Revelations

by Butler, Christine M.

  "She what?" Seth looked around at the RV, "when did this happen? How?" Gregore knocked on the door to the RV and walked inside when the door was opened. "Oh, I see how." Seth nodded back to Merriwyn and left.

  Gregore walked into the room and the first thing he noticed beyond Caislyn was that her mom was awake and looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Ah, Gregore." She tried holding her arms out for him, but hey were so weak she ended up putting them back down. Gregore, recognizing the effort, went to her anyway.

  "Vesta, you don't know how much it means to see those beautiful eyes of yours." Gregore leaned in and gave her a gentle hug, then he whispered in her ear, "Caislyn never gave up on finding you."

  "I know," she whispered back. He moved away to sit at the end of the bed and give Caislyn and her mom some room. "Have the plans begun?"

  "Yes, I just came to get Caislyn so Pavlina could get her ready."

  "Please, someone explain to me what is going on here?" Caislyn nearly yelled in frustration. Suddenly Jaxon was by her side, projecting feelings of calm to her friend.

  "We don't want to upset your mom, she's very weak still." Jaxon looked around the room, "but the rest of you aren't, so spill. We want to know what this blessing thing means and why it seems so important to everyone."

  It was Meriwyn who spoke first, "the blessing of the Gods is only given once every 500 years or so. It is rotated through the different species as far as we can tell. Humans, witches, Fey, and Lycans have all been blessed before. Vampire females are sterile, and so we think they may never receive the blessing. The blessings only occur after everyone who has descended from the previous blessed line have died. Then a new blessing is given. Caislyn has just received it. It means she must marry the man that she was with at the time the blessing was received or she relinquishes the blessing."

  "What happens when she relinquishes it?" Jaxon asked what both she and Caislyn had been thinking.

  "Only one person has ever relinquished and within a fortnight her entire family line was wiped from the Earth, while she was left to dwell alone. They say that is where the vampires came from. That her loneliness drove her to create a new family - a new race of beings that couldn't be taken from her, but that's just the lore. There aren't many old enough to remember anymore."

  "What if he doesn't want to marry me?" Caislyn asked, bowing her head instead of looking at Gregore.

  "I would smack some sense into you if I had the energy, Caislyn." Vesta was smiling at Gregore, "look into that boy's eyes and tell me he wants anything else in this world but you." Caislyn sat silently as she looked into Gregore's eyes. "Go get ready now, Pavlina awaits you and I need to have someone get me ready. I will not miss this, even if it kills me!"

  "Mom!" Caislyn shouted.

  "I promise not to let her do too much, Caislyn." Merriwyn interjected. Now, really, you must go get ready."

  "Jax," Caislyn held her hand out, hoping Jaxon could come with her. Jaxon got up and was ready to go, but Merriwyn stopped her.

  "Caislyn, you will be fine and Gregore will be with you every step of the way. I need Jax to help me with your mom for now."

  Caislyn bowed her head and left the RV with Gregore. She stopped him at the front of the vehicle. "Greg, this is crazy. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

  "Cais, I'm not sure why your mom never told you about the blessing when you were younger, since it was possible to come up in our generation, but this isn't something you don't walk away from." He smiled at her and cupped her face in his hands, "besides, I would have married you that day on the playground if someone had let me. I knew right then that I was meant to be with you."

  "Oh, I think I know why my parents never told me about the blessing, they didn't think I could be blessed." Finally, Caislyn was able to shock Gregore.

  "What do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you be able to be blessed, Caisly?"

  "Greg, I'm not just a witch." The look of confusion on Gregore's face was breaking Caislyn's heart. She didn't want to tell him anymore. She didn't want to watch as he walked away from the freak girl, the one and only known Witch-Fey being in the world. "I'm part Fey too," she whispered.

  "What?" Gregore looked at her and waited for her to repeat what she had just said.

  "I'm a Fey too. My dad was Fey. He and my mom fell in love and they had me, they bound my Fey powers when I was little to keep me safe from a stupid prophecy." Caislyn was in tears now. "I'm not just a witch, so you don't have to go through with this."

