Author's Note: Ok, back to Manna and Karina for a moment. This chapter will clarify some of the questions you might still have about the Senmin people. Hope you enjoy. Don't worry, we'll get back to the action soon...;-)

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Manna

Manna saw the impatience of her pupil written on every part of her body, legs dangling at the edge of the chair kicking back and forth. Her head moving in a small figure eight, looking exactly everywhere except to focus on the book she was supposed to be reading.

"When can I go outside?" she asked, the end of the sentence tipped with a slight whine.

Manna sighed. "Karina, the lessons I teach you are very important. You don't realize how very lucky you are to have the right to learn such things.

The girl was unimpressed. "Aidan says that he never had to learn anything. He gets to help on the farm and play with sword and."

"I allowed you to spend the whole of yesterday outside," Manna answered. "Today is a day for study." 

The girl slumped back in her chair sticking out her lower lip in a pout of protest making her look like a spoiled child far younger than her nearly ten years of age.

Manna softened her tone. "Do you not like learning the knowledge our people have passed down for so many generations? You like the stories I tell don't you? The stories of the Nitas, the Fae, the God?"

Karina nodded but her eyes remained wistfully focused on the world outside the window.

Manna frowned thoughtfully. "You know, there are people who wish to ban all of these stories," she said.

Karina's focus shifted back to the room, interest piqued. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that they want to stop people from telling them. That is why you are so lucky. There are places in Erestia where children are not allowed to hear these stories at all."

The girl considered that for a moment. "That isn't fair," Karina said finally. "Who would want to stop people from telling stories?"

"You know who Fredrick Bastario is?"

Karina nodded. "He rules Erestia. He is like the Nita."

"That's right. The Bastario line has ruled Erestia since Philip Bastario overthrew the Hapsben monarchy eighty years ago, and it is to their crown that all Erestians must pledge allegiance.

"And the King won't allow people to hear stories?"

Manna nodded. "That's right. The stories of the Senmin are ban in many parts of the Empire. Including the Capitol. In Auresir possessing this book or even knowing the stories inside is not allowed. If someone is caught with them they are punished."

Karina sat still for a moment, face almost comically serious, as she tried to process what Manna knew she could not fully understand. After a few moments of silence, Karina asked, "But why?"

The innocence and simplicity of her question pained Manna. It struck her how entirely unaware Karina was to the world outside of Gregorn and Cainell.

"Do you remember what I have taught you about the Senmin?" Manna asked.

"We are Senmin."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means we believe in the one God above. It means that we believe in the celestial realm of the Oracle, and the power of the earthen Fae. It means that we believe in living our lives according to the Great Book, the words of the Nitas past, and the holy texts entrusted to the sacred Initiate."

"Very good. And who are the Kanjin?"

"They believe in the God too don't they?"

"That's right"

"The same God?"

Manna nodded.

"And they believe in the prophet Kanjar."

Yes.

"They believe in Kanjar, and follow his teachings." Karina paused and looked at Manna quizzically as if just making some new connection in her mind. "Manna do we believe in Kanjar?" she asked.

"No. The Senmin believe that Kanjar was just a man, but for those who believe in the Kanjin faith, he was a true prophet of the God. Kanjar was a very powerful man. Many people believed he could heal, see the future, and speak to the God on behalf of his followers."

"Like the Nita."

"Exactly, except the Nita never claimed to be a representative to the God. The Senmin believe that people can talk to the God themselves. But Kanjar told the people that they needed the help of himself, the King, and high priests appointed by the church."

Karina frowned slightly in thought. "But I thought that only the Nita and women of the Initiate could talk to the Fae."

"There are those with heightened awareness of the spirit realm yes. The Nita is said to be chosen by the heavens for her power to communicate with the God and the earth. The Senmin have always believed in showing respect and devotion to the Faery Realm and to Amara, their queen. According to our stories, all Senmin are descendants of those who mated with people of Amara's realm. It is said that the blood of the Fae still runs in our veins and that on this earth, the fair folk of magik give us power. The Nita and the priestesses of the Initiate, are sworn to maintain our people's connection with the Fae. But the God is a different matter.

The God is a being beyond our comprehension. A great creator that dwells in the heavens. It is the God that gave us life, putting us on this earth, and to the God we return when our souls leave our bodies at death. All people, all creatures, all life contain a spark of God's great spirit and thus, anyone can speak to him and offer prayers on their own behalf. He is everywhere after all. If you speak to him, he will hear you."

Karina nodded.

"For a long time, there were people who believed that our connection with magical spirits meant we were chosen, not just by the Fae but by the God himself," Manna continued. "But Kanjar told the people that the Senmin were no longer in God's favor. There were many who envied the Senmin for the Faery power they possessed. They wanted to believe in Kanjar's words. To believe that their lack of magik did not mean that the God had forgotten them, but that he had, in fact, blessed them. Many had faith that Kanjar spoke with the voice of the heavens, that he could understand what the God wanted from the people of earth.

