Chapter 24: Clarity

To distinguish a single voice from amidst the roar of the crowd
is a moment of clarity unique in a life otherwise filled with useless noise.

A Fool's Book of Wisdom

The young woman sat cross-legged, her skirt rumpled, on the blackened stump of a tree long dead, surrounded by a deep blanket of red, orange, gold and brown leaves. She sat with her eyes closed, head bowed slightly forward and her hands gently cupping her knees. A sudden gust of wind lifted her mass of curls and sent them fluttering about her head, before they settled in disarray about her face.

"So much has happened over the last eight months. Little did I know the night I decided to leave the chateau that decision would change my life in ways I never imagined it would. I found family. I found music and, most importantly, I have found love."

Another gust of wind whirled around her and brought her thoughts back to her reason for sitting here in the forest. She sighed and with eyes still closed, she stilled her errant thoughts and wrapped herself in a blanket of calm, allowing it to penetrate her and become one with her.

"It is time."

She raised her head, opened her unseeing eyes and lifted her hand. As she raised her hand, every leaf that lay on the ground around her lifted into the air. Without lowering her hand, she curled all of her fingers into a fist, but her index finger, which remained pointing straight up to the heavens. Then she began to swivel her wrist. The leaves swirled around her faster and faster, matching the increasing speed of her rotating wrist. And, then she stopped and the leaves stopped as well. The leaves hung motionless in the air with bits of twigs and dust suspended along with them. Suddenly, the young woman thrust her arm above her head and clenched her fingers into a tight fist. The leaves flew upwards and then seemed to explode. One corner of Christine's mouth lifted in a satisfied smirk as she watched all of the bits of leaves drift lazily to the ground. Her head tilted to one side and her chin lifted, as she seemed to listen to an inner voice. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Well that certainly proved my suspicions. I should feel triumphant, but I do not. I now hold the key to the magic, but so many things could go wrong." She straightened her head and blinked. She repressed a smirk. "Yes, Jacob. I know you are there. I have known all along." She paused. "So, what do you intend to do now?"

Not expecting an answer, as she knew the man could not hear her thoughts, she lowered her hand to her lap and closed her eyes. She continued her one-sided conversation.

"Ah, yes. My actions today place you in quite a bind. Have they not?"

She cast her senses out into the woods that surrounded her and found him. She felt no threat from him. In fact, she felt an odd sense of protectiveness emanating from him. She shook her head almost imperceptibly and she felt waves of sadness and affection, tinged with the smallest amount of fear, sweep through her at the same time.

"Oh yes, Jacob. So, you saw what I am able to do. Will you report what I have done? Or, will you keep it to yourself as you have about so many other things you have witnessed here. I wonder when you will decide what to do about your dilemma. All too soon, I suppose, as today's demonstration shall force you into making a decision. What I allowed you to witness today was too out of the ordinary. Too unusual. If you do not tell, you endanger your life if your employer discovers your treachery, but the goodness in your heart holds you back. Time runs out for you, Jacob. Cadmus awakens and soon he shall remember everything. Your employer believes he knows the forces he unleashes and expects to use Cadmus as bait. He unwittingly sets free more than he realizes. I only hope it is enough..."

Opening her eyes, she rose, brushed off her skirt and after allowing her eyes to sweep sadly across Jacob's hiding place, she returned to the cottage.

Christine lay on her bed. Her mind awhirl with excitement. After the time she spent in the forest that afternoon, she knew she was ready. And, she felt the beginnings of a plan taking shape in her mind. She wrapped her arms about her body, hugging herself as a shiver of pleasure coursed through her. She giggled quietly.

"I cannot believe it, but I know I am correct. I simply cannot believe that I am the first one to think of this. Now, the question is, what do I do? I have a secret, but I am uncertain whether it is a good secret or not. I know something that none of the women who came before me ever puzzled out. And yet, I cannot help but wonder. Who am I to think that I can know this thing as a certainty that hundreds, perhaps, a thousand or more women never understood? But, I do. I do. I know this as surely as I draw breath into my lungs. I know it as surely as the sun rises in the east and as surely as I am mortal, I know it. My secret can set my family free, but I am hesitant to tell them. I do not want to let them go. I am selfish. I lost my family once and just found them again. And, now I must set them free. I am Persephone and it is autumn. Hades comes for me. I can feel it. There is only one person in whom I may confide and it is time. I must before I lose the moment. I must speak with Erik. He and Helen have known one another for a long time. His perspective on how he thinks Helen will react can help me decide on what I should do next. So, hmmm ... where exactly is Erik right now?"

With no conscious effort, she sent out small tendrils of thought, searching for Erik. She felt Helen in her room. Khalid and Edgar were in the new barn. At the outer corners of her awareness, she felt Jacob. He was perched in a tree, clutching his cloak tightly about him to keep out the cold. He sat there and watched. He watched and reported. He reported and prayed that the man paying him to watch, would continue paying him to observe them and not pay him to act. Christine shook her head. It was a futile hope that Jacob held. Whoever knew to keep watch over Helen, must know something of the power and it was only a matter of time before Jacob's employer would make his move against Helen. Her lips twisted into a wry smile.