The Binding

by L. Filloon

  I sit looking down at her face, smiling, pretty proud of myself. It’s then I realize that it’s suddenly quiet. I quickly pull Lily to me as if blocking her from view. I stare up at the ledge where Julia is sleeping, only to find her awake and propped up on her elbow watching me. She has a blanket wrap ped around her chest, but not high enough to cover the mole on her left breast. She smugly looks at me and starts to laugh at my shock ed and embarrassed face.

  “Well, how did Tolan get them off of you?” I whisper a little put off.

  “He woke me up and told me to,” she whispers back, still smiling.

  “What?” I respond, stun ned by my brother’s annoying gentlemanly manners.

  “Uh-huh,” she replies simply . “He did everything you just did, but when it came to removing the undies, well, your brother was the perfect gentleman. He woke me and instructed me to ta ke them off myself, which I did. He also gave me enough time to get under the covers before coming back and taking the wet blanket out.”

  I stare at her with my mouth open. I look back down at Lily and realize Julia’s right. How am I going to put her in the sleeping bag without the wet blanket? I stand , lifting Lily with me , secure the blanket around her so her bare skin doesn’t touch the cold rock and place her back on the ledge. I move to the sleeping bag and toss it open with the inside blanket down. I lift Lily and place her in the bag and then move back, returning a smug look at Julia.

  “There, she’s in position. I’ll leave now and you can get up and remove the blanket for her.” I bend down and pick up the wet clothes . Turning toward the hanging blanket , I walk out follow ed by Julia’s gleeful laughter. I liked her better when she was snoring.

  Tolan is standing near the fire and asks, “Who were you talking to? Is Lily up?”

  Ah, time for a little payback . “No, I was helping Julia out,” I answer as I walk toward the rocky basin.

  “Phoris has made a small pool area by the rock basin to wash clothes,” offers Tolan, as he watches me closely. “You were helping Julia?” he asks, looking back at the closed entrance. He faces me again suspiciously and demands, “With what?”

  “Oh,” I shrug making my way to the wash area, “she said her shoulders were tight from sleeping on a hard surface and asked if I could rub out the kinks. So I did .” A fter a moment’s pause , I add, “Cute mole.”

  “You WHAT?” bellows my brother. He’s so loud I drop the clothes and grab my head.

  Just then Julia pops her head out from behind the draped blanket. We both look her way and watch as she tosses out the wet blanket from Lily. She sees Tolan and smiles at him, but when she sees me her eyes fill with mischief . She gives me a knowing smile before disappearing again behind the blanket.

  “Tharin,” seethes my brother, turning to me threateningly.

  I laugh and say, “Relax , b rother, I didn’t lay a hand on your precious Julia.”

  “Oh, really? Then what was that all about?” He flings his ar m out toward the girls ’ sleeping area, an accusing look on his face.

  The way he looks standing there is too funny and just too much for me to bear any longer. I bend over laughing, “I swear , Tolan , I was only having some fun. I was trying to find a way to take off Lily’s underwear and Julia laughed at how I went about it, that’s all.” He looks at me unconvinc ed , so I put up my hands and promise, “I swear!”

  Tolan stands there not sure whether to believe me. I guess he finally decides that I’m being honest and he takes a calming breath. He straightens his shoulder and goes to sit near the fi re. We’re quiet for a moment until he looks up at me and asks , “Why didn’t you just wake her and tell her to take them off herself?”

  I start rinsing Lily’s shirt as I answer, “Ah, but what fun would there be in that?”

  I quietly watch Tolan as he thinks about that for a moment, and then glances back at the draped curtain. He shifts back staring at the fire and quietly curses out loud to himself.

  “Damn.”

