies ," he said as he took his black gloves off and bowed his head.

"I am Inaayat Baig, a Mage from the court of Azura and a scout for the Grand Academy. My purpose here is to find the person who was blessed by a God today. Our trackers could vaguely identify the location this morning. So we are checking all the people of age 16 around here and you're the last one", he said all this with a goofy smile plastered on his handsome face.

When he got no response from me he continued, "Please extend your hand, madam. We have orders from the Grandmaster himself. It will be against the law for you to resist this identification."

Suddenly I remembered the events of this morning and had a foreboding feeling. My hands were shaking when I extended them towards the Mage as he took out a lamp-like instrument and a needle from his pocket. He pricked my finger and we watched, holding our breaths as a few drops of blood fell into the mouth of the lamp.

The water in the lamp soon turned red and slowly white. I didn't have any idea what that meant, so I looked towards the wizard. He was looking at me with a smirk on his face and he said his next words nonchalantly as if it wouldn't change my simple life at all.

"Congratulations, madam, you were blessed by a God."

GLOSSARY

*Chimera: The Chimera, also Chimaera (Chimæra) (: Χίμαιρα, Chímaira means 'she-goat'), according to Greek Mythology , was a monstrous fire-breathing creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. It is usually depicted as a Lion, with the head of a Goat protruding from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head. It was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of monsters such as Cerberus and the Larnaean Hydra .

Please vote and comment. Feel free to point out any mistakes. Leave criticism but don't be rude, I'll cry😅

Don't be a silent reader.