“Gewey told me he’s been teaching you how to use a sword, so I thought you should have a proper one to practice with,” Linis said. “It’s a bit heavier than a typical elf blade. But with your frame, I thought it best.”
Kaylia frowned. “Let us hope you never need to use it.”
“Always a good idea to have one handy, though,” remarked Millet. “Particularly if you plan to take him adventuring.”
“This week you can show me what you’ve learned,” said Linis.
Jayden sheathed the blade and gave the elf a firm embrace. “Thank you. I love it.”
“Love it somewhere else,” said Kaylia. “The dinner table is no place for a sword.”
“Agreed,” said Dina, giving Linis a sour look.
Jayden ran upstairs and put the sword away in his wardrobe. Tomorrow he would find somewhere to store it properly, he thought.
By the time he returned, his mother, Linis, and Dina were already clearing the table. Millet offered to help, but Jayden quickly took him into the sitting room and gave him a snifter of plum brandy.
When the others joined them shortly afterwards, Jayden noticed immediately that his mother was not looking well. He knew she was worried, but there was more to it than that. She looked thoroughly drained of energy. Linis noticed it as well.
“We should not linger,” he said. “Tomorrow is a big day, and I am sure you need to rest.”
“Nonsense,” Kaylia responded. “You cannot leave until midnight when Jayden officially becomes a man.”
Bowing to her wishes, they sat and talked for a time. Millet eventually fell asleep in his chair with a brandy glass resting on his plump belly, though Kaylia woke him just before midnight so that he could join them in a round of birthday songs and official congratulations. The guests departed shortly afterwards. They could see Kaylia was clearly in no condition to go on, even though she tried to get them to stay longer. When Dina expressed her concern, Kaylia merely dismissed it as fatigue from several days of preparation, not to mention the stress of dealing with the village mothers.
Jayden’s concern was growing, but he eventually accepted her explanation. It was true she had been working non-stop for days on end. On top of that, his father’s continuing absence was doing nothing to help her state of mind.
That night, he listened for the sound of hoof beats heralding his father’s arrival – something he hadn’t done since he was a small boy. None came, however, and eventually he fell asleep.
Chapter Two
The following morning, Jayden rose early and quickly got dressed. He could already hear the clamor of people working outside. He hoped his father might have arrived during the night, but the look on his mother’s face when he joined her in the parlor for breakfast told him that he hadn’t.
“He’ll be home very soon now,” he said to her.
“Yes, I know he will,” she agreed, though her tone was unconvincing. “You just enjoy the day and put it out of your mind.”
Linis showed up as they finished eating and he and his mother went out on the porch to talk privately for a time, which only served to fuel Jayden’s anxiety even further. Humans and elves could not share the same bond that elves shared with one another – at least, that was what he had heard. And yet strangely, his mother always knew when his father was near. Sometimes it was as if she could actually read his thoughts.
On a whim, he decided to lend a hand outside to keep his mind off these concerns. His offer was soundly rebuffed. He was told in no uncertain terms that they would not have him working on his birthday. Eventually, he returned to his room and flicked through a book Millet had given him about the history of the first Great War. The maps held more interest to him than the text. As he dragged his finger over the page, he imagined himself on horseback, setting out to see the wonders of the world.
Earlier that morning, he had made up his mind to accept his mother’s offer. Though having her along wasn’t exactly what he’d originally had in mind, there was no denying that she would be able to show him things no one but an elf could. And perhaps along the way he could prove to her that he was able to take care of himself. He had already become quite accomplished with a blade – though as yet had never been involved in an actual sword fight. Furthering his sense of independence, Linis had also taught him a great deal about tracking and living off the land.
The sound of carriages arriving told him that it was time to head back downstairs. Outside, the pavilions were already beginning to fill with guests as tray after tray of food was being set out on a long table. Barrels of wine and cases of brandy were stacked high inside a separate pavilion nearby.
All said, more than two hundred people were anticipated to attend. More wagons bearing extra food and other supplies were still arriving. Even a kitchen as well equipped as theirs could only handle so much.
By early afternoon, the musicians had started to play and the party was in full swing. Throughout it all, Jayden kept a constant but so far fruitless lookout for his father. His mother had only made one brief appearance amongst the guests, presumably spending most of the time keeping things running smoothly inside the house.
If there was one thing Jayden was dreading more than anything else, it was the coming speech he’d be expected to make. He had no idea what to say. Though in truth, if he kept it as brief as possible, most of the partygoers would likely be pleased. It would be near the end of the night before he’d be called upon, and by then, full bellies and an overabundance of wine would be persuading most it was time to head back home to their beds.
He had just joined a group of his friends near the edge of the festivities when he saw Linis approaching. The elf’s expression was grave.
“I need you to come with me,” he said.
Before he could ask what was wrong, Linis turned and hurried away through the crowd. Jayden’s thoughts immediately turned to his mother. Mindless of those he passed who tried to speak to him, he chased after the elf.
“Is it Mother?” he called, as they entered the kitchen through the back door.
