Alora
Page 27
“You can’t control everything, Kaevin. It’s not like all that stuff is your fault.”
“Two days, Alora! I was Stone Clan leader for two days, and look what happened. Father hasn’t spoken of it, but I’m certain he’s disappointed. Probably disgusted. Else why would he have given us permission to save Bardamen, knowing we would likely die?”
“Kaevin! You know that’s not true! Your father loves you.”
“He could have forbidden it.” Kaevin’s face was shining with tears. “The decision was his to make, yet he deferred to us, knowing we couldn’t refuse to try.”
“Oh, Kaevin...” Alora stood up, reaching out to hug him, but he moved away.
“No, don’t, there’s more...” His hands covered his face, but she could see his shoulders shaking as he wept.
She felt it then. Guilt... heavy... suffocating.
What has he done?
“You never knew... no one knew... except Jireo...”
“Whatever it is, I still love you, Kaevin.”
“Don’t say that—you can’t know that. I’m not the man you think I am. I’m a coward.”
“You’re not a—”
“I am! I didn’t want to face my failures. Or my father. Or the families of the warriors who perished. Or the pain of my injury.”
“That’s just being human, Kaevin. Of course those things are hard. But no one thinks you’re responsible for what happened in Glaenshire... no one but you. Everything that happened was because of my father and his evil.”
He turned his head away. “I can’t blame Vindrake for what I did after he was gone.”
She waited. She couldn’t begin to guess what he might confess.
“I was such a coward.” Pain crumpled his face. “I simply wished to die. To be free from everything. So, when you were saving Bardamen...” His voice cracked. “I... I didn’t try to reach you. I knew I could, but I let you go.”
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. Her ears rang like after the gunshots.
He chose to let me die. To let us die.
She groped blindly for the wall, sliding down to sit on the plank floor. She couldn’t make sense of his words. It wasn’t like the Kaevin she knew.
“Jireo knew,” he sobbed. “He made me save you. He forced me to keep us alive. I only wanted it to be over.”
He continued to cry, as she’d never seen him before, folding to the ground on the opposite wall.
“You despise me, don’t you? You must. I deserve your hatred... your disgust.”
“No, I don’t hate you, but something is different—something else. This isn’t you. You wouldn’t do that.”
It was like the parts didn’t fit—as if the pieces were from different puzzles.
“It is me. You were mistaken about who I was.”
Then the pieces began to slide into place.
“Listen, Kaevin. Back when my father was torturing us together... it was the worst pain imaginable, right?”
“Yes. And I still lament my part in not protecting you.”
“That’s not the point. The point is, you didn’t try to escape by letting us die. You fought to the end.”
“I was braver then, I suppose. But now, I’m different.”
“There’s only one thing that’s changed since then, and that’s me.”
“You’re still courageous,” he objected. “That hasn’t changed.”
“Not by myself, I’m not.” She sat forward, using her hands while talking. “When Vindrake had me chained out there... every time I felt like giving up—like dying to escape him—I used my empathy to reach out to you.”
“That’s no different than before. You already possessed your gift while we were in Vindrake’s caverns together.”
“Yes! Exactly! But I wasn’t controlling it. I was just spilling out all the time. Sharing everything with you. Everything.”
“That’s true, but you still share with me,” he argued.
“I do. But only a little bit. I just share what I think you need or what I think you can handle.”
“You can’t be faulted for that.”
“Listen to me! I thought I was protecting you. But don’t you see? I wasn’t protecting you at all. We’re soulmates. We need each other. All of each other. All the time. The good and the bad. No holding back.”
He nodded slowly, rubbing his wet face with his fingers. “So you’re saying, without you, I’m a coward.”
“No! No, no, no. I’m saying we’ve given our souls to one another. We’re only one soul now. We’ve shared everything together. So now, if I keep something back, it’s like I’ve stolen a piece of your soul.”
Kaevin’s eyebrows lifted. The creases smoothed on his forehead. His eyes brightened.
