Tethered (The Avenlore Series) (16 page)

My mother bit her lip and nodded, then released my hand to pull a handkerchief from a glass box on the table next to her and dabbed her eyes. 

Another thought occurred to me.  “Why can’t I remember the place I was clearly?” 

Soleil stood from the floor, tapped the orb, causing it to return to its original size, and snatched it from the air. Walking away, she took up her place on the opposite couch.  “As time passes for you in this realm, your mind will let go of that place.  Passing from one realm to the other causes the loss of memories forged in the place you left behind.”

“So…I’m going to forget seventeen years of my life?  Like, like it never happened?”  Disbelief clouded my mind as I tried to decide just how upset about that I was. 

My life hadn’t been the greatest, but it hadn’t been horrid either.  And, those were my memories, I didn’t want to lose them.  The only way to keep them would be to return to the place I came from.  That would mean losing this place and all of the people that came with it.  That was phenomenally more disturbing than losing what I’d had before I came here, so I supposed the only thing to do was deal.  I would just deal with it and get over it.  There didn’t seem to be another option.

“I know it doesn’t make up for what you will lose, but we will make new memories, and by the Maker’s grace, may they be the happiest of your life.”  My mom offered, attempting to soften the blow.

“Yeah, okay.”  That was about all I could come up with at the moment.

“Do you have any other questions?”  My father had risen to his feet and was pacing behind the couch Soleil was seated on. 

I looked down to find my fingers working over the mark on my wrist.  “Yes.”  I wrenched back the left sleeve of my dress.  “What in hades is this about?”

My mother answered this question, her words soft and low.  “It is a mark of the power that flows in your blood.”

I blinked at her.  “Okaaay, so where is yours?”

“I do not have one,
dear.”  She exposed her wrists to me to provide proof.

I glanced at my father, eyebrows raised in question.

“Nor I.”  He said, shoving up his sleeves.  He showed me his wrists as well, also devoid of any marks.

“But, you said it was in my blood.  Don’t we have the same blood?”  I stood and took up pacing as well.   

When my mother spoke, her words were slow and deliberate, the way one explains things to a small child.  “We do, my dear, but the power that flows through you has never been commanded by your father or me.”

I shook my head.  “I don’t understand.”

My father put it more simply.  “We cannot do what you can, sweet girl.”

I huffed out a breath and folded my arms across my chest.  “Then how can I?  Where did I get this…this ability?”

Soleil stood and glided over the floor toward me, tugging up her sleeve as she came.  “From me.” 

The same mark was etched into the skin of her left wrist.

Well, that was unexpected.

“Right, okay.  How exactly?”  I stared into Soleil’s angelic face as I awaited her answer.

A subtle smile crossed her lips at my reaction.  “My only son married the youngest daughter of King Erik Connolly.  Your father descends directly from that bloodline, as do you.  So you see, it is in your blood to be quite a powerful enchantress.  What you have been able to do is but a fraction of what you could be capable of.” 

I thought back to when I’d watched the blade halt mid-air during the battle by the orchard.  “Did I, did I stop that blade?  I mean, that was me?”

Soleil nodded.

Again, very much unexpected.

“But, the portal, you did that?”

Soleil’s mouth quirked up at one corner as she shook her head.  “That was you as well.”

Holy rolling armadillos
.

“But…no.”  I pivoted toward my mother.  “I heard your voice.”  I whispered.

Fresh tears welled in my mom’s eyes.  “Yes, we were watching you.”

Soleil chimed in.  “When you pass into the other realm, it leaves a mark, if you will.  I have the ability to detect when someone crosses over and since I was not responsible for it, I knew it must be the work of Dark magic.  It is a rare talent to breach the boundaries between realms, so when I felt it, I immediately found you with the viewing sphere.”

My mother nodded in affirmation.  “Soleil was about to open a portal for you, and then you did it all on your own.”  She smiled proudly at me.  “We knew you couldn’t understand what you had done, so I called to you, in hopes of coaxing you through the portal.”

I collapsed onto the couch in a heap, rubbing my temples as I tried to process what I had been told.

“How did I do that?”  I leaned back against the cushions and stared at Soleil.

“Not sure, really.  I have never seen power manifest so effortlessly for anyone.  Not even myself.”  She shrugged, like it wasn’t really that big of a deal.

I looked to my father.  “And you can’t do these things?”

He walked closer and propped himself on the arm of the couch, shaking his head.  “No, sweet girl.  Men are not affected by this particular ability.”  He gestured to Soleil and then
me. 

“So, all the women can do this?”  I realized I had the fabric of my dressed clenched between my fingers.

My mother spoke up.  “You are the first female descendent in over two hundred years.”

“Oh.”  I looked at each of their faces, ending with Soleil.  “Wait, are you…so you’re like immortal?”

Soleil scoffed.  “Hardly.  I simply know a few tricks to slow the work of age.”  I raised an eyebrow at her.  “Considerably.”  She amended.

“
And what about your family?  Are they…old too?”  I asked.

For the first time, I saw sadness in her honey eyes.  “No.  I tried, but that particular magic was not effective on others.  You may wonder why I chose to outlive them, and for that I can only say I felt it was my duty, I believed I was needed.  The gifts we have are rare, but soon my time will come.”  This last revelation seemed to make her happy.

“I’m sorry.”  I offered quietly.

Soleil shook her head, golden tendrils drifting around her face with the movement.  “Do not be sorry for me, I will see them again soon.”

