Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix (Records of the Ohanzee Book 2)

by Rachel R. Smith

  “I’ll return shortly,” Charis said. Her feet hit the floor with a thump as she slid off the bed. “Even if you’re wrong, a peeled-off lining is a small price to pay to help you.”

  A moment later, the pair hovered over the book as it lay on the bed in front of them. Nerissa ran her fingers across the aged leather cover, looking for any similarities it shared with Shae’s book. Her heart sank a bit when none were readily apparent. Then again, there was no reason to think the six books’ identities had been indicated in any way other than the glowing crystal.

  Charis huffed. “I can’t take the suspense!” she exclaimed as she flipped the book open, exposing the inner lining of the cover.

  Despite its age, the blue fabric still had a lustrous sheen. Nerissa picked at the upper left corner of the cover, where the edge of the fabric met the leather. The glue still held the cloth firmly in place, and her fingernails were too short to lift the material away.

  “Why don’t you try?” Nerissa asked in frustration.

  Charis glanced at her friend’s hands, and her lips drew into a sympathetic frown. “I’ll give it a try,” she said as she began to work at the corner. Nerissa had always kept her nails long and impeccably manicured. That she was willing to keep them, and her hair, short as part of her disguise was a visible testament to how determined she was to retake the throne. Charis redoubled her efforts, digging with her nails as far under the cloth as she could manage. Finally, she felt pressure as bits of glue flaked away and became wedged beneath her fingernail.

  “I’ve got it,” she exclaimed. She started gingerly peeling the fabric from the corner.

  Nerissa leaned in closer, anxious to see the first evidence of writing. Charis was pulling away the material at an agonizingly slow speed. Yellowed vellum peeked out from underneath. Slowly, slowly, more and more blank space was revealed. Hadn’t the writing started closer to the edge in the first book? Nerissa’s jaw tightened as the emptiness staring up at her grew in size. And then, a black mark, the top of a letter appeared.

  “This is it!” she whooped. Excitement and relief pulsed through her like a heartbeat.

  Charis continued pulling until the whole page was uncovered. Just as she had hoped, there was the prophecy and another diagram of parts for the machine. Nerissa eagerly read the prophecy.

  The third section of the prophecy is as follows:

  Sickness will spread in the streets of the Destroyer. Both a curse and a blessing, the Destroyer’s modern cures will fail to save the ill. An ancient remedy for fluid in the lungs and fever will succeed where the modern one fails.

  To be rid of the walking dead, the heirloom hidden among the leaves must be saved. Combine that which sparks from the flames in the forest with the artifice from the mountain city. He who governs the mountains is a true ally, but beware of the spirit that protects the book hidden in the cave.

  Nerissa heard Raysel’s footsteps coming long before he reached the doorway. “I could hear your exclamation from the front room,” he said. Nerissa looked up, and their green eyes met with matching grins.

  “It really is one of the books you’re looking for,” Charis said. Raysel crossed the room to read over Nerissa’s shoulder.

  Nerissa pointed to the second paragraph. “The first part seems straightforward, but I think it is going to take some time to puzzle out exactly what this last part means.”

  “We’ll need to make a copy of this before we go,” Raysel said.

  “No,” Charis argued.

  Nerissa arched an eyebrow, surprised.

  “This book may be a precious heirloom to me, but the prophecy has to be kept a secret,” Charis explained. “Even if we glue the cover down, anyone that picks up the book could see that it has been tampered with. Amon is Casimer’s nephew, and his bedroom is right next to the study where this book is kept. What if he were to stumble across it accidentally one day?”

  “She has a good point,” Raysel said. He could tell from the set of Charis’ jaw that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. There was no reason not to take the book anyway. “Even though we don’t need the crystal that goes with it right now, we will need it eventually.”

  “I’ll try to find it while you are searching for the other books,” Charis said. “How can I get in touch with you when I do?”

  “Unfortunately, there won’t be any way to contact us while we travel,” Raysel replied. “When you do find it, keep it somewhere safe. We will return for it when we’ve found all of the books.”

