Chapter 13
"There is a light of day/Hold on, hold on/It's closer than you let yourself believe/When life cuts you like a blade/It's gone so wrong/You can't remember who you're supposed to be/Hold on, hold on to me" –Hold On to Me, Bo Bice
"Mother?" Alanna asked, her voice barely a breathy whisper.
The woman standing before her was the same one that was in the painting that had hung in the foyer of the fortress at Trebond for so many years. Her copper hair fell straight and silky to her cloaked shoulders. Her violet eyes danced happily, but glistened with tears. She was short- no taller than Alanna. The cloak concealed a wiry muscular body. A slow smile spread across the woman's face.
"Alanna," she said, dropping her cloak. She wore a beautiful violet silk gown. Alanna remembered that dress from the painting- it was the dress her mother had been buried in. Alanna felt tears fill her eyes. She ran to the woman- her mother. Lady Eliena of Trebond embraced her daughter.
"Mother," Alanna wept into her mother's shoulder. "It's really you."
"It is, sweet. It is," Eliena whispered, stroking Alanna's hair. Alanna stepped back and wiped her eyes. Eliena cupped her face. "My daughter, the knight. You have such a fire, Alanna. I am so proud of you." Alanna smiled and turned to Thom.
"This is why you tapped my Gift?" Alanna demanded.
Thom shrugged. "I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Why?" Alanna asked.
"You deserve to have your mother at your wedding, Alanna," Eliena said. Alanna smiled, feeling the ring on her left ring finger. "I can't believe you are going to be queen."
"How long?" Alanna asked, fixing her violet eyes on Thom. "How long will she stay?"
"Only until just after your wedding," Thom replied. "That's the way I set the spell."
"Only until then?" Alanna asked, looking at Eliena. "That's not enough time."
"Then we'll make the most of it," Eliena declared. "If I'm going to die after your wedding, I am going to have to be the best mother until then."
Author's Note- honestly, how many believe I would actually bring Roger back? Be honest. Well, there WILL be a twist. But not yet. Be ready, though. REVIEW and don't attack me.