Waters of Lethe

Michael Liebhart

Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary

Pronunciation: lē-thē

Function: noun

Etymology:  Latin, from Greek LEthE, from lEethE forgetfulness: akin to

Greek: lanthanein to escape, lanthanesthai: to forget

1. capitalized: a river in Hades whose waters cause drinkers to forget their past

Morning light shone into the room through the windows on a chilly November morning and illuminated the few possessions within it.  A pair of worn but sturdy dressers, foot locker, night stand with pitcher and water basin, and a bed.  The wall carried a few more precious adornments.  One was a full-length wood framed mirror.  The others were paintings, framed with no glass, but this did not detract from the beauty of the works themselves.  They were of a red haired man with green eyes, a stone monastery in the woods and a female angel with gold armor, shield and sword.

The bed held two occupants, a man and a woman.  The man was the subject of the picture on the wall, and he lay awake.  His gaze quietly studied the woman that lay next to him. She had raven hair, a pale complexion and in sleep he felt looked more of an angel than the picture on the wall.

The man’s name was Kieran.  He looked around the room and back to the woman who shared his bed.  Anne lay still, asleep next to him.  As he gazed upon his new wife, he marveled at the miracle that she had chosen him to be her husband and all that had transpired over the last month.

It had started after the battle in front of the monastery.  Anne and Kieran had become inseparable.  The time they spent together was now increased as others in the haven had rearranged their work duties by “pure coincidence” so the two could be together.  The only one who disapproved was Angela.  Nothing was ever said, but the observant might detect a tightening of her countenance when she saw Anne and Kieran together. 

Since some of his memories had returned, he had discovered that he possessed minor telepathic abilities.   They were short ranged, usually within about five feet and were not always clear, but he definitely got the impression that Angela definitely disapproved.

Kieran had known that Anne had some issues with her past.  This he had gleaned from rumor and impressions from Anne herself; so he was completely unprepared when in the middle of helping her change the linens in the infirmary she said, “Kieran, let’s get married.” 

The man stood, stunned.  Moments before they had discussed preparations for the winter so the last question had blindsided him.  Slowly he turned to look at the dark haired woman, his expression confused and said.  “Say that again.”

Anne bore a look of desperate determination and said in a rush.  “Let’s get married.  We’re already in a monastery.  Sister Angela can perform the ceremonies and if she doesn’t want to, there are a couple others of the Brother and Sisters here that can perform the rite.   Lisa mentioned that if there was a reason for a celebration this winter that we have enough stores to handle one.  It doesn’t have to be picture book, I mean we are in a keep and can have that whole medieval feel, besides I don’t have any family that you would need to ask permission of and your family is still mostly a mystery, but I have this strange feeling about your mother…”

Kieran gently placed a finger against her lips and then kissed her.  “Love, you can slow down a moment and sit.”  He sat down and patted a space on the cot next to him.  “While I do seem to possess preternatural powers, it doesn’t make me immune to everything.”  The look of determination faded from her face to be replaced by a small smile.  The red haired man looked into her eyes and gently touched her cheek.  “Anne, I would be content to be beside you for as long as I could, and would be willing to wait on you forever.  Why the sudden decision for matrimony?”

Anne turned away for a moment, when she looked back tears had welled up in her eyes.  “Kieran, I had…problems in my past and a lot of baggage comes with them.”  She paused and seemed to grope for the words.  “I never thought I could trust, no, love anyone again the way I love you…  My past is not pretty and before it tries to stop me, I am taking authority over it, standing against it and marrying the man I love.”  This last was said with a fierce determination.

The shapeshifter smiled a lopsided grin.  “Dear, let’s not forget that I am not what could be referred to as wholly human and am able to wreck terrible devastation.  From the bits and pieces of memories that have come back, I don’t come from a pretty place myself.”  He took both of her hands in his and looked into her eyes.  “You are positive that you want to do this now?”

“Yes.  I am absolutely sure.”  She replied.

Kieran could feel the truth of her statement, the strength of her conviction and part of the depth of her devotion to him.  “Then if that is your desire…” He slipped off of the bed, knelt on one knee and turned to face her.  “Anne Conall, will you be my wife?”  

With tears in her eyes she smiled a shaky smile.  “Yes Kieran, I will gladly be your wife.”

