Eden Forest (Part one of the Saskia Trilogy)

by Aoife Marie Sheridan

  Her face becomes a little more sombre. “No, my name is

  Adora, and I know right now you want answers, but I’m a bit

  busy.”

  The cheek of her. “Busy? Linda, I mean Adora, I need some

  kind of explanation. You did something to my head. Who the

  hell was that man?”

  Linda starts walking back towards the room where our yoga

  classes are held. I follow her. I’m going to call her Adora again

  and then feel silly. “Look, I’m not leaving until you tell me what

  the heck happened.”

  She continues walking, but calls back to me over her shoulder.

  “I know you won’t leave it. You’re just like your mother.”

  Her statement stops me in my tracks. “What did you just

  say?”

  Linda stops and looks at me. I can see by her face that she

  wishes she hadn’t said that. “Look, I’m not like normal people

  and neither are you.” She enters the hall. There are bags lined

  up on the floor.

  “Where are you going?” I ask.

  She picks up a bag. “To my car.”

  I give her the dirtiest look I can muster. “You know what I

  mean.”

  She lets out a breath of exasperation. “I’m going home,

  Sarajane, and what happened in your kitchen was real.” She

  walks past me as if the conversation is over. I grab the strap of

  her bag to stop her.

  “What are you?”

  She looks at me with dry amusement. “Not mortal,

  anyway. I can communicate with certain members of my

  tribe telepathically, but somehow when I meditated with you,

  it caused some kind of interruption and I was finding it too

  difficult to communicate with them. So that’s why I went to

  your house, to see if I tried again with you, maybe I could get

  it back. And as you saw, I did. Now I really have to go if that is

  all you wanted to ask.”

  I let her strap go and stand there dumbfounded. When she’s

  out the door, my mother’s face springs into my mind. I chase

  her out to the parking lot. I can see Josh ready to intervene, but

  I shake my head, letting him know not to move.

  “Linda, I have only one more question and then I’ll let you

  get on with your packing.”

  She throws the bag in the boot. “What, Sarajane?” I can’t get

  over her tone of voice.

  “Why did you want me to picture my mother?” I can see her

  back tense as she closes her boot.

  She takes her time facing me. “You’re not the only one

  looking for her.”

  “What do you mean by that? Do you know where she is?”

  Linda walks to me and takes my bewildered face in her hands

  and kisses my forehead like a mother would a child. Then she

  looks me in the eyes. “I don’t know where she is, and I just want

  to help you find her. But in order to do that, I must go. Please

  try to understand.”

  I can’t answer her. Is she saying she’s helping me find my

  mother?

  “We will meet again, Sarajane.” She enters the hall again to

  retrieve more bags.

  Josh is beside me once she’s out of sight. “Well, how did it

  go?”

  “I’m more confused now than I was before we came here.”

  I get Josh to take me home. I should’ve forced Linda to

  answer my questions properly, but at that moment, I honestly

  wasn’t able. I was confused and too upset to listen to any more

  of her weirdness. But for some reason, I felt a lot of truth in

  what she said. It made no sense to me, but it felt true.

  Chapter Four

  Saskia ~ Present Day

  (Bellona)

  I pace my chambers, waiting on Clive to arrive. He enters

  wiping blood off his knuckles. “She knows nothing. No one

  could take that pain without talking.” He sits down at the

  small table and chairs that I have in my chambers for breakfast.

  I sit opposite him.

  “If she doesn’t know, maybe she is not the reason the one

  exists, but Lucian would not be wrong.” Clive looks at me

  in puzzlement, but I don’t explain any further, and he knows

  better than to ask. I start to pace again. “We need to find out

  why she left. I feel like it is the key to all of this.” I glance over

  at Clive from the corner of my eye. “She is still alive?”

  He shrugs his shoulders indifferently. “I think so.”

  “You can’t do anything right, can you? I told you we must

  keep her alive.” My patience is coming to an end. I grab his face.

  “She better be alive for your sake.” I let him go forcefully.

  “What about her friends? Have you questioned them?” he

  asks with annoyance in his voice, rubbing his face.

  I stop pacing. Why had I not thought of her friends? Maybe

  Clive is useful after all, but I would never tell him that. I wave

  my hand in the air. “Maybe. Leave me now. I must think of

  how to clean up your mess again.” Clive leaves, his shoulders

  hunched. He hates disappointing me. He is like a dog—pet him

  too much and it becomes soft.

  “Taurus,” I call, and he enters my chambers.

  “My lady.”

  I approach him with a suggestive smile and run my finger

  along his hard, muscular chest. “Remember that silly girl who

  was a friend of Marta's? The one who was pregnant.”

  “Yes, my lady.” He grabs my buttocks, pulling me into him.

  “What was her name?”

  “Corrona, my lady.” He starts nibbling my ear.

