"He came here last night, you know."
Elise looked up at Mandine, clutching the chain at her neck. Mandine retrieved the tea tray while Elise bent to the broken crockery. With a sigh, she dropped the pieces onto the tray, pushing the broken cups to the side. Her hands shook. "Who came?"
Mandine jerked her head. "Him, the one who proclaims to be happy you are home. It was he and another who came in the dark of night bent on mischief."
"Father?"
"Who else?"
"Earlier, he acted as if he'd just arrived."
"It is what he wanted you to think," Mandine said, her voice ripe with disgust. "The deviousness works within him, around him. Be careful, I warn you, he is not done with his evil work."
"Don't worry," Elise told her, shuddering, "There's no way I could go back with him."
"You will go."
"How can you say that? You told me what he planned."
"Calm yourself." Mandine's voice was soothing, almost a croon. "There will come a time when you return to the home of Rogier Lancaster. It will be a time to summon every bit of courage you possess."
"Mandine, tell me what you know. I have to be prepared so I can protect myself."
"All the strength you need is already inside you. If you draw upon what you know of life, you will find your way through this maze." She motioned Elise inside. "Come, we need to talk. I need to hear about your daughter, your life."
They settled before the small fire burning in the grate. "This feels like old times, Mandine, how we used to sit by the fire and you would sew a new dress for me while I shelled peas."
"Tell me."
Elise smiled. "Isabeau looks like Darien. Not a time goes by where I look into her eyes that I don't see her father. She is a photographer and records history in pictures. She does very well. She is kind hearted and honest, but she has a temper that sometimes reminds me of my own." Elise smiled. "As for me, I write stories about this time in history. They are well received."
"You are a woman making your own history, as is your daughter."
"Yes, but it didn't come easily. Tell me Mandine, were you ever in love? Was there a time that your heart yearned for a special man?" Elise had never thought to ask Mandine such a question in the fifteen years she had known her, but now as an adult, she wondered about the barren life of the woman who had so lovingly raised her.
Mandine gave the barest hint of a smile and reached out to touch Elise's hair. "You always think with your heart, my Elise. I too had a young girl's dream." Her eyes had a faraway look, as if she could see the memories. "I loved a man, a soldier, a very long time ago."
"You had a life together?"
"Yes Elise. We had forty years together." She smiled and there was no sadness. "I was very beautiful at that time and he was very handsome. He died of old age, while I -- I went on. My line has a long lifespan."
"Mandine, I never asked these questions."
"You were always full of questions," Mandine said fondly.
"But never these questions. How old are you?"
"Elise, surely the years are not as important as how the time was spent? You have always known I am from a mystical line. I carry with me the powers of other worlds, but I chose to come here to raise little girls to women, the women who are destined to make a change to the order of the world."
"Besides my mother and myself, there have been others?"
"Many. But you are the last, Elise."
Elise experienced a sense of sadness. "Why is that?"
"I have accomplished that for which I was needed."
Elise grabbed Mandine's hand, feeling the corded muscle, the skin dark and almost leathery. "Mandine, you must tell me, are you well?"
"I am as well as I should be, but the time has almost arrived for you to exert your own strength. You have learned much in these years away. You would not have come into your inner self in this time."
"But Elise, how can you know that? It could have been different. I could have had a wonderful life with Darien."
"But I do know, Elise, because you are not of this time, just as your mother was not of this time."
Shock reverberated through Elise. "But -- but you never told me."
"Were you ready to hear it at fifteen?"
"No, all I wanted was Darien." Elise sighed. "Alexandra -- Aleanna died five years ago."
"And the man she loved?"
Elise was no longer surprised by Mandine's knowledge of what went on in other times. "Declan died the same year. They loved me and my daughter as their own."
Mandine nodded. "As it should be." She suddenly gave a grimace of pain.
Alarmed, Elise leaned toward her. "Mandine, what is it? Are you ill?" Elise had never known Mandine to be sick. Mandine rose, hunched over, and allowed Elise to help her to the narrow straw bed.
"Sit beside me, Elise." Mandine's smile was weary. "Do not be frightened. I am fortunate to have been able to wait until you came back. I knew. . ." her voice faded, became hoarse. Elise got up to draw her a cup of cool water from the bucket in the corner. "I knew I would not be long for this world once you returned."
Elise put her arms around the frail shoulders, held the cup while she drank. "Mandine, you must rest." She helped her lay down, then covered her with a coarse wool comforter.
Mandine's claw like hand grasped her fingers tightly. "Listen carefully, Elise, your life depends upon it." She drew a quivering breath, the sound rattling in her chest. Elise's fear escalated, but she bit her lips. "You have to fulfill your destiny, make the circle complete. You come from a line of women who save their soul mates."
"My mother --"
Mandine smiled, an unusual softness in her face. Gently, she cupped Elise's chin, then let her fingers fall to her chest. "Aleanna saved her soul mate, but he was lost to her later, allowing Rogier to take advantage of her momentary weakness. That must not happen to you. I made Aleanna a promise."
"Mandine, rest and we can speak of this later."
"There is no time," Mandine replied simply. "Did not the daughter of Darien save her soul mate?"
