Spirit Followers Read online

  “A lie, then.”

  Cam kept silent for a few moments, allowing only the clink of spoons on bowls to fill the silence. With difficulty, she made an effort to bring about last night’s discovery. “Amelia, can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “And you promise both an honest and complete answer?”

  Amelia glanced sideways, and eyebrow perched higher than the other. “Yes…” she replied slowly.

  “How long have you known Lord Caddell?”

  Amelia smiled. “Why do you ask?”

  Cam shrugged. “You seemed to have known each other a long time when you were reunited yesterday.”

  Amelia nodded. “We met nearly fifteen years ago, I believe. Or sometime around then. It is hard to recall sometimes.”

  “How?”

  “In Gnosi. My sister andI went there. We hadbeen traveling through Mirabelle for some time…”

  “Did he ever marry?” Cam asked more slowly.

  Amelia’s brows furrowed as she looked up from the table and at Cam. “Yes...she is gone now…”

  “Is Lord Caddell truly my father?” Cam said at last.

  Cam felt almost triumphant, soaking in the woman’s now frozen expression. Amelia’s hand was poised in mid-air, and then hanging limp as the spoon plummeted to the table with a clank. “And who are the Spirit Followers?”

  “Cam! Shhhhhh!” Amelia warned, glancing anxiously at the door. “Not here! Be quiet.”

  “No stalling, Amelia. I need answers,” Cam demanded in an even higher tone.

  Amelia sighed. Relenting, she said, “I will relate all of it to you. But...at a later time.”

  Cam’s eyes narrowed. Was she merely evading the questions? But Amelia’s nervous glances towards the open door said otherwise.

  After a silent breakfast, Amelia led Cam to a library on the first floor; the one in which she had spoken to Peter the night before. The walls were constructed of beautiful, paneled wood which appeared to have been left unpolished for years. “Please, sit,” insisted Amelia quietly as she sank into a velvet cushioned chair.

  “I suppose you listened in on our conversation last night then.”

  Cam nodded, fighting back any shame under Amelia’s reproachful stare. Amelia shook her head. Cam surmised that despite the fact that she had eavesdropped, Amelia would not be angry with her. She had planned on informing her eventually.

  Amelia sat for a fewmoments, composingherself. “Yes,” she answered finally. “Yes, Lord Caddell is your father…by blood.” Her eyes darted from the floor to meet Cam’s. Cam leaned back in her chair, waiting for Amelia to resume.

  “An almost complete stranger is my father,” was the only thought that circulated her brain while Amelia searched her expression.

  “I suppose the beginning would suffice as a starting point.”

  “Yes, that wouldbesufficient.” Cam’s toneformed ina more stiffening state than she had intended.

  “There once was, andstill is a group ofpeoplehidden within Mirabelle who call themselves the Spirit Followers. These people believe that the realms should all work together for one cause, for one deity, for Elyon and use His magic in addition to what is already at our dispense.”

  “More magic?” Cam asked, surprised. There were already four facets of one magic they knew in Mirabelle. And who was to say there weren’t other kinds outside of this nation.

  Amelia nodded. “This…magic is, well…it is a ghost or rather a spirit. The Ghost of Elyon as it has been named. It acts as a guide within us once a blood sacrifice of an infant animal is given. Through ages...hundreds of years since humans first became corrupt, this ghost or spirit has paid our atoned for our misdeeds and allowed us to live.”

  “Are you saying that you follow a god who is…dead?” Cam asked, confusion cascading over her countenance. She had always thought that if a god were real, he would at least be. . . well, alive.

  “No, no, not dead. The Spirit Followers do not believe in such a thing as ghosts as in spirits of the dead that still roam our realm. No, the dead roam other realms. The Ghost of Elyon, however, speaks of Ruach, the part of Elyon that is Spirit. Hence our title...Spirit Followers.” Cam nodded slowly, indicating that she understood.

  At least to a degree.