He was never sure how everything transpired so quickly, but the monastery became a hive of activity.  From somewhere a medieval-style poet shirt, vest, pants and boots were scavenged.  Brother Richard produced a ring that he said would fit Anne.  It was a simple silver band but inscribed inside the band was the following:  “per amor duo factus iunctus”.  Through love, two become as one.  He never learned where the ring had come from, but he was grateful for it.

From seemingly nowhere, decorations began to be found, members of the households were trying on different dress clothes.  When he mentioned this to Anne she just smiled.  “After all that has happened recently, everyone is looking for a reason to celebrate.  What better reason than our wedding.”

This seemed to be the case.  Everyone seemed to have a spring in their step and even the more serious and dour members of the haven wore more smiles.  The only exception to this was Sister Angela.  Though she seemed to calmly assist with the preparations, whenever she looked at Kieran, her eyes told him something different.  They were the eyes of a female wolf.  They watched him as they would another predator and said “If you dare hurt her, I will hunt you down to the end of your days.”  She never spoke these words, but with his limited telepathic abilities he could sense her feelings and she may have counted on it.  Normally he would have avoided her to keep peace, but she had insisted on performing the ceremony.

In a blur of time, the wedding arrived.  A killing frost had ended any hopes of Anne finding any flowers for a bouquet, but he had other plans.  Kieran went away from the monastery, took out the dagger and began to use it to help him pull up The Logrus. 

Though his knowledge of his past was still sketchy, he seemed to recall a number of places, like he had traveled the world.  He also realized that some of these places had never existed on earth. 

In the back of his mind Kieran still continued to mull over his existence.  He supposed he might be an alien, but that didn’t explain how he also knew things of magic.  Though he was not sure how he knew this, but he was a sorcerer of some repute.  Another fact that had also surface was that this talent ran in his family as well. 

He had tried a spell once that he thought he remembered, but it had backfired badly.  Kieran had tried to create a glowing spark to start some kindling for a fire.  This was while they assisted one of the outlying communities with some sick cattle.  Instead of a creating a spark, all of his clothes to burst into flames.  Though he was not badly hurt, he was deeply embarrassed.  After that incident, he left magic alone.

While magic seemed to fail him, his shapeshifting did not.  Kieran did not remember where he had learned this power, but like his skill with music, it was something that he did well.  He could take on the forms of others, but impersonating them took effort.  Animal forms were much simpler and he could communicate with them when he was like this.  Also it was possible to take on different animal attributes, bird beak, fish gills, but this took a lot of concentration to do.  Once achieved it took minimal mental concentration to hold the change.

Only two other forms seemed to be available at will, the first being his dragon form, the other was that of a ball of blue white energy; a Will-o-wisp.  With this second he could pass through the narrowest crack, was incredibly difficult to hit or damage and could deliver a powerful energy discharge if he chose to.

Though he had wielded Logrus a few times, but it was difficult, and would have been all but impossible without Elendae’s help.   This was the name of the “dagger”; which meant ‘star shadow’.  It seemed that the item had a will of its own, very limited but it still existed.  It could become a variety of weapons, musical instruments or even several pieces of jewelry, but Elendae currently seemed to like the form of a dagger.   He could not wield Logrus without its assistance.  The power was unpredictable, coming from Chaos, and with his current control, was not to be used lightly, but today was different.

The shapechanger sat on his favorite rock outside of the monastery and allowed Elendae to change in his hand and become a woven steel gauntlet.  Slowly he reached out and touched chaos.  Before him bloomed the Logrus construct, a writhing mass of tendrils tied to a central point.  It was the bright green of new leaves.  Through the gauntlet he sent out his desire to the chaos construct.  Flowers, he needed flowers appropriate for a bouquet…

After the fourth aborted attempt to try and find appropriate flowers,   Kieran stood and stretched.  With the logrus he could find anything, it took time because the construct randomly reached out into the universe to find it and being specific helped.  If you weren’t specific enough, you could get some odd things.

The first set of flowers appeared to have been freeze-dried, brittle and fell apart.  The next attempts had produced a bouquet of faded silk ones, then a cluster of hemlock and belladonna.  The last produced a writhing mass of vines and blossoms that attempted to attach to his arms and leech the blood from him.  The shapechanger had responded to this, by changing into a will-o-wisp and floating away from the mass.  He then drew on Logrus to drop fire on the things that had appeared.  Kieran didn’t have a lot of time left before he would have to get ready and he had only enough time for one more attempt.  Flowers…on this world…living…non-toxic…precious and beautiful like Anne…  The logrus stretched out…and before him appeared a tray with a number of tall glass beakers.  In them were lilies, old-fashioned white roses, pale pink lisianthus & some blooming English ivy.  They were in water with thin roots and seemed very healthy.

