The Bearers

Prologue

It was the last thing given to me by my father before he left.

He had stood by the front door of our manor, waiting for me to come and bid him farewell. Nancy was standing a few feet away, waiting till we were done so that she could see him off as well.

He had taken the necklace of of the pocket 0of his traveling cloak and fastened it around my neck while kneeling in front of me. "I pray that you are protected at all times, my Xanderline." He had said to me as he did so.

I smiled. "I will be, with all the the guards around me and all." I said in a humorous tone.

He chuckled softly. "I know, you are a strong child, your courage will be sufficient to protect you. Wear that." He pointed to the necklace. "It will help you protect yourself. You will learn about it soon enough, I suppose."

A burly guard came to the door. "Its getting late, my lord." He told my father with a shallow bow. He nodded.

He took my small hand in his and kissed it softly. "Goodbye, my Xanderline. I will be back soon."

I embraced him. "Goodbye, father." I told him as he got to his feet.

He then looked at Nancy and smiled a soft sad smile at her. "Goodbye." He told her before taking her hand and kissing it. He held it for a while before letting go and leaving the house.

I had no idea that this would be the last time I saw him with the light in his eyes.

☆☆☆

I couldn't sleep. My thoughts were plagued by the memories of my father and the absence of my mother. Although there was fatigue searing through my body, sleep refused to ease me with its presence.

I got out of bed. Perhaps some wandering would ease my restless mind.

My bare feet moved over the plush, carpeted floor as I made my way across the room and opened the door. I stepped out of my chamber carefully so that noneof the guards who were patrolling around the house would see me.

Being the heiress to a powerful lord-dom came with its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages being the fact that you were constantly monitored and barely had any privacy at all.

Flames flickered on candlesticks places in various places of the corridor. The cold winter night was moon-less and and dark. The chilly air nipped at my skin and made me wrap my arms around my body to preserve any body heat left. Although it was always cold in the Magnuson manor, like some had pulled out all the life and happiness out of the place and left it with a dead, cold heart, I never got accustomed to the cold.

The portraits of my ancestors' cold dead eyes seemed to be watching me, as if they could never forgive me for some crime I had committed.

Ignore them. The nagging voice in my head said. Nothing can harm you, nothing can stop you, not even Nancy. Disobeying her once in a way is completely alright. Besides it's not like she is completely truthful with me. That's right. If she isn't completely truthful with you, then why should you be so?

I walked inwards, until the corridor's end till I came to the doorway to the manor's magnificent library.

The library was easily the best place in the entire manor. It was the only place which wasn't dead and dark. It was place where ancient stories were brought back to life, when the dead was resurrected and the place where lost lands were rediscovered.