Chapter 14 - Talk of the Past

~ Nine cycles of the seasons - 14 Years earlier ~

The gentle glimmer of morning shone through the window. The curtains were spread wide, allowing the dappled sunlight of the autumn forest to play over the blankets that Lia had nestled into. A mote of light slipped over her closed eyes, making her tighten her lids in her sleep, drawing her from her slumber.

Again the flash of bright light, leaving a strange lavender smear across her vision. Lia groaned, rubbing at her eyes and rolled onto her side as she pulled the blanket up a little higher. The lavender gleam remained, stained into the backs of her eyelids from the advance of morning in her room. She frowned slightly in her waking moments, a half remembered dream on the edge of her memory. The dryad, Ivyana standing over her in the darkness, crying. Then watching silently as the dryad knelt, wiping at her tears in confusion before catching some in her hand and looking down at her. Ivyana had whispered something and her name was mentioned a number of times, then the dryad brought her wet fingers to Lia’s lips, the salty tang of tears still faint on tip of her tongue. Then the gentle splash and sting as the dryad spilled a single tear into each of her eyes, blinding violet light flashing through her memory as she had lay in a waking dream, unable to move.

Lia squinted, rubbing her eyes again, “Ivy?” she said quietly to herself, questioning the thought.

“When I came to check up on you, Ivy was curled up and embracing you as you both slept.”

Lia quickly rolled over, immediately recognising Eira’s voice, “Ivy was here? It wasn’t a dream?” she asked, peering blearily at the bright shine of white.

Eira chuckled quietly, “She has taken a real liking to you. She panicked and spirited herself away when she woke. It would have to be the first time in my life that I saw a dryad crying.”

Lia finally cleared her eyes, letting them settle on Eira. Her hair loose and falling in a cascade of white brilliance over her shoulder. She sat in a chair, one of her legs crossed over her thigh with a small, leather-bound journal held in place with a finger. She smiled, her ice-blue eyes shimmering in the light as she glanced at Lia before turning back to her small journal.

“Ivy gave you a gift,” Eria tapped the open pages, “I can feel it.” she said, continuing to write.

Lia watched her in fascination as Eira was absorbed in her writing, “A gift?”

Eira finished off her sentence, capped and placed her short quill down. She met Lia’s eyes and smiled, “Yes, a gift. She did something, and…I am not quite sure what. Old world magic is not a strength of mine.”

She stood and stretched a little, “Nothing to be concerned about, but it is already mid-morning.”

Lia frowned in confusion and looked at Eira.

Those white eyebrows raised, “After your performance, you barely made it three steps before collapsing. Your father got you into bed.” Eira said with a smile, sitting on the bed and patting the covers.

“I never thought that one with the thread could manage it at your age, very few can do it at all.”

“What did I do?” Lia asked curiously.

Eira smiled, “I had reports come in from all across the city. Talk of blue petals made of light, floating and falling from the sky yesterday evening. Our citizens feeling a great calm and quietness of heart. Earlier this morning I even received a rather abrasive, though strangely respectful message from one of the most irritating thorns, speaking of his fury in the sudden shift of power in the city and how he lost some of his most trusted last night because of my attack on his influence.”

Her ice-blue eyes twinkling in amusement, “It appears your performance waylaid the plans of the Guild of Thorns, a thieves guild and their associates from plying their trade last night. Even this morning a number of them have handed themselves over to the city guard without reason and in a confused state.” she said, shaking her head and chuckling.

Lia stared at Eira, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to, I just thought that…” stopping as Eira put up a hand.

“There is nothing to apologise for, Lia. You gave a gift to the people of this city, a night of being free from their concerns. In regards to the criminal element in the city, none of them realise that I can completely remove them by myself if I wish. Now, dear girl, I came here to spend time with you and to tell you the truth about your Grand Aunt.”

“But, but if you can remove them, why don’t you?” said Lia, catching onto Eira’s first words.

