Ever Marked (The Claren Trilogy Book 1)
Page 11
As the crowd quieted and all eyes were on them, he turned and looked at her expectantly.
Her eyes widened and she could feel the blush rising into her cheeks. Her mouth opened and for a terrifying moment she forgot what she should say. She laughed nervously and took a calming breath.
“It was our honor to stand beside them as they vowed to walk through life together. It is our pleasure to celebrate with you the first steps of their journey. Please raise your glass as I introduce for the first time…”
Elora looked over at Nate, silently asking for help as she moved towards the doors. He smiled and nodded. They both moved to grasp the handles of the church doors and began to pull them open to reveal the newly bound couple.
“Trig and Alysa Davenport!” Elora finished.
Happy cheers rang out as Trig and Alysa stepped forward.
Nate stepped forward and lifted his glass, shouting above the din, “To Trig and Alysa!”
The crowd echoed back in unison, “To Trig and Alysa!”
The joy in the room was palpable and as Elora caught sight of Alysa, her breath caught in her throat. Elora had never seen her sweet friend so happy. Alysa reached out and grasped Elora’s hand for a brief moment before the couple was swept into the midst of the congratulatory crowd.
Elora lifted her glass, laughter on her lips and happy tears running down her face. This moment was perfection and she let herself be lost in it. Whatever was to come, whatever strange turns her life was about to take, for this one moment everything made sense, everything was right, everything was good. It is rare to recognize the moments that make life worth living when they’re happening, but Elora recognized this one and she was going to savor every second.
Chapter 10
“It would appear, Ms. Kerrick, that God heard you even from the back row. It is quite miraculous what you have done with the courtyard,” Preacher Woodward said, placing an affectionate hand on Elora’s shoulder. “Well done, my girl.”
Elora laughed nervously and took a drink from her cup. She’d been hearing similar compliments from nearly everyone for the past hour. They all seemed amazed and excited at the transformation of the courtyard, but she kept waiting for a suspicious or curious comment.
“Well, it’s amazing what nature can do when you create the right circumstances,” she rambled.
“I’ve already had another couple request to move their ceremony to the Courtyard. I know you toiled for the sake of your friend, but it’s a gift we all appreciate. Thank you, Elora,” he continued to gush.
“Oh, well, you’re welcome Preacher,” Elora replied, blushing and looking around for an excuse to end the conversation.
She saw her mother alone at the buffet table and jumped at the opportunity.
“I think my mother is motioning to me. Please excuse me, Preacher Woodward,” she said, smiling and rushing away before he could object.
She walked up to her mother hesitantly, scared of how she would react in light of all that had happened. Elora could tell that she was obviously upset, as her posture was tense and she was standing apart from the celebration. She reached out and gently touched her mother’s arm. Winnifred turned, and upon seeing Elora, let out a shuddering breath. She wrapped her arms around her, pulling Elora in for a close and lingering hug.
“Oh Elora,” her mother said, sighing into her hair. “I suppose there’s no point in denying it anymore”.
Elora could feel the tension ease from her mother’s body with the admission and Elora exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The pretense was gone. The curtain of secrecy had fallen. She sank deeper into the hug, tucking her face into the crook of her mother’s neck, savoring the closeness that had been absent for the past week.
“That courtyard, Elora!“ she whispered. “You certainly didn’t hold back,” she said chuckling softly.
“No,” laughed Elora. “I didn’t.”
Enjoying the moment of levity before pulling back from her embrace and looking somberly into her mother’s eyes.
“But you did,” she said soberly.
Winnifred nodded and closed her eyes for a moment.
“No more. I hope you’ll forgive us and understand why eventually,” she said. “I promise, everything will be explained to you tonight. But not here, my love.”
“Okay,” Elora said quietly, a rushing sense of relief washing over her as the wall she’d built between her and her parents began to crumble. She pulled her mother in for another hug, whispering, “I’ve missed you.”
“Me too,” her mother whispered in reply.
When they stepped back from their embrace, both women had tears in their eyes. They looked at one another and laughed at one another’s watery expressions.
“The courtyard is magnificent, sweetheart,” her mother effused. “I’m just amazed.”
Elora beamed with pride, for the first time able to celebrate her ability with another person.
“The entire time I was working in there I felt guilty and scared of potentially revealing myself to everyone,” she admitted. “But I just couldn’t seem to help myself.”
“If I could do the things that you can, I’m not sure I would have been able to resist either. But it will be alright,” her mother said soothingly. “In my experience, people will find a way to believe the unbelievable in order to make it fit their understanding of the world. They may know in their hearts that what you did in that courtyard was magical, but they will convince themselves that you simple have a very green thumb,” she laughed.
“I hope so,” Elora said, joining in with the laughter.
“I’m sure of it,” her mother said reassuringly. “Perhaps you should be a little more subtle in the future though.”
“Yes,” Elora agreed. “Actually, working in the courtyard was really helpful in practicing how to control it.”
