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Yet, it’s the most complicated issue in the universe, because I can’t have them both.
Despite the complexity of our situation, for a few precious moments, I’m completely at peace deep inside… perhaps for the first time in my life.
My epiphany about Gandalf’s riddle comes back to me. Is this the freedom he spoke of?
But I know it won’t last; it never does. It’s as fleeting as time itself. But for right now, I’ll take it.
The three of us are connected—I’m the go-between. An odd current runs through me. It’s unnerving, yet strangely familiar. Is it the same for them? Do they feel this too?
It’s like all our hearts are synchronizing and beating as one.
One unit.
One soul.
Could that really be? Or am I making this up in my head? It’s probably fanciful thinking.
Yet, I can’t help but hope that it isn’t and that this electric flow between us will miraculously dissolve the elephant in the room… each man wanting me for himself and the other dead.
Maybe if they understand what’s going on, if they understand the significance of the three of us being together…
I open my eyes, looking from one to the other, determined to make them see.
“There is something I haven’t told either of you,” I begin, sitting up and leaning against the headboards.
A look of surprise registers on their faces.
“Two years ago, on a trip to Scotland, a man approached me in a pub.”Beside me, Tiero tenses. It makes me smile; some things never change. “He was an old man, and he didn’t hit on me.” I’m fast to assure him.
My words have the intended effect and his shoulders relax. “He gave me some sort of riddle that confused the hell out of me. He was drunk, and I would normally have dismissed what he said, but something struck a chord. Plus, the locals told me that the guy was known as the town’s oracle. Apparently, when he gets drunk, he receives prophetic inspiration, and more often than not it turns out true. Rhia and I dubbed him drunken Gandalf.”
Both men are silent and look at me expectantly.
“He said, ‘Your soul is not in one but three. Find all parts, you must, to be completely free.’
“At first, I thought he was talking about my parents. I was so distraught after their accident… I feared I would die soon to be reunited with them.
“But while you two were pointing your guns at each other, I realized he wasn’t talking about my parents. He was talking about the two of you.”
I pause to let that sink in.
“You two are the missing pieces of my soul.”The profoundness of this strikes me anew.
“And then on the ship to the States I became friends with the ship’s psychic. I broke one of her trinkets. It smashed into three pieces and she had a vision. She told me my soul’s mission was to be complete again.
“I wanted to brush it aside as total humbug. But how could I when I have had these life-altering moments with both of you?
“I don’t know how it all works… It’s really uncanny. Did any of us have any choice in this? Were we always destined to find each other?It feels like that to me. How do circumstances and events all line up like this?”
My gaze has been wandering between the men, but now lands on Tiero.
“How did you even find us? We’ve been so careful.”
Tiero rubs his chin, looking first at Aiden, then back at me. “You were. It took me a while to work out that you were feeding me false information. Freemont obviously was involved, but that didn’t necessarily mean you were in America. Uberto was investigating that avenue when I had a dream. It led me to believe you were in Brazil. The Formula One was a lucky guess. I took a chance you would show up there.”
“See, this is what I mean. Something is bringing us together. What are the odds of you having a dream that then sets the wheels in motion for you to find me when you otherwise wouldn’t have?”
“I would have always found you,” Tiero immediately interjects, making Aiden roll his eyes and me smirk.
