Chapter 13: Diamanté

Diamonds are for royalty, luscious and rich,
charms for the rest of us to savor each wish.

A Fool's Book of Wisdom

The words hung in the air, like an almost visible puff of smoke in the otherwise bright compartment. Christine's hand unconsciously moved to Erik's and their fingers once again intertwined. Helen allowed her eyes to rest on their joined hands for a moment as she drew strength from the bond that the two young people shared. She almost gasped out her shock as her mind brushed against theirs and she felt the depth and power of their love for one another.

"Ils semblent ensorcelé¹. Their love is a blessing and a curse, their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. Damn!"

The three companions sat in silence, Erik and Christine relishing the rich emotions, which swept through them and Helen contemplating how she should proceed. Christine broke the quiet moment, surprising Helen with her words.

"Very well, I suppose I accept that I am a part of your family, but my question to you is this, what exactly is the bracelet? You said that the power of the bracelet is a part of the de Blanc women. What is the power of the bracelet? What does it do? And, if you know, why must a de Blanc woman wield it?"

Helen's wrinkled forehead lifted as she arched an eyebrow, causing the folds of skin to deepen. She shook her head as a corner of the gaping hole of her mouth turn upward in a smirk.

"Well, fuck me! Why is it that I feel surprised? I should know better than to think Christelle's child would be a fool! Fine! You asked the proper questions and I thank you for that, Christine. You need to know what the bracelet is and what it does before I tell you my tale."

Leaning forward, she pushed the sleeve of her dress back to uncover the bracelet once more. The crystals flashed and sparkled in the sunlight. Except for the rainbow prisms bouncing about the compartment each time a facet caught the sunlight, the bracelet appeared a simple charm bracelet. The delicate bracelet itself consisted of alternating large and small twisted-oval yellow gold links. The eleven charms hung directly from the smaller links and the larger links each had either a diamond-shaped or an oval-shaped crystal mounted in the center. The charms were in the shapes of stars, moons, sunbursts, rosebuds and a single heart³. All of the exquisitely shaped pieces of crystal were clear, colorless and pure. All of the crystals, except for the heart. The heart crystal was a deep blood-red and it seemed to draw the eye and speak to the soul of anyone that noticed it.

"Tell me what you dream..."

The words seemed to echo inside Christine's head as well as around the interior of the compartment. Christine shook her head to clear the sudden confusion she felt.

"What? Helen, what did you just say?"

The old woman sighed and lowered her sleeve. As soon as Erik lost sight of the bracelet, he let out a groan and quickly placed his hand to his forehead.

"What the hell just happened?" He moaned.

With pursed lips, Helen shook her head.

"Can you not behave? She is of the blood and he is most likely her mate. Do not make sport of them! I warn you!"

Helen sighed when she received no response from the surly spirit.

"I apologize. Sometimes it seems as if Diamanté cannot help herself. She feels compelled to tease, taunt and torment. She forgets how to behave whenever she is around, well, certain types of energy. And, the two of you seem to produce an abundance of the necessary stimulus for her to act a bit wild. You would think someone as old as she is would learn a bit more control."

The old woman seemed to mutter to her lap where the wrist wearing the bracelet lay. A single pulse of red light flashed through the cloth of Helen's sleeve and then the tension, which none of them had noticed until that moment ebbed away.

"No pouting and no more games! Behave yourself and be nice to them, Diamanté! The young woman is the next keeper of the bracelet and you should attempt to get along with her, as I believe the two of you shall hold the power for many years. Well, if all goes well, that is. Now, if you do not mind, I need to tell this young woman our tale."

"A story? You shall tell our story?" A pause. "Very well, old woman. You may proceed. For now, I shall remain silent. This may prove most entertaining."

Helen fought the impulse to roll her eyes and took a slow, deep breath.

"To begin answering your questions, Christine, the power of the bracelet varies from keeper to keeper. I am definitely one of the lesser wielders of the powers as I was not adequately prepared. Your mother, on the other hand, with her knowledge could have been quite powerful, but fear of the bracelet made her run from it. My mother used the bracelet with an awesome skill, but lacked passion. And yet, all wielders do have certain abilities in common. All of us can summon a rainbow, we can hear the truth or a lie in people's words and we hold the power to make some dreams come true. It took a great deal of effort, but my mother could summon or banish a rainstorm and she told me tales of her grandmother. Supposedly, that woman could cause lightning to strike when angered. She could also hear the thoughts of others and speak into the minds of people that were far away, but I do not know if this is true. All of the de Blanc women have the innate ability to cast charms, glamours and certain spells, if they receive the training. We also can hear the voice of the wind and the music of the movement of the trees. The power of the bracelet lies in the spirit, which lives within it. Her name is Diamanté. I do not know much of her history. Unfortunately, the two of us, well, we do not get along very well. I believe that our differences are mostly my fault, but there is nothing I can do to change that."