Confessed

Tangible

Spiritual

Woefulness

**Trigger warning: Infant death**

The 1500s was an incredible turning point in the world. Many nations were going through drastic changes in its culture and government and Spain was no different. They were traveling the ends of the globe, discovering new lands and claiming their control. A new king had taken the throne and the country and all its territories was soon the most powerful and influential on Earth.

The Hidalgo family was one of the several families of the royal court who lived a lavish life. Senior Hidalgo was one of the many captains who helped with charting the islands of the new world, marrying one of the most beautiful women on the island to help with the merging of cultures. A year later, the newlyweds had their first baby and said goodbye to Puerto Rico and the islands to make their way back to the Spanish court. Their Carmela was a dutiful daughter. Despite her curious and carefree nature as a child, when she reached her teen years, she wanted nothing more than to be married and have a family of her own one day. She was brought up to be the perfect and loyal wife to one of the many suitors that she would be presented by her parents.

When Carmela turned twenty, the men of court, some young and some old began to try and court the beautiful young woman. Her father had received many bids for her hand and he began to weigh the options of all the possibilities which would bring the most prestige and continued wealth to the family name.

However, Carmela had fallen for someone she shouldn’t unbeknownst to her parents and everyone else. Alvaro was not one of the many men who had come calling for her hand in marriage. In fact, Alvaro was a man of no station. He and Carmela had met in the fields of the king’s castle when her horse had gotten loose across the grounds and Alvaro, a stablehand of the king, was able to corral the animal back to her. The two had exchanged names quickly, but the connection they felt in those few moments was instant.

Carmela was finding any excuse to be at the castle after meeting the stablehand. She’d used the reason of wanting to mingle with the other women of court to plan her marriage, but her eyes were always searching for the stablehand in some attempt to steal some time with him. The two were meeting in secret for several months when Alvaro had confessed the feelings in his heart to Carmela one day and she threw her arms around him confirming that she also loved him.

A few days later and Carmela was preparing a lunch to bring Alvaro as they found themselves sneaking off into the woods by the castle to be together often. As the carriage came around to the front of their manor, her father and one of the men she recognized from court were both beaming to Carmela and her mother just as they readied themselves to go to the castle. It was then her father announced that she would be marrying the man who stood next to him, Antonio de Padilla.

Carmela’s eyes wandered over the much older man and knew exactly why her father had chosen Antonio. His family was one of the most prestigious in Spain. The ache in her chest was enough to cause her breath to escape her lungs as she stumbled backwards into the carriage, spilling the basket of food she’d made for Alvaro. Concern filled the faces of the people around her, but she quickly assured them she was alright and forced a smile to her face as she apologized, relaying with the lie of how happy she was to have such a wonderful match.

The following weeks were a blur to Carmela. Breaking the news to Alvaro was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but he swore that he would never stop loving her. Her wedding day had come and gone and she was soon living with her new husband in his lavish home that had more rooms in it then staff to fill it, often staring out of the window for hours wondering why she wasn’t happy. This was something she had always wanted; to have a husband and start a family. It was a dream come true for every young woman, yet she could not find happiness.

Despite the arranged marriage, Antonio was always good to Carmela. He would buy her anything she could ever want and was kind to her. The two were friends if nothing else, despite the love she didn’t immediately feel for him. Her heart still belonged to Alvaro no matter how hard she tried to be the dutiful wife and so, Carmela was still meeting her lover in secret. However, when she learned she was pregnant, her world suddenly changed.

Antonio was delighted to learn his wife was with child and that his family would be complete. Carmela was also on top of the world, but she couldn’t help but wonder who the father was of her baby and it terrified her to break the news to Alvaro. The dread was filling her as she saw her beloved and told him of her concerns, but still Alvaro said nothing would stop him from loving her and the child she brought into the world.

The months passed by and though Carmela had always dreamed of finally becoming a mother, the days leading up to the baby’s birth were not kind. Something was not right with the pregnancy and she could feel something was terribly wrong with her child. The excruciating pain Carmela would feel would bring her to her knees and her cries could be heard across the grounds. The fear she felt for the life of her child was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, but Carmela would endure whatever pain it took to have her baby brought into the world.

