There was silence on the line for a minute. “How long have you known these guys? This Travis and David?”
That was not the question I expected. “I met David right after I moved here, so about 6 months. He’s pretty much my best friend now. I met Travis on Sunday.”
“How do you feel around them? Do you feel safe? Do you get any odd feelings?”
“What kind of odd feelings? I’ve not really thought about it. David is pretty much my best friend. I guess I don’t feel threatened around Travis. When Travis touched my hand yesterday, it felt like a warm breeze ran over my hand, but I haven’t noticed anything weird about David.” I made my hand let go of my braid and ran it over my face. She wasn’t helping. In fact, I think her questions were making me feel worse. I wished she would answer some of mine instead of just asking new ones.
“Did they say if they have powers, and what they are?” Her voice was brisk and business-like but underneath it all, she sounded anxious.
Well, at least she’s acting like she believes me. She could have said that though. “Um. Travis said he has sylph ancestry and David is part elf, I think. Everything they told me is a blur, so I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s what they said. What about us, Mom? You seem like you believe me, and it’s not a real surprise. Please tell me what you are thinking and why you are asking all these questions.”
“Oh, Honey. I am so sorry. Your father was sure it had skipped you, and you were safe. I know you didn’t get along with him, but he loved you. We would have told you if we thought you had powers.”
“What?” It came out a whisper. I was stunned. Not only did Mom know, they had deliberately not told me. I felt betrayed. It was another case where my parents made sweeping decisions, without even considering how it would affect me. I should be used to it by now, but it still felt like a knife to the gut. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I could feel a headache forming behind my eyes.
“David is right. Your father’s grandmother was a water nymph. For some reason that she never explained to anyone, she came to earth alone and married an earth man. Shortly after she got here she had your grandmother. She appeared to have full water nymph powers, but your father did not have many powers. He told me he figured it diluted and when you didn’t show any signs as a baby, it seemed you were pretty close to full human, so we didn’t tell you. Your father didn’t want anything to do with the Shadoewynnes because he said he was raised not to trust them. His mother used to tell him horror stories, and the few he knew as a child were cold and emotionless and not at all human, including his grandmother. Jawn never used what few powers he had.”
“I don’t understand.” I was struggling with the situation and I couldn’t follow her explanation.
She sighed. “Jawn walked away from his family as a teenager because he didn’t want anything to do with Shadoewynne. He never told me all of his reasons, but he said his mother didn’t trust them, and she made sure he knew not to trust them either. He said you never showed any signs of powers, so he didn’t think you had any. If that was true, there was no reason to tell you. Other than seeing the gateway, you haven’t had anything happen, have you? Like, something that would say you have any kind of water powers?”
“No. Nothing else has happened. I really wish you had trusted me enough to tell me, though.”
“Evalia! This has nothing to do with trusting you! Why do you always think the worst of us?” The anger was evident in her voice.
Gee, I wonder. Holding back important information, making decisions for me without my input. No matter what she said, this was just another instance of Dad deciding what was best for everyone without asking anyone’s opinion, and Mom going along with it. I had thought this was over when he died. I sighed. As usual, I played peacemaker. One day, I would be able to stand up to her, but today I just couldn’t do it. I loved my mom, even when her reasoning appeared misguided to me. “Mom, I don’t want to argue. I just need answers.” I made sure to sound contrite, even though I wasn’t. It did me no good to antagonize her.
She sighed. “Please understand, Baby, we did what we had to in order to keep you safe. Jawn was sure that this would be for the best.”
“You didn’t say anything earlier about keeping me safe. What’s with that?”
“I don’t really know. He just said you not knowing would keep you safe.” I rubbed at my eyes. The headache was pulsing behind my right eye. I needed to calm down.
“He didn’t explain?”
She laughed. “Honey, you know your father. He issued commands and expected us to follow. I was surprised he told me as much as he did, which was only because he had to use his powers once to save me.”
That was news as well. “What? How?”
“When we were teenagers, we had gone on a trip with some friends. We were canoeing down a river, and we hit a patch that was rougher than we expected. Since it had been pretty smooth before, I wasn’t wearing a life jacket. We hit a rock, the canoe flipped, and I went under. Our friends had already passed us and were so far ahead they didn’t even know we had problems. I was being tossed around, bouncing off rocks and who knows what under water, when my ankle got wedged between two rocks. The water was rushing over my head so much that I was drowning. He walked up to me in turbulent water; it didn’t even seem to be touching him. A bubble formed around us, then, he pulled me free. The water cleared a path, and he carried me to shore. Then, he pulled the water from my lungs and my clothes. I was barely conscious when he pulled me out, but removing the water from my lungs was a weird feeling and it woke me up. The whole experience ended up etched in my memory, most likely because it seemed like a miracle. It was the only time I ever saw him use his powers. He had to explain the whole thing, and it bothered him so much it took him over a week to even talk to me, much less explain it. Once he finally did, we broke up for a while. I was so upset that I didn’t speak to him for two months. We were both miserable, and I finally decided I loved him, even with the powers and I went back to him.”
