Eden Forest (Part one of the Saskia Trilogy) (8 page)

The cheek of her. “Busy? Linda, I mean Adora, I need some

kind of explanation. You did something to my head. Who the

hell was that man?”

Linda starts walking back towards the room where our yoga

classes are held. I follow her. I’m going to call her Adora again

and then feel silly. “Look, I’m not leaving until you tell me what

the heck happened.”

She continues walking, but calls back to me over her shoulder.

“I know you won’t leave it. You’re just like your mother.”

Her statement stops me in my tracks. “What did you just

say?”

Linda stops and looks at me. I can see by her face that she

wishes she hadn’t said that. “Look, I’m not like normal people

and neither are you.” She enters the hall. There are bags lined

up on the floor.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

She picks up a bag. “To my car.”

I give her the dirtiest look I can muster. “You know what I

mean.”

She lets out a breath of exasperation. “I’m going home,

Sarajane, and what happened in your kitchen was real.” She

walks past me as if the conversation is over. I grab the strap of

her bag to stop her.

“What are you?”

She looks at me with dry amusement. “Not mortal,

anyway. I can communicate with certain members of my

tribe telepathically, but somehow when I meditated with you,

it caused some kind of interruption and I was finding it too

difficult to communicate with them. So that’s why I went to

your house, to see if I tried again with you, maybe I could get

it back. And as you saw, I did. Now I really have to go if that is

all you wanted to ask.”

I let her strap go and stand there dumbfounded. When she’s

out the door, my mother’s face springs into my mind. I chase

her out to the parking lot. I can see Josh ready to intervene, but

I shake my head, letting him know not to move.

“Linda, I have only one more question and then I’ll let you

get on with your packing.”

She throws the bag in the boot. “What, Sarajane?” I can’t get

over her tone of voice.

“Why did you want me to picture my mother?” I can see her

back tense as she closes her boot.

She takes her time facing me. “You’re not the only one

looking for her.”

“What do you mean by that? Do you know where she is?”

Linda walks to me and takes my bewildered face in her hands

and kisses my forehead like a mother would a child. Then she

looks me in the eyes. “I don’t know where she is, and I just want

to help you find her. But in order to do that, I must go. Please

try to understand.”

I can’t answer her. Is she saying she’s helping me find my

mother?

“We will meet again, Sarajane.” She enters the hall again to

retrieve more bags.

Josh is beside me once she’s out of sight. “Well, how did it

go?”

“I’m more confused now than I was before we came here.”

I get Josh to take me home. I should’ve forced Linda to

answer my questions properly, but at that moment, I honestly

wasn’t able. I was confused and too upset to listen to any more

of her weirdness. But for some reason, I felt a lot of truth in

what she said. It made no sense to me, but it felt true.

Chapter Four

Saskia ~ Present Day

(Bellona)

I
pace my chambers, waiting on Clive to arrive. He enters

wiping blood off his knuckles. “She knows nothing. No one

could take that pain without talking.” He sits down at the

small table and chairs that I have in my chambers for breakfast.

I sit opposite him.

“If she doesn’t know, maybe she is not the reason the one

exists, but Lucian would not be wrong.” Clive looks at me

in puzzlement, but I don’t explain any further, and he knows

better than to ask. I start to pace again. “We need to find out

why she left. I feel like it is the key to all of this.” I glance over

at Clive from the corner of my eye. “She is still alive?”

He shrugs his shoulders indifferently. “I think so.”

“You can’t do anything right, can you? I told you we must

keep her alive.” My patience is coming to an end. I grab his face.

“She better be alive for your sake.” I let him go forcefully.

“What about her friends? Have you questioned them?” he

asks with annoyance in his voice, rubbing his face.

I stop pacing. Why had I not thought of her friends? Maybe

Clive is useful after all, but I would never tell him that. I wave

my hand in the air. “Maybe. Leave me now. I must think of

how to clean up your mess again.” Clive leaves, his shoulders

hunched. He hates disappointing me. He is like a dog—pet him

too much and it becomes soft.

“Taurus,” I call, and he enters my chambers.

“My lady.”

I approach him with a suggestive smile and run my finger

along his hard, muscular chest. “Remember that silly girl who

was a friend of Marta's? The one who was pregnant.”

“Yes, my lady.” He grabs my buttocks, pulling me into him.

“What was her name?”

“Corrona, my lady.” He starts nibbling my ear.

I swat him away. “Focus, Taurus.” He becomes alert again.

“Bring her to me,” I command.

“Yes, my lady.” He turns to leave.

“Oh, Taurus, don’t forget I want you here tonight.”

“Of course, my lady.” He gives me a sensual smile and leaves.

I sit down on an armchair beside the fire with my back to the

door. A knock sounds. “Come in.”

Corrona appears in front of me and bows. I know it isn’t out

of respect, more like fear. “My lady.” She is frail looking with

dark circles surrounding her eyes.

I smile at her. I could make all her worries go away. “Please,

sit.” I gesture to the armchair across from me. She sits, nervously

fumbling with her hands. “How are you, Corrona?”

She looks up at me, startled. “I am fine. Thank you, my lady.”

“Corrona, I know losing your baby caused you a lot of pain.”