“Will you show me later?” her mother whispered, her voice crackling with anticipation.
Elora nodded, giggling with excitement. She truly couldn’t wait to share her gift.
“Your father and Asher are desperate to see what you can do. Your father could hardly speak this morning after we walked into the courtyard,” she said, beaming.
“Speaking of Asher…” Elora said, her eyebrows raised. “Who is he?”
“Considering the way he went running out of the ceremony after you, I thought for sure he would have at least introduced himself,” she said, baffled.
“He started to but we were interrupted,” Elora admitted.
“I’m surprised I haven’t seen him in here actually,” her mother said, lifting her head to look around the room.
“He’s not here. He left to go check on his horse. Someone tried to take it earlier this morning,” Elora explained.
Winnifred immediately stiffened and turned to Elora, her eyes wide with alarm. She remained frozen that way for a few moments, staring at Elora with a fearful expression. Elora looked back at her with an increasing sense of panic.
“Mom?” she said at last, reaching out to touch her arm.
That seemed to jolt her mother into action. She began looking around frantically.
“We need to find your father,” she whispered feverishly.
“What’s wrong, mom? Why are you so scared?” Elora asked, anxiety making her voice sound small and childish to her own ears.
Her mother had Elora by the hand and was dragging her around the crowded church in search of her father. Winnifred was so focused on finding him that she didn’t even hear her daughter, nor was she aware that she had begun to make a scene. People began to quietly make way for them as they wound through the aisles, watching with curious expressions.
At last her father appeared before them, the commotion of their search having caught his attention. He looked at Winnifred sternly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Winnifred snapped out of her panicked state and looked around nervously before turning back to Jonas. Upon seeing her fearful expression, his eyes widened. He took her hand and lead them to a quiet corner of the church.
“What is it, love,” he asked, his voice gentle.
“They’ve found us,” she whispered. “Someone tried to steal Asher’s horse from the stable this morning.”
He stared down at her in shock for a moment before pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her. Elora stood as still as a statue behind her mother, watching them. He spoke quietly to her for a moment before lifting his eyes to Elora. She caught her breath at the raw emotion she saw there. Determination and anger were etched into the hard lines of his jaw and deep furrows of his brow. But the love that poured from his eyes was what truly frightened her the most. She could see that he was preparing to fight. And she had a terrible feeling that he would be fighting for her.
“Elora, you need to say goodbye to Alysa,” he told her in a tone that brooked no resistance. “We will wait for you out front.”
Elora was so alarmed by the way her parents were behaving that she merely nodded and turned to do as she was told. Quietly walking towards the place where she’d last seen Alysa, she formulated a reasonable excuse for her early exit. The celebration was nearly over and her duties as Witness were finished, so her presence was no longer required. But Alysa could read Elora like a book and would know something was very wrong. She was resolved not to diminish Alysa and Trig’s happiness with whatever troubling circumstances were unfolding for her in this moment.
As she approached Alysa, she coached her features into what she hoped was a joyful but tired expression. Upon seeing her, Alysa turned and wrapped her in a jubilant embrace. She was relaxed and content and so incredibly happy. It soothed Elora just being near her.
Alysa stepped back from the hug, took one look at Elora’s face and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Elora sighed in resignation at her utter failure to fool her dearest friend.
“I’m just tired,” Elora lied.
Alysa raised her brows suspiciously.
“And my mom is acting strange.”
“I did notice that,” Alysa admitted, nodding.
Elora winced.
“Yes. Well, I want to go home with my parents and make sure everything is alright,” she stammered.
“I can understand that,” Alysa said, smiling. “Thank you for everything you did today. It was perfect. Every moment of it,” she gushed, pulling Elora in for one last hug.
“I love you, friend,” Elora whispered, a lump rising in her throat.
Everything had very suddenly become so complicated and frightening. She held tightly to Alysa, finding solace in the familiar and unchanging bond between them. She had a terrible premonition that nothing would be the same once she walked through the door of the church, and she wanted to savor this moment. She released Alysa and stepped back, blinking the tears from her eyes to clear her vision. She stared at Alysa for a moment, intentionally committing the details of her face into memory.
“What is it?” she asked, laughing a bit self-consciously.
“I just want to remember you like this,” Elora said, smiling as she tried to hide the sadness that had crept into her voice. “I need to go. They are waiting for me,” she said, motioning toward the door where her parents were doubtless becoming impatient.
“Okay,” Alysa said, frowning in disappointment.
But as Elora turned, she reached out and took hold of her hand to stop her. Elora turned and looked into her face.
“I love you too, friend,” she said, smiling as she squeezed her hand affectionately.
Elora gave her one last smile before walking swiftly toward the exit. It felt as if there were a weight pushing on her chest, smothering her. Her stomach churned nervously. Her world had suddenly fallen into shadow, as though an ominous storm cloud had drifted in and blocked the joyful sunshine of what had been the loveliest of days.
