AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Allera nodded slowly, the color leaching from her cheeks. “Yes. He was my first husband.”
“Your one true love,” I murmured softly.
Allera gave another nod and glanced away. “Yes. He was from Lowden. He barely escaped there after the Graykeys massacred his family for joining the revolt against them. I met him when I was helping tend to the refugees flooding into High Cliff at that time. After we were married, he enlisted with our army under Urban’s command. And… And he died fighting to grant his people freedom.”
“I…” Cutting myself short, I glanced away, not wanting to say anything and worried talking about it with her would only bring her more pain. With a frown, I shook my head, because what I wanted to say sounded too crazy to say aloud, anyway.
Allera politely lifted her eyebrows. “You were saying?”
I shook my head some more. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t want to cause any—”
She waved a hand. “No, please. Don’t worry about that. You have me too curious now. Tell me what you were going to say.”
“It’s just… I’m not sure how to explain it.” I laughed at myself and looked down at my hands. “It’s just… I’d never heard the name Jazon before until…” I shook my head some more, realizing how crazy I was going to sound if I spoke this aloud.
“Until when?” Allera pressed curiously.
I sighed and admitted, “Well, lately, I’ve been having the oddest dreams.”
A look of amusement crossed her features. “Is that so? Since you gave birth to Anniston, perhaps?”
I thought about it a moment before nodding. “Yes. That sounds exactly right, actually. Is it a new mother affliction, you think?”
Allera laughed. “No, I’m sorry. But, no, I think it’s more of an Urban affliction?”
That name caused me to jolt. I blinked rapidly before shaking my head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I’d say it happened when he kissed you. The magic in his eye mark, it kind of joined your life forces together when he brought you back from the dead. Not that either of you will die now when the other one does or anything like that, but you’ll share things from here on out, like dreams.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “I don’t… I mean, are you sure? What else do we share?”
“Oh, I’m sure most of it’s quite one-sided, since he’s the one with the mark and you’re not, which makes me wonder how you’re able to share the dreams at all, but oh well. I never understood everything about the mark. I just know he’ll always know when you’re close, and it could probably point him in the right direction to find you again if you were far away. And he’ll be able to sense when you experience extreme emotion, like the height of fear or love, things like that. Then there are the dreams. Whichever one of you falls asleep first rules the dreaming for that episode, and the second person gets sucked into the first person’s vision once they join the sleep world. I imagine you must be up and down with Anniston so much at night that Urban’s probably leading your dreams more often than not.”
Dazed by so much information, I just stared at Allera, not sure I wanted to know how tied to her brother I really was.
She leaned toward me and gripped my forearm. “Does this mean you saw Jazon in one of Urban’s dreams?” Happy tears bloomed in her eyes and a smile spread. “What was he doing? Fishing in that godawful loch behind the castle again? I swear, that’s all he and Urban ever did together.”
“No, he was…” When I realized what I was going to say, I immediately shut up.
Allera frowned. “What’s wrong? What was he doing?”
I shook my head. “I don’t… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started this. You don’t want to hear this.”
“No, please.” She nearly lost her hold on Anniston so she could grip my arm again to waylay me when I went to stand. “I do want to hear. What? What did you see?”
I sank slowly into my chair and sent her a sad glance. “He was dying,” I whispered. Then I shook my head. “He’s always dying, the same way. In every dream.”
Allera let go of me and pulled back, tucking my child closer to her. Then she shook her head. “But that’s not… I mean, I didn’t realize Urban was there when Jazon died.”
I gulped, hoping I hadn’t said too much. “They’re just dreams,” I started, helpfully. “It doesn’t mean any of them really happened.”
“But the same thing happens every time?”
Since I’d already admitted as much, I nodded. “Yes.”
“They’re probably memories then. Tell me. Please. How did he die?” When I opened my mouth to protest, she cut in. “In Urban’s dreams, then? How does he die in Urban’s dreams?”
“There was a war,” I said softly. “There was fighting all around at the edge of an open field where a forest started. He—Jazon—was sitting upright and leaning back against the trunk of a tree, his chest torn open, and blood mixing with the tattered chain mail that hung off his shoulders.”
