Veiled Dreams by Gill James

sun was beginning to set, and she could already see a very bright star. She was walking down a hill, to a lake, which reflected the pink of the sunset. A narrow path led up to the hills on the other side. A large black and white cow was making its way down the lake, and arrived at the same time as Christina. The cow slowly changed its shape. Now Christina saw a tall man with flowing blond waves and piercing blue eyes. He too wore a type of prayer dress and a cape of silver feathers. He held the Queen’s Chalice out to Christina.
    ‘You may ask one question,’ he said.
    ‘Why have I been brought to Ixeria?’
    ‘Your purpose is two-fold. It is to learn for your own growth and also to restore the Law of Ixeria. The chalice is central to the purpose. It will not be easy, but we shall all be with you.’
    Then he was gone and she was back in the courtyard, where the servants were bringing more glasses of fruit juice.
    The prayer to the North was to be the last, Mona explained. Now Christina was beneath a black, star-covered sky. She held a large circular mirror in her hands, which reflected the light of thestars back up to the sky. The light streamed upwards like a film of sliver dust, and it was as if she could read the message the stars gave, though she could not put it into words. The she turned the mirror to herself. She saw not only the reflection of a young girl in a prayer dress, but she understood herself completely for a few seconds. She could see into her own soul, her own deep spirit. She knew the very essence of herself. Then the new knowledge was gone. She became aware of a small fairy creature near to her. He was almost transparent and held out to her a large white crystal. Christina was now in a cave. Light shone from the floor, which was covered with crystals of all shapes and colours. She felt protected and as if she belonged to the earth. She took the gift from the little nymph and felt the wisdom offered.
    The prayers were over. Imigriana touched her arm gently and led her back to their apartments. A gong sounded just as they arrived.
    ‘Now we may speak,’ said Imigriana. ‘That is all over for now! It never turns out as bad as I expected.’ Her eyes became very serious. ‘In fact it’s really important, I suppose. What did you think?’
    ‘Well…interesting.’
    ‘Did the angel of the West give you a satisfactory answer to your question?’
    Christina nodded.
    ‘And did the nymph of the North bring a useful gift?’
    Christina nodded again.
    ‘And of course the wind of the East always cleanses and the sun of the South always gives energy. But it just seems like a load of old rubbish to me and yet…’
    Christina found she had a terrible headache. She didn’t want to join the family dinner. A room had been set up for her quite close to Imigriana’s. She decided to go to bed straight away. Imigriana agreed to carry on pretending to be her. But although she was very tired, she couldn’t sleep straight away. It had allbeen rather astonishing though she was a little clearer about why she was here. And she felt somehow – well – healed by the whole process. But it was still all very confusing and all of a sudden she was missing her family very much. Very much indeed.

Chapter Twelve
Jan
    Jan’s hands were shaking as he put the phone down. He could hardly take in what Paul had just told him. That Christina had been in some sort of accident. Had she had another seizure – a bad one this time? It was just so stupid that it had taken them so long to try to sort this out. Should he have tried harder? Could he have tried harder? He didn’t think he could. He must go to see her. He tried to remember Paul’s exact words. It was no good. He couldn’t
    Perhaps Paul didn’t know so much anyway. It must have only just happened. He would go to the hospital. He didn’t care what her parents thought. He had to be there. He had to find out for himself.
    He would set off now. Should he take the bike?