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A Man Returned
95. Soul Sisters - Alex

95. Soul Sisters - Alex

Ellas

Alex

‘I don’t understand any of this. I don't understand how it can be… how you can be. But I also do not care. You are here with me now, and you are my sister regardless that you are named Carthia,’ I said.

The three of us sat together in David's tent – I could not think of him as Kane, he would always be David to me regardless of what I called him aloud – with a makeshift table between us. Carthia, the woman I truly believed to be my sister, was by my side, as she had been in the hours since we finally found them, and David sat opposite facing us.

We had ridden hard almost from the moment that I recovered; my new found sister astride her horse not three feet from me.

Hours we rode, resting the horses only sparingly, until David finally called a halt. And all the while, I stole glances at the woman Carthia, my sister, and always she caught me and returned my smile ten fold she smiled, exactly as Sarah used to do.

It made no sense, none at all. David had told me that the woman, Carthia looked like me, that she was my twin. But she was no simple look alike, she was my sister, Sarah.

How? I did not know, but neither did I care. I was happy to accept it for the miracle that it was. But David wanted to understand… he thought that it, that we, were important in some way to what was to come.

‘You are not alone, Alexandria. Kane, here,’ she said, with a scornful look at David, ‘the one you name David, has a great deal to explain. Long he talked of you, but never did he say of your looks… of how you were as a twin to me.’

Again, the look she gave David should have caused him to hide his head in shame. But he didn’t, he sat grinning as he looked at each of us in turn.

‘I wanted to tell you, Carthia. Indeed, it was of Alex, that I wished to speak with you earlier. I held back before, not because I wished to keep a secret from you, but because I did not understand what it meant, or more importantly, how telling you of Alex would affect you. I am truly sorry that I did not speak of this sooner… but now, I do not think that the outcome would have changed, even had I told you all.’

‘I wish to be angry with you, Kane. But how could such an emotion possibly survive on the day that my sister is returned to me?’

‘You lost your sister, too?’ I asked, gently.

Carthia grinned. ‘You are my sister, the loss is now in the past. Never again shall I leave your side.’

‘Can you explain just a little, Carthia?’ David asked. ‘It may be important… how could anything that brings the two of you together not be important? And Jain should be here, too. He may be able to make sense of the riddle that is the two of you… and Ja—’ David abruptly fell silent as his eyes met Carthia’s scowl.

‘I will tell you of my sister, and of my dreams. But to only you, Kane… and my sister of course. I do not want Jain dissecting every word I utter, and bringing meaning to what is not there… You know how he is.’

‘Dreams?’ I spluttered.

But before I could say more, Carthia squeezed my hand tightly and said, ‘Yes, dreams, my sister. Dreams of a sister I could never truly hold until this day… I will tell you both all of it… But no Jain!’

‘As you wish. It is, after all, your story to tell to whomever you wish. But, you too, Alex, will need to tell Carthia of your book and Sarah’s dreams… they are important, too, I am sure.’

This time it was Carthia’s turn to show surprise. ‘Sarah, your sister, she had dreams? What dreams? Tell me of them.’

‘One at a time, Carthia. I believe you were about to tell us of your sister… and of your dreams. Alex can tell you of Sarah later, perhaps when you’re alone… I already know that story. Though…’ David trailed off, as though suddenly deep in thought.

‘Spit it out, David,’ I said. ‘Say whatever it is that’s on your mind.’

Carthia laughed. ‘I think that you will not easily get my sister to name you Kane.’

I laughed, too, but David ignored both of us. ‘I missed you so very much, Alex. For a very long time I missed you, and then I found Carthia, and she, in many ways, replaced you in my memories, even down to your so very curt and abrupt mannerisms.’

I felt heat rise in my face even as his words replayed across my mind, very long time. And then, questions broke through the excitement and confusion that had clouded my mind since finding my sister – many, many questions.

‘Long time? What do you mean by that, it’s only been months since you left us? And how can you be with Carthia? You said that she was the one who sent you back… so how are you now with her? How can that be?’

I suddenly had nothing but questions, hundreds of questions, but I was also aware that I was almost shouting at David, in my urgency to get answers. ‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘I’ve only just realised how weird this situation is… all of it.’

‘It’s okay, Alex. You’re not alone. We all think it’s weird… don’t we, Carthia?’

Carthia squeezed my hand again. ‘Strange, is what I would say… but Jain would say that it is how the prophecies dictate it must be,’ Carthia said, with laugh, ‘…and that is why it is best if you relate our stories to him, Kane… when we two are far, far away.’

David almost choked as he laughed with Carthia. A joke, I though. David had told me some of Jain and his prophecies, but not enough that I could join in. I hardly knew the man, and from what Jalholm had said, he had saved my life only hours ago. And, there was that nagging feeling that I had seen him before somewhere. But where? How could I have? Patience girl, I thought. You’ll get your answers. Let’s just hear what Sarah’s got to say first.

