A Host of Fallen Dreams - After the Rising Book 1

Chapter 14

Lyra

The City

The tarot deck felt warm and familiar in Lyra's hand. It felt like home. Only home was gone and so were the ones who had made it. Her mother and father were dead, and Lukas...no-one knew where Lukas was. He was probably dead too, she thought. Being only fourteen, how could he have survived out there on his own?

Even though in her heart she felt, she believed, he was, if not all right, then at least alive, logic dictated that he had probably been killed a few days after her parents. But she could still hope, quietly, and on her own. It was the only thing keeping her going.

Janellia had wanted Lyra to give her a tarot reading as soon as she had presented the deck to her. She had been so very excited, but Lyra would not, could not do it. Not yet. They had been apart for four years. She had needed to get reacquainted with them. And with her gift.

Lyra had been a tarot reading prodigy, having graduated from the Academy at seventeen. She had been the youngest to pass The Tarot Studies degree, and had quickly built up a following around the city and beyond. By the time of The Rising, Lyra was already making her living from the cards. Her future had been promising.

The last time she had seen this deck of tarot cards had been the morning of The Rising. She had been to the Academy where she had been a guest lecturer, speaking on the real world applications of tarot reading.

As she thought back to that day, she slowly shook her head. It felt like a lifetime ago. It felt like another life, one belonging to someone else.

After the lecture, she had visited two clients. The first, Ophelia Shepley. The second, Janellia's mother, Philippa Elphick. The irony that she was now her last client's daughter's prisoner was not lost on her. Jace had met her down by the river when she was done, and the afternoon they had spent walking and talking and dreaming. It had been a glorious time, Lyra reflected, a single tear running down her cheek.

She thought of Jace even less than she did of Luke. Not because she cared about him any less, but rather because she had seen what had happened to him. There had been so much blood, but still he had tried to protect her. He had fought for her with his last breath.

Another tear fell, and she batted it away hastily, as a terror she hadn't felt for some time dared to raise its head. She could not give in to crying. She could not give in to despair. She knew if she started down that path she would not return.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to remember the happier times before the whole world went to hell in a hand basket. They had danced. They had walked hand-in-hand. They had gone to The Temple in The Grove to declare their love to one another before the Old Gods, a pledge that bound them together for eternity.

The door suddenly swung open and Janellia strolled in, unannounced and uninvited. The benefits of being the gaoler, Lyra mused in an attempt to compose herself.

'I'm going to invite your detective to dinner,' Janellia declared.

'He's not my detective,' Lyra answered quietly.

'You might believe it, but you're the only one in The City who does. You should marry him, you know. Show the city where your loyalties lie, and I'm sure they will reward you accordingly. After all, they're hardly likely to keep you locked up as the wife of Elian Nyks, are they?'

Lyra couldn't think of marrying anyone, not so soon after thinking of Jace, and certainly not of the man who had pried Jace's fingers from around her. She would rather stay where she was, as a prisoner, as a guest of Janellia, indefinitely.

Janellia said something else that Lyra didn't catch before flouncing out of the room on a mission to make dinner plans. The door closed softly as the guard outside of the door pulled it to. A key turned in the lock.

Elian Nyks. Lyra did not like him. Why he came to see her every week, she did not know, but she wished he would stop. His attempt at small talk made her uncomfortable, but more than that, the way he looked at her when he didn't think she was watching him, unsettled her. She had no idea what he was thinking, but the look on his face was intense. Yes, she wished he would keep away. Wished Janellia would stop playing matchmaker.

Involuntarily, for some reason unknown to her, she dropped the tarot deck she had been holding. Bending to pick up the package, she knew, she could sense they were reaching out to her. It was as if they had missed her as much as she had missed them.

Carefully she opened the box and placed the cards on the surface of the dressing table. Then slowly, she began to fan out the cards, spreading them so a little of each one, still face down, was showing, until an arc of cards lay before her.

Was she ready? Lyra stared at the cards. Four years apart and their connection should have been dormant. Four years since they had last conversed, since she had last used her gift, it should have needed awakening.

And yet the power within her was stirring. Hand now hovering over the cards, she felt a tingling sensation radiating out from her palm.

Did Janellia know what she had done in returning these cards to Lyra? Lyra looked up into the mirror at her own reflection. It was her turn smile. Of course not. The silly woman had no idea.

Lyra closed her eyes. Soon the tingling sensation reached her solar plexus, and she knew the old connection was re-established. It was strong. It was vibrant. It was as if they had never been apart.

Voices of spirits came to her. Colours, in swirls of every shade and hue danced before her eyes. She was no longer alone. She had been kept apart from everyone and everything for four years, but now she had a foothold once more in the world.

Slowly she opened her eyes, and pulled out a card. It showed a young woman holding the head of a lion in her hands. She was unafraid. She was fearless. The card she had pulled was Strength.

'Yes, I am strong, aren't I?' she whispered. And for the first time in four years, she felt like it.

* * *

Thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please feel free to press that magic star and vote for it. Or share your thoughts and leave me a comment.

So Lyra does not like Elian, yet Janellia seems to think he has the power to change Lyra's position. What do you think to Janellia's plan? And what of the connection between Lyra and her cards, a connection that should have been dormant and slow to strengthen, but wasn't? Is Lyra as strong as she thinks the cards are telling her? Or is it wishful thinking? I would love to hear what you think!

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Have a wonderful day!