As if she could read my mind, she answered, “Underground is the most secure option for the things we wish to keep most protected. It is also closest to the universe. Surrounded by the earth, it is easier to draw from its properties and access its gifts.”
Thinking of the crystals in the room that controlled the wards at my father’s castle, it made sense. It was also the place least vulnerable to any sort of attack. We continued down, Celeste explaining the paintings and tapestries along the way. Taryk and Yuri followed us silently, allowing Celeste and me to share these moments.
When we reached the bottom, an archway led into a beautiful hall. The entire room was done in white. Either side was lined with stunning marble statues.
“Oh!” There were no words for the way they made me feel. “They are beautiful. Who do they represent?”
Celeste reverently touched the only statue to reside in the center of the hall. “They are the Soul Scribes of the past. This is the very first Scribe. Her name was Llewellyn.” She pointed out the tiny etched crystal plaque toward the bottom with a name engraved. “Each is created in the exact likeness of the scribe they are meant to personify.”
“Where is your statue? I want to see it next.” I felt like a little kid asking. I moved down the row, searching for one that looked like her.
She shook her head. “I do not have one.”
“What? Why not?” I could not imagine why she wouldn't be included.
“The statue appears in the Hall of Remembrance only when a scribe passes from this world to the next and their soul is released. Because my soul is still bound to this world, I do not have a representation here.”
Even though Celeste had made her choice long before I had ever been born, I felt a little guilty. “Will you receive a statue when your soul is no longer bound here?”
“Yes. It is automatic. The soul leaving this plane of existence is what triggers the statue to appear.”
While I wanted her to have her statue and be forever remembered in the halls of her people, my heart broke at the thought of her leaving me some day. I didn't know how long she intended to stay with me, but I had been leaning somewhere toward forever.
We walked down the aisle, crisscrossing to pay homage to each statue. As we reached the last statue, I looked up sharply.
“Where is my mother's statue? Why doesn't she have one?” The shrillness of my voice escalated with each syllable I spoke.
Taryk grabbed my arm, and Yuri hovered nervously nearby. I jerked my arm from him and ran back to the beginning of the hall, paying close attention to each nameplate. I recognized a few of the names from the front of the Book of Scribes, and even saw my grandmother's name at the end. But I was too panicked about my mother's statue missing to pay close attention.
“Where. IS. IT! Where? Why doesn't she have one?” I had begun repeating myself as if saying it over and over would make the answer suddenly clear.
“My child, I do not know. We will figure it out. I promise.” Celeste spoke calmly, but the worry on her face belied the tone of her voice. She obviously had concerns over the missing statue as well. Her brows furrowed and lips pursed.
Taryk attempted to pacify me, but I was rapidly losing control. “Everleigh...”
“No. Don't you Everleigh me, Taryk. Do you realize what this means? My mother may not be dead. We have left her this whole time to rot wherever they are holding her! We abandoned her. She needed me and I let her down. What if they are torturing her while I run around the realms like I'm on vacation?”
I knew my behavior needed to be dialed back, but I had stepped off the precipice and it felt like I would fall forever. I could not wrest control back from the hysteria I found myself exhibiting. It wound up being Yuri who saved me from myself.
Once again, I found her directly in my face, and before I could even attempt to swat her out of the way she rubbed her hands together and blew. The brown sparkles were immediately effective. I stopped dead in my tracks, conscious, but it felt like I had been tranquilized.
“I am sorry, Your Highness, but it was for your own good.” I could see on her face that she felt badly about it, but I didn't have the motor skills to respond. Even my brain felt sluggish.
Taryk answered for me as he stood next to me. “Don't be sorry. Thank you. We appreciate that you are willing to do what you felt needed to be done.”
Yuri still flitted nervously about. “Is she going to be angry at me? Will she banish me?”
“No, no.” Celeste tried to soothe her. “She knows you have her best interests at heart. She is simply having a hard time processing this new situation with the loss of her mother.”
I could hear them perfectly and wanted to argue with her that I hadn't lost my mother, I just needed to rescue her. I could get her back. Unfortunately, my lips and tongue were still on hiatus, and I couldn't make a sound. I stood still, desperately afraid for my mother. I whimpered, the only sound I could manage, and Taryk turned to me.
He pulled me against him, saying nothing. He took deep breaths, his cheek resting against the top of my head. He did not say a single word as he waited for my body to respond to his calm. The great hall stood silent. Even Yuri seemed calmed, and Celeste remained placid as always.
Eventually, I matched my deep breaths to his, and my heart rate slowed. The shaking ceased, and I believed myself capable of having rational conversation once more. I tilted my head and looked into his eyes.
“Thank you. I'm so sorry.”
“Do not apologize. I know what it is like to lose a parent. We are here for you.” His hands slid down my arms to meet mine.
I turned to Yuri. “Thank you. And I am sorry.”
She sniffed at me haughtily. “He said not to apologize.”
I looked at her with just as much, if not more, attitude. “And I said not to call me your highness.”
We had a brief staring contest, which we both lost. Smiles broke out at the exact same moment, and I sighed.