“Can you give it back? The missing part of my soul? For I can’t abide the man I’ve become.”
“I can do it.” She took a deep breath. “But it may not be pleasant. You’ve probably forgotten how many emotions go flitting through my brain all the time. And it’ll mean I’m feeling all your pain again, and you’re feeling mine. Constantly.”
“But, you still love me? Even now? Knowing what you know? Knowing what I did?” He dropped his eyes to the stable floor, where his fingers idly picked at a piece of straw.
“I do love you. But, Kaevin?”
Thick lashes shielded his hope-filled eyes as he met her gaze. But she couldn’t help wondering if he’d lost his feelings for her, along with his courage, that night.
“What about you? Do you still love me?”
Her stomach clenched, waiting for his answer.
“More than life,” he breathed. “Only... I lost hope that I was worthy of you. I tried to avoid thinking of what I’d done, but it haunted me, constantly.”
He still loves me!
She let him feel it—her rejoicing. And she saw him smile.
She felt him smiling.
“Should I just let it go all at once?” she asked. “Or maybe ease into it, a little at a time?”
“Please do it at once,” he begged. “How will I know where that bit of my soul might lie?”
Crawling until he was directly in front of her, Kaevin knelt, taking her hands in his. This time, his touch bore his feelings.
“Share with me,” he said, lifting her fingers to his lips, his kiss so tender, it tore at her heart. “Please, as my soulmate... share it all.”
“Everything? The good and the bad?”
“Everything.”
Alora looked into the deep green pools of his eyes, through the bottomless depths, into his soul. She opened her empathy. Emotions and pain swirled together, unrestrained—a kaleidoscope of feelings.
A beautiful sight.
A lovely caress.
A scent of promise.
A whisper of hope.
A taste of rapture.
Soulmates!
Epilogue
Blaggard worried when he could not contact Vindrake following the attack in Glaenshire. Day after day, he waited until the appointed time, anxious to speak to Vindrake—to assure he still lived. Not only that he lived, but retained the power needed to defeat Graely BarManassae and give rise to the kingdom in which Blaggard was positioning himself as an influential leader.
Each time he attempted farsight speech with Vindrake, he was met with silence.
Until today.
Today, he’d heard Vindrake’s voice inside his head, ordering him to make contact at the customary time, two fingers after sunset, at which time Vindrake expected a full report. Relieved to know Vindrake was alive, Blaggard was nevertheless nervous that his account might not be satisfactory to the demanding Water Clan Leader. Blaggard reviewed the insights he’d gleaned. Kaevin remained in the other realm, recovering from injuries sustained in the Glaenshire battle. The expedition to Serenshire had been postponed. As to the mysterious appearance of new portals, Blaggard made casual inquiries around Laegenshire. Either no one knew the answers, or no one shared that knowledge.
Then fortune smiled on Blaggard in the form of a desperate warrior. Or perhaps fortune laughed at him.
“Please. You must send a message to Vindrake,” the green-eyed warrior begged him. “My sightstone was lost in the battle at Glaenshire, and I’ve no other way to contact him.”
“I’m a loyal Stone Clan citizen,” Blaggard replied, straight-faced. “I should have you put in chains for your treachery against Graely and Laegenshire.”
“If I’m to be chained, you’ll receive the same treatment.”
Clenching his fists, the young warrior’s muscles bulged, reducing Blaggard’s bravado by a considerable amount. Proving he had intelligence in addition to his gifting in strength, the warrior growled a warning. “Perhaps I’ll tell Chaleah to inquire about your travels and your recent visit to Vindrake’s caverns in Portshire.”
Blaggard’s blood froze in his veins.
Vindrake revealed my identity and our private dealings, with no thought to my peril. Now, I’m forced to pacify this hot-headed warrior, or risk discovery.
“No need to be cross. I had to confirm you were not some spy of Graely’s, did I not?” Blaggard motioned for him to follow into the back room, a safer place to converse should another citizen enter the shop. “What is this crucial message I must pass to Master Vindrake?”