  *

  Chapter Fifty-Three ~ Lily ~

  I don’t know the cause , but I wake with a start. I look about me , not sure where I am and it takes me a minute to get my bearings. Then it comes back to me as I remember Tharin climbing with me on his back and then walking through some sort of tunnel. I sit up to look around me. Nearby, I hear the familiar sound of Julia’s snoring, and I’m somewhat comforted by it. I feel a chill and realize that I’m naked and in some kind of sleeping bag. I get under the covers quickly, seeking warmth inside the comfortable makeshift bed . Who took my clothes off? I look ove r at Julia and can see that she’s naked under her covers to o . A sigh of relief escapes me knowing that Julia must have undressed me before going to her own bed.

  I look around the room that we’re in and notice the high ceiling is made of solid rock. Tolan mentioned that there would be shelter , and he must ha ve meant this cave. I watch as shadows dance along the walls and ceiling . I figure that the warmth and light is coming from a fire lit behind the draped blanket. I listen to the quiet accompanied by Julia’s sonorous medley . I let my eyes close, falling back to sleep.

  I jerk awake again. Something is wrong . I look back at the drape d blanket . I know that no one else senses it but me. It’s like something , or someone, is calling me, pulling at me. I close my eyes again and breath deeply . I recall Tharin’s words about drifting.

  I relax and inhale calmly , concentrating on nothing else but the here and now. Like waking from a dream, I see myself in the sleeping bag with my eyes closed. I turn toward the draped blanket and t he air is warm on my skin. I look down and realize that beside s socks and gloves, I’m naked . I throw my arms around myself trying to cover up and I pull back. My eyes fly open . I’m breathing heavily , but once again in my sleeping bag .

  I slow my breathing, close my eyes and try again. I’m standing over myself, watching as I lay with my eyes closed. I move away from the ledge, but this time take one of the extra blanket s and wrap it around me from behind so that I’m holding the corners before me. I cross the ends over my chest and tie them at the back of my neck. Much better , I tell myself and proceed to go through the draped cover again.

  Standing near the entrance, I look around the cave and find it cozy. I hear the water trickling down from some unseen crevice near the ceiling. I turn to look over at a far ledge and find Alorn and Mellis sound asleep on top of it as Phoris sleeps on the cave floor. Along the wall of our sleeping area I see a makeshift rack with our clothes on it. Our shoes and boots are closer to the fire. Also near the fire are Tolan and Tharin. They lay across from each other , and from where I’m standing it’s almost impossible to tell them apart in this light. I move closer and locate Tharin. I watch his breathing and again he looks so much younger when he’s sleeping. I almost jump when he startles awake. He sits up looking about him, then over to the drape d blanket, listening. I hold my breath , backing slowly into the shadows until I’m sure that he can’t see or hear me. It’s a testament to his exhaustion that he doesn’t detect me. I know that any other time he would be able to see and hear me easily during the drift ing state. I must have focused on him just long enough for him to sense something while he slept . Finally relaxing, he looks over to the opening of the cave that leads out to the path that brought us here. Again he waits and listens. Finally satisfied, he lays back down and quickly falls back to sleep.

  Even knowing that he can’t see or hear me, I tiptoe to the opening and out of the cave. I don’t remember the path being so long , but then again I don’t remember much after Tharin came for me earlier. The nagging feeling of something or someone calling me grows stronger. I near the opening that leads out to the ledge of the wall. The sound of the wind howling sends a shiver through me and I wish I had been smart enough to grab my boots . I stop and look down at my socked feet. I close my eyes and wish for them to be in my boots. I quickly open my eyes only to be disappointed to find my feet still in socks only . I sigh, maybe it doesn’t work that way, or maybe I ju
st have a lot more to learn.

  I make my way to the ledge and feel the pull of the wind as I come out into the open. I clutch at the blanket’s side, preventing it from flying open as I look out into the darkness. I stop to think about that. Do I really feel the cold? Is the blanket real , and do I really need to hold it to keep it from flying open? I let the blanket go and it remains flat against me. I look down at my feet and they no longer feel cold. In fact, I no longer feel anything at all. I continue to the ledge.

  I know that we’re high above as the wind echoes off the stone wall . Tharin said that I only have to think of where I want to be and I’ll be there. I see myself in the small alcove where Julia and I hid before Tolan came for us. I look around and the wind cuts off again as I stand beneath the tree from earlier. I look out to where our bags are, heavily covered with snow now. In the same spot where I last saw him is the big man, just sitting , but this time he has his head down.

