"Isn't she beautiful, my love?"
"Aye that she is, my wife. As beautiful as you." Ragar beamed down at
his lovely wife and newborn daughter. "What shall we name her? She must be
named just right."
"Let's wait a little and see if she names herself, love." Beryn
suggested.
So began the life of a raven haired, crystal eyed lass. Folks who met the girl
said there was something wild and untamed about her. They said her eyes seemed
to see into your very soul. And in truth she was rather wild. Growing up the
only girl child in a gypsy family doesn't exactly make for a constrained
childhood but something about the girl was unfettered even compared to the
footloose ways of the gypsy caravaners.
One day, at the age of two, her mother came out of the family wagon and found
her child sitting with a huge eagle watching over her. With a small gasp, her
mother breathed out what would become the child's name...Arabelle, Beautiful
Eagle.
As Belle grew, she took to roaming further and further afield. She loved to meet
other people and sit and talk for hours listening to the stories they told their
children and to the elders as they taught the youngers of the villages. She
seemed to have a special way with the animals of the forests but none so much as
the eagles and the wolves. Ever one or the other lurked near where she was
as if in protection. Her mother had long since become accustomed to the stranger
visitors and, in fact, regarded them as a help in keeping an eye on her restless
daughter.
It was while they were in a town called Stormport that Arabelle's life changed
forever. While sitting in the town and regaling a small group of children
with one of the many tales she had gathered from her wanderings, a robed man
stood and watched her. She couldn't help but notice his piercing eyes, so alert
and keen. She never missed a beat in her storytelling and when she looked up
again, he was gone. Later that evening while she helped with the preparation for
dinner, a tall elegant woman entered their encampment. The wolves who were
generally present made no sound and even nosed at her hands...a thing that never
happened.
The woman came up to Belle and tilted her head with long, slender fingers and
gazed long and deeply into her eyes. Belle had the feeling she was being weighed
and measured, but did not avert her eyes. The woman smiles brightly and asked to
speak to Belle's mother. She winked and a glint of mischief sparkled in her
eyes, earning a beaming smile from Belle in return. Taking her to her family's
wagon, she sat and listened as the woman addressed her mother and father.
"My name is Andaria." the woman began. "I have come because my
Herald tells me there is a most extraordinary child here. As always, he was
correct. I come about your daughter Arabelle." She paused for a few moments
before continuing. "Every so often...very rarely...one comes along who is
touched by the Gods in some way. Usually they have a particular gifting that
sets them apart from others. My Herald has heard your daughter teaching and
telling stories in the village square and recognized her for one such person. I
wish to take her in and train her. She will grow increasingly restless and her
gifts will only strengthen. She is a rare and precious gift and I would make her
my apprentice with your permission." She stopped talking and waited for all
this to register with Belle's parents.
Belle's father, moved over to stand with his arm protectively around his
daughter and spoke in a steady voice. "Mi'Lady, I pray you will
forgive me but...we don't know you at all. You have come to our encampment, to
our home, and tell us you wish to take our daughter from us for some sort of
training. We love Belle with all our hearts and she is a precious gift to us as
well as to all of our clan. She does have some strange ways we do not
understand, and it is true that there is a wildness in her we cannot fathom, but
she is our daughter and she has been raised in love and safety. Yet now you wish
us to hand her over to you...a stranger?
I am sorry you have come here for nothing, but I will not hand over my child to
you."
The woman smiled gently. "I am pleased by your words Ragar. I would have
been very upset to have found that this child had been in any way mistreated for
her... "oddness."
"How did you know my name, Mi'Lady? I have nay spoken it to you...who are
you?" her father asked warily. Smiling, the woman waved her hand and
like a veil lifting, revealed herself in her full glory. Shining with warm,
golden light which sparkled like gold dust, she stood before Belle and her
stunned parents. "I am Andaria. I am the Goddess of Lore and Knowledge and
I come because your daughter Arabelle has a destiny to meet, Ragar. She is one
of the chosen. I come because I wish to make her my apprentice....and in
time...my Heroine. She will be well cared for and loved, dear Ragar. She will
always be able to visit you and you her. I would never deprive her of her loving
parents, or you your daughter, but she needs to be trained and taught the things
that only I can teach her." She turned to Belle and met her gaze steadily.
