The sight of Kirin sitting beside her at the dinner table was so profound that Aurelie forgot all about eating and sat watching him. Spoon after spoon, he gulped down his porridge as if he'd never be fed again. His scrawny hands reached for his toast. Aurelie's hopped to help him pick it up. She stopped herself before he could see and looked away, pursing her lips.
She felt his warm, bony hand rest on his and turned back to him. In his frail state, he smiled, and it genuinely looked as if he was happy. "Not hungry?" he asked, noticing her full plate.
How could she eat when it looked as if every last crumb had to be stuffed into his mouth? "No, do you want to finish?"
Aurelie tightened her fists to gather her emotions. Aunt Elizabeth had always told her that everything she felt was painted on her face. Kirin had to focus on getting better, not what the process would do to her. She had to be brave and strong for now. Or at least, make him believe it so that she could carry the weight of their circumstances for the both of them.
"Sure, if you're not going to."
"Here." She moved her plate toward him. He dug in as soon as her hand let go of the plate.
A light purple ring still surrounded his irises. This meant that the effect of the portal had still not worn off. She wondered if nourishment was the only thing he needed. Peter was never around to ask. He went back to his old ways of only coming home late in the evenings.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, locking her eyes on him so that if he lied to spare her feelings, she would be able to catch it.
"Much the same, better than the first few days though."
He had talked her out of fetching Raves, the healer who would probably rather chew glass than help her again, and seemed a little irritable when she tried to care for him herself. Kirin's excuse for not wanting to see a healer was that no one in Redayrah would know how to treat a shadow walker and he was probably right. However, if he wasn't going to start looking better soon, she would be forced to do something.
"Just weak, really," he added after observing her cautious silence for a moment.
Aurelie smiled. "Okay," she said, trying her best to look innocent while thinking about how she'd turn the whole of bloody Redayrah into a pile of ash while looking for someone who could make him better if she had to.
A week later, she slipped out while Kirin was asleep and was heading down to the square to call Raves to the house when she saw a mother and a sick child walk out of an old shop with a paper bag containing a bouquet of herbs. The child was pale, and could barely keep up with her, stopping every few steps to cough and then to catch a breath.
Aurelie came to stand by the shop's window and looked inside. The wooden shelves held stuffed cats, dogsâof all apparent agesâand other small animals. Bird hung down from strings attached to the ceiling. There were several different species but the main attraction was the vast display of crows. They took up the entire back side of the shop's ceiling.
If she hadn't just seen a woman with a sick child walk out of there with a bag of herbs, she would have never thought that the shop belonged to a healer.
A bell rang as she entered. There was no one at the glass counter which displayed herbs and vials on racks below it. A red curtain hung on the entrance to the back. Aurelie listened for someone, expecting the owner to have heard her entrance, but it was as if she was the only one in there. Anyone could have robbed the shop during the time it took them to react. Although, Aurelie wasn't sure who'd want to take any of the merchandise. The candle holder chandelier of baby bats that hung above her head was enough to chase anyone away.
Low voices came from behind the curtain. They were too far away for Aurelie to make out what was being said, but by the pitch, it sounded like two women.
"What does that mean? I've no cat; neither do I have a trip planned." Aurelie heard as they neared her.
"That, my dear, you'll have to figure out," the other woman said. "Hush now. We've got a fiery soul outside."
Aurelie drew her breath in and turned toward the door. Her instincts told her to run, but curiosity kept her frozen in place. This was the first time that she entered this place, or walked near it, how could the women possibly have known about her fiery soul? Besides, the curtains were made from velvet. No one could see what occurred on either side.
The curtain opened and a fancy, dressed noblewoman walked out. She stopped as she saw Aurelie, and smiled as falsely as is humanly possible.
She turned back to the woman who was still behind the curtain and fretted with the pearls that tied up her blond hair. "Good day," she said and walked past Aurelie and out of the shop.
"Come on back here," the woman called when the door closed.
Aurelie hesitated. "I'm here for some medicine."
Now that she was closer, she read the tags that surrounded the vials. The herb she had been after was right there at the counter. There were vials for colds, headaches, stomach pains and just about any other pain imaginable. Every vial contained the herb that Sasha used to heal them but had added rosemary, thyme or lavender in some to make them all seem different.
"I know what you're here for."
Aurelie was growing nervous. She didn't want to end up stuffed and hanging from the ceiling. Having thoughts about setting the shop on fire was far from actually doing it. She wasn't quite ready for Redayrah to realize that the girl staying in Peter's house was a dragon. "I'm not going back there."
It became all the more clear that Aurelie had entered a shop owned by a witch, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to follow her into back rooms. The last witches and wizard she came across in Redayrah scared her half to death. It ended up working toward her advantageâthe visit, that isâbut what were the chances of that happening twice in a row?
The curtains split, and a woman walked out with eyes the color of icy mountains in Redayrah. She was dark-skinned and stood a head taller than Aurelie. Her hands were on either side of her waist and her brows curved in annoyance, or question, Aurelie couldn't quite tell yet.
"Fine, then! Your loss, I was even going to do it for free." Her braids reached the middle of her back, and her red and white striped dress was years ahead of its time. It revealed her ankles and half her arms, without a cloak for cover. "So, how are you going to pay without coin?"
