2

Unable to stall, Eden crept past her father who stood in her doorway with the muscle in his jaw pulsing. Her nerves twisting her stomach. Why was he still standing there? Had he seen the book? What if he took it and burned it? Acid rose into the back of her mouth.

“Really, Eden,” her mother said from the table. “What were you so busy doing that you didn’t come when we called you to dinner?”

Eden clenched her hands on her blue skirts. Another council rule, the Damned were only allowed to wear clothes dyed from woad, a bluish tint. How she longed to have other colors like everyone else. Black or yellow or even green or red. Oh, she’d love to have a black cloak with a crimson lining.

“I-sorry, I was daydreaming about…horseback riding.” She scrambled for something to say. “Father promised me a mare.”

“That was when you were nine and we gave you one.” Her mother shook her head, causing her blond hair to brush across her shoulders.

Eden wished her hair was the same color instead of the dark auburn that drew attention to her even before anyone noticed her violet eyes. She stole a glance at her father who stayed in the hallway outside her room.

“You had many fine years with Yolna until she had that heart failure a few months ago.” She gave Eden a soft smile. “But we wanted to wait until you were ready to get you another horse. Sounds like you are?”

“Um…yeah.” She glanced over to her father who stood, staring into her room.

“Dad?” Guilt squeezed her middle when he didn’t respond.

“Well, please help me set the table, the food grows cold.” Her mom turned away and Eden placed the wooden plates and cups on the table with shaking hands. Her chest ached. What was he doing standing there like that?

Finally, her father joined them and Eden tried to read his mood. Was he waiting for her to confess?

He tucked his beard into his shirt, then cut the cooked duck. “Tomorrow’s a big day for you,” he said adding a chunk of the meat to her plate.

“Oh?” What was tomorrow? Her stomach cramped as if she’d eaten rocks that scraped her insides. She racked her mind but couldn’t remember. Or was he fishing for information on the book that she was certain he’d seen. Her knees shook so badly she pressed her hands to her thighs.

“You’ll be eighteen,” her father continued. He placed more duck on his and her mother’s metal plates. “The way to adult from the council awaits you in the morning. Aren’t you excited?”

The passage rites. Rumors said the rites bound the Damned to the council for the rest of their lives. Even if one had an evil thought, the council would discern the intention. Going forward, she’d have to request permission from the council to do anything outside of the law or even a gray area like swimming without a chaperone would have to be pre-approved by the elders and no longer just her parents.

And she’d forgotten. Easily done since the Damned weren’t allowed to celebrate their birthday in any way…except on their eighteenth…at the passage rites into adulthood.

“Eat.” Her mother dabbed a piece of bread along her plate to soak up the duck juice. “Your food grows cold.”

She no longer felt hungry. But she tore off a piece of bread and forced the food down anyway. After she finished her chores, which dragged on, she slipped up to her room.

Grabbing her feather pillow, she eased onto the floor with her book. She opened it to the first page and a musty smell wafted from the pages. Her fingers brushed over the handwritten words. Spirals, symbols, and letters she didn’t recognize brimmed along the margins and tucked inside the folds. A passage on the left side of the inside cover drew her attention.

Foundation of the Universe

The goddess created and hung the sun as a gift to the god to show the world a glimmer of his splendor.

The god created and hung the moon as a symbol of the goddess’ mystery and wisdom as a gift to her.

When the goddess saw her gift she laughed with joy and clapped. Her hands broke up her laughter creating the stars. In celebration, together the god and goddess created the Damned, then plants and animals.

Eden’s lips trembled. All were taught that Havej created everything from defeating the demon, Chaos. Yet the monster’s blood splattered off her ruptured scales created the Damned.

But in his mercy, Havej listened to the council of elders and spared the Damned. All were created in Havej’s image except the Damned whose true paternity shone in their violet eyes.

