Page 12 of Secrets of the Lore Keepers
“Not just the wildwood, but perhaps the kingdom. I’m not sure,” Maraini sat down and rubbed her temples. “This all makes my head hurt. I wish Mama and Papa were here to explain. Deciphering text is our gifting, yet we’ve fallen so far from the original Lore Keepers. Yes, I read and study the text, but I’ve lost myself in legends and tales instead of focusing on our reason for existing.”
Anger stirred in my belly. “Our existence is not solely for the purpose of protecting the wildwood from an ancient goddess.”
Maraini shrugged. “I can’t forget what Sasha said. She seemed. . .determined.”
I thought back to that day. An odd day. And wondered what had become of her.
The brief conversation cast a hue of darkness and gloom over the room. Even the sun seemed to reflect my feelings, hiding behind a cloud. I edged toward the door, hungry to escape the clutches of fate. “Maraini.” I paused, hand on the door. “If we are to prevent the goddess from rising, what is it we are supposed to do?”
“Stay here,” she responded.
I slid out the door to find Kian, those words ringing in my ears. It sounded all so simple and passive. I didn’t want to be chained to the land my entire life, through generations and generations, but that was what had happened, wasn’t it? It was the Lore Keepers who prevented the rise of the goddess, because we had stayed here. Even though there was nowhere I wanted to go, and I had wanted nothing to change my daily life, I felt trapped, imprisoned in the land I loved. I could never leave. Is that why my parents had left? They thought they had a chance and look at what happened to them. Did it also mean that with the loss of my parents, the bloodline was weak? I raked my mind as I strode toward the garden, realizing with a pang it was already past midday. My parents had never pushed us to marry, to have children, to continue the bloodline. Why was that? It was mentioned from time to time, but after brief flirtations, nothing had come of it. There had to be more, much more to the puzzle. Likely in Mama’s journals or in the book bound in the cellar. My mind twirled through thoughts, bringing them up and tossing them away like a windstorm.
Kian knelt in the garden among the squash, placing bright yellow and green vegetables into a basket with a gentle reverence. He was stripped to the waist, his dark blue hair pulled back, and he smiled at me as I walked down the row of soft earth. “What’s wrong?” he stood and lifted a basket. I saw there were three others, full of the midsummer harvest, and tears sprang to my eyes.
He was beside me in a moment. His presence which should have been reassuring made me fear all the more. He stepped closer, smelling like the vine-ripe tomatoes. The depth of his gaze and the intensity of his male presence made me long for a dream I’d never had. Would it be so wrong to have a moment with an elven prince? His station in life differed greatly from mine, but why would that matter? I stared up at him as he touched my shoulder, a gentle caress, but enough to awaken something deep inside me.
Maraini said I warmed to people too quickly. I was kind and wanted everyone to like me, and perhaps it was the same sensation I felt with Kian. He was otherworldly, but it wasn’t just curiosity that pulled me toward him. It was something else. I didn’t feel the need to flirt carelessly with him; I wanted to ask questions, to know who he was, to understand him and have him understand me. I wanted the promise of what he could offer, the strength of his arms around me, the taste of his lips, the warmth of his caress. Even though I belonged to the land, and he belonged to the forest. The truth of it swept over me like a crushing wave, and I realized after this moment, there was no turning back. I’d take him to the house where his lost memories would be returned, and he’d never be the Kian I knew. The man who slept in the barn and did my chores, who healed from his wound with the magic of the potion. His hand rested on my shoulder and his brown eyes searched mine. If I could freeze the moment, the before and after, I would.
I placed my hand on his forearm, wanting to secure myself to the moment, to study it from every angle and hold it in my mind. Blinking away the tears, I opened my mouth, my face warming as I forced myself not to look at his lips or wish for things which could not be. “The memory potion is ready.”
He nodded, yet still held me a beat longer than necessary. While he tugged on his shirt, I bent to grab a basket. He picked up the other two and, wordlessly, we returned to the house.
Inside, the air was dense with the scent of herbs, and Maraini sat at the table once again, lips moving silently as she poured over words. A warning sang in my chest and it seemed a thick tension filled the air, a potent mix of anticipation and apprehension. What would Kian’s memories reveal? It was easy to fall in love with the idea of a prince, to enjoy those legends and tales of old. But in reality, he was nothing more than a man, moving out of the shadow of a dream into the hard truth.
I poured a cup of the brew and handed it to him. Our fingers brushed and a hint of magic crackled between us, lost the moment he sat and drank down the liquid. He made a slight face at the taste of it and then sat back, closing his eyes as he waited.
I glanced at Maraini who watched him, her eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep. A sensation of overwhelm crept over me at everything I’d learned the past few days. Weariness made my shoulders droop. I sat down and watched Kian remember.
A beam of sunlight stole over his face, showing the hint of stubble on his jaw and the length of his dark eyelashes. He was beautiful under the light and an ache began in my heart. Propping my elbows on the table, I rested my chin on my clasped hands as he sat up, and his eyes opened. I noted the changed immediately, the way his shoulders straightened and his chin lifted. There had been a vagueness in his eyes that cleared, leaving them burning with intensity.
I felt like nothing more than a farm woman with dirt under her fingernails as his eyes bored into mine. My breath caught and twisted and my heart thudded. My fingers itched to be doing something, anything other than sitting still. I should mix potions, or make tea, or chop vegetables for the evening meal.
“You’re the Lore Keepers,” he said, urgency rising in his deep voice.
I nodded. I’d said as much earlier.
Maraini put down her book and watched him.
“They are coming,” he burst out. “I came to warn you the teeth of the wildwood are coming for you. They will be here any moment; you have to prepare.”
“Wait.” Maraini’s words broke the lyrical assault of his tone. “Slow down and tell us from the beginning.”
“There is no time. I set out a few days ago. They might already be at your doorstep. They don’t know the way, but they will sniff you out and find you. Before I left my tribe, the Queen of the Wildwood appeared to me. She claimed the visions of the seer led her to believe you are in grave danger. She would not leave the wildwood, nay, she said someone would have to go in her place, and the seer recommended me. She gave me a knife.” His hand went to his side. “She spelled it with magic. We have to find the sleeping goddess and stab her with it to keep her from rising. You are the Lore Keepers; this is your land. We have to find the buried goddess before the attack begins.”
My lips trembled. So, it was bad news. But who or what was coming for us? Creatures of the wildwood? And how would we defend against them? “We don’t know where she’s buried,” I said, forcing my lips to move.
Kian’s expression softened. “I know. That’s why I came to help. But as I was leaving the wildwood, I was attacked. I only made is this far on a wild horse, I recall slipping from its back and then there was nothing until I woke.” His hand went to his side. “My wound was deep. I should not have lived, but I am grateful the horse led me true, it led me straight to you.”
Chapter Eight
“Rae?”The question in Kian’s voice only added to the violent mixture of emotions that coursed through me.
At his words, I’d fled to the porch where I could get away from the gloom that hung over my head. Uncertainty danced around me like white dandelion seeds, twirling in the warm summer breeze, their future uncertain. Shading my eyes against the sunlight, which had returned, I peered down the road, searching for intruders.
Kian had been with us for almost three full days, so why were we safe, hidden in the quiet land? If they had attacked him, I did not understand why they hadn’t shown up that very night to attack Maraini and I.
“This land is protected,” I faced him. “No one with ill will can enter.”
