Drinking Life (Keeper of the Water Book 1) (31 page)

“I thought I was a goner. The wound wasn’t as deep as I thought but infection killed so many back then that I expected the injury to be fatal. But the women had me drink another small vial of water and I could
feel
the life rushing through me. The healing pain wasn’t as bad for me since the wound wasn’t so bad.”

Mine
was. But as more times passes since being shot and healing, my strength slowly returns. As Celeste talks about how
she
was healed, I can feel the life force she describes running through my veins at this very moment.

“What exactly does the water do?”

“It’s simple: it heals the sick or injured and it reverses the effects of aging on the healthy.”

“Does that mean Amazons are invincible? That
I’m
invincible?” I ask.

Celeste shakes her head. “Unfortunately, no. The water
does
provide greater strength and speed, a great life energy, but Amazons can—and
have
—died in the past. It’s just much more difficult to hurt or kill someone as strong as us, someone with our reflexes. For a healthy person, drinking the water doesn’t give eternal life but adds life by turning you younger. That is how Amazons always stay ready to defend the water and the keeper.

“I learned all of this information soon after we reached a small village just outside of Athens. I was introduced to the keeper and the rest of the Amazons—it wasn’t exactly what you’d call a warm reception. They appeared downright combative, holding their weapons toward me, ready to strike if I made the slightest wrong move toward their keeper. But the old woman was very calm, very relaxed as she stood next to a small stream filled with the bright blue water I’d only seen in the vials.

“
I sense the good in her,
the old keeper said, her words instantly putting the rest of the Amazons at ease.
I can sense change.
Some of the others weren’t so easily convinced, though. A few pointed out that Cleopatra had known too much power for too long to be expected to change. I tried explaining that witnessing the menace of power changed me as a person but they were reluctant to believe me. But the keeper reminded them that many of them had once come from power, too.

“Though I wasn’t initially liked, I was allowed to stay with the group. I felt such a deep bond with the keeper for sticking up for me but I had no further interactions with her for quite a while. Instead, I remained close with my two recruiters, who showed me what to do and how to act. Mostly, I stayed quiet even though all I wanted to do was ask question after question—I think that’s how most new recruits feel.

“My arrival just so happened to correspond with a very significant event for the Amazons. The tribe was waiting for the two recruiters to return before they decided it was time to move the water. I had no concept of the importance of this moment until it was explained to me that the water hadn’t been moved for many years. But it was getting harder to hide the bright bluish glow on the mainland, especially since the Greek empire was ever-expanding.

“I joined the rest of the warrior women in forming a circle around the old keeper, who kneeled beside the water and whispered several incantations I couldn’t quite make out. She cupped her hands and dipped them into the water, retrieving a single scoop of water that she safely secured in a small clay pot. I was amazed when the rest of the bright stream water suddenly darkened, as if I switched had been flipped to turn off the brightness. But before I had the chance to ask what was happening, everyone began walking in unison.

“I should’ve been exhausted from making the trek all the way from Egypt but that wasn’t the case. Compared to my previous trip, this walk didn’t take nearly as long. We soon reached the Mediterranean and confiscated a few small boats. Nobody seemed to know where we were going but it didn’t appear to worry anyone. In fact, the only concern the Amazons had was in protecting the keeper, who said very little as she pointed the way along our journey. We rowed far away from land, heading far into the choppy sea in simple little boats. A part of me was nervous that we seemed headed for nowhere but the rest of the women remained focused and at peace and this gave me strength.

“Eventually we spotted a few islands and the keeper finally pointed at one of them. I was never so happy to have my feet on solid ground. The island was beautiful, unlike anything I ever saw in Egypt. We hiked into the mountains for hours in relative silence, everyone still circling the keeper. Whenever we came across a stray village, the women formed an even tighter circle, readying their weapons for the first sign of trouble. But the villagers we encountered were the friendliest people we ever met and did not give us any problems as we hiked farther into the hills.

“We located a small spring near the top of a mountain halfway into the island. It had a beautiful view of the valley and several surrounding mountains, not to mention a view all the way to the only natural port on the entire island. Once the keeper decided on the spring, she stepped into the water and kneeled while the rest of the women made a giant circle around it. Again she whispered something before pouring out the contents of the small jar.

“It couldn’t have been more than a cup of water poured into the big spring but I remember how a ripple of sparkles cascaded across the water. It only took a split second before the entire spring glowed with the same unnatural blue. I was amazed by the sight but did not have time to focus on the water. The keeper looked at me for the first time in days and said two words.
Step forward
.

“I didn’t know what this meant until some of the other women complained, pointed out that my probationary time was nowhere near long enough.
The keeper’s word is final,
one of my recruiters barked at the women complaining. But the wise old keeper pointed out that the Amazons were not a monarchy and that others should voice their opinions for the good of the tribe. In the end, the keeper said that she saw plenty of good in me to proceed with the initiation.

“I stepped into the blue water, which was freezing cold yet somehow comfortable. The rest of the Amazons formed a much tighter circle around the water. One by one, they each pierced their palms and squeezed a single drop of blood into the water, ending with the keeper. She then swirled the blood—it only took a few swipes of her old hands before a whirlpool spun around us. Once the water settled, she took a single scoop and had me drink it straight from her hands.

