Miracle of the Moon Goddess

Celeste‘s POV: “Celeste, how many times do I need to tell you that asking questions is un-lady-like?” Master Camago grumbles one more time after I’ve asked my tenth question in a row; questions he refuses to answer despite him being my teacher. I've only had one teacher delighted by my questions and my father has kept us separated since he found out. Still, I can't stop myself as I ask “Why?” “You rude little half-breed…” It's not the first time I’ve been called that, but it's just as tiresome as always. He’s here to teach me, but only one of us cares about what I’m learning. We both take in our breaths, to put each other in place. Again. But before we can get so far the door opens. Mother Green prostrates by the opening as my father strides through. I ignore her as I always do when true elves are at my home. “Lessons are over for today. I’m waking up Angel and you will make sure she’s not doing something stupid again.” Master Camago doesn't have to be asked twice before leaving, muttering under his breath. He gives a slight bow to my father, a high-ranking elven prince, but ignores me despite being the crown princess of the Wolf World. You would think a crown princess was higher on the food chain than a prince whose fifth to a thone housed by an immortal being who will never give away her power. Empress Aubrey needs to die for anyone to take over and that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. The elves are too powerful and besides, who would want to dethrone them? Elves are liberators of worlds ruled by brutal people. This is why mom left her mates in the wolf world. She was in danger of the lycan’s attack on her world and only my father could save her. Still, it hadn’t been without injuries, which is why father had put her in a stasis chamber. “Why?” I asked again. “Don't question me, girl, do as I tell you,” he ordered me and left without another glance. The way he behaves towards me, my siblings and mom always leaves a dent in the heroic stories he told me, but my brother Damien says that some older elves go through periods where they are tired of life. I don’t know if that excuses our father much, but maybe it explains it. I still feel Damien is a little blind to our father, but I can understand him. He’s always wanted to prove himself to father, but he isn’t a warrior like father wanted him to be. He’s more of a scholar and father finds it hard to accept that. Mom once claimed he loved us in his own way, but as I’ve gotten older I suspect it was just wishful thinking. She didn't want me to grow up without love and she wasn’t always there to give it to either of us children. Despite mom’s fear I think we’re doing fine. It might have been better if I had my mom by my side all the time, but my Mothers have showered me with love as much as they could. I continue to ignore Mother Green as I walk past her. If I acknowledge her near father she will pay with her life. She knows this as well as I do, but I hate every second of it. Pretending someone you love does not exist is not in my heart. Nevertheless, I do it out of necessity. Maybe one day I can share my respect for all the women in this household. By the time I’ve reached the room where the two stasis chambers lie, both of them are open, not only the one father brought in to threaten to use on me should I misbehave, but mom’s glass chamber is open too. Done with his task, father doesn't spare a second glance at mom before leaving us with the hard work of calming mom’s panic. Or what he calls it, stopping her from doing something stupid. He's still bitter from the time she punched him so hard he fainted. I smile a little from the memory alone. He might paint himself a hero, but he can’t hide that he’s an asshole. I sit on the sofa, watching mom as she wakes up. I only notice she’s up by her breathing. Maybe waking up without dad hovering over her is better? I’m not sure, but when enough time has gone past I go over to her. Her eyes are up, unblinking. She doesn’t react to me, not even when I touch her arm. Father has more than once claimed the stasis chamber will heal her, but I'm sure she gets worse every time he puts her in his glass box. Besides, why would he threaten me with the same treatment if it didn't hurt the mind? Why would he use it as punishment? The only good thing about the chamber is the fact that she doesn’t notice time passing while she’s under. It makes time stand still. When mom doesn’t react to my presence I get help from my Mothers. Their presence gives the same lack of reaction and I cannot help my heart break a little. I still remember mom’s lovely smile and I long to see it again. My mother’s doesn’t look faced by the unresponsive woman but begins to work without hesitation. They bring water, a washcloth, and clean clothes. I don't watch as they clean her and dress her, but when she is ready I help her on her feet. Together with Mother Grey, I get her to the living room so she can sit by the window. There she can take in the view of the valley. I have several fond memories of her by this window talking about the moon, whatever that is, and her two mates. Now she just sits there, nearly unblinking. I try to fill the room by talking, but what can I say? Instead I ask for a hairbrush. Maybe playing with her hair will jog her memory? It isn’t the first time I’ve done