'There was a fire in our home, it was so hot. I picked you up and I picked the baby, without thinking because we were all in the same room. I picked him up, I know I did. He was in my arms, crying, I soothed him and then I took you both into the portal hall where we would be safe. I remember the smoke, it got everywhere, and I could barely see. That was the day you found out what I was. I never wanted you to know, I wanted us to continue to live like any other family. I tried to go back for her but I couldn't, I couldn't go through the portal anymore no matter how hard I tried. I know she was crying for me. I remember hearing her call for me so loudly, and I thought I would come back. I just wanted to get you two to safety first, you and the baby, but then I couldn't go back. I kept trying, but I couldn't and when I looked back-' Mrs. Rose broke down in sobs.
'It's all right, it's not your fault' came her husband's soothing voice.
'But it is! I should have known better. I should have known what the baby's gift was. I should have been more careful. I should have known that it was likely to be activated under duress. I should have known'.
'There's nothing you can do about him now. He's gone, my dear. We should be happy she survived the fire.' He ended the sentence with a wheezing cough.
Mrs Rose, who had been pacing back and forth rushed to his side, holding him gently.
'It's such a shame, with my ability, the one person I want most in the world to heal is ill and there's nothing I can do. I just feel so powerless' Tears rolled down Mrs. Rose's cheeks and he reached over and wiped them off with a bandaged hand.
'Shh. You're not powerless. You already saved me once. I owe you my life'.
'It doesn't really feel like I saved you though.' Her eyes looked over her husband's frail body.
Kenneth looked absolutely pitiful. He was wrapped with bandages from head to toe. Barely any of his skin was visible and he lay on the bed, barely able to move.
'It's not your fault I'm like this. You tried your best' He comforted her, each word was heavy with the physical strain that talking caused him.
'If only I knew what the consequence of taking a mortal into the portal hall was, I would have…' Her words trailed off. She stared up at the ceiling, and the memories came rushing back.
Would have what? She asked herself internally. Left him in the fire? Taken him outside, and left her baby and daughter inside? Once again, she remembered the hopelessness she felt that day and sighed.
On days like this, she wondered how different things would have been if only Kenneth was one of them, a faerie. Her family would be whole. The four of them would have relocated together, or not at all. After all, her forced relocation was part of her sentence for taking a mortal through a portal. Mrs Rose glanced down at her badge. She was a 'decorated soldier' and had won many awards for her performance on the field, but all that didn't mean much to her while she and her husband were still in confinement. The awards she won under compulsory service almost felt like a mockery, they stung. She was their prisoner, nothing more.
'Won't you relocate into the city?' Kenneth asked, turning painfully to face her.
Rose's annoyance showed. Once again he was asking if she would abandon him and go live in the city of Legandanl. Due to mortals' inability to physically withstand the pressure and atmosphere of Legandanl, a special confinement was built on the outskirts of the city; it was designed for any unfortunate mortal who wandered into the city. This was where Rose and Kenneth spent the past years of their confinement. Rose had decided not to go into Legandanl and avoided the place as much as she could. There was something irresistible about the city, the way it felt like home, it drew her kind in. It was the only place where they rightly belonged and all who went in found it very hard to stay anywhere else. The attraction was so great that only the sight of the place was enough for most faeries to abandon everything they had once known for their homeland. The idea wasn't a bad one, but Kenneth ought to know by now that Rose would never abandon him.
'We'll go when you're better'. Her voice had a tone of finality.
'And what if I never am?' Kenneth asked, his eyes apologizing for being who he was, for not being a faerie.
'Then we'll never go!' She exploded exasperated. 'You know I don't like it when you talk like that.'
'I'm sorry sweetheart. I know.' He wheezed and coughed.
'I'm sure we'll discover someone with a gift that can heal or at least help you soon. Don't lose hope'
'Of course, I won't', He grunted.
Kenneth had already lost all hope. His condition had never been cured in the past and according to the specialists, he had less than a year in Legandanl time to go. At this point, he didn't even feel sad to go. He was ready for all the pain to end but he couldn't tell his wife that, so he pretended like he still believed he would get better for her sake while eagerly anticipating the end. She couldn't understand what it felt like to be in constant pain. The very air in Legandanl was toxic to him. It vitalized his entire body beyond its limits and his body couldn't contain all the energy. It was basically bursting with life. That was why his wife couldn't heal him, he wasn't sick, quite the opposite, the superabundance of vitality within him was what was killing him.
