Celtic Rose (25 page)

They never figured out who the winner was between Talus and Kallisto. They just ended up getting too tired to fight any more. They all went to bed exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as they lay down. Gabriel trailed slowly back to his room checking on everyone one last time before he went down for the night. Everyone was sleeping soundly. Once he lay his head down he was out, without so much as a dream. He slept soundly that night as well.

Chapter 10

The sound of beautiful violin music woke Kallisto from her sleep. Wanting to find out where the song was coming from, she climbed out of bed with one last look at her loving gentleman who never did more than kiss her, much to her dismay. Kallisto grinned at the thought and walked into the restroom to get on more appropriate clothing. She had been so exhausted she’d fallen asleep still wearing her clothes from yesterday, and so had Talus.

She changed into a pair of clean jeans and another shirt with one long sleeve and no sleeve on the other side. Even though they were all comfortable together and they knew that the tattoo’s were symbolic and part of their destiny, she just couldn’t get out of the habit of covering it up.

She rushed out to the hall and down the stairs. The music was coming from a room behind the stairs. It sounded so wonderful she just had to see who was playing it, but when she stepped into the room, she didn’t see anyone. She scanned the room again and stopped in surprise, with her gaze focused on the most beautiful instrument she’d ever seen in her life. The violin was a work of art, royal blue instead of brown and engraved with Celtic markings. Light pouring through the window cast a glow on the instrument, highlighting the intricate designs. She didn’t know if they were words, symbols, or just meaningless carvings, but they caught her eye and she couldn’t look away.

The music enticed her and she stepped forward to the violin. The soft music in the background continued without faltering. As she reached for the beautiful violin, a new song played.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kallisto spotted a silhouette of a woman. Kallisto turned to face her and she became more defined, and Kallisto could see that she was playing the violin. It was as though she was standing right in front of Kallisto. Kallisto recognized her as the enchantress from her dream, and she smiled brightly at Kallisto as though she remembered her, too. She shone as though she had an inner light emanating from her. With a tilt of her head, she gestured toward the violin.

Taking her cue, Kallisto picked up the stringed instrument and placed it under her chin, poising the bow over it. She’d never played a violin in her life, but with the enchantress signaling for Kallisto to play with her, she needed to try. When Kallisto began to strum the strings, the music flowed from somewhere deep within her, as if it was another memory waiting to be reawakened. The notes mixed with the enchantress’ in a beautiful melody, and they played as one. Soon, the enchantress stopped and left Kallisto to play on her own. The enchantress walked around Kallisto as she played and ran her hand across Kallisto’s shoulders as she went behind her. Kallisto felt a waterfall of power crash into her, but her playing never faltered during the transfer; if anything it became even more beautiful.

The enchantress moved to be in front of Kallisto, raised her violin, and they played together once again. The music grew faster, but the notes came easily. As Kallisto played, more silhouettes started to flow around them and the room seemed to change. She could see people dancing. Their clothing was from the old land, like the clothing she’d seen them wear in their first life. It was fascinating, watching them dance to the music. She noticed Gabriel in the corner playing a grand piano that had been sitting in the corner. More instruments joined in to play with them, as if there was a ball going on and they were a part of the entertainment. Kallisto felt weightless as she played, almost as though she was floating, so light and free. The light in the room turned blue and grew brighter and brighter until she couldn’t see the people dancing, but she still played until…

Kallisto’s eyes flew open at the sound of a sharp gasp. She was levitating so close to the ceiling that she could reach out and touch it. As she panicked the floor sped toward her and she landed without getting hurt. She was more in shock than anything.

“What the heck was that?!?” she shouted as she picked herself up off the floor. She looked to the doorway where Talus, Ramina, Kalan, and William stood with shocked looks on their faces. Chuckling came from behind her and she spun around so fast she slipped, but arms caught her before she had the chance to fall. Gabriel held her in his arms for a second, steadying her, then he stepped back.

“That, Kallisto, would be the work of your mother.” Gabriel smiled mischievously. Kallisto’s eyes widened.

