Regia's face became sullen on hearing her mother's words. She couldn't fully grasp the meaning of her mother's words at the moment.
She looked away and shook her head before letting out a confused chuckle,her mother he to be pulling her legs,she had to. She looked at her mother's face.
"What do you mean you are not my mother?", she asked,trying to be gentle with her words but could feel emotions take over.
Her mother turned to face her,finally gathering enough courage to continue.
" I adopted you as my child,I saw you in the Macedonian forest on the night of the second invasion,you were in a cave all wrapped head to toe in a miniature casket,I thought you were dead but when I looked closer, I saw that you were just sleeping, and a note was in your basket,it had your name,Regia ",she said and paused to look at her daughters face,
" And when I called out your name,your eyes fluttered open instantly,I don't know how long you stayed in that forest but all I did know at that moment was that you are no normal child",she said and paused again.
"Your father didn't die on the night of the invasion because you never had a father,I'm sorry for lying to you for eighteen years,please forgive me", she said her voice chocked before she finally stopped uttering anymore words.
Regia nodded her head slowly,trying to process all the information that she had just received. She was a rejected child was the thought that kept repeating itself in her mind. Her real parents has thrown her away,abandoning her in a cave in the forest.
If her mother hadn't come the time she did she might not even be alive. She understood what her mother meant by saying that she was no normal child,she had known it all her life and had never been able to reconcile it until now. It all made sense,nevertheless,all she knew was that fate had brought them together for a purpose.
Tears pooled in her eyes,despite her efforts to suppress them. She moved and hugged her mother from the side.
Her mother was touched by the sudden show of emotions. She hadn't expected her to reconcile with her emotions so fast.
She hugged her back and the two of them let the tears fall freely,hugging each other.
"You will always be my mother, if not for you,I would not he here today, so just forget about that,you will always, always be my mother,always", she said and could feel the hold of her mother tighten around her.
When they were done with their emotional release,she went to her room and when she was certain that her mother had gone to sleep,began to sneak to her little river in the forest by climbing out her room window.
She went there each month to have a dip and for one reason only,a reason even her mother knew nothing about. Her mother's confession tonight made her wonder who her parents really were and what they were.
Ever since she was a child,she had a special ability which she wanted nobody else to find out. She grabbed a new nightgown from her little closet, stuffed it in a bag and set out to go.
She sneaked in the dark and made her way through the forest. By this time of the night,nobody dared come out at night for fear of not ever returning to their houses.
It was a common rumour that whoever came out at night would get abducted by patrolling officials of the state's monarchy yet,in all her years of sneaking out to the river,she hadn't seen as much as one soul patrol the village route.
She walked along the path to the forest,crushing dried leaves as she went along. This was going to be her last dip in the pool of water and she wondered how she was going to go through her purification,a ritual that she had developed for herself.
She looked ahead to have a view of the river and began to strip her outfit,an article at a time. She walked into the water,placing her legs carefully in the submerging rocks as she went deeper into the water.
She submerged herself under the water and stayed there for a few more seconds,not breathing. She could feel the heat emanate from her body as the water around her became warm.
She swam in deeper,fully releasing herself to the seductive wiles of the water. She then swam to the surface and smoothed her hair backwards.
She let out a sigh of relief as she felt herself fully release itself in but then,she heard sound of leaves cracking coming from the forest. She submerged herself back into the water, only her nose and eyes above it.
She looked straight ahead,trying to decipher through the help of the generous moonlight,who could have mustered enough courage to break the village's sacred rule besides her.
She waited for a few seconds and looked straight ahead,silently watching to catch a look at the person. She could feel her once relaxed nerves tense again and the heat she had just released built back.
After a few more seconds of waiting, she could see the silhouette of the person approaching, it was a man.
He seemed to be walking towards the river. Her eyes widened with sudden realisation that she was stark naked beneath the water.
Her breath hitched as her heart decided to increase its pace. She could now see the man even more clearly and she watched him approach the river,a smile in his face.
She narrowed her eyes to observe who the man was and gasped when she saw that it was the same man who tried to murder her and Mr Alsop earlier that day.
He smiled when she recognized him.
"So you remember me,I guess you are not as dull as you look,prinkipissa", he said with a shameless grin.
