Finnian’s eyes grew huge as his eyes darted from the pendant to his daughter’s face. “Where did you get that?”
“Apparently, Jehoban gave it to me after I prayed to Him.”
“How did you know to pray to Him? What do you mean, He gave it to you?”
“I was scared because I was alone on the beach when I remembered Jon talking about Jehoban. I decided to ask Him to watch over me and keep me safe, and as soon as I finished, this pendant appeared on the sand next to my hand.
“I thought someone had left it behind by accident, but I really wanted to try it on, so I did. Then I couldn’t take it off again, and I became more afraid someone would find out and get mad at me. Then when M…someone told me what it really meant, I was relieved to think this was meant to be mine forever.” She held the pendant within her palm, admiring the sparkle of the gemstones intertwining within the gold wires twisted into the shape of a tree.
“Can I see it?” Finnian asked, moving over to sit beside her on the couch. He leaned forward, taking in all of the details of the pendant he had always wanted her to have but thought she would never receive. “This is truly a blessing, Sofia. You have been accepted by Jehoban as a child of Tuala. Do you know what that means?”
“No.” She looked up at him, wondering what he could be implying.
“This means you can access the elemy and learn the crystal skills.” He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head as he pulled her closer to him.
“You can’t be serious. I’m too old to learn, aren’t I?”
“No, and I’ll start teaching you as soon as you want to begin.” Finnian never imagined he would get this opportunity, and he sent up a silent prayer to Jehoban for making it possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Debbon had given much consideration to whom he could trust with this important investigation and finally decided upon Senjin and Emmin. Both men were highly respected, and men he trusted personally. Further, he viewed Senjin’s ability to hold Wilken’s samara, keeping it safe and secret until the right time to return it, it made him know Senjin would be the perfect person to help with this matter. It helped that both men already harbored ill feelings for some of Vargen’s antics in past meetings, although not enough to make them appear biased against him.
He had arranged for both men to meet him at his Gate so they could go over their plans for interviewing the victims and documenting the evidence for quick access later. So far, things had gone without incident, as the three Elders continued meeting with new victims as they were revealed in prior interviews. As Debbon had suspected, the list began to grow exponentially as the people began to trust them and come forward on their own. Every meeting made him feel like they were getting close to being able to be done, only to discover more victims, both alive and deceased.
The ones who did not make it out alive were the ones that tore at Debbon’s heart the most. He felt as though he had not been doing his job of protecting all the people, he should have looked closer at Vargen’s operation long before it became a personal matter. The only thing which gave him any comfort was that he was going to get this operation shut down during his time in office, unlike the former First who had apparently not been interested in what happened to the old souls.
As he sat across the table from Emmin, Senjin, and Daven, who had been brought in later because of the enormity of their endeavor, he cleared his throat. “I want to thank all of you for your careful investigation of this matter. I’d like to take a vote for moving this investigation into a formal charge against Elder Vargen.
“To be clear, this would mean that Vargen would be arrested and tried in the same hour in front of the convocation of Elders. There will only be one trial and one irrevocable verdict. By a show of hands, do you believe we have amassed enough proof against Vargen and his facility for this to move forward with a conviction?”
Chapter Twenty-One
“I CAN’T BELIEVE we’ve been apart for a whole mesan,” Willian lamented over the video call.
“I know, it’s been so different around here, especially with Behn still being gone.” Valentina sighed, thinking about how the dynamics in the household were nothing like they used to be.
“How are things…really?”
“Hard. I’m still really angry at Behn for leaving, but I guess I understand now why he felt he had to go.”
“I still can’t believe that your mom and Amanda are sisters. I mean, they do look the same, but it just seems crazy.”
“Welcome to my life, Willian, crazy town all the time.”
“Do you think Behn will decide to come back eventually?”
“I don’t know. I talked with him on Mom’s patil a couple of times, and he still sounds angry. I don’t know why he can’t just get over it and be part of the family again.”
“Give him time. Trust me, I’ve done some pretty stupid things because of what I thought was love.”
“True. You did, didn’t you?” Valentina teased.
“Ha! Ha!” Willian joked right back. He liked being able to laugh at himself, Valentina made him not mind when he made a mistake. If she were willing to forgive him, then he could, too.
“Seriously, how much time will this take? I mean, he’s already been gone for a month!”
“There’s no telling, Vala. Just love him no matter what.” Willian smiled ruefully at Valentina, wishing he could be giving her a hug in real life rather than having to console her through the patil.
“So what kinds of things are you learning in Telae? Anything interesting?” Valentina wanted to change the topic to something which would get her mind off of the drama in her own home.
“Yeah, quite a bit is always happening around here. This District is much larger than my dad’s. Even though they don’t have to worry about watching over the other Districts like my dad does, they have enough people problems to keep them busy.”
“Hey, I just thought of something.”
“What’s that?”
“You said your dad was First. When you become Elder in his place, will you also be First?”