  I swat him away. “Focus, Taurus.” He becomes alert again.

  “Bring her to me,” I command.

  “Yes, my lady.” He turns to leave.

  “Oh, Taurus, don’t forget I want you here tonight.”

  “Of course, my lady.” He gives me a sensual smile and leaves.

  I sit down on an armchair beside the fire with my back to the

  door. A knock sounds. “Come in.”

  Corrona appears in front of me and bows. I know it isn’t out

  of respect, more like fear. “My lady.” She is frail looking with

  dark circles surrounding her eyes.

  I smile at her. I could make all her worries go away. “Please,

  sit.” I gesture to the armchair across from me. She sits, nervously

  fumbling with her hands. “How are you, Corrona?”

  She looks up at me, startled. “I am fine. Thank you, my lady.”

  “Corrona, I know losing your baby caused you a lot of pain.”

  I pause and let the sorrow cross my face. “But it causes me great

  pain, too, to upset such a valuable member of the castle.”

  She doesn’t look at me and when she speaks, her words are

  clipped. “I am sorry to hear you are in pain, my lady.” So she is

  still upset, stupid girl. She is already getting on my nerves, but I

  don’t let my irritation show.

  “Well, I would say you are wondering why you are here, so I

  will get to it. Why did your friend Marta leave Saskia?” Before

  she answers, I raise a single finger. “And more important, who

  helped her? Because we all know she did not get across by

  herself.”

  Corrona looks down at her lap. I can see the tension in her

  paling face. “I don’t know, my l
ady.”

  “Corrona, look at me.” She does with pure fear in her eyes.

  “I know whoever helped her would be banished, but I am

  considering to overlooking that. If you answer just one question.

  And also I will give you something in return. I will give you

  your baby boy back.”

  Tears run down her face. She whispers, “What is the

  question?”

  Good, now we are getting somewhere. “Why did Marta

  leave Saskia?” Corrona starts crying. I look in the fire and

  inhale a breath, letting her know that my patience has run out.

  I am not one to bargain, so she knows this is not an offer I

  shall make twice. “You can leave now. You must not want your

  son back.” She stands up, still crying. “And if guardians come

  to your door and take Dominic, don’t be surprised, since you

  helped a criminal.”

  She is nearly at the door, but her footing falters. She pauses.

  I smile. I will get my answer after all.

  “I will tell you.”

  I stand and face her. “Go ahead. I am listening.”

  She wipes away her tears. “You must give me your word first,

  that I will get my baby back.”

  Clever girl. In Saskia, if we give our word, we must stick by

  it, so it is never given lightly. I don’t need the child for anything.

  There are plenty more. “You have your queen’s word.”

  Corrona’s eyes fill with tears again. “She was pregnant.”

  It all makes sense now. I knew she was secretly meeting

  Morrick. I could see it from the day of the festival, the way

  he looked at her, so I spoke to Javan to make sure Marta was

  matched with Taurus so I could keep an eye on them. But since

  Taurus told me she didn’t want him and Morrick’s disappearing

  acts, I knew they were meeting. So Morrick was the father.

  Was this why the child was so powerful? Clive or Luna are

  not powerful. Yes, they have an affinity each, but only one,

  nothing like what Lucian is looking for. It doesn’t matter. At

  least I know now what I am looking for.

  I look up at Corrona. She is still standing there. “Taurus.”

  He enters. “Could you bring Corrona to the maidens’ quarters?

  I have given her permission to take her baby back.” He bows

  and leaves with a guilty-looking Corrona.

  I pace my chambers, thinking of how best to deal with this.

  Taurus re-enters. “It is done, my lady.”

  “Taurus, can you arrange for Clive, Felix, and yourself to go

  to the library? I will meet you there shortly.”

  We gather around the library table and I tell all three of them

  of their tasks. Clive is getting upset again. “He has another

  child?”

  “Clive, not now. Look at the overall picture.”

  He stalks towards me, his anger nearly visible around him.

  “Mother, he should be exiled to the mountains for his crimes,

  like all the other criminals over time.”

  He is lucky he is my son or I would have silenced him already.

  “Son, we will deal with that later, but first we need to retrieve

  the child.” Clive knows not to push me any further, so he sits

  down with an angry thud. I ignore him and turn my attention

  to Felix. Part of Felix’s job is to study the mortal realm and all

  the differences between both. “Felix.”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “What is the time difference in the mortal world to here?”

  “One day here is equivalent to one month in the mortal

  world, my lady.”

  “So Marta was gone for… nine months. What is the age of

  the child we are looking for?”

  “Twenty-one years of age, my lady.”

  “Very good, Felix.” He smiles in self-satisfaction. “So I need

  that child, or should I say woman, and please…”—I look at

  Clive when I say the next part—“without as much as a scratch

  on her.”

  Clive rises then, visibly irritated. “What do you want the girl

  for, anyway?” His tone is high pitched and too questioning.

