Zodiac Academy 8.5: Beyond The Veil

I rested my head against Hamish’s shoulder as we lay curled together in a hammock, tethered between two palm trees on our little private beach in our rooms. The sea lapped calmly against the shore, and I found such peace in my husband’s arms, his fingers trailing up and down my spine so soothing that I almost fell asleep. We had created something of a honeymoon resort for our space in the Eternal Palace, a vacation we had never had a chance to take together in life.

A knock came at the door in the wooden cabin behind us and Hamish mumbled sleepily, “Who the devil is dancing on our doorstep?”

“I’ll go see,” I said, placing a kiss on his lips then climbing out of the hammock and adjusting my rose pink bikini before heading inside.

My body was mine now. And nothing about my skin felt tainted by him anymore. Even my mind was lighter, the dark memories of Lionel’s insidious touch lessening with each day I was here. Perhaps The Veil was designed to help you find peace, or maybe I was just able to let go of it all at last. Hamish made it easy for me to just be me. He had never once made a derisive comment about me, belittled me, or made feel anything less than the person I was. It was like coming home after years of being shut out in the cold.

I moved through our summer cabin, covering myself in a silken white robe with nothing but a thought. I opened the door, finding Radcliff there in his golden clothes, looking slightly sheepish.

“Ah, hello,” he said. “May I come in?”

“If you like.” I stepped aside and he moved into the cabin, looking around it with intrigue.

Hamish appeared beyond the open doors that led onto the sandy beach, snapping the band of his swimming trunks against his hips. “Radcliff, you old tripper trapper. Fancy a dip?”

“Not just now, Hamish,” he said. “In a moment perhaps. I would like a word with Catalina.”

“Say no more. I shall wet my whipper and meet you in the depths of the orry ocean for a splish and a splash when you are ready for the merriment.”

Hamish summoned a snorkel and bright pink flippers onto his body then went tromping out into the sea with such keenness that it brought a smile to my lips.

“Everything alright?” I asked Radcliff, my gaze creeping over his features that were an echo of Lionel’s. Radcliff’s were softer, more handsome in a pretty boy kind of way, but he reminded me enough of him that it unsettled me some. I’d never really spared much thought for this man whose life had been cut short many years ago, and only when it had come out that Lionel had murdered him had I realised how long my ex-husband had been destroying people’s lives. Of course, I’d pitied Radcliff at that revelation, but I had never once imagined myself face to face with him beyond The Veil.

“The thing is…well…” Radcliff scored a hand down the back of his neck. “I’ve known you quite some time actually, Catalina. I’ve been watching Lionel all these years, scorning him as I do. His mind turns to me more often than you would imagine, thinking of his victory over me.”

“He thinks of me too,” I said bitterly. “Not in ways I like to dwell on.”

“No, but that’s the thing, isn’t it? We are doomed to dwell, lest we take the Destined Door and move on into the after.”

“I will dwell on the lives of my children, that is all.” Sadness touched my words at the thought of Darius, how I should have been watching over him in the living realm now just like I was Xavier. But instead, he was here too. Of all the things Lionel had done, to me, that was the worst of all.

“Yes, it’s best to hold on to the good,” Radcliff said, nodding seriously. “Which is why I wanted to speak with you. You see, when I first came to The Veil, I harboured a lot of rage, a lot of resentment and vitriol towards my brother. Still do, in fact. But for a time, all I could see of my life was my death. Nothing I had achieved leading up to it registered anymore. I never let my thoughts drift to the good parts, never relived the memories which were full of light. Instead, I spiralled into replaying my death from every angle and all the moments leading up to it, trying to see where I might have made better choices that could have led to me surviving that night. I’d hear the buzzing of that norian wasp everywhere I went. The incessant bzz bzz haunting me. At times, I still hear it.” His head snapped sideways as if he could hear it then, his shoulders becoming rigid, then he sighed. “Our deaths can become our greatest traumas, and all the events leading up to them. But I wanted to tell you that I have watched all that has happened to you, witnessed the way your mind was stolen, your emotions locked away…how you so deeply loved your sons and yet could rarely express it. But I knew how much you wanted to.”

A tight ball formed in my throat as I nodded, unable to form any words in response, sure I would break if I thought on it too long.

Radcliff stepped closer, reaching out to squeeze my upper arm. “Catalina, you are a good person who became the victim of an abusive monster. You would have done everything right by your children given the chance, and before my brother got into your head with dark magic, you had so many wonderful moments. Think of those, replay them over and over. Remind yourself of who you were before Lionel got his claws in you, and don’t ever blame yourself for what happened.”

I released a slow breath, then moved forward and wrapped Radcliff in my arms. “You are nothing like your brother,” I whispered, and his shoulders dropped.

“I know it to be so, yet it is always good to hear it.”

I felt the tug of Xavier calling to me and I went to him, pulling Radcliff with me until we found ourselves standing on top of a sun-drenched hill. Xavier was in his beautiful lilac Pegasus form, his wings reattached and flexing against his spine.

I gasped, running to him with joy sweeping across my heart, reaching out to stroke the soft feathers.

“Well dingle my dongle.” Washer sprang up from a patch of long grass to our left in a tiny Speedo, leaving three naked Fae cuddling each other in the fronds. “Your mighty wings have been restored!”

I grimaced as he strode towards my boy, and thankfully Tyler was there to intervene.