“Inform him I struck a killing blow to Kaevin BarGraely during the battle. Deep in his gut. By all rights, he should be dead. I believe the other-world healer had a hand in saving Kaevin from certain death.”
“Perhaps your aim was not completely accurate.”
The warrior’s eyes narrowed as his hand lifted to rest on the hilt of his blade.
Though his heart thundered almost audibly, Blaggard kept his expression bland. “Even in the heat of battle, someone must have seen you inflicting such a wound on one of your own. Your allegiance is exposed.”
A chilling smile bloomed on the warrior’s face. “I’m far too skilled and clever to expose myself in battle. My secret is without compromise. No one in Stone Clan suspects me. No one knows my identity... except you. If anyone were to accuse me, I would know the source without doubt.”
In a blink, Blaggard found the warrior’s blade lying against his throat.
“I’ve made no threat against you,” Blaggard croaked, all effort at pretense gone, ears ringing as blood pounded through the vein in his neck.
“See to it Vindrake receives my message.” Wiping the blade on his leathers, the warrior sheathed his knife. “I want him to know it was me.”
Blaggard probed his neck with his fingers, not surprised to find a few drops of blood. “Should I give Vindrake your name? Are you the only false warrior in Stone Clan?”
The warrior shrugged. “I neither know nor care. Tell Vindrake I won’t stop until both Kaevin and Graely are dead. He will know who I am.”
**********
Nothing existed but pain. Agony. Blistering torment radiated from Alora. Scalding liquid pulsed through his body in a never-ending flood. Never had he experienced anything so excruciating.
Vindrake awoke screaming, tangled in his sweat-soaked blankets. The memory assaulted him, as painful as the actual event... as it had every night since his recovery.
But he had recovered.
His guards, still controlled by their bloodbonds, had carried his body back to Water Clan. Feverish and unaware, he remembered little of the journey. In Portshire his healers had labored to revive him with little success, until one particular woman offered her services. A shaman, rather than a healer, Scornia had but twenty years, and some doubted the wisdom in allowing her to interfere. In fact, Vindrake suspected more than a few who argued in her favor were hoping she would fail.
She did not.
Dark and powerful, her magick renewed him to the strength of his youth. He awakened in a body pulsing with vigor. Even his skin was smooth and free of scars and wrinkles, leading him to wonder if Scornia misrepresented her own age. Yet a thorough interrogation revealed no deception.
Scornia had only recently joined forces with Water Clan, migrating from the Shadow Basin area, where she readily admitted to studying the darkest of magick and bore the purple eyes known to come from its practice. Vindrake could only wonder at the original color, as the lavender tinting obscured even the whites of her orbs.
“Are you not bound to your tutors? Or to the source of their power?” he asked.
“No allegiance is required to practice dark magick, only payment. One pays with blood—a mere drop—to learn untold wonders.”
“You’re not bothered that the magick you practice is considered evil?” Vindrake’s question was more rhetorical than genuine curiosity. He knew with confidence he could act with impunity, using any powers at his disposal, as long as his ultimate goal was God-pleasing. And he didn’t care in the least about the actions of others, except as pertaining to his purposes.
“In Shadow, we learn what some call evil is in fact freedom. To perform dark magick is not some vile act, as many claim, but sovereignty. Only those who wish to assert their dominion over others call this power evil.”
Observing her bondmark, a shining beacon of her allegiance to him, and one she’d accepted with enthusiasm, Vindrake considered the contradiction in her words.
“One would wonder why you would seek out my kingdom, to swear your fealty to me. Why, with your powers, do you follow me? Why accept my bond if you so value your freedom and sovereignty?”
Scornia smiled, her lids at half-mast over purple-hued eyes, enticingly full lips parted in adoration. “In you, Sire, I foresee ultimate sovereignty. For I believe you will some day rule all Tenavae.”
