Читать книгу Soul Song - Shawna Bennett - Страница 13

Chapter 6

Cassia had popped her head in Marcus’s door and saw her brothers exactly where she had left them last night.

“What do you think one wears to a new realm full of fairies?” she asked.

“I would assume a dress, sister, since the only two I have met have worn dresses,” Marcus answered seriously.

“Right. See you both in thirty minutes,” she said and popped back out.

They were all waiting for her and assumed she would be coming down the stairs. Instead she walked in from the front doors. She looked up, surprised to see them all waiting.

If they thought she had looked beautiful last night, then stunning was the word they used today. Her hair was windblown and wild. She wore a long blue dress, and her bare feet were covered in sand. She smiled at them all and said, “Good morning.”

“Were you at the beach?” asked Marcus.

She tilted her said slightly and said, “Yes, how did you know?”

He pointed at her sandy feet.

“Of course! The life of a fae is never boring,” she said brightly, looking down at her feet.

“Do you need to change?” asked Cassia, assuming she had lost track of time.

“No, and I invite you to take off your shoes if you want to! The realm feels wonderful on your feet. You look absolutely beautiful, Cassia, I think you will love the fae realm,” she said excitedly.

Cassia had chosen a loose silk dress in a nude color, and she slipped her shoes off. The marble felt cold on her bare feet. Sawyer saw the other two girls had chosen tight tank tops knotted at the stomach and shorts with flip flops. She felt sorry for them. They had been turned too young. They hadn’t let go of high school yet, and they were now immortal. She knew if they made it to a century, they would both be bitter and feel like they hadn’t gotten to live their lives before they were changed.

“Is everyone ready?” she asked the group.

“Obviously, that’s why we’re all standing here,” Hunter said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

“It’s nice to see you’re just as pleasant in the morning as you are in the evening,” Cassia said to her, and her stare told Hunter to stop talking.

“You will see the edge of the realm, it looks like a wall of water. Just walk through it, there is nothing to be afraid of. When we arrive, Astrid will be there to greet us and take you ladies to look around. The rest of you will be taken to see Mother,” Sawyer explained.

“I’m going wherever Liam goes,” Hunter stated.

Sawyer turned to her and said, “You most certainly are not. You are being allowed into the fae realm, and you are a guest there. You do not demand anything or you will remain here. If you continue to try to assert yourself in every decision I make, then I will ask you to leave this house. I have tried patience with you, Hunter, and now I have run out of it. I understand you are afraid to lose Liam, and I sympathize with you, but I am done tolerating your attitude and disruptions. I hope I have made myself clear because I won’t say this again.”

Liam squeezed her arm tightly to warn her to keep quiet. Hunter just nodded in acknowledgment, not trusting herself to speak. Two of the staff came and gripped the heavy red curtain in the middle and walked opposite directions to open it.

A wall of what looked like water was behind it. It shimmered but made no sound. This was the doorway to the fae realm. It continued to waver and shimmer like it was moving, but you couldn’t see through it to the other side. Sawyer started walking toward it, and everyone followed her. As she got close to it, she could see everyone was unsure, and as she stepped to the threshold, she wondered who would step with confidence and whose step would be unsure. As if to answer her question, Cassia stepped forward and linked arms with her and said, “Ready?” Sawyer nodded and took a step.

Sawyer’s feet touched the thick, soft grass of the realm. To her, stepping through always felt like stepping through cool wet air. She loved the feeling of the grass in the fae realm. The dirt beneath it was soft, and it warmed her feet. She had spent many days just lying on her back here, looking up at the clouds through the trees.

She turned to make sure everyone had made it through and watched as they took in the landscape of the realm. It was green everywhere, and the grass seemed to go on forever. There were massive trees and flowers in colors they had never seen. It smelled clean and fresh here, like the air was somehow different. They could see fae walking around everywhere, and all of them were smiling and singing. They all wore dresses and had long hair, and of course they were all barefoot.

Sawyer saw Astrid walking toward them with another woman. When they reached her, both gave Sawyer a warm hug in greeting. The other woman nodded at Cassia, who was still linked to Sawyer, and asked, “Who is your new friend?”