I spluttered, and almost choked at my thoughts. ‘Sorry,’ I said, as they both stared at me. ‘Something in my throat that’s all.’ Sarah, I'd thought of her as Sarah… And what’s wrong with that? She is my sister. I’ve just got to learn to call her by her new name, Carthia… and if I slipped up occasionally, she will forgive me. After all, that’s what sisters do.

‘Shall I begin, then?’ Carthia asked.

I nodded, just as David said, ‘Please do,’ with a smile on his face that reached all the way to his eyes and made them gleam.

Carthia smiled back. ‘I joined Kane and his group years ago, when I was little more than a child. He knows a great deal of my life before that time, but even he does not know of my dreams… and before you berate me for keeping this from you, Kane, this is what I wished to tell you of earlier… and have wanted to tell you since the dreams returned. But I did not tell you for fear of you thinking me mad… that and Anna said that I should not—’

‘Anna?’ David blurted. ‘She knew of this? Of your dreams?’

‘Of course she did. From the first we met, she knew that I was troubled. And you knew Anna more than any… she could not allow the most lowly of creatures to suffer. We talked many a time, and slowly she showed me how to bear the pain of my loss.’

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‘You talk as Anna did… in riddles! What loss? You were just an angry child, a seventeen year old brat who had suffered a hard upbringing,’ David said, with a grin on his face.

‘Seventeen,’ I muttered, almost to myself. ‘That was when Sarah died. She was only seventeen.’

‘Your sister died, truly died? I was… I was there… with her. You were crying, screaming at me not to leave your… and then you faded away… and I felt a loss so great that it almost crushed me. I was there, Alex, there with you… it was a dream, the last I dreamt of you until you returned to me, not a month past.’

Tears streamed down my face, and my voice was choked as I spoke, ‘I don’t understand any of this. You dreamt of me, saw me through Sarah’s eyes… and Sarah dreamt of you, and saw you with me, only I was Alexandria, as you now call me. We fought battles together, she said… side by side, we fought evil wherever we found it. She… we, wrote it all down… all of her stories, her dreams.’

We were both crying, leaning on each other for support, neither understanding, while David sat silent, a puzzled look on his face.

Finally, Carthia pulled away from me and broke the silence.

‘You have questions, Kane. But I beg you to remain silent while I continue my tale. Perhaps understanding will come when our stories are done. If not... then you may ask your questions… and talk with Jain of what we speak – he I am sure will have prophetic words that will give give some measure of explanation.’ Her final words were laced with sarcasm.

Strange, I thought. The David I knew would have trusted Jain with his life, and yet here was one of his companions talking of Jain with obvious disdain, and he not saying a word in Jain's defence.

‘Don’t you Trust Jain, Sister?’ As soon as the word was out, I felt so very strange. This woman before me did not have Sarah's memories, was not Sarah, a small part of me knew. And yet she was my sister – that I did not doubt, could not doubt. Somehow my sister’s soul lived in this woman.

Sarah and Carthia had somehow shared a soul, or whatever it was that held the essence of a life.

The small part be damned, Carthia was my sister, and I loved her.

Carthia and David stared at me waiting for me to say more, to explain my question, and yet also as if they had somehow heard my thoughts. I flushed even as my mouth barrelled on. ‘You speak of him with such distaste that it appears you dislike him immensely.’

‘Jain? What is there not to trust? No, you confuse my dislike of his words of prophecy with my feelings for the man. How could I not trust one who Kane has spoken so highly, one who he would trust with his very life?

'And more than all that, Jain has, in the short time he has been with us, become as a father to me, well as a grandfather, I suppose, as this one here, has long been my father,’ Carthia said, as she smiled at David, who returned her smile a hundred fold as he beamed at her compliment.

‘But do I trust him?’ Carthia continued. ‘Of course I do, and more than that I love the pompous old fool. But he can also be a great bore, especially when he drones on and on about his so very wonderful prophecies. That is what you hear in my voice, Sister… my lack of patience for his words, and his sometimes smug grin when he holds something back.

'Regardless, enough talk of Jain. Let me continue that we may get to your story, Alexandria.’

‘Sorry, I misunderstood.’ My turn to blush.

With a big grin Carthia grasped my hand and squeezed. ‘Since a child, as far back as I can remember, I have had you as a sister… Alexandria.

'In the earliest of my dreams you were always there – we played as small children, just you and I… we needed no others. Alone, you and I against the world.

'I teased you with your name; chanted Alexandria over and over. Do you not remember? You said that you hated the name, insisted that I instead name you Alex. But I refused, and so you said you would not talk to me until I relented.

'It was an hour or more until you finally gave up and spoke… you were so very stubborn—’

‘And you then surprised me by telling me that you would concede to my wishes and call me Alex… and then we both hugged and laughed, and promised to never again hurt each other,’ I said, as the memories of that day flooded back and threatened to overwhelm me.

‘You were there! There with me all the time. You lived two lives… Carthia by day, and Sarah by night in your dreams. And Sarah dreamt of you at night… but in her dreams, I was with you. I fought with you, were there at your side. How could that be? You had no sister, no real sister… your sister lived only in your dreams.’

