“Momma, why do we have to leave? I’m happy here. I don’t wanna go somewhere new,” the young girl said. She was maybe eight, and she and her mother both had long black shimmering onyx hair and equally amazing gem eyes. The mother sighed, not impatient but pained, “I know. I know darling. I’m so sorry. We stand out. We’re too powerful for the… oh, sweetheart. Look. There are some really big issues this nation has right now. Some stuff has happened and the people that were in charge aren’t gonna be in charge anymore. Keep packing. Quicker!”

“Julieta Ov’Nevre!” a voice screamed out from the echoing halls of the castle, and the mother visibly flinched, “Prostrate yourself before the new King and you may be given a chance. Don’t make this worse than it needs to be.”

“Shit,” she whispered, “Wisteria! Come on. Just grab what you can. The window. Toss it out the window and hold on to me. We have to jump.”

“B-but… momma we’re on the third floor…”

“I know it’s scary. Trust me,” the mother Julieta held her, scooped her up in one arm, and tossed a bag out the thin stone window with another. She held her young child a little tighter and took a step out of the window as the door slammed open behind her. The air was knocked from her lungs by the landing as Wisteria began to cry. Julieta hit her back on the stones of the garden, taking the fall onto her ankle before she collapsed backward.

From above, a man looked out the window with a grimace down towards the two, “High Priestess Julieta! You cannot just abandon your post like this! You will be found. You will be forced back here one way or another!”

“Momma! Momma are you okay? Mom-“

“Shh… Shh. I’m fine. Grab the bags. We have to keep going. We can’t stop… ah! My foot,” she winced and forced herself to her feet, the right already swelling. She couldn’t stop. She couldn’t imagine what they’d do to her daughter if they caught them. They’d make sure she never had a chance to choose anything in her life.

Julieta limped, pushing her daughter forward into the forest, “Wisteria. Pray for a blessing from Goddess Vera. I will too. We need all the help we can get.”

“Y-yes momma…,” Wisteria whimpered, carrying the bags and struggling to keep up even with the limp her mother now had. She was crying, but her mother kept reminding her she needed to be quiet or they’d be found sooner.

They’d head for the border as soon as possible. It’d be harder to drag them back once they were far enough.

The goddess heard their prayers and granted them silent passage through the forest, not a monster in sight, but behind them, the howling of dogs and screams of men told her those chasing them had not been as lucky.

Later, cold, in the deep recesses of the forest, Julieta held Wisteria in her lap and sang to her softly.

Sleep well little sweet

Lovely and in love

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With you

Hearts thrumming to the beat

The heavens are alive

For you

I pray to the sky

To the sun and the stars

To the mountains

To the seas

To between

That you

Lovely little you

Stay in love with me

As I’m in love with you

With your tiny hands

Vera bless you

Bless our lives

Our hearts and souls

Our misdeeds

Our good days

Our beginnings

And our ends

Something within you

Something that can change

The world

Oh, Vera bless you.

I love you.

Goddess Vera, keep us safe

In your arms, under your wings

We wait and offer our lives

For your luck.

She kept humming as Wisteria nodded off, silently crying to herself. How could things have been allowed to go so wrong?

The king and queen were dead. Murdered in a bloody coup. The only reason she was able to escape with her daughter was because of a vision from the gods that told her it would happen and she needed to run.

Julieta was friends with the king. No king is without enemies, and he could stand to be kinder, but… to deserve this…

The new king? A general of the old. One who won the military. Without a military backing him, a king is little more than a civilian with a lot of words to say. She shut her eyes tight with a quiet sigh. How many people died tonight? She wouldn’t know until the news got out. Would any of the royal family survive? She hugged Wisteria tighter and pulled the jacket she was using as a blanket around her.

She wouldn’t let them have her. Either of them. She’d rather bite her own tongue than let General Kavan have his way… hah. She supposed it was King Kavan now. How brutish. He got to be King, and now she went from High Priestess to a woman on the run. A single mother with a child and nowhere to live. No job. She managed to grab her savings but it wasn’t much. She never wanted to be paid much. Now she was regretting her frugality.

The massacre that happened… she didn’t see much of it first hand - most of what she did see was through her vision - but the trail of blood… Gods save them. All of them. The poor souls. The servants. The civilians that were now under the new rule. She wanted to help everyone but was just as powerless as them all. There wasn’t even enough time to warn the king of the coup.

Vera, take pity on them, give them luck in their next lives. Yolen, give their loved ones strength. Tessen, hold their souls close. Iker, give them power in their next lives. Olix, let their bodies return life to the dirt. Gods and goddesses, please keep my daughter and me safe. I have given my life to you. My class is yours. My body is a vessel for your will. Just please keep her safe. If nothing else, she deserves to live.

Julieta reached around Wisteria and pulled off her boot with a quiet groan and a grimace. The ankle was warm, reddened, and very swollen. She hovered her hand a few inches from the surface of her skin, “Heal.” Her voice was barely a whisper, casting a spell as silently as she could manage, the circle of golden light slowly drawing itself onto her foot. It wasn’t the best spell she could use, but she didn’t want to wake Wisteria after she had finally gotten to sleep. The poor girl had done nothing but weep until she had no more energy left.

The plan was to head north. Catch a ferry across the Hourglass Sea. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any skirmishes, and they could get to the Northern Territory. From there it would just be a little more and they’d be in another nation. Would it be safe to stop there? Or would it be better to go at least one nation further…? Kavan had at least some friends to the north, but it wasn’t like she could go south safely.

Julieta let go of a long sigh and rested her head back against the tree. She could worry about this when the sun came up. For now, she needed sleep. She wasn’t sure she’d manage to sleep at all, but she had to try. They both needed their strength.