Eight White Priestesses: Violet (Ender Lilies Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

"No, you – you're up here so you can live a normal life. Grow up, make friends... not have to take on this burden." She whispers the next part. "It's my responsibility."

Violet shakes her head. "I heard that you told the king I'm up here to grow up taking on the blight so that you don't have to! That all my sisters do too! Right?" She's starting to get worried. Was the guard wrong? Did he mishear, or not remember correctly?

Mother frowns and brushes her daughter's hair back down, hiding the blighted growth again. "Who told you that?"

"A guard did."

Mother shakes her head and sighs. "Of course you'd hear about it one way or another." She places her hands on Violet's shoulders and looks her in the eye. "I said that so that the king would let you come up here. I didn't have any other choice. And you weren't – there was no expectation of you starting with that until you've grown up, either." She stares sadly at the ruined parts of Violet's hair. "Please, don't purify anyone anymore."

Violet's eyes widen. Stop purifying those in need? She couldn't. That's why she's here. That's what she lives for. How is she supposed to just let others suffer when she has the power to save them?

"I can't stop! They need me! It's what I'm supposed to do, Mother!" She's pleading. Don't do this....

Mother is surprised for a moment by the outburst, but her resolve hardens a bit. "Stop, Violet."

Violet quivers in place. The crushing feeling in her heart hurts far more than any purification she's done. "I.... Mother..."

"I care about you. You're hurting yourself. Taking on the blight isn't your responsibility, it's mine."

Violet's eyes are watery and she looks down. She blinks and a few tears fall. She can't argue with her Mother. She feels herself being pulled into a hug. It should make her happy, but it only makes her feel worse.

"It's for your own good, Violet. Trust me." The soft and comforting words are close to her ear. She wants to believe them, but for the first time, she doesn't know if she can.

___________________

They're back in her room and Mother is fretting over her after she stumbled on the stairway up. It wasn't anything new, the aches sometimes got to her at inopportune times, but she was fine. It should've felt nice to have Mother caring about her. In the past it would have. Instead, she found herself annoyed.

"Are you sure you're okay? Where does it hurt? How bad is it?"

Violet is sitting on the bed, kicking her feet lightly back and forth as they hang off the edge. Mother is checking her over for more signs of blight damage. Violet huffs. "I already told you I'm fine." She folds her arms indignantly. This day was not going how she had planned. Mother didn't even comment on the room being cleaned when they rushed in.

"You tripped and fell. Are you saying that that's normal?"

Violet gives a non-committal noise in response.

"You need to take care of yourself." Mother says softly as she removes her hands from Violet's hair, sitting back on the bed next to her daughter.

Violet looks at the black streaks in Mother's hair, really looks, for the first time. It's far worse than her own. There's a couple signs of blighted growth peeking out from her Mother's long hair, and the glowing bracelet Mother always wears now reminds Violet of the days of Mother being bedridden down in the lab.

"Why do I have to but you don't?" Violet states.

Mother is caught off guard. "That's..." She shakes off the surprise. "It's my responsibility, Violet. I've told you this. I must bear the blight for the good of the kingdom, or else we'll be overrun by it."