The Legend of Valtera: Chapter 27
The six spent the evening describing the major events in Prea’s life before she fell into nothingness. Alvie, with help from Beda, shared the fate of their parents and reluctantly disclosed the history regarding Leal. The adults had silently debated whether or not they should share any information about her lost love. It could have been withheld, at least for a little while. Finding out they were orphans was bad enough, not to mention that she had lost her fiancé. They were afraid that it would make things worse, bombarding her with all the bad news of her past. So they censored the story somewhat, described Leal as Garon’s second in command and a close family friend, and left out how the two were in love and betrothed.
It appeared as though Prea took everything in stride before admitting she was exhausted and needed to rest. Everyone else was also struggling to stay awake; Beda and Dal left before the others retreated to their rooms. Like they had as children, Prea slept in her childhood bed across the room from Alvie.
The next morning, Kael headed downstairs as he always did, the first one to rise. He was a little surprised, though he shouldn’t have been, when he entered the kitchen and was not alone. Prea was wrapped in a cozy sweater, pouring herself a cup of tea as he had heard she always did. He watched her for a moment before she realized he was there.
Suddenly he turned rather shy when she looked at him, unsure of how to act around her. The rest had helped him keep the truth of their relationship a secret. He didn’t want to force her into anything or make the situation worse, so he kept his mouth shut. As far as she was concerned, he was a friend who had promised to keep her family safe. That was realistic, wasn’t it?
“Good morning,” Kael greeted as he moved to the counter and leaned against it. “How did you sleep?”
“Pretty well, actually,” she replied. “Better than I have in a while, which I guess makes some sense, cosmically speaking.”
“There’s a relief there, I would assume. Even if you don’t remember, you have some answers. You’ve managed to find your family again, your home. You don’t have to search anymore,” he concluded as she nodded along.
“That’s a good summary. None of us know how to deal with this, or how the future will go, but I’ve been found and that is rather freeing. A weight’s been lifted, you could say,” she added, cupping her tea in her hands.
Kael had an idea. He didn’t want to force her to remember her life, that would just add too much stress and potentially disappoint everyone. But he could try to make her feel at home without pressuring her to remember things she couldn’t.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, extending his hand out to her.
Her eyes narrowed, but her expression remained opened. “Yes,” she answered immediately. “I don’t know why, but I do.” She had always trusted him; from the moment they met, she had trusted him with her life.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “I want to show you something.”
She followed with no hesitation and they headed out the door. He didn’t release her hand and she didn’t pull away as he led her through the garden and into the trees. The crisp air blasted them as they exited the tree line, leaving their eyes stinging in the pale morning light. Kael steered her towards the edge, coming to rest on her spot. He looked down at her and spied a single tear running down her cheek, the result of the needling wind. Prea let the tear fall, one hand holding Kael’s, the other still holding her tea.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “It feels like…a mixture of freedom, hope and home.” She looked up into his bright blue eyes.
A gentle smile blossomed on his face. “I thought you’d like it,” Kael muttered quietly, the wind almost drowning out his voice. Almost, but not quite. “I thought it might feel familiar.”
Her grassy eyes sparkled in the light, before her gaze returned to the sun and sea. For a brief moment, an image appeared in her mind of a woman standing in this very spot, brown hair dancing in the moonlight as she called out to the sea. Prea stared at the sunlight on the waves as her heart filled with love at the sight of that woman. It was a love she didn’t understand, but it sat well within her heart.
After a few minutes of silence, Kael looked back down at her with a quizzical expression. “What’s wrong?” he wondered out loud.
It took a minute before she turned to him. “Hmm?”
Kael chuckled quietly. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She grinned and took a sip of her cooling tea. “I’m fine.”
* * *
Long after they had eaten breakfast, they were joined by Alvie and Carr. Kael sat at the table with Prea, who was reading the story of Aylin and Ciro, trying to understand more of the tale she had been told. Carr ran into the kitchen like a battering ram, Alvie following steps behind, surrendering to her brother’s exuberant morning energy. Kael rose and wrangled the young boy before he collided with anything.
“Whoa. Slow down, buddy,” Kael directed. “Or you’ll run into something.”
Carr was giggling like a madman as he attempted to free himself from Kael who was now tickling him. “I’m excited,” he proclaimed. “Prea’s back and the festival is today. We’re going to have so much fun.” Kael halted his tickling assault, let the boy go and sat back down. Carr’s giant smile wilted as he looked at Kael.
