The Custodian Chronicles: The Rising (Finished)

Chapter 28: Lady Eldalane

Cedrick found himself sitting in a beautiful garden, though he knew he'd never seen it before. There were attractive fruit trees all around; a river streamed across the smooth path in front of him. Flowers bloomed ubiquitously, yet, the air was laced with pale pink mist as if designed to keep him from seeing too much.

Cedrick was confused. How did he get there? He stood and looked around, but the more he tried to focus the more he couldn't see. Something peculiar was going on. Cedrick could feel he wasn't supposed to be there, but then -- if that was the case -- why was he there, and how did he get there?

Cedrick studied the white bench he'd been sitting on. He felt very odd, as if he was lighter than he should have been. No, that wasn't it. Cedrick couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt... different. It was like trying to describe the kind of tired he felt after healing someone. Yet, it wasn't like being tired. It was... neutral... not feeling any emotion very strongly, which was odd for Cedrick. As an enchanter, he always felt something, even if he didn't realize it. The feeling of being watched prickled at his neck. That strange sensation was ever present.

"You really have grown, haven't you?"

Cedrick whirled around to see a woman standing there. She was beautiful, petite, with long black hair. She parted it down the middle and it flowed around her face like a stream of living water. She had olive skin as if she spent all of her time in the sun. Her warm-colored lips made you feel their glow, and her eyes... Cedrick froze. He knew those eyes, knew them better than any others in the world. They... were his eyes.

They were deep blue, the same shape, same shade, same depth. Yet as Cedrick looked into those eyes he saw someone else. For the first time, he looked into his own eyes and saw someone who was not himself. Cedrick knew instantly, whatever this was, it was real. It was impossible to fake the depth of person in those eyes. No magic could do that. Only a real living being behind those eyes could do that.

Each limb in turn joined the shudder that filled Cedrick's body. Only one other person in the world had ever had his eyes... but it couldn't be. It wasn't possible; it just wasn't. She couldn't be... but as Cedrick looked, he saw more familiar sights.

That nose was Arylana's for sure. Those were his ears, and those Arylana's lips. That curl at the corner of her mouth was just like Roxorim's. Then those eyes... Cedrick couldn't help staring at them. Her hair was the same texture and shade of his own.

"No..." Cedrick shook his head. "It can't be."

"You even talk like me." The woman smiled; a tear in the corner of her eyes... his eyes.

"M-mother?" Cedrick breathed, unable to believe it. "M-mom?"

The woman smiled wider than ever. Now that was Roxorim's smile, warmed-hearted, loving, caring, unmistakable. Who else could be so like all of them, so like him?

As he studied her, he found more of himself in her features: her hair, her eyes, her hands, her nose, her ears, and her voice had the same trill Cedrick found himself doing, without knowing how he learned it. She moved her eyes the same way he did. The style in which she tilted her head to one side as she appraised him: he did the same thing when he was appraising other people.

"Can it really be?" Cedrick said.

"Yes." The woman beamed. "Cedrick, it is me. It's your mother. Oh... look how you've grown."

Cedrick's breathing accelerated. His heart pounded against his ribs. He was sure she would be able to see it beating, even from that distance. He longed to touch her, but he was afraid. What if it was all fake? But he knew it couldn't be, not the life in those eyes.