Chapter 7 #2
“I traveled throughout my childhood as well,” I said, offering this small part of myself.
“The majority of my time was spent either in the Southern Ridge at the Court of Reflection or within the confines of Lesalia. It was rare that my mother let me out of her sight.” I lamented.
“However, there were a few times I was allowed to roam freely.”
The market towns along the Hydratas Sea each held their own stories, their own unique beauty.
“There’s a vendor in Izbeta that sells the most incredible berries in the summertime.
They make a chilled specialty with them.
It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. So fresh.
And the cool bite it leaves on your lips…
” Like a lover’s kiss. Tempting you more with each bite you take.
A shudder ran through me as I thought of Kadian’s smile, the freckles under his eyes.
Dainan’s eyes softened as he watched me fall into my memories. “Perhaps you can show me one day.”
I said nothing, knowing the likelihood of my returning to the Court of Reflection to be slim. I would do my best, but it would require surviving this place.
“I tried to find something compelling about each of the places I stayed. But the food in and around the Court of Shadows always has a deliciously smoky flavor.” He winked.
“You’re incorrigible.” I laughed as we both paused.
What had been flat landscapes began to curve in the horizon.
Hills of varying sizes looked like waves if you squinted enough.
It remained barren, save for the odd plant.
No trees were visible from our vantage point.
The light from the sky continued to flash, lighting our way.
My fingers twitched, tapping restlessly on my arm.
Just keep moving.
The anxiety is going to come back. The shroud of darkness that clings to you, carries you down into the abyss of your mind, your soul, it will return. Thalius, Azmeer, Rai, his bedroom…
“Stop,” I begged my mind. “Please.”
“Did you say something?” Dainan tilted his head towards me, and I found myself unable to answer, too embarrassed that I’d pleaded with myself aloud.
“We saw you, you know,” I said, attempting to distract him. “When we arrived at the Courting. We saw the three of you on the gates.”
Dainan’s face lightened for a moment. “Alvar wanted to see the candidates, and as soon as we made our way onto the gates, Rai spotted you.”
“I hated that he was there,” I said without thinking.
“Alvar and I told him then and there that there was no way he would ever keep up with you. You’re an unstoppable force.
Always have been. Whereas he… well, we thought he was one who was willing to simply move through the motions of life.
Always bettering himself, to be sure, but we never thought he was capable of something like this.
” He gestured his arms before us. This predicament we were in, this situation, it all came back to my husband.
I pulled the jacket tighter around myself, hoping it would protect me from the memories of the past few months.
“Did you see that?” The visions in the sky grew more rapid, the faces more pronounced—clearer reflections. But reflections of whom?
He nodded.
Closing my eyes, I was soothed by the subtle sounds of running water, imbued with beautiful music that was calling to me. “We need to go that way.” I pointed forward and to the left, “We’re getting close.”
“Maybe one of the Lost Seers has returned,” Dainan quipped.
“Just be grateful I’m better than Brida with directions.”
I tried to memorize everything we saw, everything we’d heard. It had been a practice I’d employed since I was a girl.
“Stay out of sight, Lil. But listen, always listen,” My mother had said. “There is power in knowledge. And you will need it if you want to survive in this world.” It had been what every seven-year-old had wanted to hear.
I took a slow breath in, trying to steady myself. I control my destiny. And I will not be afraid.
“What did you smell when we first arrived here?” I asked as we crested over a hill. The walk became steeper in the last minutes, hours, days? I still couldn’t grasp how long we’d been here. It can’t be more than days… can it?
Dainan opened his mouth to answer me, but as we reached the top, the intensity in his eyes darkened.
In the distance, a castle loomed. A mesmerizing structure made of rippling currents, tides, streams, and waterfalls.
The water shimmered and flowed, creating an illusion of movement as it rested at the edge of a silver lake.
The castle’s walls glistened under the moonlight, reflecting a spectrum of blues and silvers, while the sound of cascading water filled the air.
A water palace. I had dreamed of such a place as a child. But in my wildest imagination, I could not have crafted something so beautiful.
Towers spiraled upwards like columns of water frozen in time, their surfaces undulating gently as if breathing.
The air was thick with an otherworldly energy, a sense of ancient wisdom and impending destiny.
As we approached, the castle pulsed with a life of its own, the water walls whispering secrets of what was, what is, and what could be.
Welcome, a voice said.
We’ve been expecting you, cooed another.
It has been a long time.
Welcome, girl.
The sensation started in my feet, a tremor so light that I would have mistaken it for a feather being dragged across my skin, before my legs began to tremble.
The voices had claws, each digging their nails into my mind as they spoke, rooting themselves, taking hold.
Then my legs gave out, and I was on the ground.
“Lil!”
It felt like someone was touching me. Is Rai touching me? Am I back with him? Where am I?
Faces and places that I had never seen or been before clouded my vision, my once clear sight faded into obscurity. Everything on the fringes transformed into the images being shown to me.
I’m spinning. The world is falling out from beneath me.
“LIL, LOOK AT ME!”
Someone is shouting at me. Why is someone screaming? Why is everything screaming? The voices grew, the flashes of faces, trees, wind, water, fire, and darkness, blurring together, cascading into a wave readying itself to crash over me and bury me in its depths.
“Lil, come on, stay with me.”
Someone is shaking me, is someone here with me? I don’t know where I am. Is this home, is this where I am meant to be? Where I’ve always meant to have been?
With a loud crash in the skies and a streaking bolt of light, my vision cleared. I lay on the ground, Rai’s face…no, Dainan’s face hovered above me, mere inches from mine, looking paler than I’d ever seen it.
“Are you okay?” My tone was uneven, but I did my best to sound strong. Whatever just occurred, it hadn’t affected Dainan. Why hadn’t it affected him?
“Am I okay? You’re laying flat on the ground, Lil. I never thought you to be a selfish person, except when you play cards, but right now it would be okay to be more preoccupied with yourself.”
“Selfish,” Scoffing, I sat up. “I’ll have you know, Dainan.
” I couldn’t help but poke my finger directly into his chest. Gods, he’s muscular.
And smells so salty. It’s like he’s made of seawater.
“I’m one of the least selfish people out there.
” I knew it was a lie. I’d always had to look out for myself first. No one else in the world is going to put you first, you have to do it yourself.
My mother had said—another lesson learned.
Dainan rose from his squatted position, all the while offering me his hand. I grabbed it, determined to stay upright.
The crashing sound of the waves boomed louder and louder, as if the tempest was increasing, preparing itself for our arrival.
“What happened just now?” Placing his hands in his pockets, Dainan peered downwards to see if I wobbled, ensuring I remained steady on my feet.
He’s not Rai. I reminded myself. Something I would have to continue to remind myself if we were to work in tandem to get out of here.
A pool of sweat formed at the base of my spine, my hands were clammy as they clasped for the other, desperate for a tether. “I think I heard them.” My voice was faint, unsure of what I was saying.
“Heard who?” Dainan’s left eyebrow inched higher.
“Them.” I pointed to the sky as faces flashed across the purple canvas. I let out a deep sigh before inhaling slowly.
“Jasmine and vanilla,” Dainan said as his shoulders slumped downwards.
“You would have thought that you were the one on the ground just now. Is it possible you hit your head, Lord Dark One?”
Dainan’s expression remained neutral. “You asked me what I smelled when we arrived here. What I smelled was jasmine and vanilla.”
Flowers and the forest. Brida and Kadian. How or why had they beckoned us to this place?
I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a thunderous crash. Hinges creaking, the door to the palace opened in the distance, and towards us came a man who held the keys to our fate.