Ritual Space

by Viola Grace

  “So, she basically willed the space into existence?”

  Darathrea snorted. “Of course not. She willed the magic into enhancing and assisting in hiding itself. That is the focus of this land, to let those with magic learn without judgment or persecution. It is a teaching space.”

  Adrea looked around. “Why do I feel something is missing?”

  “Because you are perceptive. You have only begun to touch on the power of the land. I will show you how she came to create it and what she became in the process. You will know what is missing.”

  Adrea turned and watched a woman with long brown hair step into the water and spread her arms to the sky. She was weeping uncontrollably. The figure of a man rose out of the water, and she walked to him, never sinking into the waves. When she embraced him, they sank beneath the surface.

  Silence ticked by, and the light of the scene moved from day to night to day again. The water frothed and a woman rose out of it, her bright-blue eyes visible, even from Adrea’s vantage point.

  She walked to the shore and fell to her knees, still weeping. The sky broke open, and it rained.

  A line of little girls, the oldest a teenager, ran toward her. The girls were wearing black, and it made sense to Adrea. Ritual Space had been made to protect Athrea’s daughters by surrendering completely to the elements. With her husband dead, the land became her protector.

  “I think I understand. She got her power from opening herself to the land.”

  Darathrea smiled. “Precisely. She was grieving and made a choice that could have destroyed her, but it lifted her up. All curators of the property are given that choice, but no one has taken it. You will know it when it calls.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome. Consult the journal when you need guidance. I will be here.”

  Adrea blinked and saw several sets of eyes staring at her.

  Harcourt frowned. “Aren’t you going to read it?”

  Hix smiled. “The tea is ready.”

  It seemed that no time had passed for those around her.

  “I will pour.”

  She got to her feet and walked over to the teapot. She touched it, and it was still exceptionally hot. Her moment of revelation had been exactly that. A moment.

  Her mind reeled, and she set the pot on the tray before bringing it over to the table. “Would anyone care for tea?”

  Luning came through the door carrying a dizzying array of grocery bags. He greeted the Gangers and unpacked his haul on the counter before washing his hands and putting together a huge sub sandwich.

  Adrea poured tea for those around the table, and when she sat, she asked Harcourt, “May I keep this journal for a few days?”

  “Of course. If you can glean any information out of those scribbles, you are welcome to it.”

  She opened the book again, and he was right, her conscious mind couldn’t make sense of the script, but the instinct told her it contained what she needed to work out what she was becoming or what she could become. She had the funny feeling she wasn’t done yet.

  “I am definitely getting something out of it.”

  Luning slid a wide chunk of sandwich in front of her before serving the others. “You need to eat.”

  Lenora smiled. “It is nice to have someone keeping an eye out for you.”

  Harcourt took his wife’s hand and raised it to his lips. “It certainly is.”

  She ate with one hand while holding the books with the other.

  The demons didn’t have much to say aside from the fact that they couldn’t break in, but an oracle mentioned the rise of chaos through the heart of magic.

  “I think I have something.” She looked up.

  Everyone had their sandwich in their mouth, and she snickered at the image. She continued reading, and there were more mentions of rising chaos and the blood of the guardian.

  “Well, if he was trying to open the gate by killing Neadra, it didn’t work.” She muttered it to herself.

  Kel raised one perfect brow. “What?”

  “There is mention of chaos being released with the blood of the guardian. If the killer intended to do it, it didn’t work.”

  Luning scowled. “What if he tries again?”

  She smiled tightly. “I won’t be meditating.”

  He looked surprised for a moment before he smiled slowly. “You have some training?”

  “Neadra brought in an instructor during the summers I spent with her. I have never had to use it, but I can defend myself against a physical attack if I have to.”

  The XIA agents looked sceptical, but Detective Luning looked at her with an assessing gaze. “Are you willing to prove it?”

  She shrugged. “After a shower. Yes. I want to get into my own clothing before I do anything strenuous. I am not sure that Neadra’s clothes are up for it.”

  Lenora smiled. “Go on. We will be here when you get back.”

  Adrea looked to Luning, and he nodded slightly. “I will be back in ten minutes.”

  The men had amusedly indulgent expressions, but Lenora grinned. “Go ahead, dear.”

  Adrea got up and headed to her room. The water of the shower revived her and someone had hung her clothing up in her closet. Her underwear was neatly arranged in the drawers, and she was desperately hoping that the house had put the clothing away and that it hadn’t been the XIA agents or Luning.

  With her own underwear on, she felt a little less vulnerable. The jeans and t-shirt clung to her like a second skin. She finally felt like herself again.

  With cartoon socks and her favourite sneakers on her feet, she headed back downstairs.

  Hix smiled. “Eight minutes, twenty-four seconds. Well done.”

  She made a face and went to find her phone. There was a message and a text. She put it on speaker while she read her text.

  The funeral was set for dusk the following day. Mr. Grant’s voice reiterated the information. She sent him a confirming text.

