�Trouble. Only bring trouble,� mumbled Ailis, as she clutched an old patchwork quilt around her shoulders.
Cahira gave her an annoyed sneer. It wasn�t cold. It was a mid-summer night. Ailis was just being Ailis. Being Ailis is what most would call being insane. She hadn�t always been insane, though, she had once been a very fun big sister.
�Trouble,� Cahira laughed. �Trouble to worship the Mother Goddess Alastrina, aye, better to betray her for the One, huh?�
Ailis responded not, instead she played with her blanket covering her entire head then quickly uncovering it. Her tangle of honey blonde hair became even more of a fuzzy little mess. Cahira huffed her impatience and went over to her sister. She took the blanket gently but forcefully from her hands.
�Stop, you�ll hurt yourself. Make yourself sick covering yourself all up in this heat,� she said trying so hard not to sound mean or annoyed.
Worse, she tried not to cry. It wasn�t too long ago that Ailis was healthy and normal. Not touched. In her memory, Ailis� blonde hair was a perfect ray of sunlight streaming around her as she ran barefoot through the field behind their home. Her eyes were the colors of violets and twinkled with mischevious glee from some childish prank. The men, all the male admirers that Cahira wished from jealousy would just drop dead, were gone now. Ailis hair was now a mess; Cahira could never keep it clean and combed let alone shining and silky. The violets were wilted and dead.
Ailis made a high pitch whine like that of a small animal. Soon big tears came gushing forth down her cheeks. �My! My! My!� she whined, slapping her fist as hard as she could against her chest. Cahira grabbed her arm to stop her from causing herself more damage as a thick bubble of vomit rose in her throat.
�Calm. Calm. Calm. Big sister, calm. Let me tell you a story, huh? That would make you happy, aye? A nice story. How about it?� she asked, wiping childish tears with the back of her hand.
Ailis stop her whining and returned to her stationary position of dead eyes and stiff limbs. Cahira tried to pull her closer but Ailis� muscles were rigid as if she was dead for hours. Perhaps, she was dead, thought Cahira. She wiped more tears away with her arm.
�Now that I have your full attention. I will tell you of the story of the Regent Alastrina. Not the Mother Goddess, but her voice in the word. Remember? The old government? The Old Way of Life?
�Regent Alastrina was a very beautiful young girl when she was had completed the Trial of Sibylla that all of the royal family had to take. Many compared her beauty to the clear cold winter night. She was a gifted warrior and had a noble heart. It was for her kind and gentle heart that the Mother Goddess Alastrina chose her to be the Regent Alastrina. Which, I am not saying it was a bad choice or the wrong choice but I think the choosing her for the heart was a bad idea considering what was going to happen but, then I�m not a Goddess, but still... well...
�War and strife had always been the way between the people of the Many Gods and the people of the One. Everybody thinks that they�re right and no one is willing to listen to anyone who disagrees. Except, our last Regent. She wanted to make peace with the One Gods. So, she arranged a meeting between the two peoples for council. Her plea fell on deaf ears. The One Gods would not meet with pagan barbarians with false gods. They laughed at the idea that a man would lower himself to speak to a woman on politics. He wouldn�t even send his stable boy to deal with a woman of the false gods.
�In a dream, I mean a vision! The regent was told to go to the man in his kingdom and give his son her heart. Peace would only come when true love of souls broke the wall between the two peoples. I know. It sounds dumb. I think the Regent was wrong in her interpretation of the dream. Surely, the Mother Goddess would not allow one of her daughters to be loved only in portion with other women, too! Can you imagine? More then one true love? Well, you could, you were always like Yoewler when she was in heat. But love. Real love. The Regent sent her plea to the One God people. She pleaded that she desired peace. They wouldn�t even respond. So stubborn.
�The Regent and her closest guardians stole across the One God land secretly. They snuck into the very castle of the One God and before the grand court, she appeared. Her beauty struck them into silence. Her bravery had the dumbfounded. How had these pagan women breeched their fortress? She demanded her plea that there would be peace once again. However, she inquired that the heir to the throne of the One God marries her, so that the lands may unite.
�She may have been beautiful and had a noble heart but she wasn�t too smart. For the ruler did pledge and married they were that night in the court. But it was a mere cruel joke for the son was already married twice before! Twice! The Regent was made his third wife! All the lords and the ladies laugh at her for she was so foolish to believe that heir would love her, a pagan barbarian. Before her the guards were told to execute her guardians as her wedding present. They slaughtered the guardians to the joy and mockery of the court and even though she felt the great sadness and shame the Regent didn�t cry. It must have been the will of the Goddess. See, I told you she was dumb.
�The next morning, the Royal army was sent to the land of the Many Gods. In the front of their line was the banner of the Regent hung beside that of the Royal Heir. The people rejoiced for it was peace at last. The beauty and the kind heart of the Regent had won the stubborn heart of the One God. However, the Royal army did not come in peace and by surprise they threw down a rebellion that didn�t even know it was a rebellion! In days, the Old Ways were thrown aside and the New Ways were imposed. The soldiers came to teach us the way to the One God�s mercy. The Regent in her grief tied a noose around her slender swan neck and hung herself on the rafters of her cell. But the One God heir wouldn�t let her die and he saved her. Not out of love but out of cruelty for he wished her to live in disgrace and humiliation as his third wife."