by Ellis Logan
Chapter 31
“Your bath, miss,” Auroreis gently reminded me as I stood staring at the door.
“What? Oh, right.” I padded over the soft cala to follow her through the bedroom into the bathroom. The bedroom was a repeat of the living room, with dark, almost black wood furniture crafted with neat, spare lines and violet linens.
The bathroom itself was a study in opposites. The walls were the same golden material as the rest of the suite, but the fixtures were all made of gleaming silver. In the floor, a massive round tub large enough for four people shone like liquid mercury. Fluffy grey towels sat folded by the edge.
Auroreis started to tug my shirt over my head. “Hey! What are you doing?” I exclaimed.
“I’m helping you disrobe, miss.” She looked at me like this was obvious.
“No offense or anything, but where I come from people undress themselves. Do you mind?” I looked pointedly at the exit and she giggled.
“Of course, miss. I’ll be in the receiving room should you need any assistance.”
“Thanks,” I spoke in relief.
As soon as she left I tore off my clothes and sank into the pool of warm inviting water. Something in my body responded immediately to the water, almost like when I touched other Light fae. I felt relaxed and happy. Did everything here have healing properties?
I sank under the surface, allowing the water to soak my hair. The tub was large enough to float freely in. When the water began to cool I looked around and found a bar of soap. I didn’t see any shampoo or conditioner bottles, so I figured it must be multi-purpose and lathered up. It had a mellow scent that reminded me of flowers and sandalwood.
After I rinsed off I wrapped in the warm towels and walked out to the bedroom. Auroreis had left my backpack on the bed next to a silky silver outfit. I tugged on clean underwear from my pack, and examined the fae clothing.
There were two pieces, consisting of wrap pants and a short stretchy top. The pants were wide, tying at the waist and ankles and overlapping at the sides, leaving vents at the side that allowed in cooling air as I walked. The tight sleeveless top came down to my waistband and had a small circular neckline. It seemed to feature some type of built in support so I didn’t even need to wear a bra. I tucked Alec’s knife into a hidden pocket along one seam, just in case.
Enjoying the new comfy clothes, even if they weren’t quite my style, I went through my pack to grab my toothbrush and comb. I didn’t have anything to dry my hair with so I just threw it up in a ponytail and checked out my reflection in the mirror. After the bath, I looked remarkably refreshed. I certainly didn’t look like I had traveled through two hundred miles of the earth’s crust. I even had some color in my cheeks.
I heard a loud rapping at the outer door and returned to the living room, or as Auroreis had called it, the receiving room. Mireia stood at attention, waiting.
“Are you ready? I hope you enjoyed your bath, and that our clothes are to your liking.” I noticed for the first time that she was wearing a similar outfit, except hers had sleeves and was made of a soft taupe material.
“Yes, thanks, it was great,” I smiled back at her.
“Wonderful. Then, if you are ready, we will go meet Commander Le Fay.”
“Ready as ever,” I replied. Nerves filled me, but almost as fast as they came the cala helped soothe them away. Still, I scooped up Miko from the couch where he was napping, feeling like I might need some moral support.
We walked down the hallway, coming out to a wide circular staircase. As we approached I saw that the stairs moved slowly like an escalator, one stair twining downwards while the other spiraled up. At the landing the stairs flattened out, three lining up with each other to create a wide, safe platform for entering and exiting. We stepped on, one after the other, and rode the escalator up another two floors.
This floor didn’t have multiple hallways leading away from the stairs, the way my floor did. Instead, just two doors led from the landing on opposite sides. One had a spiral symbol on it with a line struck through it, while the other was marked with a plus sign.
Both had a pair of guards stationed outside. We walked to the door with the plus sign and my eyes widened as I recognized Alec standing at attention. He stared straight ahead, not making eye contact. I was reminded of the sentries at Buckingham Palace. When we had visited the London landmark I had tried my best to get them to laugh or smile, but, nothing. They were like statues. At least here Alec didn’t have to wear a stuffy black hat. He was dressed in a tight green sleeveless shirt, much like my own, and some loose brown shorts that fell below his knees. The other guard was similarly dressed, white linen gorgeously setting off his mocha skin and curly blonde hair.
