Lost Heart: A Celta Novella (Celta HeartMate Series)

by Robin D. Owens

  An attractive fragrance came from it. Honeysuckle.

  Bemused, she set the crate she held on the floor and stepped toward the shelf.

  The closer she got the more wonderful the scent, not only honeysuckle but some fragrance that reminded her so much of seaspray that surf crashed and ebbed in her mind. She touched the spine and the sparks ran up and down her fingers to her wrist and back. She gasped, her hand hovered, but the surf and the scent and the riffling of her Flair kept her fingers moving forward until she gripped the book. The surf swept up her arm, across her shoulder, descended in a wave down her torso, nestled in her heart.

  She drew the volume from the shelf, feeling the embedded anti-grav spell. On the front cover, picked out in silver and gold that gleamed real metal, was a map, the well-known peninsula where Nuada's Sword had landed, where the very city she stood in was located. But off the coast, outlined in gold, lay an island she'd never seen on any other map or ever heard of. Fascinating. More than fascinating, intriguing, arousing her curiosity as much as the book itself stimulated her Flair.

  Smoothing her hand over the cover, opening it, increased the tingles coursing through her. Then the pages flipped fast and stopped at a holographic portrait of a man a little older than her with hair the color of her sister Glyssa's foxy red, though his green eyes appeared much like Enata's own. He smiled and looked so much like her father that she glanced down at the caption: Reglis Landu Licorice, CHOSEN, oldest child of Rhiza D'Licorice and Fasic Almond T'Licorice. Siblings: Enata Losa Licorice – her! – and Glyssa Nella Licorice.

  She remembered her brother!

  Enata dropped the book, but it stayed open in mid-air to the holo of her brother, Reglis.

  Tentatively, she skittered a tiny step forward. The page flipped and the holo of the man turned into one of her whole Family, the PublicLibrarian Licorices. Her father with his arm around her mother's waist, his hand on Reglis' shoulder who stood in front of their parents. He had one arm around Enata, the other around Glyssa.

  From their ages, the holo appeared no older than earlier that year.

  Enata touched the book, and the page flicked back to her brother's portrait. He grinned.

  Her mind burst as memories pounded into her and she reeled against the sturdy shelving on the left wall. Her knees gave way and she collapsed hard on her butt.

  She remembered her big brother! All the times he'd irritated her or soothed her hurts or teased her. Long conversations under the diamond star-bright night summer sky, and holding hands with him during rituals.

  Enata clasped her fingers together. She recalled so well his energy passing through her, mingling with each member of their Family, enriching them all.

  Tears flowed and she found herself making little wounded animal noises. How could she have forgotten her brother? How?

  He'd been the heir to their mother, would have become T'Licorice, taking the male title of Head of the Household. In Enata's memory there had been a few months now and again when the heirship had bounced from her to Glyssa, then back again – a result of losing Reglis? And no one, no one, had made any reference to him. Neither her parents nor her sister. He must have vanished from their memories, too.

  Chosen. What did that mean? It echoed in her mind like the surf, becoming so loud the word lost its shape and meaning, falling away to softness so all she heard was the "ssss" of waves.

  She wanted to see that word again. Chosen.

  The book yet floated above her head. She tried getting up, but fell back on her bruised bottom. Sniffling, she rolled to her hands and knees, then pushed to her feet. She blinked at the bobbing volume, trying to focus.

  Feeling stiff, she read the events of her brother's life. Images flashed into her head.

  FirstLevel Librarian, Enata Licorice, we are awaiting the recordspheres! her mother's voice, the GrandLady D'Licorice, slapped telepathically into her mind, yanking her attention away from the floating book.

  Enata caught her breath on a gasp, touched the volume. It sent a sizzling shock through her fingers, smacked shut, and whisked back to the shelf . . . and the sparks faded and an extra shroud of darkness descended over that particular shelf . . . and Enata recognized the standard books now front and center.

  Enata Licorice, what is keeping you? demanded her mother mentally.

  Enata hurried to the door, bent down to pick up the small wooden crate holding the vital spheres and pain stabbed through her head. Straightening slowly, she stood wobbling and dizzy, and her derriere hurt for some reason.

