Midnight's Song (41 page)

“SILENCE!” She said. She was dressed
in a nun’s garb, unexpectedly standing with the servants when it
would be thought that she’d be elsewhere. “Now, I haven’t been here
to see what’s caused you to fall into such ruckus – but I have
reason to ask you all if this would have anything to do with Lady
Elissa.”

Emily stepped down off of the table in
silence, the entire room following her astonished lead. How could
she have known? What was she doing here?

“Sister Marie,” Jackoby
murmured. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s not of the matter right now. I
only want to know if you are also worried about Lady Elissa!”
Marie-Katherine exclaimed.

“We are,” Jackoby told
her, still standing on the table. “That is why you must tell us why
you’re here.”

“It is difficult to explain all at
once, but since you must know I’ll tell you. Just a warning,
though, it’s a bit hard for most to believe,” she started. “I’m
here because God told me to be.”

“Oh my…” someone murmured in disbelief
from the center of the crowd. Several others joined in with the
disillusioned bickering.

“Everyone, quiet!” Jackoby
soon stomped when the crowd became rowdy. He was also skeptical,
but he was willing to hear her out. “How precisely did ‘God’ tell
you to come here? If you are here for Elissa, first prove your
allegiance by enlightening us with your true reasons.”

“I need not prove my
allegiance to anyone but my God! I am here because I had a vision.
During my evening meditations, I heard a voice calling to me that
said ‘
Open your eyes.’
When I did, I saw and heard the Lord telling me that Elissa
was in danger. I was told in my vision to come here immediately,
but not to go to the family. Then I saw a great darkness that
loomed above her head and all of ours. There were other things I
saw…” she hesitantly continued. “But they were nearly
undecipherable to me…”

“What other things did you see?
Please, tell me,” Emily suddenly spoke up.

“I saw what appeared
to be Beeti, sitting underneath a cloud of darkness. Her heart was
set on death…her hands…” she stopped for a moment, “coated
in
blood.
”

At the very word, Jackoby
jumped off of the table and cornered the pious woman. He came
exceptionally close to pinning her against the wall. Although she
was known to be a decent woman, Jackoby was remarkably suspicious.
How could she have seen such things?

“Are you involved in this
somehow?!?!” Jackoby snarled. “Tell me the truth; do you know where
Elissa is? Who is behind this, and what conspirator will they use
to harm us next?

“I not am against you,
Jackoby Nielsen. You know I am no loyalist,” Marie-Katherine told
him in a stern but breathy statement. “I came because I saw that
Elissa may have been in danger. As soon as I saw it, I had Father
Joshua mount the horses and send me to the Estate. We have sensed
the presence of dark magic growing for a long time – and Elissa
would no doubt be in jeopardy if there is darkness here. If you
fear the child to be in danger, then I suppose this vision and all
of our inclinations will be proven true. I and my convent are
willing to help you, but if you do not allow me to understand this
then you’ll never know.”

“Marie-Katherine is a
trustworthy woman. I believe her,” Emily softly spoke up as she
wove her way through the crowd. She gently pushed Jackoby aside.
“Sister, I believe your vision was right. I, too saw what you saw.
Now Elissa is missing. Can you help us find her?”

“I will help you in any way I can,”
Marie-Katherine solemnly replied. “Have you been sure to look for
her in the manor?”

“Yes. I looked everywhere.” Emily
quietly responded.

The entire room fell into silence. A
spark of knowledge seemed to spark in Marie-Katherine’s mind. It
was evident all over her face. It seemed that she must have known
something – and surely enough, she did in fact know where I might
have been. This nun had knowledge of the underground world that
most others didn’t. If anything, she sensed that could have been
the place where I was hiding.

“Not everywhere.”

Underground, I began to question my
reason for being there. Aurelian would give me no answers, and it
felt like time was passing by at half speed. I stared into
Aurelian’s eyes, cradled in a warm embrace. Something was strange
about all of this. He wanted to see me – but why here? Why like
this?

“If they’re not mirrors, then what are
they?” I asked him.

“They’re doors.”

There was a split second
afterward in which I fully believed him. Then, my skepticism came
in. I looked at the glass once again and wondered how on earth
these could be windows. Windows are clear – they’re objects that
you peer through. Now I could see our reflections clearly, and I
was positive that these had to be mirrors.

“Aurelian, I see mirrors, not
doors.”

“You see that because you’re only
looking with your earthly eyes,” he bluntly told me in return. “Yes
– they are mirrors to you – but I’m about to show you that they are
much more.”

“Wait,” I cautiously
started, “these are from
your
world?”

“Not exclusively – it belongs to yours
and many others. Except, very few in your world understand how
these windows work.” At that moment, Aurelian quieted to a gentle
whisper. He grasped my hand and led me closer to one of the
mirrors. “They are portals to other worlds.”

“Impossible,” I muttered.

“Elissa,” Aurelian
whispered to me, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “It
is
possible. The world I
come from and many others are ones of untold
magic.
”

As was so common
between us, I fell into immediate silence. We both stood in front
of one of the mirror-like objects, and the closer we got the more
eerie we felt. Was he trying to lure me somewhere? Did he want to
show me something? When we got close enough to the glass, Aurelian
put my hand in his. He gently moved them both onto what I thought
would be the hard surface of a mirror; but when I touched it, our
hands went straight
through.
The surface wasn’t like glass at all – it was
like
water.
It
was a strange and terrifying sensation accompanied with the feeling
I had that Aurelian was about to take me and push me through. I
pulled my hand back in terror.

“What was that?!?!” I
yelped.

