by Petra Landon
A man with dark brown hair dressed casually in linen trousers and shirt contemplated her storefront display with his back to her. The man, a little under six feet, held himself with a casual and self-confident grace. Sienna went still at the sight of him, familiar despite the fourteen-year gap since she’d last seen him.
No, no, no, she thought desperately. The universe could not be this unfair! Not Jason LaRue - the guy she’d had such a desperate and hopeless crush on, in high school.
He must have sensed her presence for he turned around to observe her silently. Eyes the color of molten chocolate met her gaze, the expression in them neutral with no sign of recognition. He probably didn’t even remember her, she realized. Why would he? They had conversed maybe a handful of times and it had been a long time ago. He must be the Guardian escort the First Wizard had promised her. Sienna had known, of course, that he had joined the elite group – the whole school had been aware of who had made the cut as well as who hadn’t.
She shook off the old memories with an effort as she stepped forward to hold out her hand to him.
“Sienna McAlister.”
He closed the distance to clasp her hand in a firm handshake.
“Jason LaRue” he introduced himself in the familiar voice she remembered well.
Conscious of Emma’s avid gaze on them, Sienna offered him the only option that she could think of in a hurry.
“There’s a coffee shop next door” she offered, leaving the suggestion dangling.
“I could do with a cup” he responded agreeably, the chocolate eyes searching her face.
Sienna ushered him out with a speaking glance at Emma who merely grinned back at her in response.
She observed him surreptitiously while he looked over the various options before ordering his choice. There had been some changes in the intervening years though the essentials seemed to have remained the same. The sense of self that had marked him out from the rest as a teenager sat better on him now. A quiet self-confidence in his abilities and very sure of what he wanted from life – qualities that had been very seductive for a young wizard struggling with issues of identity, expectations and the future. He’d been a star on the field, hanging out with the popular crowd in school. To top it all, he had applied to the GCW the moment he had met their eligibility criterion. There had been no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jason LaRue would be a Guardian. He was bright, hard-working and ambitious with the right attitude along with the prerequisite magic level close to the top end of the chart. Plus, he had the right pedigree - his parents had both been Guardians. Until they’d been killed by an explosion alleged to have been set off by her mother. Sienna had made sure to keep her distance from anyone in school who had suffered a loss that particular day in Chicago. A quiet, self-contained, introverted and painfully shy young girl, she’d done just enough at school to get by without generating any complaints to her Aunt. But the silent expectations of everyone at the school had been an ever-present reminder of her illustrious heritage.
“You were expecting me, I hope?” he inquired, seating himself across from her in the uncrowded store that sold gelato, candy, tea and coffee to the tourists.
Sienna nodded. Yes, she’d been expecting a Guardian although not this particular one!
She watched him silently as he took a sip of his coffee. The attractive face had acquired a few age lines that, in her opinion, enhanced his boyish good looks. He wore his thick hair clipped shorter than she remembered and his body had gained a lot more muscle than when he’d been a teenager and high school football star. The football field is where she’d first met him.
…
Fourteen years ago
San Diego, California
Sienna fidgeted in her seat, conscious of the curious glances directed at her. The bleachers were empty except for a dedicated few who’d shown up to watch football practice. The group of cheerleaders on the bleachers close to the field was particularly loud – laughing and exchanging banter with some of the players. Tara was late as usual. Sienna sighed. She loved Tara but the girl had a hard time making it anywhere on time. They’d been friends since kindergarten - way before Chicago. In Sienna’s mind, her life was divided clearly into two eras – before Chicago and after Chicago. Chicago was the nightmare that she couldn’t get over. It was where she’d lost everything! And judging by the snarky comments and whispers around her in school, it was also where her mother had destroyed a lot of other lives. This was a school exclusively for wizards – one of five in the world. Wizards from all over the world sent their children here to be given a well-rounded education that included the wizard arts, history, fable and lore. The GCW came here to recruit the best for their next generation of Guardians. Thus, everyone here was aware of her past. Unfortunately, she’d had no choice but to stay on here in San Diego after the demise of her parents. Aunt Minnie’s presence was necessary here for this is where the new Wizard Headquarters had been established after the formation of the CoC.
Engrossed in craning her neck around to keep an anxious eye out for her friend, Sienna almost missed the sudden flurry of shouts close to the bleachers. When she turned her head in startled inquiry, it was to see the ball rocketing towards her with a few players in hot pursuit. Instinctively, she put up her hands to protect her face. Unbeknownst to her, a player from the pack in pursuit of the ball came to an abrupt stop in an attempt to use his nascent power instead. The ball changed its direction subtly at the last second to graze past her elbow and continue on its way. One of the football players chasing the ball thumped past her in pursuit of it.
“Is that the best you can do, LaRue” ribbed a vaguely familiar voice. “And you want to join the Guardians!”
Sienna lowered her arms to rub her throbbing elbow lightly. A football player reached her at a run.
“You okay, Sienna?” Trevor, Tara’s older brother, gazed at her in concern.