Seems like there may have been another reason to hold back on telling me. “Did you think less of him? Will you think less of me, if I do have powers?” My voice was small.
She sighed. “No, Honey. I was young and stupid, and the idea scared me at first. We had been together for over a year at that point, and he had never done anything out of the ordinary, and it was a lot to take in, not to mention the overwhelming emotions of the day. I mean, I almost died. Of course I overreacted. When we got married, I knew that any future kids we had may have his powers, and it didn’t bother me. After I left Jawn, I had to do a lot of soul-searching but when I took him back, it was with the full knowledge of what he was and what our kids could be.”
“Wow, Mom.” I was reeling from the shock of all that she had revealed, so I said something stupid, as usual. “I never knew.”
She scoffed. “Of course, you never knew! There’s a lot you don’t know about me or your father. Some of it is by design, but some of it is because you won’t let me in. It feels like you hold yourself back from us. I bet there’s a lot I don’t know about you, too. Sometimes, it feels like I barely know you.”
There was some truth to that. As I got older, I had started pulling away from my parents. But I had my reasons, just like she had hers. We just ended up walking on eggshells around each other. I sighed. I really didn’t want to get into this discussion with her. Not now, and not ever, if I could help it. “Can we not do this now?”
She echoed my sigh. “Sure, Honey. It’s fine.” It didn’t sound fine, but that was what we both always did, deflect and hide our misery.
The door opened quietly, and Travis stuck his head in and raised his eyebrows at me. I tried to smile at him and held up one finger. He came the rest of the way into the room, and leaned against the doorjamb. “You know what, I got to go, Mom. I’ll call you later after I think about this for a while.”
She must have heard the disappointment in my voice. “Honey, I love you and you need t
o understand, we did what we thought was best for you. Not only are they different from humans, we also didn’t want you growing up without powers around these beings who had incredible magic and wondering why you couldn’t do the things that they could. We were afraid it would make you feel less, when really you are more than they could ever be. You have feelings, and empathy, which they could never have.”
“Okay, Mom. I just need to wrap my head around it.”
“I love you, Honey. Please be sure to call me later. I can come up there too, if you want.”
“Love you, too, Mom. You don’t need to come here. I’ll call you later, I promise. After I’ve had time to think about all this.”
I hung up the phone and plopped down on the bed. I laid on my stomach and put my head on my arms. I struggled to breathe evenly and not cry. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes, but I wasn’t going to let Travis see me this upset. I spoke into my arms. “Travis, I…” my voice broke and I cleared my throat. “I’m going to need a minute, okay?” He ran his hand over my shoulder. Oddly enough, it did make me feel a little better.
“Sure. Meet us downstairs when you are ready. We will be in the kitchen.”
“Alright.” The door closed behind him and I wept.
Chapter 5
After laying there crying for I don’t know how long, I realized that this wasn’t helping. I had to face the massive betrayal by my parents. I couldn’t believe that they would keep something like this from me. I understood that they had their reasons, but once I was old enough, they should have told me, just in case. I snorted at myself. Even I could tell that I was just whining now. I needed to pull up my figurative big-girl panties and get over it. So I got up, and slowly opened the door. The hall and doorways off it were dark and quiet. I walked down the hall, glancing into the dark rooms, looking for the bathroom. I eventually found it at the opposite end of the hall, by the stairs. I flipped the light on and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked ghastly. My eyes and nose were red, and my nose was still running, and stuffed up at the same time. I splashed some cold water on my face, and then dried it off. The whites of my eyes were just pink now, but my irises had turned a brilliant green, like they always do when I cry. I always thought it was just a trait of hazel eyes, but now I wonder if it’s really because of magic. What else is weird about me that I always wrote off, but is really magic?
That thought made me stop. Wow. What else in my life is a flat out lie? I shook my head. I really needed to stop that train of thought. It would lead down a pretty dark path. My initial reaction to every obstacle life threw at me so far had always been to ignore it, and it seemed like that would be a good response this time too. Right now, I was doing a good job of keeping the panic that was nibbling at my mind at bay. I had locked it away and wasn’t going to address it until I absolutely had to. If I ignore it long enough, maybe it would go away.
I opened the bathroom door and headed towards the voices I heard coming from downstairs. Now, the darkness in the rooms off the hallway made me hurry. I tried not to look, fearing what I might see. They said I was safe here, but I was having a hard time making myself believe it. It had been a weird week so far, and I had a sinking feeling that it was only going to get worse.
Warm light and laughter spilled out of a doorway ahead of me. I quit rushing and hesitantly approached it. I stopped just outside of the light and took a deep breath. I slowly walked into the kitchen. Like David’s room, it was painted a soft, cheery yellow. That, plus the leftover aroma from the last meal, gave the room a welcoming feel.
