Back From Chaos (45 page)

Thinking about their new life that lay ahead, he sensed that he needed to remember the things he had spent so much effort trying to forget. The lullaby played in his mind, and he allowed it to repeat softly on his breath, making sure it did not waken Brensa. A new sensation of peace settled over him, stronger with each line, as he let himself remember the voice that had soothed him with it, so many years ago.

He watched Brensa’s breathing deepen. She seemed to relax as though she could hear, though she showed no sign of waking. The room still held the heat from their fire and she had pushed the blanket off, so he could see the slow rise and fall of her chest, in rhythm with her breathing. She was so small, yet so strong. His throat tightened at the thought of her courage last evening.

After some moments, a bright spot of light appeared and seemed to grow from inside Brensa’s belly just below her navel. He sensed it spread, and two filaments, as fine a spider silk, reach out, one connecting to Brensa’s heart and one stretching to touch his own. Klast held himself stock still, hardly daring to breathe. Soon the glow took the form of the tiny figure of a child, all of light. He could see her clearly, in spite of her diminutive size. Her eyes found his. She smiled at him, and sent him a deep look, filled with understanding and love. In his head, Klast clearly heard the tiny being say, “I am Liannis.” For a long moment they hung suspended in time. Then the vision faded, and the room was, once again, shadowed only in moonlight.

Brensa stirred and found him watching, still rapt with wonder. She waited until he became aware of her, and asked softly, “Klast, what is it?”

He met her eyes, awe still written on his face. “Our daughter just greeted us. She will be a powerful seer. She told me her name. It is Liannis.” He reached over and pulled her onto his lap. “Brensa, she showed herself to me. She knows she has been brought forth with love. She told me it will be well.” And he heard the truth in his own words.

* * *

Half a day’s ride away, Liethis woke from a dreamless sleep, and understood. Earth had regained Her Balance. Destiny had been fulfilled and the old cycle completed. A new cycle had begun.

~ EPILOGUE ~

Eleven-year-old Liannis sat on the sod roof of her parents’ cottage in her nightshift, stroking No-tail’s soft fur and gazing into the night sky. She loved to sit here to think, but chose to do so only after she was sure her parents slept soundly below. They did not approve, fearing she might fall off and be injured. Liannis knew better. At times like this, No-tail usually followed her and took advantage of a warm nest in the hammock made by her skirt as Liannis sat cross-legged.

As a small child, Liannis had spent many happy days at court playing with Lionn and Borless, but as she grew older, the press of her growing sight made it harder and harder to be among so many people. Like Liethis, the sendings she received began to overwhelm her. At first, Gaelen and Marja had been reluctant to have their son and heir come to the cottage, fearing for Lionn’s safety away from the guards. But Liannis knew he would be come to no harm. She told them, with full confidence, that nothing would happen to him as long as he was with her.

Liethis had convinced Gaelen and Marja that Liannis had true sight. So Gaelen had relented. From that time on, the two boys had visited with her often, under the watchful eyes of Klast and Brensa. They had occasionally accompanied her in her night vigils.

Liannis had not returned to court again. It caused her too much pain.

Tonight, Liannis kept her vigil alone. She considered what her future would hold. When she reached her twelfth birthday, she understood she would start spending the winter months with Liethis, as her apprentice. Liethis had already told her parents that Liannis would grow into a much more powerful seer than she was. But the girl needed other skills that would help her use her gift to its full potential; how to dampen the press of sendings that would drive her mad if she could not, how to deal with persons of influence diplomatically and how to handle unwelcome questions from those whose problems were too small for Earth to bother with.

Liannis did not look forward to leaving her peaceful home, but she understood its necessity. At least the summers would still be spent here. She smiled, as she sensed her father reach for her mother and lay his sleeping arm across her waist. Earth had given her very special parents. She knew they would never have another child. Seers were always only daughters. Earth never burdened a seer with siblings. Seers matured too quickly and felt the emotions of those around them too keenly to thrive in larger families. They needed a serene environment in which their gift could grow without constraint.

She dreamily pulled a blade of grass from the sod to chew. As she put it between her lips, her eyes beheld a streak of blue light falling to Earth from between the stars. A sending. Liannis sensed this clearly. But what kind of sending, a good one or a bad one? And this one had not come from Earth, but from the sky. She wondered about that for a moment. Then, with a maturity that belied her age, she understood she would learn the answer when Earth chose to show her. Gently removing the little cat from her lap, she climbed down and returned to her bed.

Biography

Yvonne Hertzberger is a native of the Netherlands who immigrated to Canada in 1950. She is married with two grown children, (one married) and resides quietly in Stratford, Ontario with her spouse, Mark in a 130 year old, tiny, brick cottage, where she plans to live out her retirement. She calls herself a jill-of-all-trades and a late bloomer. Her many past paid jobs included banking, day care, residential care for challenged children, hairdressing (her favourite) retail, and customer service. She enjoys gardening, singing, the theatre, decorating and socializing with friends and family

Hertzberger is an alumna of The University of Waterloo, first with a B.A. in psychology, then and Hon. B.A. Sociology and stopped ½ a thesis short of an M.A. in Sociology. She has always been an avid student of human behaviour. This is what gives her the insights she uses to develop the characters in her writing.

Hertzberger came to writing late in life, hence the label ‘late bloomer’. Her first Fantasy novel “Back From Chaos: Book One of Earth’s Pendulum” was published in 2009. The second volume in the planned trilogy “Through Kestrel’s Eyes” is available currently and the third book in the trilogy “The Dreamt Child” is pending.

Links

Website: yvonnehertzberger.com

Twitter: YHERTZBE

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/EarthsPendulum.YvonneHertzberger.author

Email:
[email protected]

BIO:

Yvonne Hertzberger is a native of the Netherlands who immigrated to Canada in 1950. She is married with two grown children, (one married) and resides quietly in Stratford, Ontario with her spouse, Mark in a 130 year old, tiny, brick cottage, where she plans to live out her retirement. She calls herself a jill-of-all-trades and a late bloomer. Her many past paid jobs included banking, day care, residential care for challenged children, hairdressing (her favourite) retail, and customer service. She enjoys gardening, singing, the theatre, decorating and socializing with friends and family

Hertzberger is an alumna of The University of Waterloo, first with a B.A. in psychology, then and Hon. B.A. Sociology and stopped ½ a thesis short of an M.A. in Sociology. She has always been an avid student of human behaviour. This is what gives her the insights she uses to develop the characters in her writing.

Hertzberger came to writing late in life, hence the label ‘late bloomer’. Her first Fantasy novel “Back From Chaos: Book One of Earth’s Pendulum” was published in 2009. The second volume in the planned trilogy “Through Kestrel’s Eyes” will be available in the fall of 2011. Book Three – The Dreamt Chid will complete the trilogy.