Chapter 41: Chapter 41

Back in Mortain for a month, I felt alive again. I had never been able to explain it, but the castle had always felt like home. I had resumed my quarters in my suite in the north wing, the Eleonore. A pretty duplex where I reconnected with my sweet loneliness. Everything had been taken care of during my absence as if these two long years had been just an ordinary weekend in the mountains. I rediscovered the joy of my walks in the forest and the benevolent calm that such a walk gave me.

The Van Durens and Salomon resided in the south wing and Thomas had moved to his lakeside house. It was an ideal setting to raise his son, and above all, it saved him from being too close to the castle. Thomas still harboured some resentment for the now new owner of the premises, Carmichael. I had met his son shortly after my arrival. He had run into his father’s arms, taking very awkward steps, his chubby hands outstretched towards Thomas, whom I had never seen in such a happy light. With infinite gentleness, he caught him, devouring his well-rounded cheeks. The boy was looking at me over his shoulder. He sent me an incomparable smile by revealing his little teeth and gave me a most charming look. I immediately recognized Thomas’ features and smiled back at him. The contact with little Guillaume had happened quite naturally and he now came to me as if I had always been part of his life. I had since become very attached to this little miniature Thomas. This was perhaps because Guil (his nickname) didn’t resemble his mother Naomi in any way, but was much more like his magnificent father.

That day, I strolled in the field, and the hot rays of the sun made my progress in the woods of Mortain so pleasant that I stopped for a moment at the foot of an enormous white oak, surely as old as the first caste of our species. I started thinking about Blake and his endless life. Like this oak tree, he had seen generations of castes pass by and had experienced all sorts of adventures before being locked away for centuries by his brother. Continuing my walk, I joined the garden courtyard, thinking back to the recent events that Blake had told me about. The capture of the Canary Wharf Tower was carried out without great difficulty. Blake was to remain there a while longer, with Ethan and other castes, time to settle some business and ensure that Tower remained an allied caste stronghold before leaving. According to Salomon, Blake hoped that Prisca would replace her father as head of London affairs, but she refused to leave Asia and had never had the ambition to reign until then. She only wished to keep her authority over the Western Territory and had suggested the name of Carmichael to carry out the task that Blake wished to see entrusted to her. He joined Prisca’s hopes but doubted that Carmichael could recover quickly enough to counter Connor, his other brother, in his desire to regain power in London. News from America suggested that he was aiming to return to Europe to establish his position as the new Master Hand. Knowing the rumours about similarities between Connor and his father Magnus, this information sent shivers down my spine. A little later, Salomon returned with news from Asia: Carmichael was recovering with difficulty, but Prisca watched over him like a mother. She had returned to her palace in India, accompanied by the almost lifeless body of her brother and a few hand-picked castes. With Carmichael still weak and vulnerable, she didn’t want to take any chances. Her age of more than a century had given her the wisdom to distrust even her friends.

Because Prisca mainly surrounded herself with women and often refused the intrusion of men in the affairs of her territory it was clear now that Carmichael wouldn’t stay with his sister long after he recovered and that he would be shipped off to London or Mortain altogether, the two places where he was needed.

“He’ll be fine,” Salomon told me as if addressing his worried wife.

I looked at him with a puzzled frown. After all this time, I admitted that I cared about Carmichael, but loyalty shouldn’t be confused with love. He certainly had the gift of putting me into a state, but it wasn’t about feelings, and besides, I mastered my gift of attraction better now. Carmichael was the only known caste to possess this power with as much intensity as I do, which made him the most coveted caste in the world. Yet the happiest young woman to know him alive was a human, Estelle. Before her marriage, she had always lived in Mortain, her family serving the castes for generations. I just passed Estelle on the pool deck and was surprised to see her without her usual glow.

“Oh, my beautiful, you look exhausted!” I blurted out, noticing ugly purplish circles under her eyes.

“I didn’t sleep well,” she said, “I think it’s the aftermath of the wedding. It’s been almost two months, but after all this tension…”

She threw her head back and found her incredible smile.

“Enough talking about me! And you, Eve, how are you? And I don’t want an answer like, I’m fine!”

