by O. Rose
∞
Holly felt like a new person. They’d made it to the middle of the island, into the lush tropical forest, and ruins remained. As Levi said they were little more than rocks, but she remembered something.
As she released his hand and walked forward, she felt her back straighten. She stood taller, her steps were lighter, she was floating.
This was how it used to be.
She’d forgotten so much and knew she’d never recall everything because that was impossible, but she found the bad outweighed by good. One good. A woman, the oldest in the land, who was as wary of the cursed child as everyone else, yet wise enough to put the feeling aside. That woman took the time to teach the child how to be kind even when others were cruel, how to bear her own burdens.
How it was wrong to kill the one who meant to hurt her, how she could have done less and still been safe.
Even her though, even the old woman was afraid and the child could sense it. She had no friends in all her lives.
She glanced back at Levi, his eyes were near black as he stood shaded, watching her. He wasn’t a friend either; she still didn’t know how to define him.
Olwen might be a friend one day.
Friends weren’t what she needed in this moment. She needed bravery and courage and curiosity. She needed to bend down a press her hand into the indent on the underside of a large boulder. She couldn’t remember what would happen next and that was scary, not knowing, but with a sudden breath she bent at the knees and pushed her hand beneath the rock; there, she felt the spot, and without allowing herself a moment to think she pressed into it.
Levi was by her side a second later, pulling her back by the upper arm as the stone rose into the air. It lit with signs, glyphs unseen now shining with blue light, and the sight gave her vision. Her first life flashed before her eyes, memories sinking into her mind and weaving deep into her heart. Spots were missing, instants she could see dimly, but as other rocks moved into place, lighting the way the first did and falling to stand in a circle, Holly remembered who she was.
She was magic.
She was magic and she wasn’t real.
Chapter Fourteen
They both felt approaching energy, but only Levi recognized it. Holly made the split second decision to ignore it and continue on, down into the opened hole that would take her underground. It was in the center of the stone circle, stairs cut into rock wall.
Her mother’s grave. She was buried far from the other dead, those who perished in natural ways. Everyone knew the queen did something, exactly what they couldn’t say, so even her empty body was treated carefully and hidden. No one else wanted to suffer a hex.
Torches flamed as Holly passed, all the way to the bottom where she stepped onto stone, jeweled flooring. Though afraid of what she’d done, she was still the queen and deserving of respect, so the attendants made her final resting place fit for royalty, kept safe by an invisible dome that let in sparse light, yet kept out dust or dirt. Unwelcome visitors wouldn’t be allowed to pass it’s barrier either.
Unlike the rest of the island, where rubble was all that remained of homes and other buildings, the mausoleum was untouched. Tapestries hung bright as if brand new and the glass coffin was raised from the floor on a golden dais. At the base sat an orb and Holly lifted it, released a slow breath as memory flowed.
She held it aloft and spoke quietly, “Light,” and with a small bounce cast it into the air where it hung, glowing silver. The room illuminated, gold glinting in piles; chests covered in emeralds and rubies and pearls sat forgotten. Abandoned.
“The world was made with words,” she spoke aloud as she circled the coffin, read things carved into stone, and halted at the head. The queen looked asleep. “You traded your life with words,” a whisper as she touched a finger to glass.
Life and death reside on the tongue.
“I never knew your voice.” Tears pooled in brown eyes. “Except for your last sounds, the noise of cursed death. What did your words do to me? What spells did you cast over me?” She looked up to the light of day as her vision blurred. “What did his words do?” She drew a shaky breath. “Someone else is coming.”
The dead queen did not stir, had no answers to give. Her grave was a lonely shadow. Those who placed her had no intent of seeing her again and the air was stale.
Holly backed away from the casket and turned to survey the rest of the chamber. It wasn’t large and nothing was hers to take, but neither would any good come of leaving it where it lay.
She’d never been to see her mother before. She knew her location because of the old woman, but nothing more than that. Mourning? No. That was long past. Holly felt no affection for the queen who longed for a child, who went against nature in her quest to have her way.
Moving to the furthest side of the circular room she touched a tapestry, worried it would crumbled in her hands, but found it preserved. Just as the body of the beautiful queen, with her golden hair, had not decayed neither did anything closed in the chamber.
The story depicted on the fabric was one of a people who lived in harmony, with one another and the world around them. They were gifted with knowledge, wisdom, and long lives. The threading wove a tale expected to last forever.
Yet Holly remembered where she’d heard the idiom ‘bondage of decay’ now. The old woman told her of the way the world would suffer. Delayed or not, everything was destined to end. Leave a room long enough and it would, eventually, fall to ruin. Dust covered surfaces once spotless, cracks appeared on walls. A ceiling caved in.
Nothing could last forever.
Most of her people forgot that, but she wasn’t there to see their end. She’d experienced shaking ground in a memory and assumed an earthquake devastated the land. Perhaps a volcanic eruption caused the chaos.
But, she might never know and that was alright. They were all gone, except her, and she’d learned a harsh truth.