Mireia barely spared the guards a glance as she placed her hand on the door’s surface. It slid open, revealing a gigantic wooden round table dominating the room. Emblazoned across it was the same plus sign, one line painted in gold, the other silver. A man sat to one side at the table staring into a crystalline bowl of water.
Was this my father? I watched him, taking in his blonde-white hair, brushed back from his face in a low ponytail, small strands escaping and leaning forward as he gazed into the bowl, talking to himself quietly. He wore a loose gray shirt.
Mireia coughed and the man looked up, recognition flitting across his features when he saw me. He waved a hand over the water and stood, his eyes flashing liquid silver.
“Siri?” He came to stand in front of me, nodding at Mireia in dismissal. I heard her footsteps recede as she left the room. His arms came up, as if to touch me, and then changed direction as he clasped his hands behind his back. He smiled warmly down at me. “You look so much like your mother when she was young.”
“Thanks, I guess. All except her hair and eyes, I guess.” I fidgeted under his gaze.
“No, you have my mother’s hair.” His eyes twinkled, and I realized with a flash that they mirrored my own. “She will be here next week, and will be excited to see that she’s finally passed something on to one of her descendants. My father’s genes have always seemed to hold dominant,” he chuckled.
“But where are my manners?” he continued. “I am Bran Le Fay, Commander of the Light Guards, Son of Yvain Le Fay and Kalila Norna. And, apparently, your father. I’m sorry that I’ve missed your childhood, but I do hope that I will be able to be a part of your life moving forward.”
“That would be nice,” I couldn’t help smiling back at him. The man looked like a god, like some huge, brawny middle-aged version of Thor. No wonder my mom had fallen for him so hard. If I’d been her, I probably wouldn’t have dated anyone after him, either. It was hard to process the fact that this guy was my dad, he barely looked past thirty five. “How old are you, anyway?”
I blurted the question out before I could stop myself, and he laughed, grabbing me in a huge bear hug. “I see you really are just like your mom, honest and forthright. That is good. I am a hundred and fifty four.”
“But you don’t look old at all, not like Mitch. Are you an Ancient?”
“No, but we have very pure fae blood in my family, both my grandmothers were Ancients, so we tend to age more slowly than most. But that isn’t important now. What matters is what has brought you here, and why the Shades are after you.”
“Oh.” I could feel my face fall at the introduction of this new topic. “Right. Do you have news about my mom? Is she here yet?”
He sighed and led me over to the chair where he’d been sitting.
“Why don’t you sit down?” he asked. Oh no, I thought, that never boded well.
I collapsed into the chair, stroking Miko’s fur.
“Ah, who is this little guy?” Bran asked.
“This is Mikowa, or Miko for short. I healed him and saved his life, it’s kind of a long story, but he says he’s honor bound to serve me for a year now.”
“You healed him? And you can talk to animals?”
“Yeah, mostly just him so far, it all started a few week
s ago. Can’t you? I sort of assumed I got the ability from you.”
“No, not me. I am an Earth fae, but my power works better with rocks. Very few fae can talk to animals these days, but your great-grandmother, Morgaine, she had the gift.” He paused, looking at the bowl of water as if it held some sort of wisdom.
“Your mother is on her way here right now, she should arrive within the next few hours.”
“But, that’s great!” I caught the sadness in his eyes. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes, this is the safest place for her now. I wish I had known about you, if I had I would have sent for you both sooner, and we could have avoided all this.” He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a minute. “The thing is, Mikael did something to your mother. No one has been able to wake her up. We’ve known for some time that the Shades have been developing a Light anti-serum that forces our body into a hibernation state, and we’ve been trying to formulate an antidote but with no luck. We assume, however that the Shades must have one, or else they wouldn’t have used it on your mother, not when they were trying to gain your cooperation. We are trying to figure out now where it might be hidden.”
“But what about my mother? What’s going to happen to her?” I asked frantically.
