"I'm not going to be happy for a week after feeling that," Keren stated. It
had been hours since Alder's breakdown, but most people were still only
recovering from the extreme shock of living through someone else's
emotions.
Alder's suicidal projection had left many people unsure of their own emotions. It was like being stuck in Empathy. They had stepped into Alder's shoes, but didn't know how to get out. It was a step away from having identity crises for some people. Keren was one of the first people to release themselves from the grip that Alder's projection on them held.
Mind-Healers roamed the building, helping people come back unto themselves. Alder was due to wake up any minute from her induced state of slumber. Keren and a few other mages had put tight shields around Alder, in case she had another breakdown.
Keren had no idea what to do about the Lifebonded couple. If Avery died, Alder would death-will herself. But what could they do about Avery? She seemed to be unreachable. The Healers had tried to call her back, but it was useless. Keren and Damon had both tried calling her back, and delicately tried to get rid of the barrier surrounding Avery's mind, but it was useless.
No one could reach her. Keren wanted to have Alder try to call her back, but she didn't want to get Alder's hopes up. There was very little chance of Avery regaining mobility with her mind still intact.
Alder had been in hysterics when she had screamed to Gary how half of a Lifebond couldn't survive. and it's true, the younger people who had a Lifebond severed usually didn't survive. But I did. Hardly anyone knows about my past.
Years ago, when Keren was in her late adolescent years, she had been discovered by the head Mage, Jonathan, from Brighton's Palace. He was barely older than she was, four years at most, but had been trained as a mage since his Gift had developed as a child.
He had told her that her Mage-Gift was immensely powerful, and wanted her to become his apprentice, to learn the uses of her Gift. He estimated that she would become an Adept, and had enough common sense to take his place as the head Mage on Council when he retired.
His black hair contrasted her white-blonde hair, and he had deep sapphire eyes that she had drowned in the moment their eyes first met. She felt as if she had known him forever.
As they grew to know each other, she found that they were complete polar opposites, his dark to her light. He was serious, and driven. She was playful, and care-free. But somehow opposites attracted, and she fell in love with him.
She tried to avoid him; it wouldn't do to fall in love with her teacher. There could be problems. It was very risky for a Mage-student to take her teacher as a lover. If they fought on a personal level, their magic could backfire. If they fought over something in their classes together, it would cause problems in their relationship.
But she couldn't stand to be apart from him. It hurt to be away from him. And one day they both couldn't stand shying away from the situation any longer, and had professed their love for each other, and discovered their Lifebond. That had been the happiest day of her life.
They didn't face many problems. They couldn't stay mad at each other for long. She had moved into his quarters, and they continued their lessons until she had reached her full potential at Adept status. Then she had joined the Mage-Council at the young age of 24, her lover 28.
They had been famous throughout the Palace for their undying love for each other. Neither could ever be tempted to infidelity. They lived the perfect lives: a story book romance, working as partners on the Mage-Council, on name basis with the Queen herself as advisors.
But then a war had erupted with Daria. That was the day that had changed her life forever.
"Keren?" she felt calloused hands place themselves on her shoulders, and she was roused from her flashback. She looked up into the caring eyes of her dearest friend. One of the only people who knew. a tear rolled down Keren's cheek, but she did not divert her gaze from Kat's. "Jonathan?" she whispered, and Keren nodded.
"The situations are so similar. I lost my only love, my Lifebonded. I do not want that for Alder. When she lost control and projected her emotions, it took me back to the time when Jonathan." There was no need to say the words. The memory brought back so much pain. She had never fully Healed, how could she? She had lost her better half.
"When we felt her projection, I think that everyone in the whole building replayed the worst moment of their lives in their mind. I am so sorry, Keren. I know how much you loved him," Kat whispered, brushing the tears off Keren's face. Keren regained her composure. It had been years since Jonathan's demise. She would never forget him, she never wanted to, and she couldn't if she had tried.
After a moment, Kat added, "Alder is stirring. I think that you could be a great help to her, if you could relive it one last time. You are alive, you are still leading a great life. And she needs to know that she can survive."
Keren nodded, and stood up. Kat embraced her, gave her a nod of encouragement, and led Keren to Alder's room. Keren let herself into the room, to see Alder sitting up in bed, staring blankly at the wall opposite her. She didn't move even as Keren came in.