Kieran had an idea.  If the could wrap the roots on these, Anne could have her bouquet and then plant these and keep them alive.  In his haste and excitement he rushed back into the monastery.  Not wanting to waste anything he took the vials to storage and placed them with the other glassware that would eventually find a use here.  No one would realize for some time the thin labels at the top of all the vials that had been hidden by the plants themselves.  ‘Hydroponics 13943 – Krypt/Terran hybrids – Luthorcorp Ltd.’

The wedding was beautiful.  Lay Brother Glen sang for the service.  Kieran had been training him for the last month, because the youth had the mind and the voice to be a great singer.  The shapechanger knew that one day he may have to leave the monastery and he wanted to leave music with someone.  The main chapel was already set up with its blend of medieval style and modern touches.

Several women in the haven stood in as bride’s maids and several men were groomsmen including Brother Richard and Lay Brother Frank.  Sister Angela performed the service without any of the reservations she seemed to have the previous weeks.  Anne was a vision of loveliness.  Her hair was curled and held in place with combs, she carried the bouquet that he had made her and the pale dress that complemented everything about her.

Sister Angela performed the wedding without a flaw or hint of reservation.  She must have finally come to terms with this marriage because she seemed genuinely happy. 

The celebration afterwards was rachis; well at least for the monastery.  Some wine did flow and much song and dance followed.  The wedding had sparked something that had been dormant for a while.  A kind of hope that things might regain a certain balance again; that life might return to some semblance of what it had been before.

Eventually evening fell and newlywed couple moved into their new room.  There was not much in the way of possessions, but it was theirs now. 

Kieran crossed the threshold with Anne in his arms and they fell onto the bed laughing.  They gazed into each other’s eyes and drew together for a kiss.  He reached out to touch her face and felt her flinch.

After a day of tension and revelry he felt a new emotion radiating from his wife, fear.

“I know what you are expecting…and part of me desperately wants to do it, but…” The rest of her words were choked off, her throat constricted with the strong emotions she felt.

The shape changer moved back to give Anne some space.  She breathing was labored and tears ran down her face.

“Love.  I know what happened to you.” Anne looked up at him with shame in her eyes.  “What those men did…the way they violated you!”  His body shook with repressed anger.  He took several deep breaths to relax himself again.  “Since I proposed to you I have caught glimpses of this from you because you have been wrestling with this piece of your past in your mind.”  She only nodded and watched him, having brought herself under control again.

“I have been thinking about how to help you with it and I believe I have a solution.  While my telepathic abilities are not strong, our connection to each other may give it the strength to allow me to help you.  What I propose is, if you would allow it, to have you recall what happened to you and share, no, experience it with you.  I can share your past and help to diminish the pain that you bear, but this is all up to you..”

“I can’t let you do that.”  Her face bore an expression of both pain and shock.  She knew that she had avoided dealing with her past for too long and now had to finally face it, but if he ‘saw’ it...  “Kieran it almost destroyed me.  I can’t let you be subjected to that.”

He reached out and took her hand.  “Anne, though I don’t know all of myself, I do know that I’m older than I look and am no stranger to pain.  I really believe that I can handle this.  Besides I know you want to protect me from your pain, but I want save you from that same pain.  Remember Angela is always telling us that a burden shared lessens the load.”  A single tear began to roll down her cheek.  He sensed the thought that rolled through her mind.  “Dearest, seeing what happened to you won’t make me love you less.  I married you knowing your past.  You are the one who got the mystery man.”

She looked into his eyes and through the turmoil she felt, she also felt Kieran’s presence patiently waiting.  Ready to help, but waiting for her permission.  Thoughts boiled through her, “How dare he ask me to share something so private.  Will this change us forever?  Can we survive if I don’t deal with this situation?”  This last caused the other thoughts to ‘take a back seat’.  Could they continue with this standing between them every time Kieran touched her?

She shoved everything in her mind aside as best she could, looked at her new husband and took a deep breath.  “Ok, what do we need to do?”

“I only need to make contact with you.  Physical contact would be best, like holding hands.  Then you need just to remember.”  At this he folded his legs under him and held out his hands.

