Chapter Fourteen
Eli
Eli watched Zoey and Lyssa from a distance. They were unaware of him leaning quietly in the doorway of the bedroom. Zoey cradled Lyssa in her arms and slowly stroked her hair. The Etherling refused to take any rest and Zoey had to force her to do so. Lyssa stated over and over again that the Drake was only protecting her and spurted out bits and pieces about the Muse brothers.
Eli, like the rest of them, wanted to know more, but Zoey with her sudden maternal instincts that Eli didn’t even know she had, took Lyssa to a quiet room. Zoey hummed a song to her. Eli knew it well. It was used to comfort infants who seemed to do nothing but cry all the time. He remembered hearing it when he was little, so many years ago and shrugged the memory away before it got away from him. That was all he knew about it since children weren’t his main expertise.
Soon the Etherling girl gave in, and slept in Zoey’s arms. Still rocking back and forth, Eli came in quietly watching the two. Zoey’s closed eyes opened upon sensing him. She smiled slightly as she peered into the crackling fire.
“How’s the Drake?” Zoey asked.
“Cooperating,” Eli replied.
The eastern sky slowly began to rise with an orange glow. It was forthdawn, the time between dawn and morning. It was an unstable time, a transition that if manipulated could make many things possible, the only thing is that you had to know how to manipulate it.
“I want to talk to him,” Zoey said, laying the girl back and covering her up.
“Elijah and Merlin have that taken care of.” Eli stated as Zoey stood in front of him.
She smiled and shook her head. “I suppose they do.” Eli was surprised she agreed so willingly. “Come on a walk with me.” Eli knew why she agreed so willingly, Zoey had an ulterior plan.
Eli wanted to say no or come up with an excuse, but he couldn’t. He really didn’t want to at the same time he did.
The horizon was gaining the colors of dawn. Zoey and Eli walked in silence until she stopped a distance away with the ruins of the once grand palace peeking through the tree limbs. The air was still and filled with the song of a few birds. Short and weathered pillars of stone encircled them. Zoey ran her fingers over the top of a few of them until she came to a place where the ground had been recently tilled in a long oval shape.
“How am I going to tell her?” Zoey stood with her back to Eli looking down at the black soil.
“Tell who what? The Etherling?” Eli stepped behind her and realized they were in a graveyard.
“She isn’t an Etherling. She is Fae and her name is Lyssa.” Zoey’s green eyes flashed with flecks of gold. “I have to tell her the only person in her life even remotely close to a mother is dead.” Zoey’s words hung like the morning fog.
Eli stood next to her taking a deep breath.
“Why are you concerning me with this?” Eli asked.
“Because…” Zoey stopped her words as if she was going to reveal a secret. “Because it will be hard enough on her.”
Silence surrounded them again, except for the chirping birds growing in song.
“Was that the one I seen at the house in the Etherworld? …The same one with the other male Fae. They were refugees and hosted other refugees as well.” Eli’s voice had a twinge of disgust in it.
“Yes, they were brave Faes. They helped me more than they know.” Zoey’s words seemed distant as she crossed her arms.
“And the male Fae...is he alive or dead?” Eli asked in an unemotional voice.
“Sean survived barely when Lyssa was taken by the Orzan. He’s here with us and is healing, but his past hasn’t been good to him and he heals slowly. The loss of Gwen hurts him more though.” Zoey kept her eyes on the ground and pressed her fingers to her mouth. “I never intended for any of this to happen.”
Eli looked at Zoey as tears filled her eyes spilling over her cheeks. He then realized, he had never seen Zoey cry before.
“What do you mean intend?” Eli could’ve wrapped her in his arms, but that would be like trying to comfort a lioness for killing an innocent animal to feed her children. Zoey did things for a reason, no matter the risks.
Zoey looked up at him sharply as the sound of someone clearing their throat came behind them.
“I hate to break up your lovebird session, but the Drake said he will only talk to you, Zoey,” Wes said, twirling a silver disk between his fingers.
Zoey glanced at Eli before she took off towards the palace.
“What do you have there?” Eli pointed at the disk.
“I got it from the Drake. Nice little throwing disk. It may come in handy.” Wes then took off leaving Eli behind.
Eli was not allowed in with Zoey. The Drake agreed to tell them everything he knew, but only to Zoey and Merlin. Eli stood outside the door for a while when Elijah told him to move on, they had it taken care of. Eli couldn’t argue with the Giant and went into the dining hall to sit by the fire.
As soon as he sat down he could feel the fire’s warmth making his tied muscles relax. Cradling his head in his hands he closed his eyes thinking of Zoey. There was something bothering her, he could see it in her eyes. Eli could feel sleep creeping in when suddenly a gentle hand touched his shoulder. Zoey.
