Love lines (24 page)

“Frederic believes that the list of people may not be
that long. In order for them to steal and hold the powers Eileen will get, they
must be very powerful themselves. Even ordinary graduates of Wizardy are not
always so talented. He has begun trying to find out if any graduates were very
strong, but I doubt it will be so easy to do. I think anyone who would want
more power, would never openly demonstrate all the things he is actually
capable of.”

“I agree, we shouldn’t look for the strongest, but for
those who had a good background to become really strong,” said Evan. “But
that's not all. Today we’ve learned that Nora – the so called
Feta
, who
Amanda and Eileen met in Norfield, is, in fact, not who she passed herself off
as.”

“What do you mean?” I asked puzzled.

“Rebecca Fairey sent the girls to her. But her existence
was a mystery even to the Keepers of Norfield,” explained Darcy.

“So why do you think she was lying?”

“Eileen said that Nora used some kind of elixir, and you
know perfectly well that we don’t use anything like that. I believe that this
elixir was used to erase the lines on Eileen’s palm. But that could be done
only with a very strong magic.”

The news that Eileen was so close to someone who wanted
her death humbled me. And I wasn’t there to protect her! However, it wasn’t
surprising that such a trap would be done by someone like Rebecca. I’ve never
liked her. I didn’t understand how my mother could be her friend.

“I think Rebecca frequented your house with the purpose
of getting close to Amelia, Christian,” said Evan. “She knew that Frederic and
Patrick won’t tell anyone about their bond. They didn’t hide it, but even you
have never seen them together, which means that even someone from Wizardy
wasn’t able to find out about it so easily. And she was constantly watching all
of you. She wanted to know if you were sent to Dever, also she watched how the
friendship of Amanda and Eileen had developed.”

“You mean that she could go against Frederic and did all
this behind his back, all the while helping those who want to destroy him?”

“Think about it. He betrayed her many years ago, she
knew of the existence of a baby. They could never have children of their own.
That's why she wants revenge. This is my opinion. The only question is, why
does Frederic still not know anything about it?”

“He wouldn’t know,” Darcy said. “No one could imagine
that we would study Eileen’s palms so precisely, nor would we guess that Nora
had done something with them and that she wasn’t a real Feta.”

“If he doesn’t know about our findings, then we must
tell him everything,” I said.

“At the earliest possible time,” agreed Evan. “We have
only a month to figure out everything. Frederic, being an integral link in that
chain, must be aware of what is happening around him. What is worse though is
that Eileen suspects that we are hiding something from her. We need to be more
careful and come up with a good cover for our conversation with Patrick. I
doubt that she will ask him herself, but we need to think how to take her focus
away from this investigation.”

“I can ask her to help with the preparations for the
Festival,” said Darcy. “I am involved in both, so it won’t seem suspicious. I
could tell her some of our findings without mentioning the real details.”

“Good idea. I guess she won’t suspect anything. And as
much as I don’t want to, I have to spend less time with her too.”

“That’s not a problem,” Evan said. “I mean you have a
week to prepare for the performance and you need more practice, so it's the
best excuse.”

“Amanda is not a threat since she always knew how to
keep her mouth shut. What about you, Evan?”

“Well, I’m still her teacher, so I'll have to do my best
to stuff her lovely head with more history and practical classes. The rest of
the time, she will be at your disposal Darcy.”

“So, one of us will always be by her side and I will
continue to control her feelings.”

“It's a good plan, Christian. But who will look for
you?” asked Darcy. “So that you will not be alone all the time.”

“During my classes there will be no danger for me, and
then...”

“Then I'll be with you,” Evan said. “Eileen will be
helping Darcy at those times, so I’ll be free. If she finds out that I’m
helping you, it won’t seem strange. Help is always necessary.”

“Good. Let's hope that it will work. Otherwise she would
be furious,” I said. “I need to talk to Frederic about what's going on here. So
I'd better go to find him, in the meantime I need to figure out what to say,
when Eileen asks about the conversation with my father.”

“Yeah, and try to come up with something
really
believable,” Evan smiled.

“Sure, sure.  See you later,” I said and walked away.

The mobile rang in my pocket. It was a text message:
“We
have already drunk some tea, just as you asked. Coming back. Be ready. Amanda
.”

Why did she get have fun?! What kind of cohort was she!

 I had been thinking all day about what to say Eileen.
Frederic said he would tell her about himself, when the right time came. He and
my father agreed to say that their bond had nothing to do with this. And the
records of Camilla were talking about some unknown Frederic. Overall we decided
to leave everything as it was - a lot of questions, few answers.

Eileen knew about the involvement of Rebecca, which made
me worry a bit. So I decided it would be better to focus her attention on Nora.
It seemed to be the lesser of two evils. I couldn’t tell her that her own
father's wife was the one who wanted to get rid of her.

I heard a soft knock at the door. It was Eileen. I felt
her coming even before she knocked. It was pretty hard to stay calm and not to
betray my own emotion. So I took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hey,” she said shyly. “Can I come in?”

“Of course. Actually I wanted to talk to you.”

If I had to lie, then why not start at the door?

“How was tea with my parents?”

“Good. At least something felt familiar in all this
madhouse. And where have you been?”