Remembering wasn’t going to be hard, the little mental ‘Pandora’s box’ that she kept the memories locked away in had burst open and she wasn’t sure that she could put them back.    Anne took another deep breath  took Kieran’s hands and tried to relax.  She watched him close his eyes and felt something pass into her; like a shadow that moved to touch her mind…

Kieran took her hands and opened himself.  He drew on the pieces mental training he had gleaned from his past and stepped into her mind…into an emotional maelstrom.  The scene unfolded before him.  Men braking in the door of the shack she had been staying in, stinking of sweat and hard liquor...  The scene transpired and he took it into himself, no longer seeing her memory of the experience, but reliving it as if he were the victim.

After Kieran touched her mind she felt strange.  The scene that replayed itself before her became…flat and detached.  For the first time she watched the memory as if a visitor in her own mind; disconnected from the event as if she had never lived the experience.

…Finally they left him bleeding and broken on the floor of the shack and wandered laughing into the night.  He guessed he should have felt grateful that they had let him live, but all he felt now was…vile…

At the same moment the newlyweds opened their eyes.  Anne noticed for the first time that her husband was breathing rapidly and his face was tearstained.  His hands shook within hers.  She realized that her mind had cleared.  The turmoil and pain that had assailed her just moments before was gone.  She still recalled the incident, but the pain was muted, like some half-forgotten nightmare.  He had not just shared the experience, but had taken the experience into himself. 

Compassion flooded her in the absence of her pain.  She reached out and touched his face.  To his credit he did not recoil from the touch.  She simply applied pressure and coaxed him to lying down on the bed.  Together they slept in each other’s arms in a chased embrace.

Over the next several days he worked through the emotions that he had taken from Anne. After he had felt that he had exorcised them as best he could, they spent their newlywed night together.

The morning bell interrupted Kieran’s contemplation.  Anne stirred and smiled up into his face with an impudent grin and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.  It would be a little while before anyone rousted the two.  Kieran rolled over and pulled the covers over them for a moment of passion.

The two had finished lunch and walked with Angela across the courtyard.  Kieran and the head of the monastery rehashed an old argument.  A couple of months previously after the attack on the monastery, two young blond girls wearing the symbol of the deceased superman had flown in, inquired briefly if everything were all right, reconstructed the monastery wall in seconds and flew away.  Kieran was excited; Angela was less than such.

“I don’t care what the symbol used to mean. I say give them a chance to prove themselves.”’

Angela only stood only 5’5” and 125 pounds, but in spite of this she carried herself as if she towered above everyone. “I’ve told you, when Superman went mad, those who served under him wore his blasted ‘S’ as a sign that they followed him!”

Kieran was about to take up his battle cry of judging a person by the fruits of their labor, an argument that Angela had to backpedal around when both were interrupted by a shout from the front gates.

"Oh Great Maker!  Kieran is that you?!”

The three stopped and watched a dark haired man run across the yard.  He was obviously a traveler; his gray and black work clothes were dusty as well as the light gray cloak. 

Angela stood ready to step in if things got bad, but this stranger seemed to recognize Kieran and she wanted to see first reactions.  She had resolved herself to the marriage, but Kieran’s amnesia still worried her.

Anne and Kieran watched in amazement.  They both recognized the figure off of the set of playing cards that Kieran had “found”. 

Kieran felt memories stir beneath the surface of his mind as he watched the man.  He knew him from somewhere…when suddenly a name came unbidden to his lips.  “Ian?”

The man threw his arms around him and said.  “Great Maker, what are you doing here?  How did you manage to sneak in past the barrier?  I thought father was keeping all family out.  If something is wrong in either court I can’t go back.  Has Veil gotten himself into trouble again?” 

The flow of questions stopped as he realized the growing confusion on the shapechanger’s face.  He stepped back and looked at Kieran again.  The red hired man felt a lighting fast touch on his mind.  It slipped through his defenses, touched several sections at once and retreated.

“Kieran what happened to you?  I know that has to be you and not some shadow duplicate.  The blocks that I put in your mind before I went to find the White Flame are still there.”  He held out his left hand and concentrated a moment.  There was a strange feeling that washed through him.  It was uncomfortable but very familiar. 

“You’ve been ensorcelled.  It looks like a powerful mind block was laid on you as well.  What in the name of The Unicorn is going on?”

Angela stepped forward and said.  “Greetings Sir.  I am Angela, the head of The Haven of Light and if you mean us no harm, be welcome in this place.”  

