Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael Book Three) (10 page)

She and Leoma bowed deeply. “We welcome each of you.”

And then every Wymzesti standing in the circle around them bowed as one. When they again stood straight and looked at her and her sisters, Skye struggled not to squirm.

“We welcome you,” they all said at the same time.

Finally, Knorbis stepped forward, away from the other elders. He moved in front of Meda and Leoma and smiled.

“Amber, Olivia and Skye, your existence is a true miracle. That beings so young and untried could achieve what you have in only months, it defies everything we have ever known or anticipated. It is an honor to welcome each of you to our homeland.

“To us, you are our future.”

Excerpts from the Great Foretelling:

“
She who has the most faith in everything and everyone around her will have to work hardest to have it in herself.”

“
We will stand in awe of those we doubted.”

Caleb imagined Skye was more than a little overwhelmed by the Wymzesti greeting. He had to admit, it was beyond anything he had expected. Her grip on his leg was rather remarkable. She was all but vibrating against him.

But her grip eased when Knorbis stepped forward. After the elder issued his greeting, all three sisters stood at once. Caleb hurried to follow and noticed Gabriel and James doing the same. He guessed the girls wanted to extend their appreciation, as he knew each of them to be unfailingly polite.

Skye and Olivia walked over to flank Amber. The eldest sister said, “Thanks for the welcome. But we could use a minute.”

Frowning in puzzlement, Caleb watched as the sisters moved to walk past Knorbis. None of them had any expression on their faces. While this wasn’t so unusual for Amber or even Olivia, it was notably odd for Skye. The lack of expression looked unnatural on her usually expressive face. When Gabriel, James and Caleb took steps after them, Amber held up a hand, not bothering to look back at them.

“No,” she said.

Caleb hadn’t ever heard her sound so abrupt. So harsh. He looked to Gabriel and saw his leader’s expression. It was somewhere between shock and resignation.

The sisters walked straight toward one of the edges of the circle. He realized that the Wymzesti standing in front of them weren’t making any movements to get out of the way. But the three sisters didn’t break stride.

“Please excuse us,” Amber said in a voice that dared them not to. “The formerly ‘unworthy outsiders’—it is formerly, right?—well, we’d like to pass.”

Caleb blinked in surprise. The Wymzesti parted. Behind them appeared the same white wall that had encircled the room when they arrived. Still, the girls continued on. Skye waved her hand and the wall changed into an open archway. There were a few gasps and murmurs over this and he figured that she had just managed to impress the Wymzesti with her abilities, though he knew that had not been her goal.

Then the sisters disappeared through the archway and Skye glanced over her shoulder. She caught his gaze. He read the hurt and disappointment there and wondered what he had possibly done to cause it. With another wave of her hand, a solid-looking door appeared where the archway had been.

And in true Skye-style, the door slammed shut behind them.

There was stark silence for a long moment. Caleb itched to go after them. He hadn’t been out of Skye’s immediate vicinity for so long that it felt wrong being apart. He looked at Gabriel and James to see what their reactions were to the unexpected display. They both looked miserable.

“I have done this,” Meda said, bringing a hand to her chest. Her long face managed an expression of concern. “They have been offended by our recitation.”

“No,” Gabriel said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t that. Not exactly.”

What’s wrong?
Caleb thought toward James and Gabriel.
What has upset them?

We have
, James thought back.

How? What did we do?

It’s not what we did
, Gabriel responded.
It’s what we didn’t do.
He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the closed door with worried eyes.
We didn’t tell them the truth.

About what?
Caleb thought, thoroughly baffled.

About the Foretelling
, James replied. He looked like someone had kicked him in the gut.

Sensing his continued confusion, Gabriel sighed. Then he spoke. “We never told them about the last part of the Great Foretelling. The part that indicates they’ll be leading us all into battle.”

Finally, realization set in. Caleb frowned.

They feel that we’ve misled them
, he thought, looking at his brothers.
They feel betrayed.

Although he didn’t need the confirmation, they both nodded.

Knorbis stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a troubled expression on his face. Then he glanced around the silent room. “Well,” he said solemnly, “it certainly seems we still have a great deal to learn about human emotion.”