I watched her, a sneer at the corner of my lips. I liked Estelle very much, but I knew very well that she wasn’t up to date with all the caste stories, yet she would have made an excellent confidante. I had connected with her from the start, and my female friends weren’t legion in the area. But, even if she turned out to be a good listener, I remained far from being ready to reveal my feelings. I was certainly not going to shower her with my problems when she had just been married!

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Come on,” she said with a meaningful look, “in any case, you haven’t changed, Eve, I thought these years would have left their mark with everything that happened to you, but you’re radiant!”

“You can speak! I feel like I’ve aged ten years!”

“Eve…,” she continued after a silence, “can I ask you a question about Carmichael?”

“I haven’t seen him since the night of the escape.”

“Exactly, how was he? Since Prisca’s phone call, no one has heard from him and I need to know more.”

“I didn’t look at his face,” I replied in a whisper, “but his body no longer had anything of the Carmichael that we knew.”

“But he’s going to be fine, isn’t he?”

“I saw how Blake had managed to recover after centuries of confinement. Carmichael’s physical condition may have been worse, but his determination will do the rest, I’m sure.”

“Hoping you’re right,” Estelle said, eyes haggard.

She stood up and hugged me with her graceful arms. Seeing her walk away, I thought of Olivia again and my heart sank. Her last look at the moment of her death haunted me and not a day went by that I didn’t think back to that horrifying image. I missed my best friend so much that I could still imagine her talking to me. For example, that evening in Amsterdam, when Thomas kissed me, she would have said something like: “And you haven’t even slept with him Eve, you’re evading! This guy’s a cannon!” I almost laughed as I imagined the scene, but my smile faded into a muffled sob and then a scream. A sharp pain pierced my skull, I suddenly tipped back.

Marcus Van Duren arrives in the Pomona room covered in blood, he’s out of breath as if he had just run a hundred metres. “They are dead! They are dead!” he yells, his eyes rolling horribly and his body covered in marks. Blake gets up and disappears from his chair in a breath. The others observe each other for a moment and end up following him. Marcus twists around and kneels on the floor screaming and clutching his head. He collapses, I throw myself on him and grab his face, screaming his name. Suddenly, his demented eyes stare at me with an intensity that freezes you with fear: “He’ll kill you too.”

I opened my eyes in amazement. I stood up, frowning. What had just happened?! What was this nightmare?! And why the hell was I slumped on the floor?!

I massaged the top of my head and left for the north wing. Heart pounding, I climbed the stairs. In the bedroom, I collapsed on the bed, trying to resume normal breathing. The scene I had seen when I was unconscious felt so real that I could still feel Marcus’ face under my fingertips. I took a shower and put on a white T-shirt that came to the middle of my thighs. I snacked on something to eat in my refrigerator and went to put on black baggy pants and sneakers before making my way to Thomas’.

There’s nothing like a walk to dissipate tension and reflect on calm, I thought. The experience in the courtyard garden was overwhelming, and after Amsterdam, I didn’t know what to think of this second fainting. Egeria had something to do with it, I was sure of it, and I had to discuss it with the only witness to my first state of unconsciousness. Catching my breath at the foot of the great white oak, I wondered if it was wise to share this nightmare with my ex-boyfriend. But who else could I do it with?

Once decided, I got up and went to walk the kilometre that separated me from the lake. The wood led to a vast clearing where two large chalets were built on each side of the lake and a smaller one in the middle. On one level, it was bordered by a pleasant terrace on stilts. The one on the left was that of the Monteiro couple, two castes in their fifties who sat on the Council. The one on the right was uninhabited for the moment and I went around the stretch of water to join Thomas, not far from the smallest chalet where he lived. Sitting on the pontoon overlooking the lake, his son was wedged between his legs and nicely asleep on his knees. Seeing me arrive, he gave his incomparable smile and invited me to follow him to his home. Carrying his son in his arms, he led me through the door of the house.

