He reminded her of the last Dark Master—looking human in shape but seeming otherworldly at the same time—however, this one did not give off an aura of evil as the previous one had. His medium-length hair was black as pitch, and with his pale skin, he looked chilling but handsome. There was a preternatural feeling about him—an almost ethereal quality—that Diana knew marked him as not being human.
What tortures would be in store for her if this nightmare being noticed her? What was she supposed to do; sit here and wait to find out? I’m not some scared thirteen-year-old anymore; it’s just a stupid dream. With a deep breath, and a fair amount of forced courage, Diana stood up and then slowly walked towards the Dark Master.
Standing before him, Diana was struck by how peaceful he looked—like a blissful dreamer in an elaborate nighttime world all of his own. At any moment, though, he could open his eyes and turn into some horrifying creature that would probably eat her over and over again until she woke up. If it was going to happen, she’d rather it happen soon. Diana sat cross-legged, mirroring the Dark Master’s position, and waited for a reaction.
Each agonizing moment of anticipation that ticked by drove her further into insanity. Just see me already. I can’t take it anymore—I have to end this now.
Diana stood up from the ground and smacked the Dark Master hard across the face.
He immediately opened his eyes and looked at her, his gaze as intense as the throbbing pain in her hand. His piercing gray eyes filled with confusion and rage, and a fair amount of astonishment, as the same emotions rushed off of him in waves, filling Diana’s empathy until she was struck by a powerful, and familiar, feeling of nausea.
Her own eyes went wide with astonishment.
It was Darien.
Through a swirling haze, he became more recognizable to her eyes as the two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. His anger quickly melted away, leaving only the confusion and bewilderment.
When he began to reach for her, the floating remains of the blood-red moon above exploded in green fire and Diana’s world erupted into flames.
—
Diana gasped awake, the sensation of the hot flames fading into memory. After a few moments she was able to breathe normally and find her composure. The sight of Lani sleeping peacefully beside her finally jostled her back to reality—she was in Darien’s house.
Now very awake, Diana sat upright in the bed. Her mind was a tumult of anxiety and confusion.
Why had Darien Shepherd been in my nightmare? People had confused and tormented her emotions before—probably more so—but they had never appeared in her strange dream world quite like that. She had an even more pressing concern—she needed to know why the nightmares had returned after being dormant for so long.
The sudden sound of a door slamming somewhere on the first floor brought Diana out of her thoughts.
Her head throbbed with pain as she moved to the side of the bed. She brushed a hand against her forehead—it was drenched in sweat and she was burning up. Had she gotten feverish?
She turned around to check on Lani; her roommate was still fast asleep. Diana was glad she hadn’t been woken up by the noise—she needed the rest.
Slowly, Diana stood from the bed and walked out of the guest room to see what all the commotion was about. Taking care not to be seen, she crept to the banister and peered over to get a good look of the foyer.
A scarlet-haired woman, wearing a white lab coat, was pacing before the front door and Diana felt the intensity of her fury even from her high vantage point. Diana clutched the banister tightly for support as an anxiety took ahold of her not unlike the times her father went into a heated irrational tirade.
Even though the woman’s face was twisted in anger, she may have been the most beautiful woman Diana had ever seen in real life. Finally finished with her pacing, she opened a nearby closest and placed her lab coat within. Her anger lessened slightly, along with Diana’s empathetic anxiety, and Diana loosened her grip on the banister.
I wonder if that’s Miriam. Diana couldn’t help but admire her beauty. Her skin was perfect—like it had been chiseled from the same soft white stone as the bust of Darien’s sister. I thought I was fair skinned. She felt silly comparing herself to this woman who looked like a Greek goddess come to life.
