by Darci Darson
“We are both the descendants of the pure Varuh,” Rav explained. “You are where you should be. There is a purpose for you here... and for me here as well,” he added in a wry voice.
Yasmeen replied sharply, articulating a word of bad language, but paused as she saw Rav’s confounded face and a flicker of helplessness shadowing his eyes.
“I mean, it’s nonsense,” she amended and buried her face in his shirt and let him carry her to the castle. Her mind was devastated by this turn of events but a tiny and pleasant thought also vibrated in her head. It was so wonderful to be carried like this by such a handsome boy like Rav. And then again she corrected herself. He was not a normal boy. He was her parents’ best friend. And he was very, very old, probably. Yasmeen felt a strange yearning in her heart as she imagined herself with such a good looking boyfriend like Rav. Her three previous boyfriends had been average and each of them had left after being introduced to Imre and Drasa. She did not resent them for this, though as she had not been in love with any of them. Imre and Drasa had always had strict views on her upbringing and contact with boys. Cherry just laughed at them both.
Rav’s steps rumbled on the wooden drawbridge thrown over a deep moat filled with murky, dark water and the fallen leaves that either decayed at the bottom or floated like miniature boats on the surface, the disgusting remnants of the autumns past. Yasmeen did not pay too much attention to the castle, but she noticed that it had been built on a slightly higher ground. It sat like a monstrous, golden eagle raising its wings, surrounded by sparsely planted oak trees. The stone used for the construction was the colour of dark golden brown; the walls catching the sun’s rays and glittering like they contained millions of tiny gems. In the background the spring sang with hundreds of birds’ voices, appearing in its fullest form and making a gift to the surface of earth with the bright colours of its flowers.
Yasmeen could feel how much effort Rav had to put in carrying her through the big gate and then through the square courtyard where a few points were inhabited by a variety of different roses. His muscles were hard like stone and his breath was rapid. When she glanced at him, he gifted her with a smile that was full of joy, enslaving and warm. Yasmeen’s cheeks heated up.
They entered a large room which must have been the Great Hall. Rav placed her on the wide armchair and, like a small puppy, she looked around. There were around ten people seated at the wide and long table. They were eating and talking. However, they fell silent, noticing Rav and Yasmeen and for a moment all the people stared at each other, the silence thickening and growing like a tangible and suffocating mass.
A woman in her seventies rose from the red chair with carved ornamentation. She stood at the head of the table. She wore a dark green gown with narrow sleeves and her hair was grey, but her electric blue eyes had remained youthful like two shiny crystals against the wrinkled surface of her face. Her expression was tense yet curious until a wide grin lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Where have you found her, Radveriel?” the woman said as seconds passed. Her voice was deep and warm, emanating pure kindness yet tinged with a little hoarseness. The woman’s lips curled in an honest and happy smile again and Yasmeen could have sworn that she had seen that face before.
“She was in the woods. She is Imre and Cherry’s daughter and her name is Yasmeen,” Rav answered. “This is Yasmeen Devita.”
The woman moved from the table and approached Yasmeen with her arms extended as though she wanted to hug her.
“Let me greet you, Child. I’m Felicia, Felicia Reese. I knew your parents. What a wonderful moment and a pleasant surprise.”
Yasmeen froze. She was so scared she could not think. She sat, cringing in the armchair with her mouth wide open but then she looked straight into Felicia's eyes and saw the warm willingness to help and pure joy radiating in every direction, replenishing her soul with its bright safety. Yasmeen started from her armchair and jumped into Felicia's inviting and caring embrace, sinking in the softness of her slightly full body that emitted a delicate scent of old age mixed with a hint of herbs and roses.
“I want to wake up. I want to wake up from this nightmare,” Yasmeen sobbed.
“I know, Child. We will help you,” Felicia said and turned her head towards the table and spoke in a strange language full of melody as well as rough and difficult sounds. A girl with raven black hair and ivory face rose from one of the chairs on the long side of the table and headed towards the door opening to the courtyard. “You need a bath and proper clothes. Is it a Halloween costume?” Felicia whispered into Yasmeen's ear. “It’s falling apart.”
