Wielder: Apprentice: Book 1 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle) (12 page)

“I will, Master,” Sheyna agreed.

Toborne turned and left her room, closing the door behind him. Finally, Sheyna was free to find the box her mother had left for her. She went to the door of her room, opened it, and peered out both ways down the hallway. Once she was satisfied she was secure, she began moving slowly about the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She couldn’t be sure what would alert her to the presence of the box, its size, or anything about it except that it was a box. After a few moments of searching, she became confused. Was this the correct room? She was about to give up and go talk to Erinthill when she walked across a creaky floorboard. Excited again, she pulled back the heavy woolen rug and searched the floor for the source of the creak. It wasn’t long before she came across a small rectangular piece of floorboard the popped up with a bit of effort. The recess below the board was very small. Sheyna had imagined that the box would have been much bigger. A box that could fit inside this small of a hole would contain not much more than a quick note. She fished around in the hidden slot until she came up with a small rectangular box. She opened it to reveal a note and a key. She unfolded the note and read it.

My dearest daughter,

There is so much I need to tell you. You were still very young when I had to leave you behind. Where I go now, you cannot follow. I am devastated that I have to leave you! Even though she is old and probably not the best person to care for you, I am leaving you with your father’s mother, your Grandmother Namear. I have also left instructions with my good friend Enowene should anything happen to me while I am gone and I am unable to return to you. The enclosed key should be taken to her; she has the real box that was promised to you in your trial. By opening this small box, you have proved that you possess other abilities akin to wielding but also very different. Those abilities come from a, no doubt, surprising source. There is no other way to tell you this but directly. You possess the blood of dragons. It will allow you to take wielding to a much different level than anyone else alive. It is entirely possible you will be hunted for the abilities your dragon blood bestows upon you. I am sure you have many questions, and I have sworn Enowene to secrecy until you are old enough to wield and gain access to the box in Enowene’s possession. Inside you will find the truth of who and what you are. Be careful, my daughter. There are those in this world who will seek you out. Trust the jade statuette I gave you and remember this above all else, I am alive somewhere, for I cannot die. I will return to you.

Your loving mother,

Sylvalora Namear

Sheyna folded the note and put it back in the box with the key. It was time to find Erinthill and Enowene. She went to the Chamber of the First Trine and peeked through the keyhole. She didn’t want Toborne to know she wasn’t studying the books he brought her. She could see Ianthill and Morgoran gesturing back and forth to each other with the stems of their clay pipes. Toborne was leaning back in a chair, exhaling long bellows of smoke in between puffs on his long-stemmed wooden pipe, but she did not see Enowene or Erinthill.

Clutching the box in her left hand as if it might slip away from her if she didn’t, she made her way down the hallway toward the main foyer. After a turn into a different hallway, she could hear the voice of Enowene coming from one of the rooms ahead. Excitement rising, she almost sprinted to find her. When she arrived at the open doorway, Enowene, Erinthill, and Brynna sat in a circle of four chairs. A medium-sized wooden box sat on the polished low table at the center of the circle.

“There you are, dear,” Enowene said. “Close the door behind you and come have a seat.”

Sheyna complied and joined them. “You were all waiting for me. Did you know what was in this box?” She held up the box from her room.

“No, we didn’t know exactly. Your mother only told me that there was a note to you, and it would lead you to Enowene.” Erinthill said. “She did instruct me to make sure Enowene was here when you found your box, however.”

“Why hide this little box in my room? Why didn’t she just give it to you for safe keeping?”

Enowene spoke up. “In a manner, she did. When your mother had to leave Symbor suddenly, she first made sure that I had a safe place for the wooden box she wanted to give you. She told me that she would give the key to Erinthill and to keep them separate until you were old enough to take the trial. When she stopped here to talk to Erinthill, she found that she also had been called away. She left your box in the room you are currently staying in when she stayed there all those seasons ago.”

“Aye, and when she met with me in Symboria sometime later, she told me to retrieve the key box she left and leave my prepared essence for you in the Chamber of the Ancients with instructions. I decided to just leave the key box where it was. It was as safe a place as any, and it would not open for anyone but you,” Erinthill recounted.

“Who was my mother?”

“When you open the wooden box with your key, you will find out. She wanted to tell you herself in her own way,” Enowene said.

“What happened to my grandmother?”

Enowene bowed her head. “I am afraid she passed on a few days after your mother left you in her care. For a time afterward, you were in the care of my daughter, Celestine. She is probably the woman you remember as your mother. It was Celestine’s idea to hide you in plain sight the way we did, after several attempts were made to abduct you. Celestine moved to Darovan and led the vermin away from the city. The idea was that you would move from family to family while I kept an eye on you, but one of the families you stayed with was murdered, and you were lost to the streets. We were not sure what happened and still do not know to this day. I searched for you for months and feared you had been killed or abducted. You proved resourceful and found your way where I found you being fed by Ignacio. The rest you know.”

“I am not an orphan, then.” That thought somehow made her feel much better about herself, even though she had the unshakable feeling that Enowene’s account of what happened to her was not entirely the truth.

“No, you are not,” Enowene agreed. “You never really were.”

Sheyna reached for the wooden box. “May I?”

“Of course, it’s your box, after all.” Enowene seemed as excited as she was for her to open it.

Sheyna took the key from the key box and inserted it into the keyhole of the wooden box and turned it. The lid of the box popped open, and Sheyna opened it the rest of the way. Inside the box were scrolls of parchment, a few trinkets, and an amulet that appeared to have a vessel attached to the inside of it filled with blood. Around the edges of the amulet was the inscription Sylvalora.