“This is Cassia. Cassia let me introduce you to Luna.”

Luna pulled Cassia into a warm hug. Cassia was not the kind of person who liked to be touched, but she surprised herself and sank into the embrace. She surprised herself even more when she found herself hugging the stranger back. She had no idea why, but somehow her hug was like a mother’s touch. Luna held her out at arm’s length and said, “Welcome, Cassia.”

“Thank you,” Cassia answered, rendered almost speechless by the encounter.

Luna then stepped toward the other two girls. “Who do I have the pleasure of meeting now?” she asked them.

Hunter, who usually had too much to say, was tongue-tied by this woman. She was already caught off guard by walking through the realm. She was starting to realize that Sawyer’s powers were far greater than she had imagined. She had believed that Sawyer was delicate and couldn’t possibly be stronger than her, but she was starting to rethink that. She had assumed before they came that if Sawyer tried to take Liam from her, she would destroy her. Looking around her now, she knew she had no chance and would have to change her strategy. Brexley finally stuck her hand out and said, “I’m Brexley, and this is Hunter.”

Luna ignored her outstretched hand and gathered her in a hug and then gathered Hunter in one.

“Welcome to you both. I’m excited, we rarely have visitors here, and Astrid is going to show you around,” she said, and Hunter, still without a voice, nodded.

Luna turned back to Sawyer and said, “I have missed you, sweet girl,” and put her hands on both sides of her face and kissed her forehead.

Sawyer looked up at her and said, “I have missed you also.”

“What an exciting time for you though, almost to your soul sing and about to receive your full power. Now introduce me to these young men before Astrid leaves to show these girls around,” she said to Sawyer and turned to face the men.

Luna had been given the honor of raising the baby that had been created. She had rocked Sawyer as a baby and soothed her when teeth erupted in her tiny mouth. She had never had a child of her own and thanked the earth when she was given to the care of Sawyer. She considered her to be her daughter, and she knew Sawyer thought of her as a mother. She wanted to look now at the man who would be her daughter’s soul’s mate.

Luna looked at them all and then let her gaze return to Sawyer’s soul mate. She looked at the man and immediately recognized her daughter’s soul when she saw him. He was perfect for the young girl, and she smiled at him for a moment. She turned her attention back to Sawyer, who was pointing to each man and giving her their names, and each man greeted her with a handshake. She didn’t try to hug them, especially Sawyers’ soul mate. She was afraid she would hold him too tightly and he would know.

One of a fae’s abilities was to feel others’ emotions. Mother had blocked the four men from Sawyer, and she could not feel what they felt. She didn’t want Sawyer to become fixated on her soul’s mate to the exclusion of the others. She wanted Sawyer to form true friendship before she fell in love. She had not understood Mother’s decision at the time, but now facing them, she did. Their connection was strong but would be stronger if love was based on friendship. Even now their ethereal cords were trying to reach out to one another. She smiled at the desperation of it, the two cords tugging desperately to connect. She knew that the night of her soul sing, it would be a beautiful thing to behold.

Mother had always been the most powerful fae because she had been the only one created. The rest of them were born to fae mothers and human fathers, so Mother was the only pure fae. The others only had half of the power because of their human blood. Mother could control all the elements. Mother had been born fully formed, and this was at the age of twenty-two. She did not have to grow and learn; she was brought into the world with full power and knowing her purpose.

Sawyer was the first full fae created since Mother. Mother had planted the young boy’s soul, and it turned into a large plant. On the day of her birth, a flower grew up from the center of it. The fae had stood around it and sang Sawyer into the world. She was just a tiny baby, and when she opened her beautiful green eyes, she smiled at them all. Sawyer had grown into a powerful fae, and at a young age, only Mother could instruct her in her powers because she was already stronger than the rest. Mother still had the ability to block her senses with the men, but when she had her full power, Mother would have a hard time. Sawyer was meant to be as powerful as Mother.

They exchanged pleasantries, and then Astrid said, “Well, I should take these ladies and show them around. Mother awaits you all.”

