Sacrificed to the Dragon

14. Midnight divinations

Katherine walks around as if in a trance for the last two days. The shock she has felt has not worn off yet. She is unable to do anything and luckily Agneta hasn’t assigned her a new job. The keeper is busy with something else and it seems to Katherine that she has been forgotten. It suits her, because she can’t concentrate on anything right now. Her mind is reeling with all the possibilities this new knowledge has brought her. But the thought of freeing her people is still there. Are they her people or his? Damn, she is so confused!

She barely even leaves her room these few days and the dragon hasn’t come looking for her either. Anery did, however. She brought her lunch and even tried to get her to see one of the healers, but Katherine knows there is nothing wrong with her. She needs to cope with the information she has been given. She needs to accept the truth of it and live with the burden of knowing.

There is a knock on her door late one evening and she wonders who it might be. She doesn’t have many visitors, Lory and Anny have been by before and she doesn’t expect anyone. She drags her tired body to the door and opens it with a grunt. The shock of seeing his face almost floors her and only his fast reflexes save her from falling on her butt.

“Come with me.” Cellan tells her. “You need a distraction.”

“Where are we going?” Katherine asks and he smirks at her. He is still getting used to the questions.

“To the library.” He answers.

“I can’t concentrate on books right now.” Katherine whines and drags her feet after him.

“You don’t have to. We are going to research something that has been bothering me for a while now.” He tells her and urges her to walk faster. 

“Alright, if it’s that important to you.” She gives in and follows him. And she is surprised to see them going to the grand library, not the small private one.

They stop at the history section in the grand library and Cellan begins pulling out books on names and families of Loredan. Katherine frowns and she helps him carry the books over to a small table. She wonders what this is all about and the bad feeling that he will tell her more secrets is back. She sits carefully in a chair opposite his and waits for instructions.

“Do you know the significance of family names and letters?” Cellan asks her and she thinks she would rather call him the dragon. At least in her mind. 

“Err. No.” Katherine stammers. “Not something I thought about.”

“I see. They kept you in the dark about many things.” He starts to explain. “Each family has a letter for the names and some have a few family names to come back to. Like your father, King Loriel. Your great grandfather was Loriel. Your Aunt Leanna got her name after your grandmother.”

“Oh, by the gods! My name starts with a K!” Katherine exclaims. “Why?”

“We’re going to find out. That was bothering me. Not only do you have brown eyes, you have a different name.” Cellan answers her.

“Are Agneta and Anery relatives?” She asks the first thing on her mind.

“They are cousins. Agneta came here two years before Anery.” He nods to her.

“Ariston was born here. Their great grandmothers were sisters.” He smiles at the memories. “I never asked why not even one of them broke the tradition of names.”

“Are you hoping to find some predecessors in my family line with a K name? Maybe in my mothers line?” She asks and hopes that there is something to be found. 

“Yes. Do you know what your mother’s family crest was before she married your father?” He inquires.

“Lions.” Katherine whispers and pulls the right book from the pile they have on the table in front of them. She flips through the pages and finds her mother. Both Katherine and her brother are marked in the book. She traces her fingers back and all the names start with L. Page for page, as far back as to her great grandfather Loriel. So, her mother and father are distant cousins a few times removed. There are only L names in both books. She looks at Cellan and her eyes must be wide as saucers. The fear of not knowing creeps up on her and she starts to sweat and shake.

“Am I not their daughter? Why would they name me Katherine?” She whispers.

“We can find out, but it won’t be pleasant.” Cellan tells her quietly.

“How? We can’t exactly go to the palace and ask them.” She wonders.

“We do a divination. I was planning to do one for you.” He smiles ruefully. “I wanted to see your future, but right now, knowing your past would be more useful.”

“A divination?” Katherine is surprised. “Aren’t those reserved for the most powerful mages? I read about those. There is just one mage in all of Loredan that can perform a divination.”

“I can do it. My dragon blood makes my magic stronger. There is not much I can’t do. I just don’t flaunt my magic skills, so don’t go telling on me.” Cellan surprises her.

“I won’t tell.” Katherine whispers.

“Come.” He gets up and sends all the books back on their shelves with telekinesis, just to make a point to her. “We’ll get Anery and set things up. Tonight is perfect, because we have a full moon to boost the magic.”

