Ever Marked (The Claren Trilogy Book 1)

by Mary Akers

  “How does she know him?” she asked him quietly.

  He looked at Asher and Winnifred walking into the house ahead of them and smiled. “She was like a mother to him once. Even helped bring him into the world, actually,” he said, his eyes misty with nostalgia.

  Elora stared after them, suddenly feeling like an outsider in her own family. A wave of jealousy washed over her as she realized that this man, who had appeared out of nowhere only a few hours ago, knew her parents better than she did. She shifted her gaze to her father, regarding him with new eyes. He had lived an entirely different life she knew nothing about. He had kept it from her, hidden it from her. He was like a stranger to her. And yet, he was the same father who had tucked her in every night, tended her scraped knees, and taught her the ways of the world. He loved her more than anyone. She would forgive him for this, she knew. But she was done waiting. It was time she knew everything.

  Her father must have seen the hurt and anger in her eyes because he took her hand and clasped it tightly. Sadness, and perhaps even fear, flashed across his face as he gently lifted her chin with his hand and beseeched her with his eyes.

  “Please Elora. Please remember, no matter what you find out or how it might seem, that everything we ever did, was to protect you,” he said, his voice husky with emotion.

  Elora stared up at him as she tried to make sense of the feelings swirling around within her.

  “Please,” he whispered, holding her gaze.

  She gave him a faint nod to appease him and then turned away, breaking free of his grasp and quickly moving towards the house.

  Asher stood watching their interaction, holding the door open for them to enter. Elora could feel his eyes on her as she made her way through the gate and up the walkway. Whatever her parents had kept from her, he knew it all and she resented him for it. She was jealous. She was frustrated. She was angry at her parents, at the situation, and whether it was fair or not, she was angry at him too.

  “Elora,” Asher said, reaching out to touch her arm as she passed.

  She stopped, keeping her face downturned.

  “If whatever you imagine is happening here has made you angry at your parents, then you are wrong,” he said quietly.

  She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. That was it. That was officially more than she could take. Her hands trembled as the emotions that she had barely been keeping in check finally boiled over in the wake of his chastisement.

  “Anger seems a very appropriate response, actually,” Elora replied icily, looking up and locking him with a blistering glare. “I have been deceived, apparently for my entire life, by the people I trusted the most. Don’t you tell me how to feel! You don’t understand,” she said angrily lashing out at him.

  “You’re the one who doesn’t understand,” he whispered harshly, closing the space between them.

  “That’s exactly right!” she exclaimed. “I don’t understand anything! But you! Somehow you understand everything!” she cried, shoving him away from her. “It’s like I’m a stranger in my own life! I feel like I don’t even belong here anymore.”

  Elora stood panting, her eyes closed as she tried to regain her composure. She knew the anger she felt towards Asher was misdirected and she immediately regretted having spoken to him that way. She waited until her breathing had calmed before opening her eyes. She searched out her parents, finding her mother staring at her with a startled expression and her father frowning in concern. She finally hazarded a glance at Asher, who stood a few feet away quietly watching her.

  Seeing that she had recovered from her outburst, he stepped towards her. He ducked his head to lock eyes with her.

  “Actually Elora, you don’t belong here,” he said gently.

  His close proximity made her heart race and the intensity of his gaze brought a blush to her cheeks. It took a moment for what he’d said to sink in but when it did, her brows furrowed in confusion. However, at his next words her eyes flared and her breath caught in her throat.

  “I’m here to take you home.”

  Chapter 11

  Elora backed away from him, looking in bewilderment between Asher and her parents. When her father subtly nodded in affirmation, she felt a sudden resurgence of the anger she’d only just managed to supress. This was so much bigger than she’d thought. They expected her to leave everything behind; her home, her friends, her life! It was too much.

  She dropped her eyes to the ground, trying to wrap her head around the idea that her parents had been keeping a secret from her, hiding it from her, sheltering her from the truth for nineteen years. Perhaps that had been justifiable when she was younger, but she was a grown woman now and had been for quite some time. She wasn’t going to follow blindly and trustingly like a child any more. She deserved to know. She deserved a say.

  “This is my home,” she said defensively.

  “You’re right, Elora,” her mother said reassuringly, stepping forward to take her hand. “But Windom is not where we belong.”

  Elora pulled her hand away and turned, moving to put some space between her and the people threatening to destroy her life as she knew it. She took hold of a kitchen chair, needing something stable and concrete to bolster her.

  “Where do we belong, then?” she asked, her voice rising in frustration.

  “The Woodlands,” her father replied gently.

  Elora’s eyes darted to his and her brows furrowed in confusion.

  “What?” she whispered.

  “You were born beneath the branches of the Ever Tree in the forest of Clarendon,” Winnifred answered softly.

  Her mother’s voice trembled with quiet reverence as she spoke, her tongue rolling around the words with a soft lilt in an accent much like Asher’s. A smile brushed across her lips as she, at long last, revealed the secret that had been tucked inside her heart for so long.

