Chapter 18 #2
Similar to Orin’s house, the one we were hiding in backed up to a narrow creek that cut through dense woods.
I settled down on a secluded stretch of that creek’s bank and took out the crystalline shard.
Glancing around one final time to make sure I was alone, I wrapped it in my shadows and let my magic sink deeply into it.
I opened my eyes.
My heart lurched. My surroundings swirled. A vision washed over me just like it had during my encounter with the sentier—much more immersive than my usual fleeting glimpses of the past. Maybe because of our Vaeloran connection, or because it dealt with my magical predecessor again…I didn’t know.
I only knew I wasn’t sitting beside the creek any longer.
Instead, I stood in the shadow of a grand palace.
Moonlight gleamed off white marble columns and terraced gardens blooming with bright flowers.
It was so perfect and intact that, at first, I didn’t realize where I was.
Then I noticed the banners fluttering from the highest towers.
Black and white banners featuring three stars along the bottom, curved beneath three swords—one standing straight in the middle with two others crossed over it.
This was the Palace of Midna.
The sound of boots striking the stone path made me jump.
“Only a memory,” I reminded myself in a whisper.
But it all felt so immediate, so…real. Real enough that I had no problem locating the source of the noise; a group of palace guards moved through the gardens, their armor glinting in the moonlight. They were calling out a name, splitting up to search different paths.
Lorien was walking among them—of course. This was part of his soul’s memory, after all.
He looked younger here than he had in my last vision.
A boy, really; he couldn’t have been much older than fifteen, with softer features that hadn’t yet fully matured and eyes that were an arresting shade of deep brown rather than the reddish color I knew, and which still held something resembling innocence.
He lagged behind the others, his gaze sweeping the gardens with poise and purpose.
Then he saw it, and so I did, too: a flash of a white dress racing behind a hedge.
Someone clearly trying to avoid being found.
The company of guards didn’t seem to notice anything, even as Lorien slowed his step, separating himself from the group.
I slowed to a stop as well, watching.
Lorien waited until those guards were well ahead of us, then he casually sauntered in the direction of the fleeing figure.
Winding his way through a short maze of sculpted hedges, he rounded a corner and found himself facing a young woman as she huddled in an ivy-draped gazebo, attempting to make herself small and unnoticeable.
Darkness shifted unnaturally around this woman, cloaking her further.
Lorien chuckled at the sight. “Calista, my Shadow...you’re going to need a better hiding place if you’re planning to avoid them all night.”
She rose to face him, eyes wide with alarm. Then annoyance. The shadows parted, fully revealing her striking figure that was draped in an elegant, plum-colored gown, its elaborate beadwork shimmering like trapped stars.
Like Lorien, she was much younger than I’d ever seen her; this must have been one of the first times they’d met.
It used to be customary for the Vaelora to train separately during their youth—though I’d heard stories that these two had corresponded by way of letters and such long before they’d ever seen one another in person.
But only once they had matured, mastered their magic, and taken their own respective vows, would they present themselves together before the leaders of the realms—an occasion usually marked by a grand ceremony in this central kingdom of Midna.
And, judging by their elegant clothing and the hum of activity echoing from the palace, I wondered if that ceremony was imminent.
“I’m not hiding,” Calista snapped.
“No?” Lorien arched a brow. “What are you doing, then? Inspecting the hedges? Taking notes for the gardeners?”
She scowled.
He clasped his hands behind his back, a grin playing at the corner of his mouth as he strolled along the hedge line. “The northeast corner looks like it needs trimming. And there’s a broken fountain near the rose arbor—you should make a note of that, too.”
Folding her arms across her chest, Calista gave a curt nod toward the palace. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? A royal court to go show off for, perhaps?”
“I’m only half of the show, unfortunately. And the uglier half, at that.”
She scoffed, but her cheeks flushed pink; it was obvious she didn’t believe any part of him was ugly.
Lorien’s expression softened. “We can’t keep them waiting forever, you know.”
She lifted her chin. “Yes, I do in fact know my duty, thank you very much.”