'But honey' She suddenly asked, 'What if our baby's still alive? What if he's stayed safe all this time somehow.'
'We've been over this, Rose' her husband was empathetic but severe. He didn't want her to have any false hopes, he knew it would crush her to find out the truth all over again. Rose had proven to be obstinately delusional about their son's death. 'You know, there's no way he would have survived the fire.'
'I know but what if he did' Her eyes had the faintest of hopes.
'Why are you suddenly bringing this up, Rose?' Kenneth asked, worried about his wife's sanity.
'I haven't told you about this but I just discovered that Pearl, the oracle, has the ability to search through the past and follow a person's life. She did it right before me, she searched out the past and identity in the life of a threat whose identity was impossible to locate in the present. If our baby is alive, she can check, she can let us know', Mrs Rose's hope rose as she spoke, as though she convinced herself more with each word.
'No' Kenneth's answer was like a bucketful of ice-cold water.
'What do you mean no?' She asked in shock.
'I don't want you to go through the emotional heartache of losing our son all over again' Kenneth spoke as firmly as he could in such a frail state.
'Kenneth, look, I know you think there's no hope but the last day I saw Ophelia, we went to the old house and I heard my son call me. He called for me.'
'Oh, Rose' Kenneth looked worn, 'Please, stop this madness' For the second time that day, he worried about her mental state.
'I know what it sounds like that's why I didn't tell you, but I know it was him, I could feel it. He's alive, Kenneth. He should have a chance to meet his parents. Who knows where he lives, if they treat him well, if he's loved. I won't leave my son again because you can't find it in your heart to believe that he could still be alive'.
At this point, Kenneth realised that her mind had already been made up before coming to see him. So he gave in and conceded with a slight nod.
'Sure, Rose, whatever makes you happy' He was too exhausted to argue. A huge, tender kiss landed on his forehead.
'I love you, thank you so much. You won't regret this' Rose was elated, but he just grunted in response. She left soon after, mentioning something about meeting the portal lords. While Kenneth waited for the inevitable result of checking if their son was still alive.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mrs. Julia's long dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and back, there were a few streaks of greying hair near her temples but the rest of it was as black as night. She brushed it back, slowly and carefully. She was methodological in this, as she was in everything else. She sighed into the mirror and slouched, her right hand grasping her temple, she, who had once been praised for beauty and youthful looks was suddenly ageing. Mrs. Julia's temple had begun creasing into wrinkles and her face looked worn. She stared into the mirror and an almost unrecognisable person stared back. Her large laughing eyes were replaced with empty hollow ones, devoid of hope, sinking within sagging eye bags. She looked closer, as though trying to see through the spell or fog that clouded her vision, as though if she stared hard enough, the real Julia would appear, but she didn't. Instead, another figure appeared in the mirror, standing to the side and staring at her intently. Her head whipped around to see her daughter, Amber, standing at the door.
'Can I come in?' She asked, stepping into the room as she spoke.
'Of course' Mrs Julia answered.
Amber walked in and stood directly behind her mother, reaching out, she touched the wings that were on Mrs Jiulia's back. Mrs. Julia shirked from her touch and stared in shock at her daughter, too stunned to utter a word.
'They're beautiful' Amber suddenly complimented, staring intently at the wings on Mrs Julia's back, indeed they were. Hers were like those of a bird, complete with a beautiful dark plumage which shone in the dim light that came from the curtained windows.
'You can see them?' Mrs Julia finally managed to speak through the shock.
'Yes, I can. There's so much I want to ask you' As she spoke she raised the little burnt book that Benjamin had given her. Mrs. Julia gasped and her hands went to her mouth. Immediately tears began to drop from her eyes. In no time, she was a wreck, sobbing on her lap, head bent.
Amber let her have a moment to grieve again. It was understandable. A situation of this nature was likely to bring pain and hurt anew.
