The Twilight Star

by Laura E. Collins

  In less than ten minutes I had been outfitted in gray leggings, riding boots, as well as a dark gray tunic. My body must be curvier than Princess Emeley’s because the leggings were tight in the hips, but I could still wear them. Afterwards, I was shown back to the stable yard. The princess trotted expertly around on her pure white stallion.

  “Miss Evelyn, I am Sir Leonard. You will be riding with me today,” a kindly looking man said to me as I took it all in. I could tell by the grace in his movements that he must also be a half-vampire.

  I nodded and followed him to his gray and white horse being held by other servants. I guess this was probably a good thing since I really had no idea how to manage a horse outside of a theme park. He easily climbed up and settled. Next, I was offered assistance to haul myself up behind him. Princess Emeley didn’t wait, but bolted out of the gates on her horse while the rest of us followed. I counted ten of us on horseback. It seemed like a nice size for a hunting party. There was only one other woman on horseback, but she did not carry any weapons. I assumed she must be some type of servant like me.

  As soon as we were a good distance from the castle I became curious. “Sir Leonard,” I practically had to shout over the wind and being jostled around. “What are we hunting for today?”

  “A portal was open last night. Princess Emeley is fond of searching for otherworldly things.”

  That explains why she wanted me to come . . . to possibly identify what we found. But, a portal opened up! So it is possible to go home. I wonder if Rosalind had anything to do with it. As a group we rode long and hard, occasionally stopping to rest the horses and re-evaluate what direction the portal had been in. We rode quite a distance from the West Village, away from the mountains, stopping near the edge of a cliff. Everyone had dismounted to give the horses a break. Instinctively, I walked over towards the edge where Princess Emeley was standing, peering over the horizon. I could smell the smoke before I could see it. Large plumes of black and gray whisps floated over the horizon. I searched for the source, but it was too far and below to make out. I guessed that is where the portal opened.

  “Your Highness, how did you know that a portal had opened?”

  “I smelled it.”

  That’s right . . . I remembered the smell of ozone when I came through the portal that brought me here.

  “I went to the site where your portal was in the mountains after your arrival. I was away at the time; otherwise I would have been the one to find you and your companions.”

  “We were very grateful to Dr. Thorpe for bringing us to your kingdom,” I said sincerely. “Did a witch open this portal?” I asked, gesturing down to whatever was burning.

  “How did you know witches could open portals?” she asked in return with a concerned look on her face.

  Uh oh. I’d let it slip. Now I would have to tell her about Rosalind. “My companions and I came across Rosalind’s cottage in the Ashen Forest one day. She said as much,” I summed up, not wanting to tell her the full story.

  “How did you find her? She uses magic to conceal herself so as not to alarm the villagers,” she turned to face me.

  “We saw the cottage.”

  “All of you?” she asked as she eyed me in bewilderment.

  “Yes,” I replied. She looked thoughtful for a moment.

  “What else did you see?”

  “There was a statue out front that seemed a little strange . . . we didn’t stay long.”

  “Rosalind has been given asylum here in Eteryn by my father, provided she does not cause any trouble. Do not go back there ever again. She is not to be trusted.”

  “I won’t, Your Highness,” I replied. I meant it too. I was more than happy to let Sean deal with her. “What does she need protection from?”

  “Queen Hadreah of course. Hadreah kills all other witches she comes across. If she knew of Rosalind’s whereabouts she would march in and destroy her.”

  “Why doesn’t this Rosalind just leave and hide somewhere else?”

  “There is no where she could go that she would be safe. She has been cooperating with my father to try to help us discover some way of defeating Hadreah. So far, everything we have attempted has failed,” she said softly.

  “How can she be so powerful that no one could destroy her?”

  “No one knows the answer to that. She just appeared one day during a war and took over Shadowlea. We do not even know where she came from.”

  “Is that why you search the portal sites? To try to find something that could help . . . something she would not know how to fight?”

  “Yes, that is correct, Evelyn. I may have already found a powerful weapon, but I am not entirely sure. It is best to keep looking. This is the second portal in a year. It is unusual for them to occur so close together. It makes me wonder if it is some kind of omen.”

  “I hope not,” I said with concern.

  “Come, let us go and see what is down there,” she said as she walked away.

  Our small group painstakingly made it down to the smoldering portal site by way of crisscrossing back and forth over the uneven landscape next to the cliffs. It took a while and I was grateful I had Sir Leonard to hang on to. We left the horses behind with a few of the guards while we slowly approached a smoking burned piece of twisted metal on the ground. I recognized it easily for what it was, the nose end of a small airplane. The stench of burning flesh made my stomach turn. I pulled out a small handkerchief from my pocket and tied it around the front of my face. I followed Princess Emeley as she cautiously approached the fallen aircraft, nimbly stepping over anything on fire.

  I stopped and looked around. I did not see the other half of the plane. It was just the cockpit and part of one of the wings. Debris was strewn here and there, but the rest of the wreckage was nowhere in sight.

  “Where is the rest of the plane?” I asked.

  “You know what this is?” she turned and looked at me.