Though he enjoyed the adulation, Vindrake refused to succumb to her flattery, still wary of her purpose. “To rule Tenavae is, after all, my God-given purpose.”
“When that day comes, I wish to be in your favor. I hope to have earned your gratitude.”
“For what shall I be grateful? For your actions to revive me? I expect no less from those who bear my bondmark.”
“No, Master Vindrake.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper, so soft he thought he might have imagined her next words.
“For making you immortal.”
_______________
Here ends book three of the Alora Series.
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From the Author
Thank you for reading Alora: The Maladorn Scroll. If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment to leave a review. This series is a work of love, and your feedback keeps me going. The next book in the series, Alora: The Shadow Basin, is in the works. Sign up for new release announcements and monthly gift card giveaways.
Read on to see the Glossary.
About the Author
Tamie Dearen lives with her very romantic husband of thirty-three years. She has two beautiful daughters, two amazing son-in-loves, and one awesome grandson. She plays piano, flute, harmonica, keyboards, and guitar and loves composing and art. And she hates housework. She has been a dentist in private practice for thirty years. Tamie stays busy playing keyboards on her church’s praise team and teaching graduate students each week. In her spare time, she writes books. Contact Tamie on her website (TamieDearen.com) for news of the latest releases and monthly prize drawings.
Books by Tamie Dearen
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Sweet Romance
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The Best Girls Series:
The Best is Yet to Come (Free Prequel)
Her Best Match
Best Dating Rules
Best Laid Plans
Best Foot Forward
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Sweet Romance
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A Rose in Bloom
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Christian Romance
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Noelle’s Golden Christmas
Haley’s Hangdog Holiday
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The Alora Series
YA/Fantasy
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Alora: The Wander-Jewel
Alora: The Portal
Alora: The Maladorn Scroll
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~ Glossary ~
People in Tenavae
Alleraen (AL-er-ayn) Brother of Vindrake, son of Vinnasae.
Alora (uh-LOR-uh) Daughter of Wendelle and Vindrake, raised by Charles and Lena Whitford as their niece.
Arista (uh-RIS-tuh) Daughter of Plaegus and Chandrae, sister of Jireo.
Bardamen (BAR-duh-min) Stone Clan shaman, son of Nordamen.
Barlokaen (BAR-loh-kayn) Water clan warrior.
Bastaeno (bas-TAY-noh) Craedenza archivist.
Chaleah (chu-LEE-uh) Stone Clan judge.
Craeven (KRAY-vin) Water Clan weapons master.
Daegreth (DAY-greth) Water Clan honor guard.
Darielle (DAIR-ee-el) Stone Clan chief of farsight.
Ellavae (EL-uh-vay) Wife of Morander, last known soulmate couple.
Empusa (em-PEW-suh) Water Clan shaman.
Faestus (FAY-stuhs) Grandfather of Markaeus and Haegen.
Faelen (FAY-lin) Stone Clan peddler.
Graely (GRAY-lee) Stone Clan leader, husband of Denalae, father of Kaevin.
Haegen (HAY-gehn) Brother of Markaeus, grandson of Faestus.
Jireo (JEER-ee-oh) Son of Plaegus and Chandrae, best friend of Kaevin, brother of Arista.
Judaene (jew-DAYN) Water Clan honor guard.
Kaevin (KAY-vin) Son of Graely.
Laethan (LAY-thuhn) Stone clan chief healer.
Leethiell (LEE-thee-el) Water Clan shaman.
Malphas (MAL-fuhs) Water Clan shaman.
Meravelle (MAIR-uh-vel) Granddaughter of Bastaeno.
Morander (mor-AN-der) Husband of Ellavae, last known soulmate couple.
Morvaen (mor-VAYN) Stone Clan weapons master.
Nordamen (NOR-duh-min) Stone Clan chief shaman, father of Bardamen.
Raelene (ray-LEEN) Past Stone Clan bearer, mother of Wendelle, grandmother of Alora.