"Could he?"

Manna considered the question. "I suppose I can't be sure, " she answered diplomatically. "Perhaps he did speak with God. In the end, that people believed he could was all that mattered. The people that followed the prophet called themselves Kanjin. But whether or not Kanjar could hear the voice of the heavens, he was not a friend to the Senmin.

He declared those who did not abandon the old Faery worship were misguided, that they were going against God's will. The Fae were declared to be demons put on earth to turn people from the God's true light and lure their spirits to hell never to find peace in this life or the next. When Kanjar's priests proselytized, many spread the belief that those who did not follow the prophet's ways would themselves be cursed by the God for their evil communion with devils."

"But we don't talk to devils," Karina protested. Manna could see the sudden fear in her eyes. "We aren't cursed are we?"

"No of course not. The practices of the Senmin have been past down for hundreds and hundreds of years and are based in the earth and life, not in evil. But since Kanjar's prophesies, there are many throughout the Empire who are distrustful of our people."

Karina nodded though Manna knew the girl could not fully comprehend. Living in Gregorn, surrounded only by her own kind,  Karina had never had experienced the persecution faced by so many of the Senmin throughout Erestia.

"And the stories of the Faeries are they real?" Karina asked

"What do you think?"

She nodded seriously. "I've seen them."

"Really?" Manna tried to hide her surprise. She had long since suspected that Karina could see denizens of  the other realm, but the girl had never said so outright.

"Yes. When I was younger one of them spoke to me."

"You never told me that before."

"I thought you wouldn't believe me. Her name was Serifina."

"She told you her name?" Manna asked, trying to hide her surprise.

Karina nodded.

To learn the name of a Faery was an immense honor. Manna had always imagined that the girl was simply aware of the spirits that followed her. She had never dreamed that one of those spirits had engaged with the child, let alone offered their name.

"And what else did she say?"

Karina shrugged. "She just talked and I listened. "

Manna was quiet as she took in the magnitude of the child's words. She had always known Karina was powerful, but to have had one of the Fae show such interest was tremendous.

"Do you believe me?"

Manna could see the hope in Karina's eyes. She wanted so much for confirmation that what she feared was imaginary was in fact real. It was becoming harder to hide things from her and it pained Manna to keep so many secrets. That Karina was worthy of gaining attention from the other realm, that the Faery she had spoken with had permitted the girl to learn her name, these should have been things to celebrate as signs of blessings from the God himself. But instead, the child's strength had to be hidden. It was wrong. This secrecy was wrong. But it was the only way to keep the girl safe.

"Do you believe me?" Karina asked again breaking Manna's train of thought.

"There are many things we hear and see that we don't understand," Manna answered, avoiding her student's direct gaze. "I believe that you believe that you saw a faery." Manna could immediately see Karina's disappointment at her response. The girl looked down at her hands, a small frown at the edge of her lips.

"That's not a real answer," Karina said.

"I suppose not."

"Manna?" the girl asked, looking back up at her after a brief moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"You were the Nita weren't you?"

"I am the Nita still. It is not a position you can give up. Though Fiona is the acting Nita I will never cease to serve our people."

"So do you have magik?"

Manna was surprised by the question. Karina had never asked such things so directly before. Though she had taught her student the sacred texts of the Initiate, Manna knew Karina saw these stories as little more than fairy tales. As for medicinal lore, she had avoided delving too deeply into any semblance of magikal practice. It was too dangerous. If Karina were in inadvertently tell any that she was being trained in the ways of the Initiate, the Council might suspect that they were seeking to undermine the pact she and Fiona had made before the child's birth.

"I learned many things during my time with the Initiate in Sithrah," Manna answered evasively. " It was there that I learned arts of healing, prayers to invoke the power of God and the Fae. To ask them for guidance and aid."

"But do you have real magik?

Manna stared at the girl for a moment, considering how best to answer, but Karina continued, without waiting for a response.

"Aidan says you do."

"Does he?"

Karina nodded. "He says that you have good magik, but that you have dark magik too and that you can hurt people with it."

So it was the boy who had motivated this line of inquiry, Manna thought to herself. Karina's questions were nothing more than the propagation of many's misguided fears of the Initiate and its inductees. Even among the Senmin it was not uncommon to hear such things whispered. The sacred women of Sithrah were revered yes, but also looked upon with a certain amount of distrust and fear. Manna wondered what Aidan might have said exactly to inspire Karina's sudden concerns.

"What else does he say?" Manna asked

The girl was quiet and Manna looked at her thoughtfully.

"Karina, are you afraid of me?" she asked.

Karina looked down at her lap. "Aidan is." She answered quietly

"That was not my question."

Karina looked up into Manna's face, wrinkling her face in thought, her mouth pursed together in a slight frown, brow furrowed. "No" she said after a moment. "But I'm afraid of Nita Fiona."