Born of death she’d always known, born of magic was a new revelation, and the full understanding of how she wasn’t supposed to be combined to fill her with a deep sense of melancholy. She felt like she could spend months alone, thinking of nothing.
If she stayed in the dark, would she die?
Chapter Fifteen
His arrival shook the air.
“Brother!” Jovial. “What calls me here? You?”
“What else?” Irritate.
Identical twins. Who was the eldest? They didn’t know, that was long forgotten and unimportant. Levi would say himself if basing the guess on modern stereotypes. The stoic, responsible elder contrasted with an emotional, carefree younger. Whether true or not it didn’t matter after so many, many years.
Mirthful steps halted, his smile dimmed, as the newcomer took in the sight of the open ground. The standing stones in a circle, emitting blueish light to illuminate carved hieroglyphics that should have been long since smoothed by rains and time.
“What is this?” His tone took a serious edge as he looked to his brother. “This was not here even a decade ago.”
“You came and did not tell me?” Levi wasn’t surprised, but annoyance grew. “You ignored my calls all that time, when I had something to tell you, but you came here?”
“If I’d found anything I would have told you.”
“Well, I did find something and I tried to tell you.”
They stared at each other, both trying to gauge the others level of receptiveness.
Levi turned away first; one way or another his brother would know the truth. Shortly. “What is your name now?”
“Name? Why do I need a name?” A hint of a laugh. “You call me brother.”
“The one who is there,” he jerked his head toward the hole, vexation slipping into his tone. “Will have to call you something. What is your name?” His voice was sharp. “She calls me ‘Levi’.”
“Levi?” He stepped forward, to the boundary of rocks, his hands in his pockets. He wore dark jeans and a t-shirt. Casual, without a care in th
e world. “Who is she?”
Deliberation took half a second; the only acceptable answer was to tell him before she emerged. Still, Levi couldn’t be sure of his brother’s reaction. He watched his back for a moment, as a pebble lifted from the ground and spun, ready to be tossed into the circle, “The dark-haired princess.”
The pebble dropped. His brother didn’t turn as he said, “She’s dead.”
“Seven times dead.” Levi side stepped the burst of air that came his way, intent on knocking him over. “I tried to tell you, you didn’t come.” The grass was singed beneath his brother’s shadow. “What will she call you? Don’t take al-”
“Adam.” The expression he wore when he pivoted wasn’t a happy one. “And tell me who she is.”
“She’s called Holly, a name she chose for herself. I don’t recall what it was back then, neither does she and I doubt you do?” The question in his voice went unanswered. “Holly, then. I imagine she’s retrieved some of her past down there. I brought her here so she would remember without having to be forced. It seems to have worked, Adam,” Levi frowned, it was strange to call his brother by a name. “Where have you been?”
“It’s not important,” he spoke airily and turned away again.
“Then it is.” He sighed. “Where were you and what were you doing?”
A fist clenched. “I may have made another go at it.”
Levi eyed him, resigned. “Explain.”
“It didn’t work, no one was born at all.”
Levi suspected the explanation was unfinished. “But?”
“I found someone else, someone who wanted to live, and I unwittingly helped her achieve it.” Adam folded his arms, still staring at the opening. “She idolizes me now, I thought we could switch when it got too bothersome.”
“So,” Levi moved to stand beside his brother. “You came not because I called you, but because you’re tired of the companion you made for yourself?” Anger wouldn’t be the correct term. He wasn’t angry, but he wasn’t feeling charitable either. “After all this time you still haven’t learned a damn-”
Holly’s head poked out from the ground.
∞
She seriously considered sinking back into the mausoleum. Levi on his own was intimidating, but there were two of him standing there and it was actually a bit frightening because they both looked like thunder.
Whether they were mad at her or each other she couldn’t tell, but one of them was losing steam and the other getting worked up.
“Nothing, you’ve learned nothing!” The one Holly thought was definitely Levi, he was wearing the clothes she last remembered, started shouting at the other. “How many millennia has it been and you continue to make choices with consequences you don’t intend to deal with?”
She flinched; his double stared at her. That wasn’t Levi, but they looked exactly alike. She’d known a set of identical twins once, from a distance. They were often sent from foster home to foster home, similar to herself but their issues weren’t unspoken. They were difficult, period. She didn’t know their history and never would.
“Holly!”
She jumped, broke eye contact with the Other Levi. She’d not realized she held his gaze.
Levi was seething. She’d never seen so much emotion in him and that made her believe more strongly that they were brothers, as opposed to one and an impostor. Who else could evoke that kind of response in a person? More so for them, if they were both undying.
That was something he hadn’t told her, hadn’t even hinted at. She’d thought him always alone.
Was that a lie?
Did he lie to her?
She didn’t notice the tremor, but Levi did and he brought his tone down immediately. He could see the difference in her; something changed when she went into that place, whatever it was. “Can you please,” he softened his tone. “Come here? So I can explain this to you?”
The light quivering subsided, palm trees rested easy.
Her eyes were guarded as she came out of the hole and she didn’t cross the line. A book was held in her arms, heavy and red. Gold. Purple. Swirling, unreadable characters and shifting pictures.
