Eris nodded. “Also here.” She looked around. If Rochelle were a keeper of light, she should have a guardian too. “Where is yours?”
A pained look crossed Rochelle’s eyes. “Mine has been lost for some time.”
“Lost? You can lose your guardian?”
But Eris knew she could. She had nearly lost Shadow. Had she not managed to push back the taint, he might have succumbed to it. He might have been lost.
Rochelle leaned forward. Ringlets of hair fell around her neck. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “That’s when I knew I couldn’t keep you. With a guardian, it might have been possible, but without her? If I couldn’t even manage to keep her safe, how would I ever have managed to keep you safe?”
Eris took a step toward the desk. “The guardians are supposed to protect us.”
Rochelle looked at her and shook her head. “No, Eris. They are not our guardians.”
“What do you mean? We’re the keepers of light. They are meant to protect us, to give us the chance to do what needs to be done.”
“There is much keepers can do,” Rochelle agreed. “But we work alongside the guardians. They stand between the darkness and light. The guardians help us keep the balance. If not for them, the dark would overwhelm the light.”
Shadow had shown her much the same, but she hadn’t understood. That was what he had been trying to explain to her, that was the message he tried to give her in the vision. She had thought the keepers required the guardians, but if it was the other way?
Then she had dragged Shadow into the heart of danger.
Rochelle stood and came around the desk. She took Eris’s hands and held them gently. Time had calloused her hands, leaving them feeling more like Terran’s. “You have not known for long, have you?”
Eris shook her head. “Only when I kept the magi from pressing into Errasn.”
Rochelle smiled widely. “I did not know what happened there. My work here kept me from checking, but I heard rumors. A dozen keepers forced the magi to retreat.”
In other circumstances, Eris would have smiled. A dozen? It had only been her, and she had nearly died doing what she could to stop them. “Not a dozen. Not yet. If they answer the summons to rebuild Elaysia, then perhaps.”
Rochelle sighed and shook her head sadly. “I hoped the gardens had been rebuilt. I thought that the reason the magi were repelled.” She turned and considered Eris. “Lira helped you stop the magi attack on Errasn?”
Eris shook her head. “Not Lira.”
“It can’t have only been you.”
Eris shrugged. “It was.”
“How did you…”
“I’m not a keeper like you,” she told Rochelle.
Rochelle frowned, tilting her head as she considered. “A keeper of trees? It would give you strength, but enough to stop the magi? They sent thirteen. A single keeper—even one of trees—should not have been able to stop them.”
“I am a keeper of trees,” Eris agreed. “But I’m also a keeper of flowers.”
“Both? Is such a thing possible?”
Eris touched the teary star vine woven into a necklace. “I bonded the teary star. I am the keeper of the Svanth Forest.”
Rochelle paced around the room, glancing at Eris as she did. “A keeper of both trees and flowers. Such a combination would have much power. And the Svanth. There has not been such a keeper for centuries. Could she really be the keeper?” She spoke mostly to herself as she paced, a distracted tone to her voice. She turned and looked up at Eris. “And you have already told me you used my garden. It makes sense.” She stopped and frowned. “Your guardian. What is it?”
Eris shook her head. “A tree lion, I think.”
“You think? You should know the form your guardian takes.”
Eris shrugged. “He is nothing like I’ve ever seen before.”
Rochelle sucked in a breath. “Of course, with being a keeper of both tree and flower, she would have a powerful guardian. And the Svanth. I had not expected that. But a guardian like that would almost have to be…”
She stopped and spun to Eris. “What do you know about your guardian?”
“I…I don’t know much. He hides much from me. I think he intends to protect me.”
“A guardian like that would have much to hide. You see him?”
She nodded.
“Have you seen his true form?”
The question would have been strange had Shadow not shown her the distinction between the dark and the light. Without it, she would never have known there was a different form for Shadow to take, but within the vision, he was tall and lean and real.
“I’ve seen shadows of it,” she answered.
Rochelle took a deep breath. “More than most. More than me.”
“Why is that important?”
“The guardians protect the space between darkness and light. They can only come here as manifestations of this world. With most, the connection isn’t strong enough to draw them deeply into this world. They take the form that you see, but they remain mostly in the place between, the place where they exist without the keeper. This provides some protection for them.”
“Is that what happened with your guardian?”
Rochelle nodded. “She took on the shape of an owl. When she passed, she returned to the place between.”
Eris suspected she knew where Rochelle led her. It was the reason for the message in her room. The reason she had nearly lost Shadow. “Is there any way to destroy them completely?”
Rochelle sighed. “There are some who think so.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
She nodded. “When the magi managed to destroy the Gardens of Elaysia, I knew something had changed. There had been balance before then, but it had shifted. Something—someone shifted that balance. It’s when I knew what I needed to do. That I needed to understand what had changed and to learn if there was anything I could do to reverse it.”
Rochelle turned away from her and looked at the fire. “The attacks have continued. Unfortunately, you have been caught in them. I thought to protect you. When I placed you in the palace, I thought Elayne and Lira would keep you free from it. Your mother was to establish a garden and use it to keep the magi at bay. But the magi attacked anyway.”
