A Queen Among Darkness: Chapter Fifty-Nine - Isolde

A Queen Among Darkness: Chapter Fifty-Nine - Isolde
With slow measured steps I walk through the ash and charcoal debris of what was once my home, the only piece of it left intact being the library, still preserved by my magic. Smartest decision I ever made.

“Are you okay?” Valeria asks as she comes over, placing a hand on my shoulder, “You can rebuild it, can’t you?”

I nod, “Effortlessly, but that’s not the point.”

“I know,” she says softly, wrapping her arm around me, “Did you ever rebuild your family home?” She gently asks.

I shake my head, “I couldn’t. I would have never been able to step foot in it again. It would have been too painful.”

She nods in understanding and gives me a squeeze, “You don’t have to rebuild it if you don’t want to. We can go somewhere else,” she suggests.

“I want to do this. This is our home,” I say as I squeeze her hand on my shoulder, “I won’t let her take that from me too.”

I step out of her grasp and bring my magic forward, instantly it flares around me like an ignited flame, and with ease I push my magic forward and watch as it touches every piece of debris, rapidly rebuilding the house around us. Valeria slowly turns around watching as our home rises from the ashes – a perfect metaphor for my life. I feel I have risen from the ashes. Burned to a cinder time and time again, yet here I stand feeling rejuvenated and reborn, blessed with new magic and new purpose. I feel like a new me, and yet I know I’m still the same person.

I withdraw my magic as the house is completely restored and I smile feeling a sense of peace. I walk over to the door and open it stepping outside.

“Where are you going?” Valeria asks.

“To put up a new barrier.”

Her face softens and she walks over gently taking my hand in hers, “You don’t have to do that anymore. You’re free,” she says, kissing the back of my hand.

Free. I let that word sink in. I’m free. No more looking over my shoulder, no more hiding from the world, keeping my distance, afraid to make friends or get close to anyone. The truth isn’t a secret anymore. Everything is out in the open and Manon can’t hurt me anymore.

Like the breaking of a dam, the tears begin streaming down my face as I feel an unimaginable weight being lifted off my body. Valeria pulls me into her arms and lays my head on her shoulder as I let the tears out. Tears I held back for years. Not tears of sadness but tears of relief. I’m finally free to live my life however I want and do so with my soulmate at my side.

“Let it out,” Valeria whispers as I cling to her.

“You saved me in so many ways,” I breathe into her neck.

“But I was only able to save you because you kept fighting,” she says, stroking my hair.

I sniff and pull back, “I don’t call surrender ‘fighting’.”

“I don’t mean that; I mean all these years. So many people in your shoes would have given up but you hung on. You kept pushing through all the pain. I was only able to step in at the last minute because you held on,” she says strongly as she caresses my cheek, “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“I guess being alone with my thoughts for so long didn’t do me any favours,” I say wryly.

“Lucky for you, you have me now,” she smiles kissing me softly.

I return her kiss and wipe the tears from my face, “What do we do now?”

“We eat because neither of us has eaten today and I’m pretty sure we’re both starving.” Now that she mentions it, I can’t remember the last meal I ate. We’re definitely long overdue for some food.

“I can whip us up something,” I say brightly.

“You go do that, I just have to make a phone call,” she says as she pulls a burner phone out of her pocket.

I raise an eyebrow, “And then you’ll go and put all those weapons away?”

She rolls her eyes, “Yes, mum. Good thing those golden women gave me my shit back or I was ready to throw down.”

“Not that I don’t doubt your skills, but I don’t see it going in your favour if you were to take them all on,” I point out.

“I have my methods, don’t go underestimating me. I did get into an impenetrable fortress on my own,” she says smugly.

“Because the Goddess who made it let you in,” I also point out.

“You know what? Maybe I shouldn’t have saved your ass,” she says in annoyance as she goes into the other room.

I chuckle and make my way to the kitchen. Regardless of her getting help from a Goddess, she didn’t go in knowing that would happen. She took so many risks for me not knowing what the outcome would be, but she did it anyway in the simple hope it would save my life and it did. The gratitude and love I have for this woman is endless.

As I open the fridge I realise we don’t have much in the way of food, certainly not enough to make a proper meal, so I guess I’ll have to settle for magical food delivery. I would have preferred to make something. Snapping my fingers is far less romantic. Nevertheless, I make my way to the dining room. As I look at the room I realise I’ve only ever used it a handful of times and only ever by myself. I feel like it’s now time I put this beautiful room to use.

The dining room is lined by grey carpeting with a long black glossy table resting on top surrounded by sixteen black glossy chairs with snakeskin cushions. Remind me to change that if I ever have a nagata over for dinner. The ceiling is a bright cream holding an ivory chandelier over the table. The walls are a dark chocolate brown with ornamental walls with sconces along the walls to give the room a more atmospheric feel.

In my head, I picture a feast of Mexican and French cuisine, and with a snap of my fingers the table is perfectly laid out and filled with tacos al pastor, chiles en nogada, elote, enchiladas and tamales for the Mexican side, and bouillabaisse, boeuf bourguignon, quiche lorraine, cheese soufflé and escargot for the French side. For desserts we have crème brûlée, mille-feuille, sopapillas and flan. I may be going way overboard, but this is a huge occasion for me, and I want to go wild. Besides, we’ll have enough left over for the week.

