Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“I thought we were to be more open, more honest with this one,” Keeva said.
Mairwen held up a hand for silence as she studied the tarot spread.
Lexi Vine may have passed into the Seventh Realm, but the mate bond remained incomplete.
Mairwen indulged in a heavy sigh. She had hoped this one would be more of a battle to prevent a war between the Fifth Kingdom and the Seventh Realm rather than a struggle to reunite two halves of a soul.
Apparently, her hopes were ill-fated. She should have known better.
Reuniting fated mates torn asunder by eras and worlds would never be an effortless task.
“What would ye have me do, Keeva?” She gathered the cards, stacked them neatly, then reshuffled them. “Did ye truly think I meant to sit Miss Lexi down and tell her everything? Mayhap even have ye lay it all out in one of those fancy presentations ye create on yer tablet?”
Her assistant bowed her head. “Forgive me. ’Tis just…”
“’Tis just ye are always eager to move on to the next matching,” Mairwen said, finishing the young Weaver’s thought for her.
“Slow yerself, child. I ken well enough there are many fated mates to match, but we must always do each of them with purpose and caution. Ye are as impetuous as Lilias when it comes to making sure her customers never have to wait for their orders at the pub. She serves them what she believes they want before they even ask for it. Sometimes it works. Yet, sometimes it does not. All must be allowed to happen in its own good time.”
“Will ye be warning Prince Jeros about the Fifth Kingdom sending out a call to arms?”
“Aye, but I worry about going to him just yet.”
“Why?”
Mairwen eyed her assistant, who could at times be as thick-headed as she was stunningly brilliant.
“Our Miss Lexi and the prince have yet to meld their mate bond, which means she is still intent on returning to her time, to her world. If I go now, she will be unable to resist the opportunity to leave him. They must have time to grow closer. The prince must have time to learn that Lexi’s scars are nothing compared to the beauty of her soul. ”
“The Seelie value flawless beauty above all else. Think ye the prince’s family and his people will accept her once he does?”
Mairwen flipped over the top card from the tarot deck and couldn’t hold back a frustrated groan.
The tower card. A powerful symbol of disaster, upheaval, sudden change resulting in chaos and devastation.
“Our two souls will not have an easy road of it. Not only must they overcome their own obstacles to accept one another, they must fight the conflict of outside forces as well.” She turned over the next card and smiled.
The sun card. A symbol of joy, success, vitality, and illumination.
“But if they persevere, if they dare to claim each other and hold fast, theirs will be a legendary love sure to strengthen the Highland Veil well into the next age.”
“Well into the next age?” Keeva repeated. “Does that mean we stop uniting fated mates once these two join?”
“Never, child. We never stop uniting fated mates and bolstering the weave of the Highland Veil.”
* * *
It was him all along, she thought before opening her eyes to the gentle rays of sunlight pouring in the tall bank of windows.
The morning beams set the lavish bedchamber, decorated in creamy whites and golds, aglow.
Lexi stared up at the bed’s soft silk canopy and counted the deepest breaths she could take, an exercise she’d learned long ago to keep herself focused and calm.
Of course, she was already relaxed to the point of feeling boneless and floaty in the comfortable nest of pillows.
They cradled her like a newborn. How much calmer and focused could she get?
She had slept better than she’d slept in years, and the dream she had dreamed repeatedly over the past few months had come to her again—but this time, it had been clearer than ever before.
And this time, it had finally made sense.
For the first time since the dream made itself known to her, she recognized Jeros as he swept her into his arms while the soft, sweet violin music played.
Her heart thumped faster at the memory, and her deep breathing calmness disappeared.
In the dream, they had always danced in the clearing where the unicorns had been, the area aglow with a soothing blue-white light.
But this time, the unicorn family, Pegasus, Lunaria, and the twins were in the dream as well, standing at the forest’s edge, gently swaying their heads in time with the lovely song, a beautiful waltz Lexi had never heard during her waking hours until the other day when it had led her to Sevenrest Hall.
She rubbed the heel of her hand against her breastbone.
Ever since meeting Jeros, a persistent ache, a deep, almost painful longing, had her teetering on the edge of either an anxiety attack, sheer panic, or pure euphoria.
