Epsiode 16: Naraleyn

Kieme didn't even notice Kreis's presence. He was frozen where he stood, uncertain whether he should go or stay. This could be another dream of Kaelor's creation, as the vision of Sephoni had been. But it didn't seem like that was the case...

"Who am I?" Kieme asked Kaelor. "What do I think I'm doing?"

"You are you, the same person you've always been," Kaelor replied.

"Are you sure?" Kieme sobbed. She didn't seem comforted by his words.

"Yes," Kaelor replied. He lifted her head and forced her to face Kreis before she went any further. She drew in her breath sharply.

"You didn't tell me he was coming here," she said.

"You never asked." Kaelor had an odd tone to his voice, distant and almost indifferent. Kieme looked between the two brothers, quickly regaining composure and dignity.

"You must have confused him," she said.

"I wanted to meet him," Kaelor replied plaintively. Kieme sighed.

"Well, now you've met."

Kreis wasn't included in the conversation, but he listened in hope of finding some clue as to what was going on. Kieme knew of this place-and Kaelor? Or it could still be just a dream...a very, very odd dream, but one that would have no bearing on the real world, one that he would forget when he woke up.

"What would your mother say if she knew you were doing this?" Kieme scolded Kaelor.

"She brought Triana in to teach her in dreams," Kaelor replied, his voice like that of a rebellious child.

Triana has nothing to do with this-it has to be just a dream, Kreis told himself firmly.

"You don't understand! In the real world, there are consequences-"

"You're right, I don't understand." Kaelor made the statement into a challenge. "I don't know the real world, I haven't been there in eighteen years. This is all I know. So don't judge me by the standards of your world."

Kieme looked between the child and the young man. "Kreis, wake up, I'd like to speak to you in reality," she said. "And I'll talk to you later, Kaelor. I'm sorry I spoke harshly, but...well, I'll try to explain. Be glad that it was me who found him, and not Tarin. It might break her heart...enough. Wake up!"

And Kreis was looking up at a dark ceiling in his room in the inn. Re and Amercy still weren't back from wherever they had gone, although Kieme mentioned that she had received a message that they were all right.

Kieme, the woman standing in the doorway now. She had wrapped a robe over the white night dress she had worn in the dreamspace, but other than that she looked the same.

"No, it's not just a dream," she said. "It's a long story, if Kaelor hasn't already told it to you." Kreis shook his head, and Kieme sighed. "Well, when the exile occurred, the spell the humans used targeted Elorhan blood, to send us to this planet. It didn't know what to do with poor Kaelor, half and half...so it placed him in the dreamspace, which is a sort of buffer zone between Earth and Elorhe. You were protected within your mother's body, but Kaelor was on his own...so your mother set out to find a way to save him. She left you with people she trusted to raise you and take care of you, and...Kreis?"

Kreis reached for the locket on the table beside him, and opened it to gaze at the people inside. A human man, an Elorhan woman. Kieme walked closer to him and cast a light spell to illuminate the tiny paintings.

"Tarin, an orphan raised in the Abbey of the Crane on Earth. Kedrik, an ordinary human man who wouldn't let rumors sully his heart, and paid for his honesty with his life. Parents worthy of being proud of, I think," Kieme finished enigmatically.

Kreis let her words and Kaelor's sink in. So this is my family... he thought. I have a mother and a brother...they're alive...

"Kreis, you won't believe the dream I just had!" Triana burst in. She looked at Kieme and Kreis and made a high-pitched sound of shock.

"What...are...you...doing...here?" she asked Kieme icily. Kreis could almost feel the lightning crackling between the two of them.

"Kreis had a rather interesting dream as well," Kieme replied casually. Triana stomped her foot and pouted.

"Kreis, what's going on?" she demanded, but Kreis was still mesmerized by the pictures in the locket.

"Don't be too hard on your mother, Kreis," Kieme said, heading for the door. "She is the one who made me promise to take care of you."

"Is this why you gave me the ring?" Kreis called after her. Kieme looked back at him through the doorway.

"This is only the beginning," she said. "But I think it's enough for one night. We will be in Thaliron soon, we can deal with things there."

"She gave you a ring?!?" gasped Triana.

"It's a long story," sighed Kreis. And now, the roof falls in.

"Well, I want to hear it! What are you thinking?! Don't forget where her loyalties lie, Kreis! She's the Queen of Shadow's lackey! Her-her lapdog!"

"How am I supposed to explain if you won't let me get a word in edgewise?" Kreis wondered wearily. He had stood to talk to Kieme, but now he sat down on his bed again. Triana finally read the concerned expression on his face and sat down beside him.

