Kumari's Kitsune

"Did you know?" she asked, her eyes a swirling green. She didn't blink as she stared at the grave before her, not expecting a reply. How could she? She knew no answers would come. Instead, there would be more questions. One small, perhaps insignificant lie had grown into a mess so extensive that Bae could no longer tell the difference between truth and falsehood. The two had been said in the same breath, with the same tone. Perhaps they hadn't known? The thought was wishful thinking. She didn't want to resent her parents. Hope blossomed at the idea that they didn't know. Except, that was impossible. How could they not? "You knew." Her words were as cold as the tears that had long since dried upon her cheeks. "Why didn't you tell me?" The questions continued in her mind even though her mouth had given up. Her red hair was twisting in the air around her and she could sense the magic sizzling. It wasn't her mother's magic. That was gone. Lost to this world. Gone to the next. This magic was different, potent, dangerous. It was a power that called to her like a friend she had known but forgotten. Perhaps the answers are in the magic? After all, they certainly weren't in her mother's grave. If her mother had known, she had chosen to hide the truth from Bae. A quick glance behind reminded her that she was never alone. Solitude was not something she was entitled to. Even on the day of her mother's funeral when solitude should have been hers, she was surrounded by guards. As a child she'd never noticed, as a teenager it had seemed normal, but now as a young woman it was anything but okay. Bae had never been left alone that she could remember. Apparently as the Kumari, someone who could send a whole realm to war, she could not even sit by her mother's grave alone. Her grief should have been private and yet here she was, surrounded by at least twenty guards. She could see her head protector tapping his foot impatiently. He was itching to insist that they return to the grounds of the palace but he knew that no persistence would be welcomed. She would not be moved. She felt the air around her grow cold but still she would not leave. She had so much to ask. Far too many questions had gone unanswered. The secrets had been kept too long and her mother's death now meant that Bae may never fully understand. It was incomprehensible that she was expected to rule the realm and lead her people when her advisors had been keeping the most important piece of information a secret from her. She had not even known her own destiny and now what she had been told, instead of answering her questions, had created more. Each question she had, led to five more and so on until her mind was a cacophony of chaos. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her voice sounding more whiney than she'd have liked. "You should have told me." The magic that surrounded her spot of grass whistled as if in response to her question. ‘You did not need to know.' Perhaps she was right and the magic did hold the answers. Her mother had always said that... that magic, the force that gave and maintained life, was the fountain of all knowledge. She'd always said that Bae would learn everything she needed to in time, if only she would listen to the magic. Bae could remember sitting on her bed at the age of five, furious that she had been unable to perform a trick that her brother had shown her. Her mother had held her as she sobbed about how unfair it was that she couldn't do it. She was Kumari and he was her Chief Protector, her older brother. She was supposed to have more power than him, more power than anyone else alive. Yet, she couldn't even perform a basic trick. "Magic isn't about tricks and games." She could still hear her mother telling her. "It's about life and death. Just listen to the magic and it will tell you everything you need to know." Her own magic had grown since then. She'd refined her magical prowess but there was still much she did not know. There were still far too many secrets. She looked once more to where her elder brother stood. Is he sad at the death of his mother? He didn't look it. Instead he looked focused on his role. It was his duty to always protect the Kumari even at the expense of his own happiness or in this case sadness. "Kael?" she called across to him, her voice hoarse. His head turned immediately in her direction and then his body followed as he made his way towards her.