Sign of the Throne: Book One in the Solas Beir Trilogy (19 page)

“Oh David,” Moira said. “I know that love can be very confusing, but don’t worry too much about romance. A relationship based on a loving friendship is what lasts.”

“Yes—but why can’t I have a relationship with someone I love romantically
and
as a friend?” David asked. He found himself thinking about Abby again—the way he felt drawn to her. He tried to recall a time he’d felt that way about Amelia. He could remember some romantic moments with her, but even those paled in comparison to the few times he’d interacted with Abby.

“Well, of course you can have that,” Moira said. “And I think that as you spend more time with Amelia, your relationship will blossom into a deeper level of love, and you will find that she truly does fulfill you both as a friend
, and romantically.”

“I get that Aunt Moira—I do. But I don’t think you understand what I’m saying,” David said, frustrated.

“All right, dear,” Moira said. She set her coffee cup down. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I don’t
want
to be with Amelia. I think I’m interested in someone else.”

Moira studied him. “And who might that be?”

David looked at her and his discomfort deepened. He felt cornered. “Well, not that I feel comfortable sharing this with anyone else at the moment, but it’s Abby. I think I’d like to get to know her better.” His gaze drifted to the back door—it was shut, but he was very aware of how close Abby was at the moment, and he could hear Rowan giggling. He wondered if Abby had gotten tackled again. Maybe after Moira was done with this little talk, he could sneak out there again. It sounded like Abby and the kids were having a lot more fun than he was having with Moira.

Moira’s eyes flicked to the back door. “The
babysitter
?”

David
quivered at the horror he heard in Moira’s voice. He turned to her. “You don’t need to say it like
that
,” he said. “She’s a very nice girl.”

“Yes
, dear,” Moira said. “She
is
a very nice girl. But she is
not
the girl for you.”

“And why not?” David could hear anger creeping into his voice—he tried to staunch it, to remain civil.

“David, it’s very important to have common ground when you are in a relationship with someone—to have a similar upbringing. You have no idea how many relationships fail because of the conflict that occurs when people come from different backgrounds,” Moira said. Her voice was tempered, like she was trying very hard to be patient. “And it’s not her fault, of course, that she was raised differently than you were, but she could never successfully navigate our world. I mean, she just doesn’t understand the cultural nuances that you and I take for granted.”

“She could learn,” David insisted. “And honestly, I have so much more in common with Abby than I do with Amelia, and like you said, I’ve known Amelia for years. And there’s no spark with Amelia. I want to feel a spark.”

“Sparks fizzle,” Moira said. “Right now, you are just infatuated with this Abby. That kind of thing never lasts. You’ll see—you’ll go to London and forget all about her. And I think that you really need to focus on your future rather than the present. Your father and mother have invested so much in your future, and it would be quite embarrassing for them if you were to have a fling with this girl and hurt Amelia’s feelings. You need to treat both Amelia and her father with respect during their visit. And once you’re in London, no matter what happens with you and Amelia, you need to deal with her honorably. You can’t expect James to place his trust in you professionally if you abuse his trust where his daughter is concerned. And later, if you do decide to end things with Amelia, please, at least find someone from a similar social circle. Find someone you would be proud to share a life with when you take the helm in the London office.”

David started to reply and then held his tongue. He was angry, and he didn’t want to say something he would regret.

Moira leaned over and took David’s hands in hers. “David—you know that your parents and I love you very much, don’t you?”

He looked at her and nodded.

“All we want—all we’ve ever wanted—is for you to have the very best that life has to offer. I love you as if you were my own son,” Moira said. “I know what I’ve said sounds harsh to you, but please know that I only say it because I have your best interests in mind.”

“I know you do,” David said.

Moira smiled. “Then how about this? Think about what I said and be nice to Amelia when she arrives tomorrow. She’s a good girl. Make an effort to spend time with her this week. Hold off on your decision to end the relationship at least until you’ve had a chance to see what it’s like to live in the same city with her. She might just surprise you. Okay?”

“All right, Aunt Moira. I’ll spend time with Amelia.” David was still angry, but he knew that arguing with Moira wouldn’t help. And he also knew that, in her own way, she was trying to look out for him, even if she had a rather narrow-minded perspective. She meant well.

And maybe she was at least a little bit right about Abby. They did come from different backgrounds. Maybe being with Abby would be fun now, but what kinds of issues would come up later? And then there was London to think about. It wasn’t a vacation he was going on. He was moving there, and he wasn’t planning on coming back anytime soon. How could he manage a long-distance relationship with someone he barely knew, someone who had her own plans for her life?

As far as Amelia was concerned, he wasn’t sure she wanted to be with him either. Maybe she felt the same pressure from her family to make the relationship work. Their fathers were close, both as friends and business partners, and David’s mom got along well with Amelia’s mother. From a logical standpoint, it made sense that David and Amelia would also click, but sometimes their relationship felt forced, like it was less about an emotional connection between the two of them and more about the joining of two kingdoms. It wasn’t quite an arranged marriage—no one would disown David or Amelia if things didn’t work out—but still, the pressure was there.

Every time Amelia’s family visited, David could feel both sets of parents watching them interact, dropping little hints about their hopes for David and Amelia’s relationship. Those kind of hopes hung heavy around David’s neck, almost to the point of strangulation. The funny thing was, he had never realized just how smothered he felt before now. He suspected that meeting Abby had something to do with that.