  Amelia continued. “Years ago, shortly after your birth, the government saw the Spirit Followers as a threat to our society, so they made an attack on the village that the Spirit Followers lived in, which was located in the southernmost parts of Cinis Lumen. Many people’s lives were stolen. Destroyed. The few survivors fled to the Black Mountains and most of them still dwell there in hiding.”

  Amelia’s voice trailed into a whisper, and Cam was leaning forward in interest. She imagined for a moment the map in Grandfather’s library. She recalled that the Black Mountains which were situated in the far reaches of the north, bordering between Gnosi and the line between Mirabelle and the nation of Nazeria. They were drawn in black, reasonably enough.

  “Your father is one of the Spirit Followers, and so was your mother. Your mother... died in the attack.”

  “And you are one of them, apparently,” Cam could only think to say. The thought of her having another mother who hadn’t raised her...could barely sit in her consciousness.

  Amelia nodded. “So are Peter and his father before him. Daniel died in the attack, and Peter’s mother and sister continued living in the Gnosi Realm because their involvement remained undiscovered. Following the attack, your father gave you to Silva and Kazbek and asked them to raise you. They accepted and promised to give you a good home, and then I accepted the duty of a maid there. Lord Caddell and Peter lived among the other Spirit Followers in the Black Mountains until Peter was sixteen.

  “At the time, they had made an alliance with the brother of Gnosi’s leader. The brother recommended them for election and they were made Royals. Since then, their leader has passed and the third brother has taken his place.”

  Amelia gazed at Cam steadily, almost lovingly. Her eyes were dry now but sadness still flickered across her facial aspects. Cam’s fingers pulled on the hem of her shirt. “You, Camaria, can join them. The Spirit Followers that is. They will presently be seeping back into Mirabelle and make the attempt to recruit as many as possible. You can take your place in the ruling body and while traveling for training you can persuade them to join.”

  Cam sat for a moment, drowning in deep thought. “The rebellion…is this emergence as you call it going to be another version of that?”

  To Cam’s surprise, Amelia shook her head. “We have no intention of sparking rebellion. Rather, we wish for restoration.”

  “Do my parents knowabout this?Silva andKazbek,Imean.” Cam asked finally.

  “No, theydon’t andthey won’t.They think that LordCaddell was not a lord but merely a beggar, a poor man who couldn’t care for his daughter. They are just as ignorant to the situation as everyone else besides you and me, your father, and Peter. Everyone else, at least to my knowledge, believes that the Spirit Followers are dead.”

  Something began to dawn on Camaria. She was certain now that the dove represented this spirit of Elyon as Amelia had called it, yet another puzzle piece she could not place. She reflected on the necklace Owen had given her before his disappearance. Could the dove be a sign he was somehow connected to the rebellion of the past or to the restoration of the present?

  “Idon’tknowifIcan beapartofthis,Amelia. Iamincapable of turningan entirenation over to my side. Not that I even want to.” Cam’s words fell from her lips in a more desperate tone now.

  “But you can fight,” replied Amelia firmly. She rested her hand over Cam’s and kneeled before her. “You and the rest of the Spirit Followers will fight to the end. Darkness gathers in heavier clouds. Evil is squirming its way out of the Infernal Cities. And when they reach up to choke our people, we must be prepared to be used as Elyon’s instruments to defeat them.”

  “Idon’t know, Amelia,”Cam statedflatly.Al
umptook shape in her throat.

  “Are you still angry I did not reveal this to you sooner?”

  Cam shook her head and sighed. “It wasn’t your secret to tell. I just wish I had known before that the life I’ve lived so far is a lie.”

  “Your life isn’t a lie, Camaria. You are still you just like you were when you were born and the past years you’ve spent in Medulla.”

  “I wish I had known my real parents,” Cam said in a dull whisper. Amelia stroked her hand gently.

  “Promise me you will consider becoming a part of our restoration?”

  Cam shook her head. “I cannot make any promises. I would not willingly throw myself into what seems a danger such as that on a mere whim. I would not just because my blood would demand it. I have sisters to think of...a heart and a purpose to think of.” She looked directly at Amelia, willing the older woman to understand. “You would not ask that of me, would you?”

