by D L Goddard
Anya’s face was glowing with love as she spoke about her Beast; her small hands placed possessively over her yet as small belly. She remembered that most intimate of moments when she … connected to the soul of the Beast. It sounded strange, but true nonetheless.
“We … how do I say this … we … joined souls.” She looked at the two men who were looking down at her, not having said a word. “I know … it sounds totally fanciful but …” She petered out unable to explain the joy and true beauty of that wonderful unforgettable moment. But just because she couldn’t explain what had happened, didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. Anya didn’t know but she was smiling softly remembering how precious those two days had been. Her lovely face glowed with love for her Beast and made her look truly breathtaking.
The twins looked down at the happy smiling woman and realized the two had truly become soul mates. It hardly seemed possible. The Beast was obviously not human and Anya was totally one hundred percent human … or … was she? The twins communed, speaking mind to mind as they thought about the unearthly beauty of her delicate unusually gifted mother who ‘healed’, pretending her medicines were doing the job. If her mother had been of their world, of Serenor, she would have been an Esgalnor (Ess-gu-nor), one who heals with the heat of their touch. There were not many of them and they died young as the heat they used to heal others was the fire of their life force and burned them out much quicker than the non-gifted Helenor (Hell-en-or)).
Mir realized they would have to send the image of Anya’s mother to their home and find out if anyone knew of her, because if she was one of them, it would explain many things. Not the least why the most talented Keeper over three millennia old and the Crown Prince over all Serenor could actually soul blend with a mere human. The Keeper’s line was as old as the land itself and he had never taken a mate preferring to hide his hideous face from the rudeness and the pity.
Long since having given up hope that his eldest son would produce an heir to rule their world, Arahir’s father, King Caranor (Ca-ran-or) chose the son next in line to reign after him. When the King grew weary and wanted to retire, his next eldest son Aica had twin boys. They had a strange power that was shared between the two of them because of their closeness. It meant one could not heal without the other.
The twins were inseparable and served their people well. They were not of the Esgalnor who healed the body with their spirit; the twins healed the killing trauma of the mind and as they healed, they fed of the emotions making them glow with white fire. The people named them the Fëanuld (Fee-nold) for what they healed could not be seen only felt. Selmir (Sell-mir) and Tûval (Too-val) helped the Esgalnor greatly working together and keeping their people whole both in body and mind.
Their father, now King, sent the twins to see the wise Keeper about persistent rumors and feeling a weakening in the protection of the gateways. They told him that the Keeper was missing and the castle was mourning him. Everything was in danger of breaking down if the Keeper didn’t return. He sent his sons into the world of the humans to find the missing guardian hoping against hope they would not be too late.
The Enchantress Lirima was working at the castle’s weak points and knew the Keeper was missing. They had even considered she was part of the reason for his disappearance, but they had no proof. After all … what man in his right mind would turn down the unbelievable beauty and enticing sensuality of the glorious Lirima? Said to be the most beautiful woman in all the worlds and when she visited the mortal world she toned down the impact she had on the minds of men fearing to shatter their sanity as they tried to understand how one woman could be all she was. It seemed she was simply too beautiful for mere mortal minds to comprehend.
But, Val and Mir had met the dastardly Adam Savage and wondered not for the first time by what means the trackers had found the castle as it was invisible in this world unless you were aided by magic to find it and then, he had spent the night ‘stranded’ as a guest. It was there Adam had told them he had found a horrific creature. They had tried for months to get him to tell them what sort of animal he had captured. But Adam had been very reticent about his mysterious prisoner.
But … finally they knew what Lord Savage had hiding away in his cellar. It seemed impossible that a mere human could capture the Keeper and they wanted to know what magic he had used to capture him. ‘How had he weakened him enough to keep him in his cell?’ The more Val and Mir thought on it … the more they were convinced that Adam was working with Lirima, but why?
A thought struck Mir and he smiled as he led Anya to a chair. They had talked all morning and lunch had just been served.
“Before we eat my sweet … just rest yourself. Now … I remember the image of your beautiful sweet mother, but I didn’t remember hearing her name. Do you recall it? It is important. Take your time … even a pet name would do, but I need something to work with. And by the way … you are carrying the Keeper’s infant son … the heir of the crown to our world.”
He smiled as he said it, but the import of his words staggered Anya. The Beast was the ruler of the twin’s world? “My god … we have to get him out of there. Lord Savage is planning something … I don’t know what it is but it is something really huge. He’s going to use him to do something so awful and I know the Beast is going to get really hurt if not killed. We have to save him. We have to get him out as soon as possible. I keep getting dread feelings from him and I worry something is wrong.”
Anya was weeping and Mir held her hands.
“It’s alright my lovely one … Val and I will save our Keeper from Savage. Isn’t it odd how the Beast looks frightening and savage, but isn’t, and Adam Savage is the epitome of handsome upper class breeding, but inside lurks a monster so hideous and fiendish that he is more of a monster than the Beast could ever be.”