“She will sleep. She isn’t suffering at all, but she will continue to age at a slow rate while she sleeps. We’ve seen this before, in fact, we have a few other fae in the sanatorium who’ve been affected by the anti-serum in the last year. They all continue to sleep deeply, but are thriving on daily doses of IV fluids.”
“Whatever you are doing, I want to help. I want to be part of it. This guy Mikael has come after me, and he’s threatened my friends. I want in.”
Bran reached out, holding my hand in his. It was the first time we had touched, and it felt like hot cocoa on a warm day. It was comforting, but it made me miss my mom all the more.
“I had a feeling you would say that, given what Guard Ward reported earlier. I understand you’ve already had quite a bit of training with your mother?” I nodded. “She is a formidable fighter. We’ve arranged for you to start your training right away with Amber. You’ll go see her when we finish.”
“Okay, but there’s one thing I still don’t understand. Why does Mikael want me so badly?”
“There is an old Druid prophecy about a descendent who will bring together the bloodlines of three families. This descendent will decide the war between the Dark and the Light, either returning peace above and below, or bringing about an era of world slavery and domination by the Dark.”
“Okay, so? What’s the point?”
“The point, my young daughter, is that you bring together all three of the bloodlines. On your mother’s side, you are descended from Tyr, who was honorable and brave, and had the uncanny ability to decide battles. Through my mother, you gain the sight of the Skuld Norna, one of the three most powerful Ancient fates. You’ve seen events before they occur, right? Vala already filled us in on that. Blended with your Earth powers, it is a powerful gift. Finally, through my father’s line from Morgaine Le Fay, you obtain the abilities to heal and to end cycles through the manipulation of fate. You are the one prophesied. Somehow, the Dark came to know about your existence before we did, I’m still trying to work that part out.”
“My visions…since the beginning, Mikael has been tapping into them somehow.”
“Ah, yes, he comes from another Norn bloodline, that of Verdandi. His visions are rooted in the present, he must be using them somehow to be seeing what you are seeing, when you see it.”
“At first, I thought maybe he was sending the visions to me somehow.” I was both relieved to know he wasn’t, and grossed out to think that he could get in my head like that.
“No…Vala and I don’t believe so.”
“Still, I don’t get it. I’m not that powerful. How can I possibly decide the fate of the fae?”
“Your powers are only beginning to develop. Most faelings your age don’t even start tapping into their abilities until after their Choosing. The fact that you are manifesting early is a good indicator that the prophecy holds some truth. Regardless, Mikael believes it is true. Word on the street has it that as soon as he entered the visions of an unallied Norn, he began tracking them all down. It was simply bad luck that he found you and your mother so easily.”
I thought back to that weekend, and realized that it hadn’t been just bad luck. Sullivan Carey had led the Shades to my mom.
“You said you talked to Vala, how? Can I talk to her? I promised I would send a friend a message when I was safe.”
“Your darkling friend?” he asked doubtfully.
“Don’t call him that,” I chided him. “Rowan is good. He got me out of there, if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be here.” My words held more truth than he knew. If it hadn’t been for Rowan, I would never have met his dad, and I would never have led the Shades to my mother.
Tears pricked my eyes and I held up my chin defiantly, determined not to cry. “I know he’s going to be worried about me. I at least owe him the courtesy of letting him know I am okay.”
“Alright. Here.”
He pushed the bowl of water towards me.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, completely boggled.
“You’ve heard stories about gazing balls and the wells of old? This is what they are based on. The waters of Valhalla hold special qualities, both for healing and for communicating. There are certain spots throughout your world that also hold these qualities, and we can connect to those channels using the water of Valhalla. Simply look in the water and call out with your mind to the person you are wanting to speak with. The keepers of the water, Druids like Vala, can sense and answer our call. Sometimes it can take a while for them to make their way to the water source, but Vala said she is staying nearby while she gardens today. It should only take a moment.”
“Wow, seriously?” The whole thing sounded crazy to me, but he looked so earnest I didn’t have the heart to laugh at him. I placed my hands around the bowl and concentrated on Vala. A minute later, her face appeared in the water, and I could hear her voice in my mind.