“No, thank goodness. That’s an elected title voted on by the other Elders. It’d be pretty awful for them to give it to me without having any practical experience with the job. No, it’d definitely go to someone with more knowledge of the everyday problems the Elders face.”
“Well, I guess that’s a relief.” Valentina sat back in her chair, silently thanking whoever listened that that added responsibility was not going to be a part of her future.
“How’s your crystal skills training going with my dad?”
“We’ve only met a few times, but I think it’s going good. He’s a really great teacher, you know. At our last session, I asked him if we could include Gevena and he seemed okay with it. We’re meeting tomorrow afternoon for a short session. You know, Willian, I was going to ask you what was going on with your dad. He seemed really distracted the last couple of times. Is everything okay at home?”
Willian raised his eyebrows at her astute observations. He wondered how long it would take her to pick up on the troubles. “Well, if you can keep a secret…” He leaned forward, face lighting up in anticipation of sharing something rather juicy.
“Of course, I can! Who would I tell here on Earth anyway? Willian, really!”
“My father is investigating Elder Vargen for misconduct with the old souls in his District.”
“That’s terrible! What’s he done?”
“Seriously, Vala, this information cannot be talked about. If anyone hears about this and tells Vargen before he’s brought to trial, then there’s no saying what Vargen will do to those people, the evidence, or even my father.”
“Willian, I’d never do anything to jeopardize any of you. Now quit stalling and give me the details.”
Willian tapped his lips with his index finger, organizing his thoughts before sharing anything more. “Well, Elder Emmin has been helping him, that’s the only reason I know a
nything about it. He’s brought to the Residence the evidence and has been having us help him organize it for trial. From what I’ve seen, Vargen has experimented on all of them, but he’s been particularly brutal to the women.”
“What did he do to them?”
“From what we can gather, he’s raped a couple of them, and he’s impregnated a bunch of others.”
“But why?”
“Who knows, really? The man’s obviously sick in the head if he thinks any of that is okay.”
“What did he do to the men?”
“A lot of testing, like endurance things, pain tolerance, and sleep deprivation.”
“I don’t understand how people can be so awful. What does he get out of all of this cruelty?”
“Slaves.”
“Why would he need slaves? The rest of the Districts run perfectly without them.”
“Think about it: he breaks them down mentally and physically, addicts them to resh, then becomes their hero when he says he’ll give them a job and a place to live in exchange for their knowledge.”
“That’s terrible. How soon until they’ve gathered enough evidence to charge Vargen?”
“It’ll be soon, in a few days, probably.”
“Good! I can’t believe these people would willingly put up with it. I sure wouldn’t!”
“It happened to one of Amanda’s friends. You should ask her about him.”
“How could I do that without telling her what I know?”
“I’m sure you could find a way.” Willian winked at her and then glanced down at his time piece. “Hey, I’ve got a meeting to get to. Can I call you later tonight?”
“No, I’m not going to be home. How about tomorrow, same time?”
“Sure. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Valentina smiled warmly as Willian disconnected the chat from his end. She stared for a few moments at the blank screen, envisioning the horrors he had described at the hands of Elder Vargen. Her mind immediately went to how helpless she had felt when Grobin had raped her, she would not wish that torture on anyone. Shaking her head to clear the awful memory, she wondered how she could bring up the topic with Mrs. Stel now that her curiosity was piqued.
As she closed the patil, disguised as a chemistry text, and went to put it upright with the rest of her books, on the back edge of her desk, some lose papers fluttered down from where they had been clinging to the bottom of the book next to them. Curiously, she picked them up and realized they were the lost pages from the trunk she had found when they went to investigate in Roanoke when everyone had been missing. “I’d wondered where you went,” she murmured as she laid them flat on the desk in front of her.
She turned on the desk lamp to illuminate them brightly, leaned close to the script, and attempted to make out anything from the faded ink on the yellowed, foxed paper. Only two words seemed to stand out from the rest: Diyune and Nayen. Neither word meant anything to her, and her frustration with the documents returned, reminding her of why she had put them up the last time.
Maybe I’ll bring them to Elder Debbon and ask him about them at our lesson tomorrow, she thought to herself. He might know of some way to get the text to reappear. Pleased with her solution, she carefully put them away in her satchel which she always took with her to Tuala.
“Hey, Val, are you ready to go yet?” Jon asked as he leaned precariously into her bedroom with one hand resting on the knob and the other clinging to the doorframe.
“Is it that time already?” She stood up and grabbed her purse and car keys from where she had left them on her bed before joining her brother. With one last look around her room, she carefully shut the door and wove a ward to prevent her parents from entering. She only felt slightly bad for the precaution, but her mother had proved untrustworthy, and she wanted to avoid any further incidences.
Jon raised an eyebrow as he felt the draw of elemy around them, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He knew why his sister had done it, yet he wished it did not have to be so in their own home.