The Damned were the first children of the god and goddess? She’d never heard of such a thing. But what if it were true? Was this book even real? Her insides quivered. What if it was and she’d been fed lies her entire life? Only what the council wanted her to believe. Was this another side to the story that had been warped by men wanting to control people? And if so, this might unlock knowledge that she could share with other Damned not yet bounded to the council. Shock and excitement rolled through her as she continued. She’d have to keep this secret…if any bound Damned or anyone not trustworthy discovered what she had…it might be her death.

Still, she couldn’t stop reading how a jealous demi-god was left in charge of the people while the god and goddess created other worlds. He broke the magic and created his own race of a few scattered followers and placed them at war with the Damned. That he wove spells of disease of the body inflicting as many of the god and goddess’ children as he could.

A peaceful people, the Damned did not fight back.

When the god and goddess returned, Havej demanded his sovereignty because there were fewer than one hundred of the Damned still alive.

Reluctantly, the god and goddess agreed. For each planet must have two thousand followers to claim ownership. The only rule they gave Havej was that he could no longer kill any more of the Damned unless they broke his laws.

She knew those laws. They made it nearly impossible to live if one was Damned.

The goddess wept as she and her husband left their beloved planet behind. But her husband promised that one day they would reclaim what was rightfully theirs.

Eden skimmed through the writing, her heart jumping at each creak and groan the house made.

Reading the passages as if the words nourished her spirit. She debated showing the book to Mira or Ruth, but they’d both had their ceremonies and some of the laughter and light that had been in their eyes before had faded. Now, they only did chores and spoke of how they could honor and serve the council.

No. If she hinted at what she had to them, they’d turn her in. She was sure of it. A sense of depression filled her like her heart was crushed under a stone mill as she thought of her meeting with the council tomorrow.

She moved to toss the book away when the pages opened from her loose grasp. A quick glance at her bedroom door, showed her father wasn’t watching. She took a shaky breath to still her rapid heartbeat. One more minute, then she would go to sleep.

But for hours she scanned the chapters over and over again. Instead of tiredness, an energy swelled up in her as the sun rose like a bud of hope opening with the day.

* * *

Outside, she drew up water from the river and then marched back to the cottage.

Warming the water over the hearth’s flame, she took steady breaths to calm her nerves as she combed the tangles from her hair. She longed to look through the pages again, but she was running out of time before her meeting with the council. If she was late, she dreaded what the punishment would be. Over the years, two Damned—two of her friends’ feet were whipped so badly they couldn’t walk. Marianne had her tongue cut out for arguing. And they hacked off Sam’s hand for stealing, then later had his eye gouged out for looking at a pretty girl too long. Last year, two others vanished and Eden feared what had happened to them.

Now she stood outside the dark, gloomy castle-like building dressed in her baptism gown. The crimson material swished as she walked—the only time in her life she’d be able to wear any other color besides gray or blue—all Damned wore red on their birthday and when they came here to pledge their allegiance forever to the elders.

Walking through the village, Eden held her head high. Some people gawked at her. Others crossed themselves. It was believed a Damned was a wild savage that could only be brought to heel on their eighteenth birthday by pledging to the council. After that, they were considered one level above evil.

“Don’t think you dressing in my father’s red gowns make you any more like us,” Catherine called out. “A pig is still swine no matter what it has on the outside.”

Keeping her arms locked at her sides, Eden marched ahead. She wouldn’t give in to her urge to punch Catherine in her dainty little nose. One day, she’d love to see the bully put in her place.

Inside the council’s chambers, Eden’s new gown wrinkled from her nervous palms pressing against the material. Though her skirt fit her, she was so used to wearing a belt and drab-looking clothes that she felt exposed now. She pressed her palms to her stomach and wished she felt the comfort of the weight of the book there. But that was too dangerous. If the council suspected at all, she would be killed.

