A Time of Darkness (The Circle of Talia) (23 page)

Arcon spoke.
“That dream is a true dream. But before you go screaming down the hall, it may not mean what you think it means. Your life is not necessarily going to end in the belly of a dragon.”

“But it might?” asked Bronwyn.

Arcon pursed his lips. “Well, there are no guarantees, of course. From what this prophecy says, you and Blayke will join the amulet so it becomes one. What happens after that involves fire, but who and even
if
someone dies is another matter. I’m sure those prophesy writers got a kick out of knowing they were going to scare some poor realmists one day in the future.”

Blayke spoke, the words rushing out in a single breath. “But someone does die.”

Everyone looked at him.

“You don’t know that, lad,” said Arcon.

Blayke stood up. He couldn’t believe he’d almost given away the painful secret he’d been keeping since the last activation. Not wanting to alarm his family, he sat back down, took some calming breaths and lied. “No, I suppose I don’t. But what if I am right? Isn’t there another way to fight the gormons and win?”

Arcon shook his head. “That’s enough speculation. I only read the prophesy out so you had some expectation of what might happen. I didn’t want to scare everyone. We can
all do this. We have the strength to fight. After we finish the second activation tonight, we’ll head back to Bayerlon: I’m sure King Edmund will need us, and it’s the perfect place to plan a war. The other thing we need to think about is initiating you two into The Circle.”

Bronwyn and Blayke let their mouths hang open. They had been working their whole lives just so they could become members of The Circle, but neither really believed they’d ever be good enough.
“Okay,” continued Arcon, “it’s time for dinner; then we have some amulets to bless.”

Instead of going to the dining hall, Bronwyn thought she’d help serve the meal: maybe she could get
Corrille to see she really did care. Entering the bustling space, she approached the head cook. “What can I do to help?”

The chubby woman smoothed her white apron with work-worn fingers. “You can take any full bowls to the table. You’ll find everything that’s to be served over there.” She pointed to the timber table in the middle of the room that doubled as the dining table for
kitchen staff. Bronwyn almost walked into Corrille, who held a hot terrine filled with roast potatoes, baked pumpkin slices, and eggplant, with cloths to protect her fingers.

“You want to help
? Here.” She shoved the dish at Bronwyn, who grabbed it—without the cloths. Bronwyn, not near the table, dropped to her knees, hurriedly thumped the terrine on the floor and looked at her blistered, red hands. Concentrating through tears, she channeled a trickle of power from the Second Realm—not enough that anyone would be alerted—and sped up the growth of new skin cells until her hands were a healthy pink, the pain gone.

By the time she looked up, Corrille
had left. The cook stood over her. “Are you all right? That will leave a nasty burn. Here: use this wet cloth to cool the skin.”

“No
. It’s okay. I took care of it.” Bronwyn held up her hands to show the woman, then grabbed the cloths Corrille had dropped on the floor beside the dish. Bronwyn wasn’t usually vindictive, but this had to stop. She seethed.
How dare she! What in The Third Realm was she thinking? That bitch. She’ll think Avruellen is a docile milkmaid by the time I’m done with her. Just you wait, Corrille. When you least expect it, expect it.

When Bronwyn finally sat down, Sinjenasta, tearing at a shoulder of venison in the corner, spoke
,
What happened? Are you all right
?

Trying to be obtuse
, she said,
What do you mean? Oh, yes
. Bronwyn remembered feelings carried through the bond. There were times you could mask emotions or pain, but she hadn’t been thinking when it happened, and Sinjenasta was in such close proximity that of course he would have felt it.
Corrille happened. She handed me a hot plate on purpose and I burnt my fingers
.

Bronwyn spooned some of the vegetables
onto her plate, stabbing a potato forcefully before shoving it in her mouth.

She’s proving to be a real little
troublemaker. Would you like me to take care of her
?

Bronwyn
turned to look at the panther.
You can’t kill her
!

Sinjenasta laughed
.
I wasn’t going to kill her, just scare her a bit.

No
, it’s okay. I think I should take care of this myself.

Okay, but if you need any help, just call out.
He winked.

You’re a bad, bad panther
, but thanks, Sinje. I’ll be sure to let you know if anyone needs scaring
. Bronwyn turned to Avruellen. “When will we start? Will it be straight after dinner?”

“No. We’ll start just before midnight. I’ll call you before it’s time
, and you can meet us outside the library. From there we’re going to a special room they have here for prayer and rituals. In the meantime, I suggest you relax and get yourself focused. What we’re going to do will be very dangerous.”

Bronwyn almost rolled her eyes. “Really? You don’t say.”

“No need to get clever, young lady. The time I don’t say it will be the time something happens.”

“Stop worrying
, Auntie. I know it’s dangerous, but if something’s going to happen, it will, whether you warned me beforehand or not.” Bronwyn wondered how old she would be before Avruellen stopped treating her like a child.

“One day you’ll wish you had been more careful or more prepared: it’s happened to me before.
If we had been more prepared, Augustine wouldn’t have died.” Avruellen suddenly looked all of her hundreds of years. Bronwyn hadn’t realized her aunt still thought about that disaster. She’d assumed Avruellen would have suffered many such losses and would have put it aside, but apparently she hadn’t.

“Sorry. I’ll be careful
—don’t worry.” Bronwyn leaned over and squeezed Avruellen’s shoulder. Bronwyn finished dinner and decided to spend some time outside, where she could relax by listening to the water caressing the shore. Bronwyn took her boots off and walked barefoot through the scratchy coastal grass. Reaching the cool sand, she sighed. Rolling up her tight-fitting trousers, she waded into the water until she was shin-deep.

