Veiled Innocence (Book One, The Soul Cycle) (38 page)

Vishka blinked her eyes several times, as if trying to snap out of a trance, before shaking her head. “Not
entirely
.”

“But you do kno
w something.
If you know
anything
about what’s
happening to me
,
then please tell me!”

Lian thought she saw sadness reflected in Vishka’s eyes, but her voice was low and unwavering. “It’s not as simple as that.”

Lian was about to press on when Lord Winter spoke up from behind them. “Perhaps what you are looking for, young lady, is not to be found in this world.”

She whirled to face him. “What do you mean
‘
not to be found in this world
’
?
That doesn’t make any sense. I
only
want to understand what’s happening to me, what I’m supposed to do!”

Lord Winter rested his
hand on the arm of his throne, and f
rost formed beneath his fingertips. His cool
gray
eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. “Did you think Eresea was the only land there ever was? Oh no, child. There are many,
many realms on a vast number of
planes.”

“But that doesn’t help me!” Lian’s face flushed.
Hysteria started to creep into her voice.
“You know something.” She looked at Vishka.
“Both of you, and yet you still won’t tell me what it is! All this time,
I thought I was losing my mind
or that my dreams, these hallucinations, were just a figment of my imagination. But I didn’t i
magine them. They were all real.
”

“They were real,” Lord Winter said gravely. “Everything that has happened to you has been a test, to see if you were really worthy to bear the crystal.”

Then I’m tru
l
y not crazy.

Extreme relief flooded her, and she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly in an attempt to calm herself. “Please, you have to help me,” she said, calmer this time.
“
Just tell me what’s going on. What is this, really?” She jerked the necklace toward him. “How am I the key to everything? For that matter, what is
everything
?”

Lord Winter seemed unfazed by her outburst. Instead, he looked over her shoulder at Vishka. “It has begun.” 

Lian looked at him, trying to calm her heart. “What has?”

Lord Winter turned still as snow on a winter morning. “The greatest war the world has ever seen.”

He stood
and twined his fingers behind his back. “The reason we cannot tell you what you want to know is because we are both forbidden, for to do so would directly alter the future, and as Immortals we are bound by such rules.” He paced in front of the thrones, snow flurries twirling in the air where he walked. “All I know is that when the
crystal appears
, it marks the arrival of the Great Darkness.” He paused and looked at her. “We all have our parts to play, but I fear yours will be the
most difficult
.”

“But…” Lian bit her lip as the heat rose in her face again. “What if I don’t want this? I didn’t ask for it.”

He looked down at her hand, where she still clutched the teardrop. “That crystal has marked you,” he said. “It belongs to
you
and you to it. You are bound together, and whatever happens to it will also fall upon you.”

Lian started to speak
,
but he lifted a hand, cutting her off. “Should you choose to reject it, then another will take your place. But don’t think because you ignore it that the impact of all of this on you will be any less significant.”

There was a long silence as
she
let this sink in.
She
stared at the crystal she so dearly loved and feared at the same time. 

“
Don’t think because you ignore it that the impact of all of this on you will be any less significant.
”
 

“I…”

Lian swallowed and closed her eyes. From the back of her mind, like a gentle wind blowing through a meadow, the dream voice whispered to her.
“
You are strong enough to face what lies ahead. Believe in yourself. It wouldn’t have appeared to you otherwise.
”

Lian
ran her thumb along the crystal’s glossy surface. She looked
sharply at Lord Winter, who stared
at her with an express
ion akin to awe. “I accept.”

The corner of his lips turned up in a wry half-smile. “So it shall be, Lady Lianora.”

Lian started to smile at him, but a
slew of
images flashed before
her eyes, a
field where thousands battled
, a blood red sky, cold dead hands shooting from the earth, a woman dying in the arms of a man,
and
feathers dark as the midnight sky. They came in a slew without warning
,
and she clenched her teeth together. Her eyes slammed shut as she tried to force the images out. 

“Go. Away.”

Her grip tightened around the crystal
,
and she imagined a warm, white light at the center of the onslaught of visions. The light grew and grew until at last there was nothing left but the scent of yeullises. She felt the warmth of a hand resting on her shoulde
r blade, and when she looked up
,
Lord Winter was looking at her with concern. 

She simply nodded and sighed, deep and heavy, to ease her jarred nerves. He kept his hand on her shoulder until her breathing slowed before letting it gracefully drop back to his side.

“You
shouldn’t fight the images, my L
ady,” he said. “They are sent to help so that you may have some foresight to things yet to come.”

Lian blinked and held up the jewel. It faintly
glowed
, steadily growing brighter as the light in her mind subsided
, as if the crystal was reclaiming the light she saw in her mind a few seconds before
. “Where did this come from?”

“It was with you all along,” he said. “You merely had to summon it.”

She recalled weeping in her
chambers
all alone, feeling much like an outcast in her own home, when that teardrop had entered her life. She remember
ed the cheer it had brought her
and felt a pang of guilt as she wondered again if it had been a mistake to trust it. 

Lord Winter looked upon her almost with pity. “You have many difficult trials ahead of you, I am afraid.  But you are not alone in this fight, child.”