Val looked at his brother. “Only if we get to him before the curse becomes true and begins to really take him over. I for one do not want to see our powerful noble Arahir transformed into a beast for real. The damage he could do would be catastrophic.”
The threesome walked thoughtfully into the conservatory which was beautiful and light and airy. A table and three chairs had been set in the middle of all the flowering plants. Everything looked so pretty it made Anya smile. The luncheon was fruit and cheeses with sliced meats and fresh baked crusty rolls and pats of creamy yellow butter. Fresh creamy milk and a beautiful teapot waited beside delicate china with matching plates; it really did look like something from a picture book.
Mir helped Anya to her seat and kissed the top of her head, handing her a napkin. Just as she was about to be ‘mother’ and pour the tea, a memory came to her of her own mother doing the very same thing. As her sweet mother handed a cup of tea to her smiling father, he took the cup and kissed her hand making her mother blush. He bent over the table while a giggling eight year old Anya looked on wide-eyed; he whispered, “Thank you so much my darling Mai (My), for everything.” Just before her handsome father pulled her mildly protesting mother onto his lap and kissed her fully on her dark red lips.
Anya smiled. “I remembered mother’s name … or at least the name father called her. The tea setting is so very like our old one and it reminded me of them.”
The men waited, wondering if they were right about Anya.
“Her name was Mai. It was different even the way father said it … it actually sounded almost reverential, like a title than a name.”
Anya looked at the twins. They didn’t have time to hide the shock or stunned surprise on their faces.
Mir and Val looked at one another, tears glistened in their eyes. Val was speaking, almost as if to himself. “Mai … we thought she was gone … lost or dead …you have no idea what …”
The three jumped startled as the doorbell rang letting the servants know someone was at the door. They had been so focused on the conversation and Anya’s words that they had shut out everything else. The doorbell had rather rudely brought them back to reality. As one they
turned to meet the butler Emerson.
“There’s a pretty young lady at the door. She says her name is Sally and she has to talk to Miss Anya straight away. It seems she has a letter for you from a gentleman named Mr. Arahir. Will you see her now or after luncheon my Lady? I can put her in the drawing room and ensure she has refreshments while she waits.”
Mir and Val looked at Anya, curiosity was written all over their handsome faces.
“It’s alright Emerson … please bring her in here to share our meal with us. We will need another chair and another setting for the table. Could you please see to it? Miss Sally is a friend and has come quite a way to see me and I want her to be made welcome.”
Emerson bowed. “Yes my Lady … I will make sure she is brought in to you.”
Emerson vanished then, appeared just a quickly, escorting the pretty blonde Sally into the conservatory to meet Anya and the twins. As soon as Sally caught sight of her friend, she flung herself in Anya’s arms. Anya stood and braced herself just in time to catch her friend, stopping herself from being knocked over. Sally clung to Anya sobbing, she was trying to talk, but all Anya heard between tears was … “Oh Anya … I came down this morning and sneaked into the cellar to see how he was … but … but he … was gone… the cell was empty.”
She sat up and tried to wipe her eyes and tried to settle herself down.
“He had given me a letter for you last night. Something was wrong and he was so very restless; he was growling low in his throat, pacing the floor and flexing his muscles and tensing his body. He looked ready to attack someone. It was as if a streak of wildness was racing through him. He really did look frightening. Something had really changed. It was almost as if he welcomed the beast inside.
The house was unusually busy late last night after the master arrived home. He had packed for a trip away. But nothing had been said. It was most unusual. We were woken by Lord Tanner who was a longtime friend of Lord Savage. He was invited to stay and keep everything running smoothly until the master came back, but even he didn’t know where the master had gone, or when he would be returning home.”
Sally began weeping again; hardly making any noise, but the tears flowed freely. She sniffed and looked into Anya’s worried face.
“… But the worst of it is that he is sick or something. He is getting dizzy and angry and he is really pale. The Beast told me to ask you to remember your dreams. Apparently they are really important. Anya … he was really intense, wanting you to write them down. But he said the letter would explain everything to you. But … Anya … he is gone … what can you do… can you find him? Where could they have taken him?”
Anya stood fury and anger warring with despair. At that moment, her whole world shattered. She clutched her Beast’s letter to her heart. She excused herself. She had completely lost her appetite. Anya fled to her room and flung herself on her bed, carefully breaking the seal. She flattened the parchment on the quilt and took a deep breath. Val and Mir entered the room quietly and lay down beside her one on either side, offering the comfort of their presence. They kept silent as Anya looked at them both, then opened her lovely dark red lips and began to read.
**********
Chapter Seven
My Dearest Love,
I fear things are happening too quickly for me to control. I realized I must tell you what I can before I lose the ability to put my thoughts in words. It has been a year since I have been away from my home and the curse placed over me is beginning to reassert itself. Soon I will be a beast in truth not just appearance.