Her choice of clothes was also quite striking. The woman wore an elegant long-sleeved lacey black dress that had a somewhat Victorian quality about it. The front was adorned with intricate stitching and buttoned all the way up her long neck. While a Victorian dress would have been long and puffed out with a bustle, this dress was considerably shorter, falling at her thighs. I need that dress. It was probably well out of her price range and wouldn’t fit her that well anyway. This woman’s form was a perfect hourglass. Is she wearing a corset?
Diana investigated her as closely as she could from the second floor. Her dark brown, almost black, eyes were filled with a fiery anger as she muttered curses in an unfamiliar language.
What language is that? It was the most beautiful and melodic she’d ever heard spoken aloud. Even angry, the woman’s words sounded like poetry.
In a rush, Darien appeared from his room looking disheveled from hastily putting his clothes on. His level of frantic concern twisted Diana into knots, but with his attention fully focused on the woman below, he didn’t notice Diana as he gestured with his hands for her to calm herself.
“Endymion, M’ayas?” The woman looked confused.
Something about the words struck Diana as familiar. Endymion—Marjory had almost said it earlier, before she caught a glimpse of Diana at Darien’s side.
Diana couldn’t quite hear the exchange but the woman suddenly looked up in her direction. Their eyes locked and the woman’s dark eyes regained their burning fury. She quickly turned that rage onto Darien.
“Are you mad?” She yelled in perfect English.
Darien raised a commanding hand and gave her a stare that spoke more than any tirade could possibly say—he meant for her to shut up and go to bed. Though reluctant, the woman calmed herself and shot Diana one last look of burning daggers before walking into the kitchen.
When she was gone, Darien turned his attention to Diana gazing in confusion from the second floor. She could feel his extreme unease at being in this situation. He quickly made his way up the stairs to address it.
Confusion and wonder left her mind in a haze. Were the Shepherds foreign? Darien and Andrew didn’t seem to be. Although, the thought of European nobility had crossed her mind already. The language the woman spoke didn’t sound familiar, but it could have been some obscure eastern European language.
When Darien reached her she was eager to ask questions.
“What was that all about? What language was she speaking? Where are you people from? I’m asking questions too fast, aren’t I?” Diana shut her mouth and stared up at Darien with sheepish eyes.
His worry seemed to lessen as he half smiled at her and shook his head. At least he wasn’t annoyed with her for the question-asking tirade.
“That was Terra; she had a bad night at the hospital. She’s a medical student and typically feels her instructors look down their noses at her for some reason or another—she’s usually delusional.” He was hoping that would satisfy her curiosity—which it didn’t. She just continued to stare at him, waiting for more answers.
Diana felt a twinge of his anxiety as he cleared his throat before continuing. “Terra is my family’s ward. She was born in Shelvalia—a small kingdom in the former Soviet Union. Her family died in a fire when she was a child and we took her in.”
His story was certainly dramatic, but believable. Although, Diana couldn’t help but feel there was a lot more that Darien wasn’t telling her. At least she had been right about Eastern Europe.
“Shelvalia huh? I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Yes, it’s a small kingdom. They do not register on the grid of world politics very often. My family has had dealings wit
h one of their lesser dukes; Terra was a part of his family.” He continued to look at Diana, hoping that she’d be satisfied with his answers.
She decided to humor him. “Well, I suppose I should go back to sleep.”
He nodded his head to her. “Goodnight again Miss Selene, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Diana closed the guest room door behind her and slipped back into bed. She made sure Lani was still snug, comfortable, and slumbering peacefully before laying her head down onto the cool pillow. As she drifted into a blissfully shadowless sleep, Diana’s thoughts dwelled on the kingdom of Shelvalia.
Chapter 5
To safely dwell among this viper brood,
I must don a mask and play their foul game.
Though I bow and scrape I feel no disgrace,
For in my heart I am still the White Wraith.
Diana sat in the Shepherds’ elegant dining room, under a magnificent crystal chandelier sparkling in the morning sunlight, quietly sipping her tea from the fine china cup and wishing she was anywhere else.
