Daughters of Creation

Chapter Twenty-Four: Sweven (Part One)

"A vision seen in sleep, a dream"
—Sweven 

October 27

   Millicent had slept horribly. Montague and Rowan had slept fitfully beside her as well. (Well, the fae remain tucked away in a corner sleeping on a bed made out of pillows). None of the inhabitants of the apartment had slept peacefully. In her dreams she could only think of fear: Andre's Alpha frantically searching the area his son had gone missing; Ezra's sire racing from their home to the streets below only to realize the horrible feeling she was enduring was coming from the link between herself and her mate, and the pain wasn't her own so it could only be Valerian's.

"Dreams of others again?" Rowan's quiet voice stirred the air.

Montague ruffled his feathers, squawking at the fae, as if to say, "Of course you, idiot" with an annoyed tilt of his feathered head. Rowan frowned at the bird. Millicent stroked her familiar's head, wiping the sleep induced fog from her mind—and the lingering taste of fear.

"Killian's and Illona's fear," she confirmed the fae's suspicions.

Golden eyes watched her, concern swirling. The fae lifted onto one elbow, blankets slipping from willowy shoulders. "Did you touch either of them?"

It was the most common way both their magics worked that led them into the Dream World. She shook her head. She'd made sure she hadn't touched them, even accidentally. Rowan frowned when she shook her head. Since she hadn't touched them, she shouldn't be able to see their terrors or feel what they're going through.

"Could be your powers are heightening again, especially with such charged energies of two divine—equally, powerful divines."

She sat up entirely, not at all comforted. "It should be the least of our worries. Our main concern should be trying to find the Sword."

Rowan waved a slender hand. "We already know where it is."

"We do?" her brows came together in confusion, because she certainly did not know where the Sword was.

A mischievous smirk, one of pure mischief and slyness, quirked Rowan's lips. "Of course. The Sword is with the Council."

She dropped her head into her hands, groaning, "Rowan!". She could sense the rolling of the eyes from the fae without even having to look. "That doesn't help us. Unlike the scrolls, they won't have the Sword just lying about. And we certainly don't know how to shatter the protections on it keeping it from being stolen."

Rowan shrugged. "Is it really stealing if it never belonged to the Council in the first place?"

This made her peek her head up from her hands. She shook her head at the fae's reasoning. But, Rowan wasn't wrong. The Sword was never theirs; the Council had as much claim to the Sword as the coven did. Millicent didn't have a problem stealing from the Council, but taking the Sword was different from claiming the scrolls: it could actually get them killed. If the Council found it was the coven who had taken the Sword, they would be taken by the Guards in seconds and no word from Rena or the other Five could save them. They would be tried and found guilty and the Five would lose any standings they had; which would never bring about the change the Veil needed to see.

Cold hands gripped her own, forcing her eyes back up. Rowan's masculine, yet feminine, features were all she could see. A seriousness curled in every inch of the fae's expression. "I may act flippant, but I know the Council has the Sword and your Mother Goddess will watch over you as you reclaim an artifact that was never meant to be sealed."

She could only nod. What could she say? The knot in her throat was like a solid wall, but she found the words to speak,"But, how are we supposed to get the information needed to take the Sword? And, once we get the Sword, that still leaves where Casimir is unknown and probably two more dead divine that should have never been killed in the first place."