Confused, Elise looked at her. "My daughter -- Isabeau -- but --" she remembered her last discussion with her daughter Isabeau about her own journey back in time.
"Elise, all manner of time is irrelevant. You are here now, you are also in that other place where you built a new life. You are a time traveler from a gifted line. You must not surrender to fear or uncertainty. In your heart, you know the reason you have been allowed to return. Do not turn from that purpose." Mandine seemed painfully out of breath. Elise had to lean close so she could hear.
Mandine touched a swathe of Elise's hair as it hung over her shoulder, her fingers twining lovingly around its brightness. "Bring me the runes, Elise. You will find them on the shelf, by the door."
Elise found the stones and carefully placed them on the bed within reach.
"Cast them."
"It's been a while," murmured Elise. Closing her eyes, she let her fingers slip with easy familiarity over the smooth stones. As a child she and Mandine had played games with the rune stones, until her father discovered their pastime. It had come to an abrupt end. He had thrown the stones Mandine had fashioned for her in the fire.
Two small stones inserted themselves between her fingers, while a third was in her palm. She placed them on the bed cover, carefully turning them over, looking at the symbols scratched into the surfaces.
"Inguz, Nauthiz, Dagaz," Mandine whispered, laying back. "There is a chance for the new beginning, but only through the path strewn with pain and upheaval can your life be transformed to that which you want."
"How can I know the path to take?" Elise did not question the power of the Oracle.
"When the circle is closed, you must go back."
"Go back?" Elise shook her head, sitting upright. "But I've come too far to go back --"
"When the circle closes, you must seize the opportunity, for it will not present itself again in your lifetime. You
must remember, the Self is the self's only friend, and the self is the Self's only foe." Mandine twisted on her side, her gnarled fingers reaching toward the table at the side of the bed.
"What do you need?" Elise was worried about her continued pallor, the shortness of her breath.
"The pouch." Mandine whispered hoarsely.
Elise picked up a small black bag on the table. Mandine lay back, eyes closed in exhaustion. Her face was a sickly hue. Her lips held a frightening bluish tinge.
"Open it."
Elise turned the pouch upside down, let the contents fall into the old woman's palm. She saw the small bottle-like cylinder at the end of a length of finely spun silk cord. Mandine held it out to her.
Elise stared at it, the liquid in the small vial, its tiny flecks and sparkles catching the light.
"What is it?"
"It is the way back."
Chapter Five
She remembered the times Mandine had stayed with her when she'd been ill as a child. It had only been fitting that she keep the same vigil for Mandine throughout the night. Mandine, whom Elise had thought almost immortal, had died quietly with a full moon high in the sky. She'd closed her eyes and there had been nothing more.
Now Elise bent her head, unmindful of the tracks the tears made down her cheeks, a lone figure in a desolate burial site. With a sense of finality, she murmured a brief goodbye to the woman who had raised her, and laid Mandine to rest.
Several townspeople had come earlier to see Mandine lowered into the ground, but Elise was the only one now on the cold bluff, the wind slicing at her, reminding her more of fall and impending snow than early spring.
Absently, she brushed at the leaves clinging to her skirt, her eyes on the wooden cross marking Mandine's final resting place. The small cemetery was not an unfamiliar place, she had come here often, yet never with the intent to view Mandine's grave. In the twenty-first century, she had often wondered about the grave, unmarked save for a flat stone. Now she knew it belonged to Mandine. If she were indeed able to return to the future, she would put a proper stone for Mandine.
There was a brief lull in the force of the wind, and for a moment Elise swore she heard again a wicked cackle on the air. Shaking her head, she turned and left the grave site. Even Mandine, with the powers she held, could not cheat death.
Elise heard a step behind her, the scrape of a boot on the dry, dusty earth. She looked up, slowly wiping the remnants of tears from her cheeks, surprised to find Darien climbing the small knoll toward her. Her heart began to beat harder, her breath quickening as he drew nearer. Even in her grief he could affect her so.
"I thought you had left," she said, meeting him halfway as she walked in the direction of the road.
Darien fell into step beside her, a frown on his face.
"My trip will wait for another day. Elise, I am truly sorry for your loss, I know how much she -- Mandine -- meant to you." He stepped closer, an arm upraised as if he would embrace her, then halted, his hand dropping to his side. Frowning, he said, "It grows dark. I thought perhaps you should have an escort --"
"I am fine. I can walk back on my own," she reassured him, lifting her chin. She needed no keeper.
"You've changed, 'Lise." She ignored the dart of pain as he shortened her name. Looking up at him, a shadow of a smile curved her lips.
"So have you, Darien." She savored the sensation of his name as it left her lips. Wind lifted the hem of her skirt and she looked to the darkened sky to the northeast. A storm was brewing. "It's only to be expected after such a length of time."
"I keep asking myself -- why now, Elise -- why did you wait so long to return?"
Elise glanced at him, her fingers curling into fists, wanting nothing more than to ease the frown creased into his forehead. She sighed, sad for the time they had lost, dispirited because he didn't know the daughter he had and that he had missed her childhood. She wondered if he could ever forgive her that. It was something he would never get back.
