Page 150 of To Free a Soul
Hopefully Reia sees my feather when she wakes up,she thought with a warm smile at their snuggling.
If not, Lindiwe would have to find the opportune moment to speak with her privately. After what had happened, and how he’d almost lost Reia, she doubted Orpheus would be feeling inclined to allow anyone – let alone someone he barely trusted – near his preciousbride.
It will also be easier to speak to her alone.
As she perched in a tree to rest during the long wait, dusk blanketed the Veil with oncoming darkness. Every time the feather fluttered away, she used a tentacle to put it back.
Eventually, blonde hair rose above the sill as Reia sat up. Hereyes blinked lazily when she peered outside, likely gauging the time of day, then her gaze narrowed.Good. She’s seen it.
Before long, she exited the quaint log cabin home with a white gown on – a wedding dress of another offering that had yet to be dyed a colour.
“Hello. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Reia said, lifting the feather Lindiwe left behind. “You keep leaving me these.”
“And you keep following them. You’ve been a very good human in letting me guide you,” she answered with mirth, happy that everything had worked out, despite the fact that it all could’ve easily ended in tragedy.
“You’re lucky I have. It’s only because you made the garden grow, and that Orpheus trusts in you, that I was able to follow your clues to the bookshop.”
“Perhaps it is instinctual that he trusts me.” Lindiwe said this but knew it wasn’t true. Their instincts told themnotto trust her, but with Orpheus in particular... perhaps it was the past he couldn’t remember well that allowed Lindiwe a presence in his heart – despite how much someone else had tried, fervently, to make him turn against her. “Are you not going to step out of the salt circle?”
Reia stepped forward bravely, and it was in that moment Lindiwe truly became smitten with her.Orpheus needs someone like this. Someone courageous in the face of everything that could be dangerous to help him out of the broken shell he’s been forced to hide in.Stern, yet kind.
“Did you know I was going to be taken by the Demon King? Is that why you gave me all the books?”
Yes...But also no. It had never been certain that Jabez would, although it’d always been likely. Being prepared for the future, whatever it may have been – either Jabez or a stray Demon that tried to rip its claws into her – had always been Lindiwe’s goal.
She also didn’t want to give the impression she was omniscient, when she absolutely wasn’t.
“Not at all, but it wasn’t hard to guess what would happen. You wanted to learn how to wield a sword, and I provided a way for you to be taught. History wanted to repeat itself, but it did not expect a girl to be her own knight in shining armour.”
A snort of laughter burst from Reia. “I got stabbed in the back by a dagger and died. Some hero I was.”
Lindiwe lifted her gaze towards the house and the direction of Orpheus.
“But you were his. You killed his past and gave him a future he has always sought.” Pride swelled in her chest, as well as gratitude, even if she tried to hide it in her expression. She kicked her legs to give the impression that this was all meaningless to her, despite how she’d been worried every minute of every day. “How does it feel to be a Phantom?”
“Like I can escape the world.” Reia folded her arms and lifted a brow. “You knew I would become one if I gave him my soul, so why didn’t you tell him?”
“Sometimes mystery leaves us wanting more.”
Because they didn’t actually know what would happen, only that their child could have a bride. Their abilities beyond that were unknown, as was this bond.
“Then what of the children’s book? It was very funny where you left your feather.Beauty and the Beast, really?”
“Didn’t you enjoy reading it to him? Your story is not the same, but you still fell in love with someone most find hideous.”
Someone no one else wanted to love. Which made her a pillar of hope for dozens of her children across the world. Lindiwe planned to share this possibility with all of them.
“But the beast was a dick in the beginning, and Orpheus was kind to me the entire time.”
“He was also worse. You were almost eaten many times,” she reminded her. “I didn’t think you would survive, and yet here you are, speaking with me as though I have done something wrong.”
She sighed.Why does everyone treat me like I’m the bad guy?She was trying her hardest to help, but she also had to protect herself and her bruised heart. She had to distance herself, otherwise she worried she’d grow...tiredof wanting to be here.
Living forever was hard. It was harder when she felt alone and had been made an outcast by the very creatures she sought to love and be loved by in return.
If she let them hurt her too much, and with her future with Weldir despondent, Lindiwe wondered if there was a point where she just wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. She may be a Phantom, and to everyone some strange, otherworldly spirit, but in actuality, she was human.
She had limits.
