The Channel (The Gifted Book 2) (15 page)

They embraced. The moment Rhea felt Gaibel's arms around her, a hole that she'd didn't realize she had, filled and she matched Gaibel's grip with the same strength, the same need.

"I never thought I'd be able to touch you again," Gaibel whispered in her ear. After a moment, Gaibel pushed back and looked at Rhea, from head to foot. "You are a woman now. A fine woman. I'm so proud of you. The king has shared all of Lanne's messages with me, but I'm sure there is much more to know about your life."

Gaibel took a deep breath and became the commander again, doing what she'd spent the last eighteen years practicing, suppressing her feelings, becoming the rock the king had often depended upon. "Unfortunately, we don't have time right now." She pointed to the bed. "Sit with me."

When Rhea turned to sit, she looked up to find Lanne and Daen in a tender, passionate embrace and Randell looking at his fingernails, obviously pretending not to notice what was happening around him. She couldn't help but laugh. "Randell, come here and meet Gaibel."

Randell lifted his eyes from his fingers, his face and body shouting relief. He stepped forward and gave a slight bow. "It's nice to meet you."

Gaibel nodded. "Thank you for bringing Terrwyn home. We have a lot to talk about. Tell me about your journey." She motioned for Randell to sit.

"There's so much to tell," said Randell.

Lanne and Daen broke from their embrace and sat with Randell on the bed opposite Gaibel and Rhea.

Randell gave Gaibel a quick run-through of the highlights, skipping over the details, assuming they would get to them later. Rhea told her they captured the men at Randell's parents' home and pushed them onto the island in Hondau Lake.

Randell shared how Rhea saved them later from the same men when they made an attempt on their lives.

They skipped over the stay with the farmer and Aurea's observations of Rhea. Not on purpose, it was just temporarily forgotten.

When they got to the part where they went up against the six false warriors, Gaibel held up her hand to stop her.

"How do you know you didn't fight Laundan warriors?"

Before they could answer, there was a knock on the door, but the woman on guard didn't open it.

Before Rhea could ascertain why she was ignoring the rap on the door, another knock came. "It's me."

"It's Taulin." Rhea stood and opened the door, not wanting to wait for the guard. Behind Taulin stood a warrior; a real Laundan warrior. He was scanning the hall from left to right. "Bodyguard?"

Taulin shrugged. "Kaurl insisted." He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Well, come in and join us."

Taulin stepped in, motioning for his guard to stay in the hall before he closed the door.

Rhea turned to face Gaibel and Lanne. "This is our friend, Taulin. Taulin, this is my cousin Lanne and my mother Gaibel." Rhea felt a shiver run through her. Her mother and her cousin. Oh, how her life had changed.

Taulin bowed his head slightly.

Gaibel was already standing when Rhea finished. "Don't you mean Prince Taulin?" Her body was stiff, her face threatening, and her hand rested on a dagger at her waist.

"Yes, Prince Taulin who saved my life."

Gaibel looked him up and down as if measuring him.

Daen stood and stepped between Gaibel and Taulin. "Gaibel, he's here at our invitation. He's the one that showed us the warriors were impostors."

"He could be lying ... trying to hide their secrets."

Randell raised a finger. "Um, Gaibel, I can tell he's not lying. I can read him."

"He killed one of the warriors that attacked us," Rhea quickly interjected. "You weren't there when he examined their bodies. They weren't his men." Her defense of Taulin came as a surprise. She barely knew the man and now she was standing between Gaibel the warrior, her mother, and Taulin the person who'd saved her.

Would Gaibel think she was choosing Taulin over her?
A crushing sensation in her chest threatened to take her breath away, but she forced down a breath and calmed herself.

Gaibel looked to Lanne for her opinion. "What do you think?"

Lanne looked at Daen. "If Daen says he's all right, I'm inclined to believe him, and I know Randell can read people." She winked at Daen before looking at Gaibel. "Rhea's right, we weren't there."

Gaibel took her hand off her dagger and looked past Daen at Taulin. "My apologies. Thank you for saving my daughter."

Taulin bowed his head again. "It was my honor to be of assistance, but she was doing quite well before I arrived. I was glad to have had the chance to join in." He gave Rhea a warm look, one she wasn't sure how to interpret.

