Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (28 page)

Apparently,
with all his charming ways, Seran had not established a time of meeting with
Alathaya. We rose early and had breakfast in the common room before heading to
the boarding house. There was no sign of her. Through the small windows, we
glimpsed children sitting in attendance, listening to what must have been their
teachers. Thinking it would look very curious for us to stand around outside,
we went to a tavern across the road. We sat by a window facing the road with a
clear view of the entrance.

We spent a very tedious day
sipping slowly at drinks. Trissa had asked all about the night before, but even
she had by now run out of conversation. Brant looked sullen. He was convinced
that Alathaya was not going to turn up and I was starting to think he was
right. It was well past lunchtime and my stomach had started to complain. We
ordered some light food, fresh bread and cured ham. Brant complained loudly
about the waste of time. I could not blame him, but I knew I would wait until
the evening before giving up.

Just then, I looked up out of
the window to see a slender women dismount from a grey mare. She was laughing
at something her companion had said. I became aware that, as when I had first
seen Seran, heat was spreading across the middle of my chest. Her smile lit her
whole face, framed by beautiful long ash blonde hair. The heat was starting to
pulsate and radiate further out. The woman with her took her horse and
continued down the road while the younger woman walked into the building. I
quickly poked Seran and pointed to her and he confirmed it was Alathaya. The
moment she closed the door behind her, the heat abruptly disappeared.

As we had discussed at length
earlier, Brant and Trissa stayed at the tavern while Seran and I went to the
boarding house. We walked through the arched doorway into a simple room. A man
was sitting at a small desk in the middle of the room. He looked up as we
walked in. Squinting at us he said, “Names.”

We looked at each other, Seran
shrugged.
“Lord Trien and Master Aken.”

He looked at us for a moment
with a considering frown before pointing over his shoulder.
“Down
the hall, third door on the right.”
Before he had even finished
speaking, he had turned his attention back to the book on the desk in front of
him.

Children’s drawings decorated
the hallway. There was not a pace of wall left blank. It gave the hallway at
least, a homey feel. We reached the third door. I was about to knock when it
swung open. Alathaya stood in the doorway, her face a mixture of doubt and
excitement. She was wearing a fine green wool dress with a shawl across her
shoulders and she was twirling the end tassels around her finger nervously.
“Please come in gentleman.” The heat had come back as soon as I saw her, but
just as quickly, it was dissipating. She stepped back from the door and walked
in. The simply furnished sitting room held a few chairs and a low table. She
closed the door behind us and sat down by the table. She indicated to the
chairs opposite and we sat down as well.

Clearing her throat, she was
obviously nervous, but her voice was steady. “I do not believe I have had the
pleasure of meeting you.” Her grey eyes were mesmerising.

Seran’s loud cough brought me
back to myself and I realised I must have been staring at her. I tried to fight
the flush in my cheeks. “I beg your pardon, my lady. I am Kadin Aken from
Predaki.” She nodded and nervously smoothed down her already smooth dress. She
looked like she was going to speak, but when she didn’t the silence started to
stretch. “Lady Almeida, do you mind if I show you something?” I asked.

“Please do, and please call me
Alathaya. I have never been at ease with titles.” I smiled at her and dug in my
bag until I found what I was looking for.

I took the disc from the wooden
box and held out my sentinel to her. “Have a look at the carving on the bottom
of it.”

A look of astonishment went
across her face when she saw the golden disc. “I have only heard of these in
legends. ‘We come when summoned, but bearer
be
aware,
we come but once’.” She said the last in a reverent whisper. She held the disc
carefully, examining it. Her eyes widened and she looked at me bewildered.
“That is not possible. Where did you find this?”

I decided to risk looking the
fool. “It was my denouement gift from our village Cha. He is an agent of the
Guardians and this sentinel had already saved our lives from what I believe was
an attack by Dark Children or perhaps Twisted Ones.”

I had not thought it possible,
but her eyes went even wider, her eyebrows climbing ever higher. “Father has
spoken of this to me. Every generation of the Almeidas have to know that one
day we may be called upon, but I never thought it would happen in my lifetime.”
She shook her head disbelievingly. “We must take this to Father. He must know.”
With added glee, she announced. “I will not have to marry him!” Abruptly, she
jumped up and started for the door.

Seran looked alarmed at the
change in plans. “Alathaya, wait, please are you certain that we should involve
your father?”

She looked at him in
consternation. “Well, of course. My family has been waiting for this day since
the Severance.” It was my turn to be startled. She certainly knew a lot more
than I would have expected.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

When we
arrived at the Almeida estate, stablemen came out and took our horses. She led
us up the grand staircase and into a beautiful sitting room. Luxurious dark
wood furniture decorated the room and there was a fireplace in the far wall. An
elaborately carved chimneypiece depicted a forest scene complete with
woodcrest
and yellow bill birds.
 
A large wooden chest served as a coffee table
and held a large red glass vase filled with beautiful yellow flowers.

She gestured to the dark wood
settee. “I will call Father.” She practically bounded from the room. After some
time she returned looking a lot less cheerful, followed by Lord Almeida. He
looked severe in a black formal suit with a thin golden line running down the
centre of each leg of his trousers and sleeves.

He stood in front of me and held
out a hand. “Let me see the sentinel.” I handed it to him and he inspected it
with a looking glass held to his eye. After a few moments of silence, he held
out his hand again.
“And the box.”
Again, he inspected
it. He strode over to the other settee and sat down heavily. He exhaled long
and slow. His eyes came up, first looking at Seran and then fixing me under his
grey gaze.