  Nerissa turned to Charis with an expression of concern on her face. “What happens if, or when, your dad realizes the book is missing?”

  Charis folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. “Then I will come up with a good excuse.”

  Nerissa’s lips twisted wryly. Charis was a terrible liar. It would be interesting to hear what explanation she came up with. But Nerissa had complete confidence that Charis would go to any length to keep their secret.

  Raysel picked up the book and lifted Nerissa’s cloak from the chair. “I hate to have to put an end to this visit, but we need to meet up with the rest of our group soon,” he said apologetically.

  “I’ll just need a minute.” Nerissa reached into the pocket of her cloak and took out the chin and nose, along with a small bottle of gum adhesive, then went into the bathroom to reapply her disguise.

  When she emerged, Charis laughed. “I still can’t believe how real that looks.”

  Nerissa dropped the bottle of adhesive into her pocket and withdrew her choker.

  “I know. Sometimes I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror when I’m wearing these.” Nerissa’s voice dropped several octaves midsentence as she fastened the choker in place around her neck. “Two of our group members are disguise specialists.”

  “They are certainly talented,” Charis commented, her voice cracking as she spoke.

  Black fabric brushed Charis’ arm as Nerissa fanned the cloak out and dropped it onto her shoulders. She lifted the hood over her head, then grabbed Charis’ hands and pressed them between her own. “When our mission is finished, I will introduce you to them.”

  Charis’ only reply was a shallow nod. She was afraid if she shook her head any harder her watery eyes would spill over.

  Raysel led the way down the hall and to the front door. He stepped out onto the porch, but Nerissa did not immediately follow him. She felt a tiny tug on the back of her cloak and turned to face Charis again.

  “I didn’t forget what today is, by the way. Happy Birthday!” Charis said with a quivering smile.

  “Thank you!” Nerissa’s heart swelled. She hadn’t told anyone that today was her twenty-first birthday because it would be too coincidental for Caeneus to share the same birthday as the late Heiress. She had resigned herself to let it pass unmentioned since that was the mature thing to do. Hearing birthday wishes from her best friend was better than any gift she could have wished for.

  Charis still hadn’t released her grip on the cloak. “I do have one condition before I let you take the book,” she said softly. “You have to promise to return it to me yourself when you’re finished with it.”

  A slow smile spread across Nerissa’s lips. “I promise,” she said, hugging Charis one more time. She pulled away and turned one last time as she stepped out the door.

  “You’ll probably want to clean that up before someone steps in it,” she said, pointing down at the forgotten meat pie, which was still sitting in a pool of its own beefy sauce on the floor.

  Charis grinned and rolled her eyes. “Go! And hurry back!” she exclaimed, half-laughing, half-crying as she slammed the door shut.

  Chapter 11

  An Unsticky Situation

  Dark clouds gathered in the sky, ushered in by a wind tinged with the threat of both rain and cold, as Nerissa and Raysel hurried back to the inn. Fallen leaves skittered across the pavement and swirled around Nerissa’s feet, adding their raspy scratching to the ever-present cacophony of the city. Funny
how I never really noticed the constant background noise before, Nerissa mused. At some point, she had grown used to the comparative quiet of Darnal. Even here, in the relative stillness of the central gardens, the sounds and smells of the city filled her senses.

  Nerissa matched pace with Raysel step for step, as naturally and as unthinkingly as breathing. Her mind was occupied with the memory of how beautiful these gardens had been when she passed through on her way to Tao’s the previous spring. The changing seasons had not taken away that beauty but transformed it instead. The seasons were not the only thing that had changed since that day. Nerissa glanced around at the towering statues that decorated the garden. At least Casimer had left those undisturbed. Her eyes fell on the statue of King Gared atop his horse, which stood just ahead in the very center of the gardens. There, leaning casually against the horse's massive hind leg, was Rian. His long black hair hung loose and streamed behind him in the wind. A wave of eerie recognition shuddered down Nerissa’s spine.

