Radiance

Chapter Eight

 This was one of my favorite chapters to write! Enjoy and keep voting! Thank you! 

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“I was at peace, and drank your beams 

As they were life to me;

And revelled in my changeful dreams,

Like petrel on the sea.

Why did the morning dawn to break

So great, so pure, a spell;

And scorch with fire the tranquil cheek,

Where your cool radiance fell?

My lids closed down, yet through their veil                                                              

I saw him, blazing, still,

And steep in gold misty dale,

And flash upon the hill.

That drains the blood of suffering men;

Drinks tears, instead of dew;

Let me sleep through his blinding reign,

And only wake with you!”                                                                                                  

        Stars - Bronte

Awaking with the sheet covering her head Tamar groaned; realising Charlie would soon be whingeing that breakfast wasn’t ready. She rubbed her eyes and forced them open. It was a lot darker than it should be. The sunlight through her curtains should be dousing the room in a gentle morning glow. Something flicked and spat instead. Lifting back the covers from her head she found herself staring up at the ivy cupola. Wax was dripping down the stumps of candles and onto leaves.

Her memories to the present moment flickered across her mind like an old black and white movie: the bee in the field, Evalynis, her emerald hair, the stars, the edge of the forest, him. Elior. He must have come back to check on her and left her sleeping, she was sure no candles were lit when she went to sleep; the room had simply glowed with in incomprehensible light. How many hours had she passed in dreams?

Slowly she crept out of the bed, exploring her room. All she could think of was Elior. She could have stared at him forever and not contented her heart. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected from the Ebony Lands but this wasn’t it. Yes, many odd creatures dwelt here, and yes, it was all out of the ordinary to the last nineteen years of her life, but it didn’t seem worse than the Radiance Lands. Yes, it was a little rough around the edges but was it also stunning. Tamar had expected a poisonous place; that reeked of evil and contempt, yet hadn’t considered the dangers a place like that may hold for her. The only picture she could form of the Fallens was Elior. It was as though he was branded behind her retinas and appeared anytime she blinked. He was everything she’d never known, yet nothing like she’d expected. She found herself terrified of him yet utterly safe in his presence. It was so long since she’d felt so many emotions she didn’t know what to do with them; her mind had been placid so many months.

She trailed around the room letting her hand follow, passing over the leaves covering the walls. As she reached the door she stopped. A dress of the most beautiful kind was hung there waiting for her. The neck was square cut with thick shoulder straps and it clung at the bodice then trailed down the legs to puddle on the floor. The material was light, of a rich earthy brown. Crouching closer she saw that over the silk-like fabric was a layer of leaves, each one having lost its skin remained as a structure of fragile veins, pressed together. Tamar stepped back to see the dress glint, everlasting dew drops scattering the candle light.