  "Caislyn, if you think for a minute that I would walk away from you for that, you don't really understand how I feel about you." He smiled down at her, and this time he didn't settle for cupping her face, he did exactly what he meant to do the first time. He picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her there, frozen in his line of sight, and he kissed her. He came up for air long enough to kiss down her neck and whisper in her ear, "Caislyn Vadoma, I love you, no matter what. Always have." That was all it took and she was kissing him too, the salty taste of her tears lingered between them as they kissed. He had just flipped her around to pin her up against the front of the RV when Jaxon came out and laughed at them.

  "Easy there, big boy. I know she's the blessed chick around here and all, but um, I don't think her mom - or mine, for that matter - want to watch you two do what's on your mind right now." Jaxon pointed up to the RV window, where Merriwyn was standing.

  "Sorry," Caislyn said as she slid slowly down the length of Gregore till she was standing firmly on the ground, still without shoes on her feet.

  "Come on, we better go see Pavlina before we end up missing our own ceremony." Gregore looked down and noticed himself that Caislyn was still barefoot and couldn't resist, "I guess we'll have to work on the pregnant in the kitchen part next."

  "What?" Caislyn said, and then saw that he was pointing at her feet. "Oh, no you did not just say that!" She heard Jaxon laughing from up ahead. "And, no you didn't just laugh at him!"

  ***

  A SIMPLE DECISON

  Pavlina showed Gregore and Caislyn what was expected of them during their ceremony. "The ceremony must take place a full 24 hours after the blessing has been given. It can happen sooner, but the fates want to give the chosen ones time to think."

  "And the fates think 24 hours is enough time to decide on a marriage that wasn't even talked about before?" Caislyn was still in shock about how fast things were moving. "Talk about your consequences of sex."

  Gregore laughed at Caislyn while Pavlina looked at her disapprovingly. Pavlina sighed, "your spirit is so much like your grandmother. Drina was hard of the head too." The old woman reached up and wrapped her knuckles on Caislyn's head as if she were knocking on a door.

  "Ow!" Caislyn shouted and ducked away from the old woman's wrath. Pavlina continued on, ignoring Caislyn for the most part and talking to Gregore, who she seemed to like more.

  "The tree that has been felled by the lightening will be your entrance to the ceremony. You both must walk across it, all the way down here to the fire pit."

  "I bet she wants to give us a good push into he fire when we get there too." Caislyn muttered as she massaged her head.

  "Probably not me," Gregore said with a completely serious look on his face. "I'm betting she only pushes you and tries to convince me to run away with her." Gregore winked at Pavlina, who blushed and swatted at him. Caislyn rolled her eyes and plucked at the bark of the tree.

  "Once you get to the fire," Pavlina went on, "your hands will be bound together by Andrei, using the knot cord that we bind all Vadoma unions with." She turned to Caislyn, "It is the knot chord that would have tied Drina into another bond had she not so stubbornly run off with that Irishman." Pavlina spat at the ground after saying what she did.

  "Well, were it not for her running off with that Irishman, I wouldn't be standing before you today - having received the blessing, now would I?"

  Caislyn ducked away again as Pavlina looked ready to use those aged kn
uckles on her again. "You are correct, dear child. All things happen so that others may follow."

  "Since we get 24 hours, I would rather wait till tomorrow to do this. I need to..."

  "Think," Gregore said as his jovial mood began slipping away.

  "I need to be with my mom for a little while, she just woke up. And if I am going to have what amounts to a cosmic shot gun wedding, then I want her to be well enough to be there to witness it."

  ~...~

  Caislyn went to sleep that night in her RV, exhausted by the day's emotional events. She wasn't allowed to sleep with Gregore in his tent, something about sleeping on things with a clear head. It was probably for the best because she was so tired she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. The tea Merriwyn had given her to keep the Fey out of her dreams sat beside her untouched.

