Today is the day I start my official ‘Blessed Warrior Training’. I tried sneaking a peek at Ghisé and Jiju’s regimen a few times, but Jiju was sharp and I wasn’t very stealthy. I asked Jiju what the training would be like and what she meant by “a proper Blessed” multiple times all week, but she was adamant that it could all wait until today.

Well today was here, and I was ready. When Jiju first proposed… well, demanded the regimen, it sounded like hell—if that’s even a real thing. A life or death escape from a years long prison can really take the wind out of one’s wings. Today, I could taste the lightning in the air spurring me on.

I left bed not long after Jiju, went for a morning jog, did some stretches and calisthenics, bathed in the stream, even cleaned my room all before the time I’d normally eat breakfast, which I brought back with me. When I finally did sit down for a meal, I helped myself to a double portion—sure I’ll need all the fuel. If we had a mirror I would’ve done some morning affirmations, but I was plenty fired up already.

When Jiju finally came for me, I promptly stopped what I was doing, stood up straight, and said to her, “I’m ready!… Wait? Where is Ghisé?”

Jiju cocked her brow, and moved past me, pulling the curtain to Terese’s room aside. “For Ghisé, it is learning to be Guardian, for you it is learning to be Blessed. Come.” I followed Jiju into the former Henmother’s room.

The Guardian perched up in front of a table and began, “Though you have a sharp mind, you can be immature at times. I would have worked that out of you in last few Springs had you not gotten yourself captured.” So right into a lecture for the day—she wasted no time on greetings and pleasantries.

Though any defense to what she said died on my lips. I knew that there was a human settlement within a couple days’ journey. I knew that fledglings were supposed to stay in the village. The village rules existed for a reason. I had to thank Jiju properly for making this whole situation work.

“What should I do?” I asked.

She nodded, satisfied. “Listen mostly. For one your age to be considered a fledgling because of tradition is a ploy, but one we can use to our benefit. I can treat you as a Fledgling Lightblessed. We get the time that Getra and the humans stole.”

“You’re going to treat me like a child!?”

She chuckled—audibly. It was shocking enough to stop me before I could really get a good protest going. “Only when necessary and for your benefit. Now empty the room, are you strong enough for that?”

I huffed, “This sounds like cleaning… not listening.” I must’ve had good reason to want to be a kid again, but for the two lives of me, I couldn’t figure it out in these moments. “I was up nice and early, went for a jog, caught some breakfast… extra breakfast: I’m good,” I beamed with satisfaction.

But there were no gold stars coming from Jiju. She said, “Keep doing that. The humans are your friends. You feed them. Also you need to eat more, you are too tiny.” In my defense I was locked in a cage with little regard for the Hesht palette, but it was nice to know Jiju had a bit of henmother in her considering our situation.

My brow came down, “Not, ‘the humans.’ Alex and Vander.”

She thought—and nodded, “Yes. Alex and Vander. Now, clean.”

I knew it was cleaning!

I grabbed a simple wooden crate from a stack that Jiju had brought in earlier in the week and started loading the smaller items into it. As I went about my task she said, “The reason you are emptying the room is that this place will become your Sanctuary. It will help you connect with what makes you Blessed.”

“Like, a prayer chamber?”

Jiju shrugged, “It is different for each. If that is what you’d like you can. After this day, no one will enter this room without either your permission or our aggression.”

I moved a filled crate into the common room, then returned to ask, “What makes someone Blessed? What’s the point of all this?”

“Power.”

“Succinct but unhelpful.”

“But that’s why. Blessed have the kind of power that makes them formidable warriors and leaders alike. And even if neither interests you, it still may interest other mortal races—as you’ve experienced firsthand—or even other Hesht.”

I started on another crate, “The Chief. Should I be worried?”

“I don’t know. But her concern is primarily the village. It’s a good thing your clutchmate is being groomed for village leadership. Chief Getra wont jeopardize her relationship with Cee. She may ask Cee for information about any visits she makes here though.”

“My sisters and I are not pawns to be conveniently used by the Chief.,”

Jiju shook her head, “You think too small. You should not let yourself be bound by the village at all. This chief, or the next. Even if it ends up being Cee. That’s why this place will exist. I consider it good fortune that Terese was so stubborn about maintaining what is now our home. Or maybe she just knew you might need it someday. She’s seen a lot of Springs, and might have known what a Blessed like you would need to live here.”

“How many Springs are you?”

Jiju stiffened slightly at the question. “Over forty,” she finally answered. “But you should not ask those questions to any with talons on their eyes.”

Over forty? I thought she was pushing thirty at most. I looked closely at her eyes, and there were the ‘talons’ in the corner, tiny and faint. “You call those wrinkles? The Chief looks like dried out hide.” Jiju laughed again. I could get used to her showing a bit more emotion. She certainly needed to loosen up, and I’ll call the chief names all day if that’s what it takes. I might just do that anyway.

I stacked a crate on top of a small cabinet, tapped into Ghisé’s handy Enhancer spellbraid, and pushed the stack out into the common room. “When you said ‘a Blessed like’ me, did you mean a Lightblessed or a Talivi.”

Her brow twitched, “I meant ‘a Talivi’ as you put it; did Chief Getra’s comment insult you?”

“The way she said it was hard to ignore completely. But it did make me wonder about other Blessed out there. You mentioned Phoenix, a Fireblessed I guess?” I grabbed a third crate.

“The Fireblessed,” she corrected. "There is—or was—only one. Immortal, and reborn each time she died. The stories of her end several centuries back though.”