“I think I screwed up,” Abby confided to Eulalia several days later. After her strange conversation with David, she needed some advice. She felt an increasing sense of urgency as each day went by, knowing there was little time left. “First, there was this moment in the conversation when he got this dazed look on this face, and I could have sworn I saw one of those shadow things hanging around.”

“You most likely did,” Eulalia replied. “It sounds like the Shadow was trying to control him, trying to make him forget. The next time you talk with him, be careful. They will be watching you. It is important to take him to a safe place to talk.”

“
If
I get to talk to him again,” Abby said, her words spilling out in a frustrated rush. “After the weird conversation we had, I think he has been avoiding me. I’ve wanted to smooth things over, but he hasn’t been to the Buchans’ house again and I haven’t seen him at the inn. It’s been days, and we’re running out of time. I’d go to his house, but I think that would just scare him away. I don’t know what to do. And…I hope you won’t be mad, but I shared a little bit of our conversation with Cassandra, Riordan, and Jon. I didn’t tell them everything, but they’ve been a part of this, and I trust them.”

To Abby’s relief, Eulalia responded with understanding. “I am not angry. You are right—they
are
a part of this. You have been wise about who you have chosen for allies. But regarding David, what happened that would make him want to avoid you?”

“Well, I like him so much—it’s like there is this magical pull toward him,” Abby said, avoiding Eulalia’s gaze. “All the talk about lightbearers and dreamwalkers—I guess I assumed it was fate—that we were meant to be. I thought we might be moving toward a closer relationship—we were getting along well, and he was opening up more and more. Then he said something that made me think otherwise. I guess my disappointment got the best of me, and I forgot that my real mission was to help him get home. A relationship with him would be wonderful, but it’s only the icing on the cake.”

“On the contrary, Abby,” Eulalia countered, “how do you think you will gain his trust without a relationship?”

Abby looked up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you cannot expect him to believe you if there is no foundation for trust.”

“True. I guess that makes sense,” Abby said.

“Let go and follow the signs. If you push too hard, you will push him away. The next time you see David, let things happen naturally. You will know when it is time to reveal the truth,” Eulalia said, placing her hand on Abby’s.

“Yeah, but
how
?” Abby asked.

“It will be very clear to you when the time is right. You will know what you need to do. I have seen the future in my dreams, and this time we
will
reach him.”

That was
not
an answer. Abby was more frustrated than before. Eulalia was talking in vague Zen master circles, and she seemed unnervingly at ease with the coming deadline, a deadline with a very tight schedule and some pretty hefty consequences.
Well, it’s not like it’ll be the end of the world or anything,
Abby thought. Why couldn’t the universe have brought her into this when there was still plenty of time—years ago, even?
Because,
the universe seemed to answer,
you weren’t ready.
Abby knew that was true.
Yeah, okay.
Maybe Eulalia did know more than she was saying, but if she really
had
seen the future, why wasn’t she providing concrete answers?

Abby slipped through the estate gate, nodding her goodbye to Brarn, who sat perched on the fence, watching her. She walked home
, trying not to worry, trying to believe that things would work out as Eulalia had seen.

Eulalia watched Abby walk away. She could sense the girl’s frustration and could not blame her. It was not a lie—she
had
dreamed that Abby was the one, the only one, who could reach David, and that he would be restored to his rightful place as the Solas Beir. But the truth was, she could not yet see
how
that was going to happen; the details were blurry. Her visions had grown in clarity over the years, as they would for Abby, but this time it was different—there were too many unknowns just yet.

She felt terrible for urging Abby to simply go on faith, but wasn’t that what she had relied on all these years? If not for faith, she would have lost hope long ago. She looked at Brarn, standing guard at the gate, this creature who had served her for so long as a companion, a protector, a provider
. They had both lost so much.

Eulalia had felt so hopeful in the beginning, when David was still a young child. She remembered seeing him as a five-year-old boy, dressed up like a miniature man in a suit and tie, his dark, unruly curls tamed. He was standing alone, holding an Easter basket, waiting in anticipation of the inn’s annual egg hunt while his distracted replacement parents chatted with friends on
the steps in front of the inn.

No one noticed when a raven hopped through the iron bars of the gate across the street, attracting his attention. No one saw when that young boy, curious as young boys are, crossed the street and stood at the gate, hesitant, wanting to follow the raven inside. He wasn’t the first boy to stand at that gate—there had been others, curious onlookers, and each time, Eulalia would peek from the windows of the old mansion and wonder if it
could be the boy she had lost.

This time there was no wondering—she knew it was him. Her heart leapt
into her throat, and it was all she could do to stop herself from bursting out from her hiding place in the mansion and calling out his name, his true name.

The little boy followed the raven up the steps to the ruined mansion’s front door and cautiously peered inside. He seemed more curious than afraid, but still, he did not enter at first. Eulalia waited until he was well inside before she revealed herself. That was when the boy got scared. She tried, desperately, to talk to him, to keep him long enough that he would recognize her and know the trut
h.

It broke her heart when he didn’t. The little boy shrieked and ran, ran like he was running for his life, out the door and past the reflecting pool, dropping the basket as he squeezed through the gate, running across the street to the safety of his adoptive mother’s arms. It was those arms, not hers, that comforted him, and that woman who told him it was all his imagination, that there were no monsters in the old mansion.

She remembered looking in the broken shards of glass that were all that remained of the mirrored portal and feeling disgusted by her own reflection. Of course he didn’t recognize her—what was there left to recognize in her ruined face? She rarely looked at herself anymore, and when she did, she was always surprised at her own hideousness. In spite of her useless arm and blind eye, she remembered herself as she had been, not as this marred creature that even she could not recognize.