Keren sat down on a chair next to Alder's bed. Keren turned to see Kat give her a thumbs up signal, smile, and closed the door behind her. "Hello, Alder," Keren said. Alder said nothing, and just sat there.
Keren decided to Mind-Speak Alder, instead, so Alder would know she was always telling the truth. It was impossible to lie using Mind- Speech. :Alder. Please respond, I want to help you. I am here for you.:
Alder still didn't move, but Keren could hear her voice echoing in her mind. :All right. Fix me.:
:You can only be helped if you want to be helped.:
:I DO want to get out of my own private hell. I want out.:
:I will not help you by allowing you to kill yourself.:
:Then how in bloody hell could you possibly even assume to help me? If she died. if you helped her die, if you killed her, I would die too.:
:I know that it feels that way. I really do know how it feels. Just give me a chance, Alder.:
:How could you know how it feels? You have never been Lifebonded, you don't know how it would feel to lose your other half.:
:Not only do I know what it would be like, I do know what it is like to lose your other half. I lost mine.: Alder's lost her immobile form, and turned to face Keren. Her eyes were questioning, as if she didn't believe Keren. :I lost my one true love, my Lifebonded. I survived. You can survive too.: Alder shook her head in disbelief and protest.
Keren sighed. Alder wouldn't believe her until Keren told her the whole of it. She really didn't want to go into her history again. It was a painful ordeal to retell it.
:His name was Jonathan. He was the Head-Mage on the Council, and he chose me as his protégé. I had enough magic to become his successor, even if I was only four years his junior. Sometimes I think that he ForeSaw his early demise.: Keren Mind-Spoke softly. Her MindSpeech carried an image of Jonathan, and the emotions accompanying it.
:He had a large, but unpredictable ForeSight Gift. He could never tell what was a true vision and what was just his idle mind. We fell in love, discovered our Lifebond, and moved in together. We worked together on the Mage-Council as advisors to the queen. Everything was perfect.: Keren said, pausing. Alder's eyes were closed as she viewed the mental images that Keren had Sent with her words.
:A war erupted with Daria during the winter. There was a shortage of mages in Aletha at the time. Both Jonathan and I were sent to the border to battle the Darians. The Dark Adept of Daria, Ilina, had been controlling her soldiers by coercion spells. She had every single soldier under a coercion spell, all bound by Blood Magic.: Keren said, and winced.
:We were working together on the front lines. Jon and I had retreated back the second line to work a more difficult Far-Sight endeavor to find the Dark Adept. I had the Far-Sight, but I needed his reserves to attempt the search, to get through the Adept's shields. We had posted body guards around us, to protect us. We were so deep in a trance searching for her that we didn't even notice when the front lines had retreated, and our body guards had been shot down. We finally found the Dark Adept. And then Jonathan was shot. An arrow through his rib cage. It was fatal, I knew it, he knew it. He told me to be strong, that he wanted me to carry on a normal life, to succeed him as the Head-Mage on Council. He told me that he loved me, and that he had no regrets. And I told him that I loved him, to wait for me, even as he took his last breath. And he died in my arms, on the battle field.:
A tear rolled down Keren's cheek, and Alder blinked. :What did you do?:
:I lost control. In a mad rage, I went after the Dark Adept Ilina. I challenged her to a Mage-Duel. I killed her, and nearly killed myself. I won't lie, I wanted to. I wanted to die. After I had found and killed Ilina, I lay down in the snow, and hoped to die. I was very far away from the battlefield; no one would ever find me. But someone did.: Keren said, and smiled through the tears.
:It was Kat who saved me. Somehow I had survived being unconscious in the snow for hours, and she had picked me up out of the snow. She had found me near the mountain path, after seeing plumes of oddly colored smoke from the Mage-Duel. She took me back to her village, and helped me recover from the severe pneumonia that I had gotten from being out in the snow for so long. She accompanied me back to Brighton, and got a post as the Horse Mistress there. I do know how it feels to have that empty void where your beloved should be. I KNOW how much it hurts. What kept me alive was my Duty. Many of the remaining mages of Brighton had been killed in the war. I had to resume my post of Head Mage on the Council. Lissa needed me.: Keren said, sighing.
