One thing I had to say about Goddess Mathilda is that she didn’t keep me waiting long. As I relaxed on the bed, there was a rustling sound outside my hut and a knock sounded at the door. “Imagine entertaining company in this god-forsaken place,” I muttered. I hauled myself to my feet, swung open the door, and gazed raptly at my idol. “It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace,” I said, giving her a respectful curtsy.
“Your Grace, is it?” she said, tilting her head and peering at me. “Under the circumstances, you’d best call me Mathilda and I’ll call you Lynette. There is no need for formalities out here. I’m here to help and to offer you the hand of friendship.”
“I could use all the help I can get, Your…um…Mathilda.” I shrugged. “This isn’t exactly the Waldorf, but I think I have the makings for tea or something in there.” I swept my arm toward the kitchenette, shrugged again.
“Ah, you do. I saw to that,” she replied. I beckoned her to sit down, then rummaged around in the supplies Mathilda had left for me earlier.
We sipped our tea in silence for a while and I was relieved to sit. I was weak after my brush with death; even preparing tea was exhausting. “I’m sorry. I would have put together something for us to eat with our tea, but…” I trailed off and looked down.
“You are exhausted and recovering, Lynette. Social politeness can wait for another time. The important thing is that you get your strength back.” She sipped daintily at her tea and studied me with those dark eyes that seemed to look right into my soul. “I have only an hour before I must go, so we need to make the most of our time. There is a lot I must tell you.”
“Mainly why I’m here, right?” I asked, looking at her over my teacup.
“Even I don’t know for certain, but I have my suspicions as to why you are here. You are meant to fulfill an important destiny, and I believe that your being here is the only way for it to happen. I have reason to believe that here is the safest place for you and that danger surrounds you on the mainland.”
Her words and intonation of her speech made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. “So…you’re saying that I’m destined to be here and that something would happen to me back home?” I shivered. “The only one I can think of who’d want to do me in would be my fiance’s mother. She hates me, really loathes me. I wasn’t good enough for her precious little boy. I’m sure she’s throwing the bash of the century now that she likely thinks me dead.” I said, a note of bitterness in my voice.
Mathilda lowered her teacup, frowning. “If you feel she is capable of doing you harm, it’s best that she continues to believe you dead. In fact, Ariadne, White Wolf and I are the only ones who know for certain that you are alive. I will not reveal that to anyone else except Lenora and Alina, who are my daughters and their husbands. Someone will visit you once a month, whether it’s me or one of them. None of us can remove you from this island but you can trust them as you do me.”
“At least I won’t be in total solitude. That’s at least something,” I sighed. “What am I to do with myself though? I guess I could learn to fish, but a person can do something for only so long.”
“I understand,” Mathilda nodded. “I am leaving a few things here with you. There will be plenty of reading material, and I’m leaving a radio that’s equipped with long-range reception. As you enjoy painting and writing stories, I’m leaving an easel, a tablet and a special computer that will allow you to contact me any time. The tablet is loaded with more books and things. There is a generator I’ve charmed to keep you in power until I or one of my daughters visits you again to renew it. Eventually, you’ll be able to do that yourself because i am challenging you with improving your magical skill. I’ll tutor you during our visits and will leave instructions and things for you to work on in my absence. You’ll have no internet connection, but I’ve made it so you can use the electronics to contact me if need be as I’ve said. Right now, that’s all I can leave you with.”
I mustered a weak smile. “It’s more than I expected, really. At least I won’t be bored out of my mind. Just one more thing. Will I live alone here for good?”
Mathilda gave me an enigmatic look and poured herself more tea. That is a topic of discussion for another day. I’m certain more will be revealed to me, which I will share with you when I can. From now until my next visit, I suggest you work on improving your magic, beginning some paintings, and even writing some pieces. You could even begin a journal if you wish.”
When we finished our tea, Mathilda arose and pointed at the bed. “You need to rest some more. Then, you can worry about setting things up how you want them. I must leave you now.”
I heaved a resigned sigh, not looking forward to the solitude. “Thank you for your generosity. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. I thought for sure I might go mad.”
“You have more courage than you realize, Lynette. Everything will turn out the way it’s meant to.” With that, she spun on the spot and disappeared in a vale of white light. I was alone on the Island of Woe once again.
Returning to the bed, my mind began to whirl. I still didn’t know why I was here or anything about this destiny I’m meant to fulfill. Then, there was Mathilda and her involvement. I had the feeling she knew beforehand what my fate was to be. She was free to visit me and could leave any time she wanted. As my eyes grew heavy with drowsiness, another question rose to the surface. Why was Mathilda helping me? There was obviously some reason she was going out of her way to offer me assistance; Mathilda Kelly didn’t do things for no reason. The last thing I remembered thinking before sleep claimed me was that the magnificent woman who’d saved me knew more, a lot more about this than she was letting on.
I’m intrigued and frustrated…I want to know more! LOL I agree, there is a bigger picture/story here and I bet it will be a doozy when we find out what it is. Could Jason’t mother be so heartless? Is there something more important she needs to do with her life other than marry Jason? What could it be?
Oooo, I’m so glad you want to know more. 😀 More will be revealed as the story unfolds. Keep that thought alive. I think there could be more to Jason’s mother than meets the eye. She will have some sort of impact on the world, even from her tiny little island, but we will have to wait to find out. 😀