‘Take this man to the kitchen and give him a good meal.’ saidDarkmantle to one of the guards to get him out of the way so theycould talk to Yllandril.
‘Is that really you, Yllandril?’ asked Darkmantle as ifseeking some reassurance.
‘Yes Wyvern it is. You might recall out talks about the ghostshaunting you and your worries about Sindel.’ shereplied.
‘and perhaps your disease after that unfortunate liaison withthe …’
‘That’s enough!’ said Darkmantle.
‘I believe that you are Yllandril. Now what news do youbring?’
Gizel steppedout from behind the others and said
‘Hello Yllandril. I heard you were resurrected by ourWarden.’
‘Is that really you Gizel? Here with the Warden and Miranda.’She asked as if she was somehow surprised then said
‘We need to talk later but I must first tell them thenews.’
She quicklytold them that Bellen was missing. Aquitain was quite upset at thisas he remembered he had told Bellen that he would be back toinvestigate the problem with the sentient book days ago. It seemedhighly likely that the book had somehow coerced Bellen to return tosee it and had either captured or even killed him.
He suggestedthat he should go after the Bellen alone but neither Miranda norYllandril would accept that. If he went, so too would they.Prendergrass also offered but he was considered too important as hewas the main magic defence at the stronghold.
Darkmantletried in vain to talk Miranda into staying using the argument thatif she was lost then so too was the whole of Moonmist. He alsopointed out that Tigerlilly needed a mother. She told him her mindwas made up, that Gizel would look after Tigerlilly and she wouldbe at Aquitain’s side regardless.
Gizel wasalmost screaming in frustration. She wanted to be with the Wardento defend him but she had no fighting skills. She felt useless andterribly afraid for him. What if he never returned to her?
Yllandril waswatching Gizel carefully she could feel Gizel’s emotions in turmoiland wondered about the cause so using mindspeak she said.
‘Gizel this is Yllandril may I mindlink with you.’ And she sawGizel nod in agreement.
‘What’s up my child?’ she said and Gizel poured out her heartabout her fears for the Warden.’
‘Oh dear. Oh dear. Fate is strange indeed. I must talk withthe Warden.’ And she formed a mindlink with Aquitain.
‘There is something important that you must now know Aquitain.This is an image of me at Gizel’s age.’
Aquitain feltthe mindlink form, saw that it was Yllandril and stopped talking inmid-sentence when he saw the image.
‘Gizel is your daughter! I knew I had seen her likenesssomewhere but couldn’t place it. It was when we were trapped in thesoul crystal together. You have a secret. Will you share it withme?’ he said excitedly and she agreed.
If she couldhave cried she would have cried her eyes out but she simply andcarefully told it to him in cold hard facts.
‘By all the powers, what a terrible tale! If I wasn’t in thisbody I would be mad with rage. I would want to kill the bastardinvolved. Thank you for telling me. It must have been very hard.You know that you will always have a place in my heart Yllandril. Ipromise I will fix the problem but it will have greatrepercussions. I love your daughter and know you love her too but Iknow how she will respond to this knowledge.’
Aquitain feltGizel’s love and fear and frustration through their mind link andsaid privately to her.
‘Gizel you and I are bonded by fate. There are things that wemust talk about. I can feel your heartbeat, your fear and youranguish. I may be fighting enemies but they will be visible. Yourjob is harder. You will be fighting an invisible enemy called thefear of the unknown. You fear that I might be hurt and fear that Imight not return. I am fighting to keep you and Tigerlilly safe. Itwill give me great strength to know that you two are safe andfacing that fear bravely.’
‘Oh Tain, I feel you too. I’ll try to be strong and I’llprotect Tigerlilly with my life. Please come back to me.’ shecried.
He returned hisattention to Miranda and saw everyone looking at him as ifexpecting an answer.
‘They want to know who you will take with you.’ saidYllandril.
‘Certain information has come to my attention which mayinfluence my decision. I wish to spend some time alone with Miranda, Gizel and Tigerlilly to discuss it with them before Idecide.’
‘Miranda, Gizel and Tigerlilly. We need to go for a walk andtalk together. Something urgent has come up. You can carry daddyTigerlilly.’ he said.
They agreed andall left the stronghold together. Neither Miranda nor Gizel spoke,as they knew he had something important on his mind.
‘Gizel would you mind carrying Tigerlilly she’s about to go tosleep.’ He said so Gizel promptly picked her up and Tigerlilly fellasleep still holding him tightly in her little hand. They continuedin silence until they had travelled a few hundred paces. Then heasked them to stop and created a hardened air dome over them thecolour of the ground on the outside and lit with white light on theinside.
Miranda hadnever seen him this serious. Gizel was numb with apprehension. Hecreated a small couch of hardened air and asked Gizel to layTigerlilly upon it and then turned to them.
‘Mandy, Gizel I know you could feel something special abouteach other even before today. As you know Yllandril was the RoyalHealer for many years and during that period she learnt manysecrets and a little earlier she decided it was time to share avery important one with me. This secret will affect all of us andmay explain why you feel the way you do. It seems that you arehalf-sisters. You have the same father but different mothers.’ hesaid.
‘Oh. By the wondrous Lady.’ said Gizel. ‘You’re my sister andthat makes Tigerlilly my niece and Tain you’re my sister’s chosen!We really are family. By all the Powers Miranda I love Taintoo.’
‘There is nothing to be embarrassed about Gizel. It’swonderful. I knew from the start we were connected by fate somehow.I never imagined it was something