He knew better than to try and take it, ignored it instead.
“Holly,” he spoke deliberately. “This is my brother. Adam,” speaking his new name still felt odd. “Everything I told you is true, but I did leave part of the truth out. I left him out.” Her lip curled. “I would have told you sooner, if I’d had more time. You felt him, didn’t you? Coming closer.”
Her eyes fell to the ground, she pursed her lips. She’d felt something before she went down the stairs, but she’d not known it was a man.
“He chose perhaps the worst time to heed my call,” he gave a sharp look to his brother who refused to respond. “But he is here now and I will explain it fully. Please,” he held out his hand. “Come out of there. I cannot go to you.”
She thought this was important and her words echoed in her mind, “...it’s like loyalty...I don’t want anyone else...” She couldn’t fight the pull. Levi was right, she’d bound herself to him without knowing what she was doing.
She’d done the same when they met for the very first time, pledged herself as his bride.
What were the chances she’d do that twice? Maybe it was destiny?
She wanted to take his hand, but a smaller part of her wanted to stay back. A twinge in the back of her mind.
When she shook her head he dropped his hand, yet the hurt Levi felt was well concealed. She didn’t see it in his eyes, he didn’t shift an inch. Adam noticed it; as his brother, despite the long years apart, they had a special bond, but Holly couldn’t discern what Levi’s heart felt.
A feeling foreign.
“What I told you is true, I suppose you could just add Adam to the story. I have been alone for a long while now, I forget how many years it’s been since our near failure with you,” he inclined his head. “The ruin of your people was down to him,” a quick nod in his brother’s direction. He had the presence of mind to look away. “Furious that it didn’t work, or so he thought, his anger caused the quake that shook the island to pieces.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Yes, that’s right, he did this and I couldn’t stop him. He is highly emotive.”
Her gaze moved to the brother, the one who was still a stranger. Levi’s tone was strange to her, as he spoke of his brother. He didn’t sound empathetic, rather reluctantly accepting. It was a situation she couldn’t emphasize with, having no ties to siblings or close friends.
In the end, she didn’t feel anything like affection for the people of her first life, they didn’t want her. Not even the old woman, who tried harder to be kind, wanted her.
“It’s his fault?!” But still, it was shock, a little bit of outrage, and some disbelief. The idea he was that powerful, that Levi could be if ever he lost his temper, and what about herself? She knew nothing!
“Indeed.”
He kept speaking, but Holly was stuck on another startling realization. She really didn’t know anything. She’d taken a book from the tomb, snatched it from a random pile, in hopes of learning something more, but all at once she felt submerged in the understanding that she had nothing on Levi.
Or his brother who wouldn’t look at her anymore.
“I’m sorry,” she interrupted, looking to Levi again. She held his gaze, even as her voice wavered. “Sorry, but I can’t- I have to go.” It was sudden and stupid and she didn’t know what she was doing. “I’ll come back,” she paused, thought about her words before speaking. “Back to you.”
She disappeared before they could understand her announcement.
Chapter Sixteen
Holly didn’t mean to go to Olwen’s sitting room, but that was where she found herself in a blink’s worth of time and Olwen found her too, standing frozen in the middle of her home.
The woman made a noise of surprise, stumbled back a step, and dropped a glass vile full of something pink. I
t shattered and the liquid transformed hardwood to marble.
“Emma!”
“Holly.”
Olwen shook her head quickly. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?” She gave the girl a once over. “Where were you before this?!”
Holly pressed her lips together and said, “It might be a long story.”
“Well,” Olwen moved a step closer, bent down and examined the new flooring. “I have time,” she stood with a small smile. “My children are in school,” she gestured to the sofa. “Sit and tell me the tale of his missteps.”
“You have children?”
A wistful expression. “Yes, through adoption. Something I lost in the trade for a long life. You might guess I was young, I don’t remember how old exactly, but I didn’t think it would be a loss compared to living. I’ve done it before and I suppose I will again someday. They haven’t been told of what I do while they’re at school,” Olwen sat primly, hands folded in her lap. “When they are older I will ‘die’.”
An intense sadness gripped Holly’s heart. “That’s-that’s-”
“Cruel? I don’t think so,” she didn’t seem perturbed. “I love them more than my life and if I could give it for them I would. But, I can’t. What I can do is love them and raise them until they can get along without me. I make arrangements of course, to keep them in my absence.”
“I’m sorry,” it felt like all she did lately was apologize. “I didn’t mean-”
“I know, please believe me when I say I know. I’ve thought it too, but the truth is all children’s parents die. This is no different. I’ve considered telling them before, about what I’ve done, but it isn’t a life I’d wish on even my worst enemy.” Her eyes glazed as she stared into the distance. “I owe them so much, for giving me purpose and love. All of them. Of course, they die eventually, often have children of their own. Sometimes they travel paths I never wanted for them, but that is a fear all parents face.” Her eyes moved back to Holly, refocused. “Enough of me though, tell me what he’s done.”
