Chapter 18: Conception

THE PRESENT:

"That Maygis person," Tasmine asked me, "is that Dred?"

"I think it is," I replied, my voice distant. Reading how he had seduced my mother had given me chills. I felt like I was going to vomit. I closed the book, then sat there with my eyes closed, feeling ill.

"Gianna?" Tasmine asked in concern. "You don't look very well."

"What is wrong?" I heard Atheria's voice coming from behind us.

Tasmine quickly explained that I had been reading my mother's diary aloud and what he had learned from it so far. When she had finished, Atheria was kneeling in front of me, looking concerned.

"Gianna, you are not ready to learn these details if it is affecting you this way," she told me, her voice gentle.

"I have to read it," I quietly replied. "I have to know the truth."

Val stood silently apart from us, watching me. I stared back at her, remembering what she had said shortly before Lucas had been taken by the dragon.

"You knew," I said, standing up to confront her. "How did you know?"

"I borrowed your mother's diary when you were not looking," she calmly replied. "Twice, actually. You never missed it or noticed either time."

"Why? Would you do such a thing?" I demanded.

"I just wanted something to read. I did not know it was your dead mother's diary until I started reading it."

I stepped forward, hand drew back, prepared to slap her. Atheria was quickly between us, raising her arms to keep us apart.

"We have more important things to do than to fight each other," she told us, her voice as sharp as the swords at her sides. "We must decide what we shall do next."

I stepped back, letting my anger at the dark elf subside. When Atheria was sure that I wasn't going to go after Val again, she stepped out of the way of the two of us.

"You certainly have spirit," Val said, a wide smile on her face. "I like you more and more, Gianna. My apologies if I offended you by reading your mother's diary."

I nodded to her, but I could not return her smile, my feelings were still in disarray over everything I had learned in the past while. "I forgive you, Val. You meant no harm."

"Lucas has been taken to the Dark Domain," Atheria said once we were finished. "We have been communicating through our rings since he was taken, and I know where he is. It is my belief that we must try to rescue him. He is our friend, and for some of us, even more." She looked directly at me when she said that last part. "I will not allow any of my friends to be held by an enemy if it is within my power to attempt to free them."

"Atheria," Val said, stepping closer to her and laying her hand on the light elf's shoulder, "you are talking about entering the Dark Domain. It will be more dangerous than you know."

"Then we are lucky that we have someone with us who knows their way around," Atheria replied, casting a meaningful glance at the dark elf.

Tasmine softly spoke up in her shy voice, "Shouldn't we speak with the king first? He was the one who sent us on this journey, and now that there's a change of plans, maybe we should let him know and find out his thoughts on the matter."

"No," I firmly said. "That will take too long. I won't let Lucas be a prisoner any longer than it takes us to get ther. Atheria is right, we must go to save him, and we must leave now."

"Very well," Val said. "I shall go with you. If anything, to keep us alive in the Dark Domain for as long as I am able."

I noticed that Val's hand remained on Atheria's shoulder, and their bodies lightly touched each other. I had been having suspicions about their newfound friendship ever since Lucas used his power to make them kiss, to stop them from hating each other more than they hated our true enemies. Ever since then, they touched each other frequently. Once, I thought I saw Val looking at Atheria with lust in her eyes, when the light elf didn't know that Val was looking at her. Val didn't know I had seen it, and the look in her eyes left as quickly as it appeared. I sometimes wanted to ask one of them, but I had not worked up the courage.

"I do not wish to leave my friends who have taken me in as one of their own," Tasmine said. "I shall go with you, and I will share whatever fates may happen to us."

Atheria nodded, satisfied that we were making the right decision. "Let us make haste. We have a friend to rescue."

As we were preparing to leave, Atheria approached me and slipped something into my hand. I looked down and saw the twin of the ring that Lucas was wearing.

"I believe that right now, you need to speak to him more than I do," she told me.

I smiled thankfully at her. I quickly put the ring on my finger and immediately felt a presence in my mind. I could hear someone else's voice inside my head, the voice of Lucas.

Gianna, are you there? he asked me.

I'm here, Lucas! Are you hurt? Where are you?

No, I'm okay. I'm in a cell right now, inside some kind of castle or fortress. What about you? Are you okay?

I'm fine, but poor Benthor...

I know, he replied. I could sense his sadness and his grief through the connection of the rings. I haven't seen Dred yet, he told me, after a moment's pause. I'm hoping that they'll open the cell soon and I can use my amulet to try and escape.

Lucas wore an amulet that allowed him to turn invisible. It had been a gift from an undead "king", when he realized that both Lucas and himself shared a common enemy: The Magus Dred.

We're coming for you now, I told him as I looked at the others and saw that they were very nearly ready. Atheria waved to me, signalling me to be prepared to leave. I'll keep the ring on until Atheria asks for it back, so we can keep talking to each other.

