Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  A green light flared in front of me and when I tried to lean across the wall, I couldn’t. I pushed my hands against the air above the wall and it was solid. “No,” I whispered as I realized that he had sealed me in his territory, away from him.

  The ground trembled again.

  “Let me out!” I yelled at Eoghan.

  “No, you’re safe there.”

  “Run here!” I screamed.

  He was already running towards me, but the ground was trembling louder and faster like an earthquake except that where I was the ground wasn’t moving. The ground at the wall and beyond into Eoghan’s territory was calm and silent.

  Treyce ran towards us as well.

  “Head along the wall to your left and you’ll find my castle. My staff will take care of you,” Eoghan told me.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked with silent tears on my cheeks. I hit the invisible wall and pushed it. They were so close.

  Eoghan’s body shuddered and he turned into a man, slightly taller than Treyce with long blonde hair and shimmering blue eyes. He placed his palm on the other side of the invisible wall from me, our hands lined up, his were slightly larger than mine, and he whispered, “Thank you for making me feel again. Thank you for being my friend.”

  “Eoghan!” I screamed as I watched him and Treyce fall into a seemingly bottomless pit that appeared under them yet stopped at the wall. The ground shuddered again and then closed over the top of them. I pounded my fists against the wall and screamed as I tried to break through to try something, anything, to help them. What had happened? Why had the ground swallowed them up like that? He had been right here! He could have crossed! Why hadn’t he crossed the wall? Eoghan had turned into a man. He had another form that he had kept hidden from me. Why?

  “Miss?” a male voice asked behind me.

  I spun around and my warring emotions didn’t know what to make of the man on horseback staring at me with sad eyes.

  “I am Martin. Come, I’ll take you to the King’s castle,” he said.

  “King? What are you talking about? I have to follow the wall like he…”

  “King Eoghan told you that his staff would take care of you and we will.”

  “King? He’s a king? Wait, if you were here, why didn’t you help him? Why didn’t you cross the wall to help him?” I asked and grew angrier with each word.

  “He ordered me to stay here and take you to the castle,” he replied.

  He had long blonde hair similar to Eoghan’s, but his was tied back in a ponytail and his eyes were dark brown. He did look as though he could be related to Eoghan. “How do I know that I can trust you?” I asked and wiped at my tear stained face.

  “His Highness would have warned you of my presence sooner if he thought I was a threat.”

  “Or he would have told me you were here if you weren’t,” I countered.

  “May I walk beside you while you head to the castle then?” he requested.

  “He said I don’t need to be protected here.”

  “You are safe here as the King told you, but I want to ensure that his sacrifice isn’t for naught and you don’t try to find a break in the wall to run and try to rescue him.”

  Dang, was I that obvious?

  “Why aren’t you trying to rescue him?” I asked in an accusatory tone.

  “King Eohan prefers to do things on his own. Treyce and he were friends when they were younger and hold no ill will towards each other so I am hopeful that they will assist each other now. I think that he let himself fall to help Treyce.”

  “Do you know what happened to them? Why did the ground swallow them up like that?” I asked as we began walking down the wall towards the castle. He seemed positive that Eoghan was alive and I clung to that hope like it was the last breath of oxygen in the world.

  “That’s Queen Pella’s power. She transported them back to her castle,” he explained.

  Why would she want them? And if she could do that, why hadn’t she done that to me when I’d left? Or while I’d been in her territory? None of this made any sense.

  “Will she hurt them?” I asked instead of the thousand other questions I had.

  He sighed loudly. “Pella is an odd creature and her mind works unlike any you can imagine. She may hold them prisoner for a few days, speak to them, and then send them on their way. Or she might punish them.”

  “Isn’t there anything that I can do?”

  He looked at me seriously and said, “We’re going to find a wizard to train you and you’re going to learn how to control your powers.”

  “We don’t have time for that! I need to go to the Queen and…”

  “You will not leave this territory. Even if King Eoghan hadn’t put up a boundary spell, I would not allow you to run off to your death and ruin everything he did. The witches want to kill you. The vampires are after your blood. If you set foot outside of Eoghan’s territory, you will die.”

  That was a sobering thought. “What about Treyce?”

  “Treyce will not harm you, but he is blinded by his selfish desires and you should stay away from him if possible.”

  “So, I’m just supposed to live in Eoghan’s castle and learn magic while he’s being tortured or killed?” I asked angrily. I had told him that I was useless and this was proof of that. Once I learned how to use my magic, I would never be useless again.

  “Yes,” he replied simply.

  “Is he a wereanimal?” I asked.

  Martin shook his head. “No, he is a shapeshifter, but not a wereanimal. He is what is called a therianthrope.”

  Why hadn’t he changed shapes before? Why had he stayed in his animal form the entire time? Did he not want me to know that he was human as well? Or had a human form? It made no sense!

  I didn’t ask Martin anymore questions as we walked along the wall. I trailed my fingertips along the invisible wall beside me and recalled our joined hands separated by his magic. He had risked so much for me. For someone he called a friend. It was unheard of and ridiculous in my world. Those at the orphanage would have said that he got what was coming to him. Trusting people led to your death. The only people you could trust were those in your gang and even then you slept with one eye open just in case.