I nodded and smiled weakly, then looked out the window.  “It’s really nice out.”  I blurted, desperate to talk about something normal.

My father chuckled and my mother looked relieved.

Soleil smiled and nodded and then, she threw some dust at me. 

“What the…what’d you do that for?”  I sputtered as I clamped my eyes closed against the particles. 

Soleil’s voice came from further away than I anticipated.  “I cast a protection spell over you, child.”

“I would’ve been alright with a little warning.”  I coughed and opened my eyes to see Soleil reaching for the door.

She threw a grin over her shoulder and laughed.  “Yes, but I do enjoy the look on people’s faces when I do it that way.”  One look at my shocked expression and she was laughing heartily again.

She disappeared through the doorway and I swung my head around to look at my father. 

He shrugged and shook his head.  “She is a unique soul.” 

My mother stood from the couch and made her way to me, a strange smile on her face.  “Dear heart, in honor of your return, we have decided to throw a ball in two
day’s time!”

Oh, trouble trouble.

“Really?”  A ball was an exciting and terrifying prospect.

“Yes, what do you think?”  She asked enthusiastically. 

I thought about it and it was kind of the dream, wasn’t it?  Only, the dream didn’t include me feeling torn between two undeniably hypnotizing men.  And it positively did not include one of said men being betrothed to a ridiculously gorgeous and aggravating girl.

Yeah, what could possibly go wrong? 

Lots.

I put on my bravest front and smiled as earnestly as I could.  “Sounds like it could be an unforgettable night.”

Chapter 19

My father stood across the room with my mother where he was humoring her with a discussion of who would be included at the head table.  I could tell he was humoring her because his response to each comment she made was, “Absolutely my pearl, you have the right of it.”

I was across the immense room studying a wall of books when the doors to the parlor burst open.  My heart faltered a little when I saw Nikolas striding toward my parents. 

Completely oblivious to my presence, he fell to a knee before my father.  “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I have urgent news from the field.”

He wore a light weight white shirt that billowed with his movements, cut simply, with a collar and v-neck tucked into his light brown fitted his pants.  His simple outfit was completed with polished black boots.  Dark waves fell across his forehead and spilled down around his ears and his skin was flushed at his cheeks.

He was beautiful.

My heart twisted, something inside me called to him…and he seemed to hear it.

With a sharp huff of breath, he turned s
lowly and I was transfixed by his impossibly blue eyes.  Even with a distance of about twenty yards between us, he felt so close, like we were breathing the same air. 

He took a step toward me and knelt.  “My apologies, Princess.  I did not know you were here.”

I nodded and my mouth quirked up at one corner.  “I told you, it’s Dani.”

He bowed his head,
and then stood again, pivoting back toward my father.  “Shall I continue, Sire?”

My father glanced to me.  “Of course, I want nothing hidden from my daughter.”

Nikolas nodded and resumed his story.  “Our scouts advise that Lord Soren is staying in the town of Ruedenbury.”

“What could interest him in Ruedenbury?  It’s over a week’s ride from here, and if memory serves, there is nothing particularly notable there.”
  Father walked to a rounded table I’d paid little attention to and pointed to a specific point on it.

“I thought the very same, Sire.”
  Nikolas confirmed, walking to join him at the table.

I found my feet heading in that direction as well, and upon closer inspection, I realized the table was a map.  It was extraordinarily detailed, complete with raised mountains and flowing rivers.  I quickly picked out Castle Lux on the map and then searched until I located Ruedenbury.  It was definitely a good distance from where we were. 

My father bent over the table, staring at the town as if it may reveal its secrets if he studied it hard enough.  “What is he doing there?”

Nikolas glanced at me then back to my father.  “Nothing.  That is what concerns me.”

Nodding, my father moved his fingers over the town.  “Then we shall continue to watch him quietly.”

“As you wish.”
  Nikolas responded with an incline of his head.

My mother leaned into my father, crooking an arm through his.  “Enough of this talk now,
dearest.  This should be a happy day.”

My father smiled, placing a hand over hers. 
“You have the right of it, blossom.”

Her answering smile was epic.  She turned the full power of it on Nikolas, who couldn’t stop his own grin at her expression.  “Nikolas, there will be a ball in two
day’s time and I fully expect your enthusiastic participation.”

Nikolas grinned
his perfect, charming grin and made a show of bowing for my mother.  “Then, you shall have it, my Queen.”  He turned to me.  “You must save me a dance, Dani.”

Oh no.

“Yes.”  I answered a little too eagerly.

Nikolas held my eyes for a moment then looked back to my father who had been drawn back into a conversation with my mother about what musicians would be best suited for the ball.  “Good day, Sire.”

“I will walk with you, Nik.  I have some duties that require tending.”  He kissed my mother on the cheek and winked at me.  I think he was making it known to me that this was his excuse to escape all manner of ball planning. 

I grinned in reply.

Nikolas halted as he drew closer to me, offering a quick bow.  “Until then.” 

“Yes.”  I answered again
and I could’ve sworn my vocabulary was more extensive than that.  As he aimed a heart-wrenching smile at me, unease seeped through my veins with the memory of the kiss I’d shared with Liam.  I hadn’t
really
kissed him back, but I hadn’t exactly beat him off with a stick either.

The little devil on my shoulder whispered I was stupid for feeling guilty and that he was taken, I was not.  He’d made promises, I hadn’t.