The toll on Carmela’s health was only becoming worse. The last time she was physically able to make it to see Alvaro, he could see how weak and pale she’d become. Her declining health terrified the man, but he made an oath to her then. Though he would never be as wealthy as her husband, the money he’d been saving to grant them passage to France and begin a new life for them and the child was still all he ever wanted. Carmela weakly cupped his face with her frail hands and smiled, holding his gaze for a long moment. It was a dream she’d been holding onto, but as time went on, the concern for her baby’s health was the only reason keeping her in Spain. As much as she loved Alvaro, Carmela knew when the baby came into the world, it would need all the best medical attention available, and Antonio would be able to provide the money for that. Tears spilled from her eyes with a deep sadness she couldn’t bear before she passed out in his arms.

Without much choice left to him, Alvaro lifted Carmela in his arms and carried her back to the home she shared with her husband. Antonio had questioned the stranger as the chaos ensued of the staff quickly rushing to Carmela’s aid. Alvaro had made up a lie of finding the woman in distress on the road during her walk to town, but Antonio was not convinced. For some time he believed his wife was seeing someone else, but was too devastated to follow through with his suspicions and as much as Alvaro wanted to be by Carmela’s side, he stood on the steps of the manor watching as his love was taken away and he was left alone.

Carmela was brought to the bedroom that was prepped for her delivery. She was frail and her nurses noticed the amount of blood she was losing was dangerously concerning. The pregnant woman was not swayed by her condition and she was determined to bring her baby into the world. Despite one of the field workers being sent into town on the fastest horse in the stable to fetch the doctor, there was no choice but to begin the delivery early. The pain was blinding and Carmela could feel something was wrong with the baby as she gave the last push. There were no cries from her child and the nurses were quick to look at one another with a silent understanding as their mistress lay on the bed. Antonio took his wife’s hand as the nurses looked to the man with a heavy heart and he knew without words that his son was not alive.

Antonio placed a hand on Carmela’s forehead which was drenched in the sweat of her great triumph with tears in his eyes. His wife was dying and he would never know their son. Carmela cried softly for her baby, wanting to hold him as they both went to heaven. The nurses laid the wrapped infant on her chest and soon Antonio was the only living de Padilla.

Carmela woke in a darkness. Her stomach was void of the baby she was so used to carrying and somehow her strength had returned. She called out to her husband, the nurses, and even to Alvaro, but there was no response. Soon others began to appear. None of the faces around her were recognizable and most walked around like lost spirits. Soon she too was beginning to stumble around in the darkness losing the memories she once clung onto of her life, but not that of her baby as she wrapped her arm around her stomach and repeated the name Cristiano, the name she would’ve given her son.

As time continued on, or whatever this stasis was with nothing but the wandering ghosts in the black, Carmela collapsed to the ground feeling like a shell. She no longer could remember the beauty of her country, her proud family, the touch of her beloved, and the feeling of her baby. Her name was even lost to her. She wanted to cry, but she wasn’t even sure why. It wasn’t like she knew what she’d lost.

A hand suddenly reached for hers; A being of colorful light with the most soothing voice she’d ever heard. The stranger explained that she had passed due to the complications of her pregnancy and that her son had also died. The memories this woman spoke of were foreign to Carmela, but as the two walked into a place of bright light, the lifetime she had lost came rushing back to her in an instant.

Truly accepting her death was hard, but being reunited with her baby was unlike anything she could ever hope for. It wasn’t the ideal life of what she had imagined, but Carmela was thankful to hold the tiny boy who was full of a new life. The veil had given them another chance together and when the Aurazin who had helped her meet with her child came to her with an opportunity to work with other mothers that had lost their children on Earth, Carmela decided to take this mission, believing it was her new purpose.

The centuries passed and Carmela was one of the best Aurazin called on to help those on Earth. Her compassion for mothers who had lost their children was something she could understand personally and she wanted to help those women most of all. Carmela had been on a mission with a mother who lost her daughter to war when she realized she could no longer reach the veil as she mentally called to the realm to return once she’d visited the grieving woman.

Panic swelled in her chest. Being stuck on Earth had never once crossed her mind and what was worse is that she could no longer return home to be with her son. She repeatedly called out for a response, but there was nothing but silence. What’s more, Carmela was not exactly human. She owned nothing and with no money, she had no idea how she would get to the only place on Earth that might have some answers; Evermore. It was the hub for supernaturals and she knew the Aspects were also beings created by the Gods. She would need to get to Colorado and hope to find answers to getting back to the veil and back to her child.

PlotTwist