“Yes, if you can manage it.”
“You’re definitely a better person than me, Jena. I will try for your sake though. So…where do we stand? Are we friends or maybe something more?”
“I was hoping you’d still be willing to see me. After everything which happened, I didn’t think you’d ever talk to me again, but here you are.”
“Here I am, and here I’ll always be, Jena. There’s something special between us, and I want to see where it’ll go. Do you feel the same way about me?”
“I do. Can I tell you something and not have you hate me?”
“You can tell me anything.”
“We’ll see. Okay, here goes. Willian and I were supposed to get married when we were eighteen. It was an arranged marriage made when we were both six years old. He was more than just a boyfriend, but we were like oil and water. Between you and me, I think he was jealous of me and…” she was about to say it was because of her ability to use her crystal skills but stopped herself just in time, “…and lately he hasn’t been very nice about our relationship. When he came here professing he’d changed, I had hoped it was true.
“But then I felt guilty because I’d met you. When you and I were together, I felt guilty because I knew I already had someone else, but I liked you more than I ever liked Willian. Trust me; I tried to like him, but he was always saying hurtful things to me. You never did anything like that to me.”
“Thank you for sharing how you felt with me. I had no idea your relationship was arranged. It makes more sense now. I was sort of worried about how casual you were about ending your relationship, but I can tell it was because it wasn’t anything you ever wanted for yourself.”
“Definitely not!”
“Good, then we don’t have to talk about it anymore…unless you want to, of course.”
“Thanks. I think I’d rather talk about us.” She grinned over at him.
“I like the way you’re thinking!” He laughed along with her. His tension had dissolved ever since he realized the true nature of Jena’s feelings for Willian. He had hated thinking she could coldly cast aside her old boyfriend; she just did not seem the type to be so cavalier.
Chapter Twenty-Three
JUILA TRIED NOT to splash the water as she lowered herself through the layer of bubbles and down into the warmth of the tub. Careful to keep her hands dry, she picked up her phone from the edge of the tub. She had shielded her mind from her sister’s so she could have a private phone conversation.
She touched the speed dial and held the phone to her ear. When Behn picked up the call, she said, “I thought you might want to know we came home early.”
“Really? When can I see you? I wanted to talk to you about something important.”
“I guess you could come over. I just got into a hot bath. The only thing covering my naked body is a layer of bubbles.” She kept her voice low in her first attempt at being sexy and sultry.
“I like the sound of that. Tell me more.”
“My skin feels all slippery and wet.”
“Well you are in the water, so I’d expect it,” Behn teased.
“Oh, I give up! I just can’t do sexy; I feel like an idiot!”
“I’m sorry, Juila. I couldn’t resist teasing you.”
“What did you want to talk about?”
“I wanted to ask you how Jena was doing. Is she really okay with Val dating Willian? Is it going to make things weird when we get back to school? Are we still okay?”
“Wow, Behn, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were feeling insecure.”
“Well, what do you think? My sister is now dating your sister’s ex-fiancé.”
“Ex-betrothed, actually. Well, I was thrilled with them breaking up. At first, I was angry at Val for her part in this, but now I know she’s an innocent victim in the whole mess.”
“Oh, good.”
“Besides, I’ve never seen Jena so happy. She even asked our dad if she could be his successor.”
“Successor to what?”
“Are you being serious?”
“Yes. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“My dad is the next in line to become the Elder of the Pantano District when Grandpa Daven steps down or dies. You knew that, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t really know it was a lineage thing. I just assumed Elder Daven was elected to the office, like a Mayor or something.”
“No, the Elders are trained by Jehoban and their son’s inherit the title of successor when they are born. They learn everything the Elders are supposed to do and, when the time comes for them to take the office, they meet with Jehoban and get his blessing and instructions.”
“But Jena isn’t a boy. You just said it went to their sons.”
“That was before Rasa was confirmed as successor to Elder Wilken. It means because Jehoban has given his blessing once he will most likely do it for Jena as well. Jena has a better claim to the title than Rasa did, so I’m sure it’ll work out as she hopes.”
“Why couldn’t she be a successor when she was betrothed to Willian?”
Juila raised her eyebrows in dismay at how little Behn knew about the societal structure of Tuala even though he had been born there. She answered patiently, “Because Willian is Elder Debbon’s successor. Jena could hardly become an Elder herself if she were the wife of another Elder. It would have been impossible to do both.”
“Oh,” Behn said softly, thinking through everything Juila had just told him. He realized there was much he still needed to learn about his mother’s world, which was how he thought about it to himself: his mother’s world. Even though he had been born in Tuala, he had been raised for half of his life on Earth. He did not remember any of the customs of Tuala; he was a foreigner in his homeworld. “Does this mean your family is royalty?”
“I guess. Of a sort. We don’t have kings or queens; we have Jehoban, then the Elders, then the wise-woman, and then finally the town leaders.”
“Definitely royalty then,” Behn determined based on her description of the chain of command. “You know, in ancient times on Earth, the kings would say they were appointed by God. They believed themselves to be the voice of God on Earth, and it was what made them special and untouchable.”
