Sheyna moved to one of the crystals. She reached out and touched it, but nothing happened. She visited each crystal-filled sconce in turn. She turned back to the doorway and watched as the stone door closed and fit seamlessly in the stone around it. Sheyna went to the door and ran her fingers along the seams but could not see or feel the creases of a door anymore. She noticed the flames from the torches began to flicker, and she surmised it was due to puffs of air coming from a series of holes in the walls near the ceiling.
“Sheyna Namear,” a voice boomed.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
Several ethereal apparitions seeped out of the walls. They came forth as transparent mist. The crystals glowed green as soon as they appeared. “We are the vestiges left behind. We are what is left. The essence of those who came before. You have touched the vessels of our being.”
“The crystals?”
“Aye, that is where we dwell.”
Sheyna caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see balls of mist floating from each of the crystal sconces. Hundreds upon hundreds of the ethereal forms entered the chamber. Sheyna’s nerves stood on end. The hair on the back of her neck bristled.
“This is your trial, Sheyna Namear.” Mist snaked its way up to her head. It formed into a face eye-to-eye with her. “I am the essence of Erinthill. I can cure you.”
Sheyna relaxed. “Erinthill, I am so pleased it is you.” The other mists returned to the crystals, leaving only Sheyna and Erinthill’s essence remaining in the chamber.
“I am merely the essence of Erinthill left behind. I will cure you. I also carry a message for you left with me from your mother.”
Sheyna felt faint. “My mother? You never told me you knew my mother.”
“Child, do not confuse this vestige for the elf maiden you know as Erinthill, for I am simply a shadow.”
“I don’t understand.”
The essence abruptly entered Sheyna, and she drew a labored breath. It felt as though a cold wind blew upon her skin.
As soon as she caught her breath, a wave of relief washed over her body, and she felt as if a fog lifted from her mind.
“I will remain with you for a few moments,” she heard the voice of Erinthill say inside her head.
“You mentioned a message from my mother? Who was she? Is she still alive somewhere?”
“I was sent to you specifically. Your mother was powerful, and she arranged that I be the most compatible with you. I am afraid I have a limited ethereal memory and am able to only answer a few of your questions. Remember, I am only a small portion of the one you know as Erinthill.”
“So you can only tell me what you were made to tell me and nothing more.”
“That is correct. The message is your mother left you a magical wooden box that only you may open. She did not want you to have it until you reached an age where your ability to wield would bring you here for your trial. Its contents are of the most dire importance and essential to your training as an apprentice.”
“Go on.”
“The location of the box is in the living quarters of the citadel. Erinthill has already been instructed to place you in the correct room. You must retrieve the box while alone, for the box will not open for the first time if any other eyes but yours are upon it.”
“How do I find it?”
“The moment I was joined with you, a spell was cast within you that will allow you to locate it when you are near enough.”
Sheyna took a deep breath. “I feel much better now.”
“The task is complete; you are whole again. Only one issue remains.” The essence exited her body, and a moment later, another ethereal mist also left her. It coalesced before her and told the form of herself.
“I am the vestige of Sheyna Namear; what would you have me do to serve?”
“How should I know?” Sheyna responded. “I know nothing of such matters.”
The essence of Erinthill hovered nearby. “You must command your essence to join the others in the crystals.” Then it disappeared, leaving Sheyna alone with her own vestige.
“All right, just for fun, I command you to join with anyone I personally have contact with that I may send here for their trial. I will probably have apprentices someday. Better yet, join with them and bring any other essences along too that may help in curing their essence sickness, and help them become the most open to the power of wielding possible.”
“It is done.” The essence flowed away to join the others in the crystals.
Sheyna pulled the cord at the center of the room, and a bell sounded. A few moments later, the great stone door opened and Morgoran rushed in, followed by Toborne and Ianthill.
“Are you all right, child?” Morgoran asked urgently, checking her over for injury.
“I’m fine. The trial is over.”
“You are only supposed to pull the cord if you are in grave danger,” Toborne muttered, somewhat amused. “In an emergency.”
“Oh, sorry. I thought it was to pull when the trial was done.”
“No harm done,” Ianthill said. “You certainly appear to be of much better health.”
“I am. It was wonderful.” Sheyna noticed Erinthill poke her head in the doorway. “Although I would like a few words with you in private, my lady.”
Erinthill pursed her lips and sighed. “We can talk when we get back to the citadel.”
“I look forward to it,” Sheyna said. For some reason, Sheyna thought, you are dreading it.
Marella burst into the room with excitement and embraced Sheyna. “You see, it’s as I told you. All better now?”
“Aye, I am cured and ready for more of Toborne’s instruction.”
“We shall see about that,” Toborne said. “I plan to work you. I hope you are a speedy reader.”
As they left the Chamber of the Ancients behind to return to the citadel, Sheyna could hardly contain her excitement. She had to get her hands on that box. She felt the now familiar sensation of being watched. Following the eerie feeling, she happened to look up at the top floors of the citadel as they strolled nearer, and for a brief moment, she could have sworn she saw that shadow again as it ducked behind a pillar. She froze for a moment. She was still being watched even here on the protected grounds of Rugania.
