Rhys had his own secrets. Quite big secrets, actually, just not the ones Daphne and Mrs. Lívia accused him of last night. Today, he spent the entire day again with Sophia's family. After all, the year of subordination was exactly about this: spending as much time as possible with the family members living in the house. For quite a while now, if someone had looked for Rhys at dusk, they wouldn't have found him anywhere. Neither in the house, nor in the city, nor in the present time.
Aisling had made Rhys promise not to even try to cross over to Nexoria until the entire Brotherhood had awakened and reformed. But even before making this promise, Rhys had already made a few exploratory trips there.
At first, he just sat hidden by the river near a little bridge, where a young, scrawny oak tree was growing. From there, he watched the people traveling on paths and roads. After a while, before he crossed into Nexoria, he dressed just like the locals. For a few weeks, it was enough for Rhys to watch the dusk here and spy on the inhabitants of Nexoria from a distance. Later, he ventured all the way to the road. He thought the only danger could come from the direction of the castle, so he started exploring the other way, to not only see Nexoria from afar but also get to know it and its people.
Then he had a big idea and sought out Kaelen's companions. Sometimes, even late at night, he sat with them around the campfire, singing songs. From them, he learned that two years ago, something terrible had happened at the bridge. Such an inexplicable horror that when people thought about it, they locked their doors even tighter in the evening and barred them. And for a few days, they spent the hours of darkness quietly, locked inside.
Something so devastating had occurred at the bridge that even Drakthor himself was frightened by it.
"But wasn't he the one? Who else could it have been?" Rhys insisted.
"That's possible," the others agreed too easily.
Then he asked about their former companion, Kaelen. There were still people here who had known him two years ago.
"He drowned in the river; we found his clothes."
"He ran into the river in heartbreak when that force, that something, took that girl."
"Took her?" Rhys grew even more curious.
"Or killed her. Nobody knows what happened to her."
Rhys just smiled inwardly, knowing the others believed Kaelen had drowned himself because of heartbreak. At the same time, he deeply regretted having prepared that scene of Kaelen's own death, drowning in the water. Unfortunately, that's exactly why no one had searched for Kaelen.
"Then why was that boy so sad?" Rhys pressed further.
"Because he loved that girl. The one that force took away."
"Or killed. But every dusk, Kaelen went to her window and played a sad tune on his flute."
"In the end, even our hearts ached because of it."
"Do you know the song?" Rhys asked eagerly.
Rhys had relearned that song here in Nexoria and performed it in the peristyle last evening, in his own time and world. It was indeed the original, ancient tune, maybe even composed by Kaelen himself over there in Nexoria during his boring hours. The flute he played that sad song on last night was also exchanged here for better clothes from his own world, which of course resembled the locals' style. It wasn't Kaelen's flute, but it was the same kind on which he might have played that sad song. He also changed his dreadful outfit here in Nexoria beforehand, for his performance yesterday. He feared Aisling's disapproval, so he never admitted that he crossed over to Nexoria for a little while every day. Even if the time wasn't exactly the one he wanted, at least on that day, time had bowed before one of his masters. This time, two years later than the desired moment, also suited Rhys perfectly. He could continue his discoveries here, in this time, in this place, day by day.
Then he started searching for Xewith. Nobody knew anything about her. After a while, it seemed to Rhys that Xewith had never existed. Moreover, in his own time. Whatever that means in the stories of Mirael and Kaelen.
Nexoria had become an addiction for Rhys. He got to know the people living here, the surroundings, only never went toward the castle. And he kept all this secret from Aisling. However, he reported everything honestly and fully about what he learned from the dream images about Kaelen and Mirael.
He could have calmly sat at the Thousand-Year Oak with the others, but when dusk came, Rhys left the Thousand-Year Oak and even today came from a quiet place in the creative quarter to here. It wasn't conspicuous. He wasn't the only one wandering away from his company in the creative quarter.
Now, he only wanted to feel the atmosphere of Nexoria before he and Aisling presented their stories. He sat by the little bridge, near the scrawny, young oak tree, watching the flowing water of the river.
"I wonder if Aisling could learn to come here on her own? Hmm... I don't think so," he thought arrogantly.
He was just as proud of his abilities as Kaelen was. And Kaelen was always rivaling and teasing Mirael.
He had already disregarded the idea that Aisling wouldn't even try to come to Nexoria before the Brotherhood awakened. He also disregarded the fact that alone, without the Brotherhood, before the Brotherhood's awakening, he didn't precisely measure the time he wanted to reach.
He just sat by the little bridge and watched the dusk clouds. Then he felt a blow at the back of his neck, and everything went dark.