:I kept busy, and now I am able to deal with the loss of my beloved. You will be able to survive, too. I know you can. You are strong, even if you don't know it. There are some people whose lives would be torn apart by your loss. Mine, for one. There are a lot of people who love you.:
:Thank you, Keren. I am sorry. Sorry about Jonathan. sorry about not believing you. Sorry about my breakdown earlier,: Alder said, her MindVoice intoned with emotion.
There was a knock on the door, and immediately Queen Lissa entered her hospital room. She nodded her head, and sat down on a second chair next to Alder's bed. "I am very sorry to interrupt you two, but this is important. You are the only one who knows what happened down in that cell. Alder, would you be able to retell it? I know it may be painful, but it's crucial."
"Where do I start?" Alder whispered.
"Start at coming in to Emelis, and crossing Tonnar's gates, if you please," Lissa said.
"All right. We passed Tonnar's gates wearing a glamour, so as not to be recognized. We used fake names to get through. Keren was Kerry, I was Elda, Damon was Daren, and Avery was Ivory. Damon didn't think that those names were safe, as they were too close to our normal names. And he was probably right. We got into Emelis, which was a wreck due to Tonnar's attacks. Avery went up to see her sick father. She was there when he died.
"I went up to see her in her room. She was sitting in the window sill with a knife in her hand. She was planning to kill herself. I stopped her, and let her cry herself out. And then I put a weak sleeping spell on her to nudge her into sleep.
"I woke up before dawn the next day, after having a Vision of sorts. I had seen her being taken away from me. And I went up to her room, and she was gone. There were signs of a struggle. and I threw a bolt at the barrier, and it reflected back.
"We went out to the barrier. Damon touched it, and was rendered unconscious from the Blood-magic. Keren and I decided I would be the one to infiltrate Tonnar's holding, because I could hold the invisibility spells. She blasted the shield, and when I awoke, I went down the paths into Tonnar.
"And there, I put hoof-mufflers on Kai, so as not to make noise. I made both of us invisible, and rode down to the main holding. I saw that there was a guard station that you had to pass to get into Tonnar. I hid Kai. Kai! Oh my god." Alder trailed off.
Keren laughed, for the first time since coming in to see Alder. "Oh, your Kai is the talk of the Palace! She obviously sensed trouble, being the smart horse that she is, and gave up her guard and came home. She turned up four days after you came through the Gate. She just happened to be invisible. Kai came up behind Kat, invisible, and bumped into Kat to get her attention. She turned around, and there was nothing there. She reached her hand out, to feel a horse. She went around saying that a ghost of a horse was haunting her stables, until she got a mage to come over and see what was happening. She spent a long time, and finally detected your spell work on Kai. She was able to crack your spell shield around Kai, and finally she is visible again. She is safe in her stall in the stables."
Alder laughed weakly at that, and continued. "Anyways, I stayed behind a couple of people trying to get into the holding, and when there was only one left and no one was around, I drugged him into unconsciousness, and pulled him into the bushes. I spelled him to become invisible. I set the spell to break when he reawakened in the morning. I took his ID, cast an illusion on myself and crossed into the holding.
"I was sent up to 'Master Adept Aidan's' office. You know what he looks like, right?" Alder asked, and at Lissa's nod, she continued. "He assigned me to guarding Avery's cell with Commander Blake Cabot's first group of guards. That was sheer luck, for me. I was amazed. He told me that it would be a busy day, since troupes from Daria were coming in, and something about an Alliance with Daria," Alder said, and was interrupted by Lissa's gasp of surprise.
"Tonnar is allied with Daria? Hellfires. How did we not see this coming? Daria and Aletha are still at odds. It is considered high treason to ally with Daria. This means war," Lissa said quietly. "Continue, please."
"He sent me off, and I put my guards as far away from Avery's cell as I could. I went in, to find her naked, against the wall, and completely battered. Her hand was shattered, her thigh was bruised, and she had welts all over her body. Aidan had raped her. I tried to talk to her, but I got no response. She physically could not move. I checked her mind, and Aidan had set a barrier on her. I searched the room for escapes, but found none.
