Realm of Light - Deborah Chester [90]
Lea did not answer, but finally she lifted her gaze to meet Elandra’s. That’s when Elandra realized the girl was not shy at all. Her blue eyes were as clear as a mountain lake, and as deep.
Elandra found herself falling into that gaze, and when she came back to herself a few moments later, she was oddly breathless and dizzy. She blinked, putting her hand to her temple.
“I am glad,” Lea said. “You are worthy of his love.”
It was a strange, presumptuous thing to say. Elandra could only stare at her, wondering what this girl had done to her mind. She felt as though her thoughts had been sifted and turned over the way someone might go through a box of deeds and papers.
“Do not be angry,” Lea said. “I had to know if he would be well with you before I let the two of you go.”
“Let us go?” Elandra said with a laugh. “But you cannot stop us.”
“I brought you here,” Lea said matter-of-factly. “I could make you stay. But Moah has shown Caelan his destiny, and he must go to it. As you must go to yours.”
Elandra felt slightly chilled. Her hand went to her throat, and she couldn’t stop staring at Lea, who looked like an innocent child, but who was obviously both a wisdom and a seer.
“You know of my destiny?” Elandra asked.
Lea smiled, showing a dimple. “Oh, yes.”
“Are you of the sisterhood?”
Now Lea laughed, and the sound made Caelan look in their direction. He brushed soil from his hands and headed their way.
“No, I am not,” Lea said merrily, her blue eyes dancing. “How angry the Magria would be if she knew you thought so. She would not approve of me.”
Although the question was rude, impulse made Elandra ask, “And what exactly are you?”
Lea only threw her a smile and went skipping away to meet Caelan. He swept her up in his strong arms and kissed her on both cheeks.
“Am I forgiven?” he asked.
Lea flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Always.”
Watching them, Elandra felt like an outsider, then Caelan’s eyes met hers over Lea’s shoulder. He smiled only for her, and she felt warm and secure again in his love. There was no need to be jealous. She and Lea were not competitors in any sense.
“Are you ready?” he asked his sister, looking at the laden pony. “We must travel light—”
“Silly, I am not going,” Lea said. She broke away from him and pulled out furs from the pack tied behind her saddle. “I brought you these to keep you warm while you are so high in the air.”
Caelan scowled, and tactfully Elandra busied herself examining the beautiful furs, leaving brother and sister to argue in privacy.
“What do you mean, you’re not going?” Caelan asked.
It was what Elandra privately called his barking voice. He could sound very clipped and stern when he was close to losing his temper. Seeing a stubborn light enter Lea’s blue eyes, Elandra thought he should use a different tone with the girl, but it was not her place to interfere.
“Of course you are going,” Caelan said. “I will not leave you behind.”
“But the third dragon is dead,” Lea pointed out. “And I have much to do here.”
“I’ll talk to Bwend. We’ll get another dragon—”
“No,” Lea said firmly, meeting his angry gaze without flinching. “It is not time for me to leave Trau. Not yet.”
“I won’t abandon you again.”
Lea took her brother’s clenched fist between her slender hands and kissed his knuckles. “I am not abandoned. But this is not my path of life, brother.”
“Lea—”
“Hush,” she said, trying to soothe him. “Accept what is. Save your fight for what is to come.”
“I need you with me. You are my conscience.”
Lea smiled and gave him a hug. “I will come later. I promise.”
“When? How will you find me when I do not know where I’ll be?”
“You will go back to Imperia and face Tirhin the Usurper,” she said, her voice so calm and ordinary it took Elandra a second to realize she was speaking prophecy.
Startled, Elandra dropped the pretense that she was not listening and turned to stare at the girl.
Lea did not seem to mind. She gave Elandra a gentle smile, then returned her attention to Caelan. Her expression grew earnest,