(Updates every Saturday)
I never wanted to be part of a prophecy, shackled to fate, yet here I am, standing next to the king. I feel out of place, I miss my home, but I know there is only one way out of here, and that is forward.
~~~~~
Moi...
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"Let me help you," Jillian says, moving nearer to me, his hands reaching towards my waist to pull me down from the steps I'm standing on.
"No, I'm fine!" I quickly answer, wishing he would leave me alone.
I had been doing my chores all day, and Jillian had been following me around everywhere, offering to help even though I was perfectly capable of managing to do all these things by myself.
"Are you sure?" He asks, hesitantly.
"Yes," Lifting my arm up, I start picking the rest of the berries that were still on the bush, taking care not to lose my balance and fall on the thorns. Ever since the Pyre Night, where my skin started glowing, my clumsiness had gradually improved. I still fell over, still managed to break plates and accidentally trip others over, but not as often as before. Gina says it's because there is always someone there to catch me now, and taking into account the people who constantly surround me, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true.
"I'll just stay here, just in case then," He says annoyingly.
I don't want him there, but I don't say anything.
Not bothering to answer, I continue picking the blackberries, making sure to pick the ones that are ripe for the blackberry pie Mummy and I are going to make tomorrow morning to celebrate my eleventh birthday.
It had been almost a year since the strange night where I had shown my light, literally.
Remembering my tenth birthday, I am overwhelmed with sadness. I will never have a normal birthday again, with the people I love surrounding me and only those who actually cared for me wishing me well. Now, I had hundreds of people preparing themselves to present themselves in front of me as if I was a Queen myself, believing the prophecy.
They didn't care about me, they cared about what I was.
I didn't like feeling envious of people, but ever since the last Pyre Night, almost all my wishes were for my life to be ordinary like the children in the village, like my brothers and sisters. Of course, I was happy and appreciated the help some of my new followers gave us, camping just outside our house to keep away creepy men, or hunting for the family, or even making cakes for occasions such as birthdays.
We now had lots of support, and our family was living one of it's best moments economically, but at what price? We could no longer have a quiet day of dancing around the garden, or running through the fields at night. We didn't have any privacy, and for that, I felt responsible.
Everything good that was happening was because of me, but so was everything bad.
Last year, my birthday had been celebrated in the barn. The only people who had come were my brothers and sisters, my parents, and my only friend from town, Jane. This year, there are dozens of people staying in town, getting ready to come to my birthday and give me gifts.