“If you carry this then it means
that you are the chosen one.
The Preserver.
It also
means the Great Threat is once again stirring.” He looked at Alathaya with such
sadness in his eyes that it was clear that he knew she must be part of it. He
gestured for her to have a seat next to him. She had been standing by the door
still. She sat down and he took both her hands in his. “Now, Alathaya, tell me,
what is it that you have been hiding from me.” Shock clearly showed on her face
and she writhed under his gaze. “It is alright, darling. I held some suspicions
already. You have always been special.” I found myself sitting forward in my
seat, curiosity burning through me.

She looked down at her feet as
if there was something very interesting on them. “It is hard to explain. It
started with Mother’s death. I kept thinking back over the days before it
happened. Sometimes I would think so hard about it that I could feel exactly
what I felt in that moment, I could see what I saw, I could smell what I had
smelled, I could hear what I had heard. Then once when I was sitting thinking
about that afternoon before it happened, I sat with my eyes closed, I wished so
much to be back in that moment. I lived myself into it.
Literally.”
She looked up at him uncertainly and he nodded and smiled encouragingly. She
looked back down at her feet. “Then, when I opened my eyes, I was there.
Except, it was as if I was there twice.
I knew I had lived
that moment before and that I was coming back to it. I had no control over my
actions,
not really, it was like I was only there to whisper
in my own ear.”

She shook her head. “The first
time it happened I did not really understand it. I must have only been there
for a couple of moments before the need to come back to myself pulled me back.
But when I did come back to myself, my current self, I could remember that it
had happened, but from having been the real me in the past… it gets very
confusing, I do not know if I am explaining it well.” She again looked to her
father.

He squeezed her hand. “You are
doing well. Tell us what happened the next time you tried.”

She nodded, her expression
firmed. “Once I knew what I had done, I was determined to go back… to…” her
eyes flickered to her father and away. “I was determined to stop Mother’s
death. I had to try many times before I managed to get back again. I warned
myself that she should not go out riding the next day. That I must do
everything in my power to stop her no matter what she said.”

Her father looked confused.
“But, darling, Mother did not die while out riding.”

She nodded and tears were
running down her face. “I know. I stopped her dying one way only to let it
happen another way and then another and then another.” She shook her head miserably.
“It did not matter what I said, how I tried, I could not stop it from
happening.” A sob shook her.

Her father gave her a hug. “It
is alright Ali. It was not your fault. How long after she died did you discover
this ability?”

She thought for a moment.
“Less than a season.”

He nodded gravely. “I had
assumed that it was grief that made you so ill at that time, but it wasn’t, was
it?”

She shook her head. “Every time
I came back, I would feel unwell. Headaches, nausea, even fever on one
occasion. It seemed that the longer I resisted the pull to come back, the more
ill I became when I did return. Barely a minute there would have me confined to
my bed for days. If I did not allow myself to recover fully before I tried
again, it was worse the next time. ”

This was an amazing ability, the
potential for it incredible. Her father’s gruff voice interrupted my musing.
“Alathaya, do you understand what this means?”

Her face firmed. “Yes father. It
means the Great Threat is returning.
That I will have a role
to play in what comes.”
He nodded and smiled at her, but he looked grim.

He had not actually said where
their family crest came from. “Sir, that symbol on the sentinel, your family
crest, what does it mean? I think I know it from somewhere, but I have not been
able to remember where I have seen it before.”

He gave me a measuring look. I
wondered what was going on behind those steely grey eyes. “After the Severance
there were two groups charged with keeping the Knowledge safe. One group of the
Fae,
and one group of the humans. The Fae are the
Guardians and the humans the Alliance. We had to swear to ‘Preserve the
knowledge, pass it on from generation to generation until the Protector arises.
Prepare and equip him for what must be done.’ It sounds simple enough.” He
shook his head. “The Dark One has put all of his remaining strength into
finding us and eradicating us along with all knowledge of what had passed
before. The Alliance was fifteen strong when we started.
Fifteen
men and women who swore the Oath of Preservation.
Risking not only
their own
lives, but also that of their family. Now only
seven remain and you make eight Kadin. Seven families have paid the ultimate
price. Their entire families killed.
Which brings me to my
question.
” It felt as though his gaze pinned me to my seat. “Why is it
that you do not know these things? Your family must have been one of the
Alliance. We always knew that the Protector would rise from either the
Guardians or the Alliance.”

“I am an orphan. My father was
killed a few days prior to my birth and my mother fled. She was pursued and
injured. She died moments after my birth. I was adopted by the woman who was
sent to find me. The Tretakai raised me, but I think only the Cha truly knew
who I was.”

Comprehension lit his face.
“They must have reasoned out that it would be you. I do not know how, but one
thing is for certain, you were the target that day. That would explain your
lack of education.”

I looked over at Seran. Speaking
of the reason for my lack of education, I wondered about him and for that
matter Trissa as well. Neither of them had ever mentioned the Alliance or being
brought up with knowledge of what had been and what was to come. He looked over
at me and I thought I saw shame pass behind his eyes before he looked away and
it was replaced by concern. I followed his gaze to Alathaya’s face. It was
curiously blank.

She was staring straight ahead
with unseeing eyes. Her mouth worked furiously, but she said not a word. Master
Almeida followed my gaze. “Alathaya…
Alathaya.”

He took her shoulders in a firm
grip and shook her. She did not respond. Her mouth kept twitching. Suddenly she
gasped,
her eyes wide in shock and terror. “We must
go, now! They are coming.
So many.
We must run.” She
swayed in her seat. Standing up, he put a steadying hand around her shoulders.
“Follow me.”