Kaily's frown deepened, but she remained silent.
"I reported back my findings to the one I serve."
"Which was?"
"Not important," he said, "he decided to bring you into Moto's world in a way that he hoped would give you time together to build on the connection that was there and hopefully forge a bond."
She shook her head and turned away. She paced to the pool and back, and then repeated her path. "He, whoever he is," she said under her breath, "Why?" She ground out between clenched teeth. Her hands balled into fists at her sides so tight that her fingernails bit into her palms.
"Your shield," he said, "he thought that if you and Moto were bonded mates that the shield would dissipate on its own, and that Moto could center you enough to give you balance and time to learn how to control your Druidic powers."
"Didn't work, did it," she said. She walked to the pool again. She paced. How could they interfere in her life like that? She didn't bother asking how the one he served or even Shimani himself knew about the shield. It didn't change the outcome or the events that brought her to her current situation.
"No, it did not." Shimani said.
She turned back to him. "Moto hates the Druids, Shimani, hates them." She took a menacing step towards him in a way that made him take a step back. "How could 'he' possibly think that forcing Moto to bond with one was a good idea?" She was so angry she found it difficult to contain it.
"It's," Shimani started.
She held up her hand. "Shut it, Shimani. I don't want to hear that word on the tip of your mind pass your lips."
He closed his mouth.
She walked back to the pool and stopped. She stared helplessly into its depths. She didn't want Shimani to be right about her. She knew that he believed that she was Druid. She wanted to believe that her world was Earth. The dreams, memories, Kaily corrected, told a different story. It was a story she wanted no part of. Shimani was right, she couldn't deny it. She possessed abilities that she had absolutely no control over. No one on Earth possessed such abilities. Maybe at one time if the legends and myths held nuggets of truth, but not now.
He moved to stand beside her. "He didn't force Moto to take you as a bonded mate, Kaily, none of us did."
"He manipulated the events that brought us together, Shimani. He might not have forced Moto to take me as his bonded mate, but by manipulating the events, it is essentially the same thing." She took a deep breath and turned to face him. "He changed the course of my life." He didn't respond.
She turned back to the pool. "You had a purpose in coming here today, Shimani. What is it?" She could feel indecision within his mind. She wasn't connected to his mind enough to see the actual thoughts passing through it, but enough to know Shimani was not comfortable with following his instinct on this one. She caught some of his thoughts, but they were guarded, and she didn't have the skill to break through to see them in their entirety.
"I want you to go to Celtan." He finally said.
"You or him?"
"He is not around to guide me in this."
She heard a slight bitterness in his tone. "Really?" She turned to face Shimani. "So, the consequence of this decision squarely lands on your shoulders." She knew she was being unfair to Shimani, but her anger boiled over, and she was not feeling charitable. "When?"
"Now," he kept his gaze locked with hers.
She shook her head. She held her hand up to stay his protest. "No, I want today with Moto." She turned back to the pool. "I won't even ask if Moto can come with me," she turned back to him, "because you and I both know that when he finds out I'm Druid he will hate me, won't he?"
Shimani fidgeted.
"Don't bother answering. I don't need you to confirm what I already know in my heart." She wiped away the tears that refused to stop.
"Kaily," he started.
She shook her head. "I want today, tomorrow morning I will go to Celtan, you have my word, but today is mine. Tell me how to get to Celtan." She looked up at the sky and the planet that was all but invisible now.
"The knowledge of how is already within your mind. It is knowledge that all Druids are born with if they are not born on Celtan."
She frowned and searched her mind. "The rune, like how the Gateway works."
He nodded. He held out his hand to her.
She glanced at his outstretched hand. The pouch that she knew held her talisman rested in his palm. She shook her head. "I don't want it." She didn't know how he came by it and she didn't care. She didn't even know where Moto kept it. Of course, Shimani knew Moto better than she did.
He started to say something.
She shook her head, "No, I don't want it." She brushed away the tears falling. "I don't need it to open the doorway to Celtan." It was a statement, not a question. She already knew she didn't.
"No," he confirmed. He put the pouch in his vest pocket.
"Don't give it back to Moto either. I don't want him to have any painful reminders of me when I'm gone. Promise me!" She kept her eyes locked with his until he nodded his agreement. "I have an image of a ring of stone pillars in my mind. It seems similar to a place I visited on Earth, but somehow different. What is it?"
"That's where the rune should take you on Celtan, but it will not. The current High Druid, Deykin, altered the path. You will find yourself in his throne room when you exit the doorway. It