  Elora had always known that she’d been born outside of Windom. It had been a defining characteristic of hers as a child. She could remember how townspeople would discuss the way her parents had wandered into their small town, weary and worn, with Elora no more than a few months old, tucked against her mother’s chest. Despite their best efforts, no one had ever been able to pry the details of their past from her parents and after a few years, people had stopped asking. And after nearly two decades, their mysterious arrival seemed to have been forgotten altogether.

  Forgotten by everyone except Elora. The secret of their past, of her origin, had nagged at her for her entire life. At long last she would have answers.

  “Clarendon,” she whispered, savoring the sound of the word, the name of her birthplace.

  She felt a subtle shift, a gentle thud, as though she were finally landing on firm ground; as though she had at long last been planted and her roots were taking hold. Her fascination with the Woodlands and her dreams of the forest suddenly made sense. She had been born among the trees.

  The weight of what was happening to her and the significance of what she’d just learned pressed heavily on her shoulders. Elora moved to sit in the chair, her legs suddenly weary.

  “But the Woodlands are so far! How did we get here?” she asked, looking up at her father.

  “The better question is why,” interjected Asher, moving to sit in the chair beside her and resting his elbows on the table.

  Her parents took seats across from them, trading worried glances with one another. Her father took hold of her mother’s hand in a show of unity and to offer comfort as they finally lay bare the truth before their daughter.

  “I’m not sure where to start,” her mother faltered, her lilting accent growing more pronounced with each word. “There’s so much.”

  It was strange, hearing the voice she’d known her entire life suddenly dancing around words with such a different inflection. Her mother suddenly seemed so foreign to her and yet it seemed right. Elora
realized that for the first time ever her mother was revealing herself, the true authentic version of herself. A version that she’d been hiding for so terribly long.

  “We don’t have time to tell her everything, right now,” Asher interrupted, looking meaningfully at her father across the table.

  Elora glared at him. She didn’t want him here to witness as she finally got the answers she’d waited a lifetime to hear. And she certainly didn’t want him to get in the way of those answers.

  “There will be time along our journey to fill in the gaps,” Asher said, avoiding her gaze.

  “I haven’t decided to go on any journey,” Elora stated firmly.

  Asher turned his head and locked eyes with Elora. She returned his gaze coolly.

  “The decision at this point isn’t whether you’re going on a journey, Elora,” he replied bluntly. “The decision is who you’re going with. It will either be with me and your parents, or with the Liana.”

  His response sent a chill down Elora’s spine. She looked across the table with wide, startled eyes at her parents. The stricken look on their faces was confirmation enough for Elora that Asher was telling the truth.

  “Who are the Liana?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

  “Once upon a time, they were heroic and righteous protectors, much like the Guard here in Windom,” Asher began. “They defended the people of Clarendon and the Ever Tree from any who would seek to harm them. But their purpose was warped and twisted until the Liana became less a means of security than a force used to control the people.”

  “The Liana are the reason we fled Clarendon, Elora,” her father said, his own accent beginning to emerge. “They rule with impunity.”

  “And cruelty,” her mother added quietly.

  “They are ruthless,” Asher said grimly. “You need to choose me, Elora.”

  “I’m so sorry, Elora,” her mother cried tearfully. “We should have told you everything sooner but we never imagined they would find us here. I honestly thought they had given up searching after nearly two decades. But they’ve found us somehow and now it’s just too late to leave by choice.”

  “How much time do you think we have, Asher?” Jonas asked soberly.

  “It depends,” he replied. “How long has the blonde man been following you?” he asked, fixing his eyes on Elora.

  Elora’s mouth fell open as she realized that the man truly had been following her as she had feared. But even more terrifying was the fact that this proved Asher was telling the truth. The Liana really was in pursuit of her and apparently had been for a while. As she took in the wide-eyed expressions of her parents, a sense of panic started to take hold.

  “You were being followed and didn’t tell me?” her father asked incredulously.

  “I thought I was being ridiculous!” she replied, throwing up her hands. “Bizarre things were happening all around me and I didn’t feel like I could talk to you anymore!”

  “How long?” Asher interrupted, repeating his question more forcefully.

  “About two weeks,” she said quietly.

  Asher took a deep breath and sat back in his chair, clearly disturbed by her revelation.

  “We don’t have long then,” he said. “I left the Liana a week ago and rode hard straight here. They would only be a day or so behind me, I expect, if what she says is true.”

  “How can you be sure?” Jonas asked anxiously.

  “The Liana has been searching for you for the past two years,” he said looking to Elora. “When my father learned that a search was underway, he feared for you and your parents and asked me to try to find you before they did. But it had been 19 years since the three of you disappeared and every track had long gone cold. I had no idea where to look, so I just stayed close to the Liana and watched. I thought there was little chance that I could find you on my own, but I could at least try to help you when they found you. They have searched nearly the entire continent by now. Each time they would move to a new region, they would send out pairs of scouts to all the towns in the area to hunt for you. The man following you is a scout. I actually know him. His name is Colin Hudson. He was a childhood friend,” Asher said, grimacing.

  “Trace Hudson’s son is a member of the Liana?” Jonas asked, dismayed. “I can’t believe that!”

