Page 8 of Secrets of the Lore Keepers
His face transformed, and his jaw worked up and down before he spoke. “This is your farm? You and your sister take care of this land, alone?”
I scratched the back of my head. Why did he keep harping on the fact that we were alone? We had each other. But I followed his gaze, knowing the roof of the chicken coop needed replacing, the garden needed weeding, and vines twisted around the apple trees. “Well,” I protested. “It was easier when there were four of us, but now, we manage the best we can, which is why we can’t run off on larks, chasing after tales in the wind about who or what killed our parents. The land needs us.”
“You’ve never left, have you?” he said, returning those dark eyes to mine, as though he could read the thoughts dancing through my mind.
“Of course, we’ve never left,” I said, frustration mounting. “Everything we need is here. Why would we leave?”
“But you could hire help. I’m sure many people in the nearby village would be willing to tend such a beautiful land. Are you afraid, then? To leave everything you know and understand seeking an adventure? You’re comfortable here, aren’t you? And even though you pine for those you lost, you’ll never seek answers, because it would mean leaving this land. And if you leave it, you might lose it, and you can’t lose anything else, so you hold on to what you have tightly.”
My jaw dropped as I stared at him, and a haze of blindness passed before my eyes. For a moment, I couldn’t see straight. “How dare you say such words to me, when you know nothing about me,” I spat. “How about you get your own water!”
Furious, I stomped away, so angry with what he’d accused me of, I didn’t know whether he called after me.
Chapter Five
The house smelledof applewood and sausage when I burst through the doors that evening, still fuming and wondering how Maraini found time to cook. She poked her head over a bag of salt and nodded at the baskets of sage I brought. “I was wondering when you’d appear, what’s wrong?” Worry knit across her face as she studied me.
I filled her in on how Kian was an elven prince, still did not have his full memory, and finally repeated the words that had offended me. I’d expected her to utter some quiet words of rebuke toward him, but her eyes misted and she glanced away. “You should take dinner to him and apologize,” she finally said.
I dropped a basket of sage, and my stomach knotted. “Me! Did you hear what he said about us?”
Maraini nodded as she pulled out three plates and filled them. “Sit, Rae. You should hear this from me. I don’t know why the stranger, Kian, you said his name is?”
I nodded as I washed up and then slumped into a chair beside a fat bag of salt.
“He read you well, perhaps he can see more in a few hours than we’ve been able to see in five years. I could only bring myself to go through one of Mother’s journals, to find the ward of protection over the land, but right next to it was a binding spell.”
My throat went dry. “What do you mean?” I squeaked.
“A binding spell is used to ensure whatever, or whoever you cast the spell over will stay in place. I think it may be helpful once we find the pigs.” She giggled a little before her face turned serious again. “But what if it’s been used on us?”
I stared, sure I could not eat dinner after that revelation. “Why?” I demanded. “It makes no sense. We love this land; we’d never leave it.”
“I know, and it was only a strange sensation I got when I brushed my hands over the words. They changed colors and a soft film came off in my fingers, as though it had been used and then forgotten. Don’t you remember the last words Mama and Papa said to us?”
I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest, dread sinking in. “No.” I was sure I’d been daydreaming again the day they left, assuming I’d see them again within the year.
“They told us to stay here, where it’s safe, for the land would provide everything we needed. Maybe they didn’t want us chasing after them and getting into trouble.”
“Oh.” I scoffed. “No, no, our parents would never take our free will away from us. We can come and go as we please. After all we go to market every month to sell our goods, do we not?”
“We go straight there, and we come straight back, as though something tugs us back here every time. I want to know why, don’t you? Don’t you want to know why the land keeps producing, even though we can barely keep up with it? Why our wealth continues to pour in and why we stay here, year after year, waiting for something to happen to us when we could go out and make something happen ourselves?”
“Because land is wealth, I think you’ve read too much.” I rose from the table, no longer interested in my dinner. “I think the stories from your books are weaving into reality.”
Maraini stayed calm, her face showing none of the anger that covered mine. I wondered how she could stay so calm with the accusations against our parents she put forth. Anger rolled like a storm and my fingers trembled as I struggled to stay in control.
“I thought so too.” She reached for a book lying on the table and opened it. A folded piece of paper fell out. “Until I saw this.”
I stared at the folded parchment, old and weathered. I didn’t want to touch it, didn’t want to read any truth that might be in it.
“What is it?” I asked, meeting my sister’s eyes.
“Read it,” she leaned forward, a dead calmness in her eyes. “I think it explains everything. I need you to read it, to know what I know, so that we can make a plan. Together.”
My throat went tight as I sat down, reaching for the parchment. A heaviness sat on my chest, squeezing it as I read.
Lore Keepers of the north
