The Heir of King Meldh, Chapter VI, Reading 6

Flindra looked at it tenderly before she used it to hold her hair back from her face.

Kewero smiled.  "Turn around, Flindra, I want to see you."

With a blush, she turned around slowly.

"Well, you look much more like a princess now.  You have a regal bearing, which suits you well.  While you are here, you will dress like a princess.  You need to practice being one so you won't feel so lost when you do take your destined place."

"Thank you for letting me wear this gown - it is very beautiful."

"My dear, I'm not letting you wear anything.  The dress is yours.  Your mother left it for you.  Let me show you your bedchamber and then I will teach you how to contact Dakra.  Come."

They returned to the main part of the cave and then walked down another of the many outlets radiating from this chamber.  They passed several small openings before Kewero halted before one.  "This will be your room while you are here.  You will need the crystal sphere, leave everything else."

Flindra hurriedly left her belongings just beyond the entrance to her room.  They continued down the path and entered a series of switchbacks and so they dropped rapidly in elevation.  They followed the track until it widened to the entrance of a large cavern.  Kewero pulled her to a stop just within the entrance.

Flindra drew a surprised and awed breath at the astounding view.  She was standing in a large cave that was covered with crystals.  The gems glowed with an internal light, which pulsated in a slow, regular rhythm.  Looking closer, she realized her first assessment was wrong - the cave was not covered with crystals.  It was made of the crystalline material!  Even the floor of the cavern consisted of the translucent and glowing crystals.

Kewero spoke in a soft and reverent voice.  "This is the womb of the cavern and of our world.  This is where the Spirit envisioned our world and created its reality.  Here, we are surrounded by the Spirit.  We are in the seed around which Spirit began to order the primordial chaos.  Our world is the reality He lent to this portion of the chaos.

"I don't really understand."

Kewero released a spontaneous laugh.  "Don't worry about that too much, little one.  The Spirit is far beyond our level of understanding.  One can only really understand the Spirit with the faith of the heart.  It is a wisdom of faith and not a knowing or comprehension."

"Oh."

"The power we see and feel here lingers from the Presence.  Your crystal orb is a small piece of this place and is attuned to the lingering power of the Spirit.  It is safe to speak of all things here for the Ansu cannot see or hear into this sacred place.  We will hold our discussions here.

"But back to our task of contacting Dakra.  This chamber is the nexus of life in our world.  It is a simple matter for life to contact life here.  Dakra will receive your message when her mind has relaxed and is sleeping.  In time, you will be able to use your crystal orb to accomplish this task.  For now, the crystals around you will amplify the directions of your mind.

"Concentrate on the sphere.  Concentrate and think through the orb to your home.  Try to remember the details of the cottage, the smells, and the sounds.  The crystal will accommodate your desire - your life force will touch with that of Dakra's.  Give her knowledge of your safe arrival here.  That should give her solace.  You need not mention the attack on your life.  That would cause her to worry overmuch."

"You're right about that."

Chapter I, Reading 3

"Good-bye, Papa," Flindra whispered as Leudh finished the job of burying him.  "May the Spirit always be with you."

"Eghero is Home," Dakra said quietly as she slipped her arm around Flindra's shoulder and pulled her close.  "He is safe and surrounded by peace and love."

"Yes," Flindra agreed.  She buried her face against her mother's cloak.

Dakra was a strong woman and could take much pain, but there was now gray mixed with the blond in her hair and her blue eyes were swollen and rimmed with red from her ready tears.  Eghero's illness and death had been hard on her and she had aged in the last few weeks.  Even so, she put aside her own pain to give support to the family.  That’s what mothers do.

She looked over to Leudh to see how he fared.  He had gathered his family close and was comforting them.  The twins could be miniatures of their father, which reminded Dakra that no matter how sad or hard things became, life continued.  She was proud of her son as she watched him spread comfort to his children.

Leudh looked down at his wife.  The summer sun had left Brehwan's face tanned, but he knew during the course of the winter her complexion would fade to a beautiful cameo ivory.  Leudh loved the way her green eyes would subtly change shades with a shift of her emotions.  He looked at her now and smiled at the motherly concern in her eyes as she comforted their sons.  He stroked her brown hair tenderly.  She leaned against his chest and drew comfort from his nearness.

