“ Hmm. I think you’re right, but I’d still better have a word with Ruby, just to make sure,” Magnes said.
“ No, Magnes, don’t do that!” Jelena pleaded. “If you start questioning Ruby, she might remember that she saw something odd. Best to let her be.”
Magnes looked unconvinced, but he finally nodded in agreement. “All right. I won’t question Ruby.” He paused. “Of course, it’s even more urgent that we leave Amsara as soon as possible. Since you have no idea when this ability of yours will choose to manifest again, we can’t take any chances that it will flare up in front of witnesses.”
“ How am I going to tell Claudia?” Jelena murmured sadly. “How can I tell her that I have to leave her?”
“ Just tell her the truth, Jelena,” Magnes responded. He reached out to tenderly stroke her hair. “She’ll be terribly sad, but she’ll understand.”
“ I know, but it’s still so hard. I don’t know if I have the strength.”
“ You are the strongest person I know, Jelena Preseren,” Magnes said. He leaned in and lightly brushed her forehead with his lips. “You’ll get through this, and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“ I know you will,” Jelena said. You always are.
Chapter 6
Jelena did not feel steady enough to return to the kitchen until well past mid-day. Unable to conceal the ugly bruise that discolored the left side of her face, she endured the stares and whispers of the other drudges in cold silence. Her thoughts were consumed with escape-she would need to plan carefully if she were to succeed-and how best to break the news to Claudia.
Ruby steered clear of her most of the time, and when she did have to pass near, she pointedly refused to even so much as glance at Jelena. Jelena couldn’t tell if the other woman felt motivated by a newfound respect for her former victim or by fear of Jelena’s newly revealed abilities. If Ruby was aware of Jelena’s magic, she gave no direct sign.
The mellow gold light of late afternoon had faded to the purple shadows of evening by the time Claudia came to the kitchen in search of her foster daughter. “Gods preserve us!” she exclaimed in dismay upon seeing the bruise staining Jelena’s face. “What happened, child?”
“ Nothing, Heartmother. I fell, that’s all,” Jelena lied, unable to meet Claudia’s discerning stare.
“ Don’t lie t’me, child. Tell me what truly happened,” Claudia demanded, taking Jelena’s chin in her hand and turning her face first one way and then the other, as if hunting for clues.
“ Please, Heartmother, not here,” Jelena whispered imploringly. “After the evening meal…I’ve something very important to tell you.” Claudia frowned, clearly upset, but she did not press. Jelena gave her a quick hug and hurried off to fetch plates and cups for their supper.
When the last dish had been put away and the kitchen fires were banked for the night, only then could Jelena return to the small room she shared with Claudia. Her foster mother waited for her, nervous anticipation evident in the way she held her large body, much like a she-bear poised to leap against any danger that might threaten her cub.
Jelena sat down beside Claudia on the edge of her bed and in a soft voice told her all that had happened in the duke’s study that morning. “I can live as a kitchen drudge or a maid… even a stablehand if need be, but I’ll not live as any man’s slave, Heartmother.”
“ You’d have a far better life bein’ the concubine of a duke, child, than you’d ever have otherwise,” Claudia responded gently.
“ I’d still be a slave!” Jelena cried. “Duke Sebastianus would own me like he owns his horses or his cattle, and he would be free to use or abuse me however he wishes. No. I won’t let my uncle dispose of me like a spare piece of livestock!” Jelena paused, took a deep breath, and forged ahead. “I’ve decided to leave Amsara Castle.”
Claudia’s lower lip began to tremble. The fire hissed and crackled in the grate. The room suddenly felt overheated and stuffy. Jelena edged closer to her foster mother, and waited for the storm to break.
Claudia let out a wail and began to bawl uncontrollably.
“ Please, Heartmother, don’t cry!” Jelena begged as she fell into her foster mother’s arms. She tried to hold back her own tears, but she couldn’t-the pain of the moment overwhelmed her. She laid her head on the soft mound of Claudia’s bosom and allowed her foster mother’s grief to wash over her like a rain-swollen river, turbulent and strong at first, but gradually subsiding to a gentle flow, then to stillness.
Only when the storm had passed and Claudia calmed down enough to listen did Jelena tell her of what had happened during her run-in with Ruby.
Claudia seemed unsurprised at Jelena’s revelation. “If Ruby dares t’ try an’ denounce you, I’ll strangle ‘er with me bare hands,” she said. She sniffled and wiped her eyes on her apron.
“ Now do you see why I’ve got to leave here and go north, into the country of the elves?” Jelena brushed a strand of Claudia’s gray hair away from her watering eyes. “I won’t be going alone, though. Magnes has offered to come with me. He’s promised to help me find my father.”
Claudia nodded, as if coming to a decision. Her expression settled into one of quiet resignation as she rose and went to her chest. Lifting the lid, she shoved aside its contents and reached deep within, drawing forth a leather pouch. Wordlessly, she dropped the pouch into Jelena’s cupped hands.
“ What is this, Heartmother?” Jelena asked.
“ Open it, child. There be somethin’ inside that belongs to you, somethin’ you’ll need on yer search.” Jelena loosened the thongs holding the pouch shut and upended it onto her palm. A small metal object fell out.
It was a man’s signet ring, crafted of heavy white gold with an inlay of black stone. The figure of a griffin, also wrought in white gold, had been intricately worked into the center of the stone. Jelena held the ring up so that it could catch the light from the lamps. The craftsmanship of the ring was exquisite, and she knew that it could have only graced the hand of a nobleman.
Jelena looked into Claudia’s eyes and saw the truth. “This ring belonged to my father,” she whispered.
“ Aye, that it did, my lamb. Yer mother gave it into my keeping on the day you were born. Told me I wasn’t to give it t’you ‘til you were ready. Ay, gods, I knew this day would come!” Claudia lowered her bulk onto a sturdy wooden stool, clutching at her lower back and wincing in pain.
“ I’ve a story t’tell ye, child. Yer mother told it t’me whilst I cared for her durin’ her confinement. It seems that, one day yer mother was out walkin’ in th’ woods when she came upon a young man who needed her help.”
As Claudia spoke, Jelena rolled the ring between her fingers, feeling its weight, trying to imagine the man who had worn it. Claudia told the story of how Drucilla, Jelena’s mother, had found a man half out of his mind from pain and thirst, lying at the bottom of a ravine. When she drew closer and saw what he was, she almost fled. All of the stories she had been told, every supposed truth the priests preached about elvenkind warred in her brain with her instinct to aid a fellow living being in dire need.
In the end, she did not flee. She brought the man water instead, holding his head steady so he could drink. It calmed him and brought him back to his senses.
“ Yer mam could hardly believe her ears when th’elf spoke to her in Soldaran! He told her that his leg was broke, an’ that he needed her help. Seems he’d been tryin’ t’ get away from a patrol when his horse spooked and throwed him into the dry stream. He’d banged his head on a rock and knocked hisself senseless. Been there for days, in the summer heat, with no water and a busted leg.”