Arabelle, drawn to the Goddess' gaze, gasped softly as she "saw"
wondrous cities with soaring spires of white, towers dark and forbidding, beasts
of crimson with enormous wings, and a city built in the tops of trees with air
that rang with tinkling
music. Unbeknownst to her, tears began to fall down her face...tears of longing
to see these marvels and talk to the people who lived, loved and raised their
children there. She broke the Lady's gaze and turned to her father and mother.
"Papa! You should have seen....such beautiful places! I want to go there
Papa. Mama, you should have seen the bright clothes and the music the people
played." She looked at them both and quietly said, "I have to go. I
don't know why but...I need to go."
Her Mama cried gentle tears but smiled and laid her hand on her husband's arm.
"We have always known there was something about her that was different,
Ragar. I think we both know this is the right thing to do for her." Ragar
nodded slowly but looked firmly at the shining Goddess.
"I want your word, Goddess Andaria, that my daughter will be able to visit
us whenever she wants, and us her. And that she will be well cared for and
treated with love. And that if she ever decides she wants no part of the destiny
you say is hers, that she will be allowed to return home to us unharmed and
unhindered. I am a mortal, but I will not give her my blessing or permission
without your promise of these things." He bravely met Andaria's gaze and
held his ground.
"I swear to you Ragar, and to you Beryn, all these things. On my honor as
one of the firstborn of Kali that I will do all that you have asked." She
turned and as she did so a robed man walked from the shadows and smiled gently
at Belle. "This is my beloved Herald, Hirobi. He will be teaching young
Belle and will be her Mentor as she learns. He is a kind and gentle man and she
could be in no better hands." Andaria turned to Belle and gave her a
brilliant smile. "Are you ready, little one? Are you ready to begin your
greatest adventure?"
Arabelle, though with tears in her eyes, felt a pulling in her heart to go.
"I'm ready Mi'Lady," she beamed. Kissing her Mama and Papa, she
promised to come back soon and tell them all about what she was doing and told
them she loved them very much. She placed her hand in Andaria's and with a flash
and a tinkle of chimes...they were gone. Years went by and Belle grew into
a lithe, graceful woman. Although she tried her best to be a good student for
Hirobi, who she came to love like a brother, she more and more often yearned to
be out wandering among the people in all the places she could now travel to.
Andaria, understanding her young protege's inner longings all too well, for she
herself was much the same, gave her all the freedom for which her wanderlust
heart yearned.
So it was that Arabelle became Andaria's Emissary and Mistress of Lore, taking
the tales and histories so lovingly gathered, to the people of Cosrin. She can
often be found sitting and telling stories to any who wish to hear them, or
sitting and listening to new stories told by any willing to tell them.
In the fullness of time she heard rumors of a great Prophet
and Master of Lore who had been teaching all who would listen in a far off land.
She fought the urge to leave the lands and go to study with him for many years,
knowing she was needed here. But a great darkness began to cover the lands and
it reeked of chaos, treachery and apathy. Knowing her teachings were not enough
to combat this darkness that was affecting so many, she left to see the wisdom
of the Prophet. She packed her belongings and with hating farewells, she left on
the long journey. When she arrived, the Prophet told her that she was needed to
teach and spread the tales she knew far beyond the small borders of her
homeland. Knowing this to be true Arabelle sent the quickest pigeon she could to
Andaria and promised she would return from time to time to visit, but that her
feet needed to travel new and broader paths for a time.
It is whispered that Arabelle still walks the lands, keeping an eye on her
former home and what transpires there. As always, her step is light, her smile
bright, and her sense of mischief boundless...but more than anything her
knowledge has reached new heights.