Manna did not reply.

"Manna, why does the Nita hate me so much?"

The words cut Manna deeply. She imagined what Fiona would say to hear Karina speak so. She had always done her best to allow Fiona space in dealing with her daughter, but to hear Karina so certain of her mother's hate was upsetting.

"Karina you shouldn't say such things," Manna chided. "Fiona loves all of her people."

"Not me."

"Let's continue with our lesson." There was no use arguing the point. Nothing Manna might say would convince her student of Fiona's true feelings.

"Manna?"

"What is it?" Manna returned, sharpening her tone ever so slightly in hopes the child could be turned away from her questions and back to her studies.

"Nita Fiona was your student wasn't she?"

"She was"

"Like me?"

"I suppose so. I trained Fiona."

"So you're not afraid of her?"

Manna couldn't help but laugh slightly. She shook her head. "No Karina, I am not afraid of the Nita. I respect her immensely and care for her as if she was my own child."

"Do you care for me?"

"You are full of questions today aren't you."

Karina was not dissuaded by her chastisement. "But do you?"

"Karina, we have spent far too much time chatting. You are my charge, my pupil. When your mother was on her deathbed I swore to her that I would care for you. She was my dear friend, a sister of the Initiate. I hold vows to my Initiate sisters as sacred above all else. It is my duty to raise you and ensure you are well educated."

The girl looked disappointed. Manna sighed.

"And of course I care for you." She concluded.

"What was my mother like?" the girl asked

"Karina!"

The girl puffed out her lower lip again in an angry pout but stopped her talk. Manna could see this brief respite was only temporary. Karina was distracted for the rest of the afternoon. As the girl pretended interest in the books in front of her, and lazily scrawled her letters, Manna could practically hear the question forming in her student's mind. Sure enough, as Karina was putting away her books for the day, the interrogation began again.

"Manna?"

"Yes"

"Did you want to be The Nita?"

The question caught Manna entirely off guard.

"I suppose I never really thought about it. "Manna answered wondering where this new line of inquiry might lead.

"Really?"

"Karina, it was a very long time ago." Manna grinned mischievously. "Ages and ages and ages ago!" she said tickling the girl's side.

Karina giggled, but her eyes were still sharp. Manna knew she hadn't dropped the topic. Sure enough, Karina was only distracted momentarily. "You must have felt something," she insisted.

"I felt pride," Manna answered. "I was proud to have been chosen to lead my people.

"But did you want to?"

Manna didn't know what to say. She stared into the girl's face in silence for a moment. "I didn't have a choice," she answered simply.

Karina considered this and seeming find the response acceptable, nodded her head in understanding.

"I'm glad I never have to be Nita," she proclaimed with the authority and certainty that only a child could manage.

Manna stared at her, unnerved and disheartened by her apparent certainty. "Why would you say that?" she asked cautiously.

" Because it's hard," Karina replied.

Manna frowned slightly, surprised by the earnest simplicity of her statement. "Karina, I have taught you better than that," she admonished. " There are many things that are hard. It doesn't mean that they are not worth doing."

Karina shook her head. "That's not what I meant," she said. "Being Nita is hard in a different way. The Nita must be willing to sacrifice everything for her people and she cannot make mistakes. Like Nita Fiona."

Manna laughed softly. "Karina, everyone makes mistakes. Even Fiona." She winked. "Even me."

The girl shook her head again. " No, that's not it either. The Nita cannot make mistakes like the ones I make. I make the wrong kind of mistakes."

Manna didn't like the way she said it. Her face looked so sad. But then the sadness faded and Karina smiled.

"I'm glad Nita Fiona chose Mina as her successor," Karina said. "She will be a good leader.

Manna was quiet. The girl's words were unsettling. There was a simple wisdom in all of it, far beyond her years, and in her words, Manna felt the level of betrayal she was perpetrating against her student magnified tenfold. She was raising her to take on so many burdens, resting so much hope on her small shoulders. This poor child was entirely unaware of the fate to which she had been born and could not escape. Karina smiled at Manna, oblivious of the guilt her words had inspired.

"Come here," Manna said, gathering the girl in her arms. "I'm sure that of you wanted to, you would make a wonderful Nita." She kissed Karina's head and stroked her hair. Karina squirmed to turn and look up at her.

"Can I go out now?" she asked. Manna smiled and nodded.

In an instant, Karina had freed herself from Manna's arms, a big grin spread across her face. She ran happily to the door without a backwards glance. Manna went to the window and watched as she raced down the hill towards town, free, without a care. Let her play now, Manna thought to herself. Let her play and laugh and love for as long as she can, and pray that things will be better. Pray that the prophecy is wrong. Pray that she will never have to take up the mantel she so fears, and most of all, pray that when all prayers fail, she will forgive you for what you have to do.