“I guess there is a similarity to royalty then,” Juila admitted. Her bath water was beginning to be too cool to be relaxing. She asked, “So are you going to come over, or what?”
“Sure. I can help you dry yourself off,” he teased.
“If I waited that long for you to get over here then you’d have to chip me out of the ice. I think I can manage on my own,” she retorted.
Behn laughed and said, “Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Hey, do you know when Willian will be bringing Val home? Mom was asking, and I had no idea.”
“How would I know?”
“Because Willian borrowed your mom’s telepod to take her to Manzanit. You didn’t know about it?”
“No. Nobody was here when we got home. We just assumed Mom went somewhere in Tuala for a visit.”
“Oh, well maybe she went with them. She could have decided to visit with Rasa, don’t you think?”
“Sure, it would make sense; they are cousins after all.”
“Wait! What? Like real cousins, not the fake royalty kind of cousins?”
Juila laughed and said, “I’m not sure what fake royal cousins are, but no, my mom’s aunt is Rasa’s mother. She really is our cousin by blood.”
“Wow, what a small world.”
“The worlds are getting smaller by the minute, it seems. Okay, I’m going to hang up so I can get out of this freezing bath. I’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
“Okay, bye.”
Juila flipped her phone shut and tossed it onto a towel folded on the floor a little distance from the tub. The last thing she needed was to get her phone drenched with bathwater and render it useless. Since she had an idea of where their mom might have gone, she opened her mind-link to her si
ster and discovered it remained shut on her sister’s end. “That’s weird,” she muttered to herself as she draped the towel around her body and stepped out of the tub.
She dressed hurriedly and flipped the lever to drain the bath water. Juila grabbed her phone off of the floor and tossed her wet towel over the edge of the almost drained tub. Since she was unable to reach Jena’s mind, she would have to physically locate her in the house.
After finding her sister’s bedroom empty, she continued down the hallway to peer into her own room. Still no closer to finding Jena, she went down the stairs and called out, “Jena? Where are you?” She became concerned when she did not even get a reply. What was happening in their house today? It seemed as though everyone was going missing.
She reached the living room, which was also empty and looked into the equally vacant kitchen. Just as she turned to head down the hallway to the office and library, she caught a flash of motion outside. Her eyebrows rose in astonishment to see Luke sitting outside with her sister. This was a nice turn of events. She thought for certain she would have to pester Jena into calling Luke, and yet there they were chatting and laughing as though he had been there for a while.
Thinking back, she suddenly realized Jena had been the one to first shut off their mind link. “That little sneak,” she murmured as she realized Jena had planned this visit knowing she would have time alone while she bathed upstairs. Then she had to laugh at her sister’s ingenuity because it really was the only way she would have had a private moment with Luke otherwise.
Juila opened the patio door and nonchalantly walked over to the couple. She realized they did look as though they were a couple with how close they were sitting to one another and the way they never lost eye contact. In fact, she did not even think either of them knew she had come outside; they were so involved with one another. She cleared her throat and said, “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“You know you are,” Jena answered snippily after she had jumped in surprise. “I thought you were taking a bath.”
“I was about thirty minutes ago. I had to get out eventually.”
“I suppose.”
“Wow, don’t sound too enthusiastic about it or else I might get a complex.” She sat on the chair Jena had originally been sitting on. “What have I missed?”
Jena blushed furiously and glared at her sister’s presumptive question. “Don’t you have anything else you could be doing right now?”
“No, you have my full attention.”
Jena continued to glare as she reopened their mind link. She shared everything about her conversation with Sofia and an abbreviated version of Luke’s visit in the amount of time it took for three heartbeats.
In the same manner and speed, Juila returned the favor by telling her about her suspicion of where their mother had gone and how Behn was on his way over. She finally relented and stood up and said, “I guess I need to go inside after all.”
Luke watched Jena’s identical twin sister go back inside the house. He turned back to Jena and said, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two had a complete conversation while you stared one another down!” He laughed at Jena’s expression and was glad to have her alone with him again.
You have no idea how right you are, she said to herself. Instead of answering him, she decided to shift his mind to less dangerous ideas. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Intending only for it to be a quick peck, she was surprised when Luke’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer. She felt his tongue on her lips, and she parted them to allow it to go further. Her whole body began to sing with the pleasure she felt at being intimate with Luke. This feeling was nothing like it had been before and she wondered if she had changed so much in so short of a time.
That didn’t take long, Juila teased as she watched the two from the comfort of the living room couch.
Not now, Juila, Jena retorted. Luckily, all she heard was her sister’s chuckle in reply.
Chapter Twenty-Four
AS IT TURNED out, the courier was still having a discussion with Elder Wilken when Rasa, Amanda, and Willian arrived at the conference room. They sat on the bench outside the door while they waited for him to leave. Rasa was fidgeting and anxious to find out what her mentor and friend knew about the descendants of the Watchers.