  She scanned the vault. Everything was right and orderly.

  Enata! shouted D'Licorice in her mind.

  Enata sucked in air through her teeth. Despite her throbbing head, she decided to teleport to the pad nearest to the conference room. She hesitated. Something didn't seem right. She coughed at the dryness in her throat . . . but resolved to come back. Shutting the door, she set the security spells.

  A couple of minutes later, D'Licorice frowned as Enata bustled into the conference room. "Thank you for retrieving the recordspheres," D'Licorice said in an icy tone.

  After setting the small crate of spheres on the table, Enata nodded to her mother, her father, and the scry panel showing Captain Ruis Elder who looked in from the starship Nuada's Sword. With the touch of D'Licorice's fingers, the static image of the first recordsphere projected onto the long opposite wall – showing the peninsula Druida City perched on and the uninterrupted sea to the west.

  "Enata, you look pale," stated her father, T'Licorice.

  She put a hand to her head. The teleportation had nauseated her. "I'm sorry, I don't feel well." She'd been fine earlier in the day, but in addition to her headache, sick stomach, and hurt bottom, she felt generally ill.

  "You may remove yourself from the Library for the rest of the day," D'Licorice said.

  "Thank you." Instead of teleporting again, Enata walked down the ramps to the basement and through the tunnel from the PublicLibrary to D'Licorice Residence and up the steps to her bedroom. As she waved the windows thick and opaque, a stray stream of sunlight caught her fingernails. They glittered with silver and gold instead of being a natural tint. A very strange circumstance she'd think about later.

  * * *

  A Week And A Half Later

  Enata had behaved poorly, and disliked herself.

  The fact she hadn't slept the whole night through for fourteen days, since the beginning of the month, was no excuse. Nor that she knew something ate at her, but only recalled it now and then. An uneasiness seemed to live under her skin that she couldn't shake, part depression, part deep loneliness, part physical infirmity.

  Her sister, Glyssa, had returned to the city, glowing with health and love. Glyssa had traveled across the continent and worked on the exciting project of the excavation of the starship, Lugh's Spear. And found her HeartMate. She hadn't, quite, fulfilled her career goals.

  Enata had taken out her resentment at Glyssa's good fortune on her sister in a professional meeting before their parents, the other FirstLevel Librarians, challenged her competency.

  Glyssa had responded with love and understanding and Enata had backed down.

  A knock came on Enata's sitting room door. Glyssa. No, Enata didn't want to speak to her sister who fizzed with happiness. Tiredly, Enata tried to recall the last time she'd even been content — before her sister had left on her quest last month.

  "I have hot cocoa, with white mousse and cocoa sprinkles just as you like!" Glyssa called.

  Enata blinked, curiosity piqued. Hot cocoa on a summer's night, and a rich luxurious drink she didn't think any of the no-time food storage units — bespelled cabinets where meals and drinks stayed at the same temperature as they were when put in — had on hand. Hauling herself from her chair, she scuffed across to the door and opened it to her sister, who held two drinks.

  A pang squeezed Enata. Glyssa always seemed closer to her friends than Enata herself, they rarely spent time together.

  She
inhaled deeply of the comforting scent, though it wasn't honeysuckle and that odd thought irritated. Where had it come from? Strangeness had invaded her life. One morning she'd found herself in bed with a foggy and dead recordsphere in her hand.

  Meanwhile Glyssa stood at the threshold and Enata belatedly recalled that she'd gone to the attics the day after Glyssa had left for Lugh's Spear, and brought down new-to-her furniture to redecorate.

  "Nice," Glyssa said.

  Enata shrugged. "It had been more than a decade since I'd changed my rooms."

  Glyssa nodded.

  "Where did you get the cocoa? It's not accessible from any of the regular no-times until after Halloween," Enata said.

  "I took it from the ritual no-time."

  Enata felt her eyes widen at accessing a ritual no-time and taking food prepared for a rite on a whim. She'd never thought of doing that. Glyssa dared and carried through on her daring.

  "That's not a good look for you," Glyssa admonished. She handed Enata the mug and it felt good on her sensitive palms.

