Anne Bishop - Bridge of Dreams

Ephemera’s playground. His training ground.

“So,” Yoshani said. “For men who thought you knew little, you actually know a great deal about the physical shape of your heart wishes. Lee, why don’t you call your little island, and we’ll see if there is a place in Vision that comes close to what you and Danyal desire.”

The place was run-down and in need of all kinds of repair, but it had residential buildings that would work for the students, and others that could be fixed up for the staff. There were even two large cottages connected by what must have once been a screened patio. Another building could serve as infirmary and the Apothecary’s shop, and the second floor had separate living quarters that shared a kitchen. There was a barn large enough to house a handful of horses and a couple of dairy cows—if anyone wanted dairy cows. One of the stalls held an assortment of discarded tools and equipment. They found an old bicycle and a pump for the tires. Between them they got the tires pumped up and the bicycle wiped clean enough to ride. Then Yoshani headed down the lane to find out where they were.

Danyal walked out of the barn and looked around again.

“It could work, couldn’t it?” he asked Lee.

“It could work,” Lee agreed. He adjusted the brim of his hat to shade his eyes a little more. “With your connection to the world and my abilities as a Bridge, we could help people find what their hearts need to see.”

Danyal hesitated. “Before I was given the assignment of Asylum Keeper, I had been promised a year’s leave to rest and travel and decide if Vision was still my piece in the world.”

“And now?”

He sighed. “I saw glimpses of life beyond my city. I would like to see more. But this work is more important.”

“No reason why you can’t do the work and also do some traveling,” Lee said, smiling. “Spending an evening in the Den can be as simple as crossing over a bridge. And anyone who works here would benefit from having a few days in Sanctuary each season.”

Danyal studied the other man. Madman and teacher. Now the companion and partner he had also hoped to find?

They resumed exploration of the buildings until Yoshani returned with the news that they were less than a mile from a small community that was an hour’s ride from the heart of Vision.

After Yoshani returned the bicycle to the shed and joined them, Danyal looked at Lee. “Well. Shall we return to the Shamans’ compound and discuss this with our Guide?”

“Yes, I think we should,” Lee replied. “And if Jeb is able to come to Vision, I’d like him to take a look at these buildings. He can tell us what will have to be done and how to get started.”

They stepped onto the island and returned to the Shamans’ compound. The rest of the afternoon was spent talking—describing the place they had found to the Shaman Council. Jasper would have opposed creating such a place, but the man was noticeably absent. Glorianna, Sebastian, and Michael asked a lot of questions for which he had no answers, but Danyal heard no opposition to the idea itself. And Lee joined in, countering their questions with questions of his own, making it clear that as a group they were used to hashing out physical boundaries that could turn fluid with a wish. By the time they were done, they had a crude map of the buildings and some thoughts about the land that would be part of the property.

We’re going to do this , Danyal thought. We’re going to do this, and whether we succeed or fail, the city will change because of it.

When they separated to wash up for the evening meal, Glorianna signaled for him to linger.

“Funny thing about landscapes,” she said when they were the only ones left. “Sometimes you cross a bridge and end up in a place unlike anything you’d seen before. New life. Fresh start. Can’t mistake the signs. But sometimes you cross a bridge and the world around you looks exactly the same. Except it isn’t. Same place, but a different landscape. New life. Fresh start. But it’s easy to miss the signs, easy to think you’re still where you were.”

“Did I miss the signs?” he asked.

She smiled. “No. You didn’t miss the signs.” She pressed her hand against his chest, over his heart. “But when you destroyed the wizards and Dark Guide the way you did, you altered your landscapes more than you intended, Danyal. So every day for the rest of your life, you will have to choose whether you heed the lure of the Dark or stand in the Light. Every single day.”

“Every single day,” he repeated.

As she lifted her hand and walked away, it occurred to him that the woman who was Guide to the World might not leave her brother’s future to chance. “Did you and Ephemera already find that place before Lee and I started looking?”

Her laughter floating back to him was her only answer.

Using the island, Lee brought Glorianna, Sebastian, Yoshani, and Michael back to Aurora. He shifted the island so that it rested near his mother’s walled garden.

“I’ll have a quick word with Jeb and see when he can come back with you,” Michael said.

“I need to have a quick chat with Teaser and Philo,” Sebastian said. “Make sure nothing in the Den needs my attention.”

“Go home, Sebastian,” Glorianna said. “Go see your wife and make funny faces at her tummy.”

Sebastian snorted, but Lee noticed his cousin didn’t deny making funny faces.

The rest of them left the island, but when Lee tried to leave, Glorianna stepped in front of him.

“No,” she said quietly.

“I just want—”

“No, Lee. Not until Zhahar is gone.”

“I just want a minute.” Just want to tell her about the place in Vision.

“You urged Zhahar to ask for Heart’s Justice instead of accepting the penalties her own people would have demanded.”

“Harsh and unfair penalties,” he snapped.

“And Heart’s Justice may end up being just as harsh,” she snapped back. “You have to let her go, Lee. You can’t have anything to do with where her heart takes her.”

“Why not? Lynnea was there when Sebastian needed her. You were fine with that.”

“Lynnea’s heart. Sebastian’s heart.”

“My heart. Zhahar’s heart.”

“Sholeh’s heart. Zeela’s heart. What about them? Did you consider how dangerous this will be for a Tryad?”

He rocked back on his heels.

Glorianna made a growling squeal that perfectly conveyed angry frustration. “Zhahar loves you. You love Zhahar. What about Sholeh and Zeela? Are you going to be three women’s lover? Do they want you as their lover? Isn’t that what the punishment of merging is designed to prevent? Jealousy between sisters caused by wanting the same man?”

“Daylight, Glorianna! It’s not like that.” It wasn’t like that, but Glorianna’s words reminded him of why he had to walk away from Zhahar—and the Guide shouldn’t have needed to remind him.

“Zhahar wanting to love you is what put her in this position,” Glorianna said gently. “Her sisters are at risk because of it. When I release Heart’s Justice, Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar’s hearts have to be united. Maybe they’ll each want a different aspect of something, but they all have to want the same thing. If they don’t…”

“They would run the same risk as if they’d crossed a resonating bridge while quarreling with each other,” he finished.

“If one of them is split from the other two, will she have a body? Or will she die?”

Lee sagged against a tree. “Guardians of the Light and Guides of the Heart. This isn’t any better than what Medusah would have done to her.”

“If her aspects are in conflict when Heart’s Justice is released, it won’t be any better,” Glorianna agreed. “In fact, it might be worse, because if the sisters get divided, they’ll never know if the others are dead or are surviving in some way in other landscapes.”