Rualin leaned forward to be able to see the mysterious bundle. He gasped as he recognized it was one of the thirteen legendary samaras and said, “Petre, is that what I think…”
Petre stared intently at Rualin’s face to make sure he was absolutely entranced by the crystal. He crookedly smirked when he realized he now had the power over this man to make him do anything he asked. Keeping his eyes averted from the samara on the table, Petre began speaking his plan for revenge in great detail. It pleased him to see Rualin merely nodding acceptance to everything he said. This was going to work out perfectly!
Chapter Seven
MORNING CAME QUICKLY, and Amanda realized she needed to get herself together. Juila needed a stable mother which she planned on providing. Taking some time in getting herself ready to go downstairs, she was grateful for Barla insisting on taking care of Juila for the night. Amanda had not noticed the amount of strain she had been under until she did not have any responsibilities and was able to completely relax for an entire night.
With her morning rituals completed, Amanda left her room and descended the stairs. The sun was still low on the horizon, however, she knew her daughter was an early riser so the best bet would be to head for the kitchen and see what was going on. Her instincts proved correct when she turned into the doorway and saw Barla offering Juila small bites of fresh fruit.
Barla swiftly glanced up at the movement caught from the edge of her vision, “Good morning, Amanda! Did you sleep well?”
“Very well. Thanks. I hope Juila wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Oh, no trouble at all. She’s just an angel, and I’ve enjoyed being able to spend time with my little niece. Like I was telling Ahn yesterday, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a little one in the house. I’d forgotten how much fun they can be.
“Are you hungry? Would you like me to make something?”
“Is there any pika juice?”
“Sure,” she replied as she started to move toward the ice box.
“Wait a minute, Barla. Let’s see if Juila can get it for me. Are the glasses in the cupboard over there?” Amanda pointed to the cabinet right next to the icebox.
“Mmhmm,” Barla replied with a grin on her face. She had never been able to master the use of elemy since she was not from Tuala. It never ceased to amaze her to see anyone else access it so effortlessly.
Amanda bent over the chair in front of her daughter and asked, “Juila, please get me a glass of pika juice from the icebox. The glasses are in the cupboard right next to it. Can you do it for me right now?”
Within a moment of the question, the requested juice appeared on the tray between Juila and Amanda. With a squeal of delight, Amanda clapped her hands together and praised her daughter, “Perfect, Juila. You are such a smart little girl!” She picked up the juice and held it out in a celebratory toast to Barla before taking a sip. Amanda could see how surprised Barla had been by the quick response and she was inordinately pleased with how well Juila had used her powers.
“Barla, Alena wanted me to ask if you have ever had any children this young display such raw talent?”
“No, I haven’t! I think I’m kind of grateful, too! Imagine the trouble they could have gotten themselves into if they had.” Barla continued to smile to take the sting out of her words.
“Let’s sit down. I’d like to hear stories about my cousins growing up.”
Nodding in agreement, Barla seated herself across from Amanda and next to Juila and began talking about her children. “Gravin was such an inquisitive little boy. He could find trouble in a cardboard box. There was one time he and the neighborhood boys wanted to build a telepod, but they didn’t have anything to build it with. Gravin had the brilliant idea they could use the steps of our back porch.
“When Ahn fell into the yard after they went missing, Ahn tried to have a stern talk with him about destroying property. Gravin said he didn’t think there was a problem since we never used the steps anyway. Ahn had a hard time keeping a straight face when he told little Gravin he was going to have to help rebuild the stairs. Naturally, it wasn’t really any punishment since Gravin loved working with tools and with his father. I’m actually surprised he didn’t pull more stunts like it so that he could work alongside his dad.
“Then there was the time I caught Gravin cutting Rasa’s hair. It had just started getting long enough to curl into ringlets, and I had teased her about having unruly hair. Gravin thought he would be helpful by cutting them. When the children were quiet for a bit too long, I went to investigate. Imagine my surprise to see Rasa sitting in the middle of the back yard with all her beautiful ringlets resting on the ground around her. Gravin had just cut the last one off and saw me standing on the porch. He held it up proudly in his hand and said, ‘I got them all, Mommy! Now you won’t have to worry about Rasa’s hair being unruly!’ How was I supposed to get mad with his reasoning?”
“Oh no! Didn’t you worry he would keep cutting her hair?”
“I had Ahn talk to him about it. He told him cutting hair was a woman’s job, and he should leave it up to Mommy from now on. It’s not exactly how I would have approached it, but he never did try to cut her curls off again.”
“When Gravin was a teenager he got into several fights with one of our neighbors down the street. The other kid used to bully Gravin every day after school, and we had always taught him to turn the other cheek. If he had told Ahn what had been going on, he would have talked to the kid’s parents, but he decided to retaliate differently. One night he snuck out of the house and took some of our weed killer from the gardening shed out back. He went over to the kid’s house and used the poison to kill a message in their front lawn.”
“What did he write?”
“He wrote, ‘Jonan is a foxl.’”
“Is that bad?”
