His Rogue Luna

Eighteen

Hiraeth
(n.) A homesickness for a home you cannot return, the yearning and grief for a lost place in your past.

"What's the mark of The Gifted?" I asked. Romeo shuffled awkwardly besides me, giving his father a pointed look.

"Dad those are just tattoos, anyone can get them," I glanced down at my forearms where I had a matching marking on each.

"No, it's clearly a mark from the Goddess herself," Diego snapped back.

"A witch I met in the forest did them for me," I explained. Romeo raised a brow at his dad, as if saying he was right but Diego scoffed, turning back to me.

"A witch? And who was this witch?" He asked.

"Her name is Diana and that's all I know," I shrugged. Despite her and I growing close in the last two years I had known her, she was a private woman and didn't reveal anything about herself. "I'm not even sure she's a witch, I just assumed," I frowned, only now realising how a lot of things about her didn't add up.

"And her name was Diana you said?" Diego looked like the triumphant one now, his smile smug as he looked at his son.

"Yes, is that supposed to mean anything?" I asked.

"And who named you Artemis?" He asked, ignoring my question.

"Diana did," I remembered the first day I had met her. I had been in a rough state, hardly intelligible and mostly feral as a result of being alone most my childhood. I shook away those dark thoughts.

"Like I said, you bear the mark of The Gifted," Diego repeated.

"The Gifted are a select few rare individuals, handpicked by the Moon Goddess herself. They are given gifts, often extra powers. These powers can range from advanced senses to control over the elements. There's no real limit to what they can be and depend on the individual,"

"Why does the Moon Goddess give people these gifts?"

"Well no ones completely sure, but I have a book you need to read about The Gifted," he got up and reached over for a book at the top of a pile near the door. He carefully handed it to me as I inspected it.

The book itself wasn't anything extraordinary. It was slightly thin with brown leather covers and slightly faded writing.

The words however, weren't in a language I could recognise, but I could still somehow understand what it said.

"What language is this?" I asked, watching as the letters almost swam before my vision yet somehow make perfect sense to me.

"It's Celestian, an ancient but sacred language," he said. I nodded, closing the book and looking back at his expectant face.

"Why do think I'm a Gifted?" He gave me a knowing look.

"Well for starters, your name,"

"Which one?" I asked. "Cynthia or Artemis?"

"Both," I furrowed my brows. I felt like my head was spinning with all this information and making me slow.

"They both have the same meaning;  they are both names of the Moon Goddess. They are just derivations," He explained.

"Both of your names were given to you by the Moon Goddess herself. Your mother saw her in a dream before you were born and was told to name you that. And this woman named Diana you met can't be a witch, that name is sacred amongst most species,"

I couldn't believe he was saying that the old woman I knew who healed me and saved me was the goddess herself.

I didn't quite believe him.