Ariadne Caligari background

**-18 years**

“She will be beautiful ,” the older woman said softly, “and she will be powerful. I can see it.”

The other did not respond immediately, but kept looking at the baby in her crib. After a moment she touched the child’s soft dark hair.  “She will be both of these things. And they will become a curse.

“She’s marked with the ocean and the wind. They’ll call her. She’ll go. And when she does, she’ll call something terrible on this house. No Fate Witch walks that path without cost.

“Her birth is no blessing.”

And the mother began to weep.

**-6 years**The teenage girl sat in the window.

Outside, the servants had started looking for her. She could hear the scolding tone of her nursemaid.

“…well, the little Lady can’t have just vanished…”

No one had tried drawing the drapes. No one ever did. The girl’s mother said the sun made her head ache, and so the women’s quarters stayed shrouded in shadow.

At some point the girl would have to return to the darkness. She’d known that from the day she first started to see the faint shadowy strands. But for the moment she lingered, looking up at the sun.

**-5 years**The body of the Prince’s oldest son lay in state for a week. His wounds were covered in velvet and brocade

The body of his young wife was locked away. Even in death, no one saw her face. No one spoke her name.

She had, after all, failed. She had birthed no sons, only one daughter and then sunk into madness.

Some say she had been trapped in the moment of her own death for years. But when she spoke, her words were gibberish and there was no one who could truly tell what it was that she had foretold.

**-2 years**
“Her name is Ariadne Caligari,” one of the courtesans whispered, behind her fan. “She is the Prince’s granddaughter. They say she foretold her mother’s death.
“They say,” another murmured, “that she caused her mother’s death.”

The veiled figure turned towards them. The women fell silent.

Tomorrow an urchin would kiss their hands in gratitude, as they gave before the cathedral door.

She wasn’t meant to do that, but Ariadne liked the sun on her face. She liked the warmth of skin beneath her lips even more. After all, all it took was a single kiss and they would be hers…

**-6 months**

“Your husband,” the old Prince said, “it’s a powerful man. He has four sons already, and so I doubt he will expect you to take his bed. But he will wish to use your skills.

“You will travel amongst strangers. He will expect you to maintain the highest standards. Do not think you are permitted to indulge in foreign indulgence. He will wish you kept close and pure.”

Ariadne bowed her head submissively, and clasped her hands. She said nothing. She felt nothing. No one would have expected anything less or anything more. She was a Fate Witch, after all.

**-1 week**

She was beautiful and she was powerful.

The maids in the tower scurried around, anxious to avoid the Fate Witch’s eye as they packed her cases - black velvet, black silk, black lace - even if she had not been seen all morning.

No one drew the drapes. No one ever drew the drapes. The Fate Witch said the light gave her a headache. So Ariadne was safe behind them, gazing through the window.

“I am half sick of shadows,” she said, softly, to herself.

In the distance, she could see the faintest glimpse of the blue of the sea.