Chapter 3- A strange vision

As Alethea yanked the ever growing weeds out of her well tended garden, she felt the familiar tingle of magic on the nape of her neck. Quickly, she put her trowel beside her, sat down on the soil and closed her eyes. Warmth took over her body despite the brisk fall air. Inside her head, colors began to appear, and those colors formed into shapes, and those shapes became pictures. She could see her beautiful Liana ten years into the future. Her hair had grown wellpast her toes and was hanging out the window by which she was standing. Suddenly, Liana leaned her head out of the window and yelled. Though Alethea could not hear the words, she could feel great relief sweep over her daughter. After a few moments of seeing Liana hold her scalp and wince in pain, a young man's face appeared at the window. They embraced and he pressed something into the palm of her hand. Alethea strained to see what the object was, but the image began to blur and the garden came back into view. She began to take deep breaths to calm herself. She had seen many visions in her lifetime, starting when she was only nine years of age, but this was something new. She had felt the emotions of her daughter, and of the strange man at the window. She had felt sadness, anxiousness, relief, suspicion, and strongest of all, love.

Gillus collapsed into the high wooden backed chair in Tempest's kitchen. Liana smiled at him and handed him a biscuit which he eagerly choked down with a glass of fresh goat's milk.

"Take it easy there pebble-pants." Liana snatched his glass.

"Pardon me?" Gillus spat, leaving milk spots on his front.

"You're pretty dirty from your ride here. Maybe you should go wash up in the horse trough."

"I am a king's guard, and will do no such thing!" Gillus said, appalled. "Me, wash in horse water? The very idea!" he scoffed.

"Doesn't bother me any. But you really should do something about the smell, or your horse might mysteriously get spooked by a hot poker and run all the way into Taulwyn Forest." she gave him an impish grin, held her nose, and went skipping off to finish the dishes.

"Strange little girl, that one." Gillus murmured as he got up and headed for the stable, just in case.

Liana had just finished cleaning the last plate when she heard the gallop of hooves on the dirt path. Setting the plate down, she silently crossed to the corner of the stable and peered around the corner. Nine men on huge chestnut horses, and a boy doubled with another man and holding the rope to a silky black mare were standing by her father's work shed, their backs to her. Two of the men were carrying banners with the same emblem that was on Gillus' uniform. The man doubled with the boy swept gracefully off his horse and helped the boy down.

"I need no help getting off a horse" Liana snorted. Already she felt she needed to be better than this boy, though she didn't know why. He was probably at least two year older than she, and already had the start of muscles on his arms under his tunic, but Liana was sure she could still whip him.

The man, who seemed to be the leader, was talking with her father. Suddenly the boy turned around and stared right at her. Liana ducked back behind the corner, but heard a shout and then the sound of footsteps on the gravel. She turned to run but felt fingers close around her wrist. Angrily, she whipped around, expecting to see the disapproving face of her father, and found herself staring into the large brown eyes of a boy.