Chapter 24 Declan #2
At the far end of the ledge were two concentric rings of stone pillars.
The outer stones were massive, standing more than eight feet tall and three paces thick, and were made of the same glassy-smooth crystal-and-stone swirl from the cavern.
The inner stones rose to my waist and were spaced at intervals between those of the outer ring. One lonely stone stood in the center.
I walked around the stones and peered over the edge of the landing. The dizzying height nearly sent me over the edge, and I stepped back, pressing my back to a stone.
Searching through trees, I spotted the Path that led to the Keeper’s hut winding its way lazily up the mountain. “I walked up that trail. How could I not see these stones? They’re incredible.”
Kelsa sat at the table and motioned for me to do the same. “If my memory is correct, you are only the sixth, maybe seventh, person to ever see those stones. The magic of the Phoenix protects this place, and if she doesn’t want you to see it, you won’t.”
órla hopped onto the table and dragged a piece of meat from the platter. “Too much talking. Not enough eating.”
I reached over to scratch her head and was rewarded with a peck of her sharp beak.
“Ow. What was that for?”
“I’m having a special moment over here.” A stringy piece of the meat dangled from her maw.
I glanced up to find Kelsa covering her mouth, eyes twinkling. I ignored her humor and dove into the table’s fare. When my mother filled my glass with the magical wine, I stopped to savor the first sip, holding it in my mouth and inhaling the exotic aroma.
Peace.
That’s what I felt in that moment.
I realized it was also what I’d felt in the caverns but hadn’t comprehended it at the time.
Simple, blissful peace.
I let out a long sigh before attacking my meal.
órla finished her meat, preened for a moment, then launched herself into the air and flew to rest on the stone pillar at the center of the ring.
I dropped my fork. “When did you learn to fly, little one?”
Kelsa set down her wine and tapped her glass with a fingernail.
“Time moves differently here, and she is part of this place. She will grow strong quickly. I expect she will be fully grown by the time you leave.”
She paused a moment. “Declan, time will be different for you as well—in a good way, I hope.
There is so much you have to learn. If I had to train you anywhere else in the world, the winter months would pass in a blink, and you wouldn’t have acquired the skill to . . . to face what is to come.
“While you are here, days will pass and feel normal to you, but beyond this cavern, they will slow to a crawl. Many months will pass here before a single week ends elsewhere.”
I watched órla preen on the pillar. “Will I age like she does? When I leave, will I be years or decades older? Will people back home still know me?”
Will Ayden?
My heart lurched. Would the one man who’d unlocked my heart still know my face? Would he still want me?
Kelsa reached across the table and took my hand. “Son, look at me. How old do you think I am?”
I smirked. “Someone scolded me for talking about a lady’s weight. I think I’ll stay away from the age question.”
“About time you started listening to me,” órla squawked from her perch on the stone.
Kelsa grinned at the little owl. “I’ve lived on this mountain for a thousand years and look the same as when I first arrived. There may be a new line on my forehead, but that’s another thing on the list you never mention to a lady.”
“Right, noted.” I made a gesture as though writing a note on parchment.
Her smile warmed me almost as much as the wine. “When you leave here, those in the outside world will see you as you were before you came to the mountain. It would take many centuries of ‘mountain time’ for them to notice even a slight difference.”
My shoulders relaxed a bit, but my tension remained, and my hand tangled absently in my hair.
“Ayden will still know you,” she said.
Blood rushed to my face, and I thought I might be sick at any moment. No height in the world could have made my head spin the way her five simple words just had.
“Ayden? You know . . . about . . . oh, Spirits. What do you know? How . . . ?”
The skin around her eyes creased as every part of her being glowed.
“I am your mother, Declan. Of course, I know.” She hesitated, looking down at her hand, then lifted her gaze to mine again. “I love you, son, more than anything in this world. I have seen how happy Ayden makes you. You have been lost for so long, even from yourself. I see how Ayden has—”
“You have been watching me from afar all these years?”
Kelsa nodded.
“I may never get over the creepy feeling of that, but for the moment, I’m glad. I had no idea how to tell you about him . . . or me. I mean . . . I know Melucian society accepts men loving each other, but still, it’s so different . . . it’s not . . . I never thought . . .”
“I would love to meet him sometime.”
That stilled my tongue.
A tiny, awed boy asked, “You would?”
“Of course, I would. Any man vying for your heart must pass through me. You remember that.”