"And then Aidan came in, with Tyrel behind him. They saw my ice-blue Mage-Light, and knew that I wasn't Commander Cabot. Aidan snapped my illusion, which I had placed in the Void. The backlash sent me to my knees. And in that spot of weakness, he came up to me. He scratched my arm, and scarred it. And then he blasted me into the wall, breaking my other arm. He advanced on me, and I attacked him. He didn't expect the physical attack, so he fell through the door on top of Tyrel. While they were tangled on top of each other, I set up a barrier linking to the Void to keep them out.
"And then I remembered Keren's instructions on how to make a Gate. In the doorway, I created a Gate linking to the Northern Gate entering Brighton. I grabbed Avery through the pain in my broken arm, and carried her through the Gate. I set her down, threw up, banished the Gate, and passed out," Alder concluded.
"I am sorry that you had to endure that ordeal. You displayed strength and cunning beyond your years. I am proud of you. If we weren't in this situation, I would make a formal ceremony in your honor to present you with a medal for bravery. But, as it is, I have to get back to the Council for an emergency meeting. Keren, you will be needed. This does mean war. Thank you, Alder, for telling me what happened." Lissa stood up, placed her hand gravely on Alder's shoulder, and then let herself out of Alder's hospital room.
After a moment of silence, Keren stood up too. "I didn't have any chance to save my Lifebonded. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I think that you do. You, her Lifebonded, have a chance of calling her back," Keren said. "I just wanted to tell you this, before I have to leave. Lissa and I had already discussed a plan in case of war. Kat and I are both needed. And so is Damon," Keren said quietly.
"What? He is so young. he can't possibly be expected to go to war," Alder said, panicking.
"His birthday passed when you were unconscious. He is eighteen now. And he thinks that he will be useful there. More useful than sitting around here," Keren said gravely, and Alder nodded.
"You have time to think about the decision with Avery, if you can't call her back. I love you. You are like the daughter I never had. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," Keren said, and hugged Alder.
"I love you too." And with that, Keren left. Alder wondered if she would ever see her again. :Be careful,: Alder Mind-Sent after Keren.
:I will if you will.:
:Done.:
The Healers came back in a minute after Keren had left her, and drugged her to sleep despite her protests. She struggled against the wave of drowsiness that threatened to throw her into sleep, but sleep won.
Alder's suicidal projection had left many people unsure of their own emotions. It was like being stuck in Empathy. They had stepped into Alder's shoes, but didn't know how to get out. It was a step away from having identity crises for some people. Keren was one of the first people to release themselves from the grip that Alder's projection on them held.
Mind-Healers roamed the building, helping people come back unto themselves. Alder was due to wake up any minute from her induced state of slumber. Keren and a few other mages had put tight shields around Alder, in case she had another breakdown.
Keren had no idea what to do about the Lifebonded couple. If Avery died, Alder would death-will herself. But what could they do about Avery? She seemed to be unreachable. The Healers had tried to call her back, but it was useless. Keren and Damon had both tried calling her back, and delicately tried to get rid of the barrier surrounding Avery's mind, but it was useless.
No one could reach her. Keren wanted to have Alder try to call her back, but she didn't want to get Alder's hopes up. There was very little chance of Avery regaining mobility with her mind still intact.
Alder had been in hysterics when she had screamed to Gary how half of a Lifebond couldn't survive. and it's true, the younger people who had a Lifebond severed usually didn't survive. But I did. Hardly anyone knows about my past.
Years ago, when Keren was in her late adolescent years, she had been discovered by the head Mage, Jonathan, from Brighton's Palace. He was barely older than she was, four years at most, but had been trained as a mage since his Gift had developed as a child.
He had told her that her Mage-Gift was immensely powerful, and wanted her to become his apprentice, to learn the uses of her Gift. He estimated that she would become an Adept, and had enough common sense to take his place as the head Mage on Council when he retired.
His black hair contrasted her white-blonde hair, and he had deep sapphire eyes that she had drowned in the moment their eyes first met. She felt as if she had known him forever.
As they grew to know each other, she found that they were complete polar opposites, his dark to her light. He was serious, and driven. She was playful, and care-free. But somehow opposites attracted, and she fell in love with him.
She tried to avoid him; it wouldn't do to fall in love with her teacher. There could be problems. It was very risky for a Mage-student to take her teacher as a lover. If they fought on a personal level, their magic could backfire. If they fought over something in their classes together, it would cause problems in their relationship.