The girl nodded and felt a wave of relief washing over her anxious soul because despite the horror she had been enduring she had met good and friendly people willing to help her. Felicia made a waving gesture to other people sitting at the table and they answered the same way. Yasmeen saw four Elves among them including Ettrian who must have followed them into the castle. There was also a blonde girl with Felicia's eyes, breastfeeding her child, and a man in his thirties sitting next to her. He was probably the blonde’s husband, Yasmeen reasoned in her head. Another woman with auburn hair and a time-ravaged face sat at the opposite end of the table. The Elves talked whilst playing a card game. Rav joined them, taking a seat in the middle of the table.
Felicia grabbed Yasmeen's elbow and pushed her with a slight force. They both moved towards the enormous door painted in navy and gold, leading onto the courtyard. As she left, Yasmeen tried to catch Rav’s glance but he was busy so her eyes swept over the colourful walls decorated with flowery green, red and golden wallpapers instead. The massive, stone fireplace behind Felicia’s chair emitted the flickering warmth of its fire to the breath-taking space around the feasting people.
Yasmeen walked outside and turned left as instructed by her guide, climbing the stone, narrow stairwell that led to the bedrooms. Felicia followed her closely.
“Second door to the left,” the woman said.
Yasmeen pushed the wide, wooden door and it swung open. She entered a spacious room with green and red walls, bringing to attention a white and golden baldachin bed in the middle and a white bathtub on the side. The wooden floor creaked with every step and two rows of small, arched windows on the wall opposite the door enabled the wide streaks of sunlight to pour into the room. Yasmeen felt as if she had been transported into a fairy tale story.
“It’s amazing,” the girl whispered.
“Your bath is ready,” Felicia said and sat on the large chair beside the bed. “Hurry, Child. The water is cooling down. Are your feet ok?”
“No, to be honest, I lost my shoes,” Yasmeen answered in a polite voice.
“Go on then,” Felicia ordered and strode towards one of the small cabinets by the windows, taking out a few white cloths. She returned to her previous position, placing the strange bandages next to her.
Yasmeen hesitated at first, but then took off her clothes and jumped into the hot water. It smelled like a mixture of roses and lavender. Felicia stood up and handed her a small, silver mirror. She then returned to her seat, putting her palms on her laps.
“The fluid in the red bottle is for the teeth and the blue bottle contains the soap,” Felicia explained. “They are very expensive, but they are a gift from the Elves that you’ve just seen downstairs. Tell me, how is your mum?”
“She is very unwell. She suffers from insomnia and wakes up four to five times a month, screaming. I think she has nightmares. She drinks a lot of the tinctures you left at Westfad Manor.” Yasmeen looked at her reflection and froze for a moment. Her face was slightly covered in mud, her make-up spreading from her eyelids to her cheeks, marking her skin with dark, thin streams and making her appearance almost scary.
Felicia straightened up and seemed to be very surprised.
“Yes, we moved in three years ago. Granny Madison comes in every summer to help with the B&B and Grandpa Drasa comes at night. Mum is so concerned with Dad’s health that she checks
every tiny bit of food he puts into his mouth. My parents told me that you had died...” Yasmeen placed the mirror on the floor, grateful for Felicia’s practical rescue. Cherry had mentioned on a number of occasions that Felicia loved cleaning and expected others to be clean, too. Yasmeen washed her face and immersed herself in the water to wet her hair. She then rubbed her eyes and waited to hear what Felicia had to say.
“I put my feet on the land of guardians,” Felicia said. “I was in Atlantis. It cursed and blessed me at the same time. I remember my previous life. At first everything was hazy and unclear but the older I get the more I feel like Felicia Reese. Actually I am Felicia Reese now so... I think I will die soon. It seems to be a continuous cycle,” The woman chuckled. “I’m tied to your family, but I’m not sure why. Something big and dark is coming... Felicia Reese can sense it but my life as Gerizpe has been a happy and stable life, on the other hand. I got the chance to watch my daughter grow up and start her own family. I believe now in this whole reincarnation thing but I would never expect to be born again in such a strange place like Iioliv,” Felicia paused for a moment as if hesitating before her final revelation. “They let me leave the Further because I’m needed here but I can’t recall any details from there. It’s just the knowledge that I was in the Further and that there was some mysterious, powerful them. We met each other for a purpose, Yasmeen but I don’t know yet what this is exactly about. Rav told me the whole story of Cherry and Imre and it seems to be just a beginning. Maybe you will find out what really brought you here.”
