Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  It was then she realized Copa had not answered her question about not being able to sense the children’s birth crystals. No distance had ever kept her from seeing her children. She guessed the distance across the realm into Earth was too far for the power of their crystals. It made her sad to think they would not know what had really happened. They had not even known they had a sister on the way.

  Danika had been the only thing keeping her going after the children had been sent to Earth. At first, it was just keeping herself healthy to keep the baby thriving. Then after she had been born, she had to maintain a good diet to nurse the baby. Afterward, it had been about keeping her baby safe from the lusty intentions of their colony leader.

  She sat down on the couch and turned sideways to watch her daughter play on the floor contentedly. She was glad to finally have a house and some security. Even Nealan’s mood swings were better than any alternative she could have had if she had remained living with the colony.

  Her use of her birth crystal had been frowned upon in the colony. They believed it to be witchcraft to use the power which was their birthright. She had never agreed with their belief even as her own mother had not. She had learned everything she knew from her mother.

  She had begun to teach her own children in the privacy of their house. Vinia had been very diligent in letting her children know the skills they were learning with their necklaces was not to be shared with anybody in the village. She had been so proud of their ability to learn so rapidly.

  Since they were on Earth, she supposed they had forgotten all about what she had taught them, even though they had only been gone for just over an anon. Her biggest hope was them finding a good family to take them all in as a group. The idea of them being separated from one another was another personal nightmare of hers.

  At almost eleven mesans old, Danika was a very bright and inquisitive child. She had more opportunity to interact with children her own age which helped her develop social skills. Back in the colony, her other children kept mostly to themselves because they were considered an oddity. Triplets were not common. Danika was not going to live that kind of life, Vinia would make sure of it.

  Chapter Five

  ELDER DEBBON READ Elder Daven’s message regarding Amanda’s need for help. He wondered what assistance he could render for a woman he had never met. With his curiosity piqued, he typed up Daven’s patil code and waited. A few seconds later, Daven’s face appeared on his screen.

  “Elder Daven! I’m glad you picked up. I just read your message. How may I be of assistance?” Debbon asked with a smile on his face.

  “Elder Debbon, I’m afraid this has become quite complicated. Amanda is going to attempt to take back a person from Earth who is being held by Elder Vargen in his Old Soul Engineering Facility. Do you have any ideas on how we may assist her in this quest?”

  This was clearly not what he had been expecting to hear. He could not see any benefit to this particular mission and he asked, “What is the purpose of this journey? How will this help fulfill the prophecy?”

  “I’m unclear, Elder, but Jehoban said we would need to render our assistance when requested. There has to be a reason, or she would not be asking for help,” Daven replied uneasily. He did not like how Debbon was scowling through the patil.

  “I’m aware of Jehoban’s request, Daven. There’s no need to remind me. I just want to make sure we are not being taken advantage of for personal gain. As First, I must put my position above all perceived wrongdoing, you understand,” Debbon replied tartly.

  “If this were any other person, I would handle it myself. Elder Vargen has done some disgraceful things to my family and I’m not in the position to impede him in any way. Please just consider how we may assist Amanda when she is ready to make her move.”

  “What is our timeline?”

  “I imagine we will have at least two weeks. Riccan is going to have to teach Amanda how to fly a telepod first,” Daven said with a grin.

  “Really? That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of someone from Earth learning the skill. What do you think the chances are of her succeeding?” Debbon asked with a chuckle.

  “Knowing Amanda’s talent in picking up new skills, her chances are pretty good. I doubt it will even take the two weeks Riccan has planned. I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Sounds good. Until then, I’ll see what I can come up with. Good day, Daven.”

  “Good day, Debbon,” Daven said as he clicked off the connection on the patil.

  After the screen went blank, Debbon switched the patil back to the messages program. He had taken a few days off to spend time with his wife, Chelesa, and he had a backlog of messages. There were several petitions from constituents which would take quite some time to go through so he printed them off and put them in a stack for later review.

  For the next half hour he continued to read through his messages until he got to one which surprised him. He clicked on the communication and read the brief, but terse, note. At first he believed Riccan Stel had exaggerated his displeasure of the letters his daughter had received. However, upon reviewing the notes written by his own son, Debbon was no longer feeling upset with Riccan.

  On the contrary, he was furious with his own son for the manner in which he had been addressing his betrothed. Clearly, he had not shown his son the proper way in which to address a woman, let alone the one who was going to become his wife. Willian had spoken to Jena with disrespect bordering on ownership rather than with affection. This was not at all acceptable.

  When he had told his son to write to Jena, he had never expected his son to become so aggressive in his attempts to contact her. Clearly she had other things to do rather than sit around and wait for Willian’s next missive. But for his son to threaten sanctioning had gone too far. He was going to have a stern conversation with his son.

  He pushed away from his desk and stalked out of his office. He could not remember a time when he had been as upset as he currently felt. Instead of translating himself to his estate several gania away, Elder Debbon decided he could use the walk to clear his mind of the uncharitable thoughts. His mind was so troubled, he failed to see several patrons waving and trying to get his attention.