They arrived at the Stel house minutes before dinner would be served. Amanda had insisted on starting a weekly tradition of dining together, complete with Tualan cuisine, so the family could get to know one another since finding out they were all related. These times made Valentina imagine Behn would find the company challenging, to say the least. Fortunately, Behn had made everything easier, at least on this front, by remaining with their mother in Tuala.
Amanda greeted them at the door, as usual, with hugs, kisses on the cheeks, and warm welcomes. They left their coats and Valentina’s purse on the foyer chair and went straight into the dining room where everyone else had already taken seats.
“Are we late?” Valentina asked self-consciously.
“What? No! We were just discussing family matters, and it just seemed easier to do it here while we waited for you both to arrive. Come and sit and Riccan will prepare the food.” Amanda walked around the table, touching Riccan’s shoulder in appreciation before taking her own seat next to him.
Juila leaned forward and asked, “Did you get to talk with Willian today?”
“Yes. He told me to tell everyone hello.”
“Does he have any idea how much longer he’ll be staying there?”
“He didn’t really say, but I guess there’s a lot going on there right now, especially with Elder Emmin helping Debbon out on some special matter.”
“What would that be?” Riccan asked innocently.
Valentina’s face turned red as she realized she should not have mentioned anything to begin with. “I…I don’t really know the details.”
Riccan could see his question had caused her to be uncomfortable for some reason and decided to attempt to smooth over the topic before it got out of hand. “It’s pretty normal for Elders to help one another on special projects. I’m sure we’ll all hear about it eventually. Now, hands off the table so I can serve tonight’s special dish.” He stood up to draw attention away from Valentina, flourishing his hands to create a show of the appearance of the meal.
“Glawlets!” Amanda exclaimed. “They’re my favorite!”
The group ate with only the sounds of silverware striking the plates. In short order, the meal had been devoured, and Riccan had made a motion, clearing the plates and leaving them able to lean on the table to converse with one another in comfort.
“I got a call from Neal today,” Amanda said conversationally.
“How’s he doing?” Riccan asked.
“Much better since he and Angie started dating. I knew he’d do better with someone in his life. For a while there, I thought Dr. Gascon had really messed him up.”
“Dr. Gascon?” Valentina spoke, her interest renewed. “The same doctor who had my mom?”
“Yes,” Riccan answered. “His mother took him to see the quack after we rescued him from Tuala. She thought she was doing the best thing for him. Of course, she had no idea how horrible it all could have turned out had we not gone and brought him home.”
Valentina could hardly believe this conversation had come up. Willian had wanted her to ask about Amanda’s friend, and it appeared this was the exact person she wanted to know more about. “What happened to him in Tuala?”
“Elder Vargen had him addicted to resh, almost killed him with it, in fact, until Amanda found out where he was and brought him home to Earth again. It’s pretty terrible how Vargen treats the old souls, but I’m sure he must not be crossing the lines or else the Elder’s would have shut it down. I still think it’s wrong and I’m sure Neal would agree.” Riccan squeezed Amanda’s hand as he spoke, letting her know she had his support regarding her former fiancé.
“Did he ever tell you all of what was done to him?” Valentina tried to act casual, but her heart was racing as she thought she might be able to get answers to Willian’s inquiry.
“No. Thankfully, his trip through dimensions caused him to forget everything except snippets of his life and some of the people he knew there
,” Amanda answered.
“Did you talk to Behn today?” Juila asked during the lull of conversation.
“Yes.”
“Did he sound any better? I mean, the last time we saw him, he was pretty angry still.”
“Yeah, that hasn’t changed yet. I don’t know why he can’t just deal with it.”
Juila lifted her eyebrows knowingly. She felt a hole in her heart where Behn’s love should have been, but she kept the pain under tight wraps. Of course, it probably helped to have her sister’s thoughts in her head all of the time to keep her from spiraling down into depression. “Do you think he’d mind if I went to visit him?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Valentina snorted, thinking that was possibly the dumbest thing Juila had ever asked.
“No. I’m totally serious. We never had a chance to really hash things out before he up and left. Maybe we could talk things through and he might want to come back home.”
“I don’t know, maybe. But I think Jon and I should be there just in case it went badly,” Valentina advised.
“Great! It’s settled then. We can go tomorrow morning and get this mess taken care of!” Juila leaned back, a pleased expression on her face.
Chapter Twenty-Two
LANDING ON THE beach became much trickier as the wind kept gusting inland, causing Juila to wrestle with the manual control until they finally settled onto the soft sand. With a sigh of relief, she powered down the telepod and only then looked out the window to see a couple walking hand-in-hand away from them on the beach. She leaned forward, focusing on the male figure, realizing it had to be Behn. Jealousy immediately sprang up in her even as she tried to tell herself it was a good thing Behn had found someone to help him through this tough time.
“Is that Behn up there?” Jon asked from the main cabin as he also looked through the front window.
“Yeah, I think so,” Juila agreed, trying to sound as normal as possible and failing miserably.
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