Citrine

  ***

  They had settled uneasily into a semblance of routine in Elden, doing what they could to make it seem more like home, but it wasn’t, and the longer it took to find a way home, the more Kevan sank into a depression, sitting in her room, until one day Kaitlyn had had enough. She stormed into Kevan’s room, and dragged her out, kicking and screaming, on to the back of Wren’s dragon, ordering him to fly them to Silver Falls.

  “Look at it,” Kaitlyn ordered her.

  “I don’t need to see it. I see it every day in my mind!” Kevan shouted at her. “I know that it is my fault that she’s dead, you don’t need to rub it in.”

  “First off, I am not rubbing anything in. Second, you refused to let Eve blame herself, so you sure as hell don’t get to shoulder it all yourself!” Kaitlyn bellowed in her face, shaking her by the shoulders. “You know something, Leila was an adult, and she knew the danger that she was getting into when she came with us, so stop playing the martyr. Now, if you need to blame someone for Leila’s death, let’s at least blame the right person.”

  “Leila wasn’t responsible for her own death,” Kevan jumped to her defense.

  “You’re right, she wasn’t,” Kaitlyn agreed. “The person responsible for Leila’s death was Dreyden. He was the one that started this, and if someone has to take the blame, then I say that we place it squarely on his shoulders.”

  “Kaitlyn, I know that you’re trying to make me feel better but ...”

  “There are no buts; do you know how pissed Leila would be at you? You are belittling her by saying that she didn’t know what she was doing. She was excited, and happy,” Kaitlyn argued. “Do you think that she would have preferred to go on like she had been, before we found her?”

  “Of course not!” Kevan exclaimed.

  “Right, she wouldn’t, she discovered something that she never had before.”

  “What?”

  “Peace,” Kaitlyn stated quietly. “Peace and the knowledge that she wasn’t really crazy. Kevan, we don’t have control over life and death, I know that I don’t want it. It’s enough dealing with stuff that we have already.” Kaitlyn looked away, not wanting to show Kevan just how upset she truly was, but Kevan saw it anyway.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I used to bug you all the time about you having powers, and not me. Well I have some now, and Joseph figures these are just the beginning. I understood how you described it, when you talked about drawing on power, but it was so much more than I ever expected. I have these powers that I can use, but I’m still struggling to control them.”

  Kevan watched the emotion roll across her twin’s face, and she suddenly realized just how selfish she had been acting. Grabbing Kaitlyn’s hand, she pulled her close, hugging her. “I am so sorry, Kait,” she cried. “I promise that I will do everything I can to help you.”

  “It’s about damn time,” Kaitlyn sniffled.

  Kevan laughed, knowing that Kaitlyn was never one for beating around the bush. “So why did you bring me here?” Kevan asked, as she wiped at the tears that were wandering down her cheeks. “You could have told me all of this at the castle.”

  “But I couldn’t have shown you this,” Kaitlyn said, as they came to a stop at the top of the hill, looking over the entire side of the collapsed mountain. Kaitlyn swept her arm out, and Kevan gasped, as she stared at the mass of wildflowers that covered everything, they were small buds in vibrant colour. A solo breath of wind blew across the field, sending colorful heads waving; it was Leila telling them that she was okay.

  “Its breath taking,” Kevan whispered with awe, as the tears flowed freely, but this time with a release.

  “I think of it as Leila’s bouquet,” Kaitlyn told her, as she wrapped her arm around her twin’s shoulder.

  “I think that she’d like that,” Kevan agreed.