Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) (2 page)

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Daegan’s eye as he looked on with what appeared to be compassion from the back of the cramped cabin. He held her gaze for a brief moment then rose from where he leaned against the wall and awkwardly slipped outside, probably not wanting to intrude on this moment. As he passed in front of the window outside—surely she had to be mistaken—it appeared that his eyes were rimmed with wetness.

She turned back to Hunter. “I just
knew
I had family out there... somewhere. I’m just so confused. Did you ever wonder where I was or how I was doing?” Kaeleigh continued on in between sobs. “Did you not want me? Or... Or... love me?” She ended on a hiccup.

After a minute of pure emotions she looked up at Finn with betrayal in her eyes. “You knew all along that I had family? How could you not tell me? You knew how much I wanted...
needed
to know if I had family.”

Finn simply hung his head.

Hunter interrupted her rant. “Yes, of course we loved you.
I
loved you, still do... We had to protect you.” He continued with a stern tone, “I know you can’t understand yet and I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, but Finnlan was given very strict, direct orders to keep you away from this place, from
us
.”

“I’m sorry, Kaeleigh,” was all Finn, her friend and guardian, could barely get out before he too walked out of the house, emotion dripping down his cheeks. He swiped his hand down his face as he attempted to collect himself. But before he got out the door, Hunter stopped him.

“Do not go far. I’ve heard rumors floating from Adettlyn that there are those searching for an intruder that broke the breach. I can only imagine that search is for you.”

“What does it matter now? They can have me. In fact, I’ll turn myself in so they do not think to look further and find Kaeleigh,” Finn replied dejectedly, then went out the door and possibly out of Kaeleigh’s life forever.

Kaeleigh began to panic. Her throat was tight with emotion that threatened to cut off her air supply as she tried to cry out to him. She didn’t know what to do, what to think. Kaeleigh was still so weak and feeling that she might collapse again, she tried to sit back down in the chair. She felt Chel’s hand guiding her arm so that she didn’t fall.

Chel interrupted everything that was happening, reminding them of the pressing concern at hand. “Please, sir, Kaeleigh needs help. Is there anything you can do?”

“Am I dying?” Kaeleigh interrupted weakly.

Taking a deep breath, Hunter looked her in the eyes and replied somberly, “Yes and no, child.” He walked thoughtfully to the fireplace, gazing deep into the embers and remembering a time long ago. “When you were two years old, your mother and father made provisions for you to be sent away to protect you from the war that was unfolding in our land should the worst happen.” He sighed with great emotion. “It did.” He turned back to face her. “Before you left you were heavily warded with a magic to not only glamour your outward appearance but also internally to dampen your magical energy so that you would not be discovered. The wards were some of the strongest magic ever used in our realm.

“I believe what has happened is this: when you crossed the Bridge of Revealment
,
the magic worked extremely hard to break down the wards... partially succeeding. However, the strength of the wards to hide seems to have upheld against the magic to reveal.” Both girls looked confused so he tried to break it down even further. “What I am saying is, you are still part of who you
were
and part who you
are
.”

“So I’m half and half?” Kaeleigh asked, sounding defeated.

“Well, yes, in fact, but not in the way that you are thinking. Let me explain.” The older man chuckled. “Your body is experiencing internal turmoil, essentially fighting within itself.” Hunter sighed and stared into the fireplace obviously deep in thought as he continued, “That is why you feel weak and drained one moment then gaining strength the next. The answer seems to be simple: we need to either remove the remainder of the wards, allowing your full glamour to be stripped down. Or replace the wards that have already been stripped to make you a whole as you were once more.” He spoke matter-of-factly, but then turned to look at her. Searching Kaeleigh’s eyes, he spoke softly, “Kaeleighnna, the choice belongs to you.”