“She’s unconscious,” Linis replied. “Dina is with her in her bedroom.”
Fear stabbed through Jayden and he broke into a dead run, shoving Linis aside and very nearly knocking several others completely off their feet while pushing his way through to the stairs. Bursting into his mother’s room, he saw Dina sitting on the bed beside her, holding her hand.
“What happened?” he asked, rushing over to the other side of the bed.
“We don’t know,” Dina said, choking back tears.
He placed his hand over his mother’s brow. She wasn’t running a fever.
Linis entered a moment later. “Polly found her on the front porch just before she collapsed,” he said. “She told me that Kaylia only said two words: ‘He’s gone.’”
Jayden looked imploringly at the elf. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I can’t be certain; I can only guess. I’ve sent for an elf healer who lives in town. She’ll be here as soon as possible.”
“What do you think it is?” Jayden pressed.
Linis drew a breath. “I think something has happened to your father. What that is, I can’t say. We’ll know more when the healer arrives.”
“How could something happening to Father do this to her?” Jayden noticed Linis exchange a furtive glance with Dina. “Tell me, damn it!”
“Your mother and father share a special bond,” he explained. “Much like the elves share with one another.”
“But I thought humans couldn’t do that.”
Linis nodded. “With most of them, that’s true. But Gewey and Kaylia are…special. That’s all I can tell you. When I tried to make a connection with your mother, I could feel that something had happened. I just couldn’t tell what exactly. My skills are not as attuned as those of a healer.”
“I know how worried you are, Jayden,” added Dina. “But please be patient. I’m sure the healer will be able to help.”
He
could see the lie in her eyes. She was as worried as Linis. A feeling of total helplessness threatened to overcome him.
For more than an hour they waited. Polly checked in several times and informed them that she’d told the guests Kaylia had fallen ill and that they should return home. As an extra measure, Linis positioned himself outside the door to prevent the curious and concerned from entering.
At last the elf healer, an older woman named Lania, arrived and immediately ordered the room cleared.
“I’m staying,” Jayden insisted.
“You must allow me to do my work,” the healer told him in a tender voice. “I can feel your love for your mother bleeding like an open wound, and that is a distraction to me. I must be able to concentrate.”
Dina touched his hand. “Come, Jayden. Linis and I will wait with you.”
After tenderly kissing his mother’s forehead, he allowed himself to be ushered from the room. Downstairs, the servants were cleaning up and taking down the pavilions. A small stack of notes was sitting on the table near the front door, each one expressing well-wishes for Kaylia’s recovery.
“You told me just now that my father and mother are different,” he said as the three of them sat near the hearth in the living room. “What did you mean by that?”
Linis lowered his eyes. “That is not for me to say. All I can tell you is that they share a connection like no other.”
“But humans can’t do that.”
There was a long silence. It was clear to Jayden that they were keeping something hidden from him.
“Right now, we need to focus on your mother,” said Dina.
“I’m not a child so easily distracted,” Jayden snapped back at her. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I know you aren’t a child. But we made a promise. There are some things we simply cannot tell you.”
“I don’t care about any promise you’ve made. My mother could be dying.”
Dina reacted instantly. “Don’t say that,” she snapped. “Don’t you ever say that.”
Under normal circumstances, he would have wilted under Dina’s gaze. But her refusal to divulge what she knew was only increasing his anger. This had something to do with his father.
“If you know what is wrong and you don’t tell me –” he began.
Linis’s sharp voice stopped him at once. “That’s enough! Do not dare accuse us of withholding information that might help her. You have no idea what you are saying.”
His eyes were blazing. Jayden had never seen him lose his temper like this before. “I’m sorry,” he hastily apologized. “It’s just that…I’m afraid. What if she doesn’t wake up?”
Linis leaned forward. “Your mother has survived more than you could imagine. She’ll make it through this as well. Whatever it is.”
As he finished speaking, he caught the sound of the door upstairs opening and the elf healer making her way slowly down. All three quickly rose and left the room to meet her. The woman’s brow was creased and her skin pale. As she moved down the last few steps, she gripped the rail with both hands for balance.
Jayden was barely able to restrain himself. “Will she be all right?” he asked.
Dina was standing beside Linis, holding tightly to his arm.
“I have never encountered anything like it,” the healer said. “The bond she shares with her mate is stretched...stretched so thin that I can barely tell it exists at all. By every natural law I know of, it should be broken beyond repair, yet somehow it still manages to hold.”
She met Jayden’s eyes. “What manner of man is your father?”
He frowned back at her. “I don’t understand.”
“What I mean is this: Your father...is he a half-man?”
“No. Of course not.” Yet even as the words escaped his lips, Jayden could not help but wonder. Was this the secret they were keeping from him?
The woman sighed. “Then I cannot explain what has happened. There is one thing I know for certain – Kaylia will not recover unless the bond is made whole again. In time, it will break. And when it does…”
A cold chill seized the pit of Jayden’s stomach. “How long?”