“He needs some time to prepare for a flight,” he said in a tone that told Washer to back off.

I had been delighted to witness Xavier’s union with his herd members, his love for both Sofia and Tyler, and theirs for him, making me so very happy. They were good for him after so long kept hidden away from other Fae. They accepted him as he was, and there was no greater gift than that from the people who loved you.

“Well say no more, my boy,” Washer said, moving in front of Xavier, clearly not taking the hint. “Follow my arm movements with your wings, young Xavier. I am an expert in the bendings of the body. A little flexing and jangling should get them in ship shape order.”

He began squatting, stretching his arms either side of him and flapping them like a bird with every squat he did. “Hup, then down. Hup, then down.”

Radcliff jogged up beside him and started mimicking his workout. “Oof, to be fair, that really does open up the hip flexors.”

I snorted a laugh, wondering what Brian Washer would think if he knew who was copying him right now.

Darius appeared beside me so abruptly that I gasped, then broke a smile as I embraced him. “Xavier has restored his wings and is about to take his first flight!”

“Let’s see him shine then.” He squeezed me tight, keeping his arm around me as we looked to Xavier.

Washer was drawing the attention of the rebels at the bottom of the hill and a crowd began to form when they realised Xavier’s wings were back in place. I brimmed with pride at the hope and excitement in people’s eyes as they gazed upon him in all his glittery glory.

“Go on, Xavier!” a young girl called to him, her eyes bright as her mom swept her into her arms so she could see better.

A cheer went up and I cried out with them. Xavier’s cheeks turned pink from the attention, and I reached out to pinch one of them with a grin.

“Don’t be a coward, just go for it,” Darius called, and I shoved an elbow into his ribs.

Xavier started flapping his wings, mimicking Washer’s movements and Sofia and Tyler gave in, joining him in the grass, doing the squats and wing flaps too while Radcliff gave all his energy to it as well.

Xavier whinnied a laugh at them, glitter tumbling from his mane and his wings flashing in the sunlight.

“Go on, baby!” I cried.

“Come on, Xavier,” Darius called.

An oooh broke out from the crowd, their cheers growing louder, more and more people showing up to join in.

“Let’s hope he doesn’t make a tit of himself, eh?” Radcliff called. “He has a track record of doing that.”

“Nonsense,” I clipped. “He’ll be great.”

“At least he’s out there making a grand tit of himself. You’re stuck here titless for all eternity,” Darius said with a smirk and Radcliff blew out a line of smoke in annoyance.

Tyler whipped out his Atlas, aiming it at Xavier and starting to record. “Today, Xavier Acrux has had his wings restored after they were viciously torn from his back by his cruel father, the asshole king. Lame Lionel displayed them on his wall like a trophy and Xavier seized them back in a daring act. Prepare for your mind to be blown, because I’ll be sharing his memories from that wild night in the next article of The Daily Solaria. Long live the Vega Queens!” Tyler shot Xavier a thumbs up and my son dragged his front hoof across the grass, readying to take off.

“I’ve got you if you fall, bro!” Seth Capella pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and Max and Geraldine muscled their way through too.

“Oh my dear, Pego-brother!” Geraldine squealed. “Fly to the clouds and into the yonder. Leave a merry trail of colour in the sky and neigh so loud it stirs your ancestors beyond The Veil.” She wiped a tear from her eye, and I lifted my chin, my chest expanding at all the encouragement.

“You can do it,” Sofia whispered, moving forward to kiss Xavier’s nose and I smiled at them, my heart bathed in happiness. “I believe in you.” She stepped aside and Xavier looked a little nervous as he prepared for his flight.

“You’ve got this, baby. Just focus,” I told him.

“Yah!” Washer cried, slapping him on the rump and Xavier whinnied in alarm, taking off at speed down the hill.

I wanted to kick Washer for that move, but was too focused on my son, nervous and hopeful for him. His wings flapped and he released a neigh of delight just as the wind swept under them and he climbed towards the sky.

I whooped, jumping up and down with Darius, joined by Radcliff who stood with his hands on his hips, admiring the glimmering form of my son wheeling through the air above.

“Big, isn’t he?” Radcliff said cheerily. “He would probably be almost as big as me if I had been a Pegasus.”

“Nah, he’d be bigger by far,” Darius said, earning himself a glare from Radcliff.

I shoved my son’s arm with a laugh then went running down the hill, leaping up and letting the shift ripple down my spine. I burst into my Dragon form, chasing Xavier into the sky and roaring to him in encouragement, his ears flicking like he might just have heard that.

Tyler and Sofia came to join us in the clouds and Radcliff took off too, flying up and doing a somersault above me in his Dragon form. Darius joined us next, his beautiful golden Dragon bursting from his flesh as he fully shifted and followed us into the sky, letting out a bellow that shook the heavens.

Glitter tumbled from the coats and manes of Xavier and his herd, creating trails of light and colour everywhere they went, making the crowd cheer even louder.

Darius swooped along beside me, his right wing brushing against mine, a roar bursting from him in encouragement of his brother.

Xavier was looking our way, a neigh leaving him that said perhaps he knew we were here, celebrating this win with him. And as we twisted and soared through the air, I felt sure that Xavier’s victory was bolstering the hearts of the rebels below. And after so many failures, it was just what they all needed to find it in their hearts to keep fighting.