Sienna nodded mutely, a little shell shocked by the near miss as a second player came running up to join them.
“Sorry! I couldn’t get the ball to miss you completely” eyes the color of melting chocolate met hers apologetically.
“Yeah, LaRue. How was your aim so off?” teased his incorrigible friend.
“It wasn’t off” came the indignant response. “I had to throw a lot of power to get the ball to curve away from her.”
“So throw a little more power at it” retorted Trevor. “It’s not like you don’t have it.”
“How about you try to aim better next time?” commented his irascible friend.
“Sienna! Trevor! What happened?” called out a female voice as Tara hurried towards them.
“What did you do, Trevor?” she inquired impetuously of her brother.
“I didn’t do anything” her brother responded indignantly. “If you weren’t always late everywhere, Sienna wouldn’t be looking out for you and might have seen the ball flying towards her.”
As the siblings bickered, the chocolate eyes studied her seriously.
“You sure you’re okay?” he inquired gently.
Sienna nodded, not trusting her voice. His gaze shifted to where she still rubbed her elbow unconsciously.
“I don’t have the power to heal you” he was regretful. “I will though, in a few years” he added, his young voice full of quiet self-confidence.
…
“Has anyone from the past reached out to you to recently?” he inquired, his gaze steady on her.
Sienna, lost in old memories, took a minute to return to the present to process his question.
“From the past?” she exclaimed, startled by the unusual query.
“Someone, who perhaps lost touch with you a long time ago.”
“No” she said after a short reflective pause.
“Has anything unusual happened to you in the last few months? Strangers you’ve noticed hanging around perhaps?”
“Nope. Life’s been pretty humdrum around here.”
“Are you sure?” he asked ag
ain, the chocolate eyes serious.
“This is a very small town, Mr. LaRue. Trust me, anything unusual and every stranger gets noticed pretty quickly around here.”
“Jason, please” he responded with a wry smile.
Sienna thought back to the cryptic phone call that had led to Jason LaRue’s presence here. She had a feeling it was her Aunt’s protective instincts that had lumbered her with a bodyguard. Aunt Minnie was known to be protective of her although insisting on a Guardian escort to accompany her to San Diego was something of a stretch even for her.
“This has something to do with why you’ve been sent here to babysit me?” she inquired.
“Escort you, Miss McAlister” he corrected gravely though the twinkle in his eyes belied the sober words. “The Guardian Charter explicitly lists what our duties are and I assure you that babysitting does not make the list.”
“Sienna, please” it was her turn to respond with a wry smile.
“The First Wizard picked me personally for this task” he said more soberly. “She believes that you may be in danger.”
Sienna stared at him, a little taken aback by the serious words though not particularly perturbed by the perceived threat. The life that she had forged here was so far away from the world of wizards and Guardians that any threat to her could only be a result of her relationship with Aunt Minnie. Sienna anticipated a cozy visit with her Aunt for a few days in San Diego while the Guardians neutralized the threat. Then she’d be back to her old life, away from their world.
“Will you be ready to travel tomorrow?” he inquired.
“Yes.”
“I’ll book us on a flight for early afternoon” there was a faint question in his voice.
Sienna nodded. There was a short pause as they both sipped their drinks.
“The First Wizard wishes to brief you herself, Sienna. So I cannot say more on this subject except that she believes the threat to be credible” there was a quiet warning in his words that she couldn’t ignore.
The muted tick of the clock cut through the hushed silence in the opulently furnished room. The woman at the desk paused for a moment as if to gather her thoughts before she bent over the letter once more to write rapidly with quick decisive strokes of her pen. The man perched elegantly on the ornate couch watched her in silence, content to wait until she was finished with the task that so engrossed her. It took a few minutes before she signed off with a flourish to fold the letter with precise movements and place it inside an envelope that she sealed with an old-fashioned customized hand seal from the desk.
She glanced towards the young man, who sprang up from his elegant pose to stride over to her.
“This is for your Master” she held out the envelope to him.
He placed the envelope carefully in the inside pocket of the dapper jacket he wore before giving her a short and oddly formal nod.
“I will make sure that he gets it, My Lady.”
“You have some news for me?” she inquired, gesturing for him to be seated.
The young man walked back to the couch to seat himself at his old position before he responded to her query.
“A party of Wyrs was seen at The Vault a few nights ago.”
“Shifters” she exclaimed, her elegant eyebrows arching up in surprise. “Since when did we allow Shifters access to The Vault?”
“They were escorted by two Guardians” the young man explained. “On orders from the First Wizard herself, if the rumors are to be believed.”
“Aah, Esmeralda has delusions of getting into bed with Faoladh” the lady responded thoughtfully. “She must be desperate indeed. I wonder what she has promised him in return.”
The young man waited patiently. He knew that no one could touch the Lady when it came to anticipating the moves of her opponents. A born chess player was his Lady!
“What’s the word on the street on why Esmeralda has given the Shifters access to The Vault?”
“The First Wizard is being very secretive, even with her inner circle. No one knows why she allowed the Wyrs access.”
