Branches of Time, The (19 page)

Bashinoir didn't have an answer. But he intuited that the shadow could be right.

Maybe afterwards, then, the priestess explained to you what had happened?

“Well, yes, she talked about the magical war with our enemies, about the subject of time...”

Did she explain why she wasn't able to warn you?

“No, she didn't.”

Hmm. This is all so strange. Maybe she didn't know it was going to happen. Or maybe she did know and just didn't want to tell you.

“But that makes no sense!”

Yes, you're right. Why would a priestess ever want to kill her own people? But now what does she want to do?

“She says we also need to travel through time. She said the only way to repair this messed-up reality is to go back in time.”

So she wants to leave the island?

“Yes, but we'll come back.”

Ah ha! That's it!

Bashinoir felt increasingly conflicted. He didn't need to formulate any thoughts, since the shadow could feel his emotions, and a particularly painful suspicion circled through his mind:
Do you think she did all this just to get off the island?

I have no idea. I only know what you tell me. But who wouldn't want to spend their future far away from a frozen, isolated island, where you have to spend day and night doing nothing but magical rituals, without the warmth of another human being next to you?

“Lil!” Bashinoir bellowed, distraught.

That's what I was thinking too, but I didn't want to make you worry.

Bashinoir was beside himself with anger. All the pieces of the puzzle now fit together. Why hadn't Miril protected them? Why didn't she even warn them about what was going to happen? Why did she steal his wife away from him?

“But then why did she ask me to travel through time with her?”

Maybe she doesn't actually want to travel through time. Maybe she just wants to travel through space, to find a nicer place to live. Once the transport ritual has been completed, she'd be the one to decide what happens next. If she told your wife she'd rather leave you here, Lil wouldn't agree to it at all. So she's just acting like she wants to do the right thing. But there's no guarantee that all three of you would get to the same destination.

Bashinoir was livid.
If that's what she's planning
...He clenched his fists and stood up. He was going to set things right, once and for all.

Where are you going? Stop!

“Why?”

Don't hurt her, you don't have any proof that any of this is true. Besides, you need to be careful. She could start to use her magical powers against you. She's a priestess, she would surely win.

“So now what?” asked Bashinoir, rabid. “What should I do?”

You need to wait for the right moment.

39

Milia was on top of him, but she wasn't moving with her usual intensity. Just last night, that girl had driven him out of his mind. Yet now, this goddess of sex seemed to be out of it. After he orgasmed, she laid down beside him, her back to him, without doting on him as she usually did.

Beanor was enraged. Generally he would resolve this sort of problem by sending the girl out and calling in another one. But he still needed Milia. He was caught up in an unbridled passion, victim to a blind and inexhaustible desire that drove him to seek out the pleasures of her body every hour of the day.

She remained silent. He didn't know what to do. He wondered if he should ask her if something was wrong, but he had never been interested in the feelings of any of his subjects, even his wives.

They spent a few moments in awkward silence. Finally Beanor decided to approach the subject: “The weather these days is really making the ladies tired.”

No response.

That lack of respect humiliated him. He instinctively searched the room for his sword, which he usually liked to use to resolve such situations. But it wasn't the right time, not yet. He was sure he'd never find such a gorgeous body and fleshy rump anywhere else in the kingdom.

“I'm your wife. I'm nobody's slave!”

Beanor's jaw dropped. Nobody had ever dared to speak to the king in that manner.

His hands itched, yet he couldn't forget what he had experienced over the past few nights. No, he needed to stay calm. He didn't want to forgo the embraces that had made him feel things he had never felt before.

“What are you trying to say? The only person you have to serve is me!”

“I don't think that's really how it works.”

Arrogant, contrarian...How dare she? This haughty girl needs to be put back in her place!

Beanor was ready to make her understand the weight of his authority, but she turned around, tears streaming down her cheeks, and kissed him passionately. Then, her face barely an inch away from his, she told him: “Your Majesty, please, don't let me be a victim of that bully. I'll give you every pleasure in this world. You haven't seen anything yet, I've just begun to share my delights with you. But please, protect my days and I swear that your nights will be unforgettable!”

Beanor, caught by surprise, remained silent. He tried to think of who Milia could be referring to, but nobody came to mind.

He had no royal interest in the dissatisfactions of young women, but those tempting promises made him continue on: “Who dares to bother you during the day?”

“I think you know perfectly well who, your Majesty.”

Impudent!
Never before in so many years had he found himself in front of such a shameless hussy.

“You nasty little -” he started to say, a rage coming over him.

But she kissed him even more passionately. She placed a hand on his member and started to move it down with an unbearably slowness, lowering her head to stare at it while continuing to stroke him. “Your Majesty, please, don't be mean to me. I need your help.”

“Carry on!” he ordered.

“Will you help me?” the girl asked, her movements still not accelerating.

“We'll talk about it later! Now get to work!” Beanor replied drily.

“No. I need to be reassured.”

Beanor's eyes burned: “Fine! Tell me what's bothering you!”

40

Nal casually glances at her little brother. He hates subterfuge. He hasn't noticed anything yet. He's completely absorbed in his work. He fulfills the requirements for the magical protections, and once again looks over everything he needs to keep safe. She knows he'll discover her move soon enough, but only after it's too late. He'll get angry. But that's how you learn.

