Valley Of Glamorgan (16 page)

Maggie sighed and placing her hand against
her heart said, “Thank heavens! I thought someone had broken in; as
they did the night they took you away all those years ago.” As she
spoke she seemed to drift back in time, to a dark memory that I
didn’t want to have to re-live with her. The spookiness of the
dream I’d just had was indeed more than enough.

Satisfied that things were okay Knoll wished
me goodnight and left, leaving Maggie behind. I suppose he figured
if it was something personal, then I would feel more confident
confiding in her than him. But, if I was honest, I didn’t want to
speak to anyone about my dream; it had been so horrid that I just
wanted to forget it had ever happened. However, this was something
both my mind and the universe wasn’t going to allow to happen.

Maggie sat down next to me on the bed. “Are
you okay?” she asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

Not looking at her I nodded, saying, “Yeah,
I just got spooked by a bad dream.” I really wanted to be honest
with her; partly because I knew that she was really worried about
me, but also as I knew I would feel bad lying to her as she was
truly being a great sister.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked,
looking in some way indifferent, which I appreciated. She meaning
she wasn’t going to force me into telling her.

“Honestly? Not really,” I simply said.

Not pressing the matter she patted me on the
leg, and stood, as she replied, “I will let you go back to sleep
then.”

Just before she left the room, she turned to
wish me goodnight, “Mina,” she said, “I want you to know that I am
always here for you. I know that it is odd for you to find out that
you have a sister after all these years but, I need you to know
that I knew that I always had one. I have always cared about you,
and have prayed every day for your safe return. But I won’t lie or
say that it doesn’t hurt me that you look on all of us as if we are
strangers. It was an awful thing that happened to you; but it
happened to us too.” Then excusing herself she left the room, and I
could have sworn that I saw her wipe away a tear as she closed the
door and went back to her own room.

I lay still and silent on the bed, staring
at the ceiling. I felt horrible; thinking that I had been so
selfish since arriving here. It seemed I had been treating everyone
as if it was the first time I had ever met them. And, it must have
seemed obvious that I did not seem to care when I expressed how odd
it felt being here. Suddenly it dawned on me what it must be like
for them; watching someone they love, someone they’ve waited for
over thirteen years to come back so their lives would be complete
again, yet here I was showing them how ungrateful I felt at being
rescued. Sighing I tried to fight the anxiety that crept over my
body, making it difficult for me to breathe easily. ‘Maybe they
would have been better off without me,’ I thought to myself as I
drifted off; welcoming at last a dreamless sleep, thank God.

“Get up! Get Up!” I sat up trying to figure
out who was shouting at me. Managing to clear the sleepily fog from
my mind, I looked around and was startled to see that Willow was
standing right next to the bed where, just moments before I had
been sleeping peacefully.

“Um hello,” I said, not knowing how to
respond to her abrupt wake up call.

“No time for greetings child, you must get
up and get dressed! We have much to do today!” she announced,
smiling enthusiastically at me but remaining on the spot and
clearly not intending to give up on my getting out of bed
immediately. Sighing, I slowly climbed out of bed and made my way
to the closet, quickly picking a plain pair of blue jeans and an
oversized t-shirt, before rushing into the bathroom to throw my
messy hair into a bun, get washed and brush my teeth.

When I reopened the bathroom door, Willow
was standing right in front of me. Without hesitation she grabbed
my arm and practically dragged me down the stairs where, much to
the dismay of my grumbling stomach, we apparently weren’t going to
have time for breakfast. Willow continued out of the house and down
the cobbled stone path and I hurried to keep up with her. Having
led me to the front gates she suddenly stopped, so abruptly that I
almost slammed into her. Immediately, my heart had a horrible ache
within it the moment I saw him. He was, of course, working the
gates as usual, and looked as handsome as ever. Having looked from
me then to Willow but without addressing me, he went to the gate,
pressed the silver button hidden under some sort of gear box and
caused the gates to open.