it, and I doubted it would be the last. Last time we were before the window and I brushed her, she had called me Cherry. I’ve never met the woman bearing the name, but from the snippets I’ve learned from mom’s life, she was a good friend of hers before she came to be my father’s concubine. Today she just stares at whatever is before her, not seeing anything. “Here, Thea, your mom is awake,” I hear behind me. It’s Mother Brown. She graces me with a gentle smile, pushing Thea closer. Thea’s face is swollen and red and she’s halfway turned to hug Mother Brown. I can’t do anything for her but feel for her. Marvin, her twin brother was sent off-world yesterday together with Mother Safira who was closes with both twins. “Come, Thea,” I whisper as friendly as I can. I'm not in a position to stop the separation, but sometimes it’s nice to talk to someone who has been there. I might not have been a twin, but me and Damien were just as close as Marvin and Thea are to each other. I knew how much it hurt when I realized boys have to train for war and girls have to prepare to become concubines, with the exception of me. The firstborn. The wolf princess. When father deems me ready I will become the next Wolf Queen and I will liberate my world from the lycans. It's a worthy cause and I’m preparing as well as I can. I still feel I should have some military training like my brothers, but my father claims that warriors aren’t fit to rule. He might be right, but it doesn’t stop me from asking questions. Questions no one wants to answer. Thea approaches us reluctantly. She’s been brought to the stasis chamber to look at mom there, but as with my other siblings, it only frightened her. Every time her eyes flick to our mom there isn’t a recognition of love, but fear in them. I hate that Thea and Malvin never had a connection with our mom. Not like Damien and I had. We were lucky to have experienced mom as herself. Mom reacts to our talking and keeps her eyes locked on the view. There are no signs of her understanding what’s happening or any source of recognition. Not until Thea is close enough to be glanced at the corner of mom’s eyes. Mom takes in a sharp breath, almost scaring Thea in the process and comes to life. “Celeste?” she asks, reaching out for Thea who wants to run away, but knows better after trying to escape father’s attention and has most likely concluded the same applies to mom. “No,” I correct mom. “This is your daughter Thea. I'm Celeste.” Mom’s eyes flick between us. She fades a little. “You've grown so big. Have I been here so long?” “No, I've been off-world. Time moves slower in this world than in most other worlds.” “For you it's been a little over two years, seven if you count the time spent in stasis,” Mother Brown adds. “Stasis?” “Coma,” I answer, remembering the word she used after the first time. “Oh.” It’s all she says, slowly fading away again. After a quiet moment where Thea grows more antsy mom reaches for her again. Thea doesn’t flinch away but accepts the touch. “You look so much like your big sister. Come let me dry your eyes.” Thea, obedient at first, sits herself next to mom, but as mom hugs her they melt into each other. They sit there for a few minutes, not talking, before mom's mind disappears fully out the window. Thea, not realizing how she alone created a rare moment of clarity jumps off the sofa and goes to play with the dolls hidden in a corner of the room. I smile, studying the valley next to mom. She has always enjoyed the fresh greenery and the colors bursting from the outside. It’s soon in the middle of the summer and some of that greenery will fade unless the workers find another water source. The previous water world is all dried out from what I’ve overheard, so this year might be bad for the crops. “Celeste,” Mother Green asks, from the door. Her eyes flick backward to double-check that no one is looking at us. If father was here she would have kneeled before me and not spoken to me as an equal. It has always been like this in our home, but not outside of it. Never outside of our home. You never know when someone will keep an eye on you. I kiss mom’s forehead before leaving her to stare out to the horizon and walk to Mother Green. Mother Saphira steps into the room as I leave it, making sure mom doesn’t need anything in my absence. Mother Brown is there too, but she plays with Thea, keeping the atmosphere calm as herself. “Celeste, you and Angel have been invited to court and every one of your mother’s children still in this world needs to be attending. We can’t find Damien anywhere, do you know where he might be?” Mother Green asks and I can’t stop myself from smiling brightly. This is the perfect excuse to leave the cave to explore the place where Damien practices casting spells. I’ve been there before, but it’s been a while. When Damien first found the hidden spot he had shown me the place and the few spells he could cast. They were simple spells, but I loved every piece of it. As we grew he began to forbid me from exploring further with him, suddenly noticing I was a girl and not a boy. “Did you not hear me? You are invited to court, to the Empress herself.” Mother Green looks baffled and I cannot blame her. Going to court is not great news. Still, it can’t dampen my curiosity for so-called male magic and the joy of maybe seeing more of it in action.