The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter TWO: Liss

Juniors were allowed the day off from rounds on their Sixteenth, but Liss did them anyway. Being busy kept her mind off the evening's ceremony. She started at the Healers Cottage to collect prescriptions and care packages that needed delivering. Mell, the oldest and most accomplished healer—and Liss' favorite of the bunch—squinted her wrinkled face around a smile, ushering Liss past patient rooms into a quiet corner of the building suffused with dusty golden light.

"I haven't got anything to go out today, I'm afraid. "

The old elf wiped her hands on her apron and reached toward one of the many shelves lining the wall ahead of her, grappling at a small, stoppered jar. Her long fingernails clicked against the glass, but she couldn't get her hand around it.

Although Liss wasn't much taller than Mell, a couple of inches were enough. She pulled the jar down with a teasing wink and handed it over. "I thought you didn't have anything for me."

"Ah, but you've got it backwards. Nothing to go out doesn't mean nothing for you."

Mell held up the jar, gently shaking it. The amber liquid sloshed, forming small bubbles on the surface. "Take this before the ceremony to calm your nerves. I can tell you're dreading it."

"You mean this smile isn't masking my absolute horror?"

Mell chuckled. "Don't worry so much. Everything will be alright. Want to know how I know?" She ran a palm along the back of Liss' head, smoothing her hair. "Now that you're an adult, I'm allowed to tell you... We share the same blood. During the old times, you would have called me great-grandmother. We may be small, but we're mighty where it counts." She pointed to Liss' heart.

Liss let her jaw hang, but it was mostly for show. It wasn't such a surprise that they were related. They got on famously and even resembled one another with their diminutive stature, green eyes and pale hair, though Mell's wispy tresses had taken on a blue tinge in recent years.

"Tally and Aras?" It was a leading question, one Liss knew she might not receive a straight answer to.

Several of the smallest, fairest women in the clan seemed to keep a watchful eye on her. Tally and Aras—quiet women with faces so like her own—might have been her mother and grandmother, but Liss wasn't bold enough to ask, and the healers were sworn to secrecy. It was common knowledge that some elves preferred not naming or knowing which of the children were theirs. That was the real purpose of Engagement seasons, so multiple births would happen in quick succession. But Liss felt almost certain that Tally and Aras knew the identities of their offspring, just like Mell.

"It's not my place to say." The healer frowned, creases deepening around her lips. "The others will come forward should they decide to do so. Give it time."

"Why did you tell me?" Liss searched the old elf's glassy eyes, wondering if it was her imagination that the other woman looked on the verge of tears.

"Because you need to know you aren't the first to doubt the traditions of this clan." Mell lowered her chin, hinting that these were words of great importance. "Liss, my dear girl, it is okay to have independent thoughts, but you must be careful who you share them with. Your friend Dev, can you trust him?" She held up a hand, cutting off Liss' immediate reply. "Let me rephrase that. Can you guarantee your ideas will be safe and understood, should you share them with him?"

Liss bit her lip, staring out the room's one small window. Mell didn't know about the tome of runes, but she knew Liss' love of the old stories, just as she knew why Liss wasn't looking forward to her birthday this year.

"Safe, yes. Understood? I'm not sure."

Mell hummed as if she had assumed as much. "This fire in our blood is strong, and perhaps strongest in you. Whenever you need to talk, I'll listen. I wish that someone had given me the same opportunity. Things may have turned out better."