"I..."
Threats and fiery eyes came to mind, but that would only work on a normal healer. This witch was far from normal. There was a flare in her grey eyes that told Aurelie if magic was used, it would be by both of them. That didn't frighten her.
"I can promise a favor. I've been told thatâ"
"No. No. I want a favor from you, not the guardsmen." She smiled and walked over to the counter. "Take anything you like," she swiped her hands over it, "I already know exactly what I want."
Aurelie narrowed her eyes. "And what is it that you want?"
"An invite to the ball."
"What ball?" Aurelie frowned. She wasn't sure what kind of fiery soul this witch thought she was, but she was certainly not one who was invited to balls. "Do you have me confused with someone else?"
"Goodness, has that not happened yet?" The girl bit down on her nail and looked absently past Aurelie. "Sometimes I don't know today from tomorrow. It should come tonight. You will be granted permission to bring a guestâthey really do want to impress you, don't they? Your guest will be me, of course. The shadow walkerâKyle, was it?âwon't want to come anyway. He and Nick despise each other. These visions, they come one after the other, but they don't put themselves into place. No order," she said, shaking her head, and talking mostly to herself.
Aurelie had just about a hundred questions but her last statement erased all of them. "Kirin and Nick are going to hate each other?" Her cheeks went hot. "Was that in your vision?"
"No," she shook her head and glanced at Aurelie with her eyes slightly squinting. "they've hated each other for years. Some girl that died."
She reached over the counter and grabbed Aurelie hand before she could protest. The color in her eyes spiraled as if her eyes were the sky and a strong whirlwind spun the clouds in circles. "An old man, a witch and a huntsman are racing toward you. They don't know if you're alive, one of them hopes you aren't. I see you leave as they arrive. And... your secret. Naughty!"
Aurelie tried to rip her hand away, but the witch hand an iron grip and continued, "There are two men in your life that are creating your path. One already betrayed you and the other will. The one loves you and the other will love you. Lastly, I see you die in-
Aurelie ripped her hand away. "No!"
The witch's eyes cleared, and Aurelie noticed a pain in them that had not been there before.
"Princess," she started, "my family ran from Highfire when I was little. I shouldn't be so in love with the land, but I yearn for its soil every passing day. I yearn to fight for it, and save it. I know now when you'll need me, and I swear by all the gods who have come and went that I will stand beside you on that day."
Aurelie was stunned. It was a stir that she wished she did not get. The wish of ignoring everything until Daerious and the group arrived faded. How could she sit in a different land and pretend that war wasn't looming?
"Karah," she said and smiled. "I'm Karah."
"You can see the future?"
"Bits and pieces. I can read your mind too. You're a loud thinker. You should work on that."
"But the Dream Realm . . . wasn't it supposed to make that impossible?"
Karah looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. "The Dream Realm is falling."
"What will happen to the Keeper?"
Karah spat and crossed her arms. "Whatever he deserves, Princess, and hopefully a hell of a lot more."
"Why?" Karah's harsh reaction made Aurelie feel the need to defend him even though she had been mad at him, but she didn't know what from.
"I don't want to talk about him, and I also can't. Here," she removed a vial from the pocket of her dress and placed it on the counter, "that's for the shadow walker. Three drops a day in his food and he will be back to his full strength soon enough."
Aurelie felt uneasy once more. If Karah could tell her the day of her death, why was the tale of the Keeper forbidden? "I don't understand," Aurelie said. "You've told me just about everything else."
"Fate won't let me tell you, and neither will my selfishness. Just thank me and be on your way. I'll be at your door for the ball in three days."
There was cruelty in telling a curious person that you know something and then refusing to share it. Something told Aurelie that whatever it was that Karah was keeping, would be unforgivable if told too late. "Karah..."
"However unforgivable, it must not be told. You'll change the course of fate and doom us all. I won't make sacrifices for you. To put it blindly, you mean nothing to me." Karah moved to Aurelie's side and pushed her gently toward the door. "It will be for the good of all. Even for you. Though you might not take it that way."
All Aurelie could see was Kirin. He was the only one she'd destroy fate for. They came to a standstill at the door. "Try to forget what's been said, it'll make things easier. I can't keep this mouth of mine shut! Having spent years talking for a living hasn't helped! Just trust that whatever path you take now, will take you toward our victory."
Karah pushed the door open, and Aurelie walked out into the busy street. "Aurelie, one more thing," she said holding onto the door handle. "Maybe if you could try loving him less, I think that might help."
Aurelie's heart dropped deeper with each beat. She was falling, yet still firm on solid ground. "I don't think I can do that," Aurelie said, wide-eyed and on the verge of tears.
Karah looked down at her feet. "Just a suggestion, love. Be well."
The door shut behind her, and Aurelie was left with a task that was harder to accomplish than winning any war.
Whether it was the sky, she was not sure, but the world around her very quickly lost most of its color. Separation was an easy task. The portal provided her with a reason and means to leave. But that's not what Karah said, and she did not seem like a woman who would not pay attention to her words. She said that she had to love him less and that was impossible.