Eira smiled and shrugged, “People require the illusion of choice and free will. Truthfully the thought of a utopia where everyone is happy, healthy and free from want, while idealistic is ultimately unsustainable.”

“Why?”

“Because it will always be based on one person’s view and decision of what a perfect life is, not a shared vision. A shared vision means compromise. Compromise means that some will have to suffer the actions of what is decided, especially those that have completely different wants.”

Lia stared at Eira for a long moment, “But Mama, doesn’t that mean that the city is a shared vision?”

Eira nodded, her brows pinching slightly as she took one of Lia’s hands in her own, “It is and last night you gave it the closest it will ever get to that ideal. Everyone was at peace in themselves and with those around them. An incredible gift, even if only for a night.”

She looked seriously at Lia, “When you do finally go down and into the city, never show your power among others, except those you trust.”

Lia nodded, recognising the intensity in Eira’s eyes before they softened, a smile returning to her face.

“Odessia had a chest that is now yours, a chest I hope you didn’t try to open.” Eira said, chuckling lightly as she felt Lia go rigid, “Oh? You did try to open it.”

Lia moved over the bedclothes and sat facing Eira, ‘It made a strange crackling sound and I left it alone.”

Eira nodded, “Lucky you did, years ago one of her students thought to steal from her. Came across that chest and the poor fool woke up days later with her fingertips burnt off.”

Lia looked at her with wide eyes before glancing toward the end of the bed.

“I think it is time I opened it for you and let you get to know and learn from your Grand Aunt and her experiences.” Eira slipped off the bed, holding a hand out to Lia, “And I am a little curious myself. Odessia always had an intensely private side, things that she kept so close and behind that façade of inner strength and stoicism, even things she chose not to share with me, her eldest friend.”

Lia stepped around to the ironwood chest with its etched silver bindings and large clasps, she stared at it respectfully. Eira brushed past, taking it by the handles and lifting it, placing it on a low bench that Lia slid over from the wall. Eira nodded in thanks and caught Lia’s gaze.

“This chest is special, Lia. Odessia made sure that only one other could open it.”

“You?”

Eira smiled, “In the event of her death.”

Lia’s eyes remained on the chest, “Mama, when did you meet her?” she said as she watched Eira’s hands slide over the clasps without enraging the thrumming sound that threatened her months before.

Eira smiled gently, “When she was a child, maybe one or two years older than you.”

Lia stared at her, “She was your childhood friend?”

“Lia, my dear girl…” said Eira, shaking her head, “I taught her.” she looked around the room, “Back then, your rooms were Odessia’s, and both your Grandmother’s.’

“My grandmothers? But how? You are not that old!”

Eira laughed, her voice filled with genuine mirth at Lia’s expression.

“This was Odessia’s room, the study was her sister’s and the private library was your grandmother’s on your mother’s side.”

Eira smiled with the thought, “Odessia loved it here. Before she graduated she had her plans to stay and become an instructor and my aid already set. As your grandmothers left, I gave these rooms to her. I loved her dearly as a friend.”

She slipped her fingers into the clasps and snapped them open. The seal on the chest releasing and the lid lifting slightly. Eira rested her hand on top and met Lia’s eyes. Catching Lia’s nod she lifted it open, letting the lid rest against its straps.

“This is now yours, the moment you close the clasps it will only open for you.” Eira said, glancing at Lia.

Eira stepped back and sat on the bed, drawing her white hair back and around to fall over one shoulder as Lia nodded and peered inside the chest’s darkened recesses. She watched Lia as she stared down, her young eyes trying to make sense of Odessia’s treasures.

“Bring them out, place them on the bed. I will tell you what I can.” said Eira quietly, patting the bed in front of her.

Lia glanced at her, “There are so many journals.”

She nodded, “Her story, her most important moments. There is a secret room in the private library too. There should be more journals there, her warrior’s raiment and weapons.”

“Warrior?” asked Lia with wide eyes.

Eira nodded, “She was a hero. A fighter, a commander. She suffered great injury in her life more than once.” she met Lia’s eyes, “I am sure you saw her scars.”

