Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  “Are you going to ask them about it?”

  “I think so. I’m not sure how to get them to tell me the truth, however.”

  “Do you want the truth, or do you want to admit to what you have in mind?”

  “I see your point. Still, I’ll ask them and try to keep an open mind when I hear their answer.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Willian was fascinated with the complexity of the Manzanit Residence in both form and function. It only took him two days of getting completely lost for him to start understanding the layout of the sprawling, multi-floored building. After watching Elder Wilken handle several dignitaries, he was beginning to understand what a monumental job he kept track of almost effortlessly. He hoped to be as good when he finally became Elder in his own district. No longer did he think badly of Rasa since he knew she had a tough job ahead of her when she finally got to be in charge of the district.

  Rasa kept him pretty busy by grilling him on rules and regulations standard for any Elder. He was glad he had paid attention in the Successor’s classes. She seemed to be pleased with the amount of knowledge he had retained since the last session had been held. Rasa even smiled at him before she had to return to her own duties.

  When she was unable to meet with him, he had been instructed by her to access a special program on his patil. At first glance, the program appeared to be a basic educational course until you entered a secret code and then everything became quite different. The names of the continents, cities, and bodies of water were all different than what he knew them to be.

  Even more disturbing than the names of everything being changed, Willian discovered the people of Earth spoke hundreds of different languages. He failed to understand how this would work since nobody would be able to talk to one another. When he searched out the area where he knew Jena was living, he was relieved to find there were only a couple of common languages and English was one of them.

  Using the memorization techniques almost everyone learned in school, he carefully reviewed and memorized the eastern part of the United States of America. If he were going to be traveling from his current location, known there as New York, then he should probably have some intimate knowledge of where he would be going. He wondered how long it would take to get to southern Florida.

  The thought of transportation worried him a little bit since it would require a lot of time and work on his part. The people of Tuala had it so much easier with teleportation since it was almost instantaneous. He looked up transportation methods and scowled at the options as they all seemed so inefficient. The airplane looked to be the best alternative, even if it were going to require him to acquire more money.

  Money: a major issue he was going to have to figure out. Money and living arrangements were on the top of his list he had to admit to himself, the more he learned, the less certain he was of succeeding in his task. He could not believe how naïve he had been when he had tried to go see Jena before. He was so thankful he had been unsuccessful because he was certain he would have gotten himself into a lot of trouble had he met with anyone.

  Two good things had come from his unauthorized trip; he was learning valuable lessons about Earth which would normally never be taught, and he was gaining valuable lessons from one of the most respected Elders in Tuala. It seemed like a win-win situation all around to Willian.

  Rasa entered the study hall and noticed Willian staring off into space with a small grin on his face. She could not resist teasing him a little as she spoke up, “Dreaming about your meeting with Jena?”

  Willian jumped and quickly looked over at Rasa. He blushed slightly before he smiled and said, “No. I was thinking how lucky I was to be able to come here to study.”

  “You’ve never liked studying before. Why is this different?”

  Willian shrugged slightly and admitted, “Because not many people learn these things. I like having special knowledge.”

  “Well I hate to burst your bubble, but you need to shut down your patil now because it’s time for you to mediate your first case.” She grinned at the expression on his face.

  “I thought I’d have a couple more days before they started arriving,” he protested and then shut his mouth on further comment when he realized how childish he was sounding. “Okay, fine, I get it. I’ve had my playtime and now it’s time for me to start earning my keep. Right?”

  “Something like that!” Rasa approved of Willian’s change of heart. Maybe he can be made into a decent person after all, she thought to herself. She waited for him to do as she had asked and then walked beside him back to the reception rooms reserved for mediation.

  “Can you tell me what this case will be about so I can start to review my knowledge of the law?”

  Rasa nodded approval and said, “This is a case of two girls who claim to have been slighted by the same boy. Now both of them are not talking to one another even though they’ve been best friends and neighbors since they were born.”

  “You’re kidding, right? We don’t really hear these kinds of cases.” Willian’s expression changed to disbelief as he realized Rasa had not been joking at all.

  “This kind and many more petty concerns. Remember, this matter is very important to these girls. They are both citizens of the district and we will do what we can to help them out. Try to be creative in your solution so that each person involved feels as though they’ve given up little and gained a lot.”

  “You sure aren’t asking much!” Willian had no idea how he was going to handle this situation. Hopefully Rasa would be able to help him out a little.

  They entered the room and Willian experienced his first taste of overseeing a district. As the girls each presented her case to him, he tried to think like Elder Wilken. He wanted to be fair and impartial. Most importantly, he wanted to keep his own feelings out of the matter and make a decision based solely on the facts as the girls presented them. Even though the case had seemed simple, he soon found how complex they became when people’s emotions were involved.