I pause and let the sorrow cross my face. “But it causes me great

pain, too, to upset such a valuable member of the castle.”

She doesn’t look at me and when she speaks, her words are

clipped. “I am sorry to hear you are in pain, my lady.” So she is

still upset, stupid girl. She is already getting on my nerves, but I

don’t let my irritation show.

“Well, I would say you are wondering why you are here, so I

will get to it. Why did your friend Marta leave Saskia?” Before

she answers, I raise a single finger. “And more important, who

helped her? Because we all know she did not get across by

herself.”

Corrona looks down at her lap. I can see the tension in her

paling face. “I don’t know, my lady.”

“Corrona, look at me.” She does with pure fear in her eyes.

“I know whoever helped her would be banished, but I am

considering to overlooking that. If you answer just one question.

And also I will give you something in return. I will give you

your baby boy back.”

Tears run down her face. She whispers, “What is the

question?”

Good, now we are getting somewhere. “Why did Marta

leave Saskia?” Corrona starts crying. I look in the fire and

inhale a breath, letting her know that my patience has run out.

I am not one to bargain, so she knows this is not an offer I

shall make twice. “You can leave now. You must not want your

son back.” She stands up, still crying. “And if guardians come

to your door and take Dominic, don’t be surprised, since you

helped a criminal.”

She is nearly at the door, but her footing falters. She pauses.

I smile. I will get my answer after all.

“I will tell you.”

I stand and face her. “Go ahead. I am listening.”

She wipes away her tears. “You must give me your word first,

that I will get my baby back.”

Clever girl. In Saskia, if we give our word, we must stick by

it, so it is never given lightly. I don’t need the child for anything.

There are plenty more. “You have your queen’s word.”

Corrona’s eyes fill with tears again. “She was pregnant.”

It all makes sense now. I knew she was secretly meeting

Morrick. I could see it from the day of the festival, the way

he looked at her, so I spoke to Javan to make sure Marta was

matched with Taurus so I could keep an eye on them. But since

Taurus told me she didn’t want him and Morrick’s disappearing

acts, I knew they were meeting. So Morrick was the father.

Was this why the child was so powerful? Clive or Luna are

not powerful. Yes, they have an affinity each, but only one,

nothing like what Lucian is looking for. It doesn’t matter. At

least I know now what I am looking for.

I look up at Corrona. She is still standing there. “Taurus.”

He enters. “Could you bring Corrona to the maidens’ quarters?

I have given her permission to take her baby back.” He bows

and leaves with a guilty-looking Corrona.

I pace my chambers, thinking of how best to deal with this.

Taurus re-enters. “It is done, my lady.”

“Taurus, can you arrange for Clive, Felix, and yourself to go

to the library? I will meet you there shortly.”

We gather around the library table and I tell all three of them

of their tasks. Clive is getting upset again. “He has another

child?”

“Clive, not now. Look at the overall picture.”

He stalks towards me, his anger nearly visible around him.

“Mother, he should be exiled to the mountains for his crimes,

like all the other criminals over time.”

He is lucky he is my son or I would have silenced him already.

“Son, we will deal with that later, but first we need to retrieve

the child.” Clive knows not to push me any further, so he sits

down with an angry thud. I ignore him and turn my attention

to Felix. Part of Felix’s job is to study the mortal realm and all

the differences between both. “Felix.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“What is the time difference in the mortal world to here?”

“One day here is equivalent to one month in the mortal

world, my lady.”

“So Marta was gone for… nine months. What is the age of

the child we are looking for?”

“Twenty-one years of age, my lady.”

“Very good, Felix.” He smiles in self-satisfaction. “So I need

that child, or should I say woman, and please…”—I look at

Clive when I say the next part—“without as much as a scratch

on her.”

Clive rises then, visibly irritated. “What do you want the girl

for, anyway?” His tone is high pitched and too questioning.

Even if he is my son, it is not something I will tolerate. I think

the words in my head, but I can see from Clive’s frozen face he

knows he has overstepped the line.

Spirit, come to me. I can feel it dance around me. Brush his

heart; make it skip a good few beats, I whisper in my mind. I let

the thought skitter over to Clive. He grabs his chest. His face is

nothing more than a mask of shock that I would hurt him. Pain

runs across his expression at having his heart stopped. He falls

to his knees and then gasps for air once I release him.

My guardians stand perfectly still. Taurus has a little smirk

on his face that he is trying to contain. I know he is glad Clive

is suffering. It makes me feel angry towards him, but I can’t

hurt Taurus. There is too much at risk. “Get up and do not ever

question me again.”

Clive gets off his shaky knees while nodding his head. The

smell of urine hits me then. I look at his trousers. They are

stained all down his leg. When he follows where I am looking,

his face turns red with embarrassment and anger.

“Now saddle up the horses and go get me that girl.” Taurus

and Felix move to the door. Clive is frozen, looking at his

trousers. “Clive, clean yourself up.” He walks past me with

angry tears in his eyes, ones I hope he will not shed and make a

bigger fool of himself.

“Taurus.” He pauses before closing the door.

“Yes, my lady.”

“How long will it take to cross over?”

“One full day.”

“Well, then, I expect you back here in three days.” They leave

and I pour myself a goblet of wine, feeling satisfied with myself .