  When he finally reached his estate, he was sure of what he would say to his son. Unsure of where Willian would be at this hour, Debbon went to his wife’s office down the hall from the front door. He knew he should talk over his plan with Chelesa before they discussed the outcome with their son.

  Debbon knocked on the office door and waited for Chelesa to ask him in. Only a moment later, Chelesa opened the door herself and a smile lit up her face as she saw her husband had come home from the Residence. It was so infrequent for him to do such a thing and she warmly welcomed him into her office.

  Debbon wished he had some good news to discuss with her since she was clearly in a good mood. Unfortunately, this discussion could not be put off. They should have been monitoring their son’s correspondence. Because of their inattentiveness, they were being taken to task for their son’s inappropriate behavior.

  “What’s going on, Debbon?” Chelesa asked as she walked around her desk and sat down to face her husband.

  “Nothing good, Chelesa,” he replied as he wearily sat down. The walk had been very long and he was exhausted.

  “Oh no! What happened?”

  “It’s about Willian. He has gone too far this time.”

  “What are you talking about? What has Willian done? Is he hurt?” She was starting to get worried until she realized her husband seemed downtrodden and discouraged. She would have to wait for Debbon to tell her in his own way whatever had transpired.

  “I was going through my messages on the patil at the Residence when I came across a message sent several days ago from Riccan Stel.”

  Chelesa cocked her head sideways as she tried to recall who he was. Suddenly she remembered and asked, “Isn’t that Jena’s father?” It was still hard to believe Jena had parents to take into acco
unt now. There had been so many anons where she and her sister were considered orphans.

  “Yes and he’s very concerned about Willian’s letters to Jena. He forwarded to me the correspondences which Jena’s account had been receiving. Apparently, the girls have been so busy with learning the ways of Earth and attending school that they have yet to ask about having access to a patil.”

  “Okay, so what seems to be the problem?”

  “At first Willian’s letters were considerate and inquiring about Jena’s time away. However, as each letter went unanswered, Willian became increasingly angrier. By the final letter, Willian was threatening to have Jena sanctioned because of her inattentiveness.”

  Chelesa gasped with shock and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. Her eyes had grown wide with disbelief and she said, “No! Debbon, what are we going to do?”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. How would you feel if we withdrew the betrothal agreement until Willian can correct his behavior?” Debbon knew this was a drastic proposal, but their son needed to have wake-up call on how inappropriate he had acted.

  Chelesa controlled her expression since she could hardly hope this could be happening. As far as she was concerned, the betrothal had been a mistake from the beginning. Their son had been too intimidated with Jena’s abilities and training and he had become bitter and mean. She did not like saying such mean things about their son, but she had to be honest with the reality of what had transpired over the anons. “I’ll support you in whatever decision you make in this matter.”

  “Okay, then that’s what we’ll do. Where is Willian?”

  Looking down on her timepiece, Chelesa replied, “He should be coming home from school in about a half hour. We have time to get something to eat if you’re up to it.”

  “I could think of no better way to spend the time than with my wife,” Debbon said and smiled across the desk at Chelesa.

  She stood up and walked around the desk. As she got close to him, she held out her hand. She always felt so close when they walked hand-in-hand. As far as she was concerned, nothing could be more right than when they were connected in such a way. Right now, they needed to feel the connection between them since they were going to have a hard discussion very soon.

  Debbon took her hand and felt the same feelings as she did. He knew they were the same because he often looked into her mind. The practice was normally frowned upon, but he and Chelesa had decided long ago he would be able to do it whenever he needed reassurance. At this moment, he was satisfied with his wife’s thoughts since they mirrored his own.

  Eating a late lunch did help them to calm their anger. When they heard the front door open, they knew it was time to clear up this unpleasant matter. As one, they rose from the kitchen chairs and walked toward the living room where Willian was sure to dump off his school gear and sit down to practice his crystal skills until dinner.

  Willian expected to see his mother appear in the doorway, but his eyes widened when he also saw his father. His pleased expression abruptly changed to one of concern when he noticed neither of his parents seemed happy. “What’s going on? Why are you home so early, Dad?”

  “We need to have a family discussion. Do you want to follow us into my office?” Debbon said. Without waiting for a reply, he turned around and expected everybody else to follow him.

  His mother remained standing in the doorway for a moment longer and then she turned away. Willian could not imagine what had happened which would create this type of scenario. Never in all of his life could he recall his father coming home from work early, let alone calling a family meeting. Something must have happened at his work. He hoped his status as First Elder had not been challenged. He walked down the hall and thought all manner of things which could have occurred, none of which had to do with him in particular.

  “Sit down,” Debbon commanded as Willian entered the office.

  His brow furrowed at his father’s tone, but he sat down immediately. He looked over at his mom and noticed she was no longer making eye contact with him. Instead she sat in her chair with her hands folded in her lap with her head down and her eyes looking at her hands. This must be a truly serious matter since his mother now seemed uncomfortable. “What is it, Dad?”

