Most of the villagers were sleeping in after being out all night but he just couldn’t stay in bed so he decided to take a walk under the early morning sun. Now, the more he thought about it, the more obvious his problem seemed. It was no wonder he felt a sinking feeling when the coven elders and their parents were playing match makers behind their backs. He kicked at a root sticking out of the ground.
Lienkin had practically reconstructed every step from yesterday leading all the way back to the clearing before it hit him. Never mind that the adults were playing match makers, the real issue was Leann didn’t like the prophecy.
Why would the priestess of any coven dislike a prophecy given to her by her very own patron Immortal? It definitely didn’t make sense. Lienkin imagined if he was the high priest, which one day he would eventually be, there would be no reason for him to get upset if an Immortal offered to fix his covens problems. It would be as the elders said: a gift.
Maybe she doesn’t believe there is a problem, Lienkin considered. That actually did make sense. As far as he could tell, his own mother didn’t realize that he or any of the others his age even existed. To Leann, time had stumbled to a big stuttering halt the day Alec died. Maybe she didn’t want to face any changes because to do so meant accepting she would have to change.
Lienkin shook his head. These were unpleasant thoughts and they were already ruining his day. He pushed them aside and opened up his senses. Just like before, he constructed a magic map of the forest surrounding him, etching in the whole clearing and the perimeter of trees around it. If Lara came back to this place, he wanted to know about it. He would wait all day if he had to as long as it meant he could see her again.
Settling down in the open, Lienkin made himself comfortable in the tall grass. Replaying their short interlude in his head like a reoccurring vision, he ruefully wondered if fascination would descend into obsession for a maiden named Lara. Then he laughed at himself. He had never been romantic before. He left those kinds of notions up to Fartharc while he entertained dreams of family ambitions. Now it seemed a cupid had hit its mark, and he was the target.
He had been cloud gazing for hours and whistling through a sleek blade of sharp grass before the sun shined directly above giving away the noon hour. Already dozens of potential dialogues had passed through his mind as he tried to decide how he would greet Lara when he saw her again.
He wanted to introduce himself properly, invite her to the village, offer to court her and learn everything there was to know about her. He remembered how magically potent it was being around her, and suddenly more than anything he wanted to do magic with her and experience her power.
As if inspired by the memory, the air turned sweeter, the birds in the trees began twittering, and the sunny rays intensified. She’s near, Lienkin thought excitedly. Before he had come completely to his feet and dusted off his black trousers, Lienkin identified her aura surrounded by two others.
No, no, no! He thought in frustration. He didn’t want to see the gypsy or the demon. He especially didn’t want to see the demon. Lienkin began drawing runes in the air to hide behind when he froze in place. There was a fourth aura. This one wasn’t with the others, in fact, it was coming from the opposite direction. Quickly he finished his casting. With the runes in place, he stood stalk still in the middle of the clearing. Although he was right out in the open no one would see him past his shield.
He was familiar with the fourth presence. Tres’ inadequacy never ceased to amaze him as she failed utterly to hide herself while tracking him. Why is she here? He almost wanted to know. There was nothing for him to do but wait, as it was impossible to predict who would enter the clearing first.
CHAPTER 19
“Where are you going dear?” Jade shouted at her back. Lara couldn’t help herself, she could see it again. The magic dust was in the air and it formed a trail just begging to be followed.
“Don’t you want to know where it goes?” Lara asked both her companions over her shoulder. Zeftx and Jade followed her completely mystified by her deviation from the path.
“Do we want to know where what goes?” Zeftx asked, sounding a bit concerned. He was doing a better job of keeping up with her but not so good at keeping up with the conversation.
“The magic,” Lara said, sounding exasperated and rolling her eyes. Then she stopped. Turning around she looked at them both. “You don’t see anything do you?” Again she thought of the look on the mysterious strangers face after she’d stared at the magic dust collecting all over him. She doubted he could see any of it, and now she doubted Jade or Zeftx could either. Jade’s eyes grew suddenly wide.
