The Convert Queen: Prophecy Fulfilled

Chapter 8: Where the Shadows Have Names

Tonight

Aleyna's eyelids fluttered, and the soft glow of candles disrupted the darkness. She was still in the cavernous stone room in the Sanctuary. Blankets covered her, and her head, still a dizzying mess, was resting on pillows.

'She's back with us,' the same voice announced. 'My lady?'

'Where is Arner?' Aleyna asked, trying to sit up. Why should his whereabouts be her first concern, she wondered. That had been unexpected.

'Lie still for a little while longer, my lady.'

This, Aleyna ignored. She was ready for this ceremony or ritual or whatever it was, to be over. It was beginning to make her feel untethered, like she was drifting away. Like her mind was no longer her own and filled with thoughts and words foreign to her.

'As for the king,' the man continued, 'he remains outside, where he promised he would stay. He has not left the sanctuary.'

'I wish to speak with him.'

'And you will, but not yet. It is forbidden for him to step foot inside at this time, and it is clear, that your awakening is not yet finished.'

'Clear, is it?' Nothing felt clear to Aleyna. Everything was fuzzy. Everything existed in a place somewhere between the real and unreal. She was sure of nothing. Yet it did not feel like a dream. Crossly, she shook her head, as she tried to think of the words that might describe what was going on, and found none sufficient.

'Can you remember anything of the dark time?'

'What?' Sometimes she felt like these Mynythians were speaking a different language.

'When you were asleep but not asleep.'

'I passed out.'

'No, my lady. You were led out of this world for a short time.'

Aleyna looked hard at the man, but the light of the candles was not enough for her to see his expression as well as she might have liked. To her ears, his statement sounded quite absurd.

The attendant took up her hand and gently patted it. It took Aleyna a great deal of effort not to snatch it back and scold him for patronising her. She was not a child. She was a professor of the Academika...or at least, she had been. She sighed, deflated by all she had lost.

'What was the last thing you remember?' he prompted again.

Aleyna tried to concentrate, but it was like trying to grab a single dust mote out of the air. A few minutes passed, then she found herself speaking. 'Here, where even the shadows have names, and the wind whispers news of the intentions of old.' The words uttered, Aleyna went cold. She didn't know where they had come from or what they meant, but they were like ice in her veins.

Gasps, of awe or fear or horror or amazement, Aleyna didn't know, echoed around her. What had she said, and why?

'The Spirits have not yet relinquished you, my lady. That is why you keep falling out of this time.'

Falling out of this time? 'What does that even mean?' she asked, frustrated, rubbing at her eyes. How long had she been here? When would it end?

'It will all become clear in time. For now, we must focus on the present. All you need know is that you are safe here.'

Aleyna didn't like the sound of that. Did he mean there was danger all around her, but that they could keep it at bay? Was she really in peril? Images flashed before her eyes of the Spirits she had seen. The woman who was part bird. The man who was part horse. The man who was part bear. Were these Spirits actually monsters? What did they want with her?

What was it they had said? She was the one they had been waiting for.

Again, she found herself wanting Arner.

'Do not fight it, my lady. It will not help. You must go where they take you. Together, the Spirits, yourself, and all us here, we will find the answers needed.'

'But what of Arner?' she asked. 'He will help me.' And suddenly, she knew this. She knew with her whole heart that Arner could be relied upon to keep her safe. Where this knowledge came from, she could not tell, but it was as true as chalk was a sedimentary rock.

'The king must remain without. Though if he is called by the Spirits, he will have his own journey to go on, my lady. Tonight, in here, this journey is your own.'

Aleyna was guided back down, and this time the attendant would tolerate no argument. 'My lady, please.' He dropped his voice. 'I know you are not used to this, that you come from a world very different from ours...but be strong.' He squeezed her hand, encouragingly. 'Once you've been told what you need to hear, it will be over. Let the Spirits guide you where they will.'

A quiet chanting began somewhere beyond the candlelight, and Aleyna felt her eyes closing. As the darkness pulled her under once more, she wondered why she felt this desperate desire to speak with Arner. She wanted, no, needed him, close by.

She wanted to laugh at the strangeness of it. After all, it was not that long ago that she had found herself sitting in Uncle Petor's private parlour, listening to him tell her of the prophecy that had turned her world upside down, and if she wondered, albeit briefly, if she hated the King of Mynythia. And now she missed his looming, serious presence, and his brooding, intense gaze.

But she couldn't laugh. She couldn't speak. The ground was moving beneath her, and somewhere in the distance, a bell chimed...

* * * **

[Word count for chapter: 921, Word count for whole story: 9112 ]

Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider voting for it and / or leaving me a comment to let me know what you think.

So back in the present, and as Aleyna's awakening continues, she finds herself at a loss regarding what is going on. What, if anything, do you think the words she spoke from the dark time mean? Why do you think she is desperate to see Arner?

Coming up: As Aleyna is pulled back into the dark time, she is going to relive once more the events which brought her to Mynythia.

Have a great day!