  Then Glyssa pushed open the door and glided to a wing chair upholstered in deep teal furrabeast leather. The color made her think of spring shading into the bolder colors of summer. A twinge tightened the muscles on her neck.

  Glyssa said, "I've learned that enjoying the moment is important. The hot cocoa drink option in the ritual no-time was completely full. So we should use some."

  That sounded reasonable. They were adults. Of course their parents could still disapprove and scold, or the intelligent house itself, D'Licorice Residence.

  "Sounds right," Enata said. It took all her strength to stand up straight and pretend everything was fine. "What do you want?" She'd thought Glyssa would be with her HeartMate.

  Glyssa lifted her brows and Enata rolled her eyes and sighed. Her tongue had tripped again. "Sorry for the rudeness," she said, and that came out more snotty than weary, too. Better she sounded rude rather than hurting. Picking up her feet carefully, Enata headed to a comfortchair.

  "I have a plan," Glyssa said.

  "Of course you do." Enata suppressed a sigh as she settled onto the chair. Now she thought about it, she'd awakened here a couple of times in the last fourteen days.

  Sipping her cocoa, Glyssa said, "I think we should buy an appointment for you with the matchmaker, Saille T'Willow."

  That had Enata gasping, "Such expense." But her heart began to beat hard.

  "You're worth it. And you're the only one without a HeartMate this generation. You deserve that from the rest of us."

  Oh, Lady and Lord! Could a matchmaker find Enata a good husband? Such hope pulsed through her. Hope . . . and fear, what if she didn't have a good match, either? Stupid sleeplessness, eroding her self confidence. She could have love in her life. "You think?"

  "Yes, I do, and we can make a good case for our parents."

  Enata's emotions wavered. "The expense!" They were a frugal, scholarly Family, not putting much stock in wealth and status. They had to preserve the legacy they'd inherited. Should always be ready to fund the PublicLibrary themselves if the Councils failed. That had happened on Earth.

  "Gilt is not as important as happiness," Glyssa said. "We all know that."

  "Ye-es." Enata put her hand to her head, her mind spun and she felt such a mixture of emotions she couldn't speak.

  "And it isn't as if the return won't be worth it. GreatLord T'Willow will find you a husband, a partner, a helpmeet. You'll be happier, your work will show that. We aren't meant to live alone."

  Only drinking noises punctuated the silence. The luxury of cocoa with white mousse and sprinkles fully matched its decadent fragrance — and she tasted an added kick of mouth-heating liquor. Enata studied her sister who'd spoken of being happier with a partner. "You believe that."

  "Yes, I do."

  "It's easier to believe if you have a HeartMate." Enata believed that.

  Glyssa said, "Perhaps. And I think we need to put it in the Licorice ResidenceLibrary database, that all individuals without HeartMates will be allowed an appointment with the T'Willow or D'Willow matchmaker, if they choose."

  "I like that idea," Enata said.

  "T'Willow has a ninety-eight percentile success rate with matching people, and usually the process takes from a month to a year. Just think, some man out there for whom you are perfect, is as alone and as lonely as you."

  "No doubt HeartMates are matched quicker than the rest of us," Enata said, blinking away sudden tears. A year from now she could be wed! Meanwhile, she'd work on her emotional state and getting healthier.

  She sat up straight. Set the alcohol laden drink aside. "Let's convince the parents."

  Chapter 3

  Four Days Later

  Enata sat, vibrating with nerves, on the way to GreatLord Saille T'Willow and her matchmaking appointment. The glider moved through the lush greenery of the high status noble estates. Her emotions swung from irritation at herself to hope to fear to . . .

  Her parents and sister had HeartMates in this lifetime and she didn't.

  That made her believe she was unworthy of such a gift, and inadequacy gnawed at her.

  In a fit of exuberance and fear, Enata had invited her sister and her sister's HeartMate, Jace Bayrum, along to the appointment. Enata plucked at the sleeve of her formal gown of deep burgundy that complemented her auburn hair and the green embroidery the same shade of her eyes. She wanted to look perfect — worthy of a good match.