Lia nodded, unconsciously running her hand over her lower abdomen.

“If you want to learn about her, I mean to truly know who she was. Then her journals will give you more than anything the histories or others can say. But for now I would only suggest her earliest.”

Lia reached in and brought out a sewn child’s toy, half burnt and ragged, “Poss? Dessia kept it? But…”

She placed it back and lifted out firstly one, then another wooden box that stacked into the chest and placed them carefully down on the bed. Eira watched Lia, her young eyes roving over the contents of the boxes, the half burnt toy resting on top.

“But Mama, these things, they are… things that, they are her memories.”

Eira nodded slowly, “When Odessia left to be with your parents sixteen years ago. She did not take valuables or fineries. She just took that chest and her trunk of clothing. She left everything here.” she smiled sadly, “After many centuries and when the frailty of old age started to take her strength, memories and possessions that make them fresh again become priceless treasures, helping you to recall those times.”

“Even now, Lia. I would suggest you keep a journal. Not for every day, but for when interesting things happen. A few words are all it takes to rekindle what was thought lost.” said Eria as she looked thoughtfully into one of the boxes.

Lia frowned, “I saw you writing in a small book, is that the same? To help you remember?”

Eira shook her head, “It is something different.”

Lia watched as she carefully pulled a small bauble out from the box, letting it settle in her hand as a private smile came to her face. She looked past it and met Lia’s eyes.

“We should place all of these in that secret room, so you can learn from her experiences over time. So you can feel that she is always here with you.”

A great smile came to Eira’s face, she slipped off the bed and gathered the boxes and placed them in the chest. Lifting it she gestured with her head.

“Come.”

Lia followed Eira out of the bedroom and through the main area, its furnishings comfortable, yet staid and austere. Her eyes took in the room in a different light, everything had its place and purpose, choices made and others compromised on. But all of it was undoubtedly the old elf. She looked up at the hangings on the walls, a tapestry depicting a battle, of demons and warriors locked in fierce engagement.

“Lia?”

She turned quickly, realising she was alone in the room and ran to the library, the shelves of books and chests of specimen drawers that lined one of the walls was a wonder in itself. Eira stood before the shelf on the far end, the chest resting on a table.

“It is not much of a secret, just hiding in plain sight. It kept her things safe.” she said, reaching to the meeting of two bookcases and pulling on a recessed latch.

Pushing gently, one of the cases arced away from her, as simple as opening a door to a room. Lia was surprised when she realised that there was a recessed handle and cut out on the bookcase to make it easier to open and close. A gentle glow filled the space behind, a pale green-white light that illuminated the deep room that extended almost double the depth of the library. Lia following her in wonder, this room was remarkably different, despite its shelves and decor.

Eira placed the chest down on a low bench of drawers that marked the middle of the room, glancing at Lia and smiling as she watched the girl taking in the shelves filled with books, keepsakes and treasures from Odessia’s life. The far end of the room was a vault, thin pillars and an arched ceiling. But what stood in its centre caught Lia’s attention. Eira watched as Lia slowly walked toward the vault, her amber eyes wide and reflecting the glow that permeated the room.

Two suits of armour, unlike anything Lia could have imagined rested on their dummies. They appeared to float in mid-air as if they were being worn, but with no body within them. One was of teal padded silks, silvers and polished grey-black adamantium breastplate and fullers that protected the torso. But her eyes kept being drawn toward the other. A fitted suit of fine platinum-coloured scales that appeared to have fit like a second skin . Behind it hung a leather and silk tapered cloak that flared from the waist, allowing for freedom of movement. On the circular table that sat before them was a selection of gleaming greaves and vambraces.

She reached out and ran a finger over their cold metals. Disbelief and awe combining to realise that in her past, Odessia was a warrior. She felt Eira come up beside her.

“Odessia, bearer of the Thread. The duellist known simply as ‘Honour’. Undefeated champion of the Spyres of Solacie for more than four centuries.”

