They say the sky bled the night Luxia was born.
The moon, fat and red as an open wound, hung low over the village of Norwin hollow, casting the world in rusted light. Wolves refused to howl. Crickets silenced. And in the cramped hut on the edge of the village. Mira screamed into her blanket while birthing a child no midwife dared to touch.
"she's marked," they whispered from outside, the old woman clutching their crosses and the men murmuring curses. "That blood moon brings only ruins."
Mira didn't care She had no husband, no family left- only this child, this tiny creature who slid into the world without a cry. The girl did not weep. She did not wail. She blinked with wide, colorless eyes and watched the world in absolute silence.
"She's cursed", someone hissed.
"she's beautiful," Mira whispered instead.
And she was. Even as a newborn, the girl's features were delicate, her skin pale like Moon milk, her hair dark as the soil. Her lips were naturally red, her lashes long. She looked like she had been carved from the night sky-fragile, cold and breathtaking.
Mira named her Luxia, after the light that never came.
For the first year, Lucia did not speak. not even coo. Not a whimper, not a cry. At first Mira thought it might be simple delay. Then fear settled in. A healer confirmed the truth.
''She's mute", he said. "Likely from birth Maybe the gods took her voice from daring to be born under a cursed moon."
Mira clenched her fists and nodded. She would not cry in front of him.
"She will never need to speak" she said. "She will be stronger than all of us."
But the village though differently. A girl who could not cry for help?? Who could not name her attackers or defend her innocence?
To them, she was perfect prey.