Ian stopped his questioning and looked at the woman as if just finally noticing her.  The questions in his eyes vanished and the open expression on his face retreated.  He stood straighter and bowed slightly at the waist.  “My apologies for my lack of manners.  I am Ian, also known as Argent.  I have known this man for many a year but he seems to be suffering amnesia.  I can help him with that if both you and he would allow.”

Kieran watched as Ian went into Court Mode as he continued to speak to Angela.   He was not sure were he remembered this from, but this was incredibly familiar.  Though he didn’t remember much about this man, he trusted him, had trusted him with his life.

The four of them sat in Angela’s sunroom drinking tea.  Angela had watched the two as Kieran had finished relaying all that had gone on since his arrival.  This included the attack by the followers of Tiergon and his marriage to Anne.  The only reaction that the other man showed was a possible shadow of surprise at the marriage, but it was a difficult thing to tell with him.  Whoever he was, he seemed to play his cards very close to the chest.  This Ian also radiated that strange presence as Kieran.  Not quite meta, but not normal either.

Ian quietly listened to the story and nodded occasionally.  The whole time he studied both Kieran and Anne.  Yes this was definitely Fionna’s work.  During his younger years his Aunt had done some initial instruction on the family’s telepathic potential.  It had been enough to get him started without showing too many of her own secrets.  Now Kieran’s mind practically reeked of her presence now.

“Kieran.  I know you may not remember much or anything of me, but I am your cousin.  I can’t shake the feeling that this meeting was not by accident.  Knowing the ways of our parents, I can be sure that it isn’t.   I want to help you regain your memories, but I will need your permission.  I will have to go into you mind and take down the mental blocks that are there”

The red haired man pondered this only a moment before he agreed.  “You’re right.  I don’t remember much, but I do get the feeling that we have known each other a long time.  I’ve suffered under this burden of blankness for too long.  Whatever it takes, please restore me to myself.” 

He squeezed Anne’s hand as he said this.  She looked at him, her throat tight with emotion.  They had just gone through something similar where she had to be the one to surrender her defenses to be healed.  Now her husband must be the one, but this time to a stranger who Kieran only dimly recalled. 

"When can we get started on this?"  Kieran asked.

“There’s no time like the present.  Just place your hand in your lap, look into my eyes and relax.”  The gaze of two sets of eyes met; both the same exact shade of intense green.

The two men stayed locked in that position for nearly an hour.  As time passed the two began to perspire as if they were growing steadily warmer.  Suddenly Kieran’s face contorted, he let loose a primordial scream and threw himself back in the chair.  At the same moment Ian let out a cry and flung back into his own seat.

Angela stood quickly crossed herself and transformed.  Kieran thrashed about babbled incoherently.  Her golden blade was out of its sheath in an instant and a hairs breath from Ian’s throat.  “Stop this or by Heaven I will take your life.”

Ian swallowed carefully, but before he could speak the other man stopped, sat upright and held out a hand.  Hoarsely he said.  “Angela…don’t…sorry to scare you all, but the entire sum of my life just slammed itself back into place all at once.  My reaction was normal.”

Anne stood, hands balled on hip and glared at both men, ready to tear into both of them.  "Normal?  You call that normal!"

“Yes.”  Ian said.  “What happened to Kieran happened in an instant and slammed all of his memories away so when I unlocked them, they slammed themselves back into place just as suddenly.”

“Kieran.”  Both men turned back to look at Anne and immediately realized that something was wrong.  She had stepped away from the table and held a hand to her forehead.  When she drew it away her countenance and bearing had changed; she looked…regal.  “My son I’m glad to see you have returned.”

Angela turned and looked at Anne.  She was about to question her when Ian held a warning hand.  Quietly he said.  “There is more going on here than you can know.”  He raised an eyebrow and wore a secretive smile.  “Watch and listen, I believe it will be worth the wait.”

“Mother?!”  Kieran looked at his wife in confusion.  It was Anne’s voice, but the tone of the Lady Fionna of the House of Amber.

An eyebrow raised itself at this.  “As clever a boy as every.  I cannot maintain this connection for long so must be brief.  A while ago, this girl came across your trump deck and managed to contact me with them.  We talked for quite some time.  I believe that she may be a fair match for you.  For safety sake I had to erase the encounter from her mind so that it wouldn’t interfere with the progression of things.  I placed an enchantment upon her that when you finally found Ian and he removed the block from your memory, it would contact me so we could talk.”

Kieran stood with fire in his eyes.  “Mother!  I remember everything now.  We were arguing over the injustice of Ian’s banishment when you finally rounded on me and said ‘Fine.  You feel so strongly about this then you can join him too.  You raised your hands and the world went away.”