“Yes, we would say he is a sissy. It was almost a week before the lawn died enough to show the message. Since nobody saw Gravin do it, they couldn’t very well retaliate. The only reason we found out about it was because Gravin started needing to take a stroll by their house every day so he could look into their yard to see how it was coming along. Once the message was very apparent, he stopped going up the street. The last time he walked over there he returned with the biggest grin on his face which was a dead giveaway to me that he had done something.
“I never said anything to him or Ahn about it. I hoped the feud between the two boys would be over and it basically was. A couple of anons later the family moved out of town and Gravin enjoyed school much more after their departure.”
“Tell me about Rasa. What was she like growing up?” Amanda picked up a piece of fruit and offered it to Juila and then took a second piece for herself. It seemed as though Juila was just as interested in hearing Barla’s stories as Amanda was herself.
“She was such a quiet little girl,” Barla began and paused to decide how to tell her daughter’s story. “I used to worry something was wrong with her since she hardly ever spoke. She watched everyone so intently but didn’t want to interact with anyone other than Gravin. They spoke to one another in their own special language. Neither one of them remembers it now, but it was something to hear when they were small. People used to ask me what they were saying, but I would just shrug since I didn’t have any clue either.”
“You said she left when she was about seven to be taught by Jehoban. How did that come about?” Amanda sat forward and took a quick sip of her pika juice while she watched Barla’s expression change as she thought over her answer.
“It was both a surprise as well as a scary time for this family. Although thinking back on it we should have known she would be okay. I raised both kids here at home until they were old enough to go to school. Usually, children are taught the basics about using elemy from their parents. We have an unusual situation here at home since I’m from Earth. I didn’t know what the children were supposed to know before they started school and Ahn was too busy with his new position to be of any assi
stance. So, as you can imagine, Gravin didn’t have any knowledge of accessing his birth-crystal abilities until after he went to school.
“Gravin had it the worst since he was the first to enter the school system. His teacher was appalled at his utter lack of knowledge, and she made no bones about telling me how terrible I was in not teaching him his rudimentary education. Ahn told me to ignore the teacher’s insults, and for the most part, I was able to do so. But I did ask Gravin to demonstrate what he learned for me when he got home every day, and I made sure Rasa was nearby so she would learn from him as well.
“It was hard to tell if she picked up anything because she was so quiet, but we kept at it until she was ready to go to school three anons later. It obviously worked because I never heard anything disparaging from her teacher. Children in Tuala start school after they turn six and one of the first things they do is take a placement test to find out where their skills excel and where they need help.
“Evidently Rasa had learned quite a bit more than I had guessed from her brother because her test scores caught the attention of the school administration. They didn’t say anything to us until she started her second anon of school. Her scores were again off the chart at the beginning of the anon, and they called both Ahn and myself in for a conference. I was afraid they were going to berate me for her lack of education, but I was swiftly disabused of that notion when we found a couple of people we didn’t know who were also in attendance for the meeting.
“Rasa’s teacher introduced both gentlemen as representatives of Jehoban. After the introduction, the instructor sat down and gestured for the men to take over the meeting. They got right to the point and said Rasa was too gifted to continue her education without Jehoban’s personal guidance. They posed it as a request for Rasa to come with them for this great honor, but it was obvious we wouldn’t really have a choice in the matter. Nobody ever says no to the request.
“We told them we appreciated the offer and we’d have to discuss it as a family before we made any decisions. They said they’d stop off at our house after two days and they expected a response at that time. When we got home, we gathered everyone together and told them what happened.
“Gravin was jealous since he thought he should have been offered the opportunity as he was the older of the two and because he had taught Rasa everything she knew. Rasa patted his hand and told him he was an amazing brother. She always knew how to handle him in his worst moods. She went on to tell him as the oldest it was his responsibility to take care of their mother while their father was at work. He was the second man of the house and his role in the family was very important.
“I remember Ahn looking at me with his eyebrows raised in amazement at Rasa’s careful wording. Then Rasa continued talking to her brother saying she wasn’t very useful around the house and it would be easier for their mother to take care of all of the orphan children if she had one less child at home. I started to tell her it wasn’t true when Ahn’s hand squeezed mine, and I looked up in time to see him slightly shake his head. I realized Rasa was only saying these things to convince Gravin he was more important than herself and if she went away to be taught, then things would be easier at home.
“After a few minutes of consideration, Gravin finally nodded agreement, but then told Rasa he would miss her company. Rasa gave him a hug and said she would learn how to contact him using the elemy so they could talk whenever they wanted. Gravin seemed placated with her solution to the problem and he, at last, agreed she should go.
“I think that conversation was the most I had ever heard Rasa talk all at one time. It was also the most excited I had ever seen her become. Since she had worked so hard to get Gravin to accept her new opportunity we also had to consent to her wishes.”
“Didn’t you worry about Jehoban finding out about you not being from Tuala?” Amanda shook her head in puzzlement. She still found the whole process bazaar to put it mildly.
“That was a daily concern for us until we remembered one important detail…” Barla paused and seemed to have an almost impish smirk on her face.
