Edited Part III

After the whole camp was up, dressed, and fed they mounted their horses and set off to meet the Dauphin.

I kept a sharp lookout for those around her that might show the slightest sign of treachery. But I didn’t sense anything, not until we got to our destination. The Dauphin, was surrounded by the type of people who said one thing, but thought quite another.

After some waiting, Joan at last was invited in to see the Dauphin—having been warned beforehand by Valerie that a trick would be played on her—Joan was ready for anything.

Sitting on a throne at the end of the room was a man, I quickly discerned his thoughts, and knew that he was deceiving her. In fact all those present were draped in the same aura of deceit.

Most of them hid their thoughts quite well, and some of them were giddy with the fun of the trick and their thoughts were easy enough to discern.

“Joan” I whispered in her ear as she entered the room. “The man sitting on that throne is not the Prince you are looking for. The real Dauphin hides in the crowd.” I told her and she set out to look for the man through the crowd. But she had never known or seen this Dauphin, so it was up to me to guide her through the sea of strange faces.

Hidden in the shadows I saw a man, who was dressed as any other man in the group, but this man’s thoughts were racing, he seemed nervous and had a shroud of pride around his aura. He caught my interest so I waited, then a thought escaped him and I caught it.

“What? She does not go straight to the throne? She has never seen me, how could she know?” He thought, as he retreated further into the shadows.

“Here!” I shouted to Joan, who immediately turned toward the sound of my voice.

“Your Dauphin is dressed as a common man, and he stands here.” I pointed to the man.

She cut through the crowd deliberately now, making a straight line for the spot where I hovered over the prince. He looked ashen and beads of perspiration were forming on his forehead.

Joan's eyes were riveted on the man I was pointing to her, and made no sound as she bowed to him. Gasps were heard throughout the room, the Dauphin himself stood frozen with his mouth agape.

There was complete silence for a moment, “I’m at your service.” She humbly said to her prince.

“How did you know…?” The dauphin could not finish. She made no reply, she feared being miss-interpreted.

The crowd gathered around her and the Dauphin helped her to her feet.

“Well done Tess!” Valerie exulted as she flew to my side. “I knew you could do it!”

“I'm afraid that this test was easy. In fact, I'm pretty sure that this has sealed her fate." I whispered to Valerie, for fear that Joan might hear me. "This miraculous display, may have won her the support of some, but it has also stirred the jealousies of others."

Sarah Brightman's Album cover

I often listen to www.pandora.com ,it's an online free radio that plays the music you like. I draw a lot of my inspiration for my writing from Celtic music. My personal favorites are Hayley Westerna (I uploaded one of her songs in one of my earlier posts) and Lorena McKennitt. Lots of other artists pop up as well when you listen to Pandora radio, so that's when I saw this. I first approached the computer because I liked her singing, and I wanted to see who was singing. Then I saw the cover! I loved it! If I could choose a cover for my book today it would be this one. There are only a few things I would change about this, her tiara, I would make that to look more like an aura...not a halo, an aura--brightness emanating from her.

I have other ideas as well, but this has my favorite colors and is so beautiful... like her singing!

Edited Part II

Joan was a sweet and mild mannered girl who had been chosen by the Eternals to free her people. This mission she accepted before she was born, and now she had to accomplish it. She had the added benefit of her gift that allowed her to see and speak with angels. All this she took in stride, while carefully managing a whole army of rough grown men.

Once the introductions were made, Joan excused herself and went back to her training. Valerie and I looked after her with awe.

“…Half the people she meets think she is crazy, and the other half believe her and follow her. It’s amazing Tess, to see how quickly mortals forget about our side of the Veil.” Valerie said, half musing to herself.

“That’s the whole purpose of the veil—to forget.” I said with a tinge of bitterness. I dreaded the veil and its consequences; I hated the thought of losing all my memories of heaven, of friends and more importantly, Alex.

“I know that” Valerie said reproachfully, “but some people seem to retain a certain… memory or imprint of what was, while others fear it and reject it completely. I wonder why?” Valerie said absentmindedly. “It wasn’t so long ago that we were all together.” She made a sweeping motion with her hand, signaling to all the mortals that surrounded us.

“I can tell this mission has given you a lot to think about.” I told her.

“Yes, it has. Listen Tess, tomorrow she will go before the Dauphin—a prince of sorts—she needs his permission to lead his armies, even though she’s been doing it for a while already.” Valerie rolled her eyes. I could tell she didn’t think too highly of this Dauphin. “In my vision I saw him being persuaded to trick her somehow, I don’t know how exactly, but whatever it is, it’s supposed to expose her as a fraud. You see, she has a reputation as someone who receives Heavenly help, and there are those who are jealous of this, they are the ones who want her to fail.”

“I’ll do my best Val, I promise.” I said, hoping that all my training and all those Gifts classes would pay off.

Valerie and I watched as evening turned into night, and all the mortals fell asleep. Hovering over Joan’s bed I studied her face. She rested peacefully, but I could tell that her mind was burdened.

Now that she was asleep, her unconscious thoughts came to me freely. She didn’t like the life of a soldier, but this was her mission; she had accepted it before she was born and now she was going to see it through.

I couldn’t help wonder what I would be asked to do. What mission would I be entrusted with? Would I embrace it like Joan or ignore it, like so many other mortals do? Was I strong enough to see whatever the Eternals asked of me through?