Posted: 13 April 2021

EXCERPT 3

 "Destiny. Do you understand this concept?"

She nodded. "My prophecy is my destiny." The falling ash almost hid the green grass, and it stained her gold shirt and trousers so that the diamonds on the hemline looked like stones.

"But do you understand this concept?"

Her gaze never wavering, Jwala frowned. "Destiny. Naseeb. It means; 'this is what will happen'. It is unmovable." She quoted the words of the scholar who'd taught her, taking pride in her memory and comprehension of the word. Recently she had decided that if her Destiny was unmovable, then so would she be. Training helped her do that, and now Jwala was the only unmovable thing in this scene; the clouds moved, the grass with the wind, the ash and the branches of the cherry blossom trees—their pink petals breezing through the air. Even the moon moved, changing from full to barely there throughout the year, the stars realigning themselves as they pleased, as they were meant to. But Jwala was unmovable.

"Not everyone has a destiny, but you do," continued her grandmother.

The ash moved, as did the falling embers and small tongues of volcanic flame.

"Destiny is necessary and predetermined, therefore inescapable. It is necessary that all living things breathe in order to survive. There is no alternative to this. It is predetermined that the sun will rise and so it does. We, as ignis-drae, are destined to possess the power of warmth and flame. You, as the daughter of Princess Bijali and Prince Agnivesh, are destined to fulfil the role of Maharani one day. This was predetermined."

Predetermined. It would not move.

"Your prophecy is necessary. Like the rising of the sun, the need to breathe air, your prophecy is nothing more than a fact of life. Others speak of destiny like it has a soul, or a mind. They will tell you that it is when something is 'meant' to be'." Her grandmother paused. "This has no meaning. Nothing is 'meant' to be; things simply are or are not. Understand, Heir of Inferno, your destiny means nothing. Do not attach any specialties or deeper feelings to it. Your prophecy is as natural as darkness and light, and as meaningless as both."

Jwala did her best to pay attention, but all she would remember later of this conversation was a single line: Your destiny means nothing. Her destiny was unmovable and meaningless. Jwala was training herself to be unmovable. The Lux siblings of the Snapdragon Mountains had told her to mirror her prophecy—to be ruthless, cruel and 'unmovable'. But no one had told her the most important part, that it was meaningless.

Not for the first time, Jwala wished to suddenly turn to the ash which flowed freely before her, and drift with the wind, mix with the soil and remain part of the simple earth. She had no desire to become a meaningless destiny, and every desire to be a moving part of nature.