'Where did you get that? I gave it back to the librarian. It shouldn't be with you' Mrs. Julia began to rant, in-between sobs.
'Mum, a friend gave it to me. I couldn't help but go through it when I saw the way you reacted to the librarian's demanding it'
'You saw? You were there that day? You were watching us?'
'Yes. I was. I saw most of it, so I was curious about what was in the book that caused you to act so strangely. You never told us, well about all this' Amber gesticulated to the beautiful plumage on her mother's back.
'How could I? What sort of life would we have had if I had opened up about us? Our past? Our nature?' Mrs Julia managed to get a handle on her emotions and continued, 'When I married your father, I knew that my nature was a secret I would keep to my grave. I knew that marrying a human meant there was a possibility some of my children would be human, that I would continue to live and be young while I watched them age and grey. I made that choice. I decided not to be selfish, not to try and have it all. I chose you!' She suddenly exploded.
'I chose all of you, over Legandanl, over my heritage, over my sister' she choked on the last words and continued sobbing.
'No.' Amber suddenly snapped. Causing Mrs. Julia to look up with wide, disbelieving eyes. 'No more lies. You didn't choose us. There was no us when you made this choice. You chose your sister. You chose to stay only because she chose to stay and you hated every moment of it.'
Mrs. Julia swiftly wiped her face clean of tears and a bitter glottal chuckle rose from deep within her.
'What do you know?' She asked Amber, her eyes flashing with anger.
Watching her mother's emotions fluctuate so intensely threw Amber off momentarily but she brushed aside her hesitation and continued to question her. One way or another, she was getting the truth today. Amber took a deep breath and prepared mentally for the next thing she had to say.
'The fire at their house. Did you start it?' Amber asked with a steady gaze.
'What' Mrs Julia's eyes narrowed into slits.
'Did you start the fire that killed Ophelia's mother? Your sister?' Amber heard the slap before she felt it. Her left cheek felt hot and her ear rang.
'I don't care what you read in that book. I am still your mother. Who gave you that book? It was the old witch at the library, wasn't it? That's your helpful friend, right? I won't let her take any more family from me. I won't have it!'
Amber's hand slowly reached for the smarting check in disbelief, while Mrs. Julia tried to calm down. She ran her fingers through her hair slowly and took deep breaths. Amber watched as her mother transformed from an emotional mess into an impassioned stoic. When she continued speaking it was with a voice drained of all emotion, icy and cold.
'This is exactly what she did all those years ago too. I'll tell you all about your 'friend', she separates families. First, she brainwashed us at a very young age and planted seeds of guilt in our hearts, telling us stories of our unfortunate origins, and how we were children of war criminals who had either been captured or fled, abandoned by our parents. She made us feel like we were eternally indebted to her, and then she capitalised on that and cashed in what we owed her when we grew older. She prevented us from crossing the portal, talking about how we were too young and weren't ready when all she wanted was to keep us there, in bondage. She wanted to be free of her duty. That was all she wanted so she groomed myself and my sister to take over her role but I was wise enough to see through the deception. I refused. My sister, unfortunately, was caught in her web of lies and decided to stay, to tie herself to this mortal realm in order to take over as a portal lord. So I decided to stay with my sister. After all, sisters should stick together right?' Mrs Julia glanced at Amber, her eyes mocking. Amber smarted at the remark, her own sister had thought differently.
'Well, I stayed and what does she do? She leaves me with her child and runs off into Legandanl without me. Without so much as saying goodbye. My only consolation in all of this was that witch never got what she wanted, our whole lives she was trying to use us to liberate herself so she could go to Legandanl, that's betrayal.' Mrs Julia finished and faced Amber, waiting for her rebuttal.
'No, it's not true. She wouldn't' Amber was in disbelief.
'You thought she was a harmless old granny too, didn't you? That's exactly how she fooled my sister. If you don't believe me, go on and ask her. I doubt she'll lie to you'.
The thread Amber had been unravelling had gotten tangled up once again. There was another point at which all the lines seemed to cross. Amber knew if she wanted the whole truth, she couldn't put off meeting with Mrs Harry any longer. So she took her mother's advice and made her way back to the library to get to the bottom of her sister's disappearance.