  When she returned to the kitchen, everyone was checking their phones. Apparently, waiting for her to confirm the time was all that Mr. Grant’s staff had been waiting for.

  She sipped at her calming tea and listened to the conversations around her. They had gone through all the tomes and the light was reddening outside the windows. The study session had eaten most of the day.

  Luning looked at her. “So, are you ready to prove you can defend yourself?”

  She glanced around. “Not in here. The house might take exception to it. Let’s head for the yard.”

  She took the journal and tucked it into the bookshelf in the living room. The house sealed it the moment she closed the glass case. No one was getting in there without her.

  With her link to the past safe, she headed out the front door, leading a parade of folks who wanted to see what she could do.

  She just hoped that performance anxiety wasn’t going to kick in.

  Chapter Eleven

  There was no warning. Two arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground.

  She kept herself calm and kicked back at her captor’s knees and inner thighs, clawing at his hands with her short nails.

  Adrea dropped to the ground as Hyl staggered, and on hands and knees, she kicked out at his jaw. He thudded back to the grass, and she quickly got to her feet.

  He was much larger than she was and could easily carry or drag her, so standing was her best option.

  He sat back and rubbed his jaw. “It seems you are prepared to defend yourself effectively.”

  Kel handed Hix a fiver.

  Adrea felt outrage. “You bet against me? I thought elves were wise.”

  Hix snickered. “Not this one. He has been single for centuries for a reason. His ability to underestimate the fairer sex never fails.”

  Kel frowned and then shrugged in acknowledgement.

  Adrea snickered. “Is there any of that sandwich left?”

  Lenora and Ha
rcourt took their leave with the books, and she walked them to the transport area. Lenora sighed. “We will see you tomorrow to wish Neadra the best on her way to the next life.”

  To Adrea’s surprise, Lenora dumped all of the books into Harcourt’s arms, and she hugged her.

  The last time Adrea had been hugged by a maternal figure, she had been three inches shorter and had broken her leg. The hug had come from a friend’s mother while they waited in the emergency room for her parents to arrive. It had felt like the woman holding her wanted to protect her from the pain. That sweet feeling had stayed with her.

  Blinking tears away, Adrea smiled when Lenora released her. “See you tomorrow, Lenora. You too, Harcourt.”

  He smiled sadly. “I deplore the circumstances, but I feel that you have some interesting things to offer to Ritual Space.”

  She chuckled as Lenora worked to open the portal with her cooperation. “I have nothing to offer but myself.”

  Lenora opened the portal and turned to say, “Most times, that is more than enough.”

  They stepped through and disappeared as the rift between spaces closed.

  She sighed and turned to see the XIA agents approaching.

  They grinned. “We have to make our reports and check in. Another team is pulling in right now. They will keep an eye out until we can get back here.”

  She missed them as soon as they headed for the gate, but she felt the polite chime in her mind that meant it was someone who had previous authorization to come and go at the property.

  When the team arrived, Luning made the introductions. Benny, Smith, Argyle and Tremble all looked fresh and ready to do duty as security for her.

  Adrea smiled. “It is nice to meet you, Benny. Your parents were just here.”

  The woman with rainbow eyes smiled. “I can feel them. I am sorry for your loss.”

  Adrea nodded. “Loss and gain seem to tangle together in my family.”

  “May I take a run around the property in a shifted form?”

  Adrea gave him a look. She saw lion features overlaid Smith’s. “Only if you do you not hunt. If there is one dead rabbit on my property, you will end up chained in the haunted forest.”

  He gave her a small salute and stripped down to the skin.

  Adrea felt Luning come up behind her during the striptease that preceded the shift into an exceptionally large lion. Smith accepted a stroke and caress from Benny before he turned and took off into the darkness.

  Adrea could sense the path that he took through her territory.

  Benny grinned. “We are not here to keep you up. You go about your business, and we will keep an eye on you.”

  She looked to Benny and thought of that book. “I do have something that I want to do.”

  Luning spoke to Benny, “I will stay with her.”

  The delicate, young woman who had dozens of extranormal races stamped on her aura inclined her head. “We will take care of everything out here.”

  Adrea nodded her thanks, but her mind was already back in the house and looking through that book. If her ancestor wanted to speak to her, she was ready to listen.

  After spending the night speaking to her ancestor, she understood so much more about her family dynamic. The women who took over Ritual Space could not usually have children, though it did happen now and then. The inheritors and offspring were generally created before the women took over the space.

  Eventually, Adrea got some sleep, and when she woke, she dressed for the funeral. It was nearly noon and the caterers would arrive soon.

  As she left her room, she saw Luning in the shadows. “Please, tell me that you slept.”

  He stepped out of the shadows and smiled. “I did.”

  “What else can you do standing up?”

  He grinned. “Do you want to have that conversation today?”

  She blushed. “I... never mind.”

  She headed downstairs and wandered into the kitchen. She stared into the fridge trying to decide what she wanted.

