The Journey of Two Sisters: Book 4 of the Kinstone series

When we exit the forest I look up at her. “Hey Mom, gotta couple questions for you.”

She smiles to me, “Ask away, my darling.”

“Well,” I start, sounding nervous, “the first might drudge up what happened a couple weeks ago.”

She holds me close, “Go ahead, my love.”

“Well…Regulus told me that he had to have an anchor for Diana, which I know to be the nightmare Orobas. I know for certain that it was fueling her hatred of me and giving her power. So…what would happen if it were destroyed? She became frantic when Fenris was dragging her bonded away into his shadow or me blasting it with dragon flame or kitsune-bi. So two things, what happens if you destroy the nightmare and why need the anchor if she was simply resurrected like Selene?”

My mother peers down at me, then back towards the Manor. “Firstly, there is a difference between the two. Firstly, Selene had been dead supposedly for centuries, therefore only needed have her soul tethered to her body. The longer the soul has been away from the body, the easier it is to keep it place due to the weakened barriers between body and soul.”

Her hand then strokes my shoulder. “In the case of Diana, she had only been dead for less than a year. Those same barriers would be far, far stronger. Hence the need for an anchor. The soul, upon death, does not want to return to the living so quickly and will outright refuse to return.”

I look up at her, “If he had killed me, how would he accomplish it? Would he still need to have anchor for…for my soul?”

Rachel holds me even tighter, “Possibly, necromancy is a terrible magical art which utterly corrupts everyone and everything it touches.”

I nod, clinging tighter to her. This is what led to the downfall of Dewloura, however I still don’t know that much about it, even when I talk to my knights. “So if one destroyed the anchor, would that person be freed? Possibly purifying them?”

She smiles, “Clever girl. But yes…yes it would.”

I smile in return, wrapping my tails around her.

She chuckles, “Now you had a second question.”

I grin, “How did you and Arcturus meet? I mean…the both of you kept having googly eyes whenever you were into the same room as each other. And why didn’t you two get married?”

My mother’s face flushes deep red. “To start off, I need to clarify something I told you last year. My departure from the Court wasn’t as abrupt as I led you to believe. After confronting Regulus in Tuscany, I remained in the Court for an additional six months. It was within the final two months, where I met Arcturus. There…there was something about him that I couldn’t get out of my mind.”

I grin mischievously, “You fell in love at first sight.”

Now her face really lit up, causing her to look away. I laugh, “Although Mom, I think it was rather fast after dealing with Regulus.”

She takes a breath and recomposes herself, “Yes…yes I agree. But with Arcturus…it just felt…right.”

It almost made it sound like it was between Kenji and me. My heart basically shot into my throat when I first saw him that day on the beach. The feeling only grew each time I saw him and even worse after our first kiss.

“We often we seen together around the castle,” she continues, “eyeing each other, becoming lost in each other’s gazes when in the same room. It was starting to become a bit of a joke within the Court.” I grinned remembering when he dropped by last December. “After I returned home, we’d often visit the other either here or at his home in Greece.”

Now my grin broadens, “Is that why you left for Greece two years ago and left me with Silvi? And here I thought you only saw Lord Tobias.”

Rachel quickly looks away, only making me burst into laughter.

“Oh Mom…I knew it,” I giggle.

She sighs, clearing her throat, “Anyway, Arcturus came to visit me here as I said, sometimes accompanying me to Solstice festival or whenever I had visitors from the Coven.”

I smirk, “Miss Elizabeth did say the Coven likes him.”

She sighs, shaking her head, “I really need to have a discussion with that woman with what she can divulge to you.”

I laugh. “So when did he ask to marry you?” This is a question I’ve really been wanting to ask her for a while, especially given the past couple of weeks.

She smiles, “Three years ago, but it was actually around the same time that I finished your necklace. With that…I had to start looking after you my precious girl, making sure you were progressing on the right path and were safe.”

I hug her even tighter, “So…why not marry him now? You know I’m on board with the idea.” I then glance at Fenris, who keeps a wary eye on me. I grin, stroking him, “You’ll always be my first dad, Papa Wolf.” He smiles, wrapping a tail around one of mine.

My mother gives me another tight squeeze, “Well, it’s…it’s not that I won’t. I truthfully do believe that he will make an absolutely wonderful father for you. But for now…we must once more put such things on hold.” She leans over and places a kiss onto my head, “I love you, my most precious creation.”

I giggle, “I love you too, Mom.”

We continue on towards the Manor, watching as the sky slowly turns lighter as the afternoon wears on.