Staunch Fate

Chapter 2

It was a long journey full of panicked thoughts of them catching her, sending her where she was meant to go. Bethany told her she had cheated death and to be proud. She was a true gipsy, never settling in one place for too long.

Anna asked what she meant, she had cheated death, auntie Bethy grew distant, a sadness overwhelming her. Anna soon learned to leave her to her dreams. She had a few herself since she joined her people. Moments were voices whispered at her. A feeling of something going awry brought her here. A warning she listened to.

The dreams that come to her at night are vogue. She recalls only bits and pieces mostly when she's awake. She'll be doing her chores the same as any day around camp and noises even a familiar name being shouted will transport her into a dream that grew distant the moment she became conscious.

They will always be hazy those dreams. She cannot see faces, perhaps at times, she catches the eyes clearly but no more than that. She feels cursed. Glimpsing at so many things but never truly grasping at any of them. She was petrified at the mere notion that she had seen anything from her future that was knowledge she dreaded. Auntie Bethy reassured her no matter how potent her gift was she will never behold anyone's future. The ancestors wouldn't burden her with such a plight.
Still, Anna grew weary. There were nights she found herself suffocating, the earth swallowing her whole. Then there was the crying woman, her suffering never abating. A medley of fear and uncertainty. The only night she'll find peace was when the moon was new. It was a time of respite. She must take walks on those nights.

The first time she was ordered to walk through nature, Anna wandered aimlessly. Around she went, circling the camp, full of worry she'll miss sight of it. She was also told to take in, the stars that hung above her head, the mud and grass under her feet, and above all else to find a place of equanimity. A place where her spirit can rest and find serenity. Liza found her the next day sleeping among the horses.

The nights of the full moon are the ones she dreads. Her dreams grow stronger, taking a hold of her spirit and to her, it felt as if her body was going through the whole ordeal too. Auntie Bethy saw her spirit waning in the few months she spent with them. She could tell, that Anna being among her people only heightened her ability exponentially, and made her visions stronger from a mere bad feeling they transformed into voices and into dreams. Bethany decided to guide the young girl through the rituals that'll bring her some stability.

Anna stood in the vardo she shared with Eliza. The others didn't take well to strangers even if it was Queen Bethany Boswell's wish for the girl to join them on their journey. But no one will go against her for collecting a new stray out of fear. A fear that carried onto Anna. They acknowledge her as a true 'Drabarni' a fortune teller. She is under the tutelage of Bethany that alone is enough to earn her their respect. One day they will flock to her vardo just for a tarot reading. Or so Jacob claimed.

Anna doesn't mind their apprehensive nature. She prefers the company of the few people she came to trust. The few days before she run away were spent fretting that they had gone on without her but they stayed, they waited. It was on Bethany's orders but she need not have ordered them. Jacob and Liza would have stayed back for her of their own volition. A bond was forged when they met. A bond Bethany felt only a few could brake.

Liza is getting ready for bed. Anna is getting ready for a battle. Her friend appears worried. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course, I don't want to! But there is no other way."

"You could stay with me?" It was supposed to be a statement Anna knew but it slipped through Liza's lips as a weak suggestion.

She wouldn't rest until she finally saw her demon that decided to make do with her dreams. The man she glimpsed once in her mirror had come back to plague her. He haunted her, and as the moon got fuller the greatest his suffering felt. Anna knew not of what to make of it. She felt tethered to him, transfixed on him, but the full moon would pass and so would the spell he put her under. Only for the woman's wailing to come at the front. She was instructed to find a way to soothe them, to appease them both.