But she couldn't stand to be apart from him. It hurt to be away from him. And one day they both couldn't stand shying away from the situation any longer, and had professed their love for each other, and discovered their Lifebond. That had been the happiest day of her life.
They didn't face many problems. They couldn't stay mad at each other for long. She had moved into his quarters, and they continued their lessons until she had reached her full potential at Adept status. Then she had joined the Mage-Council at the young age of 24, her lover 28.
They had been famous throughout the Palace for their undying love for each other. Neither could ever be tempted to infidelity. They lived the perfect lives: a story book romance, working as partners on the Mage-Council, on name basis with the Queen herself as advisors.
But then a war had erupted with Daria. That was the day that had changed her life forever.
"Keren?" she felt calloused hands place themselves on her shoulders, and she was roused from her flashback. She looked up into the caring eyes of her dearest friend. One of the only people who knew. a tear rolled down Keren's cheek, but she did not divert her gaze from Kat's. "Jonathan?" she whispered, and Keren nodded.
"The situations are so similar. I lost my only love, my Lifebonded. I do not want that for Alder. When she lost control and projected her emotions, it took me back to the time when Jonathan." There was no need to say the words. The memory brought back so much pain. She had never fully Healed, how could she? She had lost her better half.
"When we felt her projection, I think that everyone in the whole building replayed the worst moment of their lives in their mind. I am so sorry, Keren. I know how much you loved him," Kat whispered, brushing the tears off Keren's face. Keren regained her composure. It had been years since Jonathan's demise. She would never forget him, she never wanted to, and she couldn't if she had tried.
After a moment, Kat added, "Alder is stirring. I think that you could be a great help to her, if you could relive it one last time. You are alive, you are still leading a great life. And she needs to know that she can survive."
Keren nodded, and stood up. Kat embraced her, gave her a nod of encouragement, and led Keren to Alder's room. Keren let herself into the room, to see Alder sitting up in bed, staring blankly at the wall opposite her. She didn't move even as Keren came in.
Keren sat down on a chair next to Alder's bed. Keren turned to see Kat give her a thumbs up signal, smile, and closed the door behind her. "Hello, Alder," Keren said. Alder said nothing, and just sat there.
Keren decided to Mind-Speak Alder, instead, so Alder would know she was always telling the truth. It was impossible to lie using Mind- Speech. :Alder. Please respond, I want to help you. I am here for you.:
Alder still didn't move, but Keren could hear her voice echoing in her mind. :All right. Fix me.:
:You can only be helped if you want to be helped.:
:I DO want to get out of my own private hell. I want out.:
:I will not help you by allowing you to kill yourself.:
:Then how in bloody hell could you possibly even assume to help me? If she died. if you helped her die, if you killed her, I would die too.:
:I know that it feels that way. I really do know how it feels. Just give me a chance, Alder.:
:How could you know how it feels? You have never been Lifebonded, you don't know how it would feel to lose your other half.:
:Not only do I know what it would be like, I do know what it is like to lose your other half. I lost mine.: Alder's lost her immobile form, and turned to face Keren. Her eyes were questioning, as if she didn't believe Keren. :I lost my one true love, my Lifebonded. I survived. You can survive too.: Alder shook her head in disbelief and protest.
Keren sighed. Alder wouldn't believe her until Keren told her the whole of it. She really didn't want to go into her history again. It was a painful ordeal to retell it.
:His name was Jonathan. He was the Head-Mage on the Council, and he chose me as his protégé. I had enough magic to become his successor, even if I was only four years his junior. Sometimes I think that he ForeSaw his early demise.: Keren Mind-Spoke softly. Her MindSpeech carried an image of Jonathan, and the emotions accompanying it.
:He had a large, but unpredictable ForeSight Gift. He could never tell what was a true vision and what was just his idle mind. We fell in love, discovered our Lifebond, and moved in together. We worked together on the Mage-Council as advisors to the queen. Everything was perfect.: Keren said, pausing. Alder's eyes were closed as she viewed the mental images that Keren had Sent with her words.