  Even if he is my son, it is not something I will tolerate. I think

  the words in my head, but I can see from Clive’s frozen face he

  knows he has overstepped the line.

  Spirit, come to me. I can feel it dance around me. Brush his

  heart; make it skip a good few beats, I whisper in my mind. I let

  the thought skitter over to Clive. He grabs his chest. His face is

  nothing more than a mask of shock that I would hurt him. Pain

  runs across his expression at having his heart stopped. He falls

  to his knees and then gasps for air once I release him.

  My guardians stand perfectly still. Taurus has a little smirk

  on his face that he is trying to contain. I know he is glad Clive

  is suffering. It makes me feel angry towards him, but I can’t

  hurt Taurus. There is too much at risk. “Get up and do not ever

  question me again.”

  Clive gets off his shaky knees while nodding his head. The

  smell of urine hits me then. I look at his trousers. They are

  stained all down his leg. When he follows where I am looking,

  his face turns red with embarrassment and anger.

  “Now saddle up the horses and go get me that girl.” Taurus

  and Felix move to the door. Clive is frozen, looking at his

  trousers. “Clive, clean yourself up.” He walks past me with

  angry tears in his eyes, ones I hope he will not shed and make a

  bigger fool of himself.

  “Taurus.” He pauses before closing the door.

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “How long will it take to cross over?”

  “One full day.”

  “Well, then, I expect you back here in three days.” They leave

  and I pour myself a goblet of wine, feeling satisfied with myself .

  Marta -Saskia, Present day-

  I open my eyes. I am back in the cell. Tears break through the

  crusted blood around my eyes, making my tears flow red.

  I think I am back in the cell a day. I try to move, but the

  pain shoots through my body. A choked sound escapes my lips.

  I can hear the rattle of my cell door. Then footsteps approach

  me. I close my eyes tight and pray it will be over quickly. I know

  I will not live through another beating. I am not afraid of dying;

  I am afraid of not living.

  I can hear the shuffle of clothes as someone kneels down

  beside me. “Drink some water.” I open my eyes and look up at

  a guardian with a pitcher of water in his hands. I don’t answer,

  just nod my head. He lifts me up and brings the pitcher to my

  lips. It could be poisoned, but I don’t care. It will make my

  death come faster. I take a deep gulp of water. It tastes so good.

  When I have my fill, I look up at the guardian, who is studying

  me. He has piercing green eyes that really stand out against his

  tanned skin.

  “What is your name, guardian?” I ask through cracked and

  dry lips.

  “Tristan, my lady.” I recognise his name. He is Morrick’s

  head guardian. “Can you stand?” he asks while scanning my

  battered body.

  “No, I don’t think so.” I try to move, but he stops me.

  “I will carry you.”

&n
bsp; “Carry me where?”

  “I am under orders from King Morrick not to say.”

  I feel sick. Morrick knows I am here. “How did the king find

  out I was here?” I ask in a whisper.

  “I don’t know, my lady.” I don’t get to ask any more. He

  lifts me effortlessly. Then he looks down at me in his arms.

  “We must be quiet, but darkness has fallen so we should pass

  unseen.” I just nod my head. He carries me up the stone steps

  and pauses at the door, listening. “What about the queen’s

  guardians?” I ask, feeling afraid now that I might be saved. The

  fight to survive comes surging back.

  He gives me a small smile; the corner of his lip turns up

  slightly. “I have them kept busy with a fire in the stables.” All l

  can say to this is, “Oh”.

  Listening at the door, he moves when he thinks it is safe.

  He carries me through the village. I can see the red glow in the

  night sky from the fire. We keep to the shadows in the village,

  moving slowly. It feels at times like we are waiting forever

  while villagers get water from the well and run towards the

  stables. I can hear the panic of the horses. I hope they all get

  out unharmed.

  As if he can read my mind, Tristan answers my unspoken

  question. “Don’t worry. The horses are safe. They are just

  playing up, creating a lot of noise.”

  As we move through the village and onto the outskirts, I black

  out a few times with exhaustion. Soon I can feel the movement

  of a horse underneath us. I didn’t even remember saddling a

  horse. Tristan must have saddled one while I was out. I try to

  open my eyes, but they are too heavy to open. After a while, the

  horse slows down.

  When I open my eyes again, we are at the Amour Caves. We

  enter the mouth of the cave, Tristan still carrying me. Five men

  could stand on each other’s shoulders it is that high, though it

  reduces in size to about nine feet the farther in you go, so it is

  comfortable at all times to stand in. The torches are lit along

  the cave walls.

  Tristan walks down the hall of the cave until it branches off

  to the left. I know the room he is taking me to. It is the room

  where Morrick and I used to meet in secret. Now it feels such a

  long time ago.

  We enter the large room. Flames from the small fire dance