It changed from moment to moment, and whenever he was near, it was harder to ignore.
She debated closing her eyes and escaping reality by sliding back into the dream, but an insistent tapping on the door refused to allow it. She scooted upward and back against the broad upholstered headboard, clutching the bedclothes to her chest. “Uhm…come in?”
Rill, the maid Mrs. Shimmerhill had introduced and assigned to her last night, hurried inside with a broad smile and a happy bounce to her step. “Good morning, my lady, and how are ye this fine day? Did ye find yer rest last evening?”
“I did, thank you. I slept better than I’ve slept in a very long while.”
That appeared to please the bubbly young woman dressed in a starched white cap and apron even more.
“Well met! Mrs. Shimmerhill will be so pleased to hear ye found the suite so much to yer liking that ye slept like a wee babe.” She bustled to the far side of the room, her somber black skirts rustling with her hurried steps.
She folded back a tall dividing wall that was ingeniously hinged in several sections.
“And now time for a bath to refresh ye to meet the day. Celestia will be up soon with yer morning tea.” She paused beside the enormous, high-backed copper tub she had revealed when opening the wall.
It sat on a white marble pedestal and was quite breathtaking, the fanciest bathtub Lexi had ever seen.
“Or do ye prefer coffee? Or chocolate, perhaps?”
Lexi hugged her knees tighter, unaccustomed to all this attention. “I usually drink coffee and sparkling water first thing every morning. If those aren’t available, I’m sure tea would be lovely. There’s no need for anyone to fuss.”
Rill stared at her as if she’d sprouted a second head.
“No need for anyone to fuss? Why, my lady, nothing ye desire is too much of a fuss.” She stood straighter, briefly closed her eyes, then opened them and smiled.
“Celestia will soon arrive with coffee and yer…sparkling water…Although I dinna ken exactly what that is, I’m sure Cook and Mrs. Shimmerhill will help her find it. ”
“Sparkling water is just plain water with carbonation…bubbles in it.” Lexi studied the maid for a long moment, then couldn’t resist asking, “Did you just communicate with Celestia through telepathy?” She found that mildly disconcerting.
Could everyone here in this strange place read minds?
That was the last bit of privacy anyone could ever hope to have.
“Telepathy?” Rill paused in her circling of the bath. “I am not certain what ye mean by that, my lady. Forgive me.”
Lexi noticed that as the girl walked around the marble dais where the tub sat, it slowly filled with steaming water like the rising of the tide.
The discovery of such magic sent a shudder rippling down her spine, covering her in gooseflesh.
This realm was so…different. She realized Rill was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.
“Uhm…telepathy is the ability to communicate through thoughts rather than speaking.”
The maid happily bobbed her head and resumed circling the bathtub.
“Oh, aye, then. We maids do it all the time. ’Tis because we are born of the Fae who love to serve.
Since we all be from the same clan, we possess the same magic to help us with our duties.
We often speak to each other with our thoughts.
’Tis most helpful when needing to fetch things. ”
“But you can’t ready my mind?”
Rill’s expression of shock made Lexi feel loads better. “Oh no, my lady. Just the minds of my particular clan.”
Feeling generous after discovering her thoughts were still safe, Lexi added, “It sounds to me as though you are the backbone of the household. Without your clan, the place would come to a screeching halt.” Lexi pushed herself higher among the pillows.
There was so much to learn about this place.
So much to process. But most importantly—she needed to pee. Badly.
Rill beamed at her and bowed. “Ye are most kind, my lady, most kind for saying such a wonderful thing.” Then the girl perked up like a cat spotting a mouse. “What is it, my lady? I sense yer discomfort. Is something not to yer liking?”
Since they had told her it was the year 1811, Lexi assumed her only hope for relief would be a chamber pot.
Of course, the Realm had a magically self-filling bathtub, so maybe it had a toilet too.
“I need to use the facilities,” she said, lowering her voice, then feeling silly about doing so since it was just her and the maid in the room.
Rill looked at her with a rare frown. “Use the facilities?” she repeated.
“Restroom? Toilet? Loo? Chamber pot?” Lexi squared her shoulders and sat taller. “I need to pee—relieve myself.”