Small chalet wasn’t the correct term if we were referring to the huge living room in which I had just set foot. A very designer American kitchen came to modernize this space invested with two enormous divans and the traditional rug in front of the fireplace. An old dresser was the rare piece of furniture in this space if we omitted the TV stand furnished with an oversized flat screen and the latest-generation stereo system. Thomas showed me the baby’s room and put him in his bed. He then made me visit the rest of the house, and I could guess through his behaviour the happiness he felt living in such a place. The caste business he managed was just a simple job that allowed him to live happily and without fear of tomorrow. He showed me the office where he worked because Blake had asked him to handle all accounts in Middle Territory. He was now in close contact with his fellows in the great tower of the north wing, those who were rarely seen. And for good reason, they lived near the castle but passed through one of the back doors to enter. Carmichael didn’t want their regular presence within the castle grounds but paid them handsomely to secure their allegiance. Thomas explained to me that they were castes with little developed powers but fervent admirers of their Territory Lord, and especially of the very good workforce. I had seen a few of them when I first appeared at the castle and remembered the visceral fear I inspired in them. They had always avoided me, so I hardly ever saw them, and now I understood better why. Everyone had heard of the prophecy that considered us, my brother and me, as the potential destroyers of the planet or the protagonists of the advent of our species. He was certain that this belief didn’t help to make friends if one referred to the first part of the prediction.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Thomas, who suspected, rightly, my discomfort.

“A funny thing happened to me just now.”

I tried to keep my voice calm but I was racked with anguish in reality. Thomas sat down in front of me and listened to me tell the story of this sudden vision which had earned me a nice bump in the back of my head.

“You think it’s because of Egeria.”

“I don’t see who else! I had never felt anything like this before and it felt so real!”

“How long did you pass out?”

“I don’t know. Minutes. You think she infected me with her visions, is that possible?” I asked, my throat tight, thinking about what Egeria’s clairvoyant gifts had done to her.

“No, or else I’ve never heard of it. As far as I know, caste abilities are only transmitted through blood, and you have no connection whatsoever with Egeria in your line.”

That Thomas reminds me of this tireless truth relieved me. It was indeed by blood that a caste received his gifts, but the veracity of the events of my vision left me perplexed. In any case, I had to intervene, because I meant no harm to the Van Durens, and the scene was scary enough for me to take it seriously.

“You should talk to Blake about it,” said Thomas, who pulled me out of my thoughts.

“He’s busy in London, I’m not going to bother him with this.”

“With this! It’s not trivial, Eve, you’re fainting and you may have seen events that haven’t happened yet, you don’t think Blake would be interested in knowing about it.”

“Yes maybe…,” I murmured, “but as long as Carmichael is recovering, Blake is taking all his responsibilities. I won’t worry him about this, because he already has enough on his shoulders.”

“So take your phone and talk to Carmichael. I hate that guy, but you need to talk to an experienced caste about it, because it’s abnormal, and you know it, Eve. Maybe you should go to India…”

“What, you’re crazy! I’m not going there for just a nightmare, and Carmichael is recovering, I’m not going to bother him about it.”

“Okay!” replied Thomas impatiently. “But if it happens again, you at least talk to Blake.”

He got up hastily and went to the kitchen to prepare a tray of appetizer cakes.

“What are you drinking?” he said in a slightly more agreeable tone this time.

“Do you have Coke Zero?”

“Yes.”

“Then that will be perfect.”

When he walked over to put his tray on the coffee table, I tried to put on a reassuring face. I had worried him, so he remained serious and silent. A long silence fell between us. He barely dared look me in the eye.

“Thomas, what’s wrong with you?” I asked, tired of this heavy atmosphere.

“Nothing.”

Classic. Another approach was needed. I didn’t know what was tormenting him, because, in fact, since my return, I hadn’t spent a moment alone with him. It was also the first time I set foot in his home. His son, Salomon and the Van Durens were always around when it came to seeing each other, and I hadn’t realized that Thomas was upset. This overwhelmed me, as I realized that I had been so self-centred lately that I no longer cared about other people, and Thomas wasn’t just anyone. He was my first, the one you never forget. I got up and went to sit close to him, I put my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around my waist.

“What happened to you there, Eve?”

A cold shower. So that was what was bothering him so much? It was to be suspected, but my mood changed immediately and I freed myself from him roughly. Standing, I felt sick and resented him for having brought it up.

“We need to talk about this, Eve!”

“Out of the question!”