“What’s this about a festival?” Prea asked the room.
“It’s the harvest festival. It’s at the school courtyard. They have food and games and music and you can buy things,” Carr explained in one long breath.
“Listen, Carr, I’m not sure we should all go to the festival,” Kael started uncertainly. “I’m not sure it’s the best thing for Prea.” He looked at Alvie who was listening and watching intently, but she remained silent on the issue. Kael turned to Prea. “It’s just that people think you’re…well dead and you got overwhelmed yesterday with just us. The festival would be a lot worse.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Alvie murmured in the background.
“But I want Prea to come,” Carr whined beside Kael. “It won’t be the same without her.”
Prea didn’t like seeing this little boy so upset. Yes, yesterday had been overwhelming and confusing, but it had still been a good thing for her. She had gotten some answers and…she might be imagining it, but she felt a little more herself, if that was possible. This festival would be like being thrown into the ocean without knowing how to swim; it would be yesterday magnified by ten, no, one hundred. Was she really ready for that? Confusion and guilt tugged at her and the longer she looked at Carr’s disappointed face, the more she wanted to make him happy.
“What if I stay on the edge of the festival, so I’m there but not surrounded by people,” she suggested and looked at Kael. “If it gets to be too much, you can always bring me home.” That brought an immediate smile to Carr’s face and had Alvie grinning across the room as Kael read her eyes.
“All right,” he acquiesced. “We’ll all go, but Prea and I will remain outside the crowd. Is that acceptable?” Kael asked Carr.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he exclaimed as his stomach rumbled with hunger.
“Let’s get you some food,” Alvie declared as she turned and began making Carr’s breakfast. Kael rose and began preparing another pot of tea.
Alvie and Carr joined them at the table where Prea had returned to her book. Alvie scrutinized Prea’s face, her eyes lingering on the pink scar above her eye. She had been through so much and yet no one knew the worst of it. Alvie had always taken her sister for granted, never realizing the extent of Prea’s role in her life until she was no longer there. Resentment, anger and hatred followed after being abandoned, then nothing but guilt, despair and loneliness at the news of Prea’s death. Now it was as if she was floating, flying with the strength of her happiness and relief. Even though Prea didn’t remember anything, her sister was alive and home.
“Why did I go after the stone?” Prea asked, looking up from the worn pages. “I mean, why did I think it was real? That it would help?”
“Well…” Alvie glanced around the room as she tried to formulate an answer. “Mama believed that story was our past, our history, and that Aylin and Ciro’s legacy lives on in everything around us: the trees and sea, the mountains and wind, the sky and the stars. Mama taught us to respect nature and the elements. ‘There is power all around us,’ she used to say.
“She believed the legend was true and passed that belief onto us. When nothing else could help Carr, and there was nothing you could do here, you decided that the legend and the stone were the answer you had been looking for. That’s why you went after it.”
“Are all these stories the legend? Or just the one?” Prea wondered, flipping through the pages. “There’s so many.”
“Well, that’s a little complicated,” Alvie answered vaguely.
“The legend is just the story of Aylin and Ciro coming to Valtera and the poem. The rest are…” Kael said, but didn’t know the rest of the answer.
“The rest are additions from our mother’s ancestors,” Alvie added honestly.
“But there’s more stuff about Aylin and Ciro. And their children. What happened after they returned to the heavens,” Prea prodded.
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Alvie started and sat down at the table. “This book is not just the legend, it’s our family’s history. These passages and stories were chronicled and passed down from generation to generation.”
“Have you read these?” Prea asked stupidly.
Alvie gave her a small smile. “Yes, I have. Many times. We all have.”
“Maybe I should read some of them,” Kael added, wanting to know more about what Carr had told him.
“It’s kind of a Reed family thing,” Alvie clarified automatically, not knowing what Carr had divulged. “It was passed down through our mother’s family.”
“But some of these are unbelievable. Stories of magic and power. The ability to feel the energy of nature and the land. It’s like…”
“A fairytale?” Alvie finished for her.
“If that is an unbelievable story, then yes,” Prea answered and everyone laughed.
“But it’s the truth,” Carr said between bites of food.
“Yes, that whole book is the truth,” Alvie replied, finally accepting her reality.
“You knew it all was real, even the stone,” Kael said. “You told me after you found it that you had had a dream. It was a dream of Aylin and Ciro with their children when they were still living here. And you saw them spell the stone and set it into the wall before they retreated from this life back to the heavens.”
