Alora: The Wander-Jewel (Alora 1)

“Alora, dear—you have only fifteen years. And Kaevin has only seventeen. You can’t be soulmates.”

She panicked. Would they try to separate them? “There must be some way to prove it. Can’t you test our blood or something?”

“No. There is no test. But we know the soulmate bond is a very rare occurrence that happens between couples who are at least twenty-one years, and usually even older. When it happens, the couples marry quickly, because they are old enough to do so.”

Kaevin lifted his chin. “Never mind. Believe what you will. Alora and I will do what we must to survive. Anyway, we love each other.”

He squeezed her hand, and her heart beat madly as her grin threatened to reappear. Common sense told her it was too soon to speak of love, but she didn’t care. She was floating.

Raelene looked skyward, as if praying for patience.

“Can we have some clothes, please?” begged Alora. “I don’t want to lie down any more. And I have to figure out how to get us back. My uncle’s going to be frantic when we don’t come home, especially if they see that hole in the ice.”

“I don’t believe you should attempt another transport,” said Raelene. “You were very fortunate to have accomplished this one without any training. But we’ll discuss that later.”

Kaevin managed to pull his pants on under the blanket, but Alora waddled in her blanket through the door to a storage room. She shut the door for privacy, which left her in complete darkness. Cracking open the doorway allowed enough light for her to slip into the strange, but comfortable, clothing. She reached for the door handle, freezing as a ripple of nausea attacked her stomach. A strange, raspy voice assaulted her ears.

“Yes, I’m searching for my niece. She has fifteen years. Her father passed and left an inheritance for her.”

Alora peeked through the crack at the man who was speaking to Raelene and Kaevin. He was tall, with brown curly hair and beard. His two companions were checking out every single patient in the room. The nauseous feeling grew, along with an intense desire to pull Kaevin away from the stranger. She held her hand across her mouth, swallowing the saliva that flowed like a fountain from her cheeks.

“I hope you won’t mind if we search for her in Laegenshire. Her name is Lena.”

Alora sucked in a breath when he said her aunt’s name. She peered through the crack. Had he heard her? His eyes seemed to look everywhere at once. His blue eyes. Hadn’t they been green before? As she continued to watch, his brown curly hair turned straight and black, and his nose grew smaller.

It’s my father. Doesn’t anyone recognize him? Didn’t they see him change?

Before her eyes, the other two also morphed their appearances.

“You can search, but you won’t find her here,” said Raelene.

“Thank you for your understanding and aid,” said Vindrake, motioning with his head for his men to follow him outside.

The moment the door closed behind them, Alora dashed from the storage room.

“Did you see that man?” She spoke in an urgent whisper, gripping Kaevin’s arm. “That was my father.”

Raelene shook her head. “No, Alora. Sadly, your father is—”

“—Vindrake. I know. I met him. That was him—that was Vindrake.”

“No, Alora. I was standing close to him.” Kaevin used a patronizing tone she didn’t care for. “You simply couldn’t see him clearly. His eyes were green, not blue. And his hair was nothing like Vindrake’s.”

She tugged Kaevin toward the storage closet. “Yes, that’s what I thought at first. But then he started to change. His eyes turned blue and his hair turned black and straight. His beard was black and straight, too.”

“How do you know what Vindrake looks like?” asked Raelene. “When did you meet him?”

“I met him on Sunday. I talked to him when I was in my hot tub. He recognized me, and told me he was my father and said my mother had told lies about him. And I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. But when he asked my name, I gave my aunt’s name instead of mine, for some reason. Lena. That’s the name I gave him. And now he’s here asking for me by my fake name.” She felt Kaevin rubbing soothing strokes across her hand where she had a death grip on his arm.

“But still, this man... these men weren’t Water Clan,” Raelene insisted.

“I’m telling you I know what I saw. It’s like their faces were masks that just faded away until I could see their real faces underneath.”

A wave of nausea swirled in her abdomen. “He’s coming back,” she croaked, jerking on Kaevin’s arm, pulling him inside,

and closing the storage room door. She left a tiny crack so she could peer out again. The man who was Vindrake paced through the healing house, examining the patients in the beds. His hair was brown and curly. As she concentrated, it lengthened and straightened and darkened, until the guise melted away.

Laethan returned and his sullen demeanor grew grouchier as he spotted the strangers strolling through his healing house.