The Taking by Celeste Castro

Author:Celeste Castro [Castro, Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-25T21:09:09+00:00

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Noomi’s familiarity with the land would help her make the best use of the winter’s short daylight. As a skilled mapmaker, she knew the quickest and easiest routes to negotiate the terrain. Still using all her effort, the round trip to the Realm of the Keepers and to Nefertari the Only would take two days. She stopped only long enough to drink and remove one of her many layers, for she had built up a sweat at her eager pace. Noomi felt as though the Heathers were giving their blessing when the sun peeked over the mountaintop and began coloring her world. The howling of the wind had ceased as did the falling snow.

She prayed to the Heathers that her mentor would have the answers or know where to look. Much of Noomi’s nervousness rested not in getting quickly back to Peachy, but how she would avoid discussing the amulet as Peachy had asked. It frightened Noomi at times, for it seemed to have a presence of its own. Noomi would often observe Peachy staring into it as if she were lost, her eyes wide, entranced by it, as if it spoke to her. Peachy looked always to be carrying the weight of an ox on her shoulders.

Now Noomi carried the weight of her secret. It felt hopeless, especially because Nefertari was one of the greatest Seers of her time. Noomi would have to rely on steering the conversation away from the amulet. She prayed Nefertari could not sense that she withheld information. She hoped that the Heathers before her understood her reasons why. If her mentor found out, Noomi would pay a price, and Nefertari had an everlasting memory with more than five hundred years to Noomi’s seventy-two.

It was told that one of the original Heathers, the most gifted Seer, bestowed her gifts directly to Nefertari. Whether or not there was truth in that, Nefertari carried that esteem wherever she went and in all that she did. Nefertari was a fair and just ruler. She dedicated her life to the protection of their realm. She upheld the law and ensured peace, and their kind had not waged war in over four hundred years.

It was early afternoon when Noomi spotted the beacon of the Realm of the Keepers. A one-hundred-and-twenty-five-foot stone monument depicted the five founding Heathers. They stood back to back, their arms crossed, as if ensuring they would forever hold their people in their hearts. They looked in every direction. The Teller looked skyward. The collective, always ensured blessings and protections. Every time Noomi gazed upon the treasure of her people, she felt allegiance in her heart to use her gifts to help others, to benefit the realm and honor the existence of their spirit.

The Realm of the Keepers, their people’s capitol, held other monuments, fountains, and sacred trees in tribute to legendary Heathers. The city housed everything that was precious—their grand libraries, citadels, and the reliquary, which housed precious artifacts and scripts of their history. Keepers underwent rigorous training and dedicated their lives to their service.

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