Image (Insight #3)(30)
She took in a deep breath, then broke her stare with Alamos and looked across the room at me; I knew the stunned look on my face tore into her. She looked back at Alamos. “Why should I have wasted my time, my dear? I knew you would find great pleasure in divulging them yourself,” she said in a placid tone.
“There’s more?” Drake questioned.
Alamos looked at Drake, then to me. “Your mother and I have been fighting this demon for longer than any of your lives,” he said.
Drake shook his head from side to side, then looked at Landen to see how he was taking all of this. Landen was calm; it was as if he were relieved to know that in my first life I wasn’t connected to the demon inside of Donalt. Landen pulled me to him, and I leaned into his body, shielding myself in his energy. I knew from Perodine’s swarming emotions that I wouldn’t be prepared for what she’d kept from me.
“Why don’t we start from the beginning?” Landen said, tightening his arms around me.
August and Beth stood and walked around the couch. Dane stood on one side of me, and Landen and Marc stood on the other. We all were staring at Alamos, who sighed and looked back at Perodine. She nodded and looked away; it was easy to feel she now found it difficult to look into Alamos’ eyes.
“When Esterious was an infant, it was much like it is today,” Alamos began. “The only difference was that until adulthood, there wasn’t a division of class. At the age of eighteen, your position for the rest of your life was chosen for you. It could be anything from a farmer to a member of the court. Like most young adults, we didn’t always wait for a role to be given before we fell in love with someone,” As his eyes moved to Perodine, she turned her back, hiding her face from all of us. Alamos stared at her for a second before looking back at all of us.
“Not waiting was a foolish thing to do; there was no way of knowing if you’d be separated from the one you found. We just didn’t care; we couldn’t control the way we felt about one another. We kept it a secret from everyone. We feared that if any of the elders knew we’d fallen in love with each other before our fate was decided, they’d separate us on purpose as a form of punishment.” Alamos stopped, then pulled out a chair at the table and sat down before he began again.
“When the day came that our fate would be decided, my worst fears were confirmed. Because Perodine was the most beautiful woman of her age, she was given to Donalt, a young ruler who’d just assumed the throne – and I...I was assigned to be his priest. I had to stand before them and join the woman I loved with Donalt. I had to listen to him tell me how much he loved her, and that the stars above had given him a precious gift.”
Alamos looked over his shoulder at Perodine; I could see her trembling. Beth walked to her side and let her hand rest on her back.
“I was prepared to continue our love affair, not caring if it meant death if we were ever caught – but somehow Donalt reached her and convinced her that he loved her. Perodine asked me to leave her alone; of course, loving her, I did as I was asked and served at Donalt’s side, advising him on his every move. Years passed, then Perodine was with child. She carried the baby boy to full term, but he never took a first breath. She waited year before she tried again. This time, the baby didn’t reach its second trimester. The grief almost killed her. Donalt blamed himself. The two of them divided. Perodine moved to this side of the palace, and Donalt to the other.” Alamos looked to the shadows of the room, then at each of us before he began again.
“I remember leaving Donalt alone for a few weeks...I thought he needed time to himself. When I approached him again, he wasn’t the man I knew before. The look in his eyes was cold, dark; I feared the grief had taken him over. I tried to counsel him. When I said Perodine’s name, he looked at me as if he had no idea who I was talking about; all he wanted to talk about was his followers. He thought they weren’t giving him enough. He complained that they were too happy. He began to take their privileges away. The positions from that point on were never appointed to the court; they were all of manual labor. I sent word through another priest to Perodine, telling her that Donalt needed her - but I knew I wouldn’t be able to send her into his arms again.” He looked back at Perodine, who had laid her head on Beth’s shoulder. He then looked at the ground and continued.
“She listened to me and went to him. Months went by, and nothing changed; Donalt just grew darker more determined to bring devastation to his kingdom. When I couldn’t bear it any longer, I came to Perodine one night.” Alamos looked around the room, taking in the memory. “I found her here, crying, lonely. She wanted more than anything to be a mother, to feel an unconditional love. She’d tried over and over again with the man Donalt was, only to leave his arms feeling cold and used. In my time as a priest, I’d been taught the beauty of the stars above; I knew that there were influences in the stars that could protect any child Perodine wanted to conceive. I had the observatory built next to her room,” he said, looking to the doorway that led to it.
“As I taught her the magic of the stars, the passion between us was reignited – and she asked me to father her child. At that moment, I felt like my life did have a purpose. I submitted to her request, and we planned everything perfectly – even the time that Perodine would go to Donalt. We knew that in order to protect our lives, he must think the child was his. We couldn’t have imagined, though, that we’d conceive a child as great as Aliyanna,” he said, moving his eyes to me. I felt my stomach turning and my heart racing, and Landen tightened his hold on me, sending a peaceful emotion through me.