  “A matter has come to my attention which is of great concern to myself and your mother regarding your correspondence with Jena. Do you have anything to say about this before I continue?” Debbon wished his son would have a valid reason for his terrible notes.

  “My letters to Jena? What are you talking about?” Willian asked with genuine confusion.

  “Can you tell us about the letters which you have sent to Jena since she’s been gone?” Chelesa asked quietly.

  “Dad told me to send her messages. I’ve sent her quite a few and she has never responded to a single one. I’m pretty sure something bad has happened to her. Can you look into it, Father?”

  “I think your sudden concern for her wellbeing is a tad overstated. Don’t you think you’d rather have her sanctioned for her inattention to you?” Debbon interrogated.

  Willian’s complexion turned white as he realized his father had actually seen the last message he had sent just three days before. He knew even as he wrote it that it was a bit drastic to say, but he had been so angry he hit send before he could reconsider his choice of words. “I didn’t mean what I said, Dad, honest. I was angry because Jena hasn’t replied to me or even tried to contact me ever since she went to live with her mother.”

  “Well, Jena’s father didn’t see any humor in it either. He has asked for something be done with you, Willian. We have come to a decision in this matter.” He paused to let the last statement sink into his son’s mind before he continued. “We are going to withdraw the betrothal agreement. It has become clear this relationship is not working out.”

  Willian stood up so fast his chair fell over behind him. His face turned red as his anger replaced his embarrassment and he yelled, “You can’t do that to me, Dad. Jena is mine! I’ve put far too much into this relationship for you to just throw it all away.”

  “Have you considered Jena’s feelings in this matter?” Chelesa asked.

  “Jena’s feelings? What does that have to do with this? She’s my betrothed. I’m all that should matter to her. I’m not going to let you do this, Father!” Willian did not wait for any further discussion. He turned on his heel and stomped out of the office.

  A few moments later, they heard the front door slam. Chelesa looked up at her husband and said, “I guess our discussion went as well as we could have expected.”

  “Yes, I quite agree. We’ll have to see what Willian does next. Hopefully once he calms down he’ll apologize for his appalling behavior.”

  Chapter Six

  AMANDA SAT OUTSIDE in the sunshine next to the Olympic sized pool. She had spent the morning stewing over what her next steps should be in rescuing Nealand from Elder Vargen’s clutches. She was going to need a lot of assistance. She closed her eyes and said aloud, “Jehoban, I’m going to need Your help in this more than I’ve ever imagined.”

  When she opened her eyes she was shocked to see she was no longer poolside on Earth. Instead she had been translated to Acaim where Rasa stood a few feet away from her with a smile on her face. Amanda was sure her expression was pretty comical. She was hardly dressed appropriately to meet with Jehoban.

  “Rasa! This can’t be happening! Look at what I’m wearing!” Amanda said as she looked down and saw she was wearing a loose-fitting white robe with gold tassels hanging from the sleeves. “What in the world?” Amanda asked with eyes wide as she looked up to see Rasa chuckling softly.

  “It seems as though you are out of excuses, Amanda. Come, Jehoban is waiting. You asked for an audience and He has made Himself available for you,” she said softly as she pulled on Amanda’s arm to get her moving.

  They walked through several courtyards which were all different than the one she had seen the last time she had been to the
palace. Amanda wondered how often the scenery changed and how the people could manage to know where they were if everything changed so often. She had to think rapidly about all of the things she needed to talk to Jehoban about this time. She had been in so much awe the last time she had forgotten as much as she remembered.

  Rasa came to a stop at another solid gold door which was intricately carved with birds and flowers. She opened the door and gestured for Amanda to enter the room. Rasa followed Amanda inside and the door shut quietly behind them.

  Amanda was self-conscious about taking the lead, but Rasa had seemed to want her to go first. She could see there were three chairs sitting around a small, round table. This appeared to be a much more intimate meeting than her previous one, for which she was grateful. Just as she reached the chairs, Jehoban appeared in front of her. She bowed her head and said, “Thank you for the quick answer, Jehoban. It is much appreciated.”

  “You’re quite welcome, Amanda. Please find comfort in one of the chairs and ask Me what you will,” He said kindly and He picked the furthest chair to the left.

  Amanda felt uncomfortable choosing the chair right next to Him, yet it would seem rude to change her mind since she knew where He would be sitting. She sat down and saw Rasa had joined them in the third chair. She had thought this would be a private meeting, but she found she did not mind having the moral support of her cousin.

  “First, I would like to request a birth crystal to be given to my Aunt Barla,” she began.

  Rasa made a small sound as she heard the request and her hand went to her mouth as she tried to contain any further noise.

  Amanda looked over at Rasa and continued, “I don’t know why, but I believe it will be imperative for Barla to learn the skills which can only be taught to one who has a birth crystal.”