“My mother was the queen, Lilith of Lycanth, the wife of my father, King Nicolas the Second. How could my mother have anything to do with this? She wasn’t magical in any way… and why on earth do I remember their names now when I didn’t know them before?” Kallisto stopped ranting, but several thoughts kept running through her mind as she thought of Gabriel’s words. If Lilith wasn’t magical then why would she have any powers? Nicolas wasn’t magical either. They both knew that Kalan and Kallisto could read thoughts and tell truth from lies, and they never seemed surprised. Yet they didn’t have any power, nothing that would’ve been transferred to the twins. Gabriel watched as the knowledge donned on Kallisto. Kalan walked in beside her and grabbed her hand, staring at Gabriel.

“The enchantress is our mother? How? Why?” Kalan shook his head and then looked at Kallisto.

“Slow down.” Gabriel put his hands up and took a deep breath. “Kallisto, you remember their names now, because your memories are progressing. You’re right; Lilith and Nicolas didn’t have any power.” Gabriel paused again and held a breath for a moment, putting his hands back down. “Nicolas had an affair. It worked out rather well in hindsight, because Lilith was pregnant around the same time but lost the child during birth. Nicolas took you both from the enchantress and made it seem as though you were Lilith’s. She even believed that you were hers, until your powers started to manifest themselves. After that happened there was no doubt to anyone who was close to you that you weren’t theirs, but to outsiders you were just the royal children. The enchantress wanted you to have your birthright, so she accepted the payoff Nicolas offered for her to go away. She would’ve done it without taking the money, but Nicolas insisted, so she left and you never knew her. However, the enchantress watched over you from afar. I could smell her when she was near, and I never questioned the blood you shared. You both smelled so much like her that I never thought anything about it until Nicolas placed me in charge of your safety. He never knew that the enchantress visited you in the night. She, too, placed me in charge of your safety, but apparently they both overestimated my ability when they gave me the job.” Gabriel’s voice thickened with sorrow and regret.

“You’ve taken care of us to the best of your ability. When we died, you didn’t have the powers you have now. You’ve said many times how, when you meet up with the witch and warlock, it will be different. Our parents had faith in you, Gabriel, and so do I, so don’t talk down about yourself, ever. Is that understood?” Kallisto had walked forward without realizing it, and was so close to Gabriel that she’d have been in his face if it hadn’t been for the height difference. He chuckled at her aggression.

“Yes, your highness, it’s perfectly understood. It won’t happen again.” Gabriel caressed her chin with his knuckle. “You are more like your mother than I realized.” He chuckled again and turned away.

“Wait… Gabriel, what did she do to me?” Kallisto asked, confused. He turned back to her, with a look of suspicion.

“What do you mean? I didn’t realize she did anything to you. Explain.” Gabriel crossed his arms. Kallisto gulped down some air noisily before answering the question.

“She touched my shoulders and I felt power crash into me. It wasn’t like the river flow of power that I’ve felt before; it was more like a waterfall crashing down onto me. There was so much power. I felt stronger when it happened, and then after I felt lighter and more free. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Kallisto said carefully. She couldn’t understand his anger.

“She added to your power base, Kallisto. That’s why you were levitating.” He started ranting and pacing. “I’d seen you levitate before, so I didn’t think anything about it until you mentioned the power. She’s done it again. I can’t believe she’d do that.” He started ranting and pacing. Kallisto could barely keep up with what he was saying. She finally got tired of chasing him down and she was sure Kalan was getting tired of being pulled around, since they hadn’t released hands since he grabbed hers. She stepped in Gabriel’s path so that he had to either stop or run over her; he stopped.

“Gabriel, what did she do?” Kallisto stood firm with Kalan at her side. Gabriel looked from one to the other of them.

“She’s increased the rate of the curse, again. We only have a month, maybe a little more but not much. We’re going to have to move faster than I ever imagined would be possible for us. Everything is accelerated. It was shortened enough from effects of the witch and warlock, but your eyes started to turn brown again. It was like we only lost a couple of months rather than over a year. But now for some reason the enchantress has sped the process again. Curse you, Celeste! Why did you do this?” Gabriel talked as though she was right in the room, and then, suddenly, she was.