But I am confusing you and so I must start at the beginning. When you came to me, I felt like my heart had found a home and it was only when you said the same words I was thinking that I realized there was more to you than ‘merely human’. When we were joined and connected soul to soul giving you my seed, I knew for certain you were of my world. I saw your parents as we became one soul and my heart nearly broke when I discovered your mother was none other than the King of Serenor’s missing daughter. He has two sons; twins … but as different in coloring as they are alike in face. Then, the King was blessed with a daughter Mai who ran away with a very handsome carpenter who did some work in the castle in the capital. We were told she fell in love and begged to marry him; the King refused. It was the last time any of us ever saw her. No one realized they had fled to the human world.
Your mother was a Healer, we call them Esgalnor and they heal by using their vital spark. I am sorry you lost her so young, but because the Esgalnor use their own life to make others well, she would never have lived a long life; they rarely live past three hundred due to their gifts. From what I saw of your sweet mother, her time had come; her excuse was the plague that touched the village. Your father could not have contracted the plague because he was one of us and we never get ill, and the Esgalnor could not get ill either. But we can die when our soul mate dies and it seems that is why your father followed your mother when she died.
The villagers would have thought it was the reason they died and burned your home as is the usual way when sickness comes to a village. But why you were so perilously close to death confused me. Your wounds were deliberately inflicted and tried to override your heritage, but the poison left on the whip from the beating he had given me previously, waged a war in your body … so severely had you been brutalized. I nearly lost you several times during the month you were in a coma. It was unheard of for one of the Esgalnor’s children to be sick and it made me think about my capture. Magic was in play here and I understood the floggings I had been given were to keep me docile by means of a potion coated on the whip that kept me weak and my magic dormant. It is why you reacted to the flogging so badly.
I am called the Keeper and I as you already know, am not human. I monitor ‘gateways’ or doorways to other worlds, and I keep the peace and those with evil intent out. As a result, the castle that is my home keeps the curse of my beast at bay. The longer I am away, the less power the castle has over my beast. But lately my beast has been getting more and more out of control and I fear I am losing myself. I think that is exactly what Lord Savage intends. He has taken me from my home for a reason and I feel deep foreboding over his reasons why.
It surprised me that I have kept control of my curse so long but I have been caring for the living magic in the castle for three thousand years and there is some residual trace left behind keeping the curse in check. Alas … I fear it will be so no longer. I have lost control several times today and Lord Savage seems mightily pleased. This morning he announced I was almost ready and we were going on a trip. We were going to see a good ‘friend’ he stressed the last word.
I do not know where we are going but we are leaving tonight. Listen to your dreams my love … they will tell you how I am. But I hope you can find me or I can escape and find you … you will get steadily weaker the longer we are apart; it is the nature of our bond. Follow the dreams; they will lead you to me my love for I truly cannot live without you.
I pray you and the babe are well and my heart feels real joy to know you are being cared for by Selmir and Tûval. They are Fëanuld and they can help you heal your heart and mind. I must go now to make sure Sally can get the letter before Lord Savage returns. She procured paper and pen without anyone knowing … I had to contact you. Return her with some message for me my sweet, my heart aches to hold you.
Your only love
Arahir, your beloved Beast.
**********
Tears fell from Anya’s eyes as she finished her beloved Beast’s letter. She had wanted to free him and instead … he was gone. They had no idea where. Her Beast was hurting … in her dreams she felt all he was feeling and knew he was desperately controlling the rage of his beast inside. But still … the beast was breaking through. His dreams were filled with a sense of fear and great darkness and she had no idea how to stop it. How was she supposed to find him using her dreams … she didn’t have a clue.
Anya looked up ar Mir and Val who were exc
hanging knowing nods.
“Alright … what is it you’re not telling me?”
Mir smiled.
“If there were any doubt about your heritage … it is now gone.”
“Why? What has happened to convince you? Was it Arahir’s letter?”
Val laughed.
“Well … that certainly helped. But actually it was something else.”
Anya stared at them.
“What is it? What has happened? You’re both acting like I should know something, but I’m obviously missing it. Please tell me what you have picked up on and I am totally missing.”
The twins were grinning like idiots, but in the end they took pity on her. Mir took the letter from her hands and showed it to Anya.
“Look at the letter my sweet. What can you see?”
Anya looked at the page, seeing once more her Beast’s words.
“I can see a piece of parchment with beautiful writing on it. What is so strange about that?”
“No my sweet … don’t read it … just look at it as an object. Don’t try to read it at all. Just ‘look’ at the letters on the page.”
Anya was growing frustrated, but she knew she was overlooking something important. She tried again. This time she looked at the parchment as if it was a piece of fine art. It was very fine quality … naturally enough as it came from Lord Savage’s desk. And the handwriting was exquisitely penned; the penmanship was bold and masculine but easy to read. She stopped finally able to see what they wanted her to see.
“What … how could I have read this letter?”
Mir came up to her and hugged her, feeling her distress.
“You could read the letter my sweet because … as you told us … your mother taught you to read the only language she knew how to read. You learnt Seren, the written language of our world, but only the nobility knows how to write, so your father would not have known either. You were not taught English I am guessing … could you read the books in Lord Savage’s library?”