Rhea needed a distraction so she reached for a chair and pulled it close to the bed. "Please sit with us."

As they all returned to their places, Gaibel looked at the woman at the door. "Beth. Please stay with Taulin's guard. Report in if anything changes."

Beth gave her a quick nod and stepped out of the room.

Gaibel turned to Rhea. "Now finish telling me what happened."

"Not much happened after we fought the false warriors and the two men who'd come after me earlier. We had dinner with Taulin's brother Kaurl, and his sister Daulr came by to tell Kaurl that Sentran warriors had attacked travelers in southern Laundan."

Gaibel massaged her jaw in contemplation. "This doesn't make sense. Why is Sentran attacking?" Although she asked a question, her voice and expression made it clear it wasn't a question she expected to have answered, so Rhea continued ... which was fine because she didn't have an answer, or even a guess.

"Shortly after we left the dining room, I was able to listen in on the conversation of the two men who sat by the front window." Rhea looked at Lanne. "You suspected the two men seated by the front window, right?"

Lanne nodded.

"You were right. I listened in on their conversation after they left the dining room. They know you're staying in this room, by the way." Rhea turned to Taulin. "And they're curious as to why there are three heirs to the Laundan throne in Taulomi." Rhea glanced at everyone and continued. "But from what I heard, I don't believe they know we're together."

Taulin sighed. "It does look suspicious with three of us here. But how ...?"

Taulin started to ask a question that Rhea knew she didn't want to answer yet. "Did you see the two men in the lobby when you came back in?" She quickly asked.

"Yes." Taulin's brow came together as he opened his mouth to ask the question she had avoided a moment ago. "But how ...?"

Again Rhea pretended she didn't hear his attempt to speak as she told them about how the spies had listened at the doors to their rooms. "When they didn't hear anything, they decided to return to the lobby and wait for one of us to leave. Who they'll follow, I don't know."

Gaibel looked puzzled. "How do you know all this?"

"I've been trying to ask the same question," Taulin added.

Rhea scanned the room before looking Taulin in the eyes.

Taulin nodded slowly, folding his arms across his chest. "Secrets." He looked at Gaibel. "I've witnessed your daughter perform some incredible feats. I'm getting the impression I haven't seen everything she can do."

The room was silent as Rhea tried to signal Daen for help.

"I already told you, it's up to you," Daen offered.

Rhea thought about the message the Libraim gave her and decided to trust Taulin a little further. She looked at Lanne. "It would appear that I have a gift similar to yours. I can call the veil and hide myself, become invisible."

Lanne raised a brow. "That's interesting." She tried not to sound suspicious but found it almost unbelievable that Rhea could learn such a thing in a day.

"Um ... and that's not all I can do." She looked at Gaibel. "I have your gift as well."

Gaibel looked at Daen for confirmation.

He nodded, giving her a look that said there was more.

Rhea studied Taulin for a reaction that might indicate she couldn't trust him. She glanced to Randell to get his read on the prince.

Randell looked at Taulin but saw nothing in his aura he didn't trust. He gave Rhea a slight nod, encouraging her to continue.

Taulin didn't take his eyes off Rhea when he reached for her hand to give her assurance she could trust him. As soon as he touched her, Rhea was in the cavern with the Libraim again, but this time she wasn't alone.

Taulin and Rhea were standing, facing each other, inches apart. He was holding her hand, the hand he touched when they were brought to the cavern. She heard his voice but didn't see his lips move. "How?"

"I don't know. It happens sometimes." Rhea felt safe ... totally at ease in Taulin's presence.
The feelings she was experiencing had to be a sign, right?
Yes. She could feel it as she looked into Taulin’s eyes before looking over her shoulder at the big blue and silver swirling mass of energy she'd come to know as the Libraim. "All right, I get the message."

In that instant, they were back in the room. Rhea was slumped against Randell, and Daen was holding Taulin in his chair.

As the room came back into focus, Rhea pressed her hand to her forehead as she tried to get her bearings. "I just got a strong message." She looked up at the faces in the room and noticed Taulin just starting to come around.

"Wow. One minute I'm here, the next ..." Taulin paused and looked at Rhea. "Were we just with ...?"

"Yes, that was the Libraim."

Lanne cleared her throat. "Want to fill us in?"