Good, he said. I miss you and I love you. Don't worry, we'll get through this, I promise.

I love you too, I told him as I rushed to join the others.

We travelled the rest of the day without a break. We knew that we had to hurry, so we pressed ourselves hard. I spent much of the travel sharing with Lucas what I had learned from reading my mother's diary. I told him that I still had more to read though.

You can ask Val what she wrote, he pointed out.

I thought about that. But no, I need to learn these things for myself, from her words.

I understand.

I started to say something else to him, but he suddenly said, Something's happening.

What? What is it?

I hear footsteps, coming down the hall. He was silent for a moment, then said, It's him! He's...

My mind abruptly felt empty of his presence, his mental voice no longer coming into my head. I cried out his name several times, waiting for him to respond, but he did not. I quickly ran up to Atheria, who walked ahead of the group.

"He's gone! His voice is gone!" I told her.

"What happened?" Atheria asked in alarm.

"He told me that someone was coming, then he said that it was him. That was the last thing he said. I think it was Dred. Who else could it have been?"

Atheria gravely nodded, her expression grim. "Let me know when the rings begin to operate again. And do not worry. Lucas is capable for a human. We will find him and we will free him."

We travelled until it was too dark to travel anymore. We set up a quick campsite, with Atheria telling us we would leave come sunrise. Everyone else ate a quiet dinner, but I was not hungry. Tasmine tried to get me to eat something, saying that I needed to keep my strength up, but I really didn't want food.

After dinner, Tasmine and Val laid down for bed while Atheria went about her nightly duty of watching over our camp. I sat in front of the fire, unable to sleep for a long time. I needed to learn more of the truth about my mother and Maygis. I needed to find out the whole story of what had happened between them, and who my father truly was. I opened my mother's diary and continued reading where I had left off earlier that day.

THE PAST:

Maygis walked Kathia home in the darkness. Few words were said between them. Kathia felt sore, ill, and ashamed. She wished that Maygis would say something to comfort her, to ease her troubled body and feelings. But he did not, instead walking beside her and looking around at the quiet night.

Kathia stopped him a short distance from the farmhouse. "It's best that you don't come with me the rest of the way," she explained, her voice subdued. "My father is very protective of me when it comes to young men."

Maygis glanced at the farmhouse. "Perhaps I can convince him otherwise," he mused in a tone that Kathia did not like.

She shook her head, dismissing the tone. She adored this man, there was nothing wrong with his tone, something inside of her told her.

He smiled at her briefly and gave her a kiss. The passion in his kiss helped her feel a bit better, but it left her wanting more. His lips left hers and then he simply turned and started walking back the way they had come, silently fading into the night.

She watched him leave, then turned and walked the rest of the way to the farmhouse. She opened the door as quietly as she could, knowing her father would be asleep, and crept inside. As the door closed, she heard his voice come to her.

"Who was that boy?"

She jumped, then turned around. He was seated at the kitchen table, his eyes watching her in the dying light of the fire in the fireplace. His face looked angry.

"He was no one, poppa," she said, trying to calm him. "I met him at the dance is all. Nothing happened, he just walked me home while we talked."

He stared at her for what seemed like forever to Kathia. He did not say anything, just stared at her. Kathia remained by the door, her back to it, her heart pounding in her chest. She wished he would say something to her, instead of drawing out the painful silence.

Finally, he did speak, and the words stabbed her in the heart.

"You're not to see him again," he said, standing up from the table. "Ever. I don't like the looks of him and I don't like how he was kissing you."

Kathia felt like she was going to die. Not only had he seen them kiss, but he was telling her that she could not see this man she cherished so much. She had to say or do something to change his mind, to convince him that he was a good man.

"Poppa, please," she said, walking over to stand near him, tears starting to form in her eyes. "At least meet him. Let me have him over for dinner. You will like..."

"No!" his voice thundered, his body tensing up. "I don't want you seeing him again, either here or in town! I'll kill him if I find out you've seen him! Don't think I won't!"

Kathia slumped to her knees, her tears flowing freely down her cheeks now. She felt like her world had just been brought to an end, that she would never see Maygis again.

"Get up and get to bed," her father ordered her as he started to walk away, going to his own bedroom. "We have a long day tomorrow and you have a lot of chores I want done."

Kathia spent most of the next day trying to figure out a way that she could sneak away and go see Maygis. She tried to think of reasons she could tell her father that would let her go to town long enough to see him, but everything she could think of seemed feeble and transparent. And her father always seemed to keep himself within sight of her, so sneaking away was not an option.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Kathia looked up and saw Bria walking down the road to the farmhouse, waving to her. Kathia waved back, smiling at her friend.

"Good afternoon, sir," Bria said as she passed by Kathia's father, giving him a little wave. He looked up at her and nodded to the young woman, then returned to his work. The man tolerated Bria, though Kathia was never sure if he actually liked her or not.