Celesta

Celesta twirled and twirled on a hillside full of flowers. Her long brown braids whirled straight out. Her bare feet crushed the blossoms as she went, trying to go faster. Her arms were outstretched, but she clasped her hands together and pulled them towards her body. Then she did go faster, briefly, but she fell, shrieking with breathless laughter as she rolled to a stop at the foot of the hill.

The bright spring day continued to spin around her as her older sister, Kendra collapsed beside her, laughing. The girls clasped hands as they waited for the world to settle around them.

“We should-” Kendra began.

Their mother’s voice rang out across the valley, calling their names. “Kendra. Hans. Celesta.”

The girls jumped to their feet.

“Coming.” Kendra yelled.

They ran full tilt towards their cottage. Their brother ran up from the depths of the forest that crept right up to their whitewashed fence. His muddy shirt was torn again.

Their mother was standing at the garden gate, waiting for them. “Oh Hans, just one day without ruined clothes, can a mother’s prayers never give her one such day? Dip out some water and clean yourself up, then come inside. We have a visitor.”

Celesta and Kendra followed their mother into the cottage. When their eyes adjusted to the dim interior Celesta gasped. Their visitor was a witch.

A priestess and a witch.

Not the bad sort of witch like a sorceress. Based on her clothing and her green diadem she was clearly a healing woman devoted to Hesla. Celesta bobbed a clumsy curtsy a moment before her sister deciphered that their guest was due reverence.

“My lady.” Celesta gasped.

“My lady.” Kendra repeated, giving her younger sister an annoyed look. As the oldest she had precedence and the right to speak first. Celesta would pay for that little slip for days. Kendra might even refuse to let her play with the older girls.

“Lovely girls.” The priestess said. “The younger is almost too young, but I will test them both.There is no telling when another will be passing this way and it will save you a trip to the Capitol.”

Hans entered then, still muddy but now thoroughly dampened as well. He bowed. “My lady.” He tried to flatten his hair with a wet hand.

The priestess peered at him. “The heir to his father’s profession?”

“Yes, my lady.” Mother said. “But too young to fully apprentice. We let him run wild as a child during the morning hours.”

“Prudent. He looks like it does him good.” The Witch nodded. “Him first, then. Come here, boy.”

Mother moved to stand with a hand on each of her daughters. “Girls, come sit with me.”

Feeling frightened and subdued, Celesta sat with her mother on the long bench beside the empty hearth.

Hans stood before the witch. All of the children knew what she was going to do, although not why she had chosen to test them in their own home. Most families traveled half a day to have their children tested for magic in one of the temples in the Capitol.

The witch opened a cloth on the family table. She was quiet a moment while Hans looked at whatever was contained within. “Touch one.” She said finally. Hans reached out his hand.

The witch grunted and closed the cloth. She handed Hans a metal circle. She waited a moment then took it back again.

She shook her head. “Have your local priest try to teach him fire. He has a potential, but nothing special. If he can do fire he can learn to place small charms on his work.”

Hans grinned. It was about the best news a boy in his position could hear. He would learn carpentry from his father and possibly even make extra money integrating magic into his products.

“The older girl.” The witch ordered.

“Hans, go to your father.” Mother ordered as she pushed Kendra forward. “Tell him your news.”

The witch repeated the motions, ordering Kendra to choose an object from her cloth bundle then handing her a metal chit, this one was shaped like a triangle. Kendra took it and frowned at it.

The witch frowned back. “No. Come here, girl.”

Kendra rounded the table. The woman placed her hand on Kendra’s head and belly. Celesta watched, mesmerized as the woman’s hands began to glow.

After a moment the woman said. “Go outside and play, child.” When Kendra was gone she turned to their mother. “She has no ability, but she is healthy and will only become more beautiful as she ages. Shelter her from harm, she will bear many children if she marries well. Now the little one. Come here, child.”

Celesta walked forward reluctantly. It would be a disaster if she could call the fire but Kendra could not. Even worse if she had real potential.

“Sit.” The witch reached for the bundle again. “Touch one.”

Celesta could see now that the bundle contained eight stones, all different colors. They were glowing. They were all glowing.

“Which one?” She asked, knowing when she did it was the wrong thing to say. “They are glowing.” She added, hoping it would be alright.

The witch glanced over Celesta’s head. She knew her mother was standing there sharing a significant look with the other woman.

“Which one is brightest?” The priestess asked.

Celesta paused, then went for it. “There are three.” She pointed to the green then the purple. She paused, then she touched the red, the chaos color, the one that was really brightest.

“Ah.” The woman looked pleased. “Hold this.” She handed Celesta a metal star.

Celesta looked at it. She turned it over, staring in wonderment at the range of colors playing across the shining surface.

The woman took the star from her and thrust a glass marble into her fingers. Celesta almost dropped it. The tiny ball instantly began glowing even more than the stones had and became steadily warmer to the touch.

“Give it back.” The woman said.

Celesta held it out. The witch gasped when it fell into her hand and gave Celesta a sharp look.

“Hold the other end of this.” She held up a small stick.

Celesta grasped the other end. She didn’t see anything happen, but the witch looked pleased.

“How old are you, child?”

“Six summers.” Celesta glanced at her mother as if she might get such a basic question wrong. Her mother nodded.

“She is too young, but your healer was right, she needs to be taught.” The woman bundled her things back into the travel pack on the table. “With your permission I will escort her to the Temple of Helsa in the Capitol. Whatever her destiny, the sisters there will train her well. By the time she is Called she will have the skill and control of a proper witch.”

Celesta turned to her mother again. She was nodding. “I will help her pack.”

The only thing Celesta knew for sure was that her life would never be the same again.