“Why do we need Anery?” Katherine wants to know.

“We need a witness, so I’m thinking that Agneta and Ariston need to come, too.” Cellan answers her with no fuss. “Otherwise it’s just our words and anyone can say we made it up.”

“I'm afraid of what you might find.” She whispers.

“Don’t be. The truth might be a burden for a few days, but you need to know.” He tells her. “I need to know how to teach you magic. I need to understand why the fire didn’t obey you and why I knew the wind spell wouldn’t work. You are different.”

After Cellan told Agneta to find her husband and meet them in the west tower, they knocked on Anery’s door. Katherine is dreading the mistress's reaction when she sees her with Lord Cellan. BUt to her great surprise, Anery opens the door with a smile on her face.

“Good evening, Katherine. I see you figured him out.” Anery chuckles.

“He was kind enough to give me a lot of clues.” Katherine smiles back.

“We are going to do a divination for Katherine. I want you there as a witness.” Cellan interrupts their bonding time.

“Are you sure? There is no going back if you know the future she is destined to.” Anery inquires and Katherine can see the worry in her eyes.

“We’re not looking into her future. There was something bothering me since I brought her here. I finally realised what it is and we couldn’t find anything in the family chronicles.” Cellan explains to Anery.

“Why is she named Katherine when every one else in her family only has L names for generations? And why are her eyes brown?” Anery laughs. “I have thought about this myself and came up with nothing. I can’t remember anyone with brown eyes.”

“We will find out at midnight.” Cellan smiles. “Please come up to the west tower.”

“I can come with you now.” Anery smiles back at him and closes her room’s door.

Katherine thinks about the easy way they talk with each other and she thinks it has a lot to do with how normal and kind Cellan is. She can’t picture him enraged and destroying things. She can talk about anything with Anery, but it will take time for her to do so with Cellan. She needs to get used to all the things he has told her and look past them at the person he is now.

The top of the west tower is a circular room with a small table and a sea of pillows on the floor. There is a bookshelf with magic books, just judging from the covers Katherine can see. There are candles lit in small glasses and the atmosphere is cozy and inviting.

“Katherine?” Cellan nudges her gently. “Sit in the center by the table. I promise this won’t hurt you.” 

“I trust you.” Katherine whispers and sits in the spot he showed her.

“Anery will watch over you, too.” He tells her and brings a book to the table. It is a heavy looking book with iron inlays on the cover. He flips it open near the middle and finds the right spell like he has done this a thousand times before.

Katherine doesn’t understand the words and the sage he is burning is clouding up her mind. She has trouble keeping her eyes opened but she forces herself to endure the smoke. It is gone as fast as it came, only a lingering smell persists in the air. There are images in the mirror. And she can’t even remember if the mirror was there before or if it just came to be out of nowhere. 

She watches herself and she knows that the image is showing them a celebration from a few years ago. She is much younger and bored. And her mother is scolding her again for something she hasn’t done. Then it changes to an earlier incident. Katherine is five years old in that hideous dress her mother made her wear and she is crying. Her mother is screaming at her and she remembers that it was the first evening of many she had to go to bed hungry. 

The image changes again to a cradle in a fancy room. The queen is there alone and she is looking at the little girl with disgust. The baby has brown eyes and she seems to be just a few days old. She lays there in the cradle peaceful and calm, looking at the queen with her big brown eyes. And the queen takes a pillow from the bed. She brings it over the baby and presses down hard.

The sudden burst of white light from the inside of the cradle makes her stumble back in shock. The baby is in there unharmed and still looking at her with those unnatural eyes. The king steps from behind a privacy screen and shakes his head at her.

“You will take care of her and raise her as our daughter. It’s your fault that her mother died.” He makes his voice boom and she cringes back from him.

“Why should I take care of your transgressions? You had an affair with that damn elf!” The queen shouts back.

“Tit for tat, my dear. I know you’re cheating on me with the elven emissary!” He storms out of the room and the mirror goes dark. 

“Heaven help us!” Anery whispers. “Brown eyes… Lady Katania, the keeper of the sacred lake.”

“Who was she?” Agneta asks quietly.

“The Elven king’s bastard daughter.” Anery answers and looks straight into Cellan’s eyes.