“So, what I hear you saying is, I can choose which
form
I want to be?” Kaeleigh asked.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking. But understand this: if you choose your true form, you choose
all
that identity entails, even not knowing who you are becoming; there is great responsibility and a heavy burden with this choice. You will not be able to go back to your former self once the wards are stripped. They were created with your innocence of mind when you were a small child. Only because they are still somewhat intact will I be able to recreate them.” He looked her directly in her eyes. “I am sorry, but you must make your choice quickly. I fear that if your body remains in its current state for much longer, part of you will lose and the whole of you will suffer the consequences.” His eyes looked pained, and yet there was a spark of hope.

Chel reached out and gripped Kaeleigh’s hand and squeezed. “I’m going to give you and Hunter here a little time. I won’t go far, perhaps I can stop Finn from doing anything stupid.” Then suddenly getting serious, she got right in front of Kaeleigh’s face. “Kae, no matter your choice, you’re stuck with me.”

Kaeleigh nodded at her friend as Chel stepped backwards then slipped out the door, leaving them in a wordless silence. The only noise for several moments was the crackling of the wood that was burning incredibly slow, if it was burning at all. She wished she knew what the “responsibility” and “burden” he was talking about would be before she made her choice that would change everything. But wasn’t that why she had come in the first place: to find out who she was and to see if there were any answers beyond her knowledge of the mortal realm? None of this was what she had expected when she agreed to come, but it felt like pieces of a puzzle finally beginning to fit together in her soul. She had to know more, even if that meant regretting it later. She would deal with that when the time came.

Decision made, she took a deep breath. “I choose this life,” she said as she stared deep into Hunter’s sharp green eyes to show she meant business. “I came here to find out the truth and to know who I really am. I didn’t expect to find any of this, but I will accept it. I choose my true identity.” Relief flooded into her as the rightness of her words settled into her being.

Hunter gave her the serious look of someone wanting to make sure she understood the gravity of what she had said. He also had a slight twitch of his mouth and the sparkle in his eyes of someone who was proud of her... perhaps the look of a grandfather. Her heart warmed, causing a single teardrop to fall from her eye and slide once again down her cheek.

“Do you know how to distinguish the wards from my true self?” Kaeleigh asked, suddenly nervous as she wrung her hands.

“I do,” Hunter said, nodding with a knowing smile. “You see, I was the one who placed them on you in the very beginning.”

CHAPTER TWO

Kaeleigh paced nervously in front of the large picture window in the main room of the cottage waiting for Hunter, her grandfather, to get the necessary items together for him to work his magic. There was a nervous energy of the unknown buzzing in the cottage, but also an excitement and a hope of what she would discover. Hunter had said it was extremely important they begin to strip the wards that had created a permanent glamour for her while she was in the mortal realm as soon as possible. She knew Hunter felt her time was short, even though he didn’t say it. Observing how he swiftly yet confidently collected items and muttered to himself about the process, she could tell he thought time was of the essence. As he settled before the tall table in the center of the room that divided the sitting area from the kitchen area, he seemed to be open to talking. Hunter told her a small bit of history while he laid out herbs and stones and a sundry of small knickknacks that apparently held magical properties. They didn’t look like much to her.

From his mutterings, she gathered that apparently this was not the usual warding method. Not only unusual, but it was actually quite rare, and not many in Alandria could even perform it if they tried. She learned that her grandfather had been some kind of person of importance (which of course, didn’t seem to be need-to-know information at the moment), but had to retreat into hiding in order to stay alive. Hunter was her father’s father. He had been hunted initially, but since he had been hidden away, not unlike herself, it seemed—only he knew who
he
was—things had remained quiet. 

“Hunter?” Kaeleigh asked tentatively, hoping she wasn’t interrupting too much.

Hunter stopped and took in her face with genuine care. “You may call me Grandfather, if you wish to.” There was a flicker of hope in his eyes before he turned back to focus on his preparations.

Her heart soared as a lump of emotion got stuck in her throat. Giving a small smile, she blinked back the tears that suddenly threatened to spill over once again. She almost forgot what she was about to ask. “You said my father is alive... Where is he?”