“Food’s ready!” I call out as I hear a knock at the door. I jump out of my skin and clutch my chest as my heart thunders beneath my palm.

“I’ll get it!” Valeria announces as she walks to the door. “Are you okay?” She asks, catching my frazzled state.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard a knock at the door,” I say, slowly letting myself calm down.

She looks sympathetic, “Sorry, I should have given you a heads up. I called someone over,” she says, opening the door and letting Alaric in along with a woman and two grown children. Alaric sees me and his eyes begin to swim with guilt. Immediately the woman beside him wraps her arm around him, and I know instantly this is his family. I’ve seen pictures, but never actually met them.

“Isolde… I’m so, so sorry. I’m so beyond relieved you’re okay, but I hope you know I’ll never forgive myself for what I did,” he says in anguish.

“That makes two of us,” Valeria says, walking over to me.

“Alaric, please don’t keep beating yourself up. I’m fine now, and so is your family,” I smile at them, “You’re an animai, a husband and a father, your duty was to them not to me. I’d like us to leave it in the past. I’d hate there to be tension between me and one of the few friends I have in this world,” I say softly.

Tears well up in his brown eyes, “You still consider me a friend?”

“Of course, I do,” I smile at him and hold my arms open. He hands a familiar-looking chest to his partner and rushes over to give me a tight hug that I gladly return.

He pulls back and wipes his eyes, “The moment we felt you ascend we knew Valeria had succeeded and you were going to be okay,” he smiles at me, “We all rejoiced,” he says as his family nods with happy smiles.

“You could feel her ascend?” Valeria asks in surprise.

Yvain steps forward and nods, “Every makkari is tied to their Priest or Priestess as they are the one who will guide and protect us. We feel the moment they ascend, it’s why there’s usually a ceremony. It’s a very spiritual and emotional feeling. Brings a sense of connection, invigoration, and comfort,” she explains. Yvain turns to me and curtsies, “It is an honour to meet you, and I too must apologise. I wish I had known all these years the truth about you and that Alaric was helping you. I would have liked to help too,” she says sincerely.

“Me too!” Jade chimes in then shoots a look at her brother.

“Don’t give me that look, did you see all the crap that happened the last couple days? Dad never told us because that’s what he was trying to avoid, pipsqueak,” Maël huffs.

“I’m not a pipsqueak, jerk!” Jade snaps.

“Knock it off!” Yvain shouts, “You’re embarrassing yourself in front of your High Priestess, show some respect,” she admonishes them.

I chuckle, “It’s quite alright.”

“Isolde, I’d love you to meet my family. This is my animai and wife, Yvain, our son Maël and our daughter Jade,” Alaric says proudly, introducing his family, “Everyone, this is our new High Priestess and my friend, Isolde,” she smiles at me.

I smile back and shake hands with each of them, “It’s so nice to meet you all. Alaric has told me such wonderful things, and I see you all already know Valeria.” They nod.

“Yeah, watched her kick her brother’s ass and shoot him,” says Maël, getting a whack from this mother.

“What?!” I exclaim in surprise, turning to Valeria.

She shrugs, “I’ll explain later.” Just how much did she get up to when I was gone?

I shake away the surprise and turn to Alaric’s family, “Um, would the four of you like to stay for dinner? As you can see I’ve conjured more than enough,” I smile, gesturing to the table.

“Oh, score!” Maël exclaims as he and his sister rush to the table.

“What have I said about manners?!” Yvain yells, handing the chest back to Alaric and walking briskly into the dining room, stopping briefly at my side to apologise for her children’s behaviour.

I chuckle and smile at Alaric, “Your family is lovely.”

“Thank you,” he smiles. He walks over and hands the chest to me, “I believe this is yours. I promise I didn’t open it.” I look at the chest in confusion.

“I took it with me when the house was burning down. I wasn’t sure how long your magic would protect us, and I knew out of everything in that room, this was the most valuable thing in it. So I took it with me,” Valeria explains.

I look at her touched, “Thank you for thinking to do that,” I say as I kiss her lovingly. I feel her smile against my lips and return my kiss. I’d keep kissing her, but we have guests, so instead, I snap my fingers and send the chest back to the library and take Valeria’s hand, “Let’s eat,” I say as we walk into the dining room and take our seats.

As everyone fills their plates, I stop to take in the moment. I have my partner next to me, an old friend and new friends gathered in my home enjoying a meal together. I stopped dreaming of something like this happening long ago. My mind completely gave up hoping on something like this ever happening, yet here it is right in front of me. I feel overwhelmed with emotions, so I reach out and take Valeria’s hand and pull it to my lips.

Even with a partially broken bond, it’s like she can still feel what I’m feeling. She scoots her chair close and holds my hand in both of hers, “Take your time, I’m right here,” she promises. Those simple words mean everything to me, and I know in the depths of my soul every word is true. No matter what happens, we’ll always be there for each other.