  “Yes, it is an airplane . . . a flying machine like we talked about. However, this is only part of it. Can you tell if there are any more parts nearby?” I asked. What if there were survivors that were lost like I had been? Unlikely . . . but you never knew. The princess keenly scanned the horizon and sniffed the air.

  “Only him,” she said pointing to a badly burned corpse still strapped in his seat with his headset on. I looked away. It was a little too gruesome and sad for me. If this was the only part of the plane that came through the portal, I wondered where the other part went. “Look around, Evie. Sir Leonard will assist you. Search for anything that could be useful,” she commanded.

  The cockpit was too hot and messy for me to want to deal with so I headed towards a piece of luggage that had burst open on the ground. I flipped it over and a large, brightly colored plastic object fell out. I picked it up and brushed the dirt off.

  “What is that?” Sir Leonard asked, eyeing it suspiciously.

  “It’s a super soaker,” I said holding it up. “It’s a toy, but provided it isn’t busted, it might be useful.”

  “Did you find something?” The princess was at my side in a flash.

  I barely registered it until she was right in front of me. “It’s a water gun. I guess if you filled it with holy water, you could use it against vampires . . . or put out a fire maybe.”

  “We will take it,” she gestured to Sir Leonard to take it back to the horses.

  I pulled out a small vinyl billfold from the suitcase. It was singed, but not burned. I found a boarding pass and read the date; March of 1997. This was decades before I had come here. How is that possible? I couldn’t decipher the airport code to see which airport it was headed to. This time warp stuff was really starting to mess with me.

  By late afternoon, I had pulled out a few more items from the wreckage and scattered pieces of luggage. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything that I felt could be useful when fighting a witch. But then . . . I had no idea what would be helpful in that arena. The sun rose high in the sky as we headed bac
k. We stopped half-way to rest the horses and snack on some bread and cheese. I sat near the princess during the break.

  “I’m surprised Lady Bluteau does not accompany you when you go out,” I observed.

  “Lady Bluteau?” Princess Emeley let out a dainty snort. “I do not think she would ever consider riding a horse,” she stated coldly.

  “But she is one of your ladies . . . isn’t she supposed to take care of you?” I asked.

  “Lady Bluteau’s family wants her to marry my brother. Her father was made a baron for his loyalty in the military, but it is fairly obvious he is driven by greed. My father simply wanted me to keep a close eye on them. That is the only reason we made Celena one of my ladies. Their whole family craves power and wealth and they will do just about anything to get it. Lady Aryn helps me keep a close watch on her and she loves to goad her whenever she can.”

  I figured that would explain why Lady Aryn gave me the dresses for the banquets. Perhaps she wanted the prince to notice me in them. The mention of marriage perked my ears up. The thought of the prince marrying Lady Bluteau seemed silly to me. “Does the prince want to marry her?”

  “Of course not. But as royals we have to be careful not to offend anyone. Sometimes it is better to keep your enemies close to you rather than out of your sight. It keeps them on their best behavior.”

  “I guess so,” I said, wondering if that same principle applied to me too.

  We packed up and headed home. I wondered how Sam did without me today. I also began to wonder about the royal family. They seemed more normal to me with each passing day and it surprised me that Princess Emeley let me in on her distrust of Lady Bluteau.

  “You may keep what you are wearing, Evie,” the princess said as we arrived back to the stables. “You will report to the arena in the morning. I think that it is time that we started to train you.”

  “Train me for what?” I asked, confused.

  “To survive an attack from Hadreah when she comes for us,” she said seriously.

  ∞

  The sun shone down bright and strong the next morning, warming me in this crisp fall weather. I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail, tying it with a leather cord as I walked. Over the past few months my hair had been bleached somewhat by the sun and appeared more blonde than ever before in my life. Once I reached the castle I was led to the great arena where the guards and military trained. It was so large that there were various training sessions going on. Princess Emeley was already sparring with one of her guards when I arrived. I waited and watched patiently until she finished her match. Lady Aryn also waited and observed from the sidelines. Fortunately, Lady Bluteau was nowhere in sight.

  “Have you ever been trained with a sword?” the princess asked, approaching me.

  “No, Your Highness,” I said.

  “First you will need some lessons. Sir Leonard and I will instruct you,” she said gesturing for him to join her.

  Fascinated, I watched and learned the beginning of sword play techniques. Through their teaching, I also learned that Princess Emeley had started advocating that all women should be taught how to fight. Turns out, I was the guinea pig. We had attracted lots of attention from court. Several finely dressed ladies, some of whom I recognized, watched me hold a sword and go through the footwork needed to avoid a strike and how to block. I took some kickboxing courses back home for exercise, but it was nothing like this. If you didn’t hold the sword just right, it could fly out of your hands. Swords look innocent, but they are heavy! After only a few minutes, my arms ached and I could feel it in my core muscles. Without my regular workouts, I had fallen out of shape.

  After another hour of watching and practicing blocks, I was utterly exhausted even though I only wielded a smaller and lighter training sword. My palms stung with the promises of blisters to come. I couldn’t help but wonder why the princess would take it upon herself to personally train me. It seems like it would be something a royal would delegate. Her interest in me seemed genuine, but I knew there was something else behind it. I needed to figure out what it was as I am sure she stood something to gain from it.