  Willian watched the girls leave hand-in-hand, best friends once again. The biggest lesson he learned from this first mediation was the power of listening. He had asked each girl to present her position in the matter and requested the other girl to remain silent. With only a few directions of his own, each girl was finally able to share her side of the story until they both realized the boy was unworthy of either of them. Most of their anger had stemmed from a lack of communication and a big dose of assumption on both of their parts.

  “Very well done, Willian,” Rasa commented as soon as the door shut behind the girls. “I couldn’t have handled it any better.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t really have to do much. Once they started talking they pretty much fixed it all themselves.”

  “Exactly my point. The best solutions are always the simplest ones. They both left here happy and we couldn’t ask for anything better.”

  Willian nodded in agreement. His stomach began to growl loud enough for Rasa to hear.

  “Come on, it’s time to eat. I can hear just how starving you are!”

  Happily, he stepped down from his raised seat and began thinking about what he wanted to eat for lunch. “Will Elder Wilken be joining us?”

  “No, he had a case to oversee offsite. He should be back in time for dinner.”

  Willian was slightly disappointed since he wanted to be able to tell the Elder about the success of his first mediation. Maybe it would be for the best for him to wait to talk it over. He would have more time to go over all of the details and let Elder Wilken know how much he had learned. The Elder seemed more impressed with learning than with doing, so he would do his best to demonstrate how much he could learn while he stayed at the Residence.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  CHELESA KEPT THINKING about her son’s trip to Earth and whether or not she should try to put a stop to it. On the one hand, he needed to have this experience as a learning lesson. On the other hand, he was the sole heir to her husband. I
f anything were to happen to him on this trip, she would be beside herself with guilt. She decided she should talk to Debbon about it during dinner.

  She looked over to the empty space where her son usually sat at the table and felt a heaviness in her heart. “Debbon, are you at all worried about Willian’s trip?”

  He seemed startled by her question and replied candidly, “Of course. I wouldn’t want to stop him from trying, however. I think he’ll grow up a lot from going out on his own for a bit. Plus we know he’ll be well-looked after with Elder Wilken.”

  “That’s true for now, but what happens when he’s on his own on Earth? Who’ll be watching over him then?”

  “He’s almost a grown man, Chelesa. What is this really about?”

  She looked down at her plate, realizing she should have known her husband would know her so well. “I read through some parts of Amanda’s journal while I was at Nena’s house. Most of the account was accurate except for a part concerning Willian and Jena. It scares me because it was different than reality.”

  “Explain the difference so I can see if I agree with you.” Debbon set his fork down and waited for her to tell him everything.

  When she had finished with the details, she could see Debbon had taken her doubts seriously and she was relieved. Her husband was usually a reasonable man, except where their son was concerned. He typically told her she worried over him too much and to let him learn on his own. This time, he understood her fear and she could relax knowing the two of them could work on a solution together.

  “Maybe I’ll have a word with Elder Wilken,” Debbon suggested.

  “I think that might make it awkward for Willian, not to mention for you, too. How can you explain anything without telling him about Amanda? We are supposed to be helping her, but we are not supposed to talk about what we learned outside of the group of people who were present.”

  She considered what other options might present themselves and then an idea struck her. “I think I may have an idea! Since you are still catching up with your workload because of the convocation, maybe I’ll go and speak to Rasa about it. I’ve always wanted to see the Manzanit Residence anyway, I hear it’s spectacular.”

  Debbon did not bother trying to hide his smirk at Chelesa’s enthusiasm. Besides, it was a good plan. “I think you’re on the right track. I think you should wait a few more days for Willian to get settled in before you go. We wouldn’t want him to think we were checking up on him!”

  “Goodness no! He would hate that!” Chelesa chuckled because she knew he would think it anyway, but she was willing to wait just because she wanted more time to consider what she wanted to say to Rasa.

  “Tell me more about the co-conspirators Amanda wrote about,” Debbon asked.

  Chelesa had been so lost in thought she had to retrace a few steps to even know to what her husband was referring. “Oh, you mean the people involved in scaring our family until we all left?”

  “Were there more than that?” Debbon asked with alarm.

  “No, I just wanted to make sure we were both talking about the same thing.” Chelesa proceeded to tell him everything she knew about what Amanda had written. “What are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m going to bring them in for questioning, of course.”

  “What are you going to do about presenting the evidence against them? Are you going to tell them they were outed by a dream?”

  “Hmm, good point.” Debbon hated leaving the men out on the street to cause more harm to his family or others. They were going to have to be punished, but he had to follow the laws as well. He would be no better than they if he exacted retribution without due process.

  “You could set your people to watching them. If they do anything wrong, then you can bring them in and make them pay for the things you can prove.”

  “I knew there was a reason I married you. You are brilliant! That type of men won’t stop at just the one thing bad, they’re sure to be getting into trouble on a pretty regular basis. Because we know about them, maybe we can clean things up a bit around here.”

