Excerpt: Dreamers

Marianna’s breathing was slightly ragged as she pulled Melody into a tight hug, suddenly. She was warm and soft, protective, and Melody felt relaxed in them. “I’m so sorry Melody. All my life I’ve been told that mingrats are vile, dark creatures, blessed only by the Fairy of Darkness, Mingria. That they are ugly and evil, but you’re so beautiful. So kind. How could you possibly be a mingrat?”
“I don’t know.” Melody confessed. “I’ve been told the same thing; that mingrats are the incarnation of a person’s evil. That the ceres is pure good and the mingrat is pure evil. They have magic, supposedly, that takes life away and brings snow, darkness, and stillness to the land. But I can’t do that. I don’t have any magic at all. Naia was the only person among us who could do anything of that sort, and Kitiyika was just the opposite- she used magic that brought rain and made plants grow. She was a mingrat as well. I don’t know why that is.”
“Melody… It doesn’t matter who you are. You are you, and you are inherently a good person. I—I have to tell you why I was engaged to Aaron. Will you listen?” After she had listened to him, Melody didn’t see any reason not to return the favor. He nodded. “I was twelve when my mother gave birth. It was a set of twins, both boys. The older one was named Alexandrian, and the younger one was given no name at all, because he was a mingrat. I believed what my parents told me about mingrats, and I stayed away from the younger child, who was given to a servant to take care. I didn’t think about it. But one day, a year or so later, I overheard my parents talking. They didn’t want me to inherit the land, despite the fact that I was the eldest child. They wanted their ceres son to have it, because he was blessed. They were discussing a letter they’d received from Aaron’s mother, which had been a friendly one but had mentioned her concern that her son had ‘taken up with the farm hands’ and would refuse her a grandchild. My parents wanted to offer an arranged marriage. It would place me out of the line of succession.
“I was angry. I had worked hard to please my parents and be a good lady of the land. I was an excellent archer, and a fair hand with a light sword. I had a quick mind and a clever hand. Everyone, from the farmers to the manor servants, told me I would be a beautiful and gracious lady one day. I wanted to be one, for their sake. But my parents were tossing me aside, just like they’d tossed their youngest child aside simply because he was born second. That day, I sought out the servant who was raising my brother, and I named him. The servant, while kind to him, had treated him with the same fear everyone had regarding mingrats. She had not given him a name of his own. So, I took the child from her and named him Tristan, after the Fairy of Hope. I took my horse and Tristan, and rode up into the mountains. I begged the fairy Tristan to help me, and watch over my brother and I. I begged the Fairy Queen to change the Book, even though I knew she couldn’t. I begged and prayed and no one answered. In the stories, we’re told that if we are in need, we can call upon the Fairies and they will appear to guide us, but no one came.
“That night, the snow began to fall, and I knew I couldn’t stay outside, but neither could I take Tristan back to the town. He was better off dying than growing up unloved and unwanted, treated with fear and hatred. So I left him in the snow, and prayed one last time for a fairy to save him.”
Marianna pulled back, searching Melody’s face as she asked, “I must know—did your family ever find a baby in the snow? Did you rescue him?”
Melody was speechless by her story, his heart aching at the words she spoke. He was forced to shake his head no. “We found children, sometimes, half dead from starvation and exposure, but never a baby left in the snow. I’m sorry, Marianna.”
Marianna hugged him tight again, whispering into his hair. “It’s all right, Melody. This time, I’ll protect the ones I love. I’ll protect you and Aaron both. I promise.”
It echoed a similar promise, made to him by Aaron on the night he’d been rescued. So with it, Melody swore his own private vow. To serve and assist the Delmicias as best he could, no matter what.

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