  Distracted by the memory, Nerissa didn’t notice the crack in the pavement until it caught her toe, and the ground rushed up to meet her. Raysel lunged forward and hooked his arm around her waist, steadying her before she dropped Charis’ book. He didn’t seem to notice the shocked expression on her face, but Rian did.

  “I know that I have stunningly good looks, but I’ve never seen them actually stun anyone before,” Rian teased with a lopsided grin.

  “Actually, I tripped over a crack,” Nerissa retorted playfully. “But you’re right. I was stunned…by the resemblance between you and the backend of that horse.” That was the type of flippant response she had heard other Ohanzee men banter back and forth.

  Rian’s jaw dropped, and his head swiveled toward Raysel in a silent plea for backup. Raysel rubbed his mouth to hide his suppressed laughter. “Don’t pick fights you can’t finish on your own,” he managed to say without chuckling.

  When Rian turned back to her, Nerissa braced herself for a snarky remark. Instead, he looked…amused? “I’ve got no snappy comeback, Caeneus,” he admitted, shrugging in defeat. He patted her shoulder amicably. “Fair warning, though, I’ll have a good one ready next time.”

  It was Nerissa’s turn to look at Raysel with a slack-jawed expression. She had made the remark in jest, but Rian’s attitude was usually so sullen that she had expected him to take it as an insult anyway. The fact that he hadn’t, and had even been pleased by it, was almost baffling. Could she have been judging him too harshly?

  Raysel shook his head at them both. “Were you waiting for us?”

  “I figured that you would pass through here on your way back. Leal and Jarold are finishing up the transaction for the inventory purchases from the antiques shop that Hania recommended. The rest of the group have already finished getting supplies and returned to the inn,” Rian answered. “Was Charis’ book one of the ones we were looking for?”

  Nerissa pulled back the flap of her cloak so that the book would be visible. “Yes, it’s right here,” she said.

  “That’s excellent news,” Rian said. “If you’re ready, we can go directly back to the inn.”

  A soft pattering sound sprang up around them. Raysel held his hand out and a fat drop of water landed on his palm. “You two go ahead without me before the rain picks up. I need to run a personal errand before returning,” he said.

  His emphasis on the word personal made it clear that he did not want company. Nerissa wondered what sort of errand it was that he wanted to keep private, but she didn’t press him. As far as she knew, Raysel had never kept anything from her before.

  They parted ways as the dry spots on the pavement rapidly disappeared. Rian and Nerissa wove down the sparsely populated sidewalk toward the inn, dodging between the umbrellas of the few others who ventured into the downpour. Rian’s pace was quick, and it seemed no matter how fast Nerissa moved he always managed to stay a step ahead.

  Even though water poured from the sky in drenching sheets, Nerissa had no worries about the book getting wet. The rain rolled off of her cloak as if she were wearing a lotus leaf. Keeping her face dry, on the other hand, was proving to be problematic. She had to keep the hood open wide enough to see, but doing so allowed the rain to blow in onto her face. It was an odd sensation to feel the cold droplets on every inch of exposed skin except her nose and chin. The wetter it became, the more she worried that her disguise makeup would begin to run or wash away.

  That fear became a reality a few minutes later when Nerissa felt a gap form between her face and the false nose. The bottom edge was loose. Her mind immediately began to conjure visions of the horrified looks she would get from passersby when the nose popped off her face and splashed into a puddle.

  “Let’s stop here for now and see if the rain will let up,” she said to Rian’s back as they neared a shop front with a broad awning that covered the sidewalk.

  Rian gave no indication that he heard her, but he stopped when they reached the shop. A vendor with his food cart and a handful of others had already taken shelter beneath the overhang as well. Nerissa sidled up against the building, keeping her back to the others.

  “Is there a problem?” Rian asked. “We need to hurry back.”

  Nerissa discretely pointed into the opening of her hood. “I just need a minute to pull myself together,” she murmured.

  Rian peeked in at her face, and his eyes widened in comprehension. Coins jangled as he reached into his pocket. “Wait here,” he instructed.