"I don't know what she's done to you, but we're going to be okay," she said. "I had a dream about Cetolyn. You remember, Gregan's sister?"

Of course, the real reason you came in here was to talk about your dream, thought Kreis as he nodded. Everything else comes second to that...

"So, anyway, she was in this house with a couple other people I didn't know, and..." She stopped, snatched the locket away from Kreis. "How do you have a picture of Tarin?" she demanded, her voice more shocked than accusing.

So Triana is wrapped up in this mess as well, Kreis realized, making a pained face. And that means...she's met my mother.

"It's definitely the same person...I see her in dreams, she's helped me to learn to control my visions...who is she? Why do you have a picture of her?"

"It's a long, long story, and I don't understand. We can talk about it in the morning."

Triana sighed. "All right, I guess," she said. "But I'm going to sleep in here, with you," she added, brightening. Kreis made a strangled sound as he looked down at his rather small bed, and Triana frowned. "Not in the same bed! Don't be a pervert!" She wrapped herself up in the covers of the bed that should have been Amercy's, and grinned at him across the room. "G'night!"

Kreis lay down and closed his eyes, but it was a long time before he let himself fall asleep.

*

"The woman who hides but is not forgotten, and the child of both worlds..." the words of his cousin's prophecy, when she looked for some information on Amercy's whereabouts. Lida was always so cryptic...their master had decided that the child of both worlds had to be a man named Kreis Delamuir, and Sarhe had traced him to this inn. There was no sign of Amercy, but he waited...and would continue to follow.

*

Kreis and Triana awoke to the sound of breaking pottery and glass, and a shriek. "Oh my god, I don't believe it!"

Kreis jumped out of bed and ran to the door to see what was going on, Triana following him. A maid who'd been carrying a tray had dropped it in front of Kieme's door, and she had a look of utter shock on her face. A million thoughts flew through Kreis's mind as to what could have happened, but when they peeked in the door, everything seemed to be normal.

"It's really you!" the maid squeaked. Kieme was already dressed and had been brushing her hair, but now she was frozen. "Can I get you anything?"

"You should probably clean that up," Kieme replied dryly.

"Oh! Oh yeah, I'm sorry!" She knelt down to start gathering the pieces, and Kreis moved to help her. "I was just so shocked," she continued talking to Kieme. "You probably don't remember me, but you might remember my brother-he had such a big crush on you-"

"You know her?" interrupted Triana. The maid gasped again.

"You mean that you don't know who she is?" she said. "Oh my god-what hole have you been living in? This is Kieme Naraleyn, the Naraleyn!"

Triana laughed. "There must be some mistake," she said, looking to Kieme.

"I was hoping...we could leave as soon as possible," the "celebrity" replied. She had a somewhat pained and embarrassed expression on her face.

"Where have you been all this time? Everyone's missed you..."

"Kieme?" Triana repeated.

Kieme closed her eyes and stood. She yawned and walked out of the room. Triana followed her. "Kieme, what's going on?"

"I need to use the privy," Kieme replied, "if you'll excuse me." Triana stopped and let Kieme walk by her, as Re and Amercy were coming up the stairs.

"My parents invited us to spend the night," Re explained. He noticed the mess that Kreis and the maid were still trying to clean up. "What happened here?"

"You're back, too?" the maid gasped.

"Oh, great, she's been spotted."

"What's this about Naraleyn?" Triana asked Re. "Can you explain?"

"What? Kieme didn't want everyone to jump all over her when she came back here, so she tried to hide...I knew that she couldn't, though. One can't return to the town where she led a revolution and expect to be ignored."

The woman who hides but is not forgotten... That would be this Kieme Naraleyn. Not that he needed any more confirmation; he could sense the presence of another Tresuan-stronger than anything he'd felt before. Had something happened to Amercy to awaken his power? There was no doubt that he had to bring the boy back to their master now; he'd felt sorry for Amercy before, but if he was a truly powerful Tresuan now, it meant that Sarhe and his cousin wouldn't be forced beyond their limits any more. He wouldn't have to watch Lida go to the doorway of death and back any more...

Amercy fidgeted, knowing something wasn't right, but unsure how to define it. He didn't want to admit that he hadn't slept well last night...Re's parents had given him a room of his own out of kindness, and they didn't need to know how terrified he had been at every sound. Every time he did fall asleep, he'd dream that he was being searched for, chased by dralions, and all alone...

But I'm not alone, he told himself firmly. I'm safe now...aren't I?