Chapter 157
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
Her ominous warning rang in my head. I couldn’t even open my mouth to speak anymore. I felt Ryker wrap his arm around my waist in an attempt to calm me down but it did little to actually make me feel secure. I couldn’t stop conjuring the worst case scenarios. I couldn’t stop wondering what was in that future that she didn’t want me to see. Was it similar to what Audrey had seen? Were they the same?
“You will drive yourself mad trying to figure out the future,” she said suddenly making me turn to her. “Many people spend their lives facing the future and the past that they don’t enjoy the present.”
“You’re speaking in riddles,” Ryker cut in. “Can you tell us what is wrong with our daughter and how to fix it?”
“I don’t know what is wrong with her. I don’t think there is anything wrong either,” she ran her hands down Audrey’s curls softly. “The world is out of balance, Camilla and this is its messed up way of trying to right it again.”
“How would this make it right? Shouldn’t it create some kind of opposition to my own? That would make it right, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes and no, your powers are unstable, to create a direct opposite would be to make one as unstable as yours or one so secure and powerful that nothing can destroy it,” she sighed and placed her hands in her lap. “I do not claim to know all the secrets of the universe, I see only as I am allowed to but if I were to make an educated guess, I would say that your daughter is like me- a seer. Even with us witches it is unusual for seers to develop their gifts this early. The earliest I have seen is ten years old,”
“What do we do then? I want this to stop.”
“I can make a talisman to keep the dreams from coming. It will only keep them at bay for a while and believe me when I say that once it expires, she will experience the full force of everything we have been shoving down. It is a temporary solution to a permanent problem. What I would suggest is to send her away to people who can-”
“No,” I cut her off. “I’m not sending my daughter anywhere. If she is going to be trained it will be done in the palace. How would the training work?”
“I wouldn’t know for children. For adults, we are kept in a room and made to see until we get used to it. It is a terrifying experience for most, one that never leaves you for the rest of your life. The visions become your companions of sorts, It is the only thing that you know.”
The thought of subjecting my child to that had my hackles rising. How could anyone with any form of morality or humanity do that to another person? Surely there had to be another way, right? That couldn’t be the only way and even if it was, it was insane. Why hadn’t anyone fought it since? Why were they content with letting each other suffer that way. I didn’t know what the future held but one thing I knew for sure was that there was no way I was going to sit back and let anyone do that to my child, at least, not while I was alive.
“Make the talisman,” I said finally and I felt Ryker’s approval. It might be a temporary solution but it would have to hold until we found a more permanent way that didn’t involve isolating a child.
Lyla hesitated. “Are you sure? In the future it might-”
“Do it,” Ryker cut her off. “We have made our decision. We will face whatever the future brings. What matters most now is our daughter’s safety. That is all that should matter.”
“You should be more concerned with life than with safety,” Lyla whispered more to herself than anyone. I opened my mouth to ask what she meant but she had turned away
from me in favor of Audrey. “Alright, sweetheart, I’m going to need you to sleep.”
She waved her hand over Audrey’s head and immediately my daughter passed out. My breath caught in my throat and I had to force myself to stay seated. I didn’t want to risk jeopardizing whatever she was doing but it was not easy. Every fiber in my body screamed that my child was in danger and I was sure I would have leaped across if Ryker was not holding me. Outwardly, he looked calm but I could see the raging battle in his eyes. He was having an even harder time staying immobile.
“I need to catcher her in the middle of a vision for it to work. I assure you it will be over in seconds,” Lyla explained.
We waited for a full minute before Audrey started to twitch. I had to look away because I wasn’t sure I could watch it again. I heard Lyla speaking but I couldn’t
make out the words and all of a sudden, it felt like all the cold air had been sucked out of the room. I felt goose bumps climb up my arm. Ryker ran his hands up and down my back until the feeling receded.
“You can look now,” he whispered and I risked a glance over my shoulder to see Audrey snoring peacefully but on her wrist was now a simple threaded wrist band. It looked tight, like it was almost molded to her skin.
“It will grow as she does. She is not to take it off, she wouldn’t be able to even if she tried,” Lyla explained but I could barely hear her. I was more focused on my daughter who was sleeping normally for the first time in days. “I am obligated to warn you though, there is no set time for things like this. Her powers will step develop although dormant and once they outgrow the protective detail on that talisman, it will fall off.”
“What happens then?” Juan asked and she gave us a small smile.
“Then, the visions come back.”
We wanted to leave after that but it was much darker than we had anticipated and Audrey was still asleep. Lyla offered us a place to sleep and although I didn’t want to take it initially, I realized that it would be incredibly st upid to refuse. We were given our own room while Juan stayed in another. I couldn’t bring myself to sleep, I just sat at the edge of the bed watching Audrey who hadn’t stirred once.
“it feels like a fever dream that I am going to wake up from,” I admitted to Ryker once he was out of the bathroom. “She’s fine, she is asleep and she isn’t screaming. Why does it feel too good to be true?”
“Because you are used to the worst happening,” he kissed the center of my head. “We got a win this time, baby, just take it as what it is.”
I mulled over his words and realized that he was right. I was too busy focusing on the bad that I didn’t bother to think about the good. My daughter could have a childhood, one that she desperately deserved. Everything else could take a back seat, it was all inconsequential. I leaned over and ran my hand through her hair just trying to make sure that she was real and it wasn’t just a dream.
“Come sit with me,” Ryker said from behind me and I turned to see him seated in a large chair facing the balcony. I didn’t realize when my feet started moving of their own accord. Once I was within reach, he pulled me into his lap and buried his face into my neck. “Everything will be fine. We have this moment to ourselves, let us take it, okay?”
“Okay,” I answered without hesitation.
I fell asleep in his lap but woke up in bed. By the time I arose, Audrey was gone from the bed. I quickly got cleaned and dressed only to find my daughter with Ryker and Juan as they saddled the horses.
“You should have woken me up,” I mumbled but Ryker waved me off. I looked over at Audrey who looked well rested and happy. “How do you feel, sweetheart?”
“Good,” her smile widened. “Daddy said we are leaving now.”
Yes we are,” Ryker agreed from behind her.
I noticed Lyla walking out of the house. She had a small picnic basket and from the scent, I knew it contained food. “For the journey.”
“You didn’t have to,” I began but she pushed the basket into my for everything.”
“Of course, but be careful, Camilla. A lot is going to happen.”
hands. “Thank you
Before I could ask what she meant by that, she walked away. The others didn’t hear her words and I didn’t feel like rehashing them so I kept it to myself. I pondered over those words the entire ride home. I was so lost in thought that Ryker offered to stop a few times but I didn’t want that. I wanted to be home, I wanted to get into my room and know that I was safe.
Her words had elicited a fear so raw I had never felt it before. Every sound was a potential attack, every rustling leave was a potential death scare. I was more jumpy than I had been in my entire life but no one knew why. I could feel Ryker trying to access the mind link but I kept my wall firmly shut.
As we arrived at the palace, I couldn’t help but notice something different. It wasn’t physical but it was in the air, it smelled almost stale and old. Christine was pacing by the entrance and as soon as she saw us, she rushed over. My suspicions were only confirmed when she rushed past Juan in favor of Ryker and I.
“Something happened last night, where were you?”
“We had to stay behind because Audrey was asleep. It doesn’t matter, what’s wrong?”
“It is something you have to see.”
