Lost Identity: Eloria Series Book 1 | ✓

33: Keep it Secret

"Magic carpet material. Need I say more?" Martin said.

"I must inform you that this isn't something that is usually done or should be done." Elossai clasped her hands. "Creating objects out of corin is prohibited by law."

Martin shook his head allowing stray strands of hair to fall over his forehead. "Why is it prohibited?"

"Because one who makes and keeps such an object treads down the path of deviance. Anything could be hidden within it, and with a high knowledge of corin manipulation, the item could potentially take on another form to conceal itself from discovery. Authorities would have no power to open it." Elossai turned to me with a very serious expression. "To answer your question, I do not believe this is your chest, Ellis Ann. Perhaps you were safeguarding it for someone. Was there anything else in this chest?"

"This chain." I unclasped it from my neck and handed it over.

"And the locket?" Elossai asked.

"An old woman gave it to me the day the leaders arrived. It was hidden in a bouquet of flowers which had a note in it telling me to keep it secret."

"This key is also made of corin." Elossai held the key up for us to see.

"I found the key behind that portrait," I said, pointing to the picture on the wall.

"Behind your portrait?"

"Err..." I grit my teeth. "Yeah." It took Keiran and Martin a good half hour to calm me down and persuade me into accepting that the girl in the picture was me.

"That would mean that Sye-Liene had to have put the key there," Martin said.

"Just because it's behind her portrait it doesn't necessarily mean that she was the one to have placed it there," Elossai rationalized.

"What do you think all this stuff is for?" Martin made a sweeping motion at the items on the bed.

"The uni-elk is obviously for travels, and the locket has a corin stone fused into it on one half, and a compass on the other for directions. I have seen a good share of these lockets—Ilta is authorized to keep one. Sye-Liene must have been planning to travel through the Ora and conceal that fact from everyone. The question is, where was she trying to go to?"

We all fell silent. Their guess was as good as mine.

I gave a doleful nod. "What am I supposed to do with all this?"

Elossai sighed deeply as she looked at the chest, cloak and locket. She twisted her lips to one side as if the sight of the objects offended her. "Have you told the Anmus or anyone else about this?"

"No. Actually I wasn't planning on letting anyone else in on the secret. Do you think we should?"

Elossai placed a finger on her chin and tapped it lightly. Then, she set her hands down on her lap—a proposal ready. "I think that these items may lead us to something perilous. If you are not prepared for the dangers it may lead us to, we should hand everything over to Keiran Anmus or the Sorceress; however, if you choose to learn more about the origin of these items, it is imperative that we keep it secret."

"You wouldn't tell anyone if we refused to hand it in?" Martin asked.

"Although this chest is an illegal item, I will not betray Ellis Ann. The decision is hers to make."

Elossai and Martin both looked at me expectantly for my final decision.

There must be a good reason why Sye-Liene owned this chest and why that woman at the parade gave me the locket. Besides, didn't the note say for me to keep it secret? If I turned it all in, I would never know.

"I want to know what all this is for. We keep it secret for now." I decided.

"Okay. So, what do we do with these items?" Martin asked Elossai.

"Well, I would wear the cloak and activate the compass in the locket and see where it takes you. However, I strongly advise that we do this at another time." Elossai said, looking wary.

"Why?"

"Dinner should be ready soon and we would certainly be interrupted."

"She makes a good point, Ell. We'll do it some other time," Martin said.

***

That evening, after I'd taken my bath and changed into my nightgown, I returned to my portrait. I still didn't feel right about it. There was something in that woman's eyes that I lacked. I was torn because I wanted to be her. I wanted to be this person who mattered to the world. I wanted to be Keiran's Sye-Liene and if it turned out that I wasn't, I would lose him.

I lay on my bed and looked up at the bed canopy as I fiddled with my locket, wondering. In six days, all this would no longer be a mystery.

We would all know who I am, and what I am not.