Free The 13th Descent: Book One of The Rosefire Trilogy by Ky Lehman Page B

and priestesses in both the ancient ways and the ways of the time, so you could help reconnect all Earthborn souls to their origins, as well as being a living example of the balance humankind was fast losing its understanding of. And, when the time came for the two of you to share yourselves with the world, you were both so enlightened, those who listened soon found themselves remembering home too.
    “Word of a good thing always spreads fast, and crowds from far and wide came to hear the two of you speak.” He chuckles. “You soon ended up with a small band of groupies who followed you from place to place, and it didn’t take us long to adopt them as family. As if we had a choice,” he says, smiling and shaking his head. “They were keen students and we shared with them all we knew, and with their help, many souls began to find their way out of the darkness. This brought about change: change that started to even the balance and threaten the Master’s control.” His face grows solemn and he repositions himself so he is facing me. “And what would be the quickest and easiest way for the Masters to fix this growing problem of theirs, Ren?” he asks, testing to see if I remember the worst of it.
    S adly, I do know the answer. “Execution,” I growl.
    “Yes. A very long and public one. And it worked for the most part too. Fear sent some into hiding, but most went straight back into the shadows.” He shifts in his seat and stares off into the distance. “But before the Masters had Joshua taken away to be executed, we all agreed that in order to protect you, your unborn child, and our friends and family who had escaped prosecution, we had to leave our homeland and quick.
    “ Ari’s wealth bought us a boat and for those manning the coastline to look the other way.  The five of us and your unborn child made it across the Mediterranean Sea and settled in a foreign but friendly land under the protection of Ari’s friends. For a while, we lived in peace, until we received word from our homeland that the Masters were still trying to find you; to find all of us. So, our small group separated, and travelled the world helping the lost.”
    He pauses, inhales deeply and continues, “Over the years that followed, most of our loved ones were hunted down and tortured, but they all stayed silent, keeping you safe. When the Masters realised that they might never find you, they decided that the only way to end you once and for all was to drag your name through the mud-”
    Aunt Romey ’s history lesson has already taught me the next bit. “And turned my truth into a dirty lie,” I seethe.
    “That’s right . As well as the truth of all those who came after you,” he adds.
    After a long contemplative pause, I ask him, “How many Roses have there been?”
    “ There is a birth every generation. And, every Rose is born with memories of where evidence of truth can be found,” he says and stops, no doubt waiting for something to spark.
    I t doesn’t. Both my brain and my mouth fall slack.
    His patient smile reassures me that it’s alright, but we still sit quietly for a bit longer before he throws me another bone. “What remains of Shoshanna, Joshua and your descendants can only be found through the collective memories of three living Roses,” he says.
    “Bones,” I thoughtfully mumble.
    “What was that?” he asks.
    “Remains ?” I clarify louder.
    He answers me with a slow nod.
    He can see the cogs are turning, so he leaves me be. I smile, fully understanding why he gives me a titbit to help lead me into remembering the rest. Hearing about what went on is one thing, but seeing it, feeling it, experiencing it...that is something else entirely.
    Then, as clearly as if I saw them just yesterday, my mind’s eye hones in on rows upon rows of dusty, sand-coloured stone boxes kept in a dark place, made visible by fire light. “Oh, my God….the Avalon ossuaries,” I gasp as it all starts to click into place.
    He beams at