“In other words, she doesn’t trust the wizards and has asked the Shifters for assistance.”
“It would seem so” he agreed.
There was a short silence as the lady ruminated over her thoughts.
“Perhaps it is time to retrieve the object” she stated decisively.
Sienna gazed out the window at the pastoral beauty of the countryside as Jason drove them towards Eugene airport. The route between Eugene and Florence was one of the more beautifully bucolic sights Sienna had ever seen. The winding road followed the Siuslaw River through some fantastically picturesque country before running past rolling meadows and quaint country cottages.
“Why did you decide against becoming a Guardian?”
Sienna’s head snapped from the window towards the man at the wheel, startled by his soft words.
So, he does remember me, after all!
….
Fourteen years ago
San Diego, California
Sienna ran headlong through the bushes, fear lending wings to her mad dash. The pounding of her heart was so loud in her ears that it hid the sounds of pursuit. It was completely her fault, she berated herself silently. She should have taken greater care to stay with her friends. Tara’s parents had thrown a bonfire at the beach for Trevor who was to head off to college in a few days. Aunt Minnie had been persuaded to allow Sienna to join the group after a personal intervention by Tara’s mother. It had been fun on the beach at night. Trevor and his buddies had made a raucous evening of it as Mr. Bergdahl had grilled up a storm. Reserved by nature, Sienna had stayed close to Tara and Mrs. Bergdahl until the ocean had beckoned her. Ever since Sienna could remember, she’d loved the water. To her, there was no other sound as soothing as waves breaking upon a rocky shore. The light from their bonfire had lit up the otherwise dark beach and Mrs. Bergdahl had smiled as Sienna had quietly slipped away to walk by the water after a quick word with their hostess. Lost in her thoughts, she had wandered a little away from their group into a patch of semi-darkness as the shoreline curved away from the stretch of beach where the bonfire had been lit.
“What’s your name, pretty girl?” a man and the two friends who flanked him had loomed large as they stood silhouetted by the moonlight before her.
The sudden appearance of the men had startled her. It had also made her abruptly aware of how isolated this little stretch of sand she stood on was. The man’s voice had been a little slurred. A sixth sense had made her run from them. In her panic, she had run towards the thicket of bushes away from the water, not towards the safety of the bonfire and her party. Sienna’s one glimpse back had showed two of the men in silent pursuit – it had spurred her towards the bushes faster.
A hard body slammed into her suddenly and she gasped out in shock and terror. Hands clasped her by the waist as she struggled for breath to scream – her headlong and frightened dash had quite knocked the breath out of her.
“Hey, it’s okay” said a familiar voice before she could gasp out more than a strangled scream.
Sienna stopped struggling to glance up uncertainly. The dim moonlight through the trees allowed her a glimpse of a familiar face. Jason LaRue!
“Sienna” he exclaimed in surprise as his eyes gazed down at her upturned face. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?”
Sienna nodded slowly after a quick glimpse behind her for any signs of men in pursuit. Darkness loomed empty and eerily silent behind her. She clutched his elbow in an unconscious gesture for reassurance.
“Hey, it’s okay” he repeated his words, his tone noticeably gentler this time. “Did something spook you?”
“Some men on the beach” she gasped out. “I … uh ... they just gave me a scare.”
He gazed searchingly at her in the darkness before taking her hand in a comforting clasp.
“Come on. Let’s get you back to the party.”
He led them through a path towards the b
each where she had run from the men. Sienna glanced around warily but the stretch of sand lay empty. She could hear the distant shouts of revelry from their party though the bonfire was hidden from view behind an outcropping of rock.
“I love the ocean” her companion remarked quietly beside her. “I have ever since I was a child. Some of my earliest memories are of my parents bringing me to the beach.”
Sienna, eager to move away from topics of parents and childhood, hurried to change the subject.
“Are Trevor and you heading to the same college?” she inquired. She knew the answer to the question though he couldn’t know that, of course. She stored away every bit of information about Jason LaRue that happened to come her way. Plenty did, mainly because Trevor, her best friend’s brother, and he were like shadows when it came to each other.
“Yes” he replied. “Trevor’s qualified for the GCW. We’re going to attend Guardian training together.”
Sienna nodded. Very few wizards showed enough potential and raw power to be selected for the GCW in high school, so most recruits were conditional. Trevor would be trained by the Guardians and re-tested for admission in four years. Jason LaRue was one of a handful of wizards who’d been invited to join the Guardians as a full recruit without any additional re-testing. He would undergo training while assigned the rank of a trainee Guardian and be eligible to be assigned Guardian duties applicable to his rank.
Since that first meeting on the field a few months ago, she’d met him a few times, usually at Tara’s place where he hung out with Trevor. He’d exchange pleasantries with her before hunkering down with Trevor to do whatever boys his age did with their friends.
“Congratulations” she said softly as they skirted the rock outcropping that would bring them within sight of their bonfire.
“You’re a Guardian” she said in explanation as she sensed his inquiring look at her in the darkness.
“Thanks” he responded quietly.