“Are you sure you heard him say ‘descendants of the Watchers’ Willian?” Rasa asked in a whisper as she tried to make sense of it all.
He nodded emphatically and replied, “Absolutely. Of course, I thought he was joking. What does it matter? You still haven’t told me what this is all about. We have time right now.”
“We may have the time, but this is definitely not the right place. What we were talking about requires absolute secrecy,” Amanda answered quietly even as she watched another staff member cross the corridor in front of them.
“But you will tell me, right?” Willian hated how petulant the question sounded, but he really was earnest in wanting to know.
“If this yields what we think it will, then yes, we’ll have to tell you,” Amanda agreed. Again, she had the feeling it was the right thing to do with Willian. Her senses were reeling with the expectation of what was certainly going to happen. She looked over at Rasa and wondered if she were picking up on her cousin’s excitement.
It was not the definitive answer he had hoped for, but he was going to have to content himself with it for the time being. Besides, because he knew something was afoot, he would keep his eyes and ears open for any other clues even if they decided not to confide with him their secret. From the looks on their faces as they watched him, he believed they knew it was his intention as well.
The conference room door opened and the three of them on the bench each sat there with guilty expressions on their faces. The courier looked at them and wondered what they could have done to warrant such a reaction to his appearance. As Elder Wilken was stepping up behind him, he had no choice but to continue on his way and deliver the news he had gathered to his client.
“To what do I owe the honor of meeting with you three at once?” Elder Wilken asked with a knowing look of amusement in his eyes.
Rasa stood up, faced her mentor, and said urgently “We’d like to talk with you in private if you have the time, Elder Wilken.”
“It sounds important. Come inside then. We can meet right now.” He took a step back, so there was room for the trio to enter into the conference room. Willian was the last to enter, and he quirked his eyebrow in question at the boy, seeing if the young man would give him a clue as to the meaning of the meeting.
Willian saw the look and shrugged his shoulders in ignorance of an answer. He was just as anxious to hear what the women wanted to ask the Elder. When he came to the small seating area near the fire, Willian took the seat furthest away, knowing the Elder’s preference of being near the heat.
Rasa waited for Elder Wilken to get comfortable before she began speaking. “Willian has told us something rather interesting which we would like to discuss with you.”
“Go ahead,” Elder Wilken responded, and his eyes shifted to look at Willian. He wondered why the boy had denied knowing the meaning of this meeting if he had been the one to bring it up to the women.
Interpreting the look correctly, Rasa clarified, “Willian came to look for Amanda, and he overheard our private conversation. When he asked us more about it, he explained how he had just come from meeting with you.”
“Yes, that much is true.” He turned to Willian and admonished, “What have I told you about knocking before you enter a room? This is what comes of listening in on other people’s conversations.”
“Don’t be too hard on him, especially if what he told us is true,” Amanda interjected in Willian’s defense.
Willian was starting to feel pretty bad about where the conversation had been heading. Having Amanda stand up for him raised his opinion of her immensely.
“Well, what did he tell you then? You have me very curious,” Elder Wilken
leaned forward with an eager expression.
Rasa continued, “He said you joked about being a descendant of the Watchers. Were you joking or is it true?”
Wilken leaned back slowly and sighed. “So it has come to this, has it? I’ve lived for one-hundred and thirty-seven anons, and I never expected to have the knowledge come to any use.”
“Are you saying it’s true then?” Amanda asked earnestly. She could feel her pulse quicken with excitement. Elder Wilken could be the first descendant she had ever met which made her wonder what had happened to the others.
Elder Wilken sighed heavily again and nodded, “Yes. It is true I’m one of the last descendants still living.”
“Do you have the samara then?” Rasa asked impatiently. When Elder Wilken’s eyes glanced hard at her in surprise, she could have kicked herself for not being more respectful with her question.
“What do you know of the samaras?” he asked in an accusatory manner.
Amanda decided to step in and speak since she had been the one to start the whole matter. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper containing the expanded prophecy and handed it across the small table to Elder Wilken. “Read this, and let us know what you think.”
More than a little curious, Elder Wilken accepted the paper and unfolded it. He turned its writing toward the fire to help his old eyes read the hand-written words.
FROM A FAR-AWAY LAND, THERE WILL COME IN TIME, INTUITION IS IN HAND, STRANGE DETAILS KNOWN, WITH TIES TO THE PEOPLE. FROM ONE OF MY OWN, THERE WILL BE A SIGN. THOSE BORN TO THIS ONE, WILL TRANSFORM ALL. LUCINDEN WILL PURSUE, ELDERS WILL FALL, THEN ALL MADE NEW.
TAKE COMFORT IN ONE ANOTHER, COMBINED YOU WILL SEE. BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND, KNOW WHAT YOU DO, THEN YOU CAN BE.
His mind reeled with the implications of the two paragraphs. “Where did you get this? Do you know what this means?” How they answered would determine what he would share.
“Yes. When we first received this message in the Elders’ Instructional Guide, there was a group of us which were brought before Jehoban. He informed us it was our task to fulfill what is written.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 73