‘That is not important. My dreams were real to me... we were true sisters, if only in dreams. And now, we are here together, together in the flesh… and nothing will ever again come between us. I will not loose you again, I promise.’

As she again squeezed my hand, dread took me as thoughts of Carthia’s loss filled my mind. Though I knew her answer, I could not help but press to hear her words. ‘You said that you lost your sister… you talked of your loss earlier, said that Anna saw it in you. What happened? Did your dreams just stop?’

‘The dreams did stop… but I awoke from the last dream knowing that you were lost to me. Knowing immediately that you would not return to me another night. I cried until long past the sun’s rising and for days to follow.’

‘Tell me of it,’ I asked, the dread now threatening to overwhelm me.

‘Dreams are seldom clear, Sister. And I did not truly know what it was I experienced in my dreams for weeks, perhaps months before that final night. My dreams then were just different somehow; I saw through clouds, and all was hazy and distant.

'That last dream, you were there, you looked down at me as though from a great height. You cried, and I did not know why. I wanted to comfort you, but the words would not come. And then all faded away, you faded away, and I was awake. I did not know what had happened… but I knew that you were gone.

'And until you came back to me those few weeks ago, I thought you lost to me forever."

‘Your dreams began again?’ David asked ‘When? Was that why you seemed so happy… even when our losses were so great? But that was weeks ago. Why would the dreams suddenly begin again.’ David's attention turned to me as his question finished.

‘We have been here a few weeks. Perhaps my presence here on Ellas is what caused the dreams to begin again.’

‘Weeks? You have been here weeks? Doing what… looking for me?’

‘What else would it be that we were doing?’ I said, exasperation plain in my voice. ‘And almost from the moment we arrived, his servants have chased us. We spent more time running, than we did asking after you. We were almost captured a few times… we would not be here now at all if not for—’

‘Best if we finish that story later, Alex… when we’re all together,’ David said, shaking his head as if to forestall any questions I had.

‘You are still as rude as ever. Do not interrupt my sister so!’ Carthia snapped.

Jalholm. Of course, he hasn’t told anyone who he is yet, I thought.

‘It’s okay, Carthia,’ I said. He’s right, better if I wait to tell our story.

Carthia huffed, but said no more.

In an attempt to change the subject of my companion, Jalholm, I said, ‘What was it all for, David? What were all the messages about?’

‘I’d really would rather you called me Kane, Alex. The David that you knew I left behind a long, long time ago. I told you of Kane, and how my father had wanted me named. That now is my true name, a name I took for sanity’s sake.’

‘Not so long for me… Kane. Not so long at all, but I will try. But back to my question… all that happened on Earth, all we went through… what was it for? Who sent the messages, and who were those that attacked you and came after us, too?’

‘So they did cause him to run. I thought that that must be it… but what do you mean? Did they come after you, too?’

I arched my eyebrows. ‘You must have known that they might, why else would you give Jamie the phone and get him to—’

‘Phone? Jamie? Alex, I don’t know what you are talking of. Truly, I do not.’

‘You gave Jamie a phone and told him to watch over me. You said that some people might try to hurt me, and that Jamie was to call you on that phone if he ever saw anything out of the ordinary. It was why Jamie came to me in the first place… because he’d seen… someone, and thought he was the threat you’d talked of.’

‘No, Alex,’ David said, shaking his head. ‘I did no such thing. When did this happen? When was it that I am supposed to have given Jamie the phone?’

‘I don’t know exactly, and I can’t really ask him, can I?’

I tried for a laugh but only a weak croak left my mouth, my suddenly ever so dry mouth. What the hell is going on?

‘But I do know that Jamie spoke to you on the phone, the phone you gave him, after you used the rod and disappeared that day. Weeks after, in fact. He told you of… the man and you told him not to worry. He was convinced that it was you… and… and someone with Sarah’s voice spoke to me on the same phone.

'She warned us, told us to run… Don’t look at me like that. I’m not mad. It really happened, it was Sarah’s voice…’ Oh my God… it was Carthia. It must have been Carthia’s voice. I held a hand to my mouth as my mind flooded with the strange things that had happened after David’s disappearance – Pauline swearing that she had seen him, Jamie speaking to him, Sarah’s voice – and then there was Jalholm, the dream warning he’d had at the hospital. He said that I’d warned him.

‘You’re right. You didn’t give the phone to Jamie,’ I blurted. ‘But you will… and yet in some ways you already have. So strange, so very strange.’

And so I told David all that had happened since he’d left us, and what the only conclusion could be – that he… and at least Carthia, must return. Or was it me that I spoke to? Had I heard myself speak? Had I warned us?

‘Stranger and stranger, Alex. ‘Less than six months ago, I only had suspicions of who it was sent the messages… or at least some of the messages, and who it was guided me toward my return to Ellas.

'It was Jain who helped me to conclude that it was I who orchestrated those events, and now you heap upon those mysteries even more to ponder on.