I walked confidently to the door and wanted to put my hand on the handle. Thomas stepped in front of me with a snap of his fingers and grabbed me by the waist. I slammed him against the kitchen bar and he held his back frozen by the brutality with which I had ejected him. Once outside, I took a deep breath and walked back. Hardly had I made it two metres when Thomas intervened again. This time, I made him get away with more delicacy because I felt a little guilty for having attacked him with violence, but he didn’t leave me a choice.

“Eve! Stay, please!”

“Nope!”

“You have to tell me!” he insisted, getting up, “I can’t stop thinking about it, it’s killing me, I beg you…”

“Shut your mouth!”

“You can’t keep this to yourself and I’m the only one here to understand you.”

“You don’t understand anything, Thomas, and I’m certainly not going to confide in you!”

He took the hit and lowered his head.

“I’m so sorry for having abandoned you,” he continued in a painful whisper, “I should have reacted much sooner.”

I widened my eyes and walked over to him. His eyes were not far from letting out tears. I realized then that his guilt was driving him crazy.

“You couldn’t have done anything,” I reassured him taking his hand. You were already hurt because Ethan had given you a hell of a beating…”

He smiles a little.

“… and because, if you had, you wouldn’t be here to talk to me. Magnus would have tortured you and killed you.”

He lifted his head and looked at me with concern. I thought I owed him a minimum of explanation, after all. The punishment he was inflicting on himself could be read on his face and in no way was he at fault. How to make him understand unless I enlighten him on the real story? I tugged his hand and led him onto the dock. I sat down, he imitated me. In front of us, the lake sparkled with a thousand shards, the sun gave an unreal dimension above the leaves of trees with shimmering greenery. My gaze was lost in the distance in this magnificent place.

“I lived through hell there,” I began, “I remained locked up in a dungeon which had nothing except perhaps a little light and the company of Blake. They left me naked for days shivering with cold. Blake no longer had all his senses at that time and looked like a corpse he was so thin. I was completely high on drugs, then I got sick. Rats sometimes came to wake me up or it was one of Magnus’ castes who came to inoculate me with a new dose. The only two times I left my cell, it was to live a nightmare even more excruciating than the one that awaited me in the dungeon. But if all those horrible things hadn’t happened to me, then I never would have been able to muster the determination to make my escape. That’s all you need to know.”

“I can only imagine what you experienced there, and since Amsterdam, I’m obsessed. You don’t want to tell me more, I understand that, but you seem so distant to me, so sad that I persist in believing that, if I had never burst into your life, perhaps all this would never have happened.”

“You’re starting again!” I say, exasperated, “And it gets tiresome!”

He suddenly burst out laughing. My head spun around towards him, his face so close I could almost feel his warm breath mingle with mine.

“Tiresome?!” repeated Thomas. “Ah, you’re killing me, Eve!”

“And you keep laughing?”

“No, I’m smiling because I remember the first time I found myself so close to you.”

“Hum… And you enjoyed it?” I retorted stupidly as I struggled to swallow my saliva.

“You thought you were a bad kisser because of that poor guy, Cedric Fabre.”

“It’s not good to insult a dead man, Mr Panchak.”

I stood up abruptly and looked at him intently. I was well aware that he was teasing me on purpose and I had lost all repartee. So I closed my eyes and lifted his body. Startled, he tried to get out of my mental embrace, but he couldn’t. I moved him over the lake and back down so close he could see himself in the image reflected from the surface of the water.

“You don’t dare!” he shouted, laughing.

“Oh yes!”

I released my attention on his body which plunged into the lake like a rock. I burst out laughing as I watched Thomas come out soaked, shaking his hair in a very masculine way. The water reached him at the level of the waist and his wet blue shirt stuck to his irresistibly well-built torso. This vision tightened my chest. I had forgotten how sublime this man was, and his ability to make me laugh was a real challenge.

“Okay, Eve, if that’s the way it is!”

He disappeared, and before I could react, he lifted my legs and grabbed my waist. He didn’t hesitate for a second before jumping into the water. The coolness awoke my flesh as I clung to him. He splashed water in my face and I fought my embrace, laughing even harder. I wiped my eyes. My bra was visible through the fabric of the white T-shirt that clung to my skin. I blushed for a moment and wanted to splash Thomas too, but I didn’t have time, he was already two centimetres from my mouth. His pupils pierced mine and, grabbing my neck, he advanced delicately and gave me a feverish kiss.