“What was it?”
“This was Jehoban we were afraid of. He is the Creator, so He already knew who I was and obviously didn’t care. Or maybe it was because I was from Earth that made Rasa’s gifts even more powerful. He takes on so few students, maybe He is looking for mixed race pupils. I should ask Rasa about it the next time we talk.”
“What happened when she left? Why didn’t the family go with her?”
“We were told we could accompany Rasa, but Ahn had just been promoted to the Harbor Master position, and he felt as though he had found his calling as well. Gravin had made many friends and was enjoying his studies, and we knew it wouldn’t serve him well to move to a new location. While I knew I would miss Rasa terribly, she was right in saying I had my orphaned kids to look after. If I left, I wasn’t sure the children would still be taken care of in the way they deserved.
“We had two days to get everything in order. We told the school we had decided to allow Rasa’s education to be reassigned to Jehoban. I’m sure they expected no less at the school. The administrators were practically beaming that one of their students was selected. Of course, they took all of the credit even though Gravin was probably more instrumental than anyone in her achievements.
“Rasa seemed to blossom in those two days, and I could not bring myself to say anything which would make her regret her decision to leave. I was also curious to see what she would do with the unique opportunity. Although I’ve never regretted allowing her to go, and she has surpassed my expectations in her education, I have regretted missing the chance to see her grow up.”
“I can totally imagine how bad it was. I only lost about four months of Juila’s life and almost two years of Jena’s and it has just about broke my heart. Do you think since Rasa is so close to Jehoban He might help me find Jena?”
Barla looked up at Amanda in surprise, but then her expression changed to one of sadness as she slowly shook her head from side to side. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that, Amanda. Jehoban may decide to instruct some of His children, but He has promised not to interfere with their lives.”
Juila started slapping her hands on the table in front of her which startled both women from their silent ruminations. They started to smile at one another when Juila suddenly used her untrained powers to try to propel several pieces of fruit into her open mouth. Only one piece actually made it into her mouth while the other two fell to the floor.
Amanda sighed and bent over to pick up the mess. As she did so her crystal pendant slid out from under her shirt to bounce off of her chin. When she straightened up it fell to nestle between her breasts on the outside of her shirt.
Barla gasped and pointed toward Amanda’s chest and whispered urgently, “Is that what I think it is, Amanda? Do you have your own birth crystal?”
Amanda self-consciously grasped the pendant in her hand, looked into Barla’s eyes, and simply nodded.
“How did you get it?”
For the next few minutes, Amanda explained how she and Alena were trying to connect with Jena’s birth stone when Alena found out she did not have one. She went on to say how they had performed the service that very day, shivered with unease over the bizarre disappearance of the first crystal, and then about the almost miraculous appearance of the second crystal.
“Don’t you understand what this means, Amanda?” Barla could barely contain her rising excitement. “Jehoban has already given you the one thing you needed to find Jena. Earth people do not have their own crystals, and yet there you sit with one of your very own! Jena must be very important, or else Jehoban would not have interfered. Now we just need to figure out what this gift means.”
“What are you saying, Barla? I’ve already tried using the crystal to locate Jena, and it hasn’t helped at all. What more could there be?”
“I don’t know right now. Let me think about this. I can’t believe you have your own cry
stal. Are you able to do anything with it? Can you access the elemy?”
Amanda seemed shaken by Barla’s sudden interest. She still clutched her diamond-encrusted, tree-of-life pendant and silently nodded her assent.
“Wow,” Barla breathed in wonder. “What was it like? Was it totally amazing? What can you do?”
“I used Shemalla’s birth crystal on Earth before I came back here, so I already knew what to expect. Looking back, I guess it was a good thing I’d had practice so Alena wouldn’t be shocked by my fascination with the process. To answer your questions in order; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, totally amazing, and other than searching for Jena I’ve only pushed the elemy around through the stones.”
“I always wished I could use the elemy, but I never thought it was possible because of where I come from.” She shook her head sadly as she recognized even though it were possible there was no way for her to obtain her own stone without drawing unwanted attention to her family.
“Here, do you want to try mine?” Amanda reached up to remove her necklace.
Barla instantly raised her hands with her palms toward Amanda as she spoke in an almost shrill voice of alarm, “Oh no! That’s a gift from Jehoban. I wouldn’t dare touch it for fear I might damage it in some way!”
Amanda frowned slightly at Barla’s rushed explanation, but then her expression cleared as she grasped even though Barla might wish to have her own birth crystal, she was also very afraid of the power accessed through the stones. She could not really blame her since she had felt the same fear with Shemalla. Again she was grateful to have had her first experience with someone who knew who she was and did not try to judge or condemn her for her origins. She did not really believe Alena would feel that way toward her, but the residual fear of being turned over to an Elder for questioning was too upsetting to contemplate.
Barla broke into her reverie with an inspired thought of her own, “I wonder if Rasa would be able to teach you to use your crystal to its full potential? I don’t think it would be considered interference from Jehoban if one of His students were to teach you different techniques.”
Ascension Discovery Page 60