As she neared the door, her parents came into view and a chill ran up her spine as she took in their expressions. She watched the way they looked around nervously and held tightly to one another’s hand. She had looked to her parents for reassurance and protection her entire life. But it appeared, for the first time, that they were powerless to offer those securities. They were scared. They knew the entire story, were familiar with whatever mysterious danger was lurking, and they were well and truly terrified. She wasn’t sure, in this moment, if her ignorance was a burden or a gift.
They visibly relaxed a degree as she approached. Her father moved to open the door as her mother reached out and took her hand. She squeezed it gently, trying to offer her daughter some small token of comfort despite her own obvious fear.
“Follow me,” her father said quietly, taking hold of her mother’s hand and leading her back into the courtyard instead of toward home as Elora had expected. There was a handful of people wandering around, admiring the flowers and enjoying the fragrant air. Her father smiled halfheartedly at a few friends who waved at them as they made their way quickly toward the desert willow growing near the rear wall. He stopped briefly beside the trellis as though to admire the purple wisteria blooms growing there.
“Dad? What are you doing?” Elora whispered, confused.
“I repaired this courtyard wall a few years ago,” he whispered, as he watched for an unobserved opportunity.
Finally comfortable that they weren’t being watched, he walked over to the tree and pulled a thick, low-hanging branch aside and slipped behind it. Elora furrowed her brows in confusion, looking around furtively to see if anyone had seen her father’s suspicious behavior. There were a few minutes of rustling behind the tree, followed by a high-pitched squeaking noise and then a dull thud. Suddenly a beam of light pierced through from behind the branches of the tree. Her father pushed aside the branch and motion for them to join him behind the tree. Elora took the branch from his hand, holding it back for her mother to pass. To her surprise, her parents seemed to disappear. She quickly slipped behind the tree, releasing the branch and turning to find where they had gone. Suddenly, her father’s hand reached out from the wall, grabbing hold of her wrist. She gasped and instinctively pulled back.
“It’s alright, love,” her father breathed, sticking his head back through a narrowly opened door that had long been obscured by weeds and vines.
Someone must have planted the willow too close to the door years ago and as it grew, it eventually made the door inaccessible. Her father would have found it when he was making repairs. Sneaking out this door, no one would know they had left the church. Her blood chilled in her veins as she realized that her parents felt the need to be so secretive, to hide as though someone were watching.
She took a calming breath before squeezing through the cracked opening. Once through the wall and free of the courtyard, they traveled quickly through a series of alleys and cut across a few small fields until they met up the with the road Elora usually took to the interior gardens. Walking along the edge of the road in the tall grasses, they briskly made their way home.
“Do you think anyone saw us?” Winnifred asked, nervously.
“I have no idea if we are even being watched at all, my love,” he said soothingly. “But I don’t want to make things easy if we are.”
Elora walked quietly beside them, trying to control the panic that threatened to overtake her. She wanted to scream, force them to stop and tell her everything. But she held her tongue and focused on keeping from falling on the uneven ground beneath her feet.
The sound of wagon wheels broke the quiet rhythmic rustling of their feet in the grass. They all lurched further off the road, ducking down to avoid being seen. Though it appeared to merely be one of the field hands driving a wagon full of go
ods to the market, they stayed hidden and remained motionless long after he had passed.
“Dad?” Elora said quietly.
Her father made eye contact and waited for her to continue.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t go home if the danger is so great,” she whispered.
“Perhaps,” he agreed, nodding. “But we must go home, nonetheless. Some things we need are in the house.”
Elora dropped her head, sighing in frustration.
Her mother reached out to take her hand. “We will explain everything. I promise.”
At that, her father rose and pulled the two women up to their feet. They made quick work of the remaining distance. As their house came into view around a bend in the road, they could see a young man sitting casually on their stone fence. Elora tensed at the sight of him, but her father seemed to become calmer with every step that brought them closer.
The man rose and began walking to meet them and called out, “It’s alright, Jonas. They aren’t here yet.”
Her mother cried out a joyful release, and her shoulders drooped in exhaustion as the tension drained from her body.
Elora froze mid-step as she recognized the man.
“Asher?” she asked, looking to her father. This young man clearly played a significant role in whatever was happening. Her curiosity was on the verge of driving her mad. Jonas just smiled, too relieved and weary to explain anything quite yet.
Finally within arm’s reach, her mother threw her arms around Asher, exclaiming, “Thank God. I was so frightened.”
He returned her embrace, patting her back soothingly. “Everything is alright. But we do need to hurry a bit,” he said gently.
Asher lifted his head, locking eyes with Elora for a long moment before turning to escort her mother to the house. He had a protective arm wrapped around her shoulders and she had looped her arm around his waist in a way that intimated familiarity and deep affection. Elora stood still, watching them walk away. Her father paused alongside her, waiting for her to move to the relative safety of the house.