The Lady Fionna in Anne’s body watched her son’s anger casually.  “My son, I don’t have time to argue this.  Ian will have more time to explain things to you about that.  The reason that I wiped your memory and suppressed your power was for your own protection.   This shadow has very powerful occupants, some of which might rival your own power. If they located you before you had a chance to recover from your journey they could have enslaved you or worse.  I sent you here, one, to learn some humility and two as a gift.” She looked over at Ian who nodded slightly and seemed to understand what she was talking about.

"There are so many things I wish I could share with you, but my position and fate will not permit it.  Just remember that when we were in the Shadow Avalon, I tried to show you my true feelings, even though you knew me by another name.  You have grown handsome and strong.  I will always remember you and may look in on you every now and again, but for now I must leave.  Go in peace and love.  Look after this woman because I don't think you will find another like her in a thousand shadows.  Remember Kieran, I love you."  With those final words Anne collapsed. 

Angela, who had been standing behind Anne, managed to catch her.  With little effort she set Anne back into her chair.  Ian poured her more tea and sat back and waited.  Kieran continued to stare at his wife in shock.

"Would someone mind telling me what just happened?" 

Ian looked at the winged woman and said simply.  "Anne was just used as a conduit to communicate across a multitude of dimensional barriers to give Kieran a message that his mother was proud of him and loved him."

The angelic being stood, blinked and continued to stare at him.

"It's like a candy-gram without the candy."  He said with a straight face.  She still stared at him as trying to figure out if he was speaking english.

"Once again cousin, you comedic powers leave others speechless."  Kieran said.  Angela turned to look at him.  He was wearing an incredibly impish look on his face and looking at Ian.  Seeing her distress, he reached out, patted the chair beside him.   "Angela, please sit and I will try and explain what I can."

Ian watched the woman transform back to her normal form.  Here was someone who would be a valuable ally, but would need to be handled very carefully.

Anne began to stir again and smiled.  "Wow, that was interesting.  One moment I was here and the next, it was like I was watching myself talk to you.  She really meant what she said.  I remember my conversation with her now.  She does love you very much."

Kieran smiled warmly.  "Thank you love, but I believe that the good Sister would like to hear explanations and not family accolades."

"Let’s start at the beginning…There are two places in the multiverse known as Amber and Chaos….

Angela sat back and mulled over the explanations of Amber and Chaos.  She had not asked any questions, but had a couple now.  "I understand what you said, strange as it may seem, and have seen your power in action.  What I am curious about is this Shadow Avalon place that your mother spoke of and why you look different now."

Kieran blinked and tilted his head slightly.  "Different?  What do you mean?"

Anne looked at her husband again and the oddness about him that she couldn't place about the way he was looking fell into place.  "Dear, your face.  Your ears, they've changed."

The shapechanger reached up and touched his ears.  They now drew back to pointed tips. 

Ian reached into his cloak and pulled out a hand mirror.  Kieran took in and looked into it.  His face had become a bit more angular.  His eyes were almond shaped.  "Oh, this.  It is how I normally look, but if it bothers you I can change it."  With this he put both hands over his face for a moment.  When he pulled them away, the subtle changes had vanished and his looks had returned to normal. 

Anne regarded him for a little while.  "Lets just keep you like this for now.  I'm having to adjust to a lot as it is."

Angela had a feeling about this and asked.  "Kieran, does the way you look have to do anything with this Shadow Avalon?"

He turned back to the head of the Haven of Light and nodded.  “Yes, you see, I was born in a shadow, or as Ian stated earlier, a probability, upon the mystical Isle of Avalon.  I was lead to believe that my mother was Queen Tatiana and my father was King Oberon.”

Anne regarded her husband questioningly.  “You mean like the characters out of Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream?”

“Yes, something like that.  I grew up as a child of the king of the faeries.  They wielded godlike powers and I learned to do the same.  When I was older Tatiana told me that my father was not Oberon but actually the trickster, Puck.”  Kieran said.

“This I never revealed to Oberon.  My mother taught me the workings of magic and my real father introduced me to The Logrus.  Both worked with me on the power of shapeshifting.  I wandered and grew, eventually traveled the rest of the world.  In time I discovered the truth of my nature, that I was not truly a native of that probability, but a child of Amber and Chaos.  My father was truly Puck, of house Chaunicut and my mother was the lady Fionna of the house of Amber.  Time on the particular shadow that I grew up on ran very fast.  I think it was why this was chosen as the world for me to be raised on.”