Chapter 10: Dragon’s Blood
Sheyna had almost forgotten about the shadow watching her when Erinthill insisted on showing her to her rooms before agreeing to talk in private. Sheyna suspected that Erinthill had an idea of what she wanted to talk about, but she wanted to postpone the talk for some reason, perhaps to consult with her brother.
The room Erinthill selected for Sheyna made her curious about how the other rooms in the citadel were adorned. It seemed too nice for a mere apprentice. A large, canopied bed accented the room with velvet curtains and rich woodworked tables. The walls consisted of browns and greens with intricately-carved wood side paneling. She followed Marella to her room next door and discovered it was appointed essentially the same. Marella didn’t seem to think there was anything special about them when Sheyna mentioned how nice the rooms were.
Sheyna thought she had her chance to be alone in her room when Dicarion arrived and Marella went down to the docks to meet him, but Toborne came to visit almost as soon as Marella had departed. He carried a couple of thick, tightly-bound books.
“Let us go inside your rooms,” he said. “Now that your essence sickness is gone, I can bring your training up to standard. There is much to learn.”
“You draw in essence and use it to do your will. What more can there be to learn?” Sheyna regretted the statement as soon as she uttered it. Toborne puffed up with offense.
“It’s that kind of statement that makes me want to ensure you do not take your head out of a book until you are my age.” He put the books down on one of the tables. “There is more to wielding and being a wielder than meets the eye. For instance, the more you learn about wielding the slower you will appear to age. Once you become
a master, you will seemingly freeze at that age; however, you do still age, just much more slowly.” His serious eyes narrowed. “This first tome is about the changes you can expect in your life both physically and mentally. I expect you to read it thoroughly. Start it tonight.”
“I will, Master,” Sheyna agreed.
Toborne turned and left her room, closing the door behind him. Finally, Sheyna was free to find the box her mother had left for her. She went to the door of her room, opened it, and peered out both ways down the hallway. Once she was satisfied she was secure, she began moving slowly about the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She couldn’t be sure what would alert her to the presence of the box, its size, or anything about it except that it was a box. After a few moments of searching, she became confused. Was this the correct room? She was about to give up and go talk to Erinthill when she walked across a creaky floorboard. Excited again, she pulled back the heavy woolen rug and searched the floor for the source of the creak. It wasn’t long before she came across a small rectangular piece of floorboard the popped up with a bit of effort. The recess below the board was very small. Sheyna had imagined that the box would have been much bigger. A box that could fit inside this small of a hole would contain not much more than a quick note. She fished around in the hidden slot until she came up with a small rectangular box. She opened it to reveal a note and a key. She unfolded the note and read it.
My dearest daughter,
There is so much I need to tell you. You were still very young when I had to leave you behind. Where I go now, you cannot follow. I am devastated that I have to leave you! Even though she is old and probably not the best person to care for you, I am leaving you with your father’s mother, your Grandmother Namear. I have also left instructions with my good friend Enowene should anything happen to me while I am gone and I am unable to return to you. The enclosed key should be taken to her; she has the real box that was promised to you in your trial. By opening this small box, you have proved that you possess other abilities akin to wielding but also very different. Those abilities come from a, no doubt, surprising source. There is no other way to tell you this but directly. You possess the blood of dragons. It will allow you to take wielding to a much different level than anyone else alive. It is entirely possible you will be hunted for the abilities your dragon blood bestows upon you. I am sure you have many questions, and I have sworn Enowene to secrecy until you are old enough to wield and gain access to the box in Enowene’s possession. Inside you will find the truth of who and what you are. Be careful, my daughter. There are those in this world who will seek you out. Trust the jade statuette I gave you and remember this above all else, I am alive somewhere, for I cannot die. I will return to you.
Your loving mother,
Sylvalora Namear
Sheyna folded the note and put it back in the box with the key. It was time to find Erinthill and Enowene. She went to the Chamber of the First Trine and peeked through the keyhole. She didn’t want Toborne to know she wasn’t studying the books he brought her. She could see Ianthill and Morgoran gesturing back and forth to each other with the stems of their clay pipes. Toborne was leaning back in a chair, exhaling long bellows of smoke in between puffs on his long-stemmed wooden pipe, but she did not see Enowene or Erinthill.
Clutching the box in her left hand as if it might slip away from her if she didn’t, she made her way down the hallway toward the main foyer. After a turn into a different hallway, she could hear the voice of Enowene coming from one of the rooms ahead. Excitement rising, she almost sprinted to find her. When she arrived at the open doorway, Enowene, Erinthill, and Brynna sat in a circle of four chairs. A medium-sized wooden box sat on the polished low table at the center of the circle.
“There you are, dear,” Enowene said. “Close the door behind you and come have a seat.”
Sheyna complied and joined them. “You were all waiting for me. Did you know what was in this box?” She held up the box from her room.