Passing through the gateway Willow called
back a simple ‘thank you’ over her shoulder as continuing forwards
she motioned for me to keep up. I hadn’t been out of the protection
of the gates or the guardians since my arrival; mainly because of
the high security detail Knoll and my family seemed to deem
necessary. I couldn’t understand or think why I would be allowed to
leave the grounds with this thin and fragile woman. It both
surprised and confused me.

Making our way down the large hill we came
to a stop at a small but beautiful cottage made of the same yellow
and gray cobble stones that lay spread over the ground. Willow
quickly made her way up the steps to the door of the little cottage
before welcoming me inside.

“This is my home Mina, to which you are
always welcome. I have brought you here because we have not had a
proper chance to sit down and talk about, well anything,” she said,
laughing at something I quite didn’t get. Once inside she motioned
for me to sit on a blue sofa that looked almost as old as her; it
somehow seemed to resemble the one that sat in my grandma’s
basement. Sitting down I did my best to try and get comfortable but
unfortunately the sofa’s springs seemed to be digging into me. Then
Willow surprised me by saying, “He will come around Mina, just give
him time.”

Looking at her, I wanted to ask her how she
knew that Declan was obviously on my mind; plus I also wanted to
know what had she meant by saying he would come around? However,
before I could speak she continued, matter-of-factually, “I know
many things child, but I do have eyes you know! I may be older than
you but anyone can see if they simply look. Besides, you light up
around him, and he does the same around you.” I couldn’t help but
smile. For some reason it felt good that others knew, and could see
how I felt about him; which was no doubt an odd sensation seeing as
how, a few nights earlier, I had wanted to keep my feelings for him
low key.

Willow quickly changed the subject by asking
me if I had thought about the animal ritual. I looked at her,
surprised that the topic had changed from Declan to my ritual so
quickly.

“No, I really haven’t given it much
thought,” I announced.

“I figured,” was her simply response. Then
she continued, not wasting anytime, not even to breathe, “Well,
first thing first. I would like you to witness an animal ritual
that is coming up soon.” As I nodded my head in agreement, I began
wondering why she had such a mischievous grin spread across her
wrinkled face. Looking at me it was as if she was for some reason,
confused before going on to say, “As you may already know Declan
will have his animal ritual in three days.”

“What!!” I gasped! “Wait,” I started saying,
putting up my hand as if to object. “I don’t think that he would
want me there,” my voice seemingly tinged with sadness.

Willow just smiled. “Nonsense,” she said,
playfully lifting her hand in the air as if she was physically
swishing my words away. Afterwards she seemed to talk ‘a mile a
minute;’ going on to say, “There will be a dinner held for him
tonight. We will also be having a celebration for his birthday, as
on his actual birthday he will be in too much pain to celebrate
much of anything.” And she winced as if remembering how painful the
experience had been for her. I could feel my nerves building up
once more so I simply questioned as to why she needed me to be
there.

Looking at me she seemed annoyed, as she
replied, “I don’t need you for anything, just to be present. And as
for now I just wanted to speak to you about a few minor details.”
She walked gracefully towards the sofa and took a seat in a beige
arm chair directly in front of me.

“Carmina, I see a light within you that
shines so brightly.” Changing her voice to a more delicate tone she
proclaimed, “When I look at the exterior I see only a shell; a hard
protective shell,” and she hung her head low as if her words
genuinely saddened her. When she finally lifted her head back up
her face was calm so she continued with, “I know that you have
endured a great deal, and that all of this is indeed overwhelming.
But, there are so many things that you don’t know, and my fear, is
that when you learn about some of the more troubling ones you will
allow that protective shell that you hide behind to consume you,
and it will put out that light that you carry within you.” I didn’t
respond as she paused as I knew she had more to say. “However,” she
finally spoke, lifting her head so her eyes met mine, and she went
on to say, “There are times when I see that light break through. It
is as if you are surrounded by a large halo, a golden aura which
only gleams when you are with Declan.”