“I cannot say. This bond is unique; strong beyond anything I have seen before. But it is not indestructible. Whatever has happened to your father, I am guessing that is the cause.”
Jayden felt dizzy. A million different scenarios were flashing through his mind when a hand on his shoulder snapped him back into the moment.
“We need to find him,” said Linis.
“He went to Gath,” Jayden managed to croak out.
“No,” said Linis. “He did not.” He turned to the healer. “Is there anything you can tell us that might help us find him?”
“Twin girls,” she replied. “Over and over they invaded her thoughts.”
“My sisters Maybell and Penelope,” said Jayden. “It has to be. But what have they got to do with this?”
The healer shook her head. “I don’t know. All I can say is that they are somehow connected to her. Although a bond like this is unusual between a child and a parent, it’s not unheard of.”
“Is there anything else?” asked Dina. “Anything at all?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve done all I can.”
Jayden did not hesitate. Forgoing courtesy, he pressed his way past the woman and ran headlong up the stairs to his room. As quickly as he could, he began pulling clothes from his wardrobe and placing them on the bed. The final item – the sword that Linis had given to him – he hung from his belt.
“I know where you are going.”
He turned to see Linis standing in the doorway.
“Don’t try to stop me. I have to get to Gath.”
“Your father isn’t there. I already told you that.”
Jayden slammed the door to his wardrobe, nearly tearing it from its hinges. “Then where the hell is he?”
“He went to Althetas.”
“Are you insane? He left less than a week ago and was due back here yesterday. There is no way he could travel so far in such a short time.”
“I know it’s hard to believe. Nonetheless, I promise you that is where he went.”
Jayden squared his shoulders. “I think you had better explain.”
Linis nodded. “I agree, but not here. Pack your things, and I’ll wait for you downstairs. We can talk on the way.”
“On the way to where?”
“My farm. I’m going with you. Take only a few changes of clothes and whatever gold you can carry. I’ll pack the rest of what we need for the journey.”
Having issued his instructions, he left the room.
Jayden quickly did as he’d been told. With his pack slung over his shoulders, he found Dina talking to Linis at the bottom of the stairs. She was looking deeply concerned, though she tried to conceal this as he approached.
“I’ll keep watch over your mother while you’re away,” she assured him.
“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know how long this will take. Don’t worry about the farm, though. Varis can handle that well enough.”
Dina wiped a stray tear from her eye, and then embraced her husband. “Just be careful, Linis. You’re not a seeker any longer. You’re a farmer now.”
Her words astonished Jayden. A seeker? Linis had been a seeker?
“I will return as soon as I can,” Linis told her. “You shouldn’t worry. I haven’t gone soft.” Reluctantly releasing his wife, he started toward the door.
The night was cool and still. Jayden held his tongue until they had reached the edge of the garden and stepped onto the road. Linis’s face was a stone mask as he kept up a brisk pace.
“You were a seeker?” Jayden asked.
“I was,” he affirmed. “Before the war.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“My life before the war is no longer important to me. That was a time of blood and hatred. I fought hard to have the life I live now. I never want to look back on those days.�
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“But why did you tell me you fled to the desert?”
Linis cast him a quick glance. “There is much you have been told that isn’t true. But you need to understand that it was done purely out of love.”
“Like what?”
After a long pause, Linis blew out a breath. “What do you know of Darshan?”
Jayden furrowed his brow. “Darshan? Just what everyone else knows, I guess. He descended from heaven during the war and took on human form so he could do battle with the Reborn King.”
“What about after the war? Do you know what happened to him then?”
“They say he returned to heaven. Other than that, all I’ve heard is stories about the battles he fought. Mother and Father don’t like talking about the war, so I only know what a few of the farm hands have told me.”
Linis fell silent for a short time, all the while looking as if he were debating a weighty matter inside his head. “What if I told you that Darshan did not return to heaven?” he eventually asked. “That instead, he remained here in the mortal world.”
Jayden shrugged. “I’d say, so what? From what I’ve heard, he hasn’t done much of anything since. There’s still fighting everywhere.”
“You are wrong. Darshan has done a great deal. He is constantly doing his best to stop the violence and keep the peace. But not even a god can be in all places at once.”
“What does this have to do with Mother? Or anything else, for that matter?”
Linis drew a deep breath. “Because your father is not who you think he is. He and Lee Starfinder did not hide in the mountains during the war. In fact, quite the opposite.”
The implication behind these words thudded into Jayden’s brain. He grabbed the elf’s arm, forcing him to halt. “You can’t be saying what I think you’re saying.”
Linis nodded. “Yes. The man you know as your father…he is Darshan.”
Jayden coughed out a laugh. “Are you drunk? My father isn’t a god. That’s just crazy.”
Linis pulled himself free and resumed walking. “Where do you think he goes when he leaves here? Gath? Helenia? Since the end of the war, he has traveled the length and breadth of our world and done everything he possibly could to keep the peace. Not only between elf and human, but between warring factions within the races as well.”
The Godling Chronicles Page 3