Siri, dear, how are you? Her face shimmered through the liquid.
“I’m good. I’m here, safe.”
Bran told me as much. What can I do for you?
“I need to talk to Rowan. Is he there?”
No, he’s not. But he should be back tomorrow afternoon, his father has him checking in with me regularly for news, not that I would give him any. Do you have a message you’d like me to pass on to him?
“No, just tell him I am safe. I’ll try to contact you again tomorrow.”
Vala’s face faded from view, leaving me alone for a moment with my father and Miko at my side.
Still holding the bowl, I felt a sudden compulsion to speak with Rowan. I wished he was here. I had so many confusing feelings in me, I didn’t know what to do, or what I would say when I saw him. If he was here, it would be so much easier. Suddenly, his face swam into view.
“Rowan! Where are you?”
Siri? No way! I’m at the falls, I missed you, and I came out here by myself to think. I was just looking at the water, remembering our first date, thinking about…
“I was thinking about you, too! I can’t believe we got this water thing to work! Well, Vala did say you were a water fae,” I beamed at him and then glanced at my dad, feeling pretty proud of myself. The look on his face didn’t seem to echo my feelings, though.
“Is he alone?” he asked urgently. “Are you sure this is a safe line of communication?”
I waved his concerns away. “Bran, you can trust Rowan, I told you. Do you think I could talk to him alone? Please?” I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and he sighed, getting up and leaving the room.
As soon as he left, I turned back to the bowl.
So, was that your dad?
“Oh my god, yes, I’m sorry, I totally should have introduced you!”
&nbs
p; That’s okay. He didn’t sound too excited to see me.
“Yeah, well, we weren’t expecting you. I was just finishing talking to Vala when you appeared in the bowl…So, how is everything? Are you okay with your dad?”
I’m okay. My dad is really pissed, but he’s almost never home. He thinks I am helping him look for you, he has no idea I helped you get to Vala’s, or that Vala helped you, either. What about you? I heard my dad talking about some botched attempts to capture you up in Canada. And are you really in Aeden? It’s really real?
“Alec and his friend Amber took care of it, everything worked out fine. And yeah, Aeden is totally real, and it is so strange! Rowan, there’s a mini sun in the middle of the earth, who knew??” I laughed crazily. “It’s pretty amazing here. I’m in this city called Valhalla, and they rescued my mom, she’s on her way here. We just have to figure out a way to wake her up. Have you ever heard of an anti-serum that puts Light fae into suspended animation? They used it on my mom and we’re going to need to find the antidote.”
No, I’ve never heard of anything like that. But I’ll see what I can find out.
Okay, just be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt, too.
I’ll be careful. I’m more worried about you. I miss you.
“I miss you, too. But I don’t have any idea when I’ll be back up there. My dad’s talking about getting me trained in combat like Alec, and-”
Alec again, huh? You spending a lot of time with him?
“What? No! I mean…well, sort of. I mean, he was the Guard responsible for getting me here, so yeah, I guess. I doubt I’ll be seeing him much anymore, though.” As much as I tried, I couldn’t keep the tone of sadness from creeping into my voice.
I see. And I was afraid that maybe he did, because even through the water I could see the same sadness reflected in his eyes. Then his mouth tightened a bit, and he sat up.
Look, I should get going. His voice sounded rougher, angry. I’m glad we got to talk. I’m fine here without you, everything is pretty much back to normal already at school, you really don’t need to worry about me, okay? You don’t owe me anything.
“Rowan, I-”
I get it, okay? Even though I am fae, I’m not welcome in Aeden, and it sounds you have a lot to keep you busy with your new friends. His face twisted with pain, and then smoothed out into a cold mask. I think with everything going on, it’s best if we just take a break. I’ll see what I can find out about the antidote, and in the meantime, you should probably focus on your training. I’m sure Alec will be able to help you out with that, he ended with touch of sarcasm.
“But-”
I have to go, Siri. If you need to reach me, just send me a message through Vala, okay? I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back here.