  I freeze where I stand as he lifts his head and turns toward me. I watch as he slowly gets up and casually starts walking my way. Once the panic starts, I quickly close my eyes and think of Tharin lying asleep in the cave. I call out to him and he’s up instantly. I see him run to the area where Julia and I are sleeping. When he pulls the blanket aside, Julia wakes and sits up pulling the covers around her. Tolan is instantly behind his brother as Tharin goes to where I lay. He leans in and whispers to me and when I don’t respond, he puts his head to mine and closes his eyes. When I open my own eyes again , I see the large man coming closer to the alcove. I turn as I feel Tharin next to me, pushing me gently behind him, his eyes on the man approaching us.

  The man suddenly stops as if knowing Tharin is now with me. He pulls his hood back and I feel as if I don’t have the blanket on . I automatically grab at its opening. His eyes slowly roam over me. I can’t understand how he’s able to see me in the first place . Without realizing it I grab hold of Tharin’s hand and though I don’t sense any sort of evil from the big man, he still feels dangerous. His size definitely has something to do with it, as he’s taller and broader than Phoris. In fact, he looks just like Tharin and Tolan , but his eyes are a different shade of green. There is something else that’s different about him, but I can’t figure out what that is. I sense the tension in Tharin as he lets go of my hand and takes a step forward. The big man looks at Tharin then and gives him a small smile. He looks back at me and bows , straightens, replaces his hood and returns to where he was sitting.

  The next thing I know I wake with a jolt back in my sleeping bag with Tharin holding onto my head. I see Tolan standing in front of Julia who has her hand on his shoulder. I grab the covers that Tharin holds up for me , and then he steps back, a furious look on his face.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You could have been hurt or worse , killed. You put every one of us in danger by going off on your own like that. We’re all trying to keep you safe, but you risk all of our lives by taking off on your own ?” Even though his voice is quiet, I sit staring at him, unsure and scared. He’s right and I don’t know what to say to him. I lower my head ashamed and a tear falls on the sleeping bag.

  “Damn it,” he seethes, turning from me and walking out.

  I feel a hand on my shoulder a nd Tolan says, “It’s okay, Lily. You just scared him , that’s all. But he’s right. You’re new to your a bilities and until you’v e trained more , you should be careful with them. Promise me you won’t do that again unless Tharin or I are with you.” He looks at me, waiting for an answer, and I nod at him. He squeezes my shoulder again and then leaves.

  Once the draped blanket falls into place, Julia gets up grabbing her blanket from within the sleeping bag. She wraps it around herself and then moves over to where I am and slips into my sleeping bag. I wrap my blanket around me and then snuggle up to Julia.

  “Please don’t cry, Lil,” she soothes as she wipes tears from my cheek.

  To hear her say that takes me back to the many sleepovers we shared growing up. All of them were at my place, except f or our first sleepover. I’ve no t stay ed at her house since the night Lucas disappeared.

  She takes my hand, “I don’t know what happened, but it sounds like you did something that really, really scared Tharin .”

  I shake my head at her, trying to stop my crying.

  “Something woke me, Jules,” I whisper, “but instead of leaving physically, I did the drifting , something that I learned from Tharin. He showed me how to send myself out, like an out-of-body thing . Anyway , I felt this calling and I just followed it.”

  She whispers back asking, “Where’d you go?”

  I stare at her and sniff, “Jules , do you know that you just took what I just said about an out-of-body experience without blinking an eye?”

  She rolls her eyes at me and says, “Lil, I’m in a relationship with an elf, what do you think?” She smiles at me, but I don’t feel like laughing, “So, come on. Where did you end up?”

  “At the little alcove where we hid before Tolan came for us,” I answer.

  “And?” she prompts.

  I think for moment how to put what happened into words, “That big guy, you know, the one that came after we hid in the alcove?”