Keeping his back to her, he paused in his organizing. He turned partially to her and a brief look of vulnerability and regret flashed across his face. “I lost him.” Sighing, he looked out the window past her and into another moment of time. “I know he is alive though.” He gave her a small abashed smile. “You see, we have a special bond, one that was created by my father to
feel
the life energies of our line. You will feel this too, once you are whole again. I know he is alive, but I haven’t been able to find him. Tracing apparently wasn’t a part of the magic.” He grumbled that last part, obviously frustrated.

“What does that all mean for my father?”

“Either he is in hiding as well, which he would be smart to remain as such; or he is unable to be found... meaning he is being held somewhere.”

With a new resolve, Kaeleigh made a vow in her heart and then to Hunter. “I will find him.”

He came close to her and laid his hands on her shoulders. “I hope you do. I hope I am able to help. But you must be careful. There are many things about to transpire, I feel, and you are very important—though I do not yet know how all our pieces fit together.” He went back to preparing the table.

“Alandria is dying,” he said without looking up from what he was doing. He stopped, hands both flat on the table, taking a deep and obviously pained breath. “I can
feel
it. You haven’t been very far into it yet, but you will
see
it. Not everyone does. There is a magic that is glamouring even the essence of Alandria itself.” Suddenly Hunter slammed his fist down on the table, shaking everything he had just worked so carefully to lay out. Fists balled up, he turned his head toward Kaeleigh.

This strong, regal, capable man—being—before her had such tenderness and affection for his home and his people, Kaeleigh’s chest hitched with pain at not having had the privilege of growing up with that knowledge and love for a place and a people... her people. But this was her chance and she wanted to learn, to understand, and to
feel
what it was she saw in his eyes. What she had seen in Finn’s when he crossed the borders of this realm. What she saw in Daegan’s eyes when he talked about the land or his protectiveness and pride at who he was and where he came from. She saw the pain they all had, but what she also saw was a reason, a cause, a pursuit that overrode it and drove them forward to fighting for something they believed in—their home. She had never had that. But maybe here she could find it.

“I haven’t been able to find the source of the darkness that has been spreading. It is poisoning the land and siphoning off the magic that is intended for her growth and the sustainability for her people. It must be stopped.”

“What happens to Alandria... to the people, if it can’t be?”

With sad eyes, he looked at her. “We will perish with the land as our magic is depleted. Or we will be forced into hiding in the mortal realm, where there isn’t enough magic to keep us—that many of us—alive for any considerable amount of time... either way it is a death sentence.” He stood tall and confident and looked out the window once again. “I refuse to let that happen.” He stood there a moment longer in silence while Kaeleigh absorbed all he had said.

There was something else she wanted to ask him in private before the others returned. “Why was Finn punished? Or... banished, I guess?”

“In the last battle, when we realized that the darkness—the Droch Shúil—had indeed found a way into Alandria, there was much confusion and subterfuge, races turned against each other and themselves. Finnlan got stuck in a terrible situation and he made a judgment call that unfortunately was a grave error.” Hunter stopped pacing in front of the window with his hands behind his back. His expression was drawn but resolved as he looked to where Kaeleigh was sitting on the small wooden stool in front of the fireplace. “I won’t say anymore. It is his story to tell if he wishes to, but this is a matter I would suggest you not push him on. It was all I could do to persuade the council of Elders to allow him the mercy of sending him with you to the mortal realm. He may not have seen it as a mercy at the time, but I needed someone to protect you.” He gazed at her pointedly. “Did he?”

Kaeleigh nodded seriously. “He was always there for me. He protected me and he was my friend.”
I didn’t have many of those.
Kaeleigh chastised herself for being so hard on him. He had done the best with what he was given to deal with. “But what I don’t really understand is, why was I sent away? Why did I need to be glamoured and why did I need Finn and Chel’s family for that matter?” Kaeleigh asked, suddenly frustrated. She could feel the temperamental energy stirring deep within her when she got emotional, but tried to immediately tamper it down, which left her feeling weaker than it should have for the little she expended.