Yasmeen felt a sudden wave of black gloom travelling in her chest. A dense and unpleasant silence hung in the room for a moment.
“How did you meet Rav? I mean Radveriel?” the girl asked to interrupt the uncomfortable lull that seemed to spread in the whole room and place its heavy hands on her shoulders. She also wanted to change the topic of the conversation in order not to think about Felicia’s scary words. She had no intention of exploring that dark threat mentioned by Felicia or her ridiculous purpose of landing in Iioliv.
“Two guardians brought him to Iioliv from Atlantis about a year ago if I can count it like this,” Felicia answered. “Time is a little bit different here, days seem to be longer but it does not matter... What was it I wanted to say? These angels were so beautiful and so full of love... Radveriel calls them the pure Varuh. They had white wings and ... and disgusting, white claws. The couple asked me to look after the boy. He definitely needed a good haircut. The boy is so handsome but completely hopeless when it comes to looking after his appearance.” Felicia grinned.
Immersing her dirty nails in the water Yasmeen realised that she could clearly understand her mum’s feelings for Felicia. The woman was like an infinity of friendly warmth if, of course, others obeyed her cleanliness rules.
Chapter 6
Yasmeen put on a bottle green coloured long gown with a black bodice and narrow sleeves. It had a lovely décolletage exposing too much, but she was thrilled and eager to wear the dress. She sat at the edge of the bed, raising her feet to put them onto Felicia’s knees.
“You have Imre’s height but Cherry’s eyes,” Felicia said when she finished dressing the girl’s injuries. “And you inherited her beauty with some additions from your father and your granny, Madison.”
“Granny Madison always moans that I’m more similar to her than her own daughter. My mum looks like she was adopted,” Yasmeen said. She could remember now something else as now that her memories were coming back to her slowly. There were some people who had been Cherry’s parents as well but they never visited them. Cherry had mentioned once or twice that Carmen and Ignacio had been scared of her and regarded her as a demon. The only reason they had for not giving her away for adaption was because their Christian beliefs that they needed to surround her with respect and stability. As such, they loved her only as much as their faith allowed without contradicting their fear of her. Creepy... Cherry had been born twice.
There were a lot of questions waiting to be answered by Yasmeen’s parents. The mysterious origins of her scar would be one of them.
Yasmeen automatically touched her thin flaw and felt saddened as this was the first time in years she would show her face without any make-up on. Felicia rushed her so that Yasmeen could eat something at last.
“That’s nothing, Child. This scar is almost invisible. The Elves are delighted with you but you stay away from them,” Felicia grinned but a moment later her face stiffened.
Yasmeen nodded, confused.
“When I first saw Cherry,” Felicia continued, her voice distant as if she was swimming in the past. “I was so relieved and happy that I found my Satin Bowerbird. I had been looking for her throughout my previous life. The message was not precise. I even travelled to Australia as this is the natural habitat of satin bowerbirds,” she chuckled. “She was so close yet my mind had been deaf to her calling for a very long time. Did your parents tell you how they met?”
Yasmeen shook her head. They had not told her anything. She had waited for eighteen years to get the answers.
“Imre loved Cherry from the moment he saw her, “Felicia continued.” Imre and I saved your granny Madison and her from the Opyri. Imre was naughty, stubborn and scared that she would never love back a dark creature like him. Poor kids, they were learning to trust each other when I left them, too soon. My body could not withstand the energy emanating from that wonderful land of the guardians... Radveriel told me what had happened to Imre and Cherry.”
“How did you meet my father?” Yasmeen asked as her vocal cords at last enabled her to produce speech.
“He saved my life and by doing so, his as well. How he hated the Opyri! His rage made him strong against them. He never told me why. I learnt it when the three of us faced Drasa.”
“Grandpa Drasa, you mean? My dad’s father?”
“Grandpa Drasa... That’s very interesting, Child. You mentioned him before, but I wasn’t sure whether that was the Drasa I had met.”