They started in opposite directions. Luna walking ahead of them with Sawyer. The two women talked easily of the last twenty-four hours, and the men took in the landscape. They were walking toward an incredibly large redwood tree in the distance.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Julius asked Marcus, motioning toward the entire place.

“Never. I can’t believe we have lived so long and never had even a hint that any of this existed. I thought we were amazing creatures with powerful abilities, but this makes it seem like we are apes.”

A few feet behind them, Lucas and Liam also chatted about their experience so far.

“How did it go with Hunter last night?” Lucas asked.

“As well as could be expected when dealing with her being crazy. It’s like trying to calm a chained tiger. I keep telling her that she has nothing to worry about and we’re only here for you, but she doesn’t care,” Liam said, and Lucas thought he was looking a little frayed.

“You need to talk to her again, she’s pushing it, and we have no idea what Sawyer can do. She isn’t safe if we don’t know what to expect,” Lucas said, and Liam nodded. Lucas had no love for Hunter, but his brother was all he had left in the world, and he didn’t want to see him unhappy. Hunter might be a little crazy, but she made him happy for now.

They had gotten closer to the tree and could see it clearly now. They saw a very old woman who was sitting on a chair that was covered in moss. It looked as if it had grown out of the tree naturally and had designs all around the arms and back that were delicate and ornate. They didn’t look like they had been carved in either, though. It looked like they had grown that way naturally.

The oldest woman they had ever seen sat in the chair. She had long white hair that hung down over her lap. Her face was covered in wrinkles, as were her hands that held the top of a cane. She looked positively ancient, although her eyes were bright and alert. They remembered what Sawyer had said about fae aging one year for every ten thousand and couldn’t imagine how old this woman must be.

Her left arm rested on the arm of the chair, and her right hand held her cane. The cane looked like it was made out of petrified wood and had the same designs as the chair.

Sawyer ran to her and kissed both of her cheeks.

“Hello, Mother,” she said.

The old woman looked at her and smiled brightly. “My sweet girl, I have missed you. You are like fresh air to this old woman.”

“Thank you,” she said and kissed her again.

The woman waved her away. “You and Luna go catch up, I must speak to these four.”

Luna and Sawyer turned and walked away. Sawyer gave them all a small wave as she left. Mother looked at them all just standing and staring at her and laughed.

“You four come sit here in front of me and stop trying to guess my age.” They sat down on four stumps in front of her that looked like they occurred naturally from the earth. She laughed and said, “I will give you a hint. I’m as old as time and not a day older.”

They all looked like children who had gotten caught with a hand in the cookie jar, because they had all been thinking exactly that. She gazed at each of them and yet it felt as though she was looking at them individually. It was impossible to tell if she was speaking to them directly or someone else.

She looked for a long time before she spoke again. “I see your face has changed since you were a child, but your eyes remain the same. Time has changed your heart, but not your eyes, boy.” She smiled a moment and looked off into the distance as if she were remembering that day.

She looked back to them again and said, “I’m sure you’re full of questions, but I’m not going to answer any of them. In time, all of your questions will find their answers. I will explain some things to you today, and time will explain everything else when it is ready. I will start at the beginning of my story so you can understand how we came to the beginning of your own story.

“I was created by the earth itself at a time when man first appeared on it. My purpose was to teach the men how wonderful the earth was and how it could provide for all of their needs.

“In the beginning I thought the problem with men was their nomadic nature. They kept moving to follow their food sources, but I would soon learn this wasn’t the problem.

“Men have always been violent creatures, and to this very day, I do not understand why. They kill to eat, although they don’t have to. It would be okay that they eat meat, if that’s what they have a taste for, but it’s never enough. They simply love violence. They like the power that it brings them. They will destroy an entire village and take nothing from it because somehow they feel power when they do. They will rape or torture or murder and feel power inside them afterward. It has been this way since first man, and it has never stopped. They wage their wars between countries, clans, tribes, neighborhoods, and cities. They are never content and will always seek more power. They could be warm and well-fed and still never be content. They always want more and are never satisfied, but how can they be? This power they seek isn’t real, they are convinced that their violence is the way to gain more power. Sadly, this power isn’t real, but they will never understand. They will continue to seek it for that is the way of men.