Rebirth: The Sacred Isle Series

by K. E. Miller

  I could feel them as they moved through the back door into the house. I knew their intentions before I saw them.

  “They’re here!” I shouted and sprung to my feet.

  Aaron stood and moved around Shaylee to stand next to me as the intruders came around the corner.

  “Drew, get Shaylee out of here. Jaden and I will handle this,” Aaron said in such a commanding tone that it registered with me even though I was entirely focused on the group of men coming toward us.

  “What’s happening?” Shaylee cried, catching my attention.

  I turned and saw that both Andrew and Shaylee were on their feet. He was pulling her back towards the fireplace, as far from the intruders as they could possibly get, when suddenly, Shaylee’s face went blank and she stopped moving. Andrew tried to pull her behind him, but she wouldn’t move.

  I was gripped with overwhelming fear. Not because of the man holding a sword that was barely two feet away from me, but because I no longer sensed Shaylee’s presence. Feeling nothing but fear and despair, I turned back to face our assailants and meet my fate.

  Chapter 19

  Shaylee

  Several imposing men came around the corner from the kitchen. Andrew pulled me away from them. Aaron was facing the men and I knew that no matter how afraid I was I couldn’t leave him.

  “What’s happening?” I asked, but no one answered me.

  Andrew continued to pull me back towards the fireplace. The man nearest to Aaron raised his sword and swung. I closed my eyes, unable to watch.

  When I opened them, I was standing in a long corridor. I recognized it instantly as the one I’d dreamed about. I looked out the window, expecting to see distant mountains, but instead saw that it was night.

  I began walking, my feet moving without any conscious thought. I passed through several corridors, embracing the familiarity around me, before entering an immense room. It was dimly lit, but I knew it instantly as the throne room. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt in my heart that I had been to this place before.

  I paused at the door, unsure whether or not I should proceed, when I saw a figure standing in the middle of the room. I walked toward the figure, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

  As I drew near, I could see that it was a woman with light hair, wearing a silver gown. The dim lighting made it difficult to see much more. It wasn’t until I was only a few feet from her that I recognized her face. My face.

  “Who are you?” I asked, breathlessly.

  My voice, even though it was whispered, echoed in the large empty room.

  “The question you should be asking is: who are you? Do you truly not recognize me, Shaylee?” she asked with a smile.

  “Are you my mother?” I asked. It was the only explanation that made sense, but I also knew in my gut that it was wrong.

  “No, I am not your mother,” she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. “I am Sophia.”

  The name caused several of my dreams to come rushing back to me. Things that had once seemed vague about them suddenly seemed crystal clear.

  “I had dreams. People called me Sophia.”

  “That’s right,” she said with a sad smile.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The answers you seek are complicated, but you must understand the truth before you leave this place.”

  “Please,” I said. “If you can explain what’s happening to me, I want to know.”

  Even though I was fairly sure that I was hallucinating and this was all a figment of my imagination, I was desperate to try to understand all the strange things that had been happening to me. Maybe she was a part of my subconscious that had worked out the answers the rest of my brain hadn’t figured out yet.

  “This is the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of The Sacred Isle,” she gestured to the room around us. “I am the queen. This is the room in which your story begins.”

  I tensed with anticipation at her ominous words.

  “It was many years ago and my husband, the king, and I were overseeing the preparations for an annual ball that was to be held in honor of the dismantling of the Clans,” she said.

  “The Clans?” I asked, already lost and wondering where my subconscious was going with this story.

  “The six Clans of the Isle. There was a time when my people were defined solely by the Clan. It was a caste system, the Warriors on the bottom and the Mages on top. A person was bound to the Clan of their birth and the laws that governed it. Even marriages were confined to the Clans,” she explained. “When we were young, Aiden and I dismantled the Clans and proclaimed that all citizens were equal and to be governed under one law. Every year we then celebrated the anniversary of that proclamation.”

  The queen paused and gave me a questioning look.

  “I understand,” I told her. My theory about hallucinating was beginning to seem less likely. Unless everything she said was one giant metaphor, there was no way my mind could be making it all up.

  “So Aiden and I were overseeing preparations when Nolen, my advisor, came to us and told us of a most disturbing plot against the crown. He had overheard the Council discussing their plans to overthrow us and reestablish the Clans. Aiden and I sent our soldiers in search of the Council, but they found nothing. The next day, an assassin was sent to the palace to kill me. Aiden and I were in the library.”

  Sophia seemed to drift off into her thoughts.

  “Wait. I dreamed that,” I said.

  Refocusing on me, Sophia nodded, knowingly.

  “Yes. You dreamt of the past,” she said.

  “But Aaron was in it,” I argued.

  Sophia said nothing. She smiled and patiently waited for me to put the pieces together on my own.

  “Aaron is Aiden?” I asked, disbelief evident in my tone.

  “He is,” she confirmed.

  “That’s not possible.”

