The Chosen (52 page)

“Probably diseased,” Tyler added.

“Tyler!” Leia called from across the stable.

“Well it probably is,” he protested.

“Lighten up!” Several voices expressed the opinion at the same time, leading into laughter that filled the entire building.

Why did Destiny settle for just a rat?” Daniel’s voice asked suddenly from the stall next to Kathryn’s. “She took down an entire wild boar, and tried to drag it away. Surely she could do better for herself than a rat?”

“Must be just a snack,” David’s voice laughed.

Kathryn smiled, but didn’t join in. She finished rubbing down Lerina, exited the stable and headed toward the house. Destiny followed, her dinner still clutched in her talons.

Dinner was a delicious meal of roast pheasant, warm biscuits, cold water, and fresh fruit.

Several of the Dragons took turns tossing Destiny scraps of meat which she eagerly devoured while still refusing to release the dead rodent from her talons. 

Natalie squirmed in her seat. “Does she have to bring that thing in with her?”

Ignoring Natalie, Daniel quipped, “that bird can really pack it away,” to which Luke agreed, “I’ll second that.”  Responding to his voice, Destiny turned toward him, spread her wings, opened her mouth wide, and made cooing sounds. 

“She’s begging for more?” Amy said in disbelief. 

All at once Matt, Tyler, Luke, and Elizabeth made a grab for the remaining scraps on the serving platters. Giggling and laughing they showered Destiny with the leftover fragments. After swallowing several chunks, she made a huffing sound.

Daniel leaned over and nudged Kathryn, “I didn’t know that birds belched.”

Kathryn smiled briefly. “This one definitely belches.”

Afterwards the group split up into their own preferred activities. Natalie picked up a sewing project she had left behind. Lindsey brought out her pencils and paper and began to draw. Rachel and Leia managed to convince Cass to play the harp for them. The boys brought out knives and began to whittle. Matt was joyfully reunited with Lacey who sat contentedly on his shoulder and watched him carve a miniature of her. 

Luke came in with a smile and said triumphantly, “It worked!” He held up two full pails of milk.

“Looking up from her latest creation Lindsey asked, “What worked?”

“Just before we left Leia did something to the cows, for that matter all of the livestock, and now they look as though we were just gone for a day.  It’s like they were dormant or something.”

Leia smiled. “I asked all the animals to retreat and sleep, like a hibernation of sorts, till I woke them.”

“That’s amazing,” Natalie gasped.  She thought for a moment. “Can you do that with people?

Shaking her head as she responded, Leia said, “no, just animals--at least so far.”

Kathryn watched as the rest of the family settled into a night routine that would have anyone believe they did it every night. But despite the events at Blackwood Manor, Kathryn still didn’t feel like she belonged, she almost felt like she was still intruding on someone else’s happy family. Climbing the stairs to her room, she couldn’t wait for the morning patrols. She desperately needed something to take her mind off everything and working seemed like a good option.

It was Lumbar, four days since the Dragons had returned home and Kathryn desperately needed a break. Ever since the rest of the family had learned about her past it had been nothing but problems. It was as if the entire family had decided to check up on her at every waking moment.

“Kathryn do you need something?”

“Kathryn are you alright?”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“How are you holding up?”

She was ready to tear her hair out! She just wanted to be alone to sort out her own feelings but the Dragons weren’t giving her the opportunity to do that. This morning she had slipped away to find some peace. Only David, Amy and, surprise of surprise, Matt, weren’t pushing her, they seemed to understand her need to be alone. If only they could convince the rest of the Dragons.

There had to be a way to convince the rest of her mothering family that she was still Kathryn. She was still self-sufficient and didn’t need their help—didn’t want it. Natalie and Lindsey had already crossed the line into pity, something Kathryn resented. Others, like Cass, Daniel, and Rachel, were on the border.

When she reached the waterfall she stopped and listened. It took a moment to realize that the water wasn’t having the soothing effect it normally had. She frowned, was something wrong? Water had always been a source of comfort to her.

She dipped her hand into the cool pond and felt the water respond to her touch, living, breathing water, welcoming her home
. Okay, so I haven’t lost my gift, why can’t I respond back?

Gazing into the water she saw her own reflection.
Who am I? Am I merely an ex-slave who lived by virtue of a miracle? Am I an abused child who was simply rescued and given another chance at life?
She reached up and fingered the scars that covered her shoulders and back. 
Am I the child of a race who sacrifices infants?
She shuddered at the memory of the dream she had experienced here.
  Am I the deliverer of an oppressed race?

Who am I?

She remembered what Claude had said to her, how her name meant pure. Frustration welled up inside of her and she raced her hand through the pool. She didn’t feel pure. She felt like unclean laundry that had been trampled in a pigsty.

A figure appeared behind her in the pool’s reflection. She recognized him immediately and her loneliness and emptiness boiled into anger.

“Are you satisfied?” she demanded, turning to face Elyon. “I’ve faced my past now and all it’s done is cause me more grief.”

Elyon moved closer until he was standing beside her. “Facing your past is only part of the challenge,” he told her gently. “Now you must embrace it.”

“And just how am I supposed to do that?” she asked bitterly.

Elyon smiled. “By moving past it. Stop dwelling on the memories and move onwards.”