“So, my mom knows you’re here. Apparently, she set an alarm ward on the door to let her know when I bring people over. Honestly, you would think I’m like twelve!” David’s face was flushed, and he looked very angry. It seemed an odd reaction to something so simple. “I explained what’s going on and she said you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. Are you hungry? I can make some food, kinda. Like, grilled cheese sandwiches.”
Travis rolled his eyes at David and shook his head. “Evalia, I don’t want to pry, but are you okay? It didn’t seem like your conversation with your mom was going very well.”
I attempted to smile at Travis. “I’m fine.” From the look on his face, I don’t think he believed me. “My mom has apparently known about this for a long time, and my dad has Shadoewynne blood. They thought it skipped me, so they weren’t going to tell me.”
David’s mouth dropped open. “I was told…”
Travis cut in. “Let’s get something to eat while I fill you in.”
David stared at him for a minute, then started bustling around the kitchen. “I hope you are okay with grilled cheese. I’m hopeless in the kitchen.” He laughed, but it sounded forced.
I got the distinct impression that there was something that they were not telling me, but I wasn’t going to push right now. I was having a hard-enough time dealing with what they were willing to tell me; how bad was something they didn’t want to tell me?
“There’s more to fill me in on?” I said as I sat down at the bar. I didn’t really know how much more I could handle.
Travis smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry, this doesn’t directly relate to you. I was going to tell you about the woods behind my house. I already told you the gateway is connected directly to the royal household. It’s because my father is the King. My family took over seventy-five years ago, when the previous rulers disappeared. My mother sent me to live here with her sister when I turned five. She wanted me to have a human education as well as a Shadoewynne one. My mom is full human. She met my father when he was here searching for clues. At the time, they thought some of the people may have been transported to earth, but he was never able to find any proof. He met my mom, and they fell in love. She agreed to go to Shadoewynne with him and the rest is history. The gateway is in the woods so I can go visit them any time I want.”
Travis was royal?! Holy shit! “So, you’re like a prince or something? Am I supposed to bow or curtsy?” I pictured me trying to curtsy, and I laughed. “I hope not, because I am not coordinated enough for that!”
He turned red. “Yes, I am considered a prince, but I will never speak to you again if you bow or curtsy to me. I do not like to be reminded of it. I spend most of my time here and I don’t like to think about what will happen when I have to go back to Shadoewynne. I much prefer Earth and would never go back again if my family wasn’t there. It’s too weird.” He stopped and ran his hands through his hair.
“Lunch is done!” David plopped some plates with burnt sandwiches on them in front of us. “Sorry I burned them.”
“It’s okay.” Travis and I said it together. It barely looked edible, and my stomach was still churning from the conversation with my mom, but I guessed I should try to eat it. “So, where do we go from here? Do I need a crash course on how to use my powers? Do you think I have any powers? How do I figure them out? Why is the, what did you call them? The Svikari? Why are they looking for me? For that matter, who are they?” I trailed off and stared into space. Travis reached out and stopped my hands, which were braiding sections of my hair.
“One thing at a time, Evalia. We will start with the easy part. The Svikari want the old power back, the ones who disappeared. We don’t have any definitive proof, but we believe the Svikari are using dark magic. Beings that join their cause are not the same months later. We don’t know for sure why they want you. However, any being that leaves Shadoewynne has to register and it doesn’t seem your ancestors registered. If they did, we would know who you are, because we track beings that leave and their descendants so we know they are not causing problems or exposing us to the people in the dimension they went to. That means you may be a clue to where the previous regime ended up. Also, the previous queen and her attendants were water nymphs. You have water powers, so you could be connected to her or one of her attendants. Or any of the other myriad water nymphs that went missing at the same time. I definitely think you are related to someone who we
nt missing.” He watched me for a minute, as I picked at my sad attempt at grilled cheese. “As for your powers, unfortunately, neither David or I have water powers, so we will need to find a water being for you to learn from. I don’t think it has to be a nymph.”
David had already finished his sandwich. “My mom has some water-based friends. She said she would ask around for someone to teach you. The real question is, how do we protect you?”
Travis put his sandwich down and wiped his hands on his pants. He had only eaten one bite so far. “I talked to my aunt. She has some things that may be able to help and she was going to bring them over after she got off work.” He glanced at David. “I forgot how awful your cooking is! I am going to ask her to bring us some food as well. I’ll be right back.” He picked up his phone and walked away.
David looked at me appraisingly. “So, your dad had Shadoewynne blood?”
“Yeah, Mom said my dad’s grandmother was a water nymph. She said Dad didn’t have very many powers, and when I didn’t show any signs as a baby, they figured it had diluted so much I was pretty close to full human.” I rubbed my eyes. The headache was in full swing behind my right eye, and starting to spread to my left. “She said that Dad didn’t want anything to do with any Shadoewynnes because they were cold and not human. It just is killing me that they were keeping this from me. And since my Dad died, I can’t even ask him anything directly.”
A Glint of Shadoewynne: Book 1 of the Shadoewynne Series Page 4