“Mortals can see magic?!” Jade examined Lara’s eyes brand new, expecting to see something different about them. Her attention diverted unexpectedly and she turned around to grab Zeftx’s arm. “Someone’s coming.”
“What is it?” Zeftx asked in a voice low and serious. Jade hesitated before telling him and his eyes turned burnt orange.
“A witch. It’s a girl,” Jade whispered. Lara was suddenly as shocked as Zeftx. Then she remembered his history with witches and she flinched for him. He and Jade did that thing families do when they communicate with just their eyes before Jade frowned and Zeftx nodded.
“Lara, I need you to listen to me and do exactly what I say,” Zeftx was telling her. Jade was already walking away without them and his hands were on her shoulders as he tried to explain things to her. She could feel his thrumming heartbeat through their connection. “Jade and I are going to go ahead and find the witch. I need you to hide here and promise you won’t follow us.” He waited for her to promise. She bit her lower lip unsure, but when he gave her shoulders a tiny squeeze she knew he was only trying to do the right thing.
“Ok, I promise.”
“Thank you, Lara,” He whispered. “Jade took the left side. I’m going to circle around the right, we don’t expect her to try and cut across the middle. It’s too open and anyone who walks in it would be vulnerable. Hide here and I promise we will be right back. I won’t let anything hurt you Lara.” His eyes turned into deep burgundy swirls. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” she answered. He’d already saved her life once. He let go of her shoulders and stood up straight. Before he could slip away into the trees using his dematerializing skills, Lara tossed herself against his chest in a tight hug. He hugged her back, stroked her hair and smiled when he released her. Then he took off into the trees heading right. She could see him darting in and out of their great trunks at running speed.
Lara turned in circles looking for a place to hide. Hide here, Zeftx had said. Behind what though? She wondered. She had never really been the hide-and-go seek champion, but she had played the game and any fourth grader could tell you hiding behind a tree got a two on a ten point scale. She looked forward again and her attention was seized by the trail of gold dust. It tracked directly into the sunny center of the clearing.
We don’t expect her to try and cut across the middle, Zeftx said. Lara knew exactly where to hide then. Apparently no one would go in here, except for Lara herself. Feeling rather clever she marched directly into the empty circular clearing. Right away she realized she’d been wrong. There was in fact one other person she knew would go into this clearing.
Although she had ruled out his potential as a ghost, the mysterious stranger certainly knew how to make himself invisible. To anyone else looking at the sun bathed plain it was empty. To Lara, it appeared occupied. He looked like a golden statue glittering in the sun as the magic dust created a life size cast around the deceptively empty air.
Before she had the chance to call him out, a terrible sense of unease settled into the pit of her stomach. Her head felt a jolt of pain, and her eyes squeezed shut against it as her hands flew to each side of her head and applied pressure to her temples. As quickly as it started the pain ceased. Taking deep careful breaths, afraid the pain might come back, Lara let her hands drop. When she opened her eyes again, the sound of a
n alarm echoing pulled her attention to the row of trees on the far side.
It reminded Lara of all the times she’d been in a car that pulled off the road to allow a policemen with his sirens wailing to pass. Her eyes would always follow the direction of the cruiser the same way her eyes were raking the tree line now. She half expected to see the glowing blue and red lights to accompany the noise in her head. Instead what she discovered was a girl hiding in the foliage.
CHAPTER 20
That’s her! Lara realized she must be the witch Jade had sensed and whom she and Zeftx were racing around this natural barrier right now to catch. Somehow she didn’t fit the profile Lara had imagined in her mind. When Zeftx promised to keep her safe, Lara had pictured the witch he was going after to be much more intimidating. She never would have imagined the wide eyed girl she was looking at now. She was so young she could have been a student in any of Lara’s classes.