“Really, I appreciate your actions. I was losing it, and if I had gone much further, I'm not sure how I would have gotten it back.”
She pulled off a classic diva pose and said, “Don't worry, Princess, I'm here for you.”
I turned to Celeste. I needed answers. If my mother did not have a statue in the Hall of Remembrance, it meant her soul had been trapped here after her death, or that she wasn't dead and needed rescuing. Either way, I needed to help her.
My stomach felt sick at the thought she might still be enduring pain and suffering while I had been marching forward. Had we come here first, it would have saved valuable time. I said as much, and everyone argued with me.
Celeste shook her head. “You might remember that we exited rather hastily. We went to the place you could make a portal the quickest and safest. It would have made no sense to leave there before doing what needed to be done.”
Taryk grabbed my hand and gave it another squeeze. “Ev, we are all doing the best we can, including you. You have made so much progress, and you cannot expect too much of yourself. If she is still alive, she is strong, and we will rescue her. If they captured her soul, we will set it free. I promise.”
Tears finally welled up and over. The support I had gotten from everyone still caught me off guard sometimes. Everybody seemed to have this unwavering belief in me. I sniffled. I hated being a crier, and since arriving at the cabin it seems like I cried all the time. Maybe I could blame all the magic.
“Let's move on then. Let’s get this invocation done so we can head out.”
Celeste nodded and led us onward. At the end of the hall was an ornate doorway that opened onto another set of stairs. This spiral staircase wound down, and there were paintings of each scribe on the wall as we descended. The portraits stopped well before we hit the bottom, my grandmother's being second to last, and my mother's being the final.
I stopped and stared at it. Her beautiful face gazed out at me. I looked at her and my grandmother side by side and smiled at the resemblan
ce. We all shared the same eyes. I could even see more of my grandmother’s features in myself than I did my mother's. Her hair color was similar to mine, and we had the same chin and cheekbones.
“The paintings are unlike the statues. Each scribe's painting appears after her invocation. When we leave the ceremony and head back upstairs, yours will be here as well.”
I grimaced. “Not looking like this, I hope!”
They laughed. Taryk winked at me. “You look stunning, as usual.”
Celeste shook her head. “The paintings appear as the universe wishes. As you saw, none of the others are disheveled or tear-streaked.”
Shrugging, I answered. “Well, there's a first time for everything, and if one were to appear that way, it would probably be me.”
After touching the two portraits reverently, I said my goodbyes and we continued down the stairs. The door at the bottom was made of solid white marble and inset so perfectly into the wall I never would have known it was there had Celeste not put her hand on it. As she made contact, the outline glowed briefly.
“Aperi ianuam.”
At her command, the wall swung open in the shape of an arched door. The room beyond was a world all its own.
Chapter Ten
I thought I had been in awe of the prism and crystals in the castle, but this, this was incredible. The entire room looked to have been carved out of a single crystal. The floor, the walls, and domed ceiling were all spectacular. The circular room was and lined with opaque crystal pillars all the way around. On the wall across from the door we entered, a sheet of water cascaded out of the ceiling and disappeared through a cutaway in the floor.
Light emanated from the ceiling as if the room were channeling sunshine from far above. The Soul Scribe crest was etched into the floor in the center of the room. . I made my way over to look at the large crystal podium situated at the top most point of the crest
I silently read the passage carved into the crystal, the one to be read during the invocation ceremony. On either side were depressions for my hands to rest in during the process. From this angle, I could see a white cloak hanging from a spot on the nearest pillar.
Celeste, Taryk, and Yuri had all been standing quietly near the door while I took my time taking everything in. I smiled and beckoned them over.
“Isn't it beautiful?” The words came out in a whisper.
Celeste laughed while the other two nodded. “You don't have to whisper,” she teased me. “It's not a library. During the old days, there were often many guests at an invocation, and it could get quite loud in here.”
A wistful thought crossed my mind. “I wish I could have seen my mother's. Or my grandmother’s.”
Shaking off the melancholy, I faced them. We needed to be on our way. While I desperately wanted to spend time in the chateau and learn about my family heritage, I needed to take care of the darkness shadowing every move we made first. Which meant this invocation needed to take place.
“Can we perform the ceremony at any time?” Celeste was my only source of knowledge for how to proceed, and my gratitude for having her with me renewed each time she answered a question, bolstered my confidence, or showed her support.
She shook her head. “No. The rites are always performed by the light of the moon. As the sun sets, the light in the rotunda will wane and be replaced with the soft glow of the moonlight. Only then will the ritual be successful. We have approximately three hours of sunlight left here in Myntas. I just wanted you to see everything ahead of time in hopes of making you more comfortable. I know you have so much going on right now.”
“If you were solid, I'd be hugging you constantly. I cannot thank you enough for everything.”
Taryk and Yuri, who had both been silent observers since we entered the room, both spoke at the same time.
“You can always hug me, provided you do not squash me.”
“I will hug you any time you need, Ev.”
I took both of them up on their offer. How could I not? When you find people who have proven they are on your side, and will literally walk to the ends of the Earth to be with you, you hug them whenever you can.
“I'd like to take you for a surprise, if you don't have any other way you'd like to spend the next couple of hours?” Celeste led the way out of the rotunda.