“I needed to prepare the classroom for tomorrow's
lessons. There isn’t much time left before the Festival and I still need to
train.”

“Right. And how was your meeting with your parents. Were
you able to find out anything useful?”

“Not really.”

I told her my edited version of the conversation with my
father and felt that she believed me. Neither her feelings, nor her aura showed
me that she was suspicious. The already familiar frustration and anxiety didn’t
count.

“How was your all-girl party?” I asked, deciding to
change the subject.

“Not bad. There were tons of flowers and lots of fresh
air,” she said, smiling. “My head was spinning a little with the abundance of
different smells. And, of course, this,” she said, pulling out a leaf of a
plant. “Anna gave it to me so I could cure my hands. The only pity is that it
won’t help.”

Eileen turned her hand palm up and put the leaf there.

“Ouch!” she cried, clutching her hand to her chest.

“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.

“I don’t know. I felt a terrible pain.”

“Let me see.”

She turned her hand palm up again. What surprised us
both, was the color of the lines on her palm. This time, the lines which had
been lighter before, were looking as if they were burning like fire.

“What is it?” Eileen wondered.

“Do you feel pain?” in response I asked still holding
her hand in mine.

“Not anymore. On the contrary, it feels like some of my
previous feelings have come back, but I don’t know how to explain it...”

Before she could finish, the bright fiery looking lines
lost their color again.

“And now do you feel that something’s missing?” I
guessed.

“Yes. But what does this mean Christian?” still rubbing
her hand, asked Eileen.

“This means that the magic that was deliberately stamped
on your hand, is fighting against the antidote. I doubt that a plant can remove
it.”

“What if I hold the leaf longer on my palm?” Eileen
said.

“We don’t know what would happen long term. Besides,
only a single touch caused pain. Just imagine what would happen if you press it
harder.”

I carefully picked up the fallen leaves from the floor
and held them against my palm. Nothing happened. I felt only the gentle touch
of the leaves themselves.

“It looks like Nora has really done something to my
hand,” Eileen said, touching my arm softly. Her touch couldn’t be compared with
any leaf – she held so much warmth and tenderness in her hand...

“I wanted to ask you, if you remember, what Nora looks
like?” I said, when she let go of my hand.

“Of course, I do. I will never forget her. I would never
think that she was capable of causing anyone harm. She has unforgettable eyes -
such a sky-blue and clear as crystal. Just like Evan’s.”

“Evan’s?”

I became speechless upon hearing her comparison.

“All the descendants of the founding families were
distinguished by the color of the eyes of their ancestors,” I said. “We - the
Fairey, have emerald eyes, like Amanda and I. The Feta’s eyes are sea blue,
like Darcy’s. The Embry are remarkable for their brown, almost black eyes, like
Anna’s. The Meridin family has golden eyes. The family of Ventura – dark-gray,
like wet asphalt, the Vero – light-brown. And the eyes of Wizardy have been
always sky-blue, transparent as crystal. That’s why you compared them to Evan’s
- he's a descendant of the Wizardy. So it means...”

“Oh. My. God. That’s impossible!” almost losing her
balance, whispered Eileen. I helped her sit down on the sofa. “That means that
Nora might be a descendant of the Wizardy family?”

“I don’t know, Eileen. There’s only one way to find out.
There are portraits of the founding families in Dever, along with their
descendants. We can go see them together, maybe you will recognize her.”

“Today is probably too late,” she said. “How about
tomorrow?”

“I’m going to have another training session tomorrow,
but Evan can give you another history lesson of Dever. I will ask him to show
you the portraits. As far as I know, they are stored somewhere in the archives.
He can take you there.”

“Okay. Uh… Christian I wanted to talk about something
else as well. A few days ago, you brought me a bouquet of flowers along with a
medallion and...”

“It would mean a lot to me if you kept it,” I interrupted
her. “No matter what happenes, I want you to have it. It contains some magical
power, just to protect you while I'm not around.”

             Before giving Eileen the medallion, I asked Evan to
fill it with magic and to combine it with my power and energy to make it
Eileen’s ward for protection.

“I like it. Thank you,” smiling radiantly, she said. “As
for the flowers...”

“Let it be just a bouquet of beautiful flowers.”

I knew that Eileen wasn’t ready to respond to my
proposal, but I still had hope there would be a time when she would say
“yes”
. 
Perhaps by then, I would be able to propose to her more than just a formal
declaration us as a couple.

 “It's late. I'll take you to your room,” I said.

We went two floors below. At her door, we stopped.

“Thanks again,” she said turning to face me. “And not
just for the present and flower, but for everything,” touching my cheek with
her lips goodbye, she added.

I wanted to kiss her for real, but I knew that this
wasn’t the right time.

On the way back to my room I thought about now that I
knew who Eileen’s father was I could understand why she had such an unusual
color of her eyes. Nature had mixed Frederic’s emeralds with the blue eyes of
her mother. She wasn’t only Wizardy, of course.

Eileen had turquoise eyes, which sometimes became
lighter and sometimes darker, depending on the mood and the lighting.

Those eyes were definitely the most beautiful eyes in
the world.

What astonished me most is that regardless of all her
worries and difficulties, Eileen’s eyes always were full of light.

For me they were a beacon, lighting the way for us on
this journey we were both forced by fate to go through.