  “Patience. I will explain. Aiden rode out with an army. He was convinced that he could find the missing Council members and bring them to justice. For months I had been having dreams, premonitions, of what was to come. I used Aiden’s absence to cast a spell and save my people from the worst imaginable fate. That spell was so elaborate it required two Mages, so Nolen helped me.”

  I could hear the emotion in her voice. She truly loved her people. I wondered if I would ever feel that strongly about something.

  “The Council had secretly created their own army and it marched on the palace. Without Aiden to lead them, the Palace Guard fell quickly. Nolen and I hid down in one of my secret chambers. Together we cast the spell to open a portal to the Mortal Realm. The portal took all of my people into it and left them in the world you live in.”

  “I don’t understand. What would that accomplish?” I asked. “You didn’t destroy the Council or their army.”

  “All born in the Mortal Realm live the lifespan of a mortal and die. This meant if my people wished to survive, they would have to live together in peace, giving those loyal to me a chance to come together and stand against the Council.”

  “What does any of this have to do with me?” I was growing frustrated. Although I was now certain I wasn’t imagining any of it, I was at a loss as to what any of it meant.

  “In order to send all of my people through the portal, I had to cast a very powerful spell. It required so much power that one of the Mages performing it would not survive.”

  “It killed you?” I asked in disbelief.

  “It was a price I willingly paid to save my people. That was why I waited for Aiden to leave. He would have tried to stop me and I couldn’t allow the future I saw where we remained in the Isle to happen. I also couldn’t condemn my people to an eternity in the Mortal Realm, where they do not belong, so I devised a plan to save them from the fate I had bestowed upon them.”

  “So, you sent them to another world, killing yourself in the process, but you want to bring them back?”

  “Once the Council has been destroyed, yes. With my death ther
e is no one strong enough to fight them. For seven hundred years, Aiden and others have stood against them, but only I have the power to defeat them.”

  “How can you defeat them if you’re dead?” I asked.

  “Once I’m found, my people will be on the path to returning home.”

  “Once you’re found? What does that mean?”

  “I chose two of my closest friends. They had tried for so long, but were unable to have a child. I knew they would love and protect me when the time came. Somehow the knowledge of my plan was given to the Council. They spent several hundred years trying to locate my friends. When they finally did manage to kill them, they were too late. I had already been reborn.”

  “Reborn? You’ve got to be kidding me. You expect me to believe that Aaron is really a seven-hundred-year-old king searching for his dead wife who will be reborn to save her people from the fate she created? You’re insane,” I said.

  There really was no other explanation. She had to be completely and totally insane. The only problem with my rationalization was it didn’t explain anything that had happened to me.

  “I promise you that every word I’ve spoken is the truth. I have been reborn.”

  “As who?” I asked.

  She stared at me, her gaze penetrating. My heart began pounding as it dawned on me where this was all going. It couldn’t be true. It was too crazy. But as I looked at Sophia’s face, my face, I knew it had to be true.

  “I would have thought you would realize the answer to that by now,” she said.

  “It’s not possible,” I insisted.

  “There was a time when I was the most powerful Mage in the Isle. I assure you it is very possible. I sent the dreams to make sure you would be ready to hear the truth. You need to remember who you are.”

  “You sent the dreams?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “but someone from the Council has altered them. He entered your mind using a Dream Spell and used your dreams to find you. You will be in danger until you can fully remember yourself and your power. You must sever the connection that he created to track you. In moments, your power will return to you, but your memories will not. Aaron will help you remember and Jaden will protect you until you are fully capable of defending yourself.”

  Fear began to fill me as I dreaded what was to come. What she wanted from me was too much. It was too big. I didn’t know how to be what she wanted.

  “What if I can’t do it?” I asked. “What if I’m not strong enough? I’m not like you. I’m not a queen.”

  “Maybe not in this life, but there was a time when you were. I know you are strong enough. I have foreseen all of this. I would not have engineered all of this if I didn’t know you could do it. You have my strength; you must simply remember it. We are the same.”

  She stepped forward, closing the space between us. She placed her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.

  “Remember, your friends need you as much as you need them. Perhaps even more. Above all, trust your instincts.”

  Sophia smiled. Although I was still processing everything and not entirely sure I believed any of it, I couldn’t help smiling back. Then, she unexpectedly pushed me back and I began to fall.

  ***

  When I opened my eyes, I was still standing where I had been when I’d left the scene, but everything else had changed. Andrew, Jaden, and Aaron were all fighting, trying to keep the intruders away from me.

  An overwhelming pain suddenly gripped me. I cried out and resisted the urge to fall to my knees. Through watering eyes, I saw Aaron get thrown into a bookshelf and Andrew narrowly avoided being skewered by a sword as they both looked over at me. Jaden was the only one that remained focused on fighting the three men who were surrounding her.

