Chapter 44
Skuld, Ross and Mani descend the stairs with my mom and me to the second floor and there we join the Huldras and governesses in the Spanish room. Two rows of mismatched chairs have been set up, facing the mural of the woman in the flamenco dress. The Huldras sit in silence, as if waiting for us to arrive. For the most part the Huldras look unscathed, but some of them are injured and have been wrapped in bandages or dressings. Two Huldras around my mom’s age, stand at the front, their clothes worn, their faces looking as if they have also been beaten. My mom gives me a kiss and joins them.
Layla is in the room too, but she’s sitting on a chair removed from the group. What’s she doing here? I want to kill her! I sit down between Skuld and Mani, wondering if Layla knows that Anthony just died. Looking over at her, I notice that her eyes are red and swollen. She must know, and I want her to suffer. Part of me wants to go over and talk to her, but resentment brews inside and I can’t deny that I partially blame her for Anthony’s death. How could she not have seen that Maureen was feeding her lie upon lie? Layla must have been smarter than to follow Maureen blindly. Then again, sometimes we’re blinded from seeing what’s before us because we’re so frightened of the unknown.
One of the governesses at the front steps forward from the other two and speaks. “I’m pleased to report that none of the Huldras lost their lives today. Sadly, Anthony, Maureen’s son, half Huldu, half Darkálfar, but nonetheless, our ally and friend, lost his life.” She looks at me. “But now he’s in a better place, his spirit and body transported to Helheim.”
I restrain myself from breaking down at the mention of his name and try to blink away the tears, but they’re coming too quickly. Skuld lifts her arm around me, which makes it all the more difficult to keep my overwhelming grief at bay.
“While trying to escape the island to get help, Rachael, our third sister, didn’t make it. She sacrificed her life for us, and her loss is felt deeply. May her body and soul rest in peace in Helheim with the gods and our former friends who have gone before us. Now, let us pause for a moment of silence in Rachael and Anthony’s honor.” Reverence takes hold of the room and we bow our heads and close our eyes. After some time, the woman at the front lifts her head, and scans the room, her eyes shining with tears.
“Sonia, will you come here please? We haven’t all had the opportunity to meet you yet.” She smiles and holds her arms out to greet me.
I stand up and stumble to the front.
“My name is Esther, and I’m the eldest of the governesses.” Esther looks a lot like my mom, with blonde hair and blue eyes, but her features are slightly more angular and she has a small gap between her two front teeth. She also speaks with more authority than my mom, and her voice is deeper, yet very soothing.
“This is Tirzah, the second eldest and the one who makes us laugh,” she says, “and you know your mother, Hedda, the most lovely and gracious of all.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” I say, and I’m sure that I mean it, though I can’t feel it at the moment with Anthony’s death still overwhelming me.
“You may have had questions about the gift you’ll receive once the year is over, the gift of Cherubo?” She speaks like everything in life is normal, like losing a loved one should not disturb me, like I should be thinking forward and not back to the awful moment when Anthony died, but I can’t. Numbly, I nod, to comply.
“Most of you here know what her gift is. Your gift, Sonia, means blessed, or sent by the gods,” Esther says. “Your gift is just like any other Huldra gift really, and it’s written in the book of Huldras that the gift of Cherubo carries with it certain responsibilities.”
I don’t want responsibilities now; I can’t carry any more weight on my shoulders, for if I do, I’ll break.
“What are those responsibilities?” my mom says, probably seeing that I can’t respond in the light of all that has happened.
“We don’t know, exactly, but this is what’s written: Flood the earth with it, a young Huldra shall, ringing in a new dawn and a new beginning, with her superior gift.” Esther stops speaking.
“Amazing, don’t you think?” my mom says to me, taking my hand. I get the feeling that she doesn’t want to disappoint the other governesses or reveal how I had fallen in love with a Darkálfar.
“I see.” It’s too much to think about all at once, yet now, maybe I understand why Maureen was pursuing my gift so aggressively. She must think that if she has it, she’ll have ultimate power. “How do you know I’m supposed to receive the gift of Cherubo?”
“I, as the matriarch of the Huldras, saw it in a vision,” Esther says.
I remember Maureen saying that she had seen it in a vision also, probably because she appropriated a gift, making it possible for her to have visions.
“And because your name means wisdom, what a great blessing it is that you shall receive this gift,” Esther says.
I hardly see myself worthy to receive the gift and I don’t care to receive it when there’s so little left to live for. Considering what great challenges I’ve had to go through just to receive my gift, I wonder if I want it at all.
Esther turns to the others. “We must continue our search for Maureen, Olaf and the Darkálfars, for all our lives will be in danger as long as they’re alive. We, the governesses, will discuss over the next day whom we shall send after them and whom will remain here to restore Wraithsong Island.”
Right as she says it, I know I absolutely have to be one of the ones they send after Maureen and Olaf, and not only that, I will on my search for them, also travel to Helheim.
Esther continues. “Tomorrow we’ll convene here at midday. Please see to it that you get sufficient rest, for the battle ahead of us, I fear, is much more perilous than the battle behind us.”
* * *
Though we can never be fully pure in body, we can be fully pure in heart. Half black, half white, half evil, half good, we are all the same, struggling to find our path in this seemingly never-ending chasm of darkness. And may we one day reach the light we so eagerly seek, knowing that the freedom from darkness may only come when we shine our own light upon others.
Blufire - Book II
in the Desirable Creatures series
Coming Feb. 1, 2015
https://ejsquires.com
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