“And you’ve committed your sins and vows to the Chamber of Echoes…”
She stiffened. “Of course.”
“So now all that remains…”
She fidgeted with the silver bracelet at her wrist—a simple band that looked out of place against her ornate gown.
Lorien’s crooked grin didn’t falter, but his hand twitched, as though he’d thought for a moment about reaching it out to her.
You’re afraid of what comes next, aren’t you?
Calista didn’t answer him—and I soon realized it was because Lorien hadn’t actually said these words out loud. It had been a thought. One wrapped in something tender, and the stirrings of what felt like concern. Protectiveness.
I recoiled, once again uncomfortable over the intimate connection I had to him. The vision wavered a bit, but I managed to stay focused enough to keep watching.
Lorien took a small step closer. Calista held her ground, though her breathing quickened.
Voices echoed from deeper in the garden.
I could feel her pounding heart as she backed into the shadows, dark green eyes wide, delicate fingers anxiously twisting themselves up in the long, flowing sleeves of her dress.
Lorien’s gaze lingered on her for an instant longer before he strode away, intercepting the group of searching guards as they approached.
“No sign of her around here, I’m afraid,” he told them with a shrug. “But one of the groundskeepers said he saw her heading toward the southern gate.”
They gave a respectful nod and changed direction.
Subtly, he tilted his face back toward the spot where Calista hid.
Her shoulders relaxed. The smallest of smiles crossed her face, and that tender feeling bloomed even stronger in Lorien’s chest.
He walked away without another word.
The scene dissolved into a grey fog. I gave my head a little shake, clearing it, and just like that, I was back in the present.
I wasn’t alone, though; Orin stood a few feet away, watching me curiously.
“See anything interesting?” he asked, nodding at the shard, which was still wrapped in my fist—and my shadows.
I told him about the vision. How Lorien had looked so…human. Calista, too. Human and vulnerable. And he’d protected her.
Orin considered things for a long time, mumbling to himself, drawing his finger through the air as if making notes. I finally gave him a little poke in the side, reminding him that I was there.
He regarded me with a small, tired smile. “Your abilities really have stabilized. And improved. I’m not surprised—but still immensely proud.”
I frowned; that wasn’t the interpretation of the vision that I’d been hoping for.
“What does it matter if I was able to divine the past?” I asked. “I still don’t know what to think about any of it.”
He scratched his chin, eyes clouding over in thought for a moment.
“I’m afraid we’re still missing a lot of pieces to this puzzle.
I will say, though, that your vision supports some theories I’ve been working on these past months…
” He trailed off, looking reluctant to admit to whatever he was about to say.
“Theories?” I pressed.
“That Lorien isn’t the enemy we thought he was, for example.”
“He’s a monster,” I insisted.
“He’s done monstrous things, certainly. But it isn’t only monsters who are capable of monstrous things. And there may be greater enemies to contend with soon, anyway.”
“Greater enemies…are we talking about the Order again?”
He nodded. “I fear they may have created something far more dangerous to you than Lorien.”
My stomach twisted. I had theories too, of course. I just wasn’t ready to talk about any of them.
“Have you had a chance to talk to Thalia?” I asked instead.
He arched a bushy brow. “Changing the subject remains one of your most reliable tactics, I see.”
“Thalia is an important subject, too,” I insisted.
He didn’t argue, but he also didn’t move.
“Go on,” I said, nodding back toward the house, where I knew Thalia was resting. It was a strange role reversal, the way I was now the one pushing him to confront difficult truths.
He chuckled softly. “You really have gotten much stronger.”
I shrugged, but I also mumbled a quick thank you.
He left me, and as I watched him walk away, my mind was immediately overrun with thoughts of our latest battles, and eventually all the ones that had come before.
All the things that had torn me down and built me back up, forging me into something harder than what I’d once been.
“Stronger…” I muttered, summoning a small tendril of shadow and watching it coil around my fingers.
I was not the same person who’d left this realm behind months ago, that was true.
I only hoped I could be strong enough to face whatever came next.