  Cailsyn awoke to find herself sitting on top of the fallen tree, only it had been moved to the forest near the turquoise waters of the creek. As she caressed the bark with her hands she realized this was not the tree from camp, but a felled twin in the forest. She was wondering how she ended up here when she noticed someone sitting by the creek staring up at her.

  "Caislyn," the beautiful green man shimmered as the reflection of the moon played on the water and across his body. It was a play of light and reflection, but even Caislyn couldn't deny how magnificent and magical it made him look.

  "Ash?" He smiled, seeing that she had remembered him after all.

  "I feared you would forget me as you did before."

  "Are you here to kill me, or to take me away?" While Caislyn voiced her concerns, they weren't really concerns for her. She was almost certain his intent was quite the opposite.

  "Not in the way you are thinking." Ash smiled up at her and offered his hand to get her down off the enormous fallen tree. "I'm here to offer myself to you."

  "WHAT?"

  "You, and you alone, have received the blessing. Who you marry is of no consequence. I told you, in another life, we would have been betrothed."

  "Yes, and you also said I was not welcome in the Faerie. You said if I were full blown Fey we would have been betrothed. Nothing has changed in my genetics, I am still half Fey, half witch." Caislyn watched as Ash visibly flinched at the mention of her witch heritage. "See, you can't even contain yourself. I am a loathsome thing to all of your kind. Why come here and offer yourself to me?"

  "They haven't told you everything then. The blessing will grant peace to your people, since you are of two very different people as you pointed out, the blessing will converge over the people of your mate (assuming he is either Fey or witch)."

  "And the Fey want the blessing?"

  "Why wouldn't we?" Ash was still holding Caislyn's hand in his and he whisked her around, sitting down on the tree and pulling her into his lap. She couldn't help but giggle, it reminded her of something in her childhood, the butterflies she used to dance with. "Ah, you do remember."

  "Remember?"

  "Your Aunt used to send me to you when we were young. I would dance with you, but all you saw were butterflies flitting about your pretty little head." Vibrant green eyes penetrated into her own as her breath caught.

  "That's impossible."

  "Is it?" He smiled and placed her back on the forest floor, grabbing hold of her waist and shoulder. He began to spin her around in a dance that was as familiar to her as breathing. Caislyn felt herself letting go as he spun her around and they danced. There were moments where he had become the invisible man with butterflies again and then he was back to himself. "It's all magic and illusion Caislyn. You chose to see the magic when you were younger, so instead of the boy that stood before you, there were butterflies dancing."

  "Ash," Caislyn put a hand to his chest to stop him from spinning her around anymore. "I don't understand any of this. It's all a bit too much."

  "Caislyn, I can be here with you. The hand-fasting tomorrow, it could be me instead. It should be me."

  "I've known Gregore forever, I love him."

  "You've known me longer, and you will love me too."

  Caislyn swallowed hard. "This really can't be happening."

  "Except that it is," Ash reached over and put his hand down on the bark of the fallen tree, within seconds a beautiful emerald flower appeared, one the likes of which Caislyn had never seen. "To match your eyes, fair Caislyn." Ash placed the flower in her hair and kissed her.

  Kissing Ash was like tasting the early morning dew on the flowers, it was as if her every sense was tingling with the harmony of the forest. She could tell, without even looking, where each of the animals were hiding, she could sense when the blooms would begin to awaken, and then he pulled away. The minute he did, she almost reached for him again. Losing that link to the forest around her left her unsteady and wanting more. "Caislyn, that is what is to be Fey. That is what we would share should you choose to bond with me. Imagine, how much more is possible if that is what comes with just one kiss." Ash picked her hand up and placed a kiss lightly on her fingertips. I have to go, they are trying to wake you." He smiled at her again, "you have a choice Caislyn. I don't deny your Gregore could make you happy, but I could too. You've seen it for yourself now."

  "Caislyn!" She could hear them calling her now, and the dream began to fade away, Ash dissolved into the mist and she was brought back to reality as she opened her eyes.

  "Oh my God! Caislyn, are you alright? We've been trying to wake you. You forgot to drink the tea." Jaxon was rambling by her side. "I came to talk to you and found you sleeping with a full cup of tea beside you." She reached up to Caislyn's hair and plucked the emerald flower that was nestled there, "and this appeared out of nowhere."