:A war erupted with Daria during the winter. There was a shortage of mages in Aletha at the time. Both Jonathan and I were sent to the border to battle the Darians. The Dark Adept of Daria, Ilina, had been controlling her soldiers by coercion spells. She had every single soldier under a coercion spell, all bound by Blood Magic.: Keren said, and winced.
:We were working together on the front lines. Jon and I had retreated back the second line to work a more difficult Far-Sight endeavor to find the Dark Adept. I had the Far-Sight, but I needed his reserves to attempt the search, to get through the Adept's shields. We had posted body guards around us, to protect us. We were so deep in a trance searching for her that we didn't even notice when the front lines had retreated, and our body guards had been shot down. We finally found the Dark Adept. And then Jonathan was shot. An arrow through his rib cage. It was fatal, I knew it, he knew it. He told me to be strong, that he wanted me to carry on a normal life, to succeed him as the Head-Mage on Council. He told me that he loved me, and that he had no regrets. And I told him that I loved him, to wait for me, even as he took his last breath. And he died in my arms, on the battle field.:
A tear rolled down Keren's cheek, and Alder blinked. :What did you do?:
:I lost control. In a mad rage, I went after the Dark Adept Ilina. I challenged her to a Mage-Duel. I killed her, and nearly killed myself. I won't lie, I wanted to. I wanted to die. After I had found and killed Ilina, I lay down in the snow, and hoped to die. I was very far away from the battlefield; no one would ever find me. But someone did.: Keren said, and smiled through the tears.
:It was Kat who saved me. Somehow I had survived being unconscious in the snow for hours, and she had picked me up out of the snow. She had found me near the mountain path, after seeing plumes of oddly colored smoke from the Mage-Duel. She took me back to her village, and helped me recover from the severe pneumonia that I had gotten from being out in the snow for so long. She accompanied me back to Brighton, and got a post as the Horse Mistress there. I do know how it feels to have that empty void where your beloved should be. I KNOW how much it hurts. What kept me alive was my Duty. Many of the remaining mages of Brighton had been killed in the war. I had to resume my post of Head Mage on the Council. Lissa needed me.: Keren said, sighing.
:I kept busy, and now I am able to deal with the loss of my beloved. You will be able to survive, too. I know you can. You are strong, even if you don't know it. There are some people whose lives would be torn apart by your loss. Mine, for one. There are a lot of people who love you.:
:Thank you, Keren. I am sorry. Sorry about Jonathan. sorry about not believing you. Sorry about my breakdown earlier,: Alder said, her MindVoice intoned with emotion.
There was a knock on the door, and immediately Queen Lissa entered her hospital room. She nodded her head, and sat down on a second chair next to Alder's bed. "I am very sorry to interrupt you two, but this is important. You are the only one who knows what happened down in that cell. Alder, would you be able to retell it? I know it may be painful, but it's crucial."
"Where do I start?" Alder whispered.
"Start at coming in to Emelis, and crossing Tonnar's gates, if you please," Lissa said.
"All right. We passed Tonnar's gates wearing a glamour, so as not to be recognized. We used fake names to get through. Keren was Kerry, I was Elda, Damon was Daren, and Avery was Ivory. Damon didn't think that those names were safe, as they were too close to our normal names. And he was probably right. We got into Emelis, which was a wreck due to Tonnar's attacks. Avery went up to see her sick father. She was there when he died.
"I went up to see her in her room. She was sitting in the window sill with a knife in her hand. She was planning to kill herself. I stopped her, and let her cry herself out. And then I put a weak sleeping spell on her to nudge her into sleep.
"I woke up before dawn the next day, after having a Vision of sorts. I had seen her being taken away from me. And I went up to her room, and she was gone. There were signs of a struggle. and I threw a bolt at the barrier, and it reflected back.
"We went out to the barrier. Damon touched it, and was rendered unconscious from the Blood-magic. Keren and I decided I would be the one to infiltrate Tonnar's holding, because I could hold the invisibility spells. She blasted the shield, and when I awoke, I went down the paths into Tonnar.
"And there, I put hoof-mufflers on Kai, so as not to make noise. I made both of us invisible, and rode down to the main holding. I saw that there was a guard station that you had to pass to get into Tonnar. I hid Kai. Kai! Oh my god." Alder trailed off.