Angela looked confused.  “But why didn’t your parents just raise you in either Amber or Chaos?  Wouldn’t that have been easier?”

Ian stirred.  “I believe I might be able to answer this easier.”  Kieran nodded his consent.  “Politics my dear.  Good old-fashioned political power.  We are from a race of people whose political ambitions cross not only countries, but also entire probabilities.  Fionna is the direct descendent of our grandfather, King Oberon, not to be mistaken for the Oberon of Kieran’s Avalon shadow.  She wields a lot of political clout, if anyone knew about her child before he had the strength to defend himself, she could be compromised and threats against the child could be used against her.  If a child grows up in Amber they usually don’t know of their parentage until they are much older so that they can’t be used as tools against their parents.

“That’s horrible!” Anne explained.

“I know.”  Ian nodded.  “Such is the price of power.  In fact this is part of the reason that I was publicly exiled to this world.  It was gift from my father.”

Angela leaned forward.  “Are you being serious or sarcastic?  How can exile be a gift?”

“You see, when I had returned to my father’s court after suffering memory loss myself, I no longer had any desires to be part of the family’s manipulations.  I grew tired of it all and the longer I stayed, the more I resented all of them.”

“When the political scene was right, I was brought publicly before my father.  Charges were brought against me that I didn’t deny.  He then ‘exiled’ me.  Instead of forcing me into some hideous dimension, I was allowed to pick which one I stopped in.  I was not forced to go empty handed, but already had my more prized possessions already packed for the journey.  A mystical barrier was placed about this probability to keep any of my family from crossing into this world.   Before the barrier went up, I had enough time to conjure the rest of my possession that I truly needed to this world.”

“I have been put outside of the political arena of my family.  I can follow my own pursuits at my leisure.  My father will not be looked on a weak man who could not control his son.  He doesn’t have his political strength undermined by a child who does not want to take the throne.  In fact other may respect and fear a man who would banish his own heir from his kingdom.  Both of us benefit from it.”  Ian looked at Kieran as he said this last.

“No wonder mother sent me here.  I fit in worse that you did.  I’ve never had the political savvy that you did.  I never wanted it and never tried.”  Kieran sat back and seemed to ponder something.

“That’s what she meant about ‘my position and fate will not permit it’.  Her love for you would make her vulnerable to other forces who might harm you to get at her.”  Ian smiled and nodded. 

Kieran turned and looked at his wife.  “She said she was proud and loved me.  I haven’t heard her say those words since I last saw her in Avalon.  It has been…a long time since I have heard them.  That also must mean that we are going to be here in this probability for a very long time too.”  He looked at Ian and his cousin nodded.

“She also said that Anne ‘may be a fair match for you’ and that ‘you will find another like her in a thousand shadows’.  Excessive praise from your mother for someone not of the blood.”  Ian ‘pathed.

“You noticed that as well.  She also showed that she can circumvent the barrier in part.  It may allow only for communications to pass and not physical objects.  This would keep us safe but allow our parents to keep tabs on us.”   Kieran responded.

“One would think after several centuries on our own that we might be trusted to our own devices.” 

Kieran mentally snorted.  “Speak for yourself, some of us are a smidgen older that a handful of centuries.”

“Are you going to tell her about that or wait until later?”  Ian inquired

“I think it would be better to let her know later.  She has already had a lot to work out.  Women get some of the strangest insecurities at times.”

Ian mentally agreed.  He could feel the bond between the couple and felt the bittersweet remembrance of Mara.  No, it was better to keep this from Anne for now until she could cope with who and what her husband truly was.

Angela cleared her throat.  “If you gentlemen are finished pondering messages from your families, we need to return to our duties.  The monastery won’t run itself.  We can talk more on this later.  Anne if you would, I need your assistance in the infirmary.”  They all stood and Ian bowed slightly to Sister Angela as she left with Anne in tow.

The two children of Amber and Chaos regarded each other for a few moments.  Kieran was the first to speak.  “Sister Angela doesn’t seem thrilled with learning the truth about my past.” 

Ian shook his head.  “It’s not like she hates you or anything, it’s just that she looks upon all who are here as a surrogate mother.  Everyone here is in her care and she considers you all children of a sort, even you cousin.  If anything she would resent me more because I am taking you away.”

