by T. Z. Leigh
"Hey," he said.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing. I just...felt like talking to you," he said, giving a sweet smile.
A smile tugged on her mouth. "Come in," she told him, then closed the door.
"Look, I know it's weird, finding out about the...the marriage, or whatever. I just hope it doesn't ruin things for us."
He hoped nothing had changed because he was amazed at how relaxed they were with each other. He'd never felt such a strong connection with anyone in his life and didn't want anything to spoil it for him, or rather, them.
"No, of course not," she assured him. "It was just awkward when he put the spotlight on us in front of the others."
"Definitely," he agreed.
"It just feels like if anything physical was to happen between us, it would be...I dunno..." she trailed off, shrugging one shoulder.
"Yeah I know; I'm totally put off it too."
She frowned.
Annoyed with himself for having the balls to come to her room at night and talk without thinking (like an idiot), he tried to save himself with a cheeky grin.
"I mean, not that I haven't thought about you in that way…" Yeah, that's so much better. Now you just sound like a pervert, genius! "...or...man, I've made this awkward, haven't I?"
She smiled hesitantly, but her eyebrows were still knitted as if she was unsure of how she should react.
"Jamie...I would want to be with you...but it feels forced now..."
He looked down as he grew more and more uncomfortable, but he'd rather be honest with her.
"...I just wanted it to be special."
Jamie stared at him and somehow knew...that if it did happen, it wouldn't feel weird at all. She thought back to their conversation in the kitchen. How shocked she was to find that they had never touched each other before that, yet it felt as if it had already happened a million times. How tempted she was to lean in and kiss him on his lips, even though they had only spoken for a short while, which wasn't something she would think to do to any random guy. It was plain to see that he was someone full of sweetness and sincerity, and she couldn't help but go close to him. She found herself curling her arms around his neck.
"It will be special, Zachery."
His body radiated heat and his fingers itched to caress her, but he daren't make the first move. It took all of his will power to gently put his hands on her waist instead, not wanting to scare her off by putting any kind of pressure on her. Her waist was soft, but seemed to defy nature and give his hands an overwhelming electric jolt anyway. His stomach conveniently decided to do somersaults as she moved her face slowly closer to his, looking into his eyes until their lips were an inch apart.
She pressed her lips to his and the world turned hazy around him. They kissed tenderly and it felt so natural, like they'd been waiting a lifetime for this moment. He slowly pulled away and saw the yearning in her face, her lips still puckered and her eyes still half-closed as if she were being woken up from a beautiful dream. Once her eyes opened fully, she finally looked into his and his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. The butterflies that had joined the party in his stomach must have been hyped up on Red Bull, but it felt good.
They kissed passionately, losing all their worries and stress in each other. Their emotions were so intense because not only did they have an instinctive attraction, they really were destined for each other after all.
After some time, Zachery looked at his watch.
"Do you want to go to sleep?" Jamie asked him, in case he was trying to give her a hint.
"Not really. Tell me more."
"About what?"
"Anything. I like listening to you."
She chuckled. "What time is it now?"
"In Skrytosphere time? I have no idea. But my watch shows it's two am."
"Wow. Have we really been talking for three hours? It feels like three minutes."
He grinned, causing the butterflies in her stomach to return. She leaned forward, kissed him on the cheek softly, and then smiled when he deeply gazed into her eyes. He'd done that now and again, and each time it made her more breathless than the last.
"You might as well sleep here," she murmured.
"Er...I don't know about that."
"Why not? It's already late."
"That doesn't feel…"
"Oh right, I forgot, you're put off of us now."
"What? No, I didn't mean it like... that's not what I meant..."
She laughed loudly. "I was just joking, Zachery. Relax." She put her arms around him and kissed him, then grinned, pulling him with her as she lay down. "Tell me more about yourself," she said.
"Uh...I can't think right now."
She chortled, hugging him even tighter. "I wish I'd spoken to you before we were running for our lives. Maybe we could have enjoyed our time more."
He was quiet, then he looked at her suddenly and kissed her strongly, making her head float above the bed. He pulled away and stared at her in the sweet way he usually did, then let a cute smile tug on the corner of his mouth.
"So do I."
Chapter Sixteen
After what felt like the most blissful sleep she’d ever had, Jamie opened her eyes and expected to see Zachery sleeping beside her. He wasn’t there. She sat up and looked around...nothing, only harsh silence. Thinking he might be in the bathroom, she went and knocked on the door...still nothing. She pushed the door, stared at the empty space within, and a feeling inched over her that she didn’t like.
Disappointment.
Sam walked into the kitchen and saw Zachery and April sitting down eating something that smelled delicious.
“I’ll get some of that,” he told them.
April shifted in her seat, feeling awkward but hoping it wasn’t apparent. Sam grabbed a plate and took enough food from the metal trays that lay on the table to feed two starving people. He looked up and his fork froze in the air on the way to his mouth.
“What? Who knows when we’ll get to eat next?”
Following his lead, Zachery spooned some more slabs of meat and orange-coloured scrambled eggs onto his plate and ate.