  Caislyn reached for the flower, but Jaxon held it away. "Give me the flower Jaxon," Caislyn demanded. Jaxon looked up to Merriwyn who was standing on the other side of the bed. She watched as Merriwyn nodded to Jax and only then did the girl give the flower back. Caislyn took it, marveling at the shimmering shades of green that made it look more like a jewel and less like a flower.

  "Caislyn, you need to tell us what happened, start at the beginning and leave nothing out."

  Caislyn didn't see the harm in telling them, so she recalled the entire dream about Ash. She hadn't realized her mother was awake as well in the room until she spoke.

  "I knew it. I told Mac those butterflies were much more than they appeared," she whispered.

  "So, it's true then?" Caislyn was sitting up now so she could see her mother. "Ash has been there since I was young too."

  "I didn't say that." Vesta looked very worn out and shaky. Merriwyn went over to help her sit up a little higher. "This could all be a trick to get you to choose the Fey for the blessing. For all you know, this is the first time you have ever met this Ash."

  "But it's not," Jaxon said.

  "Tell us the rest then," Merriwyn snapped.

  "When we were at the castle, Caislyn and I were the last two to enter, but before we went in this green man popped out of the bushes. He told Caislyn that the Fey would no longer seek her out, but that she wasn't welcome in the lands, so she couldn't go looking for her father. Then he told her in another life, if she was full Fey, they would have been betrothed." Jaxon looked at Caislyn, who just nodded and smiled.

  "Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Merriwyn questioned, snapping her attention back to Caislyn.

  Jaxon stepped in the way, "There was a lot going on, and it hasn't exactly slowed down yet. When do you think there would have been a good time to bring that up?"

  "Caislyn," Vesta whispered, "he was right."

  "Who was right?" Merriwyn asked.

  "Ash, he was right. You do not have to choose Gregore, if that is not what is in your heart."

  "Whoa, wait, you can't be serious." This time Jaxon was the voice of descent. Caislyn patted Jaxon's arm with her hand.

  "It's okay, really. I love Gregore, and I know he already loves me." Caislyn looked at the emerald green flower in her other hand
. "This is all magic and illusion and there's no telling what's real with the Fey." She smiled up at the three women in the room with her, "there never was a choice to make." She continued to smile at all of them. "You know, I have a big day tomorrow, I really just want to get some sleep now."

  "Here," Merriwyn said as she came around the other side of the pull out bed, "take this." She held the tea that Caislyn had forgotten to drink in her hands.

  "No, I don't want that. It's obvious the Fey don't want to snatch me up right now, and I don't want to miss any of my dream sketches, if they come to me. I haven't had one since I started drinking that stuff."

  "Caislyn, really, you must!" Merriwyn was insisting.

  "No." Caislyn said as she turned over. Jaxon grabbed the cup from her mom's hands and put it down on the counter nearby.

  "Come on, Merriwyn, I'm sure both Vesta and Caislyn need their rest for tomorrow."

  Caislyn looked up at Jaxon and whispered a, "thank you," to Jaxon as she tiptoed out the door with a smile. Caislyn snuggled up under the covers with the emerald flower still firm in her grasp.

  "Caislyn," her mom called out.

  "Yes, mom?"

  "Are you sure? I know this is all moving so fast and out of control, but maybe if you chose this Ash fellow, the Fey could protect you from everything else?"

  "I honestly don't know, mom. My heart has been shredded repeatedly over the last two years. I am beginning to think that it doesn't really work that well anymore. I keep wondering why me? Why didn't this happen to Jaxon instead?"

  "Maybe it's because you have the forces of two living magics within you. From what Merriwyn has told me, Jaxon is part vampire. Vampires have never received the blessing because they are not of the living."

  "But Jaxon is alive, she was born not made. She has grown, and she's a witch."

  "I don't claim to understand everything in this vast world of ours either, Caislyn. I just know that you were chosen, and now it's your decision.