My hand started trembling as I could see
where this conversation was leading. I wanted to jump up and storm
out of the cottage; but I couldn’t. My mind was intrigued and I
wanted to hear what else Willow had to say. Oddly enough my heart
felt as if it had picked up a tremendous pace; as if it was excited
to hear what it already knew to be true, what it had already tried
to show me.

Sitting back I quietly waited for Willow to
continue talking, once she had taken another sip from the porcelain
cup of whatever it was she was drinking. “I know that you are so
young, and it still baffles my mind because you two are the
youngest couple to whom this has happened in all of the village’s
history; and in such a short amount of time too,” she sounded
whimsical. “Carmina,” she continued, holding my gaze, “You and
Declan are soul mates.”

Despite this mind-blowing statement she
seemed to sit relaxed; talking in such a casual tone, as if she
hadn’t just told me a most important, life altering fact. From the
feeling in my heart I knew what she had said was true. There was no
questioning it, for it had known from the first time I had laid
eyes on him; that I would never look at anyone the same way I did
him.

Willow, who I guess was sitting quietly
while she contemplated what to say next, finally spoke, “It is such
a wonderful gift among our kind; to be given your soul-mate.
Remember we are different than humans. We don’t choose who we love,
the universe chooses for us. And we love so deeply that when we
were created the goddess herself thought it would be best that we
only have one true love to keep us from the pain that humans sadly
endure. The goddess selects a perfect match for us, but fate will
only lead two bound souls together when the time is right. It is an
amazing thing, to be born to complete someone, and they you but,
with that wonderful gift there is a heavy burden that follows it as
it does many others.”

Then taking a breath she warned, “If you
were to lose your soul mate, you would never love again. If you
hurt them, then you will feel their pain. And, without them,” she
started but I stopped her, finishing the sentence for her, “You
will never be whole again.” She looked at me with understanding and
smiled.

Although I knew better than to ask I knew I
couldn’t help opening my big mouth so blurted out the question,
“Well, if everyone has a soul mate, why don’t you?”

Willow grew frigid, looking hurt by my
question. She began pacing the floor. “I was hoping you wouldn’t
ask that,” she replied in a defeated tone, hesitating to respond.
Finally she told me, “He is dead.” She said it simply, trying to
appear stronger than perhaps she felt. I only knew this because I
recognized that I had been doing the same ever since I had arrived
here.

Slowly she began explaining, “He was an
amazing warrior. Yet, he was the most gentle and kindest man I have
ever known. It still amazes me to this day how someone could look
so kind and be, so fierce. When he wielded a sword he did so with
such deadly precision. He was by far the villages most prized and
beloved man.” Pausing for a moment she continued, the sound of
pride in her voice, “Women fawned over him,” and a smirk spread
across her face, “but I was the lucky one; the one whom the
universe selected for him.” Taking a haggard breathe she went on.
“We lived together for decades; until he was killed by an
invasion,” she announced; a fierce look of revenge spreading across
her delicate features. At that very moment she looked like a force
to be reckoned with.

Not wanting to break the silence, but
knowing I had no choice, I and walked over to her and gently placed
my hand lightly on her shoulder, as I said in all innocence, “I am
sorry for your loss. I too have lost those close to me. I know how
you feel.”

Standing she looked at me, suddenly enraged
and screeched out, “No! Don’t compare the loss of those repulsive
creatures, to the most caring and loving man. The loss of them was
a blessing. The loss of him was a tragedy that will be mourned by
many. No-one will mourn their loss because they were nothing more
than evil creatures that destroyed everything in their path.”

Shocked by her reaction and even though I
knew she was right, that my pretend parents had been evil, I still
felt their loss in my life and in my heart; where they used to be.
I wanted to scream at her and tell her to go to hell for the venom
in her words, but sadly I knew she was right. Realizing that she
was clearly still hurting from losing someone she had loved so
dearly and more importantly, someone who had loved her so much in
return, I couldn’t voice the words so I remained silent. She was
right her loss was something I couldn’t compare to that of
Stephanie and Jack.