“The surge of life I felt from the small vial of water from my recruiters was indescribable; the intensity of the water from the keeper was about a hundred times greater. I wasn’t sure my body would be able to handle the awesome rush that surged through me. But just when I thought I might explode, a wave of calmness crashed over me and I never felt better in my entire life. If I had any doubts about whether joining these women was the right move, they immediately eased.

“
You and the others are now sisters of the Earth together,
the keeper told me. It was like she never doubted me for a second. Her trust in me and belief in my ability to change moved me at that moment and it’s something that’s never left me to this very day. Ultimately, I tried to apply that same trust in others when I became keeper… I wish it had worked out better…”

Celeste finally takes a breath after talking for what feels like hours. She gazes out toward the river, though her eyes are blank. It’s clear that her mind is somewhere else far away than the Lehigh River…

“How long after your initiation until you became
the keeper?” I ask, breaking the silence.

Her empty expression changes to a grin. “Not any time soon. I had to wait through the reigns of three more keepers before finally getting my chance.”

“How long is that? Four years like a president or something?” I wonder.

Even as I ask the question, I somehow know the thought is ridiculous even though I have no recollection about such things. Still, something in my subconscious laughs at me—as well as Celeste.

“Let’s just say I waited more like a millennium and a half,” she says. “Each keeper can remain in that position for up to 500 years. There are ways to rule for less time but few keepers ever choose that—in fact, there’s only one that I know of…”

“Weren’t the Amazons in the tribe before you upset when you were chosen over them?” I wonder.

“My first keeper groomed me for the job almost from day one. Up to that time in history, there had never been a female leader as powerful over so many people as me. I was a completely different type of Amazon from the rest of the tougher fighters, so much more naturally inclined to understand how to lead and make the best strategic decisions for the group. Still, I had many centuries of learning the rest of the skills every Amazon needs: how to hunt, how to fight, how to protect the keeper, even how to recruit new candidates to the tribe.

“By the time my third keeper selected me to replace her, I was the oldest Amazon left in the group. The women chosen to be Amazons are allowed to remain part of the tribe for as long as they want but many of them eventually left.”

“Why would anyone want to leave such an important life?” I ask, incredulous of the very idea.

Celeste smiles. “For some Amazons, the idea of one day becoming the keeper is most important, it’s what drives them. I know that you understand that—you always have. But for others, the sacrifice of living the Amazon lifestyle has limitations. Many women prefer to complete their service to the keeper and water but eventually return to normal life, especially those that never had the chance to become mothers. Needless to say the experience changes you.”

“So eventually, you became keeper and
that’s
when John… er… Ponce de Leon found you and the water on that Greek island?” I ask. Again it looks like I’ve surprised Celeste with information she didn’t expect me to know. “John told me the story before he… well… you know…”

She suddenly glowers. If I thought her opinion on John would ease up after his death—or due to my feelings for him—then I’m sadly mistaken.

“I doubt he told you the
entire
story,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Our Greek island was called Andros and living there was a true pleasure, a paradise compared to where we ended up. We witnessed hundreds of years of the small island’s history, as it changed hands between several kingdoms, playing a tiny role in several wars in the Mediterranean. But the soldiers rarely traveled inland as far as our mountain and our existence was mostly solitary.

“The villagers that lived there left us alone and vice-versa. Actually, they even
benefited
from us being nearby and I imagine those still living near our mountain today feel the effects. Our water had such a strong presence for so long in their water supply that it’s no surprise those mountain people have some of the longest life expectancies in the world. If it were up to me, we
never
would’ve left that island. The Amazons would
still
be there today. But then your precious
Juan
had to show up with his soldiers, they
had
to harass the locals, they
had
to follow us to our mountain and ignore our warnings to leave us alone.

“One of the biggest decisions during my reign as keeper was to leave Andros—to leave our home for so long—and head west toward the New World. The Amazons sometimes sent out recruiters, who not only scouted for potential members of the tribe but also learned about what was happening in the rest of the world—we didn’t have Google back then. We mostly heard only rumors but supposedly the land was massive and empty, plenty of places to disappear, a perfect description to fit the Amazonian needs.

“Or so I thought. Unfortunately, I had no idea how quickly America would expand, how quickly the landscape would change. We lived in Andros for nearly fifteen centuries; over the last four, we’ve had to move the water source countless times to avoid detection. And since civilizations have expanded across the entire globe, it’s been harder to find locations where our existence can remain secret. It’s forced us to move to harsher environments, dangerous environments where we’ve had to learn to adapt like never before.”

Celeste’s story has captivated my attention for so long that I’m unsure how long it’s been since my mother ran off after Cassie. My thirst for information about the keeper and the water and the Amazons has been quenched to a certain extent but I have a feeling Celeste could talk for many more hours about the past and still not scratch the surface of the entire story. At this point, her stories merely stir my memories, fill in the blanks of my
own
past just enough so my mind is no longer
completely
foggy. I have a feeling that with a few more answers—the
right
answers—the fog might be totally lifted from my memory.

I’m tired of looking for the perfect moment to stop Celeste. Instead, I wait for the slightest break in her story before letting the growing list of questions building in my mind suddenly flow from my mouth.

“So where do I fit in? Who am I,
really
? Why are you
here
? Why aren’t you the keeper anymore? Why were John’s soldiers chasing Cassie? Why don’t you want her to know any of this? How did my mom… er…
whoever
she is to me… how did she get dragged into all of this? And where is the water source
now
?”