Shattered Illusions (Terra Chronicles Book 2)

by J. C. Jackson

  “Don’t think too harshly about your sister, Ketayl. She means well. She only wishes to do whatever she can for you,” Don said, picking up the tray and heading for the front room. “You probably don’t know how much she missed you all those years you spent at the Arcane College and the joy she had when she got her sister back.”

  I decided to drop bringing up Kitteren’s lack of clarification with her. It would not be worth the potential rift it could cause between us. The illusion of normalcy had become so powerful and it was all I wanted at this point. I just needed to get through this trip.

  I followed him to the front room and we spent the rest of the morning catching up. By we, I meant I mostly remained silent while Kitteren spoke. I admitted to myself I had missed Don greatly, but it did not change the fact my sister’s odd behavior concerned me.

  And even more so when she occasionally excused herself to go take a phone call without a word as to who she spoke with or why she needed to take it. That said nothing of the text messages she seemed to be almost constantly responding to. Our parents would have messaged both of us. What was she hiding and why had she been so determined to get me here she would risk telling such a story?

  Chapter 5

  We met our adopted parents at the airport and then got them settled at the hotel. I wondered why we had not waited and traveled together - even some extra time in Ocean’s Edge would not have been an issue. Except for maybe my sister’s strong dislike of Silver.

  After a quick lunch, our parents left to meet some friends they had in the area, leaving us to our own devices. I thought it odd no one mentioned the plan prior, but I decided to use the time to my advantage.

  I curled up on the couch in the suite with my tablet, intent on getting ahead on the reading in some of my classes for the next semester. Suddenly my tablet was gone from my hands.

  Kitteren held it above me, giving me a look of annoyance. “You’re not supposed to be working.”

  I missed when I reached up and she moved it farther away. I said, “It’s not work, it’s just some light reading.”

  Kitteren walked away, reading the title of the book, “‘Advanced Theory on Elemental Influence in the Arcane.’ Ket, this is not ‘light reading.’ This sounds like something for work.” She tilted the device, trying to make sense of what was on the screen.

  “It’s for one of my classes for next semester,” I corrected, getting up to try and reclaim my tablet.

  “Guess I’m confiscating this then,” Kitteren said, walking away with the device.

  “Kih-tail…” I warned, emphasizing the name I used with her when it was only us. Why would she care what I was reading?

  Kitteren turned around, her fists on her hips. “Don’t you ‘Kitayl’ me, Keh-tal. You’re on vacation. No work - it includes school work. Why are you even taking classes at the EAC again?”

  Frowning, I crossed my arms - we had been over this, but I reminded her, “The Director wanted the EAC to re-evaluate me for rank, but they won’t assign me one until I’ve taken enough classes to graduate.” I found the situation tedious at best, but tried to make the most of the unexpected refresher.

  “It’s dumb you have to go through this again. What about all the time you spent there at the beginning of the year then?” Kitteren had not yet put down my tablet. I hoped to be able to snatch it. I could use my power to get it, but it would only serve to infuriate her. Dealing with an angry Kitteren was not on my list of things to do.

  Sighing, I gave up. I dropped my arms to my sides and moved toward the window and took in the view of the harbor, not really seeing it. I had not talked about it, but then she never asked before either. “The Magus ran me through a battery of tests, but the Archmages wouldn’t sign off on the results. Then I spent the next week testing out of classes, but they only let me do so many. At least they’re letting me take the classes online except for the practicals.” And even then, Magus Engelil convinced them to create a separate schedule for me because of the distance I would have to travel. Some even went so far as to allow Lockonis to do the testing in their place.

  “I still think the whole thing is stupid. What rank do you think you are?” Kitteren inquired, which I found odd. She rarely ever wanted to talk about my arcane knowledge - she held a grudge against the Arcane College still which extended to my capabilities.