Skye maintained her numb shock as she walked away from the unusual Wymzesti room with her sisters. They walked for a while, not really sure where they were going. The “whiteness” pervaded the environment. A few buildings in shades of purple and gold could be seen in the distance, but it seemed they grew no closer even though they walked in that general direction.

Suddenly weary, she sighed and waved her hand, envisioning a pretty park with shade trees, green grass and a comfortable bench. Without batting an eye, Amber headed right for the bench that materialized and sat down. Olivia and Skye sat on either side of her.

They sat in silence for a long time. Skye was sure her sisters were having very similar thoughts to hers.

How could the guys have not told them? And were Estilorians merely “tolerating” them because of this prophecy?

“This is huge,” Amber said at last. She sounded grim.

Skye glanced at her. She was staring straight ahead, obviously lost in thought. The short-sleeved top she wore was one of the new ones designed for her by the Lekwuesti commander, Caoilinn. It was dark blue at the top and faded to pale blue at the bottom. To help disguise her pregnancy, it had an empire waist, tight through the chest and loose from just beneath her breasts to her upper thighs. At the moment, her hands were resting on the still-subtle swell of her growing belly, defeating the purpose of the shirt’s design.

“I don’t understand why they never mentioned this,” Olivia said quietly.

She was twisting her wedding ring around and around her finger. The breeze blowing through the park caught a couple of light green and brown strands of hair from her braid, but she didn’t reach up to brush them back like she normally would have. When she pinched her lips together, Skye suspected it was to fight her rising emotions.

Heaven knew she was in the same boat. The numbness had long ago worn off.

“They must not think we’re ready or something,” she said at last, trying to keep her voice from trembling. “They didn’t tell us because we’re not good enough—er, trained enough yet.”

“That’s a load of crap,” Amber snapped. “We’re damn well ready. We have been for weeks.”

Skye knew her sister’s frustration wasn’t directed at her and didn’t take offense. Instead, she felt a swell of pride. Amber thought she was ready?

“They didn’t tell us because they didn’t think we could handle it,” Olivia said with the same edge of anger in her voice. “You heard Knorbis. He qualified what he said about our abilities by mentioning how young we are. They all think the same thing.”

Skye considered what her sisters said. She knew that they probably felt an added layer of hurt toward their husbands, who had obviously hidden some seriously significant thoughts from them. That could color their judgment.

Then she thought about Caleb and his silence on the matter. And decided their words were right on the money.

And would you have been able to focus so well on your training if you had been under the pressure that such knowledge places on you?

She heard the voice of her spirit guardian and carefully considered his words. Closing her eyes, she sighed.

You’re right,
Qel’a.

Then she said, “They wanted us to be able to focus on getting ready for this huge responsibility. They knew we wouldn’t have been able to if we were told right off the bat we were going to have to save their entire people.”

There was a pause as her sisters considered this. They turned to look at her at the same time.

“Good one,” Amber said. She gave Skye a small smile and a nudge with her elbow.

“I guess that makes me think of James as a little better than a wart on a toad’s butt,” Olivia mused. She looked rather relieved.

After another moment, Amber sighed. “I guess we’ve let them stew long enough. Let’s see what they have to say for themselves.”

Skye started to rise, but Amber reached over and grabbed her arm. “Uh-uh. They’ll come to us. We’re still the ones who were wronged here. They should have said something to us by now.”

Since she agreed, Skye sat back and waited, crossing her arms over her chest. She thought of the past few weeks and the many times Caleb could have said something about the prophecy and what it meant for her and her sisters. She thought of how many times he told her that she was training to protect herself…from Mercesti, from other less-than-friendly Estilorians, heck, even from random, rampaging wild animals. But never a thing about battles for livelihood.

And really?
Unworthy outsiders?
That was a part of the prophecy that all Estilorians believed? It made her wonder what she and her sisters should find so appealing about living among them. And she wondered if Caleb had ever thought of her that way.

It hurt too much to consider.