“But I never dwelt on my memories,” she argued. “I never thought back to what my life was like before I became a Guardian.”

Elyon sat down on a rock near the edge of the pool and let his fingertips brush the water, “You ignored your past,” he said quietly. “By ignoring your past in your waking life you gave it leave to torment you at night. Because you refused to face your memories during the light they became monsters that slowly ate away at your soul in the darkness.”

“How poetic,” she replied acerbically.

“But true,” he replied firmly.

“What do you want from me now?” Kathryn demanded.

He smiled at her. “It is not your turn to give, child, but mine. I am here to help you.”

She eyed him skeptically. “Why would you want to help me?”

He moved to stand beside her. “Because I know who you are.”

Shock coursed through her system so fast it made her lightheaded. “What!?” She looked at Elyon in shock. “What do you mean?”

A gentle smile curved his lips upward. “I mean exactly what it sounds like. I know you who are.”

“You…you know who my family was?” The question burned in her chest as she asked it, but she had to know!

“Is,” he corrected softly.

She blinked at him, unable to comprehend.

“I know who your family is.”

The air left her lungs in a rush. “They’re
alive?
” she whispered.

He nodded slowly.

Cold numbness crawled up her limbs, stealing her strength, and she sat down hard on the ground. After a moment, fury replaced the shock. “
They’re alive
!” she exclaimed heatedly.

“Yes.”

Indignation consumed her. “They’re alive and
they
, and
you
, left me to die in that hellhole?!”

“They’ve spent the last sixteen years believing that you were dead,” he responded mildly. “Well, all but one.”

“But they know I’m alive now?”

“Yes, I told them.”

“
You
told them?!”

“Yes.”

“And why aren’t they here with you? They must be as cold as the Blackwoods if they aren’t trying to reunite with the daughter they thought dead.”

“It is too soon.”

“What’s too soon?”

“You would reject them, just as you’ve done with the Dragons.”

Surprise opened and closed her mouth several times. At first she thought that he was fishing for confirmation of who, and what, she was. But looking into his eyes, she could see marble conviction. He
knew
. “Who are you?!” she demanded. “Only the King and Guardian Council claim to have the omniscience you appear to be demonstrating.”

“I told you, an advisor of sorts to your King.”

“No mere
advisor
would have such knowledge,” she countered.

“Very well then, an ally of your King.”

“An ally from where? And for what? We aren’t at war.”

“War comes eventually, it always does. Is it not better to be prepared than to be caught off-guard?”

“If the legends are true, the last war was over two millenia ago. That’s a karcking long time to prepare.”

“Then your people should have no problem winning the next one, should you?”

Kathryn got an unsettling feeling that there was more to this than simple philosophy. “You know something, don’t you?”

“Know what?”

“War is coming to Archaea, isn’t it?”

“It’s possible,” he replied with a shrug. “It depends on certain events.”

“What events?”

He smiled at her. “That knowledge rests between me and your King.”

She glowered at him. “You would condemn us? That hardly sounds like the actions of an ally.”

“An ally comes in many forms. Instructors are allies to their students, but their method of helping can involve allowing the students to fail before they can succeed.”

“That prolongs the process.”

“But it makes the student stronger and more confident in the final outcome. Look at you. The torture you endured at the hands of the Blackwoods and your uncle should have broken you. Any other person would have shattered, but not you. You came away stronger. Battered, but stronger.”

“So is that my failure,” she asked sarcastically.

“No, child. That was the equivalent of the lecture hall. If events play out, the final test is still coming.”

She felt the blood rush from her face, numbing her. “What are you saying?” she asked in horror.

“There are two paths open to your kingdom. One leads to peace, the other to war. If the path of war is chosen ancient, dark secrets will consume the light. Others will rely on your strength to survive it. And without your past,
you
would not survive it.”

Staring at him in mute dismay, she struggled to comprehend what he was telling her. “How will we know?” she asked finally.

“Know what?”

“That the path of war has been chosen versus the path of peace.”

Sadness clouded his features. “Trust me, child. When darkness begins to overtake the light, you will know.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you will play a pivotal role in the fate of your kingdom. Decisions you make in the future will affect the outcome, be it peace or death.”

“Surely the fate of Archaea does not rest solely on my decisions!?” she exclaimed, panicking at the idea of so many lives riding on decisions she had yet to make.

“Not just yours, no. There are others who are just as instrumental as you, but the path of the kingdom is determined by the decisions of the majority. If you chose peace, but the majority chose war, war would come. However,” he added gently, “if war does come, there is the possibility changing the path.”

She stared at him. “No,” she said flatly. “You have me confused with someone else.”

“I am not mistaken. I know who you are, remember?”

His reminder of her family chased away the terror in her body and replaced it with resentment. “I don’t suppose you could
tell
me who my family is? Surely that is harmless enough?”

With a shake of his head he replied, “That knowledge could change the path of the kingdom. It could change
you
.”

He cut off her protest with a quick wave of his hand. “You are not your parents, Kathryn. You must learn to discover yourself before you learn of your heritage. You are conflicted, I can see it within your eyes. Telling you who your sires are will not solve that. There are issues in your life you must come to peace with before such knowledge is revealed to you.”

“Such as?” she demanded angrily.

“Trust for one. You must learn to trust others, rely on their strength instead of your own.”