Eric and Lani sat on either side of her at the long wooden table, with Andrew, Darien, and Terra sitting directly across from them. A terribly awkward silence filled the room as they waited for their breakfast to arrive.
Darien’s emotional discomfort was evident. If Diana couldn’t already feel the twisting knot in her chest, his refusal to make direct eye contact with her was more than enough for her to know he was extremely nervous and trying—miserably—to hide it. What could possibly have him so worried? Was it Terra?
She occasionally stole a glance at Terra, expecting to find the scarlet-haired woman shooting daggers of hatred at her for some reason that Diana didn’t understand. Instead, Terra had the look of irritated indifference that had been plastered on Darien’s face the first moment Diana had laid eyes on him.
Andrew, by stark contrast, looked downright bored. He kept staring at his glass of ice water like he was expecting it to dance for him, and was very disappointed that it wasn’t.
She wished someone would say something—the awkwardness was almost too painful for Diana’s nerves to endure. Though Lani seemed sprightlier than Diana had expected, considering her long night hugging a toilet, she was still extremely hung over and Diana couldn’t blame her roommate for her silence. Eric had a similar excuse. Even though the Urgent Care professionals didn’t deem it necessary for him to stay the night, he still winced in pain every time he moved the wrong way. He also seemed hazy from the strong pain medicine.
The plight of her friends left Diana to suck it up and end the torture herself. She took another sip of tea for strength.
“Thank you again for letting us stay the night.”
Darien finally looked at her long enough to smile and reply. “Think nothing of it. I trust you had a good night’s rest?”
“Yes, thank you.”
And then the dreaded silence returned.
She needed to spark a conversation somehow, but what could she talk about? What should she say? Darien was confusion and duplicity personified and she just didn’t know how to talk to him. Did he hate her? Did he like her? Did she care either way?
Terra was a whole other monster—what did she have to say to a woman who obviously despised her for no apparent reason? They had one thing in common—neither one of them wanted the other in the room.
Terra brought her hand to her mouth in a tired yawn and Diana’s curiosity was sparked by a peculiar silver ring she wore on her index finger. Jagged runes, or a blocky foreign alphabet of some kind, decorated the circumference. Diana was about to dismiss it as likely being the script of Terra’s native tongue, when she noticed Andrew and Darien wore almost identical rings on their index fingers as well. Looking at the letters, they reminded her of some sort of Hebrew script. Maybe they’re Jewish.
Relief washed over Diana when Marjorie walked into the dining room pushing a small cart with silver trays of food, hot from the kitchen.
“That smells delightful, Marjorie,” Andrew said with a happy smile that his breakfast had finally arrived.
Diana’s mouth began to water when Marjorie placed the plate of food in front of her. Belgian waffles sprinkled with powdered sugar and blueberries—it looked delicious. Diana poured syrup into the squared crannies and began to eat. It was still awkward, but at least she had an excuse not to talk.
Eric winced as he cut into his waffles and it seemed to rouse Lani from her stupor.
“I barely remember what happened last night, but Diana told me you got hurt trying to help me.” Her voice was harsh and raspy from being sick. “I don’t know how to thank you—Eric, right?”
Eric swallowed his mouthful of waffle and nodded with a smile. “No worries. I’m from the South—I can’t resist running head first into danger to help a pretty girl.”
Terra looked slightly amused by Eric’s comments. “And they say chivalry is dead in this era,” she quipped with condescension as she cut the food on her plate with startling precision. She certainly wielded a knife like a surgeon and Diana felt strangely uneasy at the sight.
“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” Lani said to Terra, appearing not to appreciate the woman’s remark. “I’m Lani Bradley.”
Terra simply looked at her indifferently, irritated to even be talking to Lani. Darien flashed her a look of intensity that spoke volumes, and they shared a momentary battle of wills before Terra turned to acknowledge Lani’s question.
“My name is Terraiyah. I have been closely acquainted with Darien’s family since childhood.” Her English was flawless and she had no hint of an accent.