  Luning pushed her aside. “How did you survive before you came here?”

  She shrugged. “Takeout.”

  He made her another omelette and one for himself.

  “So, are you ready for the events today?”

  She got a chime in her mind, so she opened the gateway. “I am. I have figured out how to open the gates remotely, so I don’t have to be there. I am horribly impressed with myself.”

  “How do you know who is coming through?”

  “Whether I know them or not changes the timbre of the sound I hear.” Adrea smiled and sighed at the feel of a full stomach again.

  “And you hear it in your head?”

  “Sort of. It translates into a noise I have heard before, and the journal told me that it is the way my mind has adapted to the link.”

  “The journal told you?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “It’s complicated.”

  She got to her feet to do the dishes when there was a knock on her door.

  A quick check told her that Mr. Grant was at the door. “Excuse me, Hyl. My lawyer is here.”

  He chuckled, and she winced after being caught calling him anything other than his last name. She had been so good about calling him Luning. It was only in her thoughts that his actual name crept in.

  She headed for the door and greeted Mr. Grant. “Good morning.”

  He smiled tightly. “Good afternoon. I have Gera here organizing the caterers and the event planners, but would you come out to expand the available space?”

  She nodded. “Sure.”

  She walked out into the afternoon sun and stepped along with Mr. Grant. When they got to the area where the funeral would be held, she was a little shocked at the bustle of activity.

  Immediately, she could see the problem that she had been called out for. The trees needed to be pulled back somehow.

  “I will see what I can do. I am still new at this.”

  Mr. Grant beamed. “Of course.”

  It took a bit of focus and some convincing, but the trees bent and pulled their roots under the soil. It was either that or the ground rose to cover them, but when two hours had passed, she had enough seating for an extra hundred guests.

  She stood and stared at the open gate and the stream of refrigerated boxes and heating units for the food. The caterers were a mix of species that was mindboggling. The colourations ran from chalk white to charcoal and every colour of the rainbow in between.

  Mr. Grant was speaking with an older woman who looked a little goblinish and carried a clipboard. Gera was organizing the placements on the buffet table that took up forty feet of the large pavilion that had been erected.

  To Adrea’s eyes, this was a completely different place. She followed Mr. Grant’s directions, and all too soon, she was getting ready for the funeral as dusk approached and the guests arrived.

  Everyone was seated and waiting before she was asked to open the gateway for the funeral home. The procession was slow. Eight hooded men carried Neadra’s body out of the portal, and at Mr. Grant’s direction, Adrea followed behind.

  To her surprise, her father and mother were sitting in the crowd as she followed her aunt’s body to the pyre that had been set up for it.

  The scent of daisies and irises followed her, and it was only when some of the guests pointed that she realized she was leaving a trail of her aunt’s favourite flowers sprouting in their wake.

  When her aunt was set in place, Adrea stood to the side and behind the pyre, waiting as the service began.

  Luning remained in her peripheral vision, as he had throughout the day. Seeing his dark-clad form when she was wavering with thoughts of her aunt was comforting.

  She was going to have to get used to the idea of life without him. Once they caught Neadra’s killer, he would be out of her life.

  The ceremony took half an hour, and the next hour and a half was spent with those who had met Neadra when s
he had taken over Ritual Space. There was a surprising amount of folks who had been coming to the property for centuries.

  Finally, Adrea was asked to speak, and she stepped forward. “Um, first, I would like to thank everyone for coming. Neadra was the person I thought of when I wanted comfort and also the one I thought of when adventure was on my mind. She was kind, smart, no-nonsense and straightforward. If you wanted to know something, you simply had to ask. She would explain things as well as she could even if she didn’t care for the subject matter.”

  Adrea chuckled. “Spending my summers here during puberty told me she would definitely answer anything.”

  Those gathered laughed.

  “She also had the biggest heart when it came to helping those in need. I was in need as a child, and she took me in, teaching me and helping me grow. She mentioned leaving me something after she died, but I never imagined that it would be her hair colour.”

  More laughter rang in the air.

  “I will miss her for what she added to my life and respect her for what she kept from me for my own good. Neadra Yoder, we will miss you.”

  Those gathered murmured, “We will miss you.”

  The man organizing the service walked forward with a torch, and Adrea took it.

  “From fire to earth, you will be missed. And sorry about the outfit.” She touched the torch to the pyre, and it caught fire.

  The flames spread and crackled out around Neadra as the blaze increased.

  The priest took the torch from her and nodded for her to step back. “We are all called upon to share our recollections of Neadra and enjoy the fellowship of a meal. Take as long as you need. The hospitality of the space has been extended to all of us.”

  Adrea nodded with a smile, and she watched the fire consume her aunt.

  The entire space around her shuddered as Neadra disappeared into ash and smoke.

  The guests left their seats and headed for the tent. When Luning came to her side and pulled her away, she brushed at her cheeks to clear the tears and went to greet her parents.