  “Thanks, honey. I knew you would do the right thing.”

  “So what else did you learn while you were visiting with Nena? It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve had any alone time to catch up on each other’s lives.”

  At that moment, Chelesa realized they actually had time to devote to themselves without fear of being interrupted by Willian and his usual antics. They would not have his friends traipsing through the house. They would have peace and privacy until Willian returned from his visit with Jena.

  Feeling as though they were newlyweds again, Chelesa talked about her visit with Nena, her new patients, and the general running of their household. Their meal took much longer than usual and they were both feeling relaxed by the end of dessert.

  “Why don’t we take a walk through the grounds while you show me what you’ve changed?” Debbon suggested as he pushed his chair away from the table, rose, and extended his hand out to his wife.

  She smiled at the suggestion and took his hand. “I can show you the new grotto I’ve had the gardeners install. It is very private from prying eyes.”

  “What did you have in mind when you created such a private space?” Debbon’s eyes danced with mischief.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe we can think of something when we get there,” she teased.

  With a spring in their steps, they left the house through a little-used side door. The flowers outside were in full bloom and the trees provided plenty of relief from the late afternoon sun. When they arrived at the new grotto, neither one paid much attention to their surroundings since they only had eyes for one another.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  With the idea of finding Jinya, Petre did not leave town as he had planned. He had learned his lesson the time before and he did not ask around to see if any of the people had seen her. He had seen her and that was enough for him.

  Sleuthing had never been his strong point so he went to the last place he could verify he had seen her. He split his time between the location near the alley and the marketplace. More than once he chided himself for having called out to her and scaring her. If he would have been smarter, he would have just followed her and found out where she was staying. Once he knew the location, he could have convinced her to come back and live with him out on the water.

  Thinking about the mesans he had spent with her on his water craft brought back fond memories. The days had been pleasant and the nights had been spectacular. Before she had practically fallen into his life, he had never imagined wanting to settle down. Jinya had changed his idea about marriage and having children.

  Children were another sore subject with him. Once he had discovered Jinya had secretly delivered their daughter, Valentina, he had been furious to find out she had kept him from knowing. He did not feel a bit bad about having taken her and betrothing her to a wealthy merchant’s son. The only part which rankled him was the fact that Jinya had turned up at the Elder’s Residence and convinced him to release the girl back to her before the betrothal petition could be approved.

  He could not understand women sometimes. Here he had gone to so much trouble to create a great life for their daughter and Jinya had not appreciated his effort. Moreover, she had taken their daughter and disappeared. So much of his valuable time had been wasted trying to discover where she had gone.

  Eight anons had passed since he had seen Jinya, eight long anons of lonely nights and nobody to take care of him. She would pay for keeping him away from his daughter. He had a right to be a part of both of their lives.

  The marketplace was particularly busy and Petre had to continually search the shifting crowds. Several merchants began quarreling over a prime location to set up their booth. When the authorities had been called to resolve the dispute, Petre decided to go back to his water craft to get lunch. It would not due to be seen by Captain Ahn’s cronies since he still was not technically welcome in Cresdon.


  He backed into the alleyway and turned around right into another man. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled without looking up and trying to move away to the left.

  “Petre? Is that you?” the man asked.

  Recognizing the voice, Petre looked up in surprise and smiled. “Hey, Rualin! What are you doing so far from home?”

  “I could ask you the same!” Rualin thumped Petre’s shoulder a couple of times. “I was just heading to the market place to get some lunch. Do you want to join me?”

  Petre tipped his head back toward the square and said, “Nah, the authorities just arrived to break up a brawl. I thought I’d head over to my water craft and make something there. Why don’t you join me?”

  Rualin had no need of being seen by the authorities as well and readily agreed by saying, “I’d love to. Thanks for inviting me!” He turned around and they headed away from the commotion. “What were you doing back there? It looked as though you were waiting for someone.”

  “Not exactly waiting,” Petre replied, “more like searching. A couple of days ago I saw Jinya leaving the market.”

  “Wait! Isn’t that the girl you kidnapped a long time ago?” Rualin hoped it was someone different.

  “I didn’t exactly kidnap her, Rualin. You make me sound so bad. She was a guest on my water craft and we had a good time until she fell overboard and got confused.”

  “Right…Petre maybe you should let this go. You’re going to get yourself into trouble again if you pursue this woman again. Remember the last time? You almost got your mind swiped.”

  “But I didn’t get my mind erased because I got them to admit I was not entirely responsible. Don’t you get it Rualin? She has my daughter and I have a right to both of them now. Besides, I…never mind.”

  “You what, Petre? What are you thinking?”

  “Not here,” Petre whispered as he looked around to see if anyone had overheard them. “I’ll tell you when we have more privacy.”