Free The Heartstone by Lisa Finnegan

arced through her. She shuddered and gave in to rapture.
    Something shook her, breaking the cocoon of bliss. She opened her eyes. Cerynus slapped her lightly. He held her by the shoulders, concerned. Drenched in sweat she sat up. Her head spiked with pain. She felt hung over.
    “What happened?” She groaned. He gave her a water skin. She drank greedily. “The wild magic almost got you. It can be seductive and some have been lost forever. “
    “Ow.” Gently she massaged her throbbing temples.
    “You’ll be alright. Never lose yourself in any magic. When you use the Heartstone you must draw on your own inner strength and identity.”
    “What?” Ariana looked blankly at him. She almost laughed through the pounding in her head. How was she supposed to draw on her identity when she didn’t know who she was anymore? She could hardly hear him through the pounding in her head.
    “Come, we’ll go back to Shady Vale. You can go to the bathing pool. It will soothe your head.” Cerynus said.
    Numbly Ariana nodded. Her head felt like it was going to explode. Cerynus spoke a word and the pain subsided to a dull ache. She made a mental note to learn that trick. She went to the pool and washed away the last of the pain under the waterfall. She also washed her clothes then set them on the rocks to dry in the sun. For this moment at least she was content. Floating on her back after washing her hair with the herb soap Cerynus had given her she sighed. The sky was blue and the sun was warm on her face. Her headache wasn’t even a memory. Eventually she paddled to the edge of the pool and dressed in her now dry clothes. She hoped some of the honey cakes were left in the kitchen.
    That night she sat in front of the fire with Cerynus. They had finished a simple but hearty meal. Ariana looked at him. “Who does the cooking?”
    “I do.”
    “When?” She laughed, “I never see you in the kitchen.”
    “I enhance my cooking with magic. It’s simple to keep a pot of stew or porridge boiling. I trade for the milk and butter. I make the bannocks and bread once a week.”
    Cerynus glanced at her. “While you were bathing I did some research. In the vision, your mother was dressed as a guardian of Galancarrig. Only people with the most powerful magical talent were considered to be guardians. It was a post handed down through families along the female line. It was a great honor. The Guardians vowed to protect the Heartstone. When Galancarrig was destroyed it was believed all died in the carnage and that the Stone was lost forever.”
    “If she was a priestess or something how could she have a baby?”
    “The Guardians were not celibate and to be taken as a partner by a guardian was a high honor. When a child was born to the pair that child could choose to remain as a guardian or was free to choose another path. There was a whole community at Galancarrig. They say there are still some remnants in the Serenvale Mountains.”
    “So there may be people there who knew my mother?”
    Cerynus looked at her. “It was a long time ago.”
    “How long?”
    “Thirty years.”
    “That’s crazy. I’m only twenty five.”
    “I don’t have an answer for you.”
    Ariana didn’t want to believe him. “Is there any way to prove any of this?”
    “I was reading about a certain mark. Do you have any birthmarks my dear?”
    Slowly Ariana lifted the hair behind her left ear. Nestled behind her ear was a small mark. Cerynus handed her a parchment with a sketch on it. It was a star, the same as the mark behind her ear. She could still remember when she’d realized it was there. The hairdresser had asked her why she hid such a cool tattoo. She’d looked in the mirror appalled. Ever since then she wore her hair low over her ears to stop the questions. This was it, more proof. It was all too much. It seemed she had no choice.
    There was something else...” he hesitated. “Do you know who the youth was at the end of the vision?”
    Ariana