The girl trembled as she backed away from her hiding place but she never took her eyes off Lara. Neither one of them blinked until she had cautiously worked her way three rows deep into the trees. Then with a little squeak the witched turned on her heels and ran. Her retreat was followed by rumbling laughter. Lara turned to see the golden anomaly laughing so hard his hands were holding his sides together.
“I see you,” she told him. He stopped laughing at once and his golden head tipped to one side.
“Lara, sweet Lara,” he whispered softly. The way he pitched his voice when he said her name gave her butterflies in her stomach and her heart flipped. Stepping forward with his arm extended out toward her, he walked out of his invisibility barrier and she could see all of him again.
She could see the era blending clothing he wore, the white cuffed shirt along with black slacks and similarly black moccasins on his feet. Waves of brown hair fell like feathers around his face from where he dragged his free hand through it while holding the other out to her still. Again she could see the deep mystery clouding his chocolate brown eyes but this time she sensed no armor.
All at once Lara was flooded with different emotions. She was glad to see him again, thrilled actually, but scared to have deceived her friends and afraid they would find out. She looked down at his offered hand and wondered what it would mean if she took it.
“I have waited to see you,” he informed her. She was slow to react to his gesture and his words so he stepped closer and took her hesitant hand. Raising it to his lips, he pressed a delicate kiss to each knuckle while holding her gaze with his eyes. The soft touch sent chills up and down her spine and her brain turned to mush. Is this really happening? I mean to me, Lara Eliza Liam, born 13 April, from a town no one’s even heard of? She wondered in amazement.
“Fair one, sweet Lara,” he spoke gently while still holding her hand up between them. “What are you?”
“I wanted to ask you the same thing,” she told him. His smile came so easily, a quirky lopsided grin that would fuel teenage gossip for weeks if any of her classmates saw it. Then it faltered and he seemed distracted by something in the distance.
“I believe it is my turn now,” he said but not to her. She looked over her shoulder to find what he was looking at but she saw nothing and no one. “Come with me fair one, there is something I wish to show you.” Then he smiled again and the mention of some little surprise immediately felt like Christmas.
Lara let herself be lead by the hand not just because she wanted to see what he meant, but also because she was worried that Jade and Zeftx would return and find him. Now that the girl had run away they would come back to get her and she wasn’t ready yet to tell them that she’d lied the last time they found her here. Afterwards when she came back alone, she could explain everything and apologize before Jade and Zeftx took her home. She just hoped they would forgive her.
The first place Tres went after running away from the clearing was Lienkin’s cottage. She sprinted as fast as she could, her heart pounding, until she reached the village. She needed to warn the priestess she had seen the fair one, and what’s more, the fair one had seen her.
When she found Lienkin’s mother Leann, she was tending to her garden along the side of her home. Even when digging in the dirt the priestess illuminated power and beauty. Every movement of her hands over the crops was graceful like a dance but also diligent with purpose.
Leann was leaning over the plants, examining them with an expert eye, her wavy waist length pepper brown hair falling forward over her shoulders. The only thing holding it back from cloaking her entire face was a tiny barrette clipping the top portion in place. The sunny rays that had turned the fair one’s hair deep red cast a golden tint to the crown of the priestess’s head like a halo.
Tres stopped to catch her breath from a combination of admiration and exhaustion after running. Lienkin’s mother was everything Tres wanted to be. When she came close enough that Leann could hear her labored breaths, the priestess leaned back on her heels pulling her layered skirt around her knees and glanced up smiling.
“Good day to you, Tres,” was all the greeting she could offer before Tres threw herself sobbing on the ground next to her. At first her complaints came out in incoherent cries but when she saw the flicker of annoyance cross her beloved priestess face, she sat up strait and tried to calm down.
“Now child,” Leann addressed her, “Tell me what has upset you.”
“It is the fair one,” Tres started over. Leann’s brows rose with her interest, showing the slightest signs of shock before tutoring her expression once more.