Lia stared, the tan and teal leather, bright armour scales that shimmered in the light, “Undefeated?”

“Once, she was almost beat. A talented elf, he was a student until he challenged her. Headstrong and potent, he turned the centre grounds into a battleground, but no matter what he threw at her she had an answer. In the end it was her superior experience that defeated him, not strength or power.”

“At the end of the duel, spent and staggering she went to him and helped him back to his feet, holding him up, lifting his hand in hers, demanding that the crowd give the same applause, the same cries of honour and admiration.”

Lia watched Eira, hanging off every word, “What was his name?”

“Illias. She demanded that he was given a title, little did she know that he was a relative, but not of blood.”

Eira looked up at the armour, gesturing to Lia to follow her around to the back of the vault, “She fought in the War of the Rift as my champion and guard. She sacrificed her chance at giving life, shielding me as the doomed order of Aldaliss were scythed down before our very eyes, destroyed by one of their own. Their deaths were unfortunate, but it secured victory over a terrible foe. I just hope that someday he finds the strength to forgive himself.”

She looked at Lia, the distracted expression on her face as she looked at the weapons hanging from the wall, “Dessia was a warrior…”

“Odessia was much more than a warrior, that was not the thing that defined her. But in her heart she loved peace and would fight furiously to protect it. She was foremost my closest friend, then a mentor, and finally as she got older she became like a mother to me.” she said, touching the hilts of Odessia’s wands that sat in their racks, her ice-blue eyes shining and her appearance again returned to how Lia saw her first.

“This is all yours now, Lia. Every single piece of it, to keep safe or to use. Everything you could ever want to know. For now though, let it be your own personal museum.”

Lia nodded, noticing the narrow bookcases that were on either side of the vault, their shelves filled with hand written volumes. Letters and other markers between the pages. Eira patted her shoulder and went to fetch the chest as Lia perused the books. Randomly sliding one out and opening it, a pressed flower between the pages among the lines of Odessia’s flowing script.

“Did you read them all?”

Lia nodded, deep in thought, sitting in the inky black.

“What are you thinking about?” Doubt asked, stepping close and peering at her.

“It was right before me. Illias. He was there.” Lia said.

Doubt nodded, “The Captain too.”

“Alletair…” Lia said at a whisper.

Doubt tutted lightly, looking off into the darkness that surrounded them, “The dryad, Ivy, what was her gift?”

Lia looked at her, “A blessing of the forest and the fae, it is a part of us.”

Doubt watched her as she looked at her hands, the glow from the tear on her chest giving them light.

“What was school like, the academy, were there classes?” she asked, sitting across from Lia.

Lia shook her head, “Any students that arrive before the age of twelve are partnered with one or two members of the Arcana, after their strengths have been assessed. Their mentors guide and teach them the basics while the student is involved in observing and helping them with their work. Twelve to fourteen, there are additional classes in groups where common magic, weapons training and further research and assessment takes place.”

Doubt frowned, “After fourteen?”

“It depends on the results of your assessment. Your strengths, weaknesses, how competent you could become. Many would remain in classes; those gifted with particular strengths would apprentice and learn with particular masters until they graduated.”

“What of those like us? With the Thread?” Doubt asked, her young amber eyes glimmering in the strange light.

Lia nodded slowly, “Those like us, we have incredible power from a young age. We learn to control it, to explore it. The Chancellor personally teaches all children sent to the Academy who bear it. I had some classes, but we are matched with particular mentors and apprentice earlier.”

“Eira, Harks and Jaina?”

Lia smiled, “Yes, because I am the Chancellor’s daughter. I spent much of my time learning from the family I had adopted. Jaina and I are more like siblings; she’s an older sister, worldly but still innocent in ways.”

“My first years at the Academy were incredible, learning whatever and wherever my curiosity took me. With Papa, Mama and Jaina, I found myself. Then I met Selera, my first true friend.” Lia said with a smile on her lips, “I was the experienced one when we first met, I had all the answers.”