He’d chosen not to. Kyle had chosen to put himself on the path he was on. Her mind was unsettled by the thought and ran in circles, waves of sadness and anger washed through her.
Jess screamed as the rage, sadness, pain and loss consumed her. Once more, the whispering across the veil paused, almost like they were waiting to see which way she would go.
Jess forced down the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her and settled once more. She found that she was standing in the middle of the clearing, her blades in hand, raised, ready to kill. Shaken, since she didn’t remember standing or drawing her blades or what she had intended to kill, Jess sheathed her blades, allowing the calmness to wash over her. Another part of her brain analysed the effect. It wasn’t just calmness. She was dispassionate, calculating. She could kill or not kill as she chose.
Jess threw her head back and laughter erupted, ringing through the small haven she’d created for herself. Alex, this is what Alex had done. The path through the madness he had taken. That he’d chosen to take. Once again, Jess didn’t know why or how he’d come to that moment. In one way she could see why, it was easier than dealing with all the new and raw, overpowering emotions. Yet Jess knew from what she had been going through that it was possible to exert control, to tread that path between, courting madness. Then there were those that were of the Sundered. The mad ones didn’t choose a path. It was likely they didn’t have enough knowledge to know there were options. They had likely just been overwhelmed with the power crashing over and through them, their minds breaking under the strain.
That was one problem with transition: it was a gradual change. At first you thought you were on top of it, that you could control it. Then you woke, and the world was crashing in on you.
Jess thought about where she belonged now. While it was a difficult decision to come to, she knew she could not go back to the palace at this point. She was too dangerous to all around her. At least until she learned control, and after her interactions with Damien, she knew she would. A path crystallised in her mind.
Kyle was keeping close to the world of the Sundered Lord, learning everything he could about them, she was certain of that now. There was more to Simon, he had the Taint, and yet Alex’s memories from meeting him showed he was not mad not like the Sundered they had met and killed.
Alex was following the path of the broken, tracking and going after the Sundered ones. To kill them, she felt certain, but also to help them if he could, to discover why they were breaking in such numbers. Those poor souls who had been left to themselves with no training or understanding of who and what they were. Those who had sunk to madness. Those who had been deserted by their own kind and left to die or live as luck and chance would have it.
Jess considered her own path and concluded that with her brothers grasping the end of one path in this new world and seeking to unravel its inner workings, it was up to her to follow the only other path left. The Elder. They existed. And as she contemplated everything that had occurred she believed she knew where to start. Damien, there was more to him than she’d realised, of that she was now certain. If Damien wasn’t one of the Elder, she was certain he knew where to find them. Those that controlled and had far more influence on the human world, which went on, oblivious that the other world existed.
Jess smiled cynically. Except the King. Jess knew the King and William must know much more about the world within their world than they had let on. Jess felt her mind settle as she came to her own decision. She stood and walked the path between the worlds, the glade in the forest she had created dissipating as she disappeared into the grey fog, obscuring her from any casual observers. Then she paused, her eyes narrowing as another thought occurred to her; sudden anger washed over her, only this time she didn’t stop it.
Damn it, Uncle! You’re not dead. You’re not some otherworldly trainer from the veil. None of you are. You are all Kin.
Jess screamed her words out into the veil. She felt the veil quieten in response, the ever-present whispering pause as others like her and those further along their paths listened and took note before continuing with their various pursuits.
38
Amelia
Amelia walked through the hallways of the Summer Palace, making her way to the Complex of the Fourth. Her dress trailed behind her, along with assorted guards and ladies who seemed to have become a permanent fixture since she’d been made the Consort Elect of the Fourth. She paid them no mind at all. She hadn’t since Alex had disappeared. The ladies chatted; Amelia knew of that if only peripherally, though she didn’t care enough to listen.
She was always watched, never truly alone. Her mind went back to the warning Kyle had given her about there being a price to pay for being in the inner circle of the Royal Family. She smiled a little bitterly as she realised that while at the time she hadn’t understood the warning, now she did. It was a beautiful cage she lived in, gilded with gold and all the trappings, but it was still a cage. A part of her wished she’d listened to Kyle. The other part of her heart cried out. He was gone and she was lost, locked in a cage of her own devising.
The only solace she had was that at least in the Complex of the Fourth she had some refuge from the rest of the court. She had to get there.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she raised her hand as she entered the Complex of the Fourth. The guards stepped into the path of the gaggle of ladies that had been following her, blocking their entry into the complex that had become her home. She could hear the disappointment as she left them behind, yet again. The doors closed behind her with a thump.
Amelia walked the familiar hallways into the garden, her pace measured. Turning her head, she murmured thanks and waved her hand at the guards. They stopped at the entrance as she bid them to. It was not like anyone could get to her here. It was a garden in the middle of the compound that few had access to. The garden was wild; Alex had liked it that way and ordered that it remain as it had been since he was a small boy. The trees were old; vines ran up the walls, garden beds were overgrown. Yet still, despite it all, she found it soothing. She could block out the guards on the walls and the entrance. All of them looking at her, watching her, looking for anyone else that might be after her. Their only goal was to keep her safe.
Amelia’s careful, measured pace faltered as she came to the mausoleum at the centre of the garden. Four guards were standing to attention at each corner, facing outward, swords drawn, grasped in a double-handed grip, raised with the hilt across their faces, the tip planted in the ground.
Die, I deserve to die.
What have I done?
I’m damned, evil.
The sobs Amelia had been holding at bay escaped her as she collapsed, skirts billowing around her, face in her hands as the insistent whispering voices filled her head.
About the Author
Catherine M Walker was born in a small country town in Western Australia but now resides in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. Not being interested in sports she dived into reading and writing. Determined to enter a short story competition while still in high school Catherine and her best friend started writing. Six exercise books later they both realised that perhaps the short story was a little long. Being an Author and publishing was a ‘one-day’ dream that stretched back to that time in high school. Nothing ever came of that first book, life moved on.
Years later Catherine realised ‘one day’ never happens, life will pass you by if you let it. Of all the childhood dreams fulfilled to date one that hasn’t been is to be a published Author. Of course, flying an X Wing Fighter and blowing up the Death Star hasn’t either, but one dream at a time. Right?
Shattered Dreams is Catherine's debut book in The Being of Dreams. If you’d like to know more about Catherine’s work including the upcoming second book, Path of the Broken visit:
https://www.catherinemwalker.com
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