“Why is that? Did she become withdrawn?” I asked.

Jiju shrugged, “The stories of her are old, Lightblessed. There is the idea she became disillusioned and withdrawn. Some believe one of the other mortal races found a way to prevent her from returning. More believe the Earthblessed set aside their differences with the Lightblessed and together, they were responsible. Others, that the gods put an end to her—fearful of a mortal with such power.

“It is said in some incarnations she could create a sun within the palm of her hand—that if she wanted to: could unleash it, destroying an entire land in an instant, cursing it with infertility and death for decades for any who tried to stay and rebuild.”

“But you prayed to her,” I said.

The guardian nodded, “I believe as all the Hesht in my family line do, and many more Hesht used to. That Fireblessed Phoenix was divinity made mortal. That she was the highest Authority for our people—a creator as much as a destroyer. If the gods took her from this world then it was only to bring her back to her rightful place among them.”

So Phoenix was unique, even among the Blessed. I suppose that meant she was ‘a proper Blessed’—the ideal. I thought about what she might have been like. Was she stoic like Jiju, or more kind and empathetic like Sen. Throughout that many lives, maybe she was many things. If she was reborn, connected to her past like I am, then how did she come to terms with that? If she was born from nothing—from the ashes like some legends related to the name Phoenix, then who was her Ghisé? “She had no clutchmates then.” I said finally, “That sounds lonely.”

Jiju rocked forward on her perch so her elbows came to rest on the table with her chin in her hand. It was a very casual position. Maybe Phoenix’s religion wasn’t very reserved when speaking of their Divine. “She might have at one time. I don’t know if she was happy—I only know the history of my Order—but she wasn’t lonely.”

The tone of her voice took on a measure of pride when she said, “The Old Guardians were her children, her children’s children, and so on. They served her—they watched her die, be born again, then raised and served her again. We also believe the other Blessed—Light and Earth—have a small piece of her in them. Living as long as she did, she laid many clutches, and was able to meet distant descendants. Though by now, even the names of my ancestors that have met her are lost.”

“She kept her own eggs? No Hatchome?”

Jiju laughed, “Vander told me you did not care for history.” At some point I had unconsciously paused my work clearing the room. “I will tell you all the stories I can remember in time. We have many days ahead, don’t get distracted now,” said Jiju.

“I care when it affects me! So is all this why Chief looks at me like she does? Does she have somthing against Lightblessed?” I asked.

“If it helps, she probably would only prefer you were Earthblessed if it meant keeping to yourself. Though they are more uncommon than Lightblessed, they are formidable. I’d avoid them if possible.” She crossed her arms and started, “Lightblessed are known to be…” Jiju averted her eyes and paused, chewing on the thought. I resumed my task while waiting for her to complete the thought. Finally finding the right word, she said, “Brash.”

“Is that the kindest word you could come up with?!” My dramatic gesturing knocked a few items I was organizing out of place.

“Would you rather the unkind words?”

“No, but I need to know what others are thinking.”

She nodded and continued, “Unlike the stubborn but withdrawn Earthblessed, Lightblessed tend to get into trouble, find themselves in dangerous situations—“

“—storm off and get captured by humans,” I said as I tossed a few items messily into the crate.

She smirked, then sighed. “Lightblessed can be seen as unreliable at best, trouble at worst. At least… that's the way Chief Getra tells it.”

“How do you tell it?’

She thought for a time again before speaking, but found the words more quickly than “brash”. “The Lightblessed are the free spirits among the Blessed, agents of change. That can mean great or terrible things. In your case, I believe it will be great things. It’s why I, like your clutchmates, could not give up on you easily once I learned you were alive. Even if it meant putting myself in danger.”

Jiju hopped off her perch, which I moved out of the room along with the table and last crate. She said, “The reason I tell you this is because the Sanctuary you create will be completely yours. You can return here to connect with what makes you Blessed. That may be the spiritual if you believe in such things.”

“You don’t mind what I believe?”

“Gods, spirits, nature, mana; what’s the difference? People make the difference. You draw strength from what’s important to you. Now, enough questions. Spend the rest of today making the room reflect you.”

“I probably could have used some of that furniture.”

Jiju nodded, “You can use anything here you’d like, but now it’ll be your choice to fill the room to your needs.” She patted me on the head took up a position by the hearth, and waited patiently.

I thought for a moment. As a Blessed, what should this place be to me? It could be a place to withdraw when I needed to be alone. A meditation chamber, or perhaps just one where I sit and glare at the sneaky moon. Maybe a space to work on research. With my permission, Alex and Reyna could come in, and I could evict the latter much more easily.

 If this place is supposed to connect with my self and my goals… Yes, I had an idea. Jiju said I could use anything here. With some magical assistance I shoved, twisted, and turned the entire common room table through the doorway into the chamber beyond. It took up nearly two thirds of the room once I got the whole thing in. It wasn’t a round table, but I also never drew a sword from a stone to become monarch, despite what my sister’s nickname for me would have people believe. I asked Jiju, “Can you tell my sisters that they are free to come and go here as they like? Anytime, day or night. I don’t even have to be here. Is that… okay?”

Jiju’s face was in her palm, but I saw the corners of her grin poking out from the sides. “This. This is how I will tell it the next time someone asks me what I think of Lightblessed.” She approached me, knelt down, and pressed her forehead to mine. “Finish how you like Lightblessed Talivi, I think you wont need me for the rest of this task.”

Between Ghisé and Jiju, I was confident I could be me—whoever “me” is. It was the first time in my life I was proud to be Lightblessed Hesht.