  I should have been freaking out this entire time over coming to a world with magic and mythological creatures. I should have freaked out when I heard an animal talking to me in my head with a human voice. I should have realized then that he was a man and not just an animal. I was overwhelmed and blinded by my need for a friend. Was that why he did it? Had he felt my hidden desire to have someone I could count on, someone I could trust? Had my secret wishes killed the one person who I could have trusted?

  No, he wasn’t dead! I refused to let him die. I would study as hard and fast as I could to hone my magic and I would save him.

  “How long will it take for you to find a wizard to train me?” I asked Martin some time later.

  “It should only take a day at most to find someone. There are a few we keep in contact with on a regular basis and I’m certain they will assist us with training you.”

  The castle sparkled at the edge of where my poor eyesight could see. It looked like a child’s toy from this distance, but I could tell it was grand and elegant. The towers and walls were massive judging by the trees nearby that looked like sticks in comparison.

  “The transition to this world is no doubt frightening,” Martin told me, “but I will assist you in any way that I can until our King returns.”

  “Why was he in Pella’s territory?” I asked. Martin looked like he was close to forty years old and yet he moved with a gait that was spry and fluid.

  “He told me that there was something he had to do. He wasn’t certain what it was or how he knew, but he felt it in his gut. He told me that whatever it was, it was big and would change everything.”

  “He sensed the Transfer before it happened?” I guessed.

  Martin nodded. “So it would seem. He may have
also sensed you, Alyssa.”

  “Me? He said he hadn’t felt anything until he saw me.”

  “The young King was despondent after his family was murdered. Seeing him fighting like that, and the way he looked at you, is the most alive I have seen him in years.”

  I felt proud of that and sad at the same time.

  “What else did he instruct you to do when you came to the fight?” I asked. The ground descended as we headed down towards the castle and I had to dig in my toes to keep from falling down the steep decline.

  “Um…”

  He didn’t continue.

  I stopped and looked at him. “Well?”

  “He ordered me to treat you as I would a Queen and ensure that the others did as well.”

  Queen? Wait…queen!

  “He, uh, didn’t. We never. I mean…”

  “He did not proclaim you Queen, calm thyself. He just wanted us to treat his friend as we would a Queen,” he explained.

  I exhaled a relieved breath. “Oh.”

  “Though, the way you looked at him may suggest that you may wear that title sooner than you think,” he teased me with a smirk.

  “I hardly know him! I didn’t even know he was human until right before…” I stopped talking. I would deal with all of that once I got Eoghan safely returned to his territory. I didn’t care if he was interested in me or not. He was my friend and I would help him. Even if that made me stupid to the others from the orphanage, I had a debt to repay.

  “Are you hungry?” Martin asked me.

  I hadn’t realized that he had gotten off of his horse and walked next to me.

  “Yes. I desperately need a bath too.”

  “I will have the seamstresses come measure you for some new clothes as well,” he told me with a sideways look at my outfit.

  “If I had known I would be coming to a different dimension, I would have worn something different,” I said with a smirk.

  He laughed and it carried across the valley towards the castle. “I can see why King Eoghan befriended you. You both share a similar wit.”

  King Eoghan. It was so strange to realize that the lynx I had befriended was a man, let alone a king. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask him, but he wasn’t here. I had to remedy that.

  We neared the castle and a man in full armor galloped towards us on a horse that was black with a white star in the center of its forehead. The horse slowed a few feet from us and then pranced in a circle next to Martin and his horse. “The King?” the man asked. I couldn’t even see his eyes which were hidden inside his helmet.

  “Padraic, this is Alyssa. King Eoghan has instructed us to treat her with rights of a Queen and as the King’s Guard, you have been assigned to guard her in the King’s absence,” Martin told him instead of answering his question.

  The helmeted guard, Padraic, turned towards me and looked me up and down once before asking, “What of His Majesty?”

  “Taken by Queen Pella,” Martin replied shortly.

  Padraic said something in a tone that implied it was a curse word. “He denied a rescue?” he asked.

  Martin nodded. “Alyssa is our primary goal.”

  “Very well. Milady, if you’ll please?” he asked and then before I could respond, he leaned halfway out of his saddle, grabbed me around the waist, and lifted me up behind him on his horse.

  “AH!” I yelled, startled.

  Martin mounted his horse and they started to walk the horses towards the castle. I wrapped my arms around Padraic and held on tightly.

  “Have you not ridden before?” Martin asked me.

  I shook my head with my eyes closed and prayed I didn’t fall off and break my arm.

  “We will walk to the castle,” Padraic assured me. “And in the next few days, I will give you riding lessons.”

  It would be faster to get around while on horseback. I relaxed a bit knowing we were only walking and the side to side sway of the horse’s walk was oddly calming.

  “Does Eoghan ride horses?” I asked as I stared at the castle, growing larger the closer we rode to it.

  “King Eoghan does ride. He learned to ride as a child,” Padraic said and I heard the chastising tone of me not using Eoghan’s title.

