Allocate | Fated Four: Book 2

Prologue

A man walked into a bedroom and spotted a wide awake five year old girl. Her black hair was curly and her bright blue eyes were open. She was awake and was looking out the window at the moon and stars. The man shook his head with a small smile on his face. The girl was certainly his older brother's daughter. His older brother and sister in law had gone out for the night, leaving their five year old daughter with him and his wife. And as usual it seemed that his little niece couldn't sleep. It should have been no surprise. The man's brother, the girl's father, was often restless at night and had trouble sleeping, a trait that his daughter seemed to have inherited.

"What's wrong, moonbeam?" the man asked.

"I can't sleep," the girl replied, "The moon is out so I'm awake."

"Do you know that your Daddy used to have trouble sleeping at night?" the man asked.

"Really?" the girl asked.

"Really," her Uncle replied, "But what I can do to help you sleep, moonbeam? Do you want some warm milk?"

His niece shook her head.

"I want to hear the rest of Daddy's story," the girl admitted.

"Which one was that?" the man asked.

"The one about the four brothers," the girl replied, "Do you know that one?"

"I do," the man replied as he sat down on her bed.

"It's my favourite story now," the girl told her Uncle.

The man chuckled. There was so much more to that bedtime story than his niece realized.

"I'm glad you like it moonbeam," her Uncle told her.

"Will you finish the story?" she asked, looking at her Uncle with her bright blue eyes.

"I can try," her Uncle replied, "Where did your Daddy leave off?"

"He stopped the story at the part about the oldest brother's soulmate," the girl replied.

"Ah I see," the man replied, "Well the next part of the story is about the second oldest brother. Did you want to hear more about him?"

"Yes please," the girl replied with a smile.

"But first I should tell you about the sister of the four brothers," her Uncle told her.

"Daddy talked about her," the girl replied, "She sounds mean. I don't like her."

"Neither do I," the man replied, "But did your Daddy tell you about how she turned people to stone?"

"No," the girl replied, "What happened?"

"The jealous sister arrived in the city and she recruited an angry Goddess to help her," the man replied.

"No!" the girl protested.

"Oh yes," the man replied, "And this angry Goddess wasn't just anyone. She was the one that had cursed the four brothers."

The girl gasped.

"The two of them had stolen a valuable item from the Gods that let them turn people to stone," the man replied, "And they started going around the city, using the item to petrify anyone and everyone."

"What about the brothers? Did they stop her?" the girl asked, "What about the people turned to stone? Did they save them?"

"No, they weren't strong enough to stop the sister and the angry Goddess," the man replied, "And they didn't manage to find a way to turn the people back to stone."

"What about the soulmates of the brothers?" the girl asked, "They could make the brothers stronger right?"

"That's right, moonbeam," the man replied with a smile, "But only the oldest brother had found his soulmate. Luckily, the second oldest wasn't too far behind. Soon he found his soulmate as well."

"What was she like?" the girl asked.

"The soulmate of the second oldest brother was fiery and powerful," the man replied as he smiled fondly, "She had the warmest heart and was a fierce protector. She was everything he needed to help break his curse."

"So she broke the curse?" the girl asked. The man chuckled.

"Sort of, but not right away. It was a long time before she was able to break his curse," the man replied.

"Why?" the girl asked.

"Because this brother was afraid of letting his soulmate see who he was," the man replied, "He had been through a lot thanks to the curse and didn't want to burden his soulmate with his pain."

"Did they defeat the sister and the angry Goddess?" the girl asked as she rubbed her eyes, starting to get tired, but wanting to stay awake and hear the rest of the story.

"Well with the help of the second brother's soulmate, they took another step towards stopping them," the man replied, "But that's a story for another time, moonbeam."

"Okay," the girl replied sleepily before drifting off to sleep.

The man walked downstairs and found his wife curled up on the couch. She had a glass of red wine in her hand.

"Were you telling her our part of the story?" his wife asked.

"Yeah," the man replied, "Seriously, what is it about that story that she loves so much?"

He sat down next to his wife and she handed him a glass of red wine.

"I don't know," his wife replied with a shrug, "But I think it's kind of cute that she likes it so much. It's the story of her family. More specifically at this point you and me."

"I suppose that's true," the man replied.

"Although from what I heard, you didn't tell her much," the wife stated, "You left out a lot of things."

"I was trying to keep it child friendly," the man replied, "Our battle with my sister wasn't an easy one. Besides it's a little early to give her the full story of her Uncle and Aunt's journey to completing their soulmate bond."

"I know, but I still think you should tell it," the wife replied, "After all it's been a while since I've heard a good story. Don't worry I'll fill in the blanks for you, because I'm sure there some things I remember that you don't."

"Then I suppose it's only fair that you go first," the man told her, "I'll chime in when necessary."

"Okay," the wife agreed, "You know we should do this more often."

"What? Babysitting the little moonbeam?" the man asked.

"No, this," the wife replied, "You, me, a bottle of wine, a roaring fire, reminiscing about the past."

"Yes, this is really nice," the man admitted, "But I'd like to hear how you remember our part of this epic tale."

"Shall I start then?" the wife asked. The man kissed her temple.

"Please do," he replied.

"Okay," she agreed, "Here goes..."