“I saw them?” Prea whispered, almost to herself. The image of the dark-haired woman from earlier came back to the forefront of her mind. Maybe that was the same thing, just a different woman, she wondered.
“We found the stone,” Kael added. “It’s upstairs right now.”
“Really? Is it magical?”
“It’s powerful,” Kael answered simply. “Even I felt its power.”
“Huh,” Prea muttered and returned to the story, trying to piece together the recent events of her life.
* * *
As Prea’s attention remained on the book, Kael and Alvie took their conversation outdoors where they walked around the back of the house and into the garden. They had been waiting for the garden to flourish before gathering everything for the harvest, though they were not bringing or offering anything at the festival. It was a symbolic gesture and it was tradition, a way to keep the family alive and complete, if only in spirit. Alvie carried a basket, kneeling on the ground where she gathered all of the ready produce.
Kael had multiple pieces of cloth and a knife to cut the herbs and keep them separate for freshness. They worked quietly with only the hiss of the wind and the taste of salt and pine to keep them company. It was calming, centering work and it allowed both to ruminate over all that had happened, alone yet together.
As quickly as she had come into his life, Prea was gone in a split second. Now she was back, but she wasn’t really her. His simple life had become infinitely more complicated, a tangled web of new people, new relationships, new roles, new positions in life. Maybe it was time to go back to the basics.
Was he happy that Prea was back? Unbelievably.
Was he upset that she didn’t remember him? Of course.
Did it ultimately matter? No.
Kael gathered the herbs and returned to Alvie, stopping beside her. He studied her from above, watching her tend to her garden and reap what she had sown long ago.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
Alvie’s lips curved into a smile. “I could ask you the same question, you know,” she countered lightly.
“Yes, but I asked first.”
“Honestly, I don’t really know what to think. Ever since my mother died, I’ve blamed our beliefs and the universe for all that’s happened. When you came back with the stone…I was sure our family was truly cursed. I’d lost so many people. Now that Prea’s back, I can’t help but think the universe is trying to appease me, repay some of my losses.”
“When Prea first told me about all that had happened, I thought your family was cursed. I couldn’t believe there was that much bad luck in one family.”
“It wasn’t always bad,” Alvie assured him. “And Prea never saw it that way. She always saw the good. She seemed to have unending reserves of trust and faith in everything around her. And the universe. I think it’s what made her so good for Carr and me. She saw the light where I only saw darkness.”
“That’s understandable. You were young when your mother died. It’s hard to see the good in your grief.”
“Yes, but Prea was young, too. And where I was closer to our father, she was closer to our mother. They had the same faith in the world.”
“I would expect faith is different for everyone.”
“Well, my faith was much more fragile. It died when my mother did. Then you came with the stone and reminded me of everything I used to believe. But again it didn’t come without consequence.”
“Prea was gone,” Kael added softly.
“Yes. Sometimes I think that stone is more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Maybe it could still do some good,” Kael wondered.
“How?” she asked, turning to him.
“Well, Prea believed that it would somehow heal Carr, maybe we could use it to help heal her.”
“Like bring her memories back?”
“Maybe. What harm could it do?”
“You might not want to say things like that. Like I said, more often than not I’ve thought my family was cursed,” Alvie said quickly, than hesitated for a moment. “Do you really think it could work?”
Kael looked off into the trees. “Maybe it’s more about faith, hope and believing it will help, than actual magic or power.”
“Now you sound like Prea,” Alvie muttered, following his gaze to the forest.
“Hope and faith never steered her wrong. It’s what kept her going. And after all the time I spent with her, life seemed better her way than mine.”
“That’s true. And she is home. Even though she doesn’t remember, it’s still her,” Alvie added. She looked up into Kael’s eyes, squinting into the sun. “How are you doing?”
“Hmmm. The disbelief is still there, as well as enough relief and joy to make my heart explode, add in some worry about the future, a tinge of sadness about our relationship and you’ve got what’s going on inside my mind,” Kael described, looking out into the trees again and imagining the sea beyond. “But she’s here…and I never thought I would see her again. She’s home and she’s safe…that’s all that matters,” he added truthfully.
Alvie rose with the basket, heavy with ripened vegetables. Her free hand grabbed Kael’s, squeezing it tight for a moment. “Maybe everything will be all right in the end,” Alvie said, channeling her sister. “Prea always thought fate had a way of bringing all of the pieces together.”
“Let’s hope so,” Kael muttered.
