Helen had had a little trouble sleeping that night. She had never slept in a bed before, at least not as long as she could remember. It was soft and springy, and she sunk into it. Helen had been so used to huddling under fallen trees, in caves, or just on grass. This was too… comforting.
That was why she had wandered out that night and found Richard. She had been meaning to ask him about why he was so mean to the others and wanted to ask him to try to be nicer. Then she had opened up and he had as well. When Richard had admitted that his father would not be coming to save him and probably hates him anyway, Helen was moved with compassion and couldn’t help herself kissing his cheek before leaving.
She still felt his smooth skin on her lips.
As she headed down the collection of stairs, ladders, and pulleys to the ground, she passed Luke who looked down with his eyes widened at the ground below. “Be calm, be calm, it’s okay, you’re not gonna fall, you’re not gonna fall, don’t look down…” Although he was trying his best to calm himself down, Helen still saw his arms shaking as he descended a ladder.
“You okay, Luke?” Helen called up above her.
“Mhm, yeah, no, I’m doing just fine…” Luke called back and continued saying calming words to himself. Helen knew he was going to be fine, so she smiled a little to herself.
She hadn’t smiled a real smile in a while.
At breakfast, Helen noticed every time she looked over at Richard, he would look away, his face flushing.
Had Helen done anything wrong? Maybe he didn’t like the things she had said last night.
They spent a day at the Secret Woods, helping the residents, and trying to come up with a plan after they left.
Skylar the entire time was calmer and happier. This was her home and she just felt better in it. Helen even saw her laugh.
Helen wished she could have a place to call home.
…
That night, they all sat around a campfire, including some of the Secret Woods’ inhabitants. The Protectors.
There were young Protectors, old Protectors, families of Protectors, Helen was pretty sure the entire town or village or whatever had shown up.
They had food and drinks, and everyone was laughing and having a great time.
Chris, the Protector who had first greeted them, now stood on an old stump and got the crowd’s attention.
“Now as you can see we have some visitors,” he shouted over the crowd’s voices at first, but they eventually quieted down. “We first thought them to be threats, but one of our own, Skylar Verlice, has shown us they can be our friends.”
Verlice. That was Skylar’s last name. It was a beautiful last name, and Helen thought it fit Skylar well. She didn’t know why it surprised her and again wondered about such a thing as a last name. She didn’t even know if Helen was the name her parents gave her. She just raised herself and called herself that.
“We have Richard Calibaster, Peter Webster, and Luke Doogan from Bellona,” Chris introduced the boys, and the crowd cheered for them. Richard glared at the crowd, but accepted their praise, Luke shyly smiled, and Peter beamed. Helen couldn’t help but giggle at his wide grin as the crowd clapped.
“We have Alice Ellison from the northeast in Thuron,” Chris extended his arm to Alice, who shyly stood and waved. She wasn’t used to the spotlight.
“And Helen, from somewhere in Hilgaria.” Helen was a bit embarrassed that she wasn’t introduced with a last name, or even a place to call home. But she stood, feeling her face turn red. Why was she ashamed?
“And, of course, one of our own, a great fighter, daughter of Jackson Verlice, a great general of the Protectors, Skylar Verlice!”
Skylar stood, proud and smiling, as the crowd cheered especially loud for her.
“These six children are the children of the Great Prophecy of the Six. One that has been told by a follower of the Great Luna herself.” Chris pointed his hand at the moon.
‘Great Luna?’ Helen asked herself, it must be the goddess the worship, and that made sense. Skylar and the rest of the protectors had pale skin, almost white like the moon, their eyes were a yellow which the moon looked like sometimes, their hair almost as dark as night. And it appeared that Skylar’s and Chris’ birthmarks looked like the waning moon that night.
They worshipped the moon.
After the introductions were made, more festivities occurred, until there was singing and dancing.
“Who here can sing?” Chris shouted over the crowd. A few Protectors raised their hands, but what surprised Helen the most was that two of their friends raised their hands.
Luke and Alice.
They shyly walked up to Chris and the other singers and Chris started singing a folk song.
It went like this:
“I heard a tale as a little lad,
And it went a bit like this:
‘If you see the moon disappear,
You can bet it’s not amiss,
See Luna gets tired a couple times,
And she changes ev’ry month,
She goes from there to gone and back,
Like my maiden ev’ry month,’”
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“Oh, the beautiful moon,
The beautiful moon,
She disappears sometimes,
But when I see her comin’ back,
I can’t believe my eyes,
Oh, the beautiful moon,
The beautiful moon,
She disappears sometimes,
But when I see her comin’ back,
I can’t believe my eyes,”
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“But now I know that she disappears,
It makes me rest assured,
That my beautiful moon will come back,
To see me next month,
She goes through things like phases,
From big to small and back,
And just like my maiden,
She’ll always come back,”
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“Oh, the beautiful moon,
The beautiful moon,
She disappears sometimes,
But when I see her comin’ back,
I can’t believe my eyes,
Oh, the beautiful moon,
The beautiful moon,
She disappears sometimes,
But when I see her comin’ back,
I can’t believe my eyes,”
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“So trust me lad, when I say,
That Luna will come back,
Cause I see her ev’ry month,
And I know she will come back,”
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“Oh, the beautiful moon,
The beautiful moon,
She disappears sometimes,
But when I see her comin’ back,
I can’t believe my eyes,
Oh, the beautiful moon,
The beautiful moon,
She disappears sometimes,
But when I see her comin’ back,
I can’t believe my eyes.”
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When the song was over, the crowd cheered, and as it quieted down, Luke boldly walked onto the stump.
“I’d like to sing an old lullaby my mother would sing to me, and I would sing to my brothers in turn. If…that’s okay.”
So Luke sang the song, and it went like this:
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“My love, my love,
Do not fear,
‘Tis only a dream,
You see here,
‘T’will be o’er in a moment soon,
And all will be good,
While I’m at your side,
Nothing can hurt you,
Forever in time,
I love you.”
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For some reason, Alice knew the lullaby too. And when Luke repeated it, she joined in.
It was such a beautiful duet that a couple of the women in the crowd began to cry.
Helen herself felt her heart be drawn to the song, and soon she was swallowing a lump in her throat and holding back tears.
She knew that song.
A memory came back to her then, from when she was little.
She only saw a glimpse of it, but suddenly remembered a face. A woman’s face, tan with beautiful brown eyes and honey-colored hair. She sang that song.
Helen felt like she was her mother.
Helen had a mother.
The realization hit her so quickly that she had to hold on to the log she was sitting on to keep her balance.
She couldn’t believe it. That had to be her mother. That beautiful woman had Helen’s hair color and the same face shape and everything. Helen had a mother.
‘If I have a mother,’ Helen thought, ‘I must have a father, then too.’
Even so, the shock kept coming back to her. She had remembered. She had a mother...
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Hey guys!
Just so you guys know, this is the halfway point of the book, so woohoo! We're halfway there! (Literally livin' on a prayer)
So, yeah, there's not too much left, and don't worry the 2nd book will come out soon after!
I love you all, hope you have a good day, and remember to love each other always!
ns 15.158.61.5da2