  I looked down as my skin began to glow. It was a bright warm light. I inhaled sharply as a rush of memories came to me. I could remember experiencing this before. The pain began to subside and I laughed to myself. I remembered something as Sophia that hadn’t been part of my dreams. Maybe she wasn’t crazy. Maybe I wasn’t crazy either. Maybe, just maybe, it was all true.

  As my skin returned to normal, I suddenly felt a certainty that I had never felt before. I was Sophia, Queen of The Sacred Isle, and my friends needed me. I could feel the power inside me, but I had no memory of how to use it.

  “Trust your instincts,” I whispered to myself.

  I looked around and focused on my enemies. Without thinking, my hands came up and power erupted from them. All at once, they fell to he ground unconscious. I knew without checking that they were still alive and would wake in several minutes.

  I walked over to my friends. Jaden was standing with a sword in each hand, staring down at the men who had been her opponents. Andrew was lying on the floor behind the sofa; trying to lift the unconscious man who had fallen on top of him. Aaron sank to the floor and leaned against the broken bookshelf.

  “We need to go,” I said.

  We were all in danger. We needed to get as far away as we could as soon as possible. Andrew maneuvered himself out, but remained sitting on the floor. Aaron and Jaden didn’t move at all.

  “Now,” I commanded. I didn’t raise my voice, but my tone was that of Sophia. It was the voice of a queen.

  Jaden dropped the swords and walked around me to help Andrew up.

  “We need supplies, Jade,” I said.

  She nodded and pulled Andrew after her into the kitchen.

  Aaron’s gaze had been glued to me ever since Sophia’s voice had come out of my mouth. He sat staring at me, unmoving.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, walking over to him. I noticed that his left hand was badly cut, so I offered him my other hand.

  “Yes,” he replied, taking my hand.

  I pulled him up. His starring was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable as it finally hit me who we were to each other. I thought back to our time together over the last few months, seeing everything in a new light. I smiled to myself as a brief memory of walking down the aisle in a white gown entered my mind. I suddenly felt like his wife and wondered what he felt about me.

  Jaden and Andrew came back into the living room. They were both carrying large paper bags filled with supplies. They put the bags on the sofa and I went to take a look. I dug through two bags before I found the first aid kit.

  “What are you doing, Shay? We need to move. We can patch each other up in the car. These guys could wake up any moment,” Jaden said, her voice full of anxiety.

  “They won’t wake up for at least another eight minutes,” I replied.

  I pulled out everything I needed to clean and bandage a wound and moved back to Aaron, who was still starting at me.

  “Aiden is hurt and I won’t be able to bandage his hand properly in the car,” I said.

  I heard three distinct gasps.

  “What did you just call him?” Jaden asked, the first to recover.

  I thought back to what I’d said and realized that I’d called him “Aiden”, not “Aaron”. It seemed very natural to call him by that name. I took his hand and began cleaning the large cut that went from his palm up several inches of his arm. I wondered for a moment if I knew a spell that could heal him.

  A new memory came to me. I had tended to his wounds before. During the Battle of the Mairead Coast, before we were married. Seeing him so badly wounded was when I had first realized that I was in love with him.

  The new memory sparked the realization that I had been in love with him since the very first moment I’d seen him. It occurred to me that if I had loved him the same way Sophia loved Aiden, before anything had started happening to me, then I must truly be Sophia.

  I looked into Aaron’s eyes and with a smile said, “I called him, Aiden.”

  “How do you know that name?” Andrew asked.

  “Because it’s his. Just like mine is Sophia and yours is Kane.”

  “How do you know those names, Shaylee?”

  I ignored Andrew’s question and frowned at A
aron’s wound. I’d finished bandaging it, but was frustrated by my lack of magical knowledge.

  “I’m sorry,” I told Aaron. “I know I’m a natural born Healer, but for some reason that ability never developed in this life. I’m sure if I had enough time I could remember a spell to heal it.”

  “You know?” Aaron asked, though he said it in a way that made it sound like more of a statement.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  I turned away from him and returned the items to the first aid kit. I picked up a bag and then took one of the swords from the floor.

  “We have to go before they wake up,” I said and walked out the door.

  They followed me to Jaden’s car and we packed everything into the trunk. I noticed that Jaden had picked up several other swords. I knew she wanted to be prepared for anything.

  It was going to be dangerous, that much was obvious, but I would do everything I could to protect the ones I loved. I took one last look at the house I’d grown up in and got into the car. My destiny was waiting.

  Afterword

  After twelves years, I finally revisited this book and decided that the time had finally come for me to do something with it. Reading has always been my passion and it seemed only natural to begin writing my own stories.

  Graduate school distracted me from my writing and so all of my work sat untouched for several years. I assumed I would never touch it again. When I finally did, it seemed like an old friend, just waiting for me to return.

  I'm so excited to get this series out there. It may not have gone in the direction I'd originally intended, but I'm proud of where it ended up.

  Acknowledgements