  He returned a short time later with two saucy skewers of meat from the vendor’s cart. He offered one to Nerissa, which she skeptically accepted. She nibbled on it thoughtfully. How was a snack supposed to help her fix her disguise? Maybe he hadn’t really understood that her nose was in imminent danger of falling off.

  Rian raised the skewer to his mouth and took a bite with an exaggerated flourish. As he did so, he smeared sauce on his cheek. “This is delicious,” he proclaimed. Turning to the vendor, he waved the skewer enthusiastically. The vendor bowed politely, and one of the women nearby began to rummage through her purse.

  Nerissa cautiously tugged the last bite of meat from the skewer as Rian pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his face. It really did taste good, but it wasn’t good enough to justify Rian’s level of enthusiasm. She was still chewing when Rian loudly declared, “You’re as messy as I am.”

  One of the women standing nearby giggled behind her hand and turned to whisper to her companion. What was he talking about? Nerissa had been careful not to get any sauce on her cheek, afraid that it would mess up her disguise even more than the rain had. But Rian’s statement was so matter of fact that Nerissa began to doubt herself.

  Rian took her skewer and pushed his handkerchief into her hand. “You’ve got some sauce right here.” He pointed below his left nostril. It was the same place where Nerissa could feel that her disguise had lifted away.

  So that’s his plan, she realized. Instead of wiping, Nerissa dabbed at the spot, using the cloth to press the edge of the false nose back onto her skin. “Did I get it all?” she asked.

  “There’s some sauce here and here too,” he answered, indicating first to the side of his nose then to his chin.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed before dabbing each of those places too.

  Rian leaned in and whispered, “It’s no problem. Besides, looking out for you is part of my job, right?”

  Nerissa froze mid-dab. Something about the question triggered a tickle of familiarity in the back of her mind. Had he said something like that to her before? She couldn’t think of when it would have been, especially since she had made a pointed effort to avoid him until recently.

  “You’ve gotten as much of it as you can,” Rian said, holding out his hand to take back the handkerchief. “Shall we continue on? I don’t think the rain will be letting up anytime soon.”

  “Yes, we may as well,” Nerissa replied. She adjusted her grip on the book, pinched the extra fabric at the base of her hood to hold i
t in place, and braced herself to reenter the downpour.

  **************************************

  Heaving a sigh of relief, Nerissa leaned against the back of the door to the room she shared with Raysel and Desta. Rian had accompanied her here before going on to his own room. Miraculously, the nose had stayed attached to her face until she got back to the inn. She peeled it, along with the chin, off of her face and tossed them onto the table, laying Charis’ book beside them. Though the room was empty, chattering voices poured through the open door that led to the adjoining room. It sounded like Desta and the twins were playing some sort of game…and Cole had just been caught cheating.

  Nerissa wasn’t in the mood for games now. Instead, she removed her still dripping cloak and draped it over the curtain rod that surrounded the bathtub, then returned to the table. Despite the fact that it was well before sunset, the storm outside made it abnormally dark in the room. Rain pelted the window, flowing down the panes in a steady sheet. The efficient housekeeping staff had anticipated the early need for glow lamps and dropped them off hours ahead of the usual time. Nerissa unshuttered one and placed it on the table in front of the open book.

  It was unfortunate that Charis’ book contained the third section of the prophecy and not the second, but Nerissa supposed it was unlikely that the books would be found in order. Still, the missing segment could make interpretation of this section more difficult. At least the meaning of the first paragraph seemed clear enough.

  The Marisianne culture’s focus on scientific advancements meant that the old ways of healing had long ago been cast aside in favor of new medicines. Those new medicines must be the modern cures the prophecy spoke of. On the other hand, the practitioners in Chiyo had retained the knowledge of the ancient remedies, even when better treatments were available. Determining the ancient cure the prophecy indicated should be a matter of searching through old medical references. It may take some time, but the information was available. Since there hadn’t yet been any news of an illness spreading in Marise, there may still be enough time to identify the remedy ahead of the need.