Guests

After our trip to Orlais, Kyle and me take a detour to Highever to find a place for Lirya, hoping this familiar city will help her to recover her memories, and to finish some of the preparatives of the wedding. Drakonis is near, and we need to send invitations, decide a venue for the party, and hire people to prepare our food and play our music. I'm afraid all this will leave us broke, but Kyle doesn't seem to mind. At least, I hope the Couslands will lend us a hand… since they consider Kyle one more in their family, but I must admit they already do a lot letting us use the chapel of the castle.

I'm writing down the list of guests, with my hesitating handwriting, when I feel someone behind me. I turn back and I see Lirya, standing like a ghost. She now looks much better. Food, water, peace and light made her look like a normal elf again, except for her hair which is completely white instead of black, as Kyle remembered it. Even her face shows traces of the beauty she once was. But seeing her wathing me is still a bit creepy.

She remembers nothing. Who she was, who is Kyle, where we are… But she's not a stupid. She can do anything we do, she's exactly like any other person, and she can replicate her old skills, even if she's not conscious that she's remembering them. She's also grateful to us for having helped her, and has started to love Kyle again, even if not the way he expected, so he still feels heartbroken.

She eyes the list over my shoulder. I've already written down our usual friends as well as other people we both know from the tavern, of course. We also should have the Couslands, Nelaros and his family, Adri's family, Tahl, wherever she is…

My quill is still over a capital "E". I was hesitating whether to finish the word… "Evelyn"… or not. Because Kyle is lucky. He knows where to find Tahl. But Eve never left a way to find her. Lirya is looking at that "E" too, and while I follow her gaze, a drop of ink falls over the letter, turning it into a black spot.

"Do you need help?", she asks, softly. She can read and write, and her handwriting is by far much more beautiful than mine. She was a bard, she had to write often, even if she has forgotten it now. But her hands still remember it. It would be nice if she filled some invitations for me.

"I'd love if you did, Lirya. Can you fill the invitations for the Couslands? Those should look better… Our friends are already used to my crappy handwriting, but the nobles deserve something more formal".

She smiles. "Your handwriting is not crappy, Mari. It is just… practical".

Oh, yes, of course. At least one person can understand what I write. Me.

"Give me the second half of the list", she says, sitting by my side and taking a bunch of the decorated cardboards we're going to fill. I split the sheet in two, and I take the upper part, the one with our closest friends. She takes the other… Kyle's friend and almost family… and my spot of ink. She looks at it.

"Who was that?", she asks. "Someone you regretted in the last moment?".

"Eh… No… Just…. Someone I don't know where to send the invitation, so… I guess it is useless to fill one…"

She starts filling cardboards, fast and beautifully, and doesn't stop to talk at me.

"Oh. Nobody important, I guess", she adventures. But I see in her blue eyes she knows it actually is.

"My sister", I admit, lowering my head. It still hurts. It always hurts. "My twin sister".

She stops for a moment and looks at me. "Oh? And you don't know where to find her?"

"She left the inn almost a year ago. I don't have a clue about where to find her. As far as I know, she could even be dead".

"But you don't think so", she says. It is more an affirmation than a question.

"I… I think I'd know if she were"

"You would. You have a bond. Never doubt it"

I shake my head. "Oh, yes. Of course. A bond. If we had it, I could just focus on her and send her a message, couldn't I?"

Lirya giggles, and her eyes wrinkle in a funny way. She looks young and old at the same time, it is a bit disturbing, but also reassuring. "If it were so easy, my child …"

She smiles in a mysterious way and takes my pile of cardboards, which I have hardly started to fill.

"Let me write those too, Mari. So you can fetch Kyle and force him to choose a menu. I think the young Cousland had found a reliable cook and you should start planning what to buy for the banquet".

I nod, grateful. Even if we're not in a hurry to choose a menu, her help with the invitations is highly appreciated. I can imagine Lauren wrinkling her nose at my writing and thinking "Oh, my. Look at those crooked lines. That's SO Mari". So I smile at her and run to fetch Kyle. Seeing him will make me feel better.