41

Unable to sleep, Lil tossed and turned in bed. The idea of time travel continued to torment her. The island had always been her horizon. Beaches and reefs were the borders of her universe. Rarely had she even gone out to sea with a fisherman. Only a few times had she dreamt of faraway lands, warm places she had heard about in fairytales, inhabited by people of all races wearing different colors of clothes.

But the thought of going back to the
past
terrorized her. They would have to visit a time when most of their people had been exterminated, the survivors forced to escape by sea. There were so many unknowns. Perhaps they, too, would get caught up in the massacre. Maybe they wouldn't be able to come back and would stay, trapped in a time full of turmoil and hardship. They could even get killed.

She trusted Miril, but her theories on the branches of time were almost impossible to grasp. She wondered if Miril was fully aware of what she was doing, but she didn't want to doubt her wisdom.

And then there was Bashinoir, increasingly distant and lost in his own world. The more she tried to get closer to him, the further he pulled away. He wasn't the same man she used to know. The situation hardly created the ideal conditions for taking this kind of trip. In any case, he had to come with them, they needed his strength. Who knows what they'd come up against. It would be almost impossible to work in three; in two, however, it was unthinkable.

She had lost almost everyone and everything in her life, and now, the little that remained, reconstructed with so much difficulty, was again about to slip away from her grasp.

“Lil.” Miril called quietly, from the other side of the door.

“Yes?”

“You can't sleep, can you?”

“No.”

“Neither can I.”

Lil got up. Walking across the cold floor, she hurried to open the door and invited Miril in.

Miril was wearing a gauzy white dressing gown. She entered, passing the crackling fire which lit the room up with warm colors, spreading a pleasant warmth throughout the room. She knew how much Lil hated the cold.

Though she was very tired, Miril appeared to be as lucid as ever, unlike Lil, who felt discombobulated all the time.

Smiling, Miril sat on the edge of the bed. Lil imitated her.

“I know you never expected to be put to such a difficult test. You're afraid, and it's right that you should be. I, too, am terrified. Believe me, if there was another way, I'd be happy to avoid such a risky voyage. But unfortunately there is no other way, or at least, no other way I can think of. Despite all of the dangers that lie ahead, we have to leave. Our understanding of magic will help whenever our experience fails us.”

The calm, sedate tone of voice filled the young woman's troubled mind with a sense of serenity.

“Lil, I want to tell you something.” Miril paused, staring at the fire.

Her uncertainty rekindled Lil's own anxiety from a few moments earlier.

“We've overcome, and we're still facing some very difficult trials. What happened on our island is horrific, and you can't imagine how much I regret not having predicted what happened, and not setting up the right defenses. At any rate,” again a long pause, “at any rate, during the course of this tragedy, I discovered something I never would have suspected. A beautiful feeling that helped me to salvage the tiniest bit of happiness.”

Lil was curious. She realized her heart was racing. A crazy idea, immediately repressed by her own shame, flashed through her mind.

Miril let out a little sigh. Lil blushed.

“It's been really nice, spending these past few weeks with you,” Miril said, timid, yet her words flowing out quickly, as if she wanted to relieve herself of a weight.

Lil was shocked. Those words didn't bother her, but suddenly everything seemed upside-down.

“Sorry,” Miril said, confused. “I know that you've been married to him for so long and I...I mean, I would never...”

Miril got up, turned and headed towards the door.

“Wait!” Lil said, forcing herself to seem calm as a storm whirled inside of her soul.

When Miril turned around, Lil realized she was crying. Uncertain, she got up and took a few steps towards her. She had no idea what to say or do. Miril froze. She was still crying. She looked as beautiful as ever. Like a goddess.

Lil took another step. Miril seemed to be waiting for her, then she, too, started to move. She daintily held her hand out in front of her and Lil took it in her own.

The two women embraced, holding each other close, their heads resting on each other's shoulders.

“Thanks, Lil. You helped me understand a type of magic that has transformed me, turned me into a different person. Since you've come here, my life has changed.”

Lil could sense the years of solitude, the heavy burdens, the strict discipline, and the harsh training that had been Miril's life.

She looked up. The two women's eyes locked. Imperceptibly, Lil's face moved closer to Miril's, who was still crying.

“Miril, you don't need to apologize for how you feel about me.”

The priestess looked at her, confused: “Apologize?”

“I...” Lil continued, embarrassed. “I mean, I thought that a priestess couldn't...”

Miril smiled. “Oh, sure. Priests can't have relations with people from the outside, to avoid disrupting their levels of vital energies. But, among each other, I mean...there's no problem.”

Lil's jaw dropped. She never would have imagined that such a rule would have been invented. “So, you and the priest...?” she asked tentatively.

The priestess's face lit up with a lively expression: “Oh no! Just because we
can
doesn't mean we
have to
.”

“Sure, right, right,” Lil hurried to say, feeling that she shouldn't have asked such bold questions.

“And then,” Miril added, looking away. “I never had to force myself to repress my emotions towards men. When it came to women, however...” she looked down.

Lil felt her face flush. It must be very difficult for the priestess to be so open with her. She brought her face closer to Miril's and brushed her lips against the woman's mouth. Miril looked up. Her eyes burned, her hands pressed against Lil's back. Something very deep moved in the young woman's soul, something that no man had ever made her feel before.