Page 61 of Curse of Immortality
Khalid exchanged a glance with Maria before placing a hand on Althea’s shoulder and talking in a soft tone. “No parent should outlive their children. I understand and sympathize with both of you for your losses.”
“I didn’t have any children,” Althea clarified to correct the misunderstanding.
“But if fear kept you from having children then doesn’t that feel like a loss to you as well?”
Althea looked down and as she reflected on Khalid’s words, a wave of grief washed over her. With no men in her life, children had never been an option for her. There were several attractive men in Orenda who would make great fathers, but she would outlive all of them and it was more than her heart could bear.
“I wish we’d had Orenda sooner. My friend Annabel would have been a wonderful mother and grandmother. She loved children.”
Maria smiled. “Remember what you just said about my family being with me. I’m sure Annabel is with you as well. She’s at peace with Zosia and so is everyone else we’ve lost,” Althea dwelled on her words because they brought up thoughts of her sister. She had thought a lot about Maeve since her conversation with Zosia. For the first time, she opened up and talked about her to Maria and Khalid. “I have a sister who is still alive. I lost her many years ago after our aunt was executed. Grief drove her crazy and she became a different person from the loving sister I used to know. I’ll spare you the details, but things didn’t end well between us, and we went our separate ways.” Althea closed the last window after they had washed it and together, Khalid, Maria, and she walked through the village. With an endless forest to roam, the cottages were well spaced out, all getting a good amount of privacy and some getting their large meadows entirely to themselves.
“Did she arrive here, yet?” Khalid asked as they took a turn down a thin dirt trail with fruit trees’ boughs hanging above their heads.
“No. Maybe she doesn’t know about Orenda or maybe she’s refusing to come,” Althea speculated.
“I don’t think that’s it.” Khalid shook his head. “Zosia collectively whispered out to all Earthens. Could it be that your sister is nervous about seeing you again? Maybe she worries that you’re angry or disappointed with her.”
“Yes,” Maria agreed. “You should find her, Althea. Family is everything! I would give anything to have my husband and boys here. I never had a sister, but you may actually have a chance to reconnect with yours.”
“I’ve been considering it a lot lately, but it’s been so long that it feels like another lifetime has passed since I knew her,” Althea said and felt her heart ache from the memories of the last time she’d seen Maeve.
“Do you know where she lives?” Khalid asked.
“No. But Zosia mentioned her, and that tells me she’s still around.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Khalid brushed his hand against Althea’s back as they passed the large field where Earthens were harvesting and growing food. Everything was colorful and lush, and several women raised their heads and waved as they passed.
In her strong Spanish accent, Maria said, “You’re young, dear; now that we finally have a place to be safe, it’s time to be courageous. If for some reason your sister rejects your offer of living in Orenda, at least you’ll know that you did your part to mend the relationship between you.”
Althea smiled and didn’t tell Maria that she was the older of the two. She preferred not to talk about her immortality. Eventually, they would catch on to it, and she would need to answer all the questions that came with it. But for now, she felt like maybe she could escape the curse itself and pretend to be normal for a while. “To be honest, I don’t know how Maeve would react to seeing me again. We didn’t separate on good terms.”
Maria took Althea’s hand. “If it doesn’t go well with your sister, you’ll still have all of us waiting for you back here with hugs. We’re your new family.”
They had reached Althea’s cute little yellow cottage surrounded by trees and meadows.
“I think I’ll seek Maeve out and invite her to join us here. I’m not the same person I was when we went our separate ways, so I have to assume she’s changed as well. Hopefully for the better.” With her mind made up, Althea nodded and parted from Maria and Khalid before she headed inside her charming home surrounded by flower bushes and fruit trees, a place she wished she could have shown Rose and Annabel.
Picking up her medical bag she returned outside and walked out of her garden to the nearby forest where the trees were green with moss. She had learned never to create portals inside her garden the hard way. The one time she did it, all the petals from her blooming roses and rhododendron flew up to form the portal and as a result, her beautiful bushes were left completely bare afterward.
Closing her eyes, Althea set the intention for the portal to take her to whoever needed her help in that time. When she opened her eyes, a portal had formed from sticks and pinecones showing her a well in front of a town with tall towers. The sun was setting in that realm and the light shone softly as to welcome her to the human world. Remembering her promise to Zosia, Althea stepped through the portal to find the person she needed to help.
Chapter 24
Strangers with a Past
It had been almost fifty years since Althea and Maeve had last seen one another.
Once Althea set out to find her sister, she picked up a trail of material wealth that far surpassed anything she could have imagined. Within the half-century, since Maeve had started her jewelry empire, it had grown to be the most profitable and best-known jewelry store in England. After Queen Elizabeth became one of Maeve’s best customers, the rest of high society followed suit, competing for jewelry with the biggest and most exquisite diamonds and jewels. Standing in London outside the glamorous home in Mayfair where her sister now lived, Althea thought about the contrast to Rose’s crooked, old house in the forest where they had grown up together.
Closing her eyes, Althea tried to push out the memory of the crazy rage in Maeve’s expression the last time she’d seen her. In her nightmares, she had often relived how, that day, Maeve had thrown her through the air like a rag doll and knocked her unconscious when she hit a wall.
For decades, Althea had considered her sister dead to her. After Maeve’s horrendous act of burning down an entire town and killing the people who lived there, she had concluded that the sister she had once loved no longer walked the earth.
But maybe it was time to get to know the new Maeve and make amends; after all, Orenda was all about new beginnings and hope.
She took a deep steadying breath as the people on the crowded street passed in a blur of color.
With Althea traveling so much, she knew she was a difficult person to find. And yet, she wondered if her sister had even tried to locate her. She doubted it. In her mind, it made sense that Maeve would feel ashamed of what she’d done. If Althea hadn’t been immortal, Maeve’s violent attack would have killed her. Surely, Maeve felt remorseful about what happened and today she would get a chance to apologize.