Sleeping by his side too, of course.

That's what we are doing tonight, in the small house in the alienage he once shared with Lirya, and we all now share again, at least until we come back to the inn. He hugs me in dreams, but I'm still wondering what can I do to find Eve. If I only had a clue, as Kyle had when we looked for Lirya! But I have no idea. She could be anywhere in the world, especially after a year without news from her. I get asleep lost in those thoughts. Evelyn… sister… where are you?

I see a light. The room is full of a blurry light, and when I look around me I realize I'm not in the room anymore. Though I'm still wearing my nightdress, and Kyle is still sleeping by my side. I stand up. Am I dreaming?

A figure approaches me. I soon recognize her. It's Lirya, as I saw her that very first time, the night Kyle ran away, in the Fade. A ghostly lady, white hair and white skin, shinning blue eyes and eternally young face. She looks at Kyle with a tender, warm smile, and leans a bit to take his hair away from his face and look at his scarred eye. Her expression is painful, and I know that now, in this very moment, she remembers very well who she is and who Kyle is, and her true feelings towards him have returned. I wish he could see it as I'm seeing it, but he doesn't wake up.

"He will always be my little child. That will never change", she whispers, while softly caressing his cheek, and I swallow.

"Lirya…", I start… Why can't you remember, I want to ask, but she puts a finger on my lips.

"Hush. Don't wake him up. Come with me, we're going to find your sister".

She takes my hand, and gently leads me out of the bed, which sort of dissolves on the landscape, blurry, undefined landscape, that goes nowhere and comes from nowhere.

"Is this the Fade, again?"

"We always go to the Fade when we dream, sweetheart. Do not worry".

I nod and follow her. "Where are we going?"

"To find your sister. You have a bond. Let it talk"

"What must I do?"

"Focus on her. Like you said. Picture her on your mind, remember her, and your heart will guide us"

I close my eyes and try to do what she says, with all my strength, willingly, and I feel a gentle pressure on my hand. "Don't try so hard, sweetheart. Just let it flow"….

I picture Eve's face. It is easy, it is the same as mine. But her expression always was calmer, wiser. Her hair… we used to style it with the same braid… but somehow I know that has changed… I release it trying to find out… to see… My mind fills with red, bright hair. I see Eve, showing her back to me. I walk with my eyes still closed and try to reach her… she turns back and I gasp…. Those yellow, burning eyes… those are not Eve's… Who are you?…

I open my own eyes and the vision disappears, but Lirya pulls my arm.

"Hurry!", she shouts, and I turn my head to watch where she looks at to see again those burning demons which haunted me the day I went to the Fade after Kyle. They don't seem to have seen us, not yet, but Lirya seems scared, and if she is, I feel I should be too. "Let's find a place to hide!"

A place to hide? I look around. Did we leave the bedroom yet? Maybe we will, maybe not, but as soon as I think of it, a wardrobe appears. Why a wardrobe? I don't know, maybe it is a memory from that day, but Lirya doesn't seem to mind it and pushes me into it. We fall over a pile of dreamt clothes and Lirya closes the door after me, then she puts a finger on her lips. I nod.

"Are we safe here?" I whisper.

"As safe as you want to be. This is your mind, sweetie. Your rules".

My mind? I don't think so. Those horrible creatures aren't in my mind. And the wardrobe… the wardrobe is just a terrible memory, something from when I was five. It was a big big wardrobe… or maybe I thought so because I was small? I feel small now. I look at my hands. My fingers look chubby. Lirya looks bigger. I look at my body. I'm five years again. And I'm scared. I hold on to Lirya and she smiles at me.

"It won't find us here if you don't want", she says, confidently, while cuddling me like the child I am now.

I shake my head… "What if it does?"

"We go to another place", she replies.

I look through the keyhole and what I see makes me shiver… The things are moving around… too many, looking for us as if they were blind, but sure that we have to be there. And suddenly I remember that day again. The day our parents died. I was looking through the keyhole too. And I saw exactly that beast.

