Season's Change Winter's Plight Book 1

7 Trust

A/N

This chapter previously held the 11th position in the story. It seems to fit better into the flow and feel that I wanted here. In rereading and revising I added several hundred words to this in hopes, of course, of giving you a better experience in reading it and hopefully eliminating some confusing language and contextual flaws. That too much technical stuff? Okay, okay. I hope I fixed it.

As always please leave a vote maybe take a moment to comment or ask questions should something not be clear. 

I hope you enjoy the read. Thank you for giving me your time.

Always,

Shelly Keller

Trust

Esther had never witnessed or taken part in any ritual or prayer that left her feeling the way she did the moment she stepped into the moonlight. She never heard voices inside her head either, but early that winter morning as she stepped into her mother's chambers, she felt a power she could not deny and heard a beautiful and elegant voice inside her head. 'Trust...' it said. Trust what?

"Trust!"

She was tempted to ask who or what again, but she got the overwhelming sense that it would be a very bad idea, more likely, that she wasn't prepared for the answer. Since she felt a sense of calm and peace, she figured she just wasn't prepared for the answer. She stepped further into the moonlight spilling through the window and opened her heart and her mind to whatever, whoever had reached out to her and her mother. She was full of worry and concern for her brothers. Not just one, both. She carried that burden into the light with her. She was still bound to them which meant both were still alive, one much more solidly than the other. Avriel was just barely hanging on. She held the most concern for him in her heart. Their connection, once the strongest, was now the weakest. She was scared for her younger brother and feared for his life.

Her fear for him was far greater than her fear of the unknown. She was frightened, yes, but she was terrified for Avriel. Something was happening that she could not explain no matter how much she wanted to. She felt the magic in the air and though she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with it, she was still filled with fear. Her fear didn't stop her from seeking answers. She had a feeling the moonlight held at least one. Was her little brother alive? She stepped into it boldly.

She reached out to Avriel through the natural connection that they shared. On rare occasions, she could feel what he felt and was experiencing as he felt and experienced them. Especially if his emotions were particularly strong. Most of the priestesses in their lands could commune or connect to the warriors that they were bound to. It was their gift. They would often accompany them in battle in that way. The priestesses had much better control of the connections and could even walk in their bond-mates dreams or body. Though that was usually achieved through hours of prayer and special herbs and spells, all under the control and tutelage of the High Priestess. Esther was not a priestess, not even in the least bit, yet she could connect to her little brother since him and her older brother's life force.

Feelings that were not her own washed over her. There was a sense of calm, like a peaceful dream, a minor irritation in her shoulder and general discomfort. The harder she tried to concentrate on the connection, the foggier her vision became. Her whole world shifted and changed. She felt as if she moved into a waking dream. All she could do was watch through another's eyes as a mysterious figure moved about a small dark cavern like she was watching it move from a space inside the cave. The figure's shape suggested it was female, possibly a Faye. The body shape was right for that. The hair was silver and long. It hung loosely down a long narrow back to a super thin waist that Esther was positive she could grip, and her fingers would still touch. For a split second, she was jealous. Esther could not see the Faye's face as she was bent over a fire with her back to her. The light from the fire caused the female to shield her eyes from its brightness. Esther found that odd and discerning, but she was having a hard time separating her own feelings from the others.

Something caused the Faye to turn in her direction. Esther was met with large silver eyes cast in what could only be suspicious worry and concern, set in a face with skin as dark as the darkest night. Esther tried to pull back, to break whatever it was that bound her to him, it was a him that she was bound to. A very familiar him, but the bond was stronger than she was. She watched as the Dark Faye's mouth moved and drew over to the one Esther was bound to. Esther tried to crawl out of the way, to move and get away, but her body was sluggish and cold. It would not respond. A touch of fear washed over her, then warmth and confusion. The Faye's eyes were liquid silver pools of care and concern. In her hands, she did not hold a blade or any of the other cruel instruments it was rumored the Dark used. She held a strip of wet cloth.

It only took Esther a moment to realize that she was in someone else's body and was seeing what it was that they saw. She realized that there was only one person she could connect to like that, only one person in all the world. She was in her brother's body, and the Dark was caring for her, for him! The Dark reached up with the cloth and gently held it to his lips. Esther could feel the cool cloth pressed so lightly and with such great care. She also felt relief move through a body that suddenly felt parched and deprived as he pulled the cool water in. The Dark brushed her hair behind one pointed ear to keep it out of her eyes. For as terrifying as it was to see a Dark and to know that one was caring for her brother the only thought that reached her mind was that she was beautiful. Esther wondered if that thought was her own or his. She watched the dark's hand move toward them and reach over and move his hair from in front of his face. She could see her, running it between her fingers to feel its texture and for a moment, Esther glimpsed her brother's long dark hair. It was dirty and matted. The Dark shook her head as she looked at it too. Her lips moved again as she shook her head and she gently let his hair fall back. Shivers went up his spine as the Dark ran those long dexterous fingers over his ear and pushed his hair back behind it and then through his beard. The dark's eyes held curiosity and care. She dipped the cloth into something next to her and brought the wet cloth up to his lips again to let him drink. When he was done, she moved away to the fire. She returned with a bowl of something hot, a comb made of bone and another cloth. Esther was more than shocked. It appeared that the Dark was going to clean him and groom him.

The tenderness and caring the Dark gave to him, Esther's little brother was nothing short of amazing to her. She watched through his eyes as the Dark began to gently wipe his face clean with the cloth that she could feel was warm. She felt a sense of warmth, comfort, and peace wash over him as the Dark began to wash him. It suddenly occurred to her. He had to be awake and aware of the care that he was given, yet he did not move or make a sound. Surely, she would have heard him speak as she was in his head and felt him move because she was sharing his body, but he remained motionless and silent. That was discerning and slightly distressing. Slowly the fog of the dream began to fade, and Esther was returned to her own cold reality. Her heart held less fear than it did before but still held fear.

As she came back to herself, Esther was a bit shaken but more relaxed than she had been in the weeks since Avriel had departed on his quest. She not only knew that he was alive, but that he was being taken care of. She felt her feet touch down on the floor of her mother's chambers. She hadn't even realized that her feet had left the floor. The warmth began to slowly recede from the room. Whatever presence had stood with them and allowed her to see what her brother saw and feel what he felt, to know that he was cared for, was leaving them.

She was still euphoric from her dream state. She wrapped her mother in her warm arms and pulled her back into the room, then closed the windows and the heavy winter drapes.

"Trust..." Whispered on the breeze as she closed those curtains. She smiled for the first time since Avriel left home.