“Anyway,” April carried on, “as I was saying before we were interrupted by Sam’s binge eating...I had a snoop around the castle, but I didn’t find much worth taking notice of. Mostly bedrooms, a large room...which kinda had this Knights of the Round Table thing going on...and a massive ballroom. However, there was a library. I say we should have a look in there after breakfast for any useful info.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Zachery agreed.
“I’m hoping we can find a different solution to beating Irisena than marriage,” she told them.
Zachery nearly choked on his eggs and had to drink some water.
“Err...okay, April,” he spluttered as he put the cup down.
“That’s actually a wicked idea,” Sam said, “I didn’t think of that.”
“Relax, Zachery, just because me and Sam don’t agree with marriage, it doesn’t affect you and Jamie. You two can do whatever you want.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna see if she’s up yet. The food’s getting cold.”
He walked out, leaving Sam and April in uneasy silence. She downed her water and walked towards the door, but stopped and spoke over her shoulder.
“I’m going to look in the library if you want to help. Four eyes are better than two, I guess.”
Being in the same room as him for more than five minutes made her want to punch something, but she would do anything not to marry him.
Zachery knocked on the door to Jamie’s room. There was no answer, so he knocked again. He was about to walk away, assuming she must have gone somewhere, when the door opened. She didn’t appear in the doorway, so he went in.
“Good morning,” he said, “how did you sleep?”
“Fine,” was her blunt response.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
Her frown
made him feel awkward. “I’ll...come back later.”
He began to turn away, but she grabbed his arm.
“Wait, Zachery. It was just...weird…when I woke up and you weren’t there.”
He was absolutely chuffed to hear that, but he did his best to hide it.
“Well, I didn’t particularly wanna leave, but I thought it was best. Rather than us showing up for breakfast together and causing the others to make wrong assumptions.”
“That didn’t even occur to me. And now I feel even more like an idiot.”
Jamie turned around facing the window, forcing her concentration on the forest below, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. He approached her from behind, pushed her hair to one side and gave her soft kisses on the back of her neck, sending shivers up and down her spine. She was about to close her eyes enjoying the sensation, when a movement caught her attention.
“What is that?” she asked, suddenly concerned.
He stopped kissing and took a step back. “I was just trying to make you feel better,” he replied, somewhat discouraged.
“Not you,” she tittered. “I swear I saw someone running around out there between the trees.”
“It was probably nothing...” he began, then trailed off when she looked at him with scorn.
“You mean like how the guy on the ceiling at college was nothing?”
“You’re right. I’ll go and find Sven. He did say we could be tracked sooner or later. You head to the kitchen. You’ll need to eat if anything drastic is about to happen.”
“Tell everyone to meet us there. We definitely need to have some sort of plan.”
“Cool.”
He left, and she caught herself in the mirror. Her face was pale and plain, and since she usually wore heavy makeup, her reflection made her wince. She sighed and tied her hair in a ponytail, before heading for the door.
There’s no time to eat, I have to find Sven. And quickly.
“Have any of you seen Sven?” Zachery asked the others after finding them in the library, each next to a stack of books.
With too much concentration on what they were reading, they merely shook their heads. Zachery had the urge to slap the book out of Sam’s hand but refrained.
“We need to find him! Jamie said she saw someone running around in the forest.”
“Saw who? Maybe it was Sven?” Sam offered.
“I don’t think so. Maybe we’ve been traced here. If that’s the case, we need to find him and ask what the plan is.”
“I haven’t seen him at all today,” April commented. “Breakfast was ready in the kitchen, though, so he must be around...I wonder where he’s gone.”
“I told Jamie to meet us in the kitchen. Let’s go and speak to her about exactly what she saw.”
They made their way to meet Jamie, unsure what to make of Sven’s disappearance, although they arrived at an empty kitchen in the same state they had left it.
“So, where is she?” April asked.
“She was gonna come down here. She can’t have taken that long.”
“You go to her room and check,” Sam suggested, “we’ll have a look round in case she went looking for us.”
They split up and when Zachery reached Jamie’s room, the door was open for him to go in. She wasn’t there, and he was becoming increasingly anxious.
First Sven, now Jamie?
He hurriedly checked the bathroom and scanned the room for any clue as to where she had gone. He didn’t notice before because it was behind the door, but he now stared into a mirror that offered no reflection. It had been smashed; the pieces strewn across the floor. It suddenly dawned on him that the big window behind him was wide open, sparking a variety of possible horrendous situations to conjure in his mind. He ran, checking every room on that floor. When he rushed down the main stairs, April and Sam were standing in the foyer.
“Did either of you find her?” he asked, panting.
“No. I take it you didn’t either?” Sam assumed.
“Where the hell could she be? In her room, the big window was open and the mirror had been smashed,” Zachery exclaimed while clutching his chest, becoming even more worried.
“Let’s check outside,” April told him and then opened the tall arched door.
