Quiet Courage

Epilogue

Epilogue

Cerenae gasped as she opened her eyes to a breathtaking landscape of the late autumn mountains. Patches of red and yellow color dotted the green that carpeted their feet and the valley's between them. Bright white clouds danced across the mountaintops against a clear blue sky. It was beautiful. At the edge of a cliff just below her Cienn stood staring out at the impressive vista pensively.

"Cienn!" she shouted, overjoyed at his presence. She half tumbled, half ran down the short slope to where her brother stood and embraced him wholeheartedly. He'd turned at her shout and, face braking out in a radiant smile he hugged her warmly back. After what felt like a blissful eternity they parted enough to look each other over. That was when Cerenae noticed they were both in their nightwear.

"This is a dream?" she asked. Cienn laughed and hugged her again.

"How else did you think you'd get to a place like this little miss prissy? Stagecoach?" Cerenae had to laugh at that too. Cienn sat down on the ledge, pulling his sister down to sit beside him. She looked at him confusedly.

"Ok so you're sure this isn't a nightmare then? You won't turn around again and have a knife sticking from your neck. Or be Lohann with a pitchfork calling me a monster?" Cienn only looked at her in similar confusion. She explained the horrible nightmares she'd had since their first strange, fleeting dream connections. Cienn nodded in understanding before she was finished.

"No it's not anything like that. I just finally figured out how to share dreams with you. I guess it's another of my strange 'unique' powers. We can stay here as long as we like." He leaned back against the warm mountain rock, hands cushioning his head from its hardness. Cerenae poked him in the belly.

"I doubt you would have spent this much energy just to spend some quality time with your older sister. Especially now." Cienn sighed and sat back up. He gave her a brief explanation of what had happened to him since he'd left home, playing down as many of the life threatening parts as he could to save time. Cerenae wasn't as surprised that he could teleport as he expected her to be, but then again she wasn't exactly receiving a class A training just yet. She did have one question however.

"Why don't you just come home then? I'm sure our townhouse is big enough to hide one little sorcerer." Cienn was already shaking his head before she finished. She crossed her arms in frustration and pouted. Cienn couldn't keep back the chuckle from her expression. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed talking to her.

"I don't know enough about it yet. I've only done it two times and each time left me exhausted. I'm scared if I go to far with it I might expend myself." He shrugged. He needed to learn more about his newest ability but now was certainly not the time. Cerenae seemed to accept his explanation and in turn told him about the goings on at home, her own fledgling powers, Aunt Tessaria's arrival and involvement in her mastery of them, and the most recent assassination attempt. Cienn bristled at that.

"I'll get that squirming mink. How dare he blatantly attack our mother? And I thought they were old school time buddies or something." Cerenae put a calming hand on her brother's shoulder.

"It wasn't a blatant attack on our mother. It was a quiet assassination attempt. And we stopped it so that's what matters." Cienn wasn't convinced. However he did have more important things to talk about. He told Cerenae then what he'd discovered in the Chambers of Time, his discussions with the Gods and what she was supposed to be.

"I always knew the Gods existed," Cerenae said after he was finished. "Everyone knows that. But the fact that they really spoke to you is just so surprising to me. Incredible, but very surprising." She leaned back on her hand and waved the other one in a dismissive nature. "Anyway I doubt they really want me as queen. I doubt I could do a good job of it." Cienn opened his mouth to protest but Cerenae moved on before he could speak. "If you came home maybe you could talk to Lohann and see what he has to say about the war on magic. He's much more open-minded than his father you know. Maybe if you acted as a sort of liaison to the rebels you could," Cienn had to stop her then.