  I eyed her for a moment, but answered honestly, “I don’t know and I really don’t care. Having a rank isn’t going to change anything. Can I have my tablet back?” My knowledge and my actual capacity to use the information did not match up, which is what I assumed made it difficult for the Archmages at the EAC to sign off on the results. Lockonis’ training sessions often focused on increasing my capacity because of it.

  “No,” Kitteren said. “Not until you tell me about the fairie.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest again and glared at her, trying to keep my rising anger at bay. “No means no. The fairie is dead - let her rest in peace.” Please just drop this.

  “Ketayl…” Kitteren whined, “Come on. What harm is there in telling me? They’re just stories now.”

  Just like the story with the statue? To me it would likely never be “just a story” - I could not understand why this was so important to her.

  I turned away from her so she could not see my face and grit my teeth. I closed my eyes and pushed back the memories - running, fighting, starving, being turned away at almost every turn. “I can’t, Kitteren. Please don’t ask me again.” I could not tell her about the monster hidden just beneath the surface. That she saw an illusion even I started to believe until I encountered the necromancer’s spell six months ago. It had been a strong reminder of how dangerous I was. The fact no one had been hurt by it was a miracle in and of itself.

  “No, I’m not going to stop asking until you tell me. Ketayl, this isn’t fair. You know everything about me, even my darkest time, but you won’t share anything. Quit thinking you’re protecting me!” Kitteren was fuming. My sister was definitely the more emotional of the two of us, but she was also free to let herself feel.

  Apparently dealing with an angry Kitteren was on the agenda today.

  Sighing, I gave a little, knowing she would not let this go otherwise, but only enough to give her a reason why. “I… I did things. Things I’m not proud of. I don’t want to let it come between us. I just want to move forward.”

  “Ketayl…” she said. I could not turn around to look at her. “What happened? Come on, you can tell me. Please don’t let me imagine the worst.” Kitteren stood right behind me, her hands on my shoulders. Her touch normally did not bother me, but I forced myself not to move away this time.

  I took a deep breath and found my escape. “Mother’s version is better. I’m afraid I don’t remember clearly,” I lied. I only wanted her to give up on this hunt for information.

  “And Mom won’t tell me either. She tells me to come talk to you. Do you know how infuriating that is?!” Kitteren was getting worked up again and she was gone from being directly behind me.

  Silence fell between us. I searched my mind for some kind of solution to the problem here. How could I convince her to stop asking?

  The door opened and Kitteren said sharply, “I’m going for a walk.” Then she left, taking my tablet with her. I did not even try to follow her. There was no point until she calmed herself down.

  I sighed and laid down on the couch - there was much I needed to think about. I may be pushing her away more by not telling her, but I swore to myself to never let her find out. There must be a balance between the two. I just wish I knew why in the past few months she became so adamant about getting me to tell her. More than a few times she had come across as sounding desperate. It was a word I remember being used in her conversation with Lockonis recently.

  ~*~

  At some point I dozed off. Familiar violet eyes and wavy chocolate-colored brown hair greeted me when I woke. “Where’s Kitteren?” Mother asked.

  I rubbed my eye
s and wondered what time it was. I said, “She went for a walk.”

  “Dayko, can you try reaching her again? We’ll have to be going soon if we want to get to Don’s on time,” Mother spoke gently to her mate. Then she turned back to me and asked, “Is everything alright?”

  Father fiddled with his phone, but kept the majority of his attention on us. His normally gentle expression hard - his jaw visibly locked and eyes narrowed. He ran a hand through his brown hair, mussing it up momentarily before it fell back in place and nearly back into his eyes with the exception of one piece which always tried to stick straight up.

  I wrapped my arms around my knees when I sat up, making myself smaller. I admitted, “We got into an argument. She took my tablet.” I was not sure why the last part would be important to anyone other than myself. The device belonged to the TIO and I started to worry about if something happened to it.

  Mother nodded to Father, who then stepped into their bedroom and closed the door. She asked me, “What were you arguing about?”