“My mother has a beautiful name, Sylvalora?”

“Aye,” Brynna agreed. “She does.”

“You all knew her?”

Enowene studied Sheyna for a moment as if she was deciding carefully what to say next. “Aye, we all
know
her. Your mother is very dear to us, as are you.”

“It’s difficult for me to believe after all this time she is still alive, and out there in the world somewhere.”

“Both of your parents still live,” Erinthill said.

Sheyna put the amulet around her neck and took out a piece of parchment. It was part of a diary.

Today I am truly blessed by Loracia, my goddess, for my husband and I are now the proud parents of a bright, beautiful baby girl. Loracia has given me more gifts of life and happiness than I could have ever imagined. We named her Sheyna Loracia in honor of the one who bestowed those gifts. Erinthill has cautioned me to keep her linage hidden, and I must agree. We do not know what effect Vex’s gift of dragon will have on her. What makes me unique will also make her unique, not to mention the linage of her father, wherever he may be. I know one day we will be together as a loving family, but for now, I must raise her in secret and raise her alone.

“This diary entry speaks of my father. Who is my father?”

“To tell you the truth, we don’t know. Sylvalora never told us. We know they were married by the father of the gods, Vex, and his wife Loracia in secret. She said we would find out someday when it was safe for the world to know,” Enowene said. “I always thought she was being a bit dramatic.”

“Where is she, my mother?”

“At present, no one knows. We were hoping the contents of that box would give us a clue,” Enowene answered.

“Perhaps it will,” Shey said as she began taking the contents out of the box and spreading it on the table.

Aside from a few more diary entries about Sheyna’s early life, a baby rattler, and other odds and ends, there was nothing to indicate where her mother might have gone.

“There’s nothing here,” Sheyna said with disappointment.

“Don’t be so quick to judge. Your mother might not have made it obvious,” Enowene pointed out. “Why don’t you take the box back to your room and go through it in private where you can relax and study what she has left you.”

“Thank you. I mean, thank you for holding on to this for me.”

“It was my pleasure. If it wasn’t for the key, I probably would have given it to you back at my tower in Symbor.”

“I am sure that is precisely why Sylvalora chose to keep it here,” Erinthill jested.

“You are probably correct on that account,” Enowene agreed.

Sheyna packed up the box, excused herself, and hurried to her room.

Sheyna had almost forgotten about Marella until she encountered her while she hurried back to her room. The pretty blonde girl’s face lit up as soon as she saw Sheyna.

“There you are. How do you feel?”

Sheyna was taken aback for a moment while she collected her thoughts. “I . . . um . . . feel like my old self again. Sorry, I was thinking about something else.” She beckoned her to follow. “Come on, I have much to tell you.”

Marella and Sheyna continued down the corridor and into Sheyna’s room, where they bolted the door behind them. Sheyna plopped the box onto her bed and scattered the contents out on the bedspread. She briefly told Marella what had happened earlier and showed her the amulet. The two began combing through the parchments.

“I had no idea anyone could have dragon’s blood. How does that happen?” Marella asked.

“I don’t know. That’s one of the mysteries I hope to find an answer for; if I can find my mother, perhaps she can tell me.”

“So far, all I am seeing in these journal entries is your early childhood. Your mother wanted you to know how much you were loved. She must have known she would be gone for a long time. How do you feel about it?”

“I suppose I haven’t thought about it much yet. I guess I should feel anger, but according to Enowene, I was never an orphan like I believed.”

“How long were you out on the streets?”

“About four or five seasons. Now that I think about it, there are some holes in my memory. It’s as if I put some of them out of my mind. I don’t think they were particularly unpleasant; they are simply . . . gone.”

“It’s probably for the best.”

“You’re probably right. Anyhow, I have a few answers now, and the past is the past. I can’t go back and do anything about it now.”

Marella turned one of the pieces of parchment over. Sheyna noted she seemed to be engaged in deep thought over some of the writing. “What is it? Do you see something?”

Marella did not take her eyes off the parchment. “I was just wondering. You can enchant items; it’s one ability you possess that other essence wielders do not. I wonder what would happen if you tried to enchant this parchment?”

“You think maybe my mother hid a message?” Sheyna could feel the excitement of the prospect rising within her. She took a piece of the parchment and concentrated on it, using her enchanting ability. Slowly, letters began to appear on the reverse side of the parchment. With enthusiasm, Sheyna concentrated harder on the parchment until the entire message was clear.

“What does it say?” Marella asked.

“It appears to be instructions on improving my enchanting. Here, I will read it:

“Dearest daughter,

You are so young and innocent. There is no way of knowing what abilities will carry on to you from your father and me, but I suspect that you will have some enchanting ability. I am enchanting these diary entries in case you are able to read them someday. Alas, if you can read them, then you do have the ability to enchant. Tell no one! You are in grave danger if you possess the ability. There are those who will stop at nothing to get to you. Enchanting items is a rare gift that mainly rests with the realm of dragonkind. Dragons rarely enchant anything for man because of the fear that man will destroy themselves with it. However, limited enchantment is also dangerous. I have written down these instructions to aid you in understanding this gift so that it doesn’t become a curse.

“The rest of it is complex instructions.” Sheyna glanced at Marella. “Well, I didn’t keep it exactly a secret, did I?”

“How were you to know? You didn’t even get this box until after you learned to wield.”

“I think my mother planned for me to come to Rugania at a much younger age. I might have if my grandmother had lived longer. You would think Enowene would have known.”