The burial bluff was only a short distance from the center of town, and now they paused mutually at the crossroads. His home was at the end of the road, Mandine's cottage a short distance in the opposite direction.
"Elise, I would invite you to the house for dinner."
His invitation came as if on a sudden thought. Her heart lifted, became lighter, but then Elise remembered the true circumstances. He had another woman in his life, while she. . .
"Thank you, Darien, but I do not think it would be a good idea. If I were Adeline, I wouldn't be happy to have another woman --" Forcing a smile, she turned away.
"No, wait." A certain quality in his voice halted her. "We should resolve this issue. We need to talk about the past . . . and the present."
Now that the opportunity was at hand, Elise felt strangely reluctant, off balance. She hesitated, looking into his beloved face, seeing the character, the man he was now, the man she wanted so dearly to know, but something held her back. How could she tell him of a daughter he might never see?
"What of Adeline?" Softly, the other woman's name left her lips.
Frowning, Darien looked toward the cemetery, his profile silhouetted sharply against the darkening sky. A slight breeze lifted the blond hair at his temples, ruffling it as Elise had once been free to do. At forty-one years of age he still had the power to make her heart race. "Adeline is a sweet girl. She'd never interfere with my plans --"
Elise felt strangely lightheaded as he turned his gaze back to her.
"How can you speak in such a manner of the woman you plan to marry?" Angrily, Elise turned away, a keen disappointment gripping her.
"Elise." Darien grabbed her arm from behind and brought her to a standstill. Elise felt as if her skin were burning, melting to his touch. She couldn't help the soft gasp or the startled eyes which sought his. "Adeline and I are very good friends and she trusts my decisions --"
"I think you should be home with our fiancé."
Darien released her arm and stepped back.
"I did not mean for you to think Adeline's opinions are of no consequence. I would never hurt her. She is a good friend --" he paused, running a hand over the length of his hair, rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture of frustration. "There is an agreement between Adeline and myself -- one which I feel I must not break. I am sorry, but I am bound by honor and cannot speak further of it, but know I meant her no dishonor."
Reading her bewilderment, Darien grimaced, then his voice became urgent. "That is of lesser importance right now. We must speak of the events which separated us. I was taken aback by your sudden reappearance -- how could I not be? I have had time to weigh the circumstances, to think, and I have decided we must talk --"
"You decided we should get this out of the way?" The very dregs of loneliness pulled at her. "Did Rufus have a hand in this? He seems a reasonable man, while you've been anything but. I can understand your anger, even disappointment in me, but for you to treat me as if I'm beneath your contempt --" she paused, drew in another breath. "I wanted you to hear my side of what happened, but you wouldn't give me a fair hearing. Now, suddenly you've decided you'll give me a chance?"
He clenched his jaw. "Perhaps I was wrong to react the way I did, but damnation, 'Lise, you suddenly appear and act as if not a day has passed, and everything should go on as before. My God! It's been a passage of many years."
"Do you think I am not aware of the time? I have counted the days of every one of those years." She could not control her body's trembling. "I know you cannot understand, but things are not as simple as they appear. Since the last time we were together, I have been trying to get back. I feel as if not a day has passed when I have not yearned to return."
Not a day has passed when I have not loved you.
But she did not speak those words aloud. She still had some pride.
The incredulous look on his face spoke of his disbelief.
Right or wrong, Elise felt he'd let her down. She had been so ready to trust and believe
in him, yet he'd scorned her before an explanation left her lips.
"Forget it, Darien," she said tiredly. "Forget me. It seems that is what you want the most." The strain of the last forty-eight hours was beginning to tell. "Perhaps it no longer matters, the events of that night, long ago." She walked away, empty, knowing very well it did matter. There was no satisfaction in giving him back what she had received at his hands, there was merely a dull ache in her heart.
#
Darien let her go, watched her until she entered the cottage. With a low growl, he turned and strode in the opposite direction, eaten up inside as he recalled the closed, defeated look on her face. She had changed. Twenty-four years ago he had been able to read every emotion as it crossed her features. She had been a gentle creature, easily pleased.
Now, he knew nothing of the feelings of the woman she'd become. He no longer knew Elise. Gone was the young girl he'd so passionately loved. And gone was the young man who looked at life with fresh, eager eyes.
There was been no happiness in her now. He couldn't help but feel he'd put that sadness there, despite the fact that it had been she who had abandoned him long ago. And she had abandoned him -- to a man who took delight in meting out punishment.
It was indeed true they had both changed.
He didn't want to dwell on her beauty, or the fact that it had not lessened in the passing of time. Her presence in town was a sore eating at him, and there would be no peace until he resolved whatever it was that held him in her power, even now.
Damnation! He'd been pigheaded and stupid, as Rufus had claimed, but no longer. He would learn the truth of that night. He had a right to know, and if the truth was as he thought, then they'd both be damned to hell!
#
The hoof beats were like a pulse in the night, rhythmic and unceasing, as the dark rider flew across the landscape, the last rays of the sun catching a glint of silver harness, then losing it to the night.
Time Travel Romance Collection Page 36
