Chapter 2

Mrs. Vienna Raverton was sitting in the front lawn of the manor sipping her afternoon tea, awaiting her son who had promised to bring her some of her favorite delicate pastries. She was thinking about how well her son was doing, already having two Bachelors’ degrees and working on his Masters. Although he was the youngest student in the university, he seemed to have established a good camaraderie with his peers. He also seemed to be taking an interest in exploring sexual side of things like any other normal teenager, although she was glad that he was not acting like the teens who had a one-track mind. Mothers always knew these things, especially about their sons. Her Schuyler was destined for bigger things. She just hoped that her boy would have an equally brilliant soulmate. Vienna was glad that her son had a soulmate mark, although it was not as intricate as hers. While hers and her husband’s marks were intricate designs that resembled ornate henna tattoos, Schuyler’s was a simple mark that somehow formed the infinity symbol. There was no scientific proof that the designs were indicative of the relationship but some old-school scholars believed so.

Schuyler’s mark had only come to life when he was almost twelve, but Vienna was not worried much. It was not uncommon for the soulmate mark to appear this late in life although maximum age-gap between the soulmates was rarely more than five years. It was known as the delayed reaction and was not really unusual. All she wanted was her son to have a complete and happy life.

Lost in her thoughts, Vienna put the cup to her lips only to realize it was empty. She shook herself and started pouring a second cup when her only son banged open the gate and rushed in, running towards her. In matter of seconds, her son was in her arms and was sobbing like never before. With shaking fingers Vienna let go of the cutlery and hugged her son back, not knowing what else she could do. Schuyler was flushed red, his hair was sweaty and haphazard as if wind-blown. His shirt was untucked at one end and collar pulled to the side. He seemed to be devastated and his mother realized something major had happened. She took a deep breath and calmed herself before stroking her son’s hair, coaxing him to look up at her.

“Skai, Schuyler, baby, shh.. it’s okay. Whatever it is we will deal with it, okay?”  She didn’t know how long they were sitting like that, clinging to each other, but it was dusk by the time she could get her son inside the house and persuade him to cleanup. Schuyler didn’t come down for dinner but Vienna didn’t expect him to either. When Craig Raverton asked about his son, she made some excuse of him being unwell. She said she would take a bowl of soup to his bedroom later. She also promised herself that she would speak to her son as she had a feeling that something big had happened.