  “Eoghan was in animal form the entire time we were together except for right before he…was taken,” I said and whispered that last part.

  “That’s not surprising,” Martin said. “He preferred his animal form after his family was lost.”

  “You keep forgetting to use his title,” Padraic said angrily.

  “He didn’t tell me he was a king. I didn’t know he was a king until Martin spoke to me.”

  “What did you call him then?” Padraic asked softly, nervously.

  “Friend,” I whispered and a few fresh tears slipped down my face as I remembered his last words.

  “Thank you for being my friend.”

  “Friend?” Padraic asked in disbelief.

  I sniffed and wiped my face. “Yes.” A large metal gate was raised for the horses to walk through and I whispered, “Whoa,” as we walked into the courtyard of the castle.

  “Will she be in the guest wing?” Padraic asked Martin.

  Martin shook his head, dismounted his horse and said, “No.”

  “Where?” Padraic asked.

  “His quarters.”

  “What!” Padraic demanded.

  “His orders,” Martin reminded him.

  “This is absurd!” Padraic countered and slid out of the saddle and then helped me climb off. “What was he thinking?”

  “He wants her to be as comfortable as possible while he is away,” Martin said and then looked at me. “He hoped that being able to smell his scent while you slept would help you adjust to life in the castle.”

  I was going to sleep in his bedroom? Part of me was incredibly curious to find out what his room looked like, but part of me was intimidated to stay in a king’s room.

  I didn’t respond and Padraic looked at Martin. “Are you certain this is okay?”

  Martin shrugged. “It is what our King wants. After seeing the fire in his eyes while fighting and protecting Alyssa, I’d slay a thousand demons if he asked me to just to keep him happy.”

  “Fighting? He was fighting?” Padraic asked.

  “A bit sloppier than his old self, but he was filled with fire again.”

  “I never thought he would return. I had hoped, but…” Padraic stopped and looked at me. “I will do as he has commanded. Milady, follow me please.”

  A thin man with dirt covered clothes took the horses from them and I followed Padraic into the castle.

  “We haven’t been into his room since he left two weeks ago,” Padraic told me. “So it is likely messy.”

  “That’s fine,” I said as I took in all of the beautiful paintings hanging on the walls down the hallways. “I want to see his room as he would have lived in it anyway.”

  “I’ll go find the seamstresses and find you a handmaiden,” Martin told me. “Then we’ll draw you a bath and you can eat supper with us.”

  “That sounds amazing,” I told him.

  Padraic pushed open a set of double doors that had two guards in full armor beside them. “Welcome to your new room,” he said.

  The room was huge, five times as big as the room I had shared with three other girls at the orphanage, and it was cluttered. There were books, pillows, blankets, and trinkets everywhere on the floor, bed, and desk. There was also a pair of wood and glass doors that opened out to a balcony and then stairs that led to a beautiful garden. I stepped inside and inhaled, Eoghan’s scent filling me like I was lying on him in the forest again.

  “I will have them remake the bed with fresh…”

  “No!” I snapped and then said, “Please, leave them.”

  He took his helmet off and the man next to me couldn’t be any older than I was. He had short silver hair and pointed ears and fangs. “May I ask you a question, milady?”

  “Only if I
can ask you one back. And you stop calling me that,” I agreed.

  “What should I call you?”

  “Alyssa.”

  “Very well. Alyssa, were you and His Majesty…” he paused and seemed to deliberate his next words. “…intimate?”

  I didn’t normally blush, but I definitely was now. “No!” I yelled. “Not once. I didn’t know…he was a lynx the entire time.”

  He exhaled. “Thank you for answering.”

  “Are you…an elf?” I asked him quietly and avoided meeting his eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “Awesome,” I whispered in reply and smiled at him.

  He smiled back and said, “My quarters are right next to yours, we have a door that joins our rooms, in case you need anything.” He went to the door in the wall and stepped through it.

  “Padraic,” I called.

  He stuck his head back through. “Yes?”

  “Will you teach me to fight?”

  He frowned. “Fight?”

  I nodded. “Sword, hand to hand, knives,” I explained further.

  “I’m not certain His Majesty would want—”

  “Please,” I begged.

  “We can discuss it more tomorrow. Your bath will be ready soon and then supper. Alright?”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  He shut the door behind him and I began my slow tour of the room, trailing my fingertips along everything and trying to learn as much as I could about Eoghan from his room. He was a slob, that was for sure, but if I had someone who cleaned up after me I would likely have a messy room as well.

  The walls were bare, which I found a bit odd when compared to the rest of the castle, but perhaps he was too busy with his nose stuck inside a book in his bedroom to care if there were paintings on the walls. I picked up a blanket that was draped across the back of the desk chair and lifted it to my nose. It smelled just like him and it was soft enough to remind me of his fur. I took the soft blanket that smelled of Eoghan and held it to the side of my face as I walked to the bed. I kicked off my shoes and dirty pants, set my bag on the ground next to the bed, wrapped myself up in the blanket and climbed into the center of Eoghan’s bed. I closed my eyes and could almost pretend that we were back in the old man’s underground room together.