  After a few more minutes of blocking, I could hardly raise the sword up. Puffing heavily, I raised it up once more and the princess slammed and struck it down more forcefully than I thought a woman would be capable of, however she was a half-vampire. She possessed strength that I would never have, or match. The blow knocked me backwards on my ass and the training sword flew out of my hands. I clearly did not possess much upper body strength. I sat there heaving, looking up at her as she approached me.

  “If I were your enemy, you would be dead now,” she said, holding out a hand to help me up. I nodded.

  “Emeley,” a familiar voice called sharply. We both turned to the source and I immediately looked down and did my best to curtsy as Prince Eythan approached us.

  “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, his eyes sweeping over me as if to assess whether or not I was okay.

  “I decided it was time for Miss Evelyn to learn some of the basics of sword play.”

  “By beating her down?” he quirked an eyebrow at her.

  “She now has a sense of just how dangerous our world is.”

  “I do not doubt that. It is apparent that she can barely even hold up a sword . . . however, if you wish to train her, it would be best to start with bows, daggers, and some basic instruction first,” he quipped.

  “Are you questioning my methods, Eythan?” she challenged with a slight edge to her voice.

  He glanced at me, then back at her. “I am simply pointing out that she has no idea how to begin to fight or defend herself as it seems she never had a reason to learn in her world. She is a wayfarer . . . if she gets hurt, she cannot be replaced,” was all he said before he stalked off.

  Princess Emeley watched him go without another comment, appearing to mull over his advice. “Enough for one day. Perhaps it is your turn to teach me. Can you show me how the super soaker works?”

  “I’d be happy to, Your Highness,” I said with relief as she turned to lead the way out of the arena. I caught a glimpse of Lord Beaumont watching me from the other end.

  ∞

  I walked with Princess Emeley up to the parlor where she usually took her mid-day meal, or dinner, as they called it. I had spent yet another morning going through her collection of portal treasures. As we awaited lunch to be served I looked around hopefully as we sat down, wondering if the prince would show up. He was a busy man, but I knew that he sometimes dined with his sister.

  “I wish I could see your world, Evelyn. From what you describe it sounds remarkable.”

  “It is, Your Highness,” I replied softly, feeling a pang of remorse of how I missed being home.

  “There is a way,” she said softly.

  I looked up at her, not sure I quite understood what she meant. “A way for what, Your Highness?”

  “I can see past memories of the mind with touch, Evelyn,” she divulged in a low voice. We were the only ones in the room so I’m not sure who she was trying to keep the secret from.

  “How is that possible?”

  “I am only half-human. My visual hindsight is a gift from my vampire heritage. Most of us have one or two unique talents.”

  I thought of the prince. Dr. Thorpe had told me he had the gift of knowing when the truth was told. Maybe this was her ability.

  “May I take a look at your memories? I want so much to see your world,” she said standing up and moving closer.

  “I’m not sure, Your Highness.” I said with uncertainty. I didn’t want to make her mad, but at the same time I wasn’t sure I should let her do this. If she could see my memories, she could see anything I had experienced my whole life. “What if you don’t like what you see?” I challenged softly.

  “Let me be the judge of that,” she smiled encouragingly at me.

  “What do you have to do?”

  “Just stand up and I will place my thumbs over your eyes . . . it
does not hurt. You will be fine and then maybe I can understand you better.” She had a point. The people here had no idea what my life was like. Maybe if she did, I could win her friendship.

  “As you wish then.” I stood up.

  Princess Emeley stepped next to me appearing very excited. She stood in front of me and raised her hands. “Just close your eyes,” she said. I did so and she gently placed her cool hands on my face and then rested her thumbs over my eyes. As soon as she did I nearly jumped as I felt some kind of connection. Memories came flooding back to me . . . the portal, the Faire, working at the hospital, college graduation, turbulence during a flight to the Caribbean, my first real boyfriend, frat parties . . . I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate and sweat. She kept going . . . getting a driver’s license, shopping, band practices, twelve candles on my birthday cake . . . my head started to ache.

  “Emeley!” A strong voice called. A voice I recognized. In my mind I saw her open her eyes and remove her hands from my face. The connection was lost and I stood there dumfounded.

  “What are you doing to Miss Evelyn?” The prince demanded as he stalked over to me. I felt shaky and out of it. As soon as he was near enough to me I instinctively reached my arm out for him as my knees started to buckle. He circled his arms around me immediately and held me up. For a few glorious seconds I rested my cheek high up on his chest.

  “I wanted to see her world, Eythan. She consented to it,” she said serenely, looking amazed.

  “Enough! She is exhausted,” he said, easing me down into a chair. “Are you all right, Evelyn?” he asked informally in a concerned tone.

  I looked up at him in awe, wishing I could touch him again. “Yes, my lord, thank you.”

  “Bring Miss Evelyn something to drink,” he ordered one of the servants who happened to come in to finish setting up for lunch. He nodded and rushed right back out.