  “Clarendon is very different from the place you left,” Asher replied, shaking his head. “Colin’s partner must have left to relay your location to the rest of the Liana. They had a camp outside of Warren, about a week’s ride from here. When I left a little over a week ago they were still clueless, which means the scout hadn’t returned yet. But if they found you two weeks ago, then there’s a good chance he made it back soon after I left. And they wouldn’t waste any time coming for you, Elora. They are desperate to find you.”

  “Oh, Jonas,” her mother whispered, lifting her hand to her mouth as she looked with terrified eyes to her husband.

  After a moment of thought, Asher turned to Elora and asked, “How do you think he recognized you?”

  “I have no idea,” she replied bewildered. “The first time I saw him was in the market with one of the travelling merchants. I never spoke to him, or really even paid much attention to him. But I bought a necklace from his merchant.”

  “What necklace?” her mother asked. “I haven’t noticed you wearing anything new.”

  “I paid more than I should have and I didn’t want to own up to it,” she admitted. “I kept it tucked beneath my tunic.”

  “Can I see it?” Asher asked.

  Elora quietly rose from the table and walked down the hall to her bedroom. She could feel his eyes following her as she moved. In spite of the fear and anger and confusion that clouded her perception of him, there was an undeniable attraction.

  She quickly retrieved the handkerchief from her dresser and carried it back to the kitchen. Taking her seat, she gingerly peeled away the folds of cloth until her necklace was revealed. She lifted it, letting the seed dangle in front of her eyes before gently lowering it onto the center of the table.

  “The merchant told me it came from the Woodlands and I just couldn’t resist it,” she said. “I guess now I know why,” she murmured to herself.

  They examined the necklace as it lay on the table for a moment before her mother let out a little gasp. She reached out and lifted the necklace, holding it reverently as she brought it closer to her.

  “You can see it?” Elora asked, her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

  “Is this a seed from the Ever Tree?” she asked softly.

  “It can’t be,” her father scoffed. “Who would dare to desecrate it like that? Piercing it and stringing it on a chain like a mere bauble.”

  He took it from Winnifred’s hands and held it up for a better view. The sunlight through the window glinted on the few strands of silver lining the intricate grooves along its surface.

  “No!” he whispered in horror. “It is! But why would someone do this?” he said angrily, laying the seed back down carefully in the center of the table. “No one but a Claren would even be able to see it.”

  “I guess that explains how he recognized Elora then,” Asher sighed, leaning back in his chair.

  “But what has happened to it?” her mother asked, looking from Asher to Elora. “It is so different. I hardly recognized it.”

  “Wait! What is a Claren? What is the Ever Tree?” Elora interrupted, utterly confused. “Can someone please start explaining,” she exclaimed, her frustration bubbling to the surface again. “I’ve been more than patient.”

  Elora looked back and forth between her parents, her eyes glaring with indignation. Her mother reached out and gripped her hand in conciliation.

  “You have,” her mother said, nodding.

  “There isn’t time,” Asher began.

  “There is time for this,” Winnifred interrupted, hold
ing Elora’s gaze.

  Elora felt her spirit lighten as she looked into her mother’s eyes, recognizing that she at last had an ally. She felt acknowledge and respected. It was a salve to her wounded pride. Her heart swelled with love for her mother, who saw in her not a child, but a woman who deserved to know the truth.

  Winnifred picked up the seed from the center of the table, rubbing it between her fingers tenderly. She raised her eyes back to Elora and took a deep breath.

  “The Ever Tree is the heart of Clarendon,” her mother began. “It is bigger and taller than anything you could ever imagine. It would take your breath away, Elora. There is no other tree like it,” she said wistfully. “But the Ever Tree is so much more than a just tree to our kind.”

  “What do you mean ‘our kind’?” Elora asked, confused.

  “Elora, this will seem unbelievable after growing up in Windom all these years. But I hope that after discovering your own powers, perhaps you are open to the idea that this world is not as you had always thought. And perhaps you will be willing to accepting that what I’m going to tell you is the truth,” said Winnifred, looking to her husband for an encouraging nod before continuing. “Clarendon, our home, is the dwelling of the Claren. You come from an ancient people whose connection to the forest, to the trees, goes beyond the ordinary. The Claren have the ability to plant and nurture a rare but essential plant species,” she said.

  “The Elysian tree,” Jonas whispered reverently.

  “The Elysian tree,’ her mother repeated, nodding. “This species of tree has the special ability to change the soil, altering its composition in such a way that allows for the growth of a multitude of other tree species. There are actually very few trees that can survive without the benefit of an Elysian Tree nearby. A forest will appear and flourish wherever an Elysian tree is planted. And likewise, once it dies, the forest around it slowly withers as well.”

  “Unless a Claren comes along to plant another,” her father said. “You see, there is only one Elysian tree capable of reproducing. All the others are descendants of this one magnificent tree. Every forest in the land began with a seed from the Ever Tree,” he explained. “A seed just like this one,” he said, taking the necklace from her mother and staring at the seed as it settled in his palm.