“I love surprises.”
“Claude ostium.” The marble door closed at her command, leaving no trace of its existence in the wall, and we trailed after her up the stairs.
We returned via the Hall of Remembrance, and I made a silent vow to my mother. Wherever she had been detained, we would rescue her. Whether I needed to rescue her body, or release her soul to find its peace, I would do it. That dark mage had made her biggest mistake.
Celeste led us through more beautiful rooms and even hallways that were stunning. Straight to a huge kitchen, whose pantry put even the one at the castle to shame. Taryk and Yuri laughed out loud.
“What?” I asked them indignantly. “Obviously she loves me enough to feed me. That makes her my favorite at this moment.”
Celeste joined the laughter. “This is not your surprise, silly girl. I just figured you would be hungry, and it's on our way.”
We spent the next twenty or so minutes just relaxing. Celeste told us stories from her time at the chateau and answered our questions. We put aside the impending war and the darkness that had begun shrouding every move we made. It was a welcome respite from the gloom and doom that had been plaguing us.
By the time the meal ended, I felt some of the anxiety had ebbed away. My shoulders were less tense, and the headache that had been threatening disappeared. I could proceed with confidence. We stood, clearing our mess away. It felt like Christmas morning, and I couldn't wait to see what surprise she had in store for me.
With Celeste once again in the lead, we headed toward the rear of the house, where she guided us down another flight of stairs. My forehead wrinkled. I had somewhat hoped for a surprise that didn't reside underground. I felt like I hadn't spent any time in the sun for decades.
We entered a long, plain tunnel, and she gave us a short explanation.
“We believe the dark mage to be hiding somewhere in our realm, so I am reluctant to take you outdoors. This tunnel, however, will get us where we need to go without taking any chances. The chateau is warded against attack, but no point in calling attention to ourselves before we are ready.”
It wasn't long before we reached a set of stone stairs marking the end of the tunnel. It appeared to be perfectly sealed as there were no sounds or smells to give me a hint about what she had in store for me.
Resting her hand on the door and speaking the appropriate command caused the door to swing inward and reveal what lay on the other side. We had reached the barn. The tunnel door opened directly into the tack room. The door leading to the main aisle stood wide and I could see the stall doors.
Bouncing on the balls of my feet like a little kid, I did combination shimmy-happy dance in my excitement. All three of the others were gazing at me with amusement.
“What are we waiting for?” I practically pranced down the aisle to the first stall. Yuri kept pace with me while Taryk followed. Celeste was content to stand back and watch.
As I approached the first stall, I sighed in delight as the beautiful head reached out to nuzzle me softly. I stroked her soft neck and ran my hands through her silky mane. Scratching her behind the ears made her whinny and toss her head. As I watched in awe, she spread shimmery wings, reaching from one side of the stall to the other.
“Oh!” I covered my mouth with my hands. “A pegasus...” my breath seemed caught in my throat. I'd been in love with horses my entire life, but to see a fantasy creature, real and in the flesh... I had no words.
Turning to Celeste, I shrugged as I announced, “And I am crying again. Tears of joy, of course, but tears just the same. I'd hug you if I could.”
After giving one last pat, I moved on to the next stall. I intended to spread the lo
ve, and every one of these babies was about to get some quality time with me. Heaven on Earth -or Myntas- didn't get any better than this.
I stopped at every stall. Each had an occupant, and each one got some affection. I'd worked my way down one side, and just as I prepared to move to the other row of doors, I got the next part of my surprise.
Unicorns!
I could not believe my eyes. Out of all the chaos and fear, sadness and loss, Celeste had known just what would raise my spirits and bring me joy. I don't know how she knew, but she did. And I would forever be grateful.
Yuri eagerly accompanied me to each door, and none of the animals seemed to be bothered by her presence as she flew to and fro to stand on their backs and run her hands over their smooth coats. Her merry little giggles lifted my spirits even further. Celeste's face shined with her pleasure to see us both so enthralled by the occupants of the stalls.
As a little girl, I had loved the idea of riding on great winged steeds. Horns shining and fur so radiant that it shimmered. I may not have been riding them now, but the potential was there. I'd be crossing that item off my bucket list in the future.
“The barn and fields are protected with every ability we have. The dark mage would love to get her hands on them and drain them of their magic. We believe this herd may be the last in this realm. We will guard them at all cost.”
I added these beauties to the lengthy list of reasons she had to be stopped. Now that I knew they existed, I'd be damned if they disappeared.
Only one stall remained, and then it would be time to return to the chateau to prepare for tonight's ceremony. Leaning over the door, I saw a gorgeous gray mare lying peacefully in the straw, her wings relaxed by her side. She raised her head and nickered softly in greeting but did not get up. I talked to her softly, then glanced at Celeste.
“May I go in?”
“I don't know if she will allow it, but you can ask her.”
I unlatched the stall door, talking softly to her the whole time. She didn't appear to object, so I entered slowly, and sank to the ground at her head. I stroked her soft fur and scratched behind her ears. As I said I needed to be going, she whinnied and raised her wing.
Invocation Page 8