  She nods, and I continue, “I think, I think it was him who called to me. I felt him, but I noticed that no one else felt it . And,” I hiccup before going on, “and Tharin said that when we’re in that state we can’t be sensed or felt or even be seen, except by a few.”

  She waits until I correct myself, “Okay, when he said a few, I thought he was talking about him and Tolan, not a big Sidhe who looks just like them.”

  Surprised to he ar that, she asks, “He’s a Sidhe who look s like Tolan?”

  “Yes, but different. Anyway, I thought, why not?”

  “Okay, then what?”

  “I was in the alcove watching him sit there, but then he got up and came toward me as if he knew I was there, Jules.” My grip tightens on her hands and I tell the rest in a rush of words, “I was suddenly scared , so I called for Tharin and then he was there, but this guy kept coming toward us . I guess he sensed Tharin at some point, so he stopped and then he took off his hood and he looked just like Tharin and Tolan, but bigger , and there was something different about him . When Tharin stepped forward the guy just smiled and walked away.”

  Julia hugs me to her and tries to calm me down, “It’s okay, Lil, it’s over now.”

  I pull away from her crying, “No , it’s not, Jules. Tharin’s right . Everyone is risking their lives for me. Look at Mellis and Alorn, they’re hurt because of me.”

  “Hey,” she whispers sternly, “You didn’t ask for any of th is, remember? They came to you. I’m sure they all knew what they’d be facing by bringing you back with them, so stop blaming yourself.”

  “But,” I try to interrupt.

  “No,” she says firmly, “Tharin said those things out of anger , and I don’t think he would have said them if this guy out there isn’t dangerous. Lily,” she shakes my hands until I look at her, “he cares about you, that’s why he got so angry . Just don’t do whatever it is that you do. The whole drifting-out-of-body thing again without them, okay?”

  I look at her through teary eyes and nod. She pulls me to her and lets me cry on her shoulder. I don’t remember falling asleep, but something wakes me again. No, I feel a presence, but I’m so tired now that I can barely bring myself to the surface from a deep sleep. Through swollen eyes I see Tharin, but then again , I must be dreaming because he’s not yelling at me.

  *

  Chapter Fifty-Four Tharin

  “You were a little hard on her,” Tolan says from just inside of the opening.

  I stand on the ledge letting the wind cool my anger. I pull in from out of the storm, making my way back inside . Sighing and shaking my head, I’m not able to look at him.

  “Give her a chance to make the mistake s we made as boys . When we were first learning our abilities,” he says quietly.

 
; I nod at him saying, “You’re right. But she should have come to me. I would have gone with her.” Frustrated I step away from him leaning against the rocky wall, looking out at the wind.

  “What’s really bothering you, Tharin? She made a mistake, but nothing that deserved how you treated her. I’ve never known you to speak to someone you care about in that manner .”

  How can I tell Tolan that at some point in the night she woke me while in the drift ing state and I was too tired to notice? Lily was lucky that she had the sense to call me when she finally realized her immediate danger. I can see Lily in my mind and how she looked when I yelled at her. I was angrier at myself than I was at her and I unfairly lashed out. How does someone make up for that? I look at Tolan and say quietly, “Ziri is here.”

  I watch as my brother’s eyes widen . “Damn him ,” he curse s quietly, looking out toward the opening. “What is the Lithi doing here? It can’t be for the bounty, Tharin. That’s not his style, he can’t be bought. How did he get here?” He turns back to me, “Did you speak with him?”

  I shake my head sighing, “I can’t let him near her again, Tolan. He’s seen her while she was drifting.”

  “Surely you don’t think he’s here for Lily? Like I said, he can’t be bought. He wouldn’t even be interested in a bounty reward. He’s got nothing to do with the treaty or Lily,” insists Tolan.

  “I don’t know his motives for being here , but I’m certain it does have something to do with Lily.” I picture the way Ziri looked at Lily when he first laid eyes on her. It was as if he had found what he was looking for. I push down on my frustration and anger. I should have known she was the one who awoke me.