Excerpt: Ever

The stars lay across the sky, little flecks of light on an endless ocean of black. "I don't want to go against my mother, Wilhelm." Ever held her precious flat bottle on her small flat chest, unable to wonder at the majesty of all the universe while her mind spun at the indecision of what she knew she had to face.
The groundskeeper gazed at the small girl, thinking she looked more 10 than 14, though the slight roundness of her small breasts were hinting at some degree of maturity. How she'd grown after all these years, he thought to himself. In his German accented French, he said, "Your will is your will, and your mother's is your mother's. You do what you must and she does what she must... You simply need to choose whether those are one in the same."
The Noblegirl sighed at her Common-blooded mentor. "Is that simply all I must do? You speak of this as if you knew what it was to have to choose to do..." The girl paused and glanced over to the man. His beard, once black and proud, now was grey and dignified. His face, covered by all that hair, once showed youth and perhaps would show age, but he was as she always remembered him. "I guess you do, don't you? Your will is as my will is..."
"No," replied Wilhelm, shaking his head and surprising the girl into a start. Before she could say anything, he cut her off to say, "My will is your father's will. I loved my Master before you, and though I love you my young Master, it won't be until you're an adult that I pledge myself to you."
"I'm an adult," she replied, sitting up and visibly annoyed. It passed quickly, a little pinch of pain in her abdomen reminded her it was time to take a sip. "Sorry, that was stupid... " She sighed and uncorked the bottle, "How do you know what the will of my Father would be?"
Wilhelm quirked his lips to the side and stood, obviously pondering his reply. He paced several paces, glancing down along the rolling hill. The pathway that led back to the mansion was dark, but the lantern gave them more than enough light nearby. But it was covered to give them a pure view of the stars. It was here he often came with Ever's father, when the man was but a boy, and he taught the boy the art of War, the art of Thought, of Philosophy, and of women. It was here they came to sit under the stars and speak Voltaire, or Kant, or Hobbes after Roland would return from one of his many campaigns for the King. It was here that they found peace. It was here that he found a son.
Ever, confused by her mentor's silence, took a sip of her elixir as she sat up further. She tugged the shirt she wore a bit tighter against her body, and adjuted the baggy pants. Her hair was bound up in a bun and protected underneath a common man's cap. Though she wasn't mannish, her slim body and flat chest atleast let her look boyish. She pursed her pale lips into a pout to ask, "What aren't you telling me, Wil?"
The man tilted his head to the side and let out a little sigh as he paced around a bit more. "I hear your father," he finally confessed.
"Hear him, hear him how?" She tilted her head to the side, pout fading away into sudden and enrapt interest.
"He speaks to me," said Wilhelm as he shifted his shirt a bit. His hands were still dirty from today's work, the soil turning his nails black. It was a marked difference from the perfectly pristine nails of his young student. "Normally, when I'm here, but often when I'm tending the fields. He watches over us, especially you, young Ever."
Stunned by this admission, the girl hissed, "If a priest heard you, you'd be burned for heresy!"
Snorting a laugh, the German said, "And what of you my little Sparrow? After all I've taught you, would you say the same?" Perhaps, he thought, he'd been wrong.
Shaking her head at once, though, the girl dismissed that concern. She lifted herself to her feet and said, "In my dreams, I see my father as a golden light. He speaks to me, Wilhelm. He tells me he loves me, and I tell him of my life. I don't know if it's real, but I believe that you hear him Wil."
The aged, wise mentor gave a smile and then a shrug, "Then I was a fool to keep this from you, I see. I have a great worry, because I haven't heard from him in a long time... But I fear it's my own fault." His arms crossed and he looked up at the slender sliver of a cresent moon.
Concerned, Ever appoached the man and rest her hand on his forearm. "What do you mean? How could you have stopped him?"
Smiling slightly, Wilhelm said, "Because I refused his will."
Confused, she simply gripped his arm and moved even closer. So close that their bodies almost touched, which gave her a strange tingle she couldn't quite understand, but felt so good as she felt the gentle lift of the clouds of elixir rise up. "Why did you refuse his will.. What, what could he have asked of you?"
With a slow sigh, Wilhelm still gazed up at the moon for a time before he could bring himself to look down at the girl. "Your father was a great soldier, and a great student of war... You know this?" When Ever gave a slight nod, he continued, "Your father and I both see that talent in you, and it's why I've taught you what I have. Why I've taught you the works of the great generals, and why I've taught you to hold a weapon, or survive without one..." His lip quirked to the side, "Despite your frailties, there's a fervor in you, a talent that I saw only in him... And so..." He paused, but couldn't continue.
Ever's eyes narrowed even as a faint blush rose to her pale cheeks from the flattery, though it was hidden with the darkness of the night. "And then.. What does that.. I mean.. What does that mean? Why are you telling me this?"
The man finally looked down at Ever and said, "Your father wants me to give you his weapons," he said, "Because it's time for you to go to War. And I don't want to see another of my children die... Die in war!"
That made the girl frown and she took a step back, clutching her bottle to her chest. "I'm just a woman, Wil."
"You're more than that," said the mentor as he gazed down at the girl. "And I wish that's all you were." He turned away and she just gazed at his back, not understanding anything he was saying.
Her curiosity started to tug at her mind, until she couldn't help herself and the words spilled out, "Well then where are they?"
Wil's head lifted and he not-quite-glanced back before he let release a short sigh. "I'll bring them to you," the mentor said, "I'll need to go to retrieve them, as they're hidden and safe." There he paused, and after a moment he asked, "Do you fear the Pagan, child? Does Christ guide your heart?"
This time, she hesitated, as blasphemous thoughts tickled her brain. What was the only answer she was *allowed* to give, but, "Of course, Wil... I.... The Christ is my Heart," she said without passion.
That made a little smile twitch at the corner of Wilhelm's lips, "Good, my child..." He started to lead down the path back to the manor, "Let's take you home.. and I'll return when the moon's half full."
Ever gazed at her mentor as he walked away, no words coming to her. What did this mean, and why hadn't Wilhelm told her any of this before? Her eyes lowered back to the path, and then she heard him clear his throat quite aways away. She took off after him, stumbling a bit in the darkness.