His eyes popped open to see a smiling young girl with a glass in her hand. He thanked her and took it. He took a sip of the warm tea and peered in the fire when he heard the sound of someone behind him. He looked to see no one there. It must have been someone passing through. Eli finished his tea and decided to wander the halls of the palace.
There wasn’t much to explore. Mostly private rooms of the Rebels, the kitchen, weapons room and to his surprise a large library.
The room was magnificent with what looked like hundreds of books. He wondered where they got them all.
“I believe there are some easy read books over there. Not too many big words in them,” Wes said closing the book he had in his hand.
Eli glared at him as he sat in his chair in the corner. No one else was in the room.
“I guess you would know.” Eli retorted.
Eli pulled a book from the shelf at random. It was about plants and their medicinal uses. He quickly thumbed through it and placed it back on the shelf. He pulled another one down and sat down at the table flipping the pages. He glanced over at Wes who surprisingly ignored Eli engrossed in his book. Eli continued to turn the pages that had painstakingly detailed drawings of various flowers and plants. A few paragraphs written in delicate handwriting told about the uses and history of each plant. Eli always found plants and how versatile their uses fascinating. Eli again glanced over at Wes.
This time, he looked at the book he had. Something about it seemed familiar and then he caught a glimpse of a couple of letters between Wes’s fingers. Handwritten was the letter “L” and “A”. Eli turned and took a closer look getting Wes’s attention. Wes’s eyes lifted from his book meeting Eli’s.
“What book are you reading?” Eli asked as he got up and took the book from Wes.
“None of your business.” Wes jerked the book from Eli’s hand before he could take a look at it.
Wes then quickly left the library as Eli looked down at his index finger that bled slightly. The book had a spiral wire binding. Eli noticed it when Wes pulled it from his hand. It wasn’t a Fae made book and Eli wondered what he was up to with Lyssa’s book.
Lyssa
Lyssa slept longer than she wanted to. She guessed it was afternoon by the long shadows through the forest. The room she was in was filled with a few beds lining the stone walls and a fireplace that was across from hers. The fire in it dwindled to barely a few embers. The air was cool and still.
Lyssa looked out of one of the two glass windows that were large circles of slightly distorted glass. She went to the door and opened it to a dim lit and empty hallway. Both directions looked the same. She wished she’ve
have paid better attention when Zoey practically dragged her up here. She started to walk one way and then questioned herself, stopped and looked behind her. She took a few steps and then stopped again running her hands through her aching head.
“You’re headed in the right direction,” an amused voice said behind her.
Lyssa swung around to see Deravon leaning against the wall with a big smile on his face.
“Where’s Zoey? What did you do to Dane?” Lyssa could hardly ask fast enough.
“What, no how are you Deravon or at least a welcoming hello?” Deravon smiled at her. “They’re all downstairs and Dane, as far as I know he spoke the truth and they let him go,” Deravon said wrinkling his nose up as if catching a scent of something.
“Let him go…” Lyssa didn’t even get to say goodbye to him. But did she really need to? She barely knew him, but something had connected between them in the caves. It was energy invisible to sight, but tangible enough that she felt a spark in his touch. There was something deeper to Dane she barely got a glimpse of and Lyssa wanted to know more.
“Darling, if I may be blunt, you stink,” Deravon said pacing his hands on her shoulders. “If you aren’t too modest I will show you to the bathroom.”
Lyssa shook her head welcoming the idea of getting cleaned up. Deravon led her down several flights of stairs where they passed several people about Lyssa’s age. They were all dressed in long black pants and various shades of long sleeves shirts. Some had capes and some dressed in solid black glittering suits. A few glanced at her while others didn’t even care to look her way. She hoped none of them got a whiff of her though.
Deravon then opened a door that led to a half built hallway that was open to the canopy of trees overhead. As they walked the covering limbs opened up to a darkening sky filled with hues of lavender, blue and pink. The sound of trickling water echoed.
“Ah, here we are the ladies room.” Deravon let out a regretful sigh. “The gentleman’s room isn’t as lavish.”
Lyssa let her eyes cascade over the entire room or what looked more like an open cave with rock ledges and a waterfall plashing into a shallow pool of water. The pool water was lit from underneath with small lights all around and some embedded into the surrounding rock ledges. The colors of the sky and the sound of the water with the warm air made her almost forget everything.
“The water here is from an underground spring and very pure. You don’t even need soap to get clean and the water is then filtered back in and regenerated. Isn’t that clever?” Deravon rhetorically asked.
“It’s beautiful,” Lyssa said as Deravon gazed on like he was in a jewelry store drooling over all of the sparkling diamonds.
Lyssa looked at him and then cleared her throat. Deravon snapped from his trance and then smiled.
People of Fae Page 25