Rhea looked at Lanne and then at Gaibel, but before she could say anything, she noticed Gaibel was looking down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap. "Gaibel, what do you know?"

Gaibel didn't look up, she just shook her head.

"Mother."

Gaibel's jaw was tight, her expression flat but serious. She raised her eyes from her hands and looked at Taulin, not speaking.

Rhea leaned toward Gaibel, looking her in the eye. "We can trust him. The Libraim has sent me two messages to that effect."

Gaibel locked eyes with Rhea, but she didn't speak.

Rhea could see it now. "You know. You know what I am." Rhea thought about everything Lanne and Daen had told her. "That's why you hid me, faked my death."

Gaibel took Rhea's hands in hers. "Yes. You were born with the mark ... the mark of the channel: three over lapping circles on your lower back." Rhea heard gasps from around the room.

"Wait, I don't have a mark." Rhea turned her back to Gaibel and lifted her shirt. "See? Nothing."

"Terrwyn, I can see it just fine."

"What?" Rhea stood and crossed to a mirror hanging on the wall. Twisting and turning, she managed to position herself so she could see her lower back. Sure enough, three circles. "I don't understand. It wasn't there before." She looked at Daen for an answer, an explanation as to how this was possible.

"I can only guess," said Daen, "but maybe it reappeared when you returned."

"A channel." It was just a whisper. Rhea couldn't tell for sure who said it. She turned to see Lanne looking at Taulin when he spoke. "This means the false warriors are only part of what's going on. For the Libraim to make someone a channel, something must be very wrong."

Daen cleared his throat. "This is what I feared as well. I shared my suspicions with Rhea and Randell before we left the world of shadows. The mark confirms it."

Taulin eyes grew wide. "World of shadows? Wait. What are you saying?"

The room went quiet as everyone froze after hearing what Daen just shared.

Daen took in Taulin's shocked expression and nodded. "The stories are real. There's another world on the other side of the veil."

Taulin blinked a couple times. "So the world of shadows is real?" He glanced between Daen, Rhea, and Randell. "And you were there?"

They each nodded.

Randell's lips formed a devilish grin as he added to Taulin's shock. "I was born there." He watched Taulin try to regain the casual facade he'd been displaying since they met and laughed inwardly.

Taulin slumped back in his chair and shook his head, trying to process everything being said. The world of shadows was real. The Libraim had made a channel. And big trouble was on the horizon.

Rhea tried not to smile at the bewildered look on Taulin's face, but she couldn't help it. She allowed herself this tiniest moment of amusement before looking at Gaibel for answers.

"I don't understand. The king is powerful, right? Why hide me, fake my death?"

"King Argeon was concerned that if word got out about you," Gaibel explained, "Taulomi would be seen as a threat. Each realm has its gifted, but we knew you would be unique and powerful. Your potential power could create imbalance in the realms. It could be seen that Taulomi was being treated differently, and King Argeon couldn't risk the other realms coming after you. Hiding you outside Luxatra was the only thing we could think of to restore balance, at least until you were old enough to decide for yourself what your role will be."

Rhea didn't know how to respond at first. It made sense, she guessed, but she couldn't help wondering how Gaibel could be so calm about it. Her mother's expression was that of a commander, but her eyes revealed some of what she was holding back.

Rhea took Gaibel's hand and looked around the room, finding all eyes on her. All of a sudden, it felt like a lot of people knew something she wasn't even sure she wanted to know. "You said the king knows what I am, but I'd prefer we not tell anyone else. Not right away. The more who know, the more difficult it will be for me to do what I'm here to do ... whatever that is."

"My midwife also knows," Gaibel added. "However, the king says he hasn't told anyone."

"I'll keep your secret," said Taulin, "and if that means I don't tell my family, then I suppose that will be my burden to bear when they find out." He looked at everyone and added, "Because they will find out."

Rhea took a deep breath. "He's right. Someone already knows I exist, the person trying to capture or kill me."

The room went quiet, everyone lost in their thoughts about what had been revealed. Randell reached for the oil lamp and turned up the wick. The room had been steadily growing dark. Rhea didn't want to think about the trouble that was yet to come, she just wanted to turn on a television and relax with a big bowl of popcorn, but that wasn't going to happen.