The light from the monastery didn’t reach the water and Bronwyn gazed up at an uninterrupted view of the night sky. It looked to her like glass had shattered into a billion tiny fragments on a black marble floor, catching the light and reflecting cold, stark beauty. Although reminded of the symbols in the Second Realm, Bronwyn felt alone—a miniscule spectator
unnoticed by the vastness of the realms. She wondered where her mother was and if she missed her.

“What are you doing?”

Bronwyn jumped and turned, warmth spreading through her when she saw Toran. “Oh, for the gods’ sakes. You scared me. I was just taking some time to get myself together before the thing we have to do.”

“The activation
, you mean? Don’t worry; Arcon told me all about it.”

“Why would he do that? Everything we’ve done so far has been super secret. I wasn’t even allowed to tell Corrille.”

“Maybe he trusts me, and maybe he thinks I can help.” Toran waded in to stand beside Bronwyn, close enough that he could have reached out and held her hand.

“Hmm, maybe. Anyway, what are you doing out here?” Bronwyn looked straight ahead at the moonlight shining a shimmering path to the horizon. She wished he would reach over and take her hand.

“I have some exciting news I wanted to share.”

“Ooh, I love exciting news.
What is it?”

“I told Arcon I wanted to learn how to be a realmist. He placed his hands
over my ears, and I felt a warm tingling in my head, and then he said yes. I’m coming with you when you leave.”

When Bronwyn turned to smile, he was looking at her with a large grin. “It will be so
great to have company! Corrille and Blayke have been keeping to themselves lately. It’ll be nice to have someone my age to talk to. I’m glad you’re coming.”

Bronwyn was happy it was dark and he couldn’t see her blush.

“Me too.”

So, what’s going on here
?

Bronwyn jumped for the second time th
at night. A large shadowy shape—Sinjenasta—stood two feet behind her. She spoke aloud. “Toran has some good news, Sinje. He’s coming with us when we leave.” Toran turned to see who Bronwyn was talking to.

Sinjenasta’s mind
voice was dry. “That’s good news? Hmph. Anyway, it’s time to come in now; I don’t think Avruellen would like it if she knew you were out here, alone, with a strange boy.”

“He’s not strange!”

“Who’s not strange?”

“Sorry
, Toran; I was talking to Sinjenasta. He says my aunt wouldn’t like it if I was alone out here with a strange boy, and unfortunately, he’s right. Um, not the strange part. I don’t think you’re strange.”

“It’s okay,” he
said with a laugh, “I’ve been called worse. Come on. I’d hate to get you into trouble.”

Bronwyn retreated to the library, and the panther followed.
A pile of silky, gold-fringed cushions in the corner attracted Bronwyn, and she fell into their softness and folded her arms, glaring at Sinjenasta. “So, spoilsport, what have you been up to?”

What do you mean
‘spoilsport
?’ Sinjenasta sat elegantly in front of her, curling his tail around to lie on his front paws.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Toran’s nice and it’s the first time I’ve had someone my own age
—and species—to talk to for a while.” Bronwyn looked in her creatura’s eyes. “I feel lonely sometimes.”

Lonely? How can you be lonely with the bond we have, with your aunt here and now your brother
?

“Well, I like knowing you’re around, and I would miss you if you weren’t, but it’s just not the same. I mean, you’re way older than me and you’re a panther. Oh
, don’t look so offended!” Bronwyn kneeled and stroked his head. “Sometimes I need a human to talk to—one that isn’t going to tell me what to do and judge me. I know Avruellen loves me, but it’s hard to have fun conversations with her, and Blayke’s busy with my former best friend, in case you’d forgotten.”

Do I look old
?

“What? No. It’s not like you have gray fur or anything, but I’m figuring you have to be at least a few
hundred-years old. Do you want to tell me how old you are?” Sinjenasta shook his head. “I didn’t think so. Anyway, I like Toran; he’s really nice and he’s cute, and I don’t want you messing things up for me. Okay?”

Sinjenasta narrowed his eyes and let th
e silence settle for a moment.
Hmm, okay, but I’ll be keeping an eye on him. Trust me: you can’t trust young men—they’re all after one thing
.

“And what would that be?” Bronwyn’s raised an eyebrow.

Hasn’t Avruellen had
the talk
with you? Never mind
. The panther grumbled.

“Oh,
that
talk. Can we change the subject?”

Gladly.
Are you ready for tonight
?

“As ready as I could ever be for something unknown.” Bronwyn pushed down the nervousness bubbling inside.
“I’m a bit scared, actually. Does that make me a bad realmist?”

F
ear is normal. It means you’ll be careful. Just don’t let it interfere with what you have to do. You must be focused and strong, and make sure you’re not easily distracted. I have a feeling you’ll be tested tonight in a way you haven’t been before. The amulet won’t want to be controlled by a person who is not worthy. Tonight is about proving yourself as much as it’s about surviving the activation
.

“
Surviving
the activation? Thanks for reminding me.” Another tide of adrenalin washed through her body. “Sinje, if you’re going to stay, do you think you could distract me? Tell me about your family.”

The panther’s e
ars twitched while he thought.
My family’s long-dead. I can hardly remember them
.

“Was there ever a
Missus
Panther?”

Sinjenasta laughed.
You could call her that. We had three cubs. They were young when Drakon took me away, but I was able to keep an eye on them as they grew. They had children of their own and so on, but the descendants who are left are so far removed from me that I don’t feel anything towards them
.

“
Oh. That’s sad. What was your wife’s name?”

Arabella. I do think of her sometimes, but
not often. It was so long ago.

“Do you ever get lonely?”

The panther didn’t answer. He lay down and rested his head on his paws. Bronwyn snuggled next to him and sneezed. “Damn allergy,” she complained and sneezed again. She found comfort next to her big cat so weathered the sneezing. By the time Avruellen came looking for them, they had fallen asleep.