  I looked at those vibrant violet eyes which always seemed to know more than I thought. I looked away. “She asked about the fairie again.”

  Mother said nothing and simply rubbed my back. I buried my face, hoping this would simply blow over. If only she would drop the subject we could go back to normal.

  “Kitteren said she would meet us at Don’s house,” Father said as he opened the door. His face still hard and he kept his brown eyes down at his phone.

  “Thank you. Can you give us a minute?” Mother asked softly.

  Father sighed loudly before he said, “You know how I feel about this, Lindale.” Then the door closed once more.

  I picked up my head at his statement and the use of her full name. It made no sense. Were they arguing about me? I did not want to be the cause of a rift in their relationship. It gave me something else to worry about. Maybe I was the actual problem.

  “Don’t worry about what Dad said,” Mother spoke softly, rubbing my back. “I can’t take sides in this disagreement. It needs to come from you, Ketayl. As you can tell, she already has a romanticized version of who the fairie is. I think now she just wants the facts to confirm her belief.”

  “And the truth will drive her away. I can’t lose her,” I whispered, refusing to meet Mother’s gaze. Kitteren is the one who kept me going back then and still even now.

  “I doubt there is anything you can say to do that. She loves you, Ketayl,” Mother soothed. But she still pushed me to tell Kitteren what she wanted to know. Why did they not think I had a reason for my continued silence?

  Getting up, I moved away from Mother quickly and told her firmly, “I swore I would never tell.” I tried to smooth out my hair, still annoyed Kitteren forced me into wearing it down. “We should get going.” My power was agitated and I paused to take a deep breath to try and calm myself.

  Mother sighed and opened the door to their bedroom, letting Father know we were done. They began a conversation of a lighter topic while I paced to try and calm myself down. Now multiple people pressed me about the fairie. Why could they not just let the child remain dead?

  ~*~

  When we arrived at Don’s house Kitteren was nowhere to be seen. Don assured me she arrived safely hours ago and I knew where I could find her.

  Initially I thought his words cryptic, but quickly figured out it meant she went to the shack we once lived in. Or at least the area of it. Whether or not the shack still stood and in what condition, I did not know and I did not want to satisfy my curiosity. Instead, I found things to help with for the large dinner.

  Don’s dining area was too small to hold everyone so they planned to use the much larger area outside under a pavilion. Over the years his sons built him tables and benches as the family grew. I carried a load of plates out, setting the stack down on one end of the long table. Impressively I made it without dropping the heavy load.

  Looking at the stack, I started to get apprehensive about how many people were going to be here. The phrase “too much too quickly” came to mind. I doubted my ability to remember their names alone.

  A one-sided argument by the shed caught my attention. Turning, I saw Kitteren on the phone, obviously displeased with the person on the other end. Unfortunately, I stood too far away to clearly hear her side of the conversation.

  I moved so I could watch Kitteren while I set the table. She paced, anger visible as she argued with the person. She ran a hand through her long bangs in frustration and then tugged on the ends. This would only make dealing with my sister harder. Or it could distract her - I could not guess which for certain.

  Father strode over to her just as she hung up - exasperation plain on her face and her phone clenched tightly in her hand. He pulled her aside and she moved her hands while she spoke to him, waving a hand in the air at one point. I really wanted to know who she had just spoken to.

  It took a few minutes, but he managed to calm her down, but not before his face turned hard again and I doubted his words were any more gentle. At one point he pointed sharply in my direction and I saw Kitteren shrink back before I looked away.

  Despite the scene I knew they had a special connection. She had taken to Father’s trade of being a tracker. I knew little else. I did not feel it was my place to pry further.

  I hurried to finish and headed back in for the next load to bring out. In terms of the weather, it was a nice evening for a dinner, but Kitteren’s mood might sully it. I assumed the blame would be mine since I set her off earlier, though the call seemed to be making this trip so far just as uncomfortable for her.