“It’s a door to another
world,” he whispered as he clung to me. “Not my world, that’s not
safe right now. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea…I’m so sorry
that I scared you – I just wanted to show you what I meant. I
wanted to show you and perhaps even…take you somewhere.”

As soon as he uttered the
last three words in his sentence, I knew that the prince regretted
it. Even though he’d been brought up to command armies, his
strategy with me wasn’t so perfect. I got the sense that he felt
like he had just been caught in the middle of some sort of dark or
foolish action. Still, I wiped the thought from my mind that it
could have been anything evil. I knew that Aurelian was trustworthy
at heart. However, that didn’t make me any less angry.

“You wanted
to…
take me there?
Why are you trying to steal me away?” I suppose he must have
interpreted that as doubt about his goodness on my part, because I
could almost sense the hurt in his eyes. Instead of answering, he
touched my face.

“You fell,” he remarked. “And now
you’re bleeding.”

“Yes, it’s just a little
scratch. Please tell me why I’m here!”

“I have many reasons. But before I
tell you, I want to show you something.”

At that moment, my
conflict temporarily paused itself. Aurelian suddenly brushed a
hand over my face. He gently pressed his finger onto my injury. It
stung with pain for a moment, the blood still leeching out of it
onto his fingers. Then, I felt a small jolt. It was a burst of
warmth, maybe even an electric shock. All I know is that afterward,
I couldn’t taste the blood anymore. The burning was gone. In a wave
of confusion, I looked across the room at a tall “mirror” stationed
against the wall, and now I could actually see my once-void
reflection in its glass. The reflection didn’t lie – my injury had
been healed.

“Oh, my –” I started in
amazement, forgetting my inquisitions. “You…you…”

“Yes. I fixed it.
That’s something else that I wanted to show you – I mean, I also
wouldn’t stand to see you suffer. But, if you’re forced to know me
I thought it would be fair for you to see who I really
am
.
”

I stood speechlessly for a few
seconds. What could all of this mean? Why was there a sour feeling
in my stomach beginning to suddenly come back? I wanted to ask
these things, but my inquisitiveness was temporarily numbed. I
can’t really explain it – but despite being faced with a subject
deterrent so magnificent I felt completely awful inside.

“So, this is your gift,” I muttered as
I stared at my reflection in shock.

“Yes, one of them.”

“So, there are more?” I
asked. “I know I’ve seen some of your powers before. How many are
there – are there very many?”

“Yes, though not all of them are as
strong. My people are born with talents…we almost all have special
abilities, but there’s always one that’s heightened above all the
others. Sometimes two that are equally as strong. Mine is the
rarest and little understood ability of all.”

“So then that means
that you have the power…to
heal?”
There was silence on both ends. I couldn’t tell
if he was refusing an answer or just waiting for me to figure out
that I had already answered my own question. “Do you use it
often?”

“No,” he later spoke up. “It’s
actually something I haven’t done in quite a while...not since I
was a child.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve had no one in my life to
heal.”

After that, Aurelian
didn’t say a word. I sensed his vulnerability. Then, I realized it.
I was the first person in a very long time – maybe even a lifetime
– who trusted him as he was. I already knew that Aurelian was here
under impossible circumstances, yet I also sensed that there must
have been something in his life that kept him from believing he
could be good. He was trying to prove to me that despite all of the
darkness I’d later realize that he’d been running from – there
was
good
in
him.

“You’ve been alone all
this time, haven’t you?” I softly told him, realizing what meaning
this act must have had. My next words caused astonishment. “I don’t
need reassurance of your goodness. No matter what your powers are,
I’ve always known that.”

“You are a remarkable young woman,” he
told me in an almost-speechless daze.

“And you are a most
unexpected prince!” I flashed a slight smile. Then, it suddenly
occurred to me that I still didn’t know what I was here. The
sentimentality of this all took a sour turn, and I looked at him in
utter seriousness. “Now, tell me. Why am I here?”

I knew that he was
omitting something. After a few moments, my patience was dwindling.
I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes, repeating
myself.

“Why am I here?”

He still didn’t say a word – now
acting almost as if he was waiting for something. I opened my mouth
to angrily ask him one more time when I was suddenly halted by the
loud screeching of the two massive doors opening from the
hallway.

“That’s why.”

Emily and Sister
Marie-Katherine stood cloaked in black before us. Emily was
especially distressed. Covered in sweat, she looked as if she had
seen a ghost. They slowly approached us, almost as if they were
uncertain that we were truly there. After a few steps, Emily threw
everything else aside and ran to us.

“Elissa, I’ve been looking for you all
night!” She cried. “Do you know what time it is?”

“No,” I softly replied,
still tight in the prince’s arms. Marie-Katherine spoke
next.

“This part of the
underground has a certain effect on that portion of the mind…so do
not be alarmed at what I say next.” The woman took a momentary
pause. “You’ve been missing for over 12 hours.”

I untangled myself from Aurelian’s
grasp, backing away from them all as slowly as I could. This wasn’t
right. It absolutely wasn’t right! How could either of them have
found us? And…what did Marie-Katherine have to do with this? I
backed away from the crowd, ready to stand on my own this
time.

“All of you – I
don’t care. Each of you had better tell me exactly what is going
on,
right now!”
I
shouted.

“Well…there’s really
no good way to explain it. I promise that neither Emily nor I came
down here with the awareness that you were with…
the prince,”
Marie-Katherine paused
for a moment. “Emily told me about everything on the way down – not
to betray you, but because we thought that you might have been
dead
.
”