Yasmeen nodded and did not say anything. She tried to analyse the information, but nothing made sense to her so she nodded again. She did not know whether she should have been scared or surprised. She decided to listen to the old woman and be grateful for her care and kindness.
“I’m happy that Imre and Drasa managed to work it out. There was something strange about that old vampire... I could feel it.” Felicia smiled and corrected the back of Yasmeen’s gown.”Perfect!” she added.
Yasmeen did not thank her as she was too disturbed by the woman’s story. Her parents’ past was dark and mysterious and her own life seemed to be even creepier than she had thought. She was going to have a serious talk with Grandpa Drasa. The word ‘vampire’ vibrated in her head for a while and she was not sure what to do with this information. It did not seem to change either her feelings for Grandpa or the funny memories she shared with him.
Felicia took her back to the Great Hall where more food was being served. As Felicia had explained, the auburn haired woman and the black haired girl were in her employment. Felicia’s husband had passed away some time ago and the blonde girl with the baby was her daughter and grandchild but they were both not present, probably retired for the evening.
Yasmeen took a seat next to Rav and opposite Ettrian, relieved that she would not walk on her achy feet anymore as she had not managed to put any shoes on. The Elf scanned her with his narrow eyes and filled her silver cup with golden fluid from a long crystal bottle. She took a small sip and coughed as it burned her throat.
“It’s strong,” she wheezed to Ettrian.
“He doesn’t speak English,” Rav said. “I learnt from your mother. Felicia is teaching me as well.”
“What was she like, my mum? When you met her?”
“She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I had never met a pure Varuh before, apart from those in the ancient circle, but they were just stone statues,” Rav said and smiled as if at his memories. “And I had also never met a human
before Cherry. I never left my home either until recently.”
Yasmeen felt strange. She did not know why. How could she be jealous?
“Were you in love with my mum?” she asked, irritated. “Did my father know?”
Radveriel looked at her confused as he shook his head.
“She wasn’t for me. She was for Imre,” he said. “Imre ripped my throat apart and nearly took my heart out of my chest, but we eventually managed to reach an agreement,” he muttered. “I never saw a vampire so passionate and crazy about another creature. Your father was completely mad about Cherry, loving her more than a pure Varuh would... And I took her from him.”
Yasmeen saw in his eyes that the past had been tormenting him with no mercy. She felt sorry for him but at the same time she was strangely angry with her mum. She, herself could not imagine how her father might have ripped somebody’s throat; the idea was just too preposterous. She had to admit though, that her father could be very jealous when a man dared to look at his wife. Cherry, however, seemed to live in her own freakish world, unaware of the whole of mankind apart from her own husband, despite her appealing youthful looks.
Ettrian filled Yasmeen’s cup again and she had emptied it in an instant. She wanted to get rid of the unpleasant and dark feelings pinning her heart. She had met the most handsome boy in her life yet he probably could have been her grand grandfather and in the past, and to make matters worse, had been attracted to her mum. This was terrible. It was worse than a disaster!.
Her body started to relax and a slight euphoria sneaked into her head. She began to enjoy the intensity of Ettrian’s glances. She stopped paying attention to Rav and returned Ettrian’s glances. Two other Elves brought strange, long instruments and started to play. The sound and the shape resembled Irish flutes. Yasmeen was amazed at the Celtic feel of the music, at how it brushed delicately the very particles of her soul, as if transmitting the images of an infinite and harsh landscape into her head. She was also getting drunk as the alcohol attacked her with its potent and fast acting force. Around her, everyone talked and laughed and the strange language stopped irritating her ears at last. The delicious smells of roasted meat blended with those of ripened fruits and cooked vegetables, but the origins were a mystery for Yasmeen. She leaned back and made herself more comfortable; the warmth from the fireplace covering her like a soft blanket whilst the candles in the wide niches of the walls flickered as if in time to the rhythm of the music. The sweet and burning taste of the alcohol sent Yasmeen a wave of heat spreading to her every cell and flushed her cheeks with a consuming redness. She felt light and happy and wanted to talk, a lot in fact, her talkative nature freeing itself from all constraints. She grabbed Rav’s elbow and leaned towards him, forgetting her decision to keep her distance.
