Image (Insight #3)(66)

As we approached, the doors opened. The woman who’d shadowed Perdoine during our stay was waiting on us. She still wore a solid black dress, but she’d pinned a red rose to her chest; the color gave me hope that even those most loyal to the court could find a way to change.

As we followed her up the stairs to Perodine’s study, I looked back at Brady and Clarissa to see their take on the palace. Clarissa was eyeing all the paintings along the walls, and Brady was more focused on where we were going.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d have wanted to come back to this place,” Dane said to Olivia.

Olivia hesitated. I glared at Dane; I couldn’t believe he would have wanted her to remember the time she was held here, the time she lost her sight. Olivia turned on the step where she stood; Dane was just behind her, and her eyes moved slowly across his face. A content smile then spread across her face. “This palace was a doorway I walked through. I don’t fear it; it was simply a small stepping stone on my path to Chrispin,” she said.

She turned and looked at me, and I reached my hand out for her to come to my side. Dane looked up at me, and I felt his emotion of disdain grow. It bothered me that they were being distant with each other. They’d never been close. Growing up, I was the one friend that linked them. At times, I’d feel pulled between them – and right now, that was last thing I needed on my plate.

Landen reached his arm around me. “I’ll talk to him when I get a chance. He’s only acting that way because his pride is hurt; he sees her as a threat,” he thought.

“He always has; I just don’t know why he’s putting me through this right now,” I thought as I began to climb the steps again.

When we reached the study, we found Perodine staring out the window at the wall that was growing taller by the moment. Brady and Landen went to her side, and I made my way to the table to see if she’d made any more notes on what she’d found in the scroll. The others followed me there. The books that Alamos and August had brought were stacked neatly at one end of the table. The scroll was in the center, and a note pad with a mathematic equation was sitting just below it. When she saw Brady and Landen at her side, Perodine turned and reached her arm around Landen. He pulled her close to him, and I could feel the calm he was giving her. I smiled, wondering how close they were in my first life.

Perodine’s eyes moved to me. “Did you have a good birthday?” she asked.

I tried to smile. “I just rested, painted,” I answered.

She nodded. “I have a gift for you,” she said, crossing the room to the table that centered the couches.

I watched her with anticipation. I knew that whatever she gave me would be perfect. On the table was a long box made of cherry wood. The hinges were silver, and so was the lock that closed it. Perodine carefully picked up the box and walked to the table in front of which I was standing. I stared at her, wondering what was inside.

“I am afraid it is not new; it was once yours,” she said, smiling.

Landen and Brady came closer to see what was in the box. I carefully reached for the silver latch, then opened and pulled the lid up slowly. Inside, there were paint brushes - every kind imaginable - in perfect condition.

Perodine traced her finger across the box. “I have no idea where the talent of art came from, but it most definitely has always been your passion,” she said as she watched me gently pick up the brush that laid on top. They felt like they were mine; I remembered them. I smiled as images I must have painted long ago came to me.

“You told me that when you painted, you let your soul speak to you. Each time you had a problem that seemed too big for you to comprehend, you would paint; when the painting was complete, you had resolved whatever was tormenting you,” Perodine said.

Olivia and Landen looked at each other, then at me. “I assure you that’s her way of sorting through her conflicts today,” Landen said. I felt how proud he was of me, how much he loved me.

I gently laid down the brush I was holding and carefully closed the box. I then extended my arms to hug Perodine, and in her embrace I felt the kind of love my mother, Grace, gave me: unconditional. Perodine was abundantly thankful I was in her life, and I let the gratuity I felt flow through my emotion. I then leaned back and let my arms fall.

“Did you have a peaceful night?” I asked.

She looked over her shoulder at the wall, then down at the scrolls. “No demons; just the wake of his evil,” she answered. I knew she was referring to the lives that were lost last night, the innocent people who just wanted to escape. An uneasy breath escaped me. I fell into the chair I was standing in front of and tried to pull my thoughts together; there had to be a way around war, a way that Drake wouldn’t be over taken by evil.

Landen reached for the math equation. “Are we sure that Venus is done now?” he asked Perodine.

“I want August and Alamos to check my math, but I am almost certain that the timing was right,” Perodine said.

Landen handed the pad to Brady, who picked up a pen and started going over the equation. I looked at Landen curiously. “Math is a universal language that Brady has always spoken well,” Landen thought. I raised my eyebrows, showing the surprise I felt. “It’s always been too black-and-white for me,” Landen thought.” I try to find a way to prove the theories wrong - and it annoys him,” he finished, smiling at Brady.