“They would have succeeded had I not learned I was a keeper.”
Rochelle stood with arms crossed and tapped her lips while she considered Eris. “Fortunate that you were there,” she said.
“Why do you say that?”
Rochelle shook her head. “Only that I wonder if there are other forces at work that strive to maintain the balance. Had I not left you with Elayne, you would never have been where you were needed to stop the Conclave. You would never have been motivated to push them back from the border of Errasn.”
“But had I been with you, I might have learned I was a keeper sooner. I might have been able to prevent the magi’s attack in the first place. I might have been able to stop the priestesses from poisoning my mother—from trying to kill me. And I might never have lost Jacen.”
Rochelle’s breath caught. “Jacen is lost?”
Eris nodded slowly. “He led the charge against Saffra troops.”
Rochelle started to say something but caught herself and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Eris.”
“And now Ferisa is here. Taken by the priestesses.”
“There is much you do not understand.”
“Then tell me. Help me understand!” Eris felt the growing frustration. Rochelle was much like Lira in how she refused to share with her. Much like Shadow, though she suspected there was more to Shadow’s refusal than simple unwillingness.
Rochelle shook her head. “You are a powerful keeper. You must be, or you wouldn’t be here. But you need to leave. Too much is at stake. Their work is nearly done. The tests with the veratrum prove that.”
“But I’m a keeper of light. I’m meant to help.”
“Not this way. You don’t know enough
. That you have to ask tells me you aren’t ready to face them.”
“And my sister? What will become of her? She’s the reason I came.”
“You knew she was in Saffra?”
Eris shook her head. “Not at first. Mother recognized a flower in that message. It was the same one that had led to her illness. But I was able to heal her. Lira told me it came from Saffra.”
“Elayne is not a keeper. It would have taken much strength to heal someone so poisoned.”
Eris nodded. “It did.”
“Lira couldn’t help her?”
“No. It wasn’t until I discovered I was a keeper of both flowers and trees that I managed to help save her.”
“And you held the flower? You touched it?”
Eris nodded. “It tainted the svanth trees. I didn’t recognize it, but my guardian did. He nearly sacrificed himself to stop it. Had I not been able to trap the darkness, he wouldn’t still be here. That’s why I came to Saffra. To learn about the Darkbinders, to stop them if I can.”
“The flower. Do you still have it?”
Eris slipped her hand into a pocket of the wrap and pulled out the bundled message. She unrolled it slowly atop the table, careful to avoid touching anything. Without having access to her energy, she had no way of protecting herself. “I found this in my room. I didn’t know what it meant at the time.”
Rochelle closed her eyes and let out controlled sigh. “This is why you have come?”
Eris nodded. “It nearly destroyed my garden. I need to know what it is and why it’s getting stronger.”
Rochelle turned and carefully wound the flowers back into the cloth. She took it and turned to the fire and tossed it inside. Flames bloomed around it, quickly consuming it. A pungent scent drifted from the hearth as it burned.
“Had you not been a keeper of both tree and flower, I suspect that would have succeeded. There is darkness in that flower. They are bred for that purpose. It has taken years to perfect the breeding, but now they have. And, as far as I know, there is nothing to reverse its effects.”
Eris shook her head. “That can’t be true. I walled off the effect.”
Rochelle shook her head. “Temporary only. I’m sorry, Eris. In time, your guardian will perish.”
Chapter 83
Rochelle touched the wall, and it slid open with a soft gust of air. She took Eris’s hand and pulled her into the iron-infused tunnel. As before, it pressed against her, the sense of it nearly suffocating. Eris wondered what would happen if she lost control, if she let the energy she held within her out. How much pain would she experience?
“Quiet,” Rochelle whispered as they stepped into the hall. “I will take you from here, but then you need to leave Saffra. Return home. Find another way to serve. Help your guardian stay safe.”
“And if I have already failed?”
Rochelle sighed. “There is nothing you could have done differently. But now you need to keep yourself safe. You cannot do that here.”
“But Ferisa—”
Rochelle touched a finger to her lips, shushing her. “The sister you know is gone, Eris. You must accept that.”
Eris shook her head. She would not accept that Ferisa was gone. She had already lost her brother to the darkness; she would not lose Ferisa as well. “And what will you do? Why do you stay?”
Rochelle hesitated, ear cocked as if to listen. When she was satisfied she heard nothing else, she continued to pull Eris along. They walked farther than they had when Rochelle first pulled her into the iron-infused tunnel, and Eris began to wonder where she was taking her.
Then she stopped. Rochelle took something and wrapped it around Eris’s mouth, covering her face. “You should not walk the streets unprotected. This will hide you.”
“What about you?”
Rochelle looked around and then leaned toward the wall and pushed an unseen button. The wall opened in a hiss, letting out near the back of the massive room. It had emptied since Rochelle had grabbed her, leaving the wreath of flowers atop the iron altar. Two lanterns hung on either side, glowing with an orange light.
Rochelle pulled her quickly through the room and stopped near the arching doorway. “Go. Be safe.”
“Roch—”
Rochelle cut her off. “Not here. Here I am Tesha.”