A minute later, they approached. She wondered if anyone else noticed that Gabriel walked in the middle and slightly ahead of James and Caleb, much as Amber had done with her and Olivia. As soon as that thought floated through her head, she saw Gabriel’s eyes drift briefly down to Amber’s belly, saw the distinct softening of his gaze, and thought that she wouldn’t be able to hold out for one second against it if it had been her facing him down.

Amber glanced sideways at her and she realized her thought had been a little too loud. Sending a silent apology, she got to her feet and planted her hands on her hips as the three males stopped a few feet away.

“Come on,” she said to Caleb, keeping her tone clipped and her face clear of expression. “We can’t exchange thoughts, so let’s go hash this out in private.”

She turned briskly, felt her long hair and her skirts flare out behind her. When she got about fifty feet away, she waved her hand. A small cottage suddenly appeared in front of them. She walked right up to the door, but before she could open it and walk inside, Caleb hurried forward and took the door latch.

“I created the place,” she said with a huff. “It’s not like I created an enemy inside.”

He didn’t comment. He just opened the door and looked inside. Then he stood against the door so she could flounce inside.

The second he was inside and the door was closed, she rounded on him.

“So I’m capable of using my power to create something like this, but not capable of defending myself, is that it?”

He frowned. “It’s my responsibility to see to your protection.”

“That’s not what you’ve been preaching all of these months. You said that I was training to defend
myself
.” She saw the remark hit home. Then she said, “Amber thinks I’m quite capable, and so does Olivia. Why is it, I have to wonder, no single Estilorian seems convinced of it?”

He didn’t reply.

“You know what I think? I think you also believe I’m capable of defending myself. What you don’t believe is that I’m ready to lead a battle. A battle you never even bothered to tell me about.”

“I—”

“I’m not quite finished, Caleb,” she ruthlessly interrupted. Her emotions were overtaking her judgment, but she just couldn’t find it in herself to stop them. “You lied. Omitting something so huge, whatever the reason, is still a lie.” Her voice wavered, but she plowed on. “You’re the best friend I have here who isn’t related to me. Do you know how much you’ve hurt me?”

She felt the first tear fall and stopped talking. Her throat had closed up on her.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m assuming since you’re crying that you’re done talking for the moment,” he said levelly. “Does that mean you’re ready to listen?”

It was like a slap, and not at all the response she had expected. Completely shocked, she could only stare at him as tears dripped down her cheeks.

“Good. Then I can say now that it was never our intent to hurt any of you. Yes, we kept the last part of the Great Foretelling from you. We didn’t exactly go into detail about any of the prophecy, for that matter. It wasn’t important to us. You are.”

That eased some of the sting from his initial harsh words. But it wasn’t exactly an apology. She still thought he was being far too dismissive of her feelings. He seemed to think that his explanation, logical though it might be, made up for any hurt his choices and his actions had caused.

He was wrong.

“That’s what you have to say to me?” she asked carefully, as though being sure she understood.

He just nodded.

“Fine.”

She waved her hand. The cottage disappeared. Then she turned and walked away, not caring if he followed.

“Skye, don’t leave until we’ve finished discussing this,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her arm.

Pulling away from him, she replied through her continuing tears, “I can’t talk to you about this without it being personal, Caleb. It’s very personal, and I’m very emotional about it. You obviously don’t want to see or deal with this emotion. So we’re done.”

Now he looked like the one who’d been slapped.

She started to turn away, then looked back up at him. “I’ve just learned that every Estilorian’s opinion about me was formed centuries before I was even born. No one who meets me does so without a preconceived idea of who I’m supposed to be. I’ve learned that the reason everyone is being so civil and welcoming to us is because they think we’re going to lead them in some miraculous charge. For heaven’s sake, you’re all training us to see that we do exactly that.

“I’ve just learned that I’m considered valuable…not for anything I’ve done, but for something I have yet to do. And I’ve learned that the reason you’re all so concerned about our protection is to make sure we fulfill this prophecy.”

“That’s not true,” he argued.

“No?” She raised an eyebrow and once again planted her hands on her hips in challenge. “Then why
are
you so concerned for me?”

When he only stared at her for several long, silent heartbeats, she nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

And turning back around, she once again walked away.

This time, he didn’t stop her.