  “Ketayl, dear, while you were outside, Jonathan and his wife, Elizabeth, arrived. They’re in the front room if you would like to meet them,” Alice said and smiled. I heard voices from the front room, but only recognized Mother’s.

  I bowed, and said, “I’ll finish helping get dinner ready first.” I was not yet prepared to meet the rest of Don’s family. I was not sure why no one thought to tell me about all of the others - his children and grandchildren, in-laws. My head spun at the thought.

  “You have a guest and you make her help with dinner?” A cocky male voice came from the doorway.

  I saw Don, as he appeared 50 years ago. Then I realized this must be one of his sons. This overlaying the past on the present quickly wore my patience thin.

  “Ketayl insisted on helping. Something you and your siblings could learn from,” Alice chided him before she turned and smiled at me. “This is my son Jonathan.”

  Jonathan held his hand out to me, “Jon is fine. A pleasure to meet my long lost sister finally.” He gave me a big grin. What had they told them about me? Why had I not been granted some notification of what I would be encountering? There was no way he could seriously consider me as a sibling unless he was just extending his view of Kitteren. Unfortunately, they would be disappointed if they were expecting me to have her personality.

  Putting down the utensils I gathered, I slowly reached out and took his hand. I did not like being touched, but I did not want to be rude either.

  Shaking my hand firmly, Jon then patted me on the shoulder as he moved farther into the kitchen, reaching into one of the dishes only to get his hand smacked with a wooden spoon. Alice admonished, “You can wait for dinner.”

  Jon walked away rubbing his wounded hand. He mouthed, “She’s mean,” to me.

  I smiled, glad Don found this life after we left. He deserved happiness. Especially after the trouble he went through hiding Kitteren and myself from the authorities. He risked too much with the laws in place at the time.

  “Alex said he was on his way to pick up Steph and the kids. I haven’t heard from Joanna yet,” Jon commented, taking a seat at the dining room table.

  Alice stirred the pot for a moment. “We’re also missing Kitteren, though she’s somewhere on the property.”

  “She came back while I was putting the plates out,” I said and suddenly had their attention again. “Please excuse me.” I quickly hi
d my embarrassment by picking up my bundle and heading outside to set the table.

  “Shy one, isn’t she?” I heard Jon comment before I got out of earshot.

  I did not see Kitteren outside and took a moment once I got to the table to take a deep breath. I could get through this. It was just dinner, right?

  “Hey, Ket,” Kitteren said softly.

  I jumped, not expecting anyone. I tried to cover my surprise by getting the table set.

  Kitteren put her hand over mine. “Ket, slow down.”

  I paused and looked up at her. I saw the opposite of what I witnessed by the shed. What did Father say to her? I clamped my mouth shut to keep from asking. She likely did not know I watched the interaction.

  “Look, about earlier… I’m sorry.” Kitteren locked me in place with her emerald green eyes. “I guess being here, together, has only made me more determined to know.”

  “It’s fine,” I said flatly. I was still aggravated with her, but I could understand where she was coming from to some extent. This place just dug up memories I would sooner have left buried and I was not certain if our roles were reversed I would be able to contain my curiosity.

  “Let me help you at least.” Kitteren took half of the pile and went to the other side of the table. She chatted lightly about inane things, but my mind wandered. It was not like her to not tell me exactly what her thoughts were. She never held anything back before, but I also had not seen Father get upset at her. There were simply too many questions and a more pressing issue of dealing with all these people I did not know.

  Chapter 6

  After dinner, Jon and his twin brother Alex moved the tables and benches, rearranging them into a large circle and bringing the patio furniture back. Then they pulled me into taking pictures with all of them.

  I hated having my picture taken. Even worse was being in the center. Alex and Steph’s two young daughters took an instant desire to wanting to play with my hair. Joanna’s son sat quietly where she placed him while they managed to convince the two girls to sit still and leave me be.