  Then the glider pulled into the courtyard of T'Willow Residence and soon the three of them were admitted to the GreatLord's office. The left wall showed plants pressed against the glass of a conservatory, the other walls dark wood paneling. Each piece of furniture was a well-kept antique.

  The GreatLord himself came toward her and the crucial nature of her appointment struck her. She stopped, frozen.

  She'd met the GreatLord at rituals, a man slightly taller than standard, with chestnut hair and blue eyes. His fine features proclaimed him of the highest class.

  He studied Glyssa and Jace. Enata turned and watched, but saw nothing unusual. Glyssa's hair was as rusty as her fox Fam's, and her eyes green like their mother's. Jace stood taller than T'Willow, with a leaner frame, hair dark brown with a touch of red. His narrow face held silver-gray eyes with a hint of wildness that made Enata wary.

  Then GreatLord T'Willow took her cold fingers and led her to a cushioned comfortchair. She sensed a stream of professional reassurance from him. "Thank you for seeing me, GreatLord," Enata said.

  T'Willow inclined his torso. "You are quite welcome." This time he smiled, also professionally, but looking as if she sincerely interested him. She let out a quiet breath.

  With a wave of his hand, the thick arm of the chair sank, then the chair itself lowered.

  She flinched but stayed standing.

  His smile encouraged. "I promise you, this will be painless. As I told you and your relatives, from your background and Family history, I'm certain I can match you in the next few months."

  With a nod, she squeezed his fingers, showing her confidence in him.

  He straightened abruptly, reached out and took her other hand. Then his expression went impassive and his gaze distant. Great Flair radiated from him, sizzling uncomfortably through their linked hands, spreading through her in what felt like a net sifting and examining her. She flushed hot at being so intimately weighed.

  An eternal moment passed before T'Willow dragged in a breath and released Enata's hands. She allowed herself one long shudder.

  "My apologies for initiating the scanning spell so quickly without an interview," he said. "Please, take the chair."

  Her knees had weakened and she felt fully as awful as every time she'd left Secure Vault Prime this month.

  This fateful morning she'd surrendered to continual ill health and had taken a tonic the Healer had prescribed when Enata had gone in early for her annual health check. The potion had removed the last of the lingering headache, nausea, and musc
le cramps. Now they'd returned.

  She slipped into the chair and smoothed her gown around her, then linked her fingers and kept them close to her waist.

  "Pardon me for a moment," the GreatLord said and crossed to his chair behind his centuries-old desk. He sat and turned toward the scryscreen inset into the paneled wall. "D'Licorice at the PublicLibrary, please." He shot a glance toward Enata. "That's where your parents will be, correct?"

  "Yes," Enata said, her heart pulsing fast. Why would T'Willow want to speak to her parents? Could he not match her?

  Clearing her throat, Enata said, "Neither of my parents had appointments outside the Library, though Father may be working at home."

  "D'Licorice here." Their mother appeared in the screen. "T'Willow? Is everything all right?" Her gaze went past him. "Enata?"

  Words rushed from Enata, "I don't know what's going on."

  "I suggest you and your husband join us for the consultation," T'Willow said smoothly. "At once. Matchmaking at your level is always a Family matter."

  Enata's mother's brows rose, then she smiled though tears showed in her eyes. "We'll be right there–" She stopped, swallowed her smile. "Enata? You permit?"

  "Yes," Enata said in a small voice, still unsure what was happening.

  "We'll be right there." D'Licorice signed off.

  "Private screen and channel," T'Willow said. His hands waved in a pattern for a call to a Family that Enata didn't know.

  "Glyssa?" Enata said plaintively, all her muscles tense. She wanted support.

  Glyssa and Jace came over to flank Enata. She gave Glyssa one of her hands that Enata suspected might be clammy, then offered her other hand to Jace. Hesitantly, he enveloped it. "Thank you," she whispered. "Brother."

  He flinched and Enata frowned. She'd thought he'd accepted her — them — better.

  "Here," said a man's voice from the darkened scry screen. Enata frowned. She should know that voice. Almost . . .

  "This is Saille T'Willow. I suggest you send your brother to me at T'Willow Residence immediately."