  Ameliashookherhead, her eyesnowcast uponthefloor.“Of course not, Cam. This has all come about too quickly if you to make a decision.” A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “And you are wise to not be so rash as I have suggested. I just”

  Cam waited her response in silence.

  Finally, Amelia gathered her words as her eyes began to sparkle. “Your mother would have done it. She threw herself into danger all the time. Until…well your father kept her balanced. And in the end...it wasn’t enough. She lost her life because of it.”

  Amelia slid from her chair, her eyes now sparkling with tears. As she grasped Cam’s hands in her own, Cam found that an ache was beginning to build in her chest. She didn’t want the woman Amelia spoke of to be on her mind. She didn’t want to consider what having had another mother meant...

  “But, Cam...under any circumstances, you must promise all you now know must remain secret for the time being. The more that know the Spirit Followers still exist, the more risk it puts on our execution.”

  “All is safe with me,” Cam promised softly. Partial dread seeped through her at the prospect that she would be keeping her sisters in the dark in much the same way that Amelia had kept the truth hidden from her these past thirteen years.

  “My son is only five years from birth. One day, I will tell him all I have done in Enboria, the Valley of Poison or what others there would call Mingroth, and here in Mirabelle. Emma, my wife knows, but Peter does not. One day, I will tell him, and I will pray he takes no vengeance. Elyon will avenge Leviathan and the Shadow Bearers when the time comes.”

  -Excerpt from a letter written by Daniel Adriel of Gnosi to his comrades Queen Hana and King Azariah in the northern nation of Nazeria just days before his crucifixion.

  Six

  Cam found that Lia laid out glittering gems on chains of several

  sizes for her to wear with her best gown at her presentation that afternoon. Everything she had learned over the past twenty-four hours was still sinking into her brain, dampening her thoughts like a sponge. She didn’t know what to think of any of it.

  Lia was waiting for Cam at the top of the stairs when the young woman appeared. Cam had just departed from her sisters who were preparing to venture outside of the palace. “Have no worries. The Royals don’t bite. Just…use your manners or whatever it is they say in your homeland. It’s what they will expect, considering where you’re from.”

  Amelia was waiting in the hall before a pair of colossal double doors. Lia opened them, allowing the two entrance. “You’ll befine,” shewhisperedto Cam, squeezingher arm. Cam offeredher a nervous smile. She had convinced herself that for the time being that she could disregard what she had recently learned about herself and be all that the Royals expected her to be.

  Expectations , Silva had taught her much of expectations. The room was by far the most expansive Cam had ever set foot in. It resembled the ballroom back home but five times such a size. Crystal chandeliers dangled from the gold-painted ceiling. Long, glass windows were set into high reaching walls on the east and west sides of the room. Red and gold curtains hung from the windows, separated so that light could pour in. At the far end of the room, along the wall were lined in a row sixteen thrones. Fifteen of which were occupied by royally dressed persons.

  The thrones were placed in order of Realm. Four rulers from Cinis Lumen sat on the left end. Their seats were gold with painted scarlet sides. Next to them were three Medulla Realm rulers positioned in silvery and green decorated thrones. There was an empty fourth chair. The one Cam assumed was to be hers. Lord Caddell and Peter were seated with two others from the Gnosi Realm in seats of multi-layered glass. On the right end were four Imber Fel Realm citizens in high-backed blue chairs. There were seven women and eight men; two men and two women from each realm, except the missing woman from Medulla.

  Lord Caddell nodded to Cam in greeting, but she did not hold his gaze for long. Instead, her eyes wandered to Peter’s. He stared back, not curiously or in awe, he just looked. The next moment, Cam realized that the room was hushed, and she and Amelia were standing quite close to the thrones. When they had entered, the group had been engrossed in conversation she knew nothing about. Now, every eye was fixated on her. Cam swallowed hard.

  She was used to being presented before many people, like the presentation at her sixteenth birthday ball, but this diverged in both environment and occasion. She felt as if they though every eye were scrutinizing her. This was, indeed, true. “Welcome, Amelia,” said Lord Caddell in a resonating voice so that all could hear. Amelia merely nodded a greeting.