“Gabriel, calm down. This is the way it must be done. The curse has gone off track for a reason.” She seemed to float over to him. Gabriel turned angry eyes on her.

“Celeste, her eyes were changing back. We had more time. Why did you take that away? Now we have even less time than we started out with.” Gabriel turned to Kallisto and looked in her eyes. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, shaking it. Kalan pulled Kallisto into his arms. Talus went to them and put his arms around them. Ramina put her arms around them and Ephiny and William did the same. Gabriel looked up at the group, his legs twitched as though he was about to walk forward, but then he stopped and turned to face Celeste again. Celeste was smiling at the group.

“How can you smile in the midst of our destruction? Do we, your children and friends, mean so little to you?” Kallisto said from the center of the group. They released her so she could face Celeste. “Don’t you care that your own children are about to die?” A tear streamed down her cheek. She longed for the mother she knew. She longed for Hope to be there instead of Celeste. Hope wouldn’t have taken away the life she had left.

“Yes, child, I do care for you and your brother. I’ve been there with you in every life, even though you couldn’t see me, or feel me. I was there for everything that happened to you. Do you remember what the Bible says, child? Think about the footprints in the sand. During good times, there were two sets of prints, but when the hardships came, there was only one set because He carried you. The Lord makes you go through trials, but it all has a purpose. This is His purpose, not mine. There’s a reason the curse has changed, and there’s a reason that it’s now. Keep God in your heart, child, no matter what happens.” She looked at Kalan as she said the last. Celeste placed her arms around him and reached for Kallisto.

“But why does this have to happen and why now?” Kalan spoke into her shoulder.

“Have faith. Know that God has his reasons and know that He’s here with you, no matter what. You all need to go through certain things for the curse to be broken. The curse is nearing its end; that I can promise you. Please understand if I could keep you from going through any of this I would, but this is the way that everything is supposed to happen.” She kissed their heads and released them, turning to Gabriel.

“You must have faith too, strong one. It’s as it should be, but know this; you’re allowed to love. Even though you’re their protector, it doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to be a part of the group as well. Join them Gabriel–join them fully. Be a part of everything and you won’t be alone.” With that, she disappeared.

At first they just sat around feeling sorry for themselves, but Kallisto grew tired of it quickly. There was only so much moping she could take.

“Alright, that’s it! Everybody get up. We have less than a month to live and I’m not going to spend one more minute wallowing in sorrow. Gabriel, what’s our next move? Where were we before we died the last time?” She was determined not to let them sulk. Gabriel stood up slowly, his brow creased in deep thought.

“We’d just gotten the last pieces of the tablet and were going to put them together. We lost track of time going after the witch’s son. We killed him, or at least I did, time ran out and we died. Did you bring the box with the artifacts in it from Hope’s?” Gabriel looked more determined now. Kallisto nodded.

“Good. Where are they?” Gabriel looked around at each of them for an answer. Kallisto glanced at Kalan and showed him where they were by putting the image in his head—their silent communication.

“Okay,” Kalan said, and went out the door. The others looked at Kallisto, confused, and she watched as realization dawned on them; all but Gabriel, who smiled slightly, although it didn’t reach his eyes. Turning, he went to retrieve the last missing piece.

“Everything will be fine, all of you. We’ll live our last few days as though we don’t know the end is coming,” Kallisto said, knowing Gabriel would hear it too. Kalan entered the room carrying the box from Hope’s house. “We’ll figure these clues out and get the next before we die. We can mail it back to Hope if there is no time to go back home, but I’d really like to tell her goodbye before we die. So…Kalan, lay out the pieces and let’s put this jigsaw puzzle together, shall we?”

Everyone smiled as well as they could and followed them to the dining room. It was hard to believe that just around twelve hours ago, they were eating and laughing at that very table.