The Blinding

Prologue - Yanile

"What did you see?" I asked.

"I dreamed that we needed to be isolated for this birth," said Rahma.

"But, why?" I asked. I tried to keep my voice calm but I was starting to panic. How
could she give birth in the middle of the desert with no one but me to help.

"Yanile," she started. "I am going to die here."

I was speechless, but my mind buzzed with fear and questions. Deep down I knew she
was right. Rahma had never had a false premonition.

Rahma stared back at me with dread and sadness. Tears began to puddle in her eyes
but she kept going.

"Very soon I'll be going into labor. Our baby girl will not be an ordinary child. This is
why we had to leave the village. No one can know, or she will never be safe.'

Concern for our child temporarily distracted me from what was to come. "Why will
she never be safe?"

The fear truly showed in Rahma's eyes then. "She will be a Blinding."

I gasped in horror. A blinding, the most powerful of magicians, had not existed or
heard about in centuries. The shapeshifters greatest fear, children born high level magicians
were killed with the help of the seer tribe. There was nothing in this country more
intimidating to the shapeshifters than a blinding. If our child was born she would be
killed instantly. If the Seers had any knowledge that Rahma was pregnant with a blinding
child, she would have been killed long ago.

Shaking, I sat in the shade of the acacia tree, among the dusty roots. "What can we
do? She will be murdered!"

"Listen to me Yanile," said Rahma. "If you do what I tell you, she can survive. I will
die in childbirth, but you will live long enough to keep our baby safe."

"I don't...I can't..." My voice faltered as distress began to settle in. My wife would be
dead in a matter of hours, maybe even minutes. I would be dead not long after. And our
child, left an orphan, would always be in danger.

"Yanile, focus! You must use your power and take whatever's left of mine once I'm
gone. You will need it. Bind the baby's power. The shapeshifters will arrive moments after
she is born. You must be quick and hide as soon as this is done. They won't kill her,
but they will take her to the palace to be a servant. Follow them."

She was scared, I could tell, but her bravery pushed through and the love for our
child kept her going. I wiped away my tears. When had they fallen? I wondered. I helped
Rahma prop herself on the acacia tree. Grabbing a pillow from the pack tied to the camel
saddle, I placed it at her back and wiped her brow with my sleeve.

"What do I do?" I asked.

I stood and listened while Rahma gave me the details. She'd had a dream a week ago.
Our daughter would be born within a few hours. I was to watch her die while I delivered
our child. From there I was to wrap the child up in her garbasar and bind her powers using
the little magic I had and what was left of Rahma's. Then, leaving the love of my life
to die alone, I was to hide in the tree while I watched the shapeshifters collect our
daughter, the only child we would ever have.

I looked on to the desert that surrounded us. The stillness of the horizon was so far
removed from the anguish of my current circumstances. Nothing would ever be the
same. I leaned against the tree and pulled Rahma between my legs carefully placing the
pillow between us. I kissed her forehead tenderly and held her close.

"But-" Rahma protested.

"Shhh," I said. "Just one more moment of peace."

I felt her relax against me. We sat like this for some time. Watching the sun fall and
the dust settle, trying as hard as we could to focus on our past together. I wiped away
Rahma's tears. "Don't think too much," I whispered, rocking back and forth. I tried to focus
on her, or anything really. Breaking down was not an option. The last thing I could
do for my Soulmate was soothe her way to her last breath. But in truth these last few
minutes of tranquility were doing more for me than they were for her. I was using her to
distract myself. I felt horrible, selfish even, for doing it. She didn't know it but she was
holding me together as she'd done for so long.