“Okay,” I answered in a small voice, stunned. The bowl went blank and I struggled to blink away tears. Had he just dumped me?
Looks that way, kiddo. Miko piped up, wiping my cheeks gently with his tail as he nestled under my chin.
“Ugh, you could hear all that?”
Yep. But don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me.
“Yeah, but how safe are you with me, I wonder? You might have been better off staying in the forest at home. I’m sorry you’ve been dragged all this way.”
Are you kidding me? This is the most exciting thing that could have ever happened to me. Plus, I hear they have some awesome cocoa-like nuts here. I’m not leaving until I’ve sampled everything.
I laughed, grateful for my small, furry friend. “You’re a good friend, Miko.”
Right back atcha, kiddo.
I stood up and walked out of the room, surprised to see that the guards had changed while I was inside. Alec was nowhere to be seen, and Bran had gone, too.
“Um, I’m supposed to train with Amber now, I think?” I asked the guards, hoping one would relent and point me the right way at least. They surprised me by stepping away from the walls toward me.
“Actually, we were instructed to wait for you and escort you to the sanatorium. It’s in the next tower, if you will just come with us. Your mother has arrived.”
One of the guards gestured toward the escalator, following behind me while the other walked ahead. We rode the stairs down, Miko and I sandwiched between them in silence. Apparently these two took their duties very seriously.
By the time we had ridden the spiral all the way to the bottom of the tower, I expected to feel majorly dizzy, but I wasn’t. I asked the blonde guard, who said his name was Dorian, about it, and he shrugged, saying no one ever got dizzy. When pressed further on the matter, he reminded me that fae had exceptional balance and dizziness was a human weakness.
Nice, right? I forgot to feel outraged when we stepped outside the building into the plaza centered among the spires. I’d noticed the huge tree at the middle on our earlier flight in, but now I stood in awe, taking in the sheer enormity of the trunk in front of me. Gazing up, I couldn’t even begin to see where it ended. I’d seen sequoias before in California, but never anything like this.
“Wow. This tree is amazing. It’s a sequoia, right?” Miko chittered excitedly, scampering over to the tree and climbing up and disappearing into the canopy above. Apparently, he thought his time would be better spent communing with the local wildlife. His parting words reassured me that he’d catch up with me later.
Dorian stood behind me while his friend Barit tapped a foot impatiently several yards away.
“It’s an ancestor of the sequoias, yes, although they are rather poor copies. This is the Tree of Life, the origin of our species and everything else on Earth. Indeed, it was the very seed for Earth itself. The planet grew out of the tree.”
“Grew out of the tree? But how is that even possible?” It just didn’t make any sense to me.
“These gold towers you see here are not actually separate buildings. They are but pieces of a whole, the outer hulls of a primeval starship that housed this tree and the seeds of life. Legend says that when our first world was destroyed, the Ancients created this ship much like Noah created the arc. Set on autopilot, it wandered the heavens for eons. When it finally found a hospitable solar system, it placed itself at an optimal orbit and began the process of creating Aeden and the world above. The Tree of Life anchors the cold fusion star above us, which in turn fuels the particles that are needed to sustain life on this planet. Without it, life on earth would cease to exist.”
“That’s…that’s just…wow. Okay. That’s incredible. How tall is it?”
“Bigger than any regular Sequoia, that’s for sure. The trunk is exactly forty four meters in diameter, and the tree itself measures three hundred meters tall.”
“But that’s more than nine hundred feet! It’s almost the same height as the Eiffel Tower in Paris!”
Dorian just smirked at me and asked if I was ready to move on.
Feeling a bit like a bumpkin country cousin, I started walking, staring around me all the while. There was so much to look at.
The plaza was filled with magnificent flower gardens, cascading with gorgeous roses and gleaming fountains. Birds of every color frolicked among the plants, filling the yard with unfamiliar songs. I watched a pair of indigo jays bathing in the water, and was reminded of my conversation with Rowan. Suddenly I felt small and alone in this strange place, and just a little bit sorry for myself. I hurried on, not wanting to see anymore new things, yet knowing it was inevitable as I trailed Barit’s impatient form.
