Chapter II, Reading 3

"There's so much pain.  There's pain from Papa's death and there is pain from having to leave my family and my home.  My whole world has been changed in such a short time."

"That's understandable."

"I'm glad I was given the chance to know him," Flindra remarked in a low voice.  There were tears glistening in her eyes.  "I feel the Spirit really blessed me by giving me the opportunity to call him Papa.  My birth father could not have been a better man.  A piece of my heart feels cheated by the knowledge that he wasn't my real father."

"Can you honestly say you feel no joy in finding out you are of royal blood?" he asked pointedly.  "You're going to eventually take your place among the rich and powerful.  As a princess you will lack nothing."

She was stunned.  "I’ve never lacked anything," she was quick to respond.  "Papa and Momma have always provided for my needs and beyond."

"I didn't mean it that way, Flindra.  I was just pointing out that there are advantages, which go with your true position in life.  Change is hard, but there're blessings mixed with the pain."

"I suppose."  She looked down.  "I guess I never really thought about it.  I guess, if I had a choice, I'd willingly trade rank and wealth for the quiet simplicity of what I know."  She sighed.  "But, I know that cannot be and I must do what the Spirit is asking me to do.  I just feel a little lost and more than a little scared," she finished in a whisper.

"Why scared?" Leudh was quick to ask.  "Is there something wrong?"

She nodded her head slowly.  "I'm beginning to sense a great evil and it's..."  Flindra dug the toe of her boot into the fallen leaves.  "It's looking for me.  That’s why I'm afraid, Leudh.  In truth, I'm more afraid than I've ever been in my life."

A frown of concern crossed Leudh's features as he gazed at his sister.  "How do you know this?"

"It started in my dream last night.  I kept having the same nightmare over and over.  It got so bad, I left my bed to keep from returning to the dream."

Leudh's frown deepened.

"For some reason, I felt compelled to gaze into the crystal to see if I could discover anything from it."

"The crystal Kewero gave you?"

Flindra nodded and had a distant look in her eyes.  "When I gaze into the crystal I see things.  My mind is pulled into a realm of colored lights and visions of people and places.  I see things that I should have no way of knowing.  The first time I looked into the crystal I discovered that I need to search for Kewero somewhere in the Northern Reaches."

"That seems harmless enough."

She shook her head.  "That's only the beginning.  I also see people and places and I feel in my heart that I’m seeing glimpses of my future.  It changes sometimes; my fate must not be completely foretold, but it seems that I'm the focus of a terrible conflict somewhere in our future."  She swallowed hard.  "There is evil, a terrible, monstrous evil aiming to destroy us all.  I know, somehow, I'm going to be involved fighting this evil and that's why it's looking for me."

"Looking for you?"

"It's like a terrible hunter seeking out my presence.  It hasn't found me yet, but it's searching for me." 

"Are you certain?"  A look of doubt crossed his features.  "Do you truly believe what you see in this crystal?"

Flindra took note of the look.  "I do believe it, Leudh.  I've asked the Spirit to be with me and to guide me and I really believe this is the truth."  She swallowed hard.  "My awareness of the monstrous evil was even more acute in the crystal's vision than in my dreams."  Flindra shuddered and closed her eyes.