“Why should that upset you? Didn’t I say at circle this was a good sign?” Tres became flustered, wondering if she misunderstood Leann’s tone of voice when she’d given that message.
“I saw her, and I thought you wouldn’t be happy about it.” She confessed. Leann’s face turned stern and Tres thought she had been very wrong about her interpretation.
“Did she see you?” Leann wanted to know.
“Yes,” Tres answered miserably. Leann considered her reaction for a long moment.
“You were right to think I would not be happy about it. Did she follow you? Have you told anyone else?” Tres’ eyes shot up at Leann’s concession. She shook her head fiercely to answer no. No one had followed her and she had told no one else. “Good,” deemed the priestess. “Listen carefully; here is what I want you to do…”
CHAPTER 21
After receiving the priestess instructions, Tres walked home to her own cottage. The first thing Leann had asked of her was definitely the easiest. She had been told to keep an eye on Lienkin.
Tres couldn’t have been happier if Leann had asked her to fill the position of coven maiden. That would make her next in line for coven priestess the same way the coven guardian was next in line for coven priest. She still hoped that one day she would be, as soon as someone else took over as the scribe.
That was, however, something to look forward to on another day. Right now what she needed to do was find Lienkin. Rather than going back into the woods and walking around haplessly until they ran into each other, Tres decided for once to take the more magical approach.
Both of her parents were at home when she walked indoors. Her father was productively working on the loom, chewing on a hickory stick, and humming aloud. Her mother was bent over the table comparing one of her drawing to the pattern she’d cut from a length of cloth while she sang sweetly to her husband’s tune.
“Well hello good daughter!” Her father beamed. “Care to join your mother and I for a song?” Tres smiled cheerfully, she loved to sing and her parents had taught her many songs.
“I would love to good father,” she winked, “but I am on a mission for the priestess,” she confided. Tahj and Raye both looked stunned. They traded happy glances with each other, sharing a smoldering sensation of pride, then shooed Tres along.
“Well then, if Leann has a task for you, go on about your business,” her mother chimed. “Shoo, shoo.”
“May I borrow the scrying ston
e?” Tres asked them. Both nodded permissively. The scrying stone was a family heirloom that had survived the trip to Opal with her parents from their French colony.
Tres didn’t know too much about their journey except that it had been a daring escape from disaster. They refused to go into more detail than that. They even refused to explain to the elders what French meant except to identify the strange language they often spoke and sang in their songs.
Scrying was a difficult process for Tres, but it was a rewarding one if she got it right. Collecting the small stone from the assortment of rocks in the cabinet, she went with it into her room for some privacy. She sat on the floor and cupped the smooth grey streaked rock in her hands.
Tres slowed her breathing and concentrated on her goal to find Lienkin. Staring at the swirling shades of grey on the surface of the stone, she urged her mind to channel into a meditative state. It wasn’t easy since she felt squeamish and her nose started itching. She resisted the urge to scratch and focused on Lienkin. Show me Lienkin, she commanded the stone.
Looking harder, Tres found his face in the foggy depths of the darker grey swirls. Her vision expanded to include the trees surrounding him. Past the nearest tree trunk she could see the old dirt road that would lead him back to the village. Then she gasped and almost lost the image as she saw for the first time that he wasn’t alone.
Lienkin had stopped on the threshold of the village perimeter to pull the fair one into his hugging embrace. The redheaded girl looked up at him with those frightening green eyes. Tres recoiled, remembering how they had locked on her right after the strange bird started circling overhead, even though she’d used all the runes she knew to cover her in the bushes. Those eyes had seen right through to her.
“Stranger,” Tres heard the girl murmur in a voice barely above a whisper, “what is your name?” She looked suddenly tense, as if she thought he would kiss her. Tres felt a strong urge to slap the girl. Then she noticed the way Lienkin was angling closer and she thought she might start crying. This was absolutely not fair.
Discovery the Forest of Emmitaenu Page 7