Sunlight spilled into the foyer as they went out. The building looked even more impressive in daylight, with all the silver bricks sparkling in the sun, making the castle appear as if it was covered in glitter. They listened for any sounds of a struggle, but there was only silence, except the wind. Assuming the worst, Zachery resorted to panicking.
“Where is she? What could have happened to her? What if there was someone there and they’ve taken her? How are we gonna get her back? What will...”
“Bro,” Sam interrupted, “chill out. We’ll find her. We just need to figure out where she could’ve gone.”
“Maybe she’s playing a prank on us,” April suggested.
“She wouldn’t joke around about something like this,” Zachery snapped.
“How would you know?” April countered. “You barely know her. None of us do.”
“I just know, okay? When she told me she saw someone in the forest, I said it was probably nothing and she got really annoyed. She was serious.”
“Whatever went on, there’s no point in us just standing out here,” Sam said, brokering peace between April and Zachery.
Zachery groaned. “I shouldn’t have left her alone!”
April pulled him back inside while Sam followed and then bolted the door shut after them.
“Let’s secure the building...and this time, we stay together,” Sam ordered.
They made their way around the castle, checking every window on the ground floor was locked and bolted. Zachery spotted a staircase at the far end of the hallway and made his way up the stairs, which took him to the second floor. None of them had been up there before and were surprised to find two enormous rooms; a grand master bedroom and a baby’s nursery only fit for a prince. The furniture in both rooms was made from shiny wood and exuded nobility, as did the ceiling; the swirls and scrolls incorporated into it, imitating a lightning storm on the ocean.
In the nursery hung a painting of what must have been Jamie’s father as a baby. A feeling of sorrow welled inside Zachery as he remembered what their parents, and especially their grandparents, must have endured. The elders indeed were heroes, and now their selfless mission to protect the world had somehow passed onto their inexperienced grandchildren. They had a long way to go before taking on Irisena and in a short space of time. At that moment, Zachery was wholly overwhelmed by the cross they had to bear, but he forced it to the back of his mind to focus on something more important.
Surviving.
The master bedroom had a large frame on the wall, though it was covered by a thick cloth that hung from its top. Zachery was about to pull it off, but a balcony that led off the room with a breath-taking view of the land distracted him. All three were speechless as they stepped outside, though Zachery went back in and sat down on the bed. The others followed and found him with his head in his hands.
“We need to find Jamie, and not just for my sake. If anything happens to us, everything would have been for nothing.”
“We’ll find her,” April said with conviction.
“Come on, let’s go downstairs, in case Sven comes back,” Sam suggested.
“You two go. I’m coming, I just need a minute,” Zachery mumbled.
April and Sam left, and Zachery lay back on the bed. He looked at the ornate ceiling, the work of some master architect no doubt, and couldn’t help but feel utterly lost.
Way to go, Zachery; you found the perfect girl and lost her after a day.
Feeling sorry for himself, he got up and walked out onto the balcony, but the breeze caressing his face made him miss her even more. As he entered the bedroom, an invisible force knocked him sideways to the ground as something small exploded in the room. He opened his eyes to see Jamie on top
of him.
“Jamie? What the...!”
“Shh!” she urged him. “We have to warn the others.”
As they got up, he saw the bed had been half blown to bits, although she didn’t give him time to question it and pulled him with her as she ran downstairs.
“What the hell is going on?” he cried out as another explosion went off nearby.
She stopped and peered at him in alarm. “Irisena is here,” she told him, then disappeared in a flash.
When Zachery came running down the stairs, two at a time and out of breath, the others were by the front door. April and Sam looked at him in awe as he came nearer.
“Jamie can speed run,” April said incredulously.
“Yeah,” Zachery wheezed, “I know.”
“Later, guys. Follow me, this way,” Jamie told them. “I heard a soldier from my room saying something about a secret exit. We need to find it before they have time to meet us at the other end.” She led them to the ballroom and ran to the wide pillar in the centre of it. “It’s supposed to be here, but I’m not sure how to get it open.”
They felt all over the pillar for some invisible button or switch. They found nothing, so in desperation, started looking around. Whatever looked like it wasn’t part of the room, they tried to either twist or lift, but nothing worked.
At the front of the room stood a large instrument that looked like a piano. Every key was pressed, but the pillar didn’t move an inch. They jumped around on the floor and looked at the ceiling to check if anything was up there. They were tired and running out of ideas, so when the place looked like it had been ransacked, they sat down, defeated.
More explosions shook the castle, and now the front door was being pounded. Irisena was soon to enter. Jamie seemed to spot something and ran to the piano. A tiny candlestick sat on one side of it and she jiggled it around. When a loud noise came from the pillar, a wave of relief flowed over Zachery’s skin. They all ran to it and saw that it was spinning around, as if drilling downwards into the floor. Irisena had now broken through the door and were going to find them any minute.
Every second felt like forever, but they soon saw an opening appearing at the top. The pillar spun, slowly descending deeper and deeper. When the opening was big enough, they saw a circular platform. Sam, Jamie, and Zachery jumped in, huddled together in an oversized, mechanical dumbwaiter fit for only two people. April stepped sideways to follow the opening, frowning.