Lani gave Diana a look that implied she thought that “closely acquainted” meant there was something going on between Terra and Darien. Diana couldn’t quite figure out if she cared or not—what did it matter to her if Darien was with Terra? She was pretty sure that they weren’t together though, even if they did wordlessly bicker like an old married couple.
Diana’s curiosity finally got the better of her and she asked the question that had been burning in her mind since she had woken up.
“So, you’re from Shelvalia? What’s it like?” She lobbed the question out like a hand grenade, waiting to gauge Terra’s reaction.
If there was any color to Terra’s face, it all drained away and Diana could sense her animosity growing. By his face, Darien obviously wished Diana hadn’t asked the question and her curiosity continued to rise to new heights.
“You want to know of my homeland?” She closed her eyes and let out a pained sigh before giving Diana a look of contempt. “It is much too beautiful and sacred for a silly little girl like you to comprehend its splendor. It was wonderful and I miss it—that is all you need know.” She turned her attention back to her breakfast.
Diana was stricken silent by the woman’s impudent disregard for her.
Everyone at the table suddenly jumped in place when Andrew knocked over his glass of water right into Terra’s lap.
“I’m so sorry, Terra.” He began apologizing profusely, and with obvious insincerity, while patting down the front of Terra’s black dress with his napkin as she stood up from the table. As she peered down at him with eyes of burning fury, Andrew’s grin was priceless. “I’m sure you can have that dry in no time at all.”
Without a word, Terra stalked away from the dining room.
With a long sigh, Diana let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding in.
Andrew breathed a sigh of relief as well. “Now, let’s say we have a nice pleasant breakfast, shall we?”
Darien shook his head. “You really do have a death wish, don’t you?”
Andrew just smiled and shrugged. “Living life dangerously is well worth enjoying a meal without Spitfire spoiling the mood.”
Darien chuckled at his brother’s comments. “She hates it when you call her that—you really are going to die if she finds out.”
“Then don’t tell her,” he said with a wink. “I’m sure these fine people h
ave no intentions of ratting me out.”
“None here,” Eric replied with a chuckle and then winced in pain. “Not unless you offer to give me a sponge bath again.”
Everyone at the table laughed along with Eric.
Andrew smirked. “You know you liked it. Soon you’ll be coming over here all the time for my famous sexy-time spa parties.” He looked over at Diana and Lani, cleared his throat, and continued to laugh. Diana didn’t know what a sexy-time spa party was—she didn’t want to know, either.
“Thanks again for taking Eric to get looked at,” Diana said to Andrew. “And for letting him stay here too.”
“He would have done the same for me,” Andrew replied, brushing off the notion of kindness. “The party was beginning to bore me anyway.”
By her perturbed expression, Lani seemed to have taken Andrew’s flippant remark personally. She was about to make her feelings known, but then stopped herself upon a sudden realization. Her eyes went wide before her mouth twisted into an amused smirk. “If parties and girls don’t interest you, then what do you like to do for fun?”
“Paint, usually,” he replied while cutting his waffle, obviously not picking up on Lani’s indignant curiosity. “Though I haven’t had much time for it lately. I need to replace those pieces in the upstairs hallway; I’m tired of looking at them.”
“I would have never pegged you for the artistic type,” Diana chimed in. “You painted all those? They’re magnificent.”
“Of course,” Andrew replied with a proud smile. “You think just because I have a pretty face, I don’t have any hidden talents?”
“That’s debatable,” Darien interjected and Andrew scowled at his brother.
With the ice officially broken, the five of them continued to merrily eat their breakfast in a greater state of emotional peace. Though Diana made comments from time to time, the majority of the conversation was held by Andrew, Eric, and Lani; Darien continued to remain relatively quiet. Diana felt Darien’s anxiety lessen considerably after Terra left the room, but something was still troubling him.
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