Keren laughed, for the first time since coming in to see Alder. "Oh, your Kai is the talk of the Palace! She obviously sensed trouble, being the smart horse that she is, and gave up her guard and came home. She turned up four days after you came through the Gate. She just happened to be invisible. Kai came up behind Kat, invisible, and bumped into Kat to get her attention. She turned around, and there was nothing there. She reached her hand out, to feel a horse. She went around saying that a ghost of a horse was haunting her stables, until she got a mage to come over and see what was happening. She spent a long time, and finally detected your spell work on Kai. She was able to crack your spell shield around Kai, and finally she is visible again. She is safe in her stall in the stables."
Alder laughed weakly at that, and continued. "Anyways, I stayed behind a couple of people trying to get into the holding, and when there was only one left and no one was around, I drugged him into unconsciousness, and pulled him into the bushes. I spelled him to become invisible. I set the spell to break when he reawakened in the morning. I took his ID, cast an illusion on myself and crossed into the holding.
"I was sent up to 'Master Adept Aidan's' office. You know what he looks like, right?" Alder asked, and at Lissa's nod, she continued. "He assigned me to guarding Avery's cell with Commander Blake Cabot's first group of guards. That was sheer luck, for me. I was amazed. He told me that it would be a busy day, since troupes from Daria were coming in, and something about an Alliance with Daria," Alder said, and was interrupted by Lissa's gasp of surprise.
"Tonnar is allied with Daria? Hellfires. How did we not see this coming? Daria and Aletha are still at odds. It is considered high treason to ally with Daria. This means war," Lissa said quietly. "Continue, please."
"He sent me off, and I put my guards as far away from Avery's cell as I could. I went in, to find her naked, against the wall, and completely battered. Her hand was shattered, her thigh was bruised, and she had welts all over her body. Aidan had raped her. I tried to talk to her, but I got no response. She physically could not move. I checked her mind, and Aidan had set a barrier on her. I searched the room for escapes, but found none.
"And then Aidan came in, with Tyrel behind him. They saw my ice-blue Mage-Light, and knew that I wasn't Commander Cabot. Aidan snapped my illusion, which I had placed in the Void. The backlash sent me to my knees. And in that spot of weakness, he came up to me. He scratched my arm, and scarred it. And then he blasted me into the wall, breaking my other arm. He advanced on me, and I attacked him. He didn't expect the physical attack, so he fell through the door on top of Tyrel. While they were tangled on top of each other, I set up a barrier linking to the Void to keep them out.
"And then I remembered Keren's instructions on how to make a Gate. In the doorway, I created a Gate linking to the Northern Gate entering Brighton. I grabbed Avery through the pain in my broken arm, and carried her through the Gate. I set her down, threw up, banished the Gate, and passed out," Alder concluded.
"I am sorry that you had to endure that ordeal. You displayed strength and cunning beyond your years. I am proud of you. If we weren't in this situation, I would make a formal ceremony in your honor to present you with a medal for bravery. But, as it is, I have to get back to the Council for an emergency meeting. Keren, you will be needed. This does mean war. Thank you, Alder, for telling me what happened." Lissa stood up, placed her hand gravely on Alder's shoulder, and then let herself out of Alder's hospital room.
After a moment of silence, Keren stood up too. "I didn't have any chance to save my Lifebonded. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I think that you do. You, her Lifebonded, have a chance of calling her back," Keren said. "I just wanted to tell you this, before I have to leave. Lissa and I had already discussed a plan in case of war. Kat and I are both needed. And so is Damon," Keren said quietly.
"What? He is so young. he can't possibly be expected to go to war," Alder said, panicking.
"His birthday passed when you were unconscious. He is eighteen now. And he thinks that he will be useful there. More useful than sitting around here," Keren said gravely, and Alder nodded.
"You have time to think about the decision with Avery, if you can't call her back. I love you. You are like the daughter I never had. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," Keren said, and hugged Alder.
"I love you too." And with that, Keren left. Alder wondered if she would ever see her again. :Be careful,: Alder Mind-Sent after Keren.
:I will if you will.:
:Done.:
The Healers came back in a minute after Keren had left her, and drugged her to sleep despite her protests. She struggled against the wave of drowsiness that threatened to throw her into sleep, but sleep won.