"I think it is time to go home," Dakra finally announced.  "I'm sure Eghero wouldn't want us moping around his grave."

"Let's go home and remember all the happy times we shared with him," Leudh agreed.  "He would want us to do that."

"He would.  I think I want to walk home," Dakra continued.  "Flindra would you join me while Leudh and Brehwan take the boys home in the cart?"

Flindra brushed away her tears.  "Of course, Momma."

"I'll get supper started," Brehwan offered.

"Thank you," Dakra answered.

Leudh looked pointedly at his mother and she gave him a brief nod.  He knew his mother wanted to talk with Flindra alone and guessed they might be late in returning home.  Flindra missed the exchange, but Brehwan's observant eyes caught the silent communication.

"What was that all about?" she asked in a whisper, while Leudh helped her in the cart.  "What secrets are you sharing with your mother?"

"Tonight when the twins are asleep I'll tell you," he whispered briefly.

Brehwan nodded in understanding and helped settle the boys in the cart.

"Flindra, let's take the lake path home," Dakra said after the others had gone.  "There’s something I need to tell you and the long walk will make it easier."

"What troubles your heart so?"

Dakra sighed.  "Eghero and I wanted to delay this time but we both knew we couldn't keep our secret much longer."  She shrugged her shoulders.  "I guess we were just being selfish for we hoped to keep you with us for as long as we could."

"What do you mean, keep me?  I'll never leave my home.  Why would I ever go?" Flindra asked in a puzzled voice.

"I want you to know this, Flindra, my child, I love you and I always will."  She looked away to hide her tears.  "You’ve brought so much joy into my life, into our lives.  I’d always hoped for a daughter but I knew that I could never have another child after I gave birth to Leudh."  Her voice dropped in volume.  "There were complications after he was born, an infection that left me barren."

"Momma what are you saying?" Flindra asked with obvious confusion.

"I love you, Flindra, but you are not the daughter of my body, but the child of my heart."

Chapter I, Reading 2

They stood.  Leudh retrieved his tunic and slipped it on for the breeze blowing on his sweat-dampened body felt cold.  They turned and started down the wooded slope towards home.

A mile walk took them to a broad clearing hidden amidst the trees.  A woodsman and his family lived off the bounty of the forest, essentially harvesting the animals and plants that nature provided.  They weren't farmers so they needed no large piece of ground.  This quiet, little clearing was enough space for their needs.  What the forest couldn't provide, they obtained through trade.  Eghero had been a skilled hunter so the family always had what they needed.

There was a cozy, two-story cabin on the west side of the clearing with a smaller cottage on the opposite end of the space.  When Leudh had married, he and his father had built this smaller home to provide some privacy for Leudh and his new bride.  They had planned to add a second story when the needs of a growing family demanded the extra space.

There was a shared barn on the north side of the clearing and a large vegetable garden filled the space between the two homes.  All shared in the work of the garden, but this was really Dakra's space.  She and Eghero had planted this garden when they first started their home in this clearing and she loved spending most of her time growing food for her loved ones. 

Most of the vegetables in the garden had already been harvested but some of the leafy plants and herbs had survived the first frosts of the season.  It was a homey sight and Flindra's eyes filled with tears when it came into view.  Her Papa would not be with them to enjoy the bounty of the harvest this year.

There was smoke rising from the chimney of the big house and both Flindra and Leudh knew the rest of the family was awaiting their return in there.

"I'll get the horse and cart ready," Leudh said.  He headed for the barn while Flindra continued towards the house.

As she approached the house, Flindra could hear a sob coming from her mother's room for the window was slightly ajar.  She recognized her mother's voice and felt tears of sympathy well up in her own.

Flindra walked inside and followed the sound of the sobs to the bedroom her parents had shared.  There she found her mother, Leudh's wife, Brehwan, and the twin boys, Alek and Arek.  They were kneeling around the coffin, which was set up on two benches next to the bed.  All their faces were stained with tears.

"Leudh's hitching up the cart," Flindra said in a low voice.  She was relieved the lid to the coffin was already closed.  She wanted to remember her father as he was in life and not as he looked embraced by death.  She joined her mother on the floor and waited in tearful silence.