“You are not a goddess witch in the way you are to be worshipped as a junior goddess or Bé?inn’s prodigy. The teachings were all written by outsiders—jealous and greedy outsiders. Always remember that.” Again, he waited until I nodded. “You were blessed like agodmotherwould bless a child, Bevin. She blessed you.”
I considered that, slowly nodding. “It seems like semantics, but I also see the humbleness of it.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, back to how you see the process,” I told him when he seemed to hesitate.
“Again, I don’t have all of the answers. This is what I’ve put together from what I’ve learned, and I could be wrong, but it’s enough to help you,” he warned. “However it happens, your soul is formed and you join that conveyor belt as a witch to be born.Your soul already having some characteristics as they all have to be different.”
“Makes sense,” I accepted.
“Then the Fates decide certain… Whatever. Who you are born to. How long you will live. Certain attributes of your life—whatever your beliefs.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t sure I believed that, but… I couldn’t provide proof to say it was wrong, so fine.
“From there, some souls catch the eyes of gods,” he explained. “Something in them sparks interest. Some have described it as picking champions, but that’s really demeaning it as choosing horses for the race of life. It is nothing that petty and horrible. Bé?inn didn’t pick you to be her champion for some quest and certainly isn’t placing bets for you to win some race.”
“That’s comforting,” I mumbled, rubbing my arms as I hugged myself. “So Bé?inn saw something in my fate and blessed me? She basically liked what my soul could be?”
“That’s how I’ve seen it.” He cleared his throat. “Normally.”
I sighed. “And I bet that’s where you tell me I’m different and why I have multiple blessings, right? This is going to be the bad part?”
“I’m sorry, child,” he whispered.
“Might as well just tell me,” I mumbled, bracing for impact. I swallowed loudly as he did. It took me a few minutes to digest what he said, not caring that people were waiting on me or freaking out.
It honestly left me with one question.
“How much can I tell people?”
He flinched, which was the only way I could tell he was shocked with the stupid sunglasses. “You are forbidden from speaking any truths that could hurt others like you. That is the rule.”
“Besides my priest even if he’s not forever?” I clarified.
“The information will have to be taken from him if you separate from him. If he flees with it—you won’t be punished for that.” His meaning hit me hard and I swallowed loudly.
“But I can be punished?”
He slowly nodded. “As any godmother or adult figure will a child they care for. Gifts can be given and taken away. You will find some like you who have lost their powers.”
I let out a slow breath. “Speak plainly. I prefer the blunt truth even if it hurts or I have to suffer to shoulder it. Let’s not have any misunderstandings later.”
“Good, good,” he whispered sadly. “If you misuse gifts, they will be taken away. If you do well with the gifts and power you have, morecanbe granted to you and not just by Bé?inn. It’s not a promise. The gods are busy and don’t watch you like their job.”
“So don’t expect more and do the best I can with what I have. But to make sure if they check in they’ll be pleased with me,” I muttered, nodding when he did. “When can I find you here again?”
“I will wait here for you to always guide you, child.”
I frowned. “That’s horrible for you. No, that’s not—”
“That is the choice I made so you are not alone in this, Bevin,” he said gently. “There will come a day when you won’t need me and I’ll move on to what’s next. For now, I accept it.” He smiled a bit. “I look forward to when you bring color to this place.”
Yeah, I needed him to explain that, though I had a guess it was magic.
I was right. Gray meant that area didn’t have magic, and everything would look completely different once the land was full of magic.
“Can I get a key for my home? See what I’m working towards or…” I wasn’t really sure what to ask.