Kieran started at that.  “What do you mean taking us away?  Anne and I are happy here.”  But in the back of his mind, he couldn’t deny the statement.  He was happy here being ignorant of who and what he was, but now…  He had power and with power came responsibilities, besides the Kieran that they knew was a little different that the Kieran he really was.  Before he was quiet and reflective, but that was only one side of his personality.  He was also raised in Avalon as one of the Fair Folk, faeries.  Hell his father was Puck, a trickster in any of the worlds he visited.  His mother always said, he took after his father, at least in temperament.  She would always amend that he took after her when it came to magic.

Ian stood and watched him.  Kieran knew his cousin well enough to know that he was being watched, categorized and dissected.  He threw his hands in the air.  “Alright, quit giving me the evil eye.  You’re right.  I can’t stay here.  With power comes responsibility; Divine Right and all that rubbish.”  He put his hands into his pockets and gazed at the floor.  “I just have to talk to Anne.  This has been her home for many years.  I’m not sure how she is going to react to this.”

The amberite raised an eyebrow questioningly at his chaosite cousin.  “Kieran, I haven’t said a word.  I only mentioned what was going through Sister Angela’s mind.”

Kieran met his gaze and raised an eyebrow of his own.  “No.  I have known you for over three hundred years.  I have come to know you and how you will mention things casually to guide a conversation.  Just the mention of Angela’s concerns told me enough.  Sometimes you remind me of my mother.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?  You know I don’t trust your mother any farther that I could throw this building.”  Ian smiled a lopsided grin and dodged a halfhearted swipe from his cousin.

“Come on, let’s show you are around this place.  They have done very well with what they have.”  An impish grin broke out on his face.  “In fact, my technically minded conjurer, you might be able to help them with some thing that I am completely useless with.”

Ian followed Kieran out of the door with a sigh.

Anne sat on the outer wall of the Haven of Light and looked up at the night sky.  The moon was dark and the stars were shining to make up for its absence.  She jumped slightly when a voice spoke behind her.

“You know the same stars will shine in Texas as they do here.”  Ian said.

Anne turned and smiled.  “I know, but I wanted to watch them one more time here.  Even after talking to everyone I’m still finding it hard to go.  I’ve spent the last five years in this place, helping to heal other and trying to heal myself.”

“Now you find yourself in the role of your patients.  Once they are healed they must return back to life again and ‘test their wings’ so to speak.”

Anne smiled in spite of herself.  “Do you know how bad it is to have your own advice quoted back to you?”

“Oh yes.”  Ian chuckled and nodded.  “I have had my own words of wisdom turned against me and had to eat crow a number of times.  Don’t worry.  This last week I have worked to reinforce the wall of this place, improved and enhanced both the solar and hydropower centers, replaced the battery power with something that will last into the next millennium.  That’s not to mention all of the other sundry items that I have managed to ‘find’ in the surrounding countryside that has been of use here.  They are going to be fine”

“I know that.”  Anne sighed, stuck her hands into her coat pockets and leaned against the wall.  “Between you and Kieran I can come back and visit as much as I want, but I never expected to be leaving; moving on to something more.”   She groped for more words, but none came.

“I understand more than you can know.”  He held out his hand to her. “Now, I believe you need to accompany me back to the party, put on a brave face and give them all something to remember.  You are starting on a brand new road.  They may never have the opportunity you are going to have so it’s up to you to show them a glimpse of something different.”

“Hmm…I need to accompany you?”  She tilted her head and regarded him through lowered eyes while held the hint of danger.

Ian only chuckled and held out his arm.  Fionna may have been right.  Anne was going to be a good match for Keiran.  Power or not she was not intimidated easily.  “My lady, it would be the greatest of privileges to accompany your grand presence back to the celebration.” 

Anne hit his shoulder with the back of her hand and threw her arm around his shoulder.  “Kieran was right. We definitely have to work on getting you to relax a little.”

“What?!”

She lead the sputtering Prince of Amber back into the party.

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2002 by Mike Liebhart

-- and may not be reprinted without permission. 

-- Otherverse and Dark Earth, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,

-- are original creations of Dylan Clearbrook

-- Alterverse and Shadowverse, as depicted in the Continuum Worlds,

-- are original creations of Eldric and Jason G respectively.

-- Some characters in Continuum Worlds stories are original

-- creations of Dylan Clearbrook, Michael Liebhart,

-- Jake H., Jason Froikin, Eldric, Jason G, or Andrew Shields and may not

-- be used without express permission of the respective author

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