Page 1 of Fated Blood

Chapter1

Fayla

“So, you’re saying you believe in love at first sight?” I ask, rolling over on the carpet of grass and looking into the sparkling eyes of my best, and only, friend.

“Well, of course I do!” Mara smiles from ear to ear, a wistful look on her face as she reaches up and tries to touch the clouds floating overhead. “Look at your mom and dad! I’ve seen so many examples of love at first sight since I met your family, there's no way I couldn’t believe in it!”

I wrinkle my nose in confusion, sitting up and crossing my legs as I stare at her. “One example is nowhere near ‘so many’!” I chide her, wagging my finger playfully.

She blushes and looks away shyly. “You’ve got me there, Fayla, but it’s the best example I’ve ever seen!”

“That’s true!” I smile, eyes drifting back to the house where Mother and Father are sitting in the shade and watching us in the gardens. The smell of flowers and the buzz of bees are the music for the day, that and the warm breath of the wind. “You think we’ll experience true love someday?”

“Sure will!” Mara says, sitting up on her elbows. “You and me, we have a Forever Bound out there waiting for us. Just like your mom and dad. I know it.”

“You’re an optimist! How can I ever meet my Forever Bound if I never leave this house?”

“Maybe I’m your Forever Bound?” Mara waggles her eyebrows, making obnoxious kissing noises as she tackles me to the ground.

We’re rolling around in a fit of giggles, tickling each other, when Father calls out. “Girls, it’s almost sunset!” he warns.

My heart sinks. Mara has to go home, to her own mother and father, and I have to go to my room to rest. Yet how can I rest at a time like this? How can I lie down on my bed andsleep?My world is expanding every day, in ways I could never imagine, and I don’t want to miss a thing.

“Come on, let's go! I’ll braid your hair before I leave,” Mara says.

She’s always happy. Always obedient. She hops to her feet and pulls me up to mine before we run hand in hand back toward the house.

“One hour!” Father calls as we run by him, but then he turns back to Mother and I hear her giggle before she moans. He just wanted us to go inside so he could kiss her! Mara and I turn to face each other and laugh loudly. “Get out of here, girls!” Father yells, laughing, and we run up the stairs.

“I can’t wait for love like that!” Mara huffs as we run into my room.

I have my hands on my knees as I try to catch my breath. It always surprises me that I can recite any of my studies from memory, but when it comes to exertion? I’m panting in minutes, and flushed and tired in under half an hour.

“Come here, sit down!” Mara calls, and I obediently sit in front of my vanity and watch her in the mirror. There's a lovely smile on her face as she starts to brush the grass and flower petals out of my hair. “I’ll never get enough of playing with hair,” she says wistfully.

“Because you were sick and lost yours?”

She nods. “Imagine me, loving to play with my hair, having it all fall out?”

“I can’t even imagine you bald!”

Mara’s hair is a pale blonde, perfectly straight and only as long as the tops of her shoulders. While mine is so brown it’s almost black, and full of waves and texture just like my Father’s.

“I wish I had your hair!” Mara sighs as she starts to twist my hair into a French braid.

“Your hair is blond like Mother’s, I wish I had yours!” I say, and we start giggling again.

“It’s about that time, girls…” a voice says from the door to my room.

I turn to look at June with a pout. “Can’t she stay the night? Just this once?” I beg.

“Sorry, hon. Her parents have rules. I have to abide by them.”

“Rules are meant to be broken…” Mara whispers in my ear, but even still, she ties my hair and walks toward June, her nanny. “I’ll see you in a few days, alright?”

I can only nod, fighting off the sadness I feel every time she leaves. When the door shuts I get dressed for bed in a white cotton nightgown and slip between the sheets of my four-poster bed. I sigh as my head sinks into the soft pillow. Today was a blur, but then again, my childhood passed in a blur. Mother says that’s how it should be.

Closing my eyes, I remember Mother swinging me in circles in the garden as a baby; the only light coming from the moon, the fireflies and her smile. Mother’s garden is full of flowers, herbs, and elegant trees. Lilting waterfalls add a magical tune to everything. Being in her garden is like being surrounded by fairies and every single one of them loved me. I enjoy them every day, with or without Mara.

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