Lady turned to face her mother " Yes, mother?"
"I'm well by the way and listen carefully to what I am about to say" Her mother said sternly with her jaws clenched a bit and it was quite apparent that she was speaking out of spite and she wouldn't have talked to Lady if the message wasn't important.
"Mother, I'm all ears" Lady said still with a calm expression.
"Follow me" Her mother beckoned to her and she heeded as she followed her into her mother's hut.
There in the hut, her mother lifted a piece of rag that served as her mother's stepping mat before she went to bed and chanted in an unknown language. Much to Lady's astonishment, the room shook a little and Lady watched with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as the floor cracked open revealing a set of stairs
Her mother glanced at her and nodded to her to follow as she took the lead on descending the stairs. Lady followed her mother down the stairs, which was a lot of stairs too, till finally they arrived at a place, Lady could only describe as serene.
The room had a chilling effect, the air inside was damp and cold and a little frustrating too. Lady felt goosebumps developing on her skin as a soft breeze blew over her. The room felt oddly familiar and she racked her brains to find if truly she had been here or seen the room before, only to come with a vague picture that brought about a splitting headache.
Lady exhaled and then sighed, letting her hands fall at her sides as she gave up remembering and looked around the room. Her mother sat on a small white stool that was placed in the middle of the room and cleared her throat to gain Lady's attention.
"Have you ever heard of the four pillars?" her mother asked when she had fully gained the attention of Lady.
"Yes mother" Lady began " If my memories don't fail me, I recall the elder one telling about us about the four pillars of the our village"
Her mother nodded and then placed an elbow on her knee, lifting the palm of that elbow to support her chin, scrutinizing Lady for a bit before she said,
"Then, tell me what you heard about them"
"Mother may I?" Lady asked and pointed to the ground before her mother asking for permission to sit down.
Her mother nodded that she was allowed and then Lady sat directly in front of her mother and crossed her legs.
"Mother, I heard that for every hundred years or so the goddess visits us, her children in the form of a human being, the one we call the Makri. But since the goddess needs a way to communicate with us and also sustain the village, she chooses four women from every generation introduced into the society as women to stand as her representatives to flourish and pray for the land" Lady breathed out after her explanation with a smile on her face but internally cringing that she must have disappointed her mother from explaining a little vaguely and too short unlike how the elder one said hers.
"I believe you have a fair knowledge about the four pillars and what you know is the truth also." Her mother hesitated and stood up from the stool going to the far left corner of the room and sighing repeatedly.
Finally she returned to where the stool was but this time she didn't sit on it but rather stood by it and looked into the eyes of Lady.
"Tommorow is the first meeting for the new chosen pillars where we the old ones will help the current pillars to pass on our powers to the new women" she paused on purpose fully expecting Lady to ask her an unavoidable question.
And Lady did ask a question with furrowed eyebrows and a confused face " Mother by 'we', are you saying that you used to be a pillar?"
"Was I chewing food when I was talking?" Her mother retorted.
"And you didn't tell me for once mother!" Lady gasped.
"I didn't see the need to tell you about it" her mother rolled her eyes.
"Oh" Lady deflated "So why are telling me about this then?" she murmured.
"Because... Because" Her mother stopped and cursed, turning her back to Lady.
"Because what?, Mother" Lady pressed on.
Her mother inhaled sharply and exhaled rather deeply and turned back to Lady, fully facing her " Because you have been picked as one of the five"
Lady leaped from her place on the ground, her heart already beating its way out of her chest.
"What?" she shrieked " And why am.i chosen?, Why did they even choose five instead of four?, Why-?
"Shut up, young lady!" Her mother chastised " The hundred years is up this year and it's time for the goddess to descend down upon us. Tommorow is day designated to the goddess since ancient times so the ceremony will be held then in the wee hours of the night. The current pillars communed with the goddess and she showed them those she wanted and you, my dear was part of those they saw in their vision" she explained suddenly feeling drained and then sitting in the stool.
"But why me, mother?"
"We all don't know, in fact no one knows what how the goddess goes about things. We just follow her commands as her representatives and her trusted mates for the rest of our lives so I'm afraid I have no answers to your questions"
"So does that mean, the Makri would be chosen from us?"
Her mother nodded.
"Oh heavens, I don't want to be chosen as the Makri, I would not be able to shoulder all those responsibilities that comes with it" Lady sighed exasperated, she was already frustrated in life as it is.
" I also pray so" her mother murmured too soft for Lady to hear. If Lady becomes the Makri, then the prophecy would be drawn towards her family and she just can't stand for the family she has worked so hard to create to fall apart right before her eyes.
If anything she had suspected that Lady would definitely be called by the pillars the day her father almost lost his fingers in that deadly trap and she had been praying ever since that she would become just a pillar and not the Makri.
'The Makri arises and her family falls apart, cleansed and separated from them. Her sacrifice bound to be her family, her power bound to pass through darkness. Her life drawn through thorns and her loved ones astray'
The prophecy tinged in her ears and she glanced at Lady who seemed to be far gone in her thoughts, and she made a firm and final decision, she would have to do something about Lady if she becomes the Makri, besides she has nothing to fear as her power would take at least six months to develop and that was much more time than she could bargain for.
"Now child" she called out and snapped Lady from her thoughts " speak about this to no one and prepare for the ceremony tomorrow. You can come to me for any guidance that you might need and be prepared for anything, understood?"
"I understand Mother" Lady replied calmly despite the storm that was brewing inside of her
"Come on, let's leave before someone realises that we are nowhere to be found and catches us here" Her mother said and stood up already walking up the stairs in a hurry.
Lady followed her wordlessly and thanked her after they had come up the stairs into her mother's hut.
"Remember what I said, speak about this to no one, not even your father" Her mother warned again.
"Purely understood mother. I'll excuse myself now" Lady bowed slightly and turned to go after her mother nodded.
And as she left the confinement of her mother's hut, she could hear the faint murmur of the chant her mother was chanting and the rustle of her stepping rug being placed in the floor but all these weren't what she was thinking about, it was why she had been chosen and the most important one was how she was now a possible Makri.
She took slow confused steps and before she realised she was in her hut and she was already sitting on her bed. She tried to reach into the deeper parts of her brain for answers but all she could find was a giant black hole of nothingness and more questions popping out from it.
She groaned and lied on her bed on her back with her eye closed. What could possibly be the reason why she was chosen and why did the secret room in her mother's hut seemed so familiar?.
She turned and turned and turned on her bed but nothing changed and no answer came. Finally she felt her eyelids becoming heavy and her brain feeling tired. She turned to her left side from her right and placed a cloth above her legs and succumbed to sleep, maybe the sleep might help conjure up some answers for her.