“Father!”

Guil was standing on the pontoon, a woman firmly holding his hand. Thomas turned livid as a lump in my throat prevented me from swallowing. I expected anything except her!

How stupid I must have looked there, all wet, my mouth open like a bucket when I saw Naomi. Embarrassed, I came out of the water at high speed. Thomas had tried to hold me back, but I wasn’t prepared to attend this homecoming. That bitch had glared at me with contempt and would have spat in my face if she’d had the courage. I wasn’t going to satisfy her with a verbal confrontation, so I left Thomas stuck in the water of the lake and raced back to the castle. Now, lying quietly on my bed, I thought back to what Naomi had shattered the first time I had met her. She had used all possible means to trap Thomas out of jealousy towards Carmichael, who was showing too much interest in me for her liking. I had never hidden my animosity towards her, but little Guillaume had changed the situation. As an orphan, I knew the importance for this little boy to finally know his mother and I was certainly not going to engage in a fight with her in front of him. But now that she was back, my little flirtation with Thomas was cut short, and in the end, it was better that way. I realized that what drove me to my ex-boyfriend was a real need for tenderness and comfort, feelings that I had been sorely lacking since my exile two years earlier. However, it was difficult for me to admit it as my conduct was unspeakable because I kept thinking of Eric. Through Thomas, I found him a little, but I had always had feelings for Thomas, too… In the end, I was behaving as badly as Naomi, or even worse, I had to admit. I was lost, alone, and the resentment gnawed at me a little more each day. I was certain that only Eric could understand me. Where was he? Did he even know that I had returned to Mortain? And if so, even though he had been looking for me for so long, why hadn’t he come to find me yet? Naomi’s return was timely, in the end. Just before I can regret anything. However, I loved Thomas, but differently now, and this little game between him and me didn’t displease me. But playing on the field of seduction, I was going to end up burning my wings and making him suffer. I had never hoped for a second chance with him. The bond had been broken for a long time, but other feelings had been born, which I couldn’t yet qualify. I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” I cried as I was too lazy to get up to open the door.

Salomon came in and looked around the room for a moment before sitting down at the foot of the bed.

“How are you?”

“Good,” I answered as naturally as possible, “and you?”

“I’m okay.”

“What brings you here?”

“I wanted to tell you that Blake and Ethan are coming back tomorrow. We’ll have a reception for their return. It will be Chun, Prisca’s right arm, who will act as interim in London, pending Carmichael.”

“Oh! So much the better, this woman seemed friendly and formidable to me, just what is needed for this mission.”

“Indeed, she’s very competent. You should know they’re bringing Magnus back with them. We have already prepared his cell and all the necessary equipment to keep him quiet.”

“Okay,” I said as calmly as possible, even as my blood was boiling in my veins.

“You haven’t seen Thomas? He was to help us with the preparations for their arrival.”

“Oh yes! And you’ll never guess who came back and won’t let go of him anymore: Naomi.”

“She’s back?”

“Yeah.”

“Did she say something to you?”

“No, nothing, what do you want her to tell me, she hates me.”

“And you have no love for her!”

“You said it!”

“Well, see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes, I can’t wait to see my brother again.”

I remained motionless in the middle of the bed. My brain was racing a hundred miles an hour. Magnus was going to be here soon, and thinking about it, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. He had finally been defeated and it was only necessary that he could one day regain his power with the castes. I realized that I was now ready to do anything to prevent such a thing from happening, and for that, I would necessarily have to get more involved in the affairs of the community.

I stared at the dress that Estelle had left me at the end of the bed the night before. Its bottle-green satin fabric matched the colour of my eyes. The bustier and its knee-length drape would emphasize my curves without compressing them. It was going to be perfect for the reception in honour of Blake’s return. Caught with a shiver, I tried to remember the outfit I wore during my vision, but couldn’t recall. I knew now that I had to stay on my toes just in case. I realized that I wanted to defend my fellow human beings and I realized then that my life as I had known it was well and truly over. I was now more determined than ever to live like a true caste. And then, my brother was coming back, and I was glad for this news. Because even though it was clear that Ethan had a serious moral problem, I needed him. He was my family, him, as well as all the castes. Thinking of all this, I lay down fully dressed and fell asleep.