Inside the council’s chambers, an elderly man sat behind a desk. Eden waited for him to acknowledge her as no Damned was allowed to speak unless spoken to first. But the man seemed content on examining the papers littered across his desk. She’d never been here before. It looked grand compared with her log cabin home. The floors were shiny white like a smooth rock. Underneath her slippers was a rug so thick that her toes itched to dig into the fiber, which must be softer than a kitten.

The walls were panels of wood painted a deep burgundy color. Thousands of candles flickered in a dozen chandeliers that stabbed toward the vaulted ceiling. How did one reach that high to blow out the candles?

“State your business,” the elderly man snapped. His jowls hung down onto his tunic collar through his scraggly beard.

“Eden Thordbarren.”

He glowered at her.

“Here for my birth—.” She swallowed. Actually, her family told her birthday was the day her mother found her, but the actual date could be days or even weeks earlier. “My coming of age ceremony.”

“Down the hall and last door on the right.”

Instead of waiting for him to reply to her thank you, she whipped down the corridor.

When she reached the door, her hands shook.

What was the matter with her? Hundreds of Damned committed to the council annually. Some came all the way from the coast or mountain ranges despite the journey taking weeks from that location. Her luck was the council’s chambers were within her city.

Her father often told her about their stories. Even though he thought of them like all the other Damned, he always treated her as if she really was his daughter. But if she stared at him too long as he spoke, he squirmed in his chair or abruptly left the room.

It wasn’t long before she realized he sometimes forgot she was one of the Damned until her violet eyes betrayed her. So, she learned to look down whenever he spoke to her.

She pushed open the door. Before she scanned the chambers, two guards snatched her arms and dragged her forward.

“Wha—” Had they found out about the book? Her body shook and she wrapped her arms around herself.

“Quiet!” A man with a graying beard sat on a throne. At his feet, a boy and two girls bowed.

“Show the Head Council respect,” the guard on her left spat. He clamped harder onto her arm and she bit back a cry as pain shot through her.

She kneeled, and her head bowed like the others. Her body trembled in terror. She shouldn’t have come here. Should’ve run away…not that there were any safe places for the Damned that she knew of. Was the Isle of Shadow mentioned in the book even real? The guards dropped her arms and then marched back to the door.

“Is this all of them?” the elder asked.

A man to his right, wearing brown leather boots and black pants, stepped forward.

“Aye, my lord. I have their names here on our list.” He thumbed through the parchment paper. “This is Raissa Merk, Eleta Garison, Javan Suleman, and the girl who arrived late is Eden Thordbarren.” She felt her ears heat. “These have reached the age of accountability. And are ready as the Damned to pledge their fidelity, lives, and magic to the council.”

Eden stiffened at his words. Magic? She didn’t have any abilities. Supernatural fantasy…wasn’t it? Her thoughts shifted to the book. There was a spell of protection. What were the words again?

“You dare use your enchantments in my presence?” the elder’s voice boomed.

At his words, Eden’s shaking resumed threefold. She thought her bones would snap.

Instead of her, one of the guards grasped a girl in front of her by the throat, lifting her off her feet. The girl grunted and kicked. At a sideways glance, Eden noticed the girl had a dagger tight in her fist.

“Damned magic is like a stink that taints every cell of your being. Repulsive.” He waved. “You know the penalty for using magic. Show the others what we do to traitors.”

The guard shook the girl until her knife clattered to the floor. Eden cringed as the girl struggled for breath.

“Stop!” Pulsing lights flashed from within her outward. Eden gasped. Everyone in the chamber, Damned and guards and council members gawked at her.

Do they not see that the magic was coming from within me?

Bright blue and purple waves pulsated from her to over the girl.

Where was it coming from? Eden lowered her eyes to find the source of the light and to draw attention away from her outburst.

But the colors disappeared in front of Eden.

The guard squeezed harder. His knuckles whitened until the veins in his neck popped. Then he fell down.

Shouts rang in Eden’s ears as the girl crumbled to the floor gasping for breath.

“Kill her!” the elder shouted pointing a finger straight at Eden.