Lian gave him a
timid
smile. 

He lifted his head, eyes growing distant. A second later they refocused. “Come.” He glided past them down the way they had entered. “You cannot linger in this realm any longer. Our time is up, and Darkness grows stronger with each passing moment.”

Lian and Vishka, who was unusually silent, followed him down the path. Lian glanced once more at the tapestry with her story on it as they passed, briefly wondering what it would look like when it was complete. Then they were out the doors and outside in the courtyard. 

Sunlight bathed her grimy skin, and she suddenly felt very out of place in this perfect world, i
n her rag of a dress,
dirt smudged face
,
and wild, unkempt hair. She hoped Lord Winter hadn’t noticed, but honestly how could he not? I
t had been days
since she had last bathed. She blushed and folded her arms over her chest. 

Lord Winter led them back to the lake, where they first met him. It was twilight, and the sky was tinged a lighter blue toward the horizon, telling of the rising sun and the dawn of a new day. He turned to face them
,
and the sunlit courtyard faded back to the dead garden behind him. 

“My dear friends,” he said, “I must send you forth now to reclaim that which is truly yours.” He turned his eyes to Lian. “Your kingdom will be rebuilt,
my L
ady. It will be grander than it was before, but you must first conquer the Darkness which threatens to destroy Eresea. No peace can be found in this land until it is stopped.” 

“How will I know it, this Darkness you speak of?”

He stared at her long and hard. “You have already met.”

Orris.
And once, I saw it in Anna… and even in myself.
She shivered.
What does that mean?

Her stomach flipped
,
and she stared at the
teardrop.
“I… I’m not sure I can defeat it.”

To her surprise, it was Vishka who stepped in front of her and shook her hard. “You will. You must, or we’re all damned.”

Lian gave her a wry glance. “Thank you for putting it so delicately.”

Lord Winter looked at Vishka, whose back was still turned. “Your soul will find peace, but it may not come in the way you expect.” 

Vishka whipped around so violently that Lian stumbled when
she released her. Her eyes widened
, and her face suddenly pale
d
. “Yes?”

Lord Winter smiled at her, kindness radiating from his eyes. “At some point, you are going to have to learn to forgive yourself.”

Vishka stared at him, her mouth a tight, straight line, but said no more. 

Lord Winter extended his hands to them. “It is time.”

“Wait!” Lian said. “What about Rowan?”

“He will meet you on the other side,” Lord Winter said. “Please.” He held his hand to her. Vishka was already gripping his other hand, staring at her expectantly. 

Lian hesitated
but finally clasped his hand. When she did, it was like thousands of slivers of ice sliced through her veins and tendons, and she cried out. Her necklace sparked to life at Lord Winter’s touch, and once again
,
they found themselves enveloped in a brilliant white light. 

When the light dimmed, they stood atop a hill on a slender dirt road facing what looked like a rather old cottage. Lord Winter was gone, as were the statue and garden. The scent of wildflowers had been replaced by the sharp scent of the pine trees circling the cottage. It looked worn, like it may fall apart at any moment. Despite its haggard appearance, candles flickered merrily from several windows, and smoke drifted lazily from the chimney. 

Rowan was still nowhere to be found. 

Lian turned to Vishka, who
was
staring at her intently with that same sharp-eyed expression she
wore
earlier, as if she were studying her.

“What?” Lian snapped. “Why do you keep staring at me that way?”

Vishka blinked. “Nothing,” she said, then began walking toward the cottage. “I assume he brought us here for a reason,” she called over her shoulder. “Shall we find out?”

Lian jogged down the hill after her, pebbles digging into her sore feet as she stumbled along. When she finally drew alongside Vishka, she was already rapping sharply at the crooked wooden door. It looked ready to fall off, held together by two rusty bolts that hadn’t seen oil nor polish in years. 

Light footsteps approached; Lian could hear a baby wailing. The candlelight under the door darkened as whoever was on the other side stopped in front
of it
. “Who is it?” The woman’s voice was meant to be threatening, but it came out as more feeble and afraid.

“We mean you no harm, lady,” Vishka said. “We are travelers seeking food and shelter for the night.”

The door shuddered as a bolt was unlatched, and it creaked as the woman cracked it open just enough to peer out. Her face was darkened by the
glow of the fireplace
behind her. “How many of you are there?”   

The moon peeked behind the dense cloud cover, casting shadows along the bones in her thin face as her eyes widened upon spotting Vishka. Her eyes drifted down to the saber at her hip. “Please,” she said, “I don’t want any trouble.”

Vishka unf
astened the saber from her belt
and gently laid it on the ground before the door. “Neither do we,” she said with the most gentleness Lian had heard from her. “My companion and I are lost and need a place to stay for the night. I swear to you we will be gone at first light.” 

The woman’s moon-flecked eyes searched Vishka’s face. Lian caught the glint of a drawn
butcher
knife.

As if noticing her for the first time, the woman looked past Vishka at Lian. At first, she blinked and squinted her eyes even harder,
reminding
Lian once again of how grungy she must look
. She shifted from foot to foot
and hugged her arms over her chest.

Slowly, recognition passed over the woman’s
features, followed by disbelief and
then joy.