“What are you going to do? Why do you stay here?”
Rochelle glanced at the altar, her eyes taking in the wreath of flowers and a deep frown creasing her mouth. “This is how I still serve the light,” she whispered. “From what you’ve told me, I might already have failed. There is a garden here, shrouded in darkness, where the veratrum is grown. Iron infuses the roots of the garden. I have done all I can to destroy it. Now it seems I must do more.”
She pushed Eris forward, sliding her past the iron sentries, and back down the steps. “Go. This is my task. You will have another.”
Eris paused and looked back, but Rochelle was gone. She took a deep breath, uncertain what she must do. She had come looking for answers about how to clean the darkness from her garden and from Shadow. She had come, hoping she might find her sister. She had failed with the first, and Rochelle had told her the second was hopeless.
The square had emptied in the time she was in the temple. Eris hurried toward the gate, pausing long enough to look back. As she did, she thought she saw a woman standing atop the steps, blond hair poking out from beneath a hood. Eris blinked, but she was gone.
She pressed through the gate. Once through, she released the pent-up energy she held within her, letting it out slowly. “Shadow,” she whispered through the bond.
His voice came to her immediately. Relief filled it. “Keeper.”
“We have much to speak about.”
“What did you learn?”
Eris shook her head and touched the veil wrapped around her mouth. It smelled of Rochelle and left her feeling a pang. There were so many questions she had and no time to really find the answers. She still didn’t know why Rochelle had come to Saffra or why she moved so easily within the walls of the temple. She knew nothing about what happened to Ferisa, only that she seemed to lead the worship. And she knew the taint would eventually claim Shadow.
“Not here. Come. Follow me. Bring Terran.”
Her guardian sniffed. “Where do you summon us?”
“To the garden.”
* * *
Terran and Shadow joined her near the edge of the city. Eris didn’t slow as she made her way through the streets, ignoring the jostling of the people and creatures working through the crowds. The somber note to the people around her fit her mood. She said nothing to either Shadow or Terran until they cleared the city.
They climbed quickly up the shallow slope and reached the rocky entrance to the garden. Eris swept through it with more confidence, hurrying along the loose stone, her footing more careful this time. She emerged in the garden beneath the shade of the wide, squat svanth tree. For the first time in nearly a day, she felt a sense of relief.
“What happened?” Terran asked.
Eris leaned against the svanth, enjoying the sense of the barbs pressing against her back. She held the dark cloak but hadn’t slipped it back on. With the heat, she preferred the wrap. “I found Ferisa.”
Terran took her hand. “You found her, but you returned here. What happened? Did you speak to her?”
Eris shook her head and told him about the ritual she’d seen Ferisa leading. “The flowers mean something to them. I don’t know what, but they’re important.”
“They are darkness,” Shadow said. “You have seen what they do.”
As soon as they reached the tunnel, he had rippled back into his usual shape. He prowled along the edge of the garden, sniffing the air. Annoyance surged through their bond, but something else, something Eris only now detected. The darkness, walled off. It pressed against the barrier. She wondered how long it had been there. If Rochelle was right, there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“Why would Fer
isa be leading them?” Terran asked. “She’s a priestess of the Sacred Mother.”
Eris wished she would have gotten answers to that from Rochelle, but it was another thing she was left wondering. “Maybe once, but now she’s a keeper of dark.” Eris had little doubt that was the purpose of the temple. And if what Rochelle said about the flower was true, then the priestesses were the Darkbinders.
She had come to Saffra hoping to find answers about the magi and the priestesses, to understand how they helped the Darkbinders, and instead, found the Darkbinders. Why Saffra, though? What about this place gave it power?
“That’s not all I saw,” she said. “Rochelle was there.”
Shadow paced over to her and sat across from her. He looked at her, and she saw concern in his golden eyes that hadn’t been there before. “You spoke with her.”
Eris nodded. “She is my mother. And she is a keeper of light.”
Shadow nodded. “She has lost her guardian. That is why I do not know.”
“She told me. She said that was the reason she left me in Eliara—that she feared for my safety with what she needed to do. Rochelle says she’s in Saffra for that reason. That she’s been trying to destroy the veratrums.” She hesitated. “She also told me what it means to have a guardian. That we work together to protect the light.”
Shadow growled softly.
Eris reached for Shadow, touching him on the fur behind his ears. It was easy to imagine soothing him while he took this form. In his other form, with the way he looked in the vision he’d granted her, she couldn’t imagine being able to touch him. She thought of the darkness walled-up inside the svanth trees. Was it the same within Shadow? “Does it hurt?”
He growled.
“Shadow?”
“There is pain. I am aware of it, but there is nothing you can do.”
“You nearly sacrificed everything. Why would you do that?”
He sniffed heavily and settled down on the ground across from her. “I have served as guardian for longer than you can fathom. Always others have been summoned to serve the keepers, never have I.”
“Why?” Eris asked.
Shadow snorted and settled on his paws. “Like you, I am different. I am one of the first to provide the barrier between darkness and light. When it first came to be, I was there.”
The Lost Garden: The Complete Series Page 65