“No, we didn’t know exactly. Your mother only told me that there was a note to you, and it would lead you to Enowene.” Erinthill said. “She did instruct me to make sure Enowene was here when you found your box, however.”
“Why hide this little box in my room? Why didn’t she just give it to you for safe keeping?”
Enowene spoke up. “In a manner, she did. When your mother had to leave Symbor suddenly, she first made sure that I had a safe place for the wooden box she wanted to give you. She told me that she would give the key to Erinthill and to keep them separate until you were old enough to take the trial. When she stopped here to talk to Erinthill, she found that she also had been called away. She left your box in the room you are currently staying in when she stayed there all those seasons ago.”
“Aye, and when she met with me in Symboria sometime later, she told me to retrieve the key box she left and leave my prepared essence for you in the Chamber of the Ancients with instructions. I decided to just leave the key box where it was. It was as safe a place as any, and it would not open for anyone but you,” Erinthill recounted.
“Who was my mother?”
“When you open the wooden box with your key, you will find out. She wanted to tell you herself in her own way,” Enowene said.
“What happened to my grandmother?”
Enowene bowed her head. “I am afraid she passed on a few days after your mother left you in her care. For a time afterward, you were in the care of my daughter, Celestine. She is probably the woman you remember as your mother. It was Celestine’s idea to hide you in plain sight the way we did, after several attempts were made to abduct you. Celestine moved to Darovan and led the vermin away from the city. The idea was that you would move from family to family while I kept an eye on you, but one of the families you stayed with was murdered, and you were lost to the streets. We were not sure what happened and still do not know to this day. I searched for you for months and feared you had been killed or abducted. You proved resourceful and found your way where I found you being fed by Ignacio. The rest you know.”
“I am not an orphan, then.” That thought somehow made her feel much better about herself, even though she had the unshakable feeling that Enowene’s account of what happened to her was not entirely the truth.
“No, you are not,” Enowene agreed. “You never really were.”
Sheyna reached for the wooden box. “May I?”
“Of course, it’s your box, after all.” Enowene seemed as excited as she was for her to open it.
Sheyna took the key from the key box and inserted it into the keyhole of the wooden box and turned it. The lid of the box popped open, and Sheyna opened it the rest of the way. Inside the box were scrolls of parchment, a few trinkets, and an amulet that appeared to have a vessel attached to the inside of it filled with blood. Around the edges of the amulet was the inscription Sylvalora.
“My mother has a beautiful name, Sylvalora?”
“Aye,” Brynna agreed. “She does.”
“You all knew her?”
Enowene studied Sheyna for a moment as if she was deciding carefully what to say next. “Aye, we all know her. Your mother is very dear to us, as are you.”
“It’s difficult for me to believe after all this time she is still alive, and out there in the world somewhere.”
“Both of your parents still live,” Erinthill said.
Sheyna put the amulet around her neck and took out a piece of parchment. It was part of a diary.
Today I am truly blessed by Loracia, my goddess, for my husband and I are now the proud parents of a bright, beautiful baby girl. Loracia has given me more gifts of life and happiness than I could have ever imagined. We named her Sheyna Loracia in honor of the one who bestowed those gifts. Erinthill has cautioned me to keep her linage hidden, and I must agree. We do not know what effect Vex’s gift of dragon will have on her. What makes me unique will also make her unique, not to mention the linage of her father, wherever he may be. I know one day we wil
l be together as a loving family, but for now, I must raise her in secret and raise her alone.
“This diary entry speaks of my father. Who is my father?”
“To tell you the truth, we don’t know. Sylvalora never told us. We know they were married by the father of the gods, Vex, and his wife Loracia in secret. She said we would find out someday when it was safe for the world to know,” Enowene said. “I always thought she was being a bit dramatic.”
“Where is she, my mother?”
“At present, no one knows. We were hoping the contents of that box would give us a clue,” Enowene answered.
“Perhaps it will,” Shey said as she began taking the contents out of the box and spreading it on the table.
Aside from a few more diary entries about Sheyna’s early life, a baby rattler, and other odds and ends, there was nothing to indicate where her mother might have gone.
“There’s nothing here,” Sheyna said with disappointment.
“Don’t be so quick to judge. Your mother might not have made it obvious,” Enowene pointed out. “Why don’t you take the box back to your room and go through it in private where you can relax and study what she has left you.”
“Thank you. I mean, thank you for holding on to this for me.”
“It was my pleasure. If it wasn’t for the key, I probably would have given it to you back at my tower in Symbor.”
“I am sure that is precisely why Sylvalora chose to keep it here,” Erinthill jested.
“You are probably correct on that account,” Enowene agreed.
Sheyna packed up the box, excused herself, and hurried to her room.
Chapter 11: Akros of Scarovia
Sheyna had almost forgotten about Marella until she encountered her while she hurried back to her room. The pretty blonde girl’s face lit up as soon as she saw Sheyna.
“There you are. How do you feel?”
Wielder: Apprentice: Book 1 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle) Page 8