Regia glared daggers at him,he was such an idiot for coming to intrude her private soak.
" What are you doing here,you murderer ",she said with much venom which only seemed to amuse him all the more.
" Well today was definitely a mistake,I didn't get my catch of killing you,I mustn't let my rank fall in the army by not successfully killing one person,a woman for that matter",he replied blatantly causing her eyes to widen.
He put his hand behind his back and brought out a dagger. He ran his finger through the edge of the dagger carefully, but it was enough to cut him.
"Let my blood touch the ground in recompense for killing the daughter of a basileus", he said and with that proceeded his advance into the water.
Regia didn't know what to do as she watched him approach the river bank. The river was one that led into the ocean so she had no other means of escaping.
The man entered into the river with confidence,an air of arrogance flying all around him. Regia backed up as he approached her. She was still nude and didn't know what to do,to run out naked or to hide in embarrassment.
The man was just few inches from her and she looked into the moon,uttering her silent prayers. She then dived under the water and swam as quickly as she could around the man,putting him in an underwater prison.
The man then got stuck in the water,he couldn't move instead he was sinking into the water. This trick presented itself into her mind as she was pondering a means of escape.
She didn't know if it would work or if she was just presenting herself to be killed but she decided to follow her instincts nonetheless.
The man definitely never anticipated that move for a moment. He would have been really shocked but she was far more.
Regia then swam to the river bank. She had ensured that the man was wholly submerged in water before she left her liquid covering.
She then hurried and wore her clothes,her body still wet. She knew that the man might escape, but she spared no second thought to look.
She took the clothes she had removed earlier which were still on the forest grounds and stuffed them into her bag before rushing out of the forest onto the village paths.
She thanked her protector silently in her heart,she had come through for her once again.
She snuck to her window and slowly but quietly got into her room. She tossed her bag aside and was about to lay on the bed when the lantern came on.
Her mother had come to check on her but hadn't seen her in her room. She knew how adventurous and defying her daughter was and feared greatly for her safety.
She felt a huge rush of relief on sighting her come in through the window, but also felt another feeling on annoyance strangle her.
Regia froze on the spot when the lantern appeared,she hadn't been expecting her mother in her room by this time of the night.
Her mother stared at her,her lips parted wanting to say something but having nothing to say,she closed her mouth.
Regia decided to break the second long silence.
"Mother, I...", she tried to think of an excuse but nothing was forthcoming.
Her mother then found the right words to say,intervening at the moment.
" Regia, I, I know the information may have been hard on you and you needed fresh air,but you know the rules child, why would you put me under such uncalled worry",she said and Regia smiled internally having found a new excuse.
She resorted to lying and feigning her expressions to that of a meek and apologetic person.
"I'm sorry mother,I never meant to put you into unnecessary panic but I needed to go clear my head,I thought I was okay with the news but when I came to the room,I became so overburdened, I couldn't bear it,I'm sorry", she lied, acting the role with perfect sniffles and a low voice.
Her mother looked at her and her heart couldn't bear to stay angry with her anymore.
" Come here child",she said calling her and Regia gently and slowly moved forward towards her mother's welcoming embrace.
When she entered into the embrace of her mother,she felt her mothers hand stiffen having touched her clothe.
"My,child,did you have your bath outside,where exactly did you even go to anyway", she asked feeling her damp clothe and air. Regia stilled again,her heart thudding and mind racing,looking for another decent lie.
" I wanted to clear my head literally,so I, uhm,poured water on my head from the nearby well",she said quietly,hoping her mother would buy it.
Her mother sighed upon hearing her words. Regia really was a very difficult child to understand sometimes.
She just shook her head and let a smile she wanted to suppress escape her lips.
"Dry your hair and go to sleep Regia,you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow", she said and Regia suddenly remembered,she was going to the home of Lord Albania the following day.
Her mother turned to go, bidding her a good night and she did the same. She lit a lantern and dried her hair before lying on the bed.
She wondered what to expect in her new life and could feel an unusual excitement surge even though she didn't like the idea of leaving home.
Her mother was right,she had a long day tomorrow and she needed to sleep. She turned and switched off the lantern before accepting the invite to float with the clouds.