  “What’s this?” demanded one of Cinis Lumen’s Royals. His appearance reminded Cam of Lia. She assumed that he was her father.

  “My name is Amelia, and this is Camaria Briar from the Medulla Realm. She was elected as of recent, directly following her sixteenth birthday.”

  A round, plump woman in an embellished green dress glared at Cam, without any apparent reason, and interrogated, “Who are your parents?”

  Cam hesitated for a moment. Without control of the movement of her attention, Cam’s eyes darted to Lord Caddell but back tothewoman addressingher just asquickly.“Silva and Kazbek Briar, the leaders of the Medulla Realm.” Her stomach turned. She had told lies before, and one this small should not have her feeling as though she could throw up. This lie, however, reminded her that her entire childhood was not lived in truth’s full capacity.

  The woman nodded. The fat of her wide chin stretched as sheliftedher head. “Ah, I have known them well. Howoldareyou?” Sheaskedthis as ifshehadnotheardAmelia stateCam’s age. Again, Cam answered that she was sixteen.

  “So young!” gasped a Imber Fel Realm woman quietly.

  A regal woman draped in purple gowns rose from beside Peter. Her head was thrust high into the air, giving Cam little doubt that she was from Gnosi. She was thin and declining in her years. “They elected youmere hours after comingof age?” she questioned. She tapped her foot on the floor. “Let me see your necklace.”

  The simple answer to the question would be yes, but Cam knew all were curious as to why she had been chosen. Cam asked this question herself. “Asta said that someone recommended me.” Eventually, the only conclusion Cam came too was that her grandfather and parents had wished a better life for her than she might have otherwise received.

  Cam slipped the chain from her neck and walked towards the woman with summoned confidence, passing Peter. The woman’s long fingers snatched the stone from her palm. The woman’s brow furrowed as she examined it.

  “It is genuine!” she declared, handing it back to Cam. The later had had no doubt that it was genuine, yet she still breathed a sigh of relief at these words. The lump in her throat began to dissolve. “I am Joanna, wife of the former Gnosi leader,” she stated in a bored tone.

  “Are all Gnosi Realm leaders like her?” Cam wondered. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” Cam replied, lying again. This time, her stomach was settled.

  Joanna seated herself once more, and Lord Caddell asked, “Shall we hold a ball
for her?”

  “We’ve done it for everyone else so why not?” replied a woman of Imber Fel cheerfully. Cam learned later that her name was Piety.

  “It is settled,” replied Lia’s father. “We will hold the ball tomorrow night if it can be arranged.”

  “It can,” Joanna affirmed. Her sharp, gray eyes still roving over Cam who was making an enormous effort to ignore her.

  “You may invite your family to attend, and a few days after your ball you will set out to visit the realms and progress through training. Once you have completed training you will become an official member in both our government and our royal court.” Lord Caddell announced. Cam finally forced herself to return his gaze and nodded, expressing that she understood.

  Following the mid-day meal, Lia suggested that she and Cam

  descend into the surrounding areas of the Royalty Realm. Since it would one day be her permanent home, Cam agreed to the proposition. “Each Royal is given their own estate once they have been officiated.” Lia told her.

  “I thought they all lived in the palace” The two girls we re ambling down the main road from the castle, clad in comfortable clothing. Although there were hardly any people out that day, Lia assured Cam that they would see more once they arrived in the trading and fishing parts of the realm.

  “They do, somewhat.” Lia laughed. “They each have their own home, though, for when they seek further privacy than what is provided in their palace chambers.”

  “Do you live with your father?” Cam asked. Lia nodded. She explained that when she was only six years old her mother and brothers had died. She didn’t add how or why. She was nineteen by this point and was satisfied with her work in the Royalty Realm.

  “Sometimes, I return home, to see old friends and such.” Cam and Lia passed a large, stately house beyond black, steel gates. It was built of dark stone. Lia informed Cam that it was the home she dwelled in when not in the southern realm or the lands lying between. Presently, they found themselves surrounded by even more homes, mostly summer retreats.