I back and look at Lirya. She doesn't seem worried, but she looks at me as if she could read my mind.

"Those are rage demons", she says. "You have seen them before, haven't you?"

I nod. "Yes. One of those killed my parents. I didn't know then, but now I recognize them…"

"And they chased you the last time I saw you in the Fade… At first I thought they came after my Kyle… he's the one who always had to control his rage, so it sounded logical to me. Thus, I kept him safe from them. But now I see it's you. I wonder what is the connection… Why always rage demons? What do they have to do with you?". I look at her, puzzled, and shake my head. I have no idea. She takes my face between her hands and looks at me closer. "I can't understand, my sweet little thing. There's no rage in you. Passion, desire, a bit of pride... maybe... but rage? No, not a single drop. But they want you… why?"

I tremble. Lirya notices it and hugs me. I am now a five years old scared girl. I know that's not true, but somehow my body rules over my mind. And I'm very scared. I'm living again the worst moment in my life. I only want to get out of there.

"I don't know, mom, I don't know… Please get me out of here". I'm not even aware I called her mom, it just sounded… right. She just strokes my hair.

"We can't come back to the Fade again. It's too dangerous for you".

"But the Fade is the only place in which you can remember!". If we don't come back, the chances that she remembers again her relationship with Kyle are close to zero.

"I know", she's her only sad answer. And after a pause, she continues. "We must move on before they realize we're here. Think about your sister, my dear. Think about her with all your strength. Make that bond work."

I close my eyes. This time I don't make a visible effort. I just visualize my sister in my mind, and let the image get clearer and clearer, until I think I can see her. A purple light invades the wardrobe and a movement of Lirya makes me open my eyes. Some kind of portal has opened in the back of the wardrobe and she is moving to trespass it, taking my hand. I have the feeling this is just in time, that the demons are now aware of our hideout, but I can't say for sure. The portal disappears as soon as we enter it.

We fall. It's not a feeling of falling like in real life, it is more like… a soft flying. We're feathers and we fall slowly. I'm not a child anymore, now I'm myself again, but I'm wearing my wedding dress… or what I hope will be, since Madame Rosalie has not finished it yet. Lirya still holds my hand and is leading me, moving like a fish in the water. Our hair moves like in water too. It's weird.

She points down and looks at me with a questioning glance. There's a figure sleeping under us, and to anyone except me, it would look as if there was a mirror at our feet. The figure looks exactly like me, and sleeps like an angel.

I step by her side and touch her cheek, but she doesn't react. "Eve…", I whisper.

"You can't wake her up, dear", Lirya says. "She can sense you, but not so much. Your bond allows you that, but you're not mages to do more".

"Then how can I…?"

"Leave her your message. She'll hear it. She'll know".

I nod, swallowing. I give a last look around. Now we're in a room, a random inn one, it seems. I can see a bow and a quiver… She looks older, too, and wiser… but I bet I have changed too. And she sleeps alone. She never had problems with that I guess. I smile. All my life struggling to protect her, when she has shown me she actually was the strongest. My brave Eve…

I lean over her and whisper at her ear. "Highever. Fourth day of Drakonis. I won't get married if you're not there". And I kiss her cheek.

She moves her ear when she hears me, but doesn't wake up. Nothing seems to have changed, but now I know. She'll be here. She won't miss it. She knows.

Lirya looks at me and I smile. Then she takes my hand and with the other, she touches my face. I close my eyes at the touch. When I open them again, I'm back in my bedroom, alone. Lirya is gone. Mom. It sounds right now… I hope one day you'll remember, because I too want to be your daughter. I know your heart can shelter me as it did shelter Kyle. Just, please, open it again for us.

Kyle moves in dreams. It seems he's looking for me, and it makes me smile. I shouldn't make him wait now that he wants me by his side. I get into the bed again, and when his arm finds me, he hugs me, still asleep. I let him do and purr. I'm going to share my life with him. And Eve will be there to witness it. Everything is so perfect that I get asleep in no time.