“How do you know they won’t find us here?” Skye questioned after a few minutes.
I sat back up and rubbed my neck, and when I looked over at her I saw the fear in her eyes as she waited for my answer. “They won’t. I don’t think they know about me, so they don’t know where to look. Plus, it’s obvious that they know where you live, so they must just follow you from there when you leave the house. I took care of the one at the house earlier, and then the two others that followed you when you ran.” I explained to the best of my ability, but seeing the confusion still written on her face I continued on.
“Look - I know this makes absolutely no sense to you right now, but I swear to you that I will protect you. When Rioden comes back he can explain some more things to you and then we can discuss our plans, but for now, why don’t you try to rest?”
She laughed bitterly at that, which surprised me.
“You want me to rest?” she asked incredulously. “I was almost strangled to death today by a monster. They tried to kidnap me and kill you, and then they swore that they would get me and take me back to this other dimension that you both say is my true home!”
By the time she finished her rant, her voice had begun to squeak and she coughed, and then moaned, as if the action itself pained her. Seeing her logic, I got up and poured some water into one of the little hotel glasses by the sink. I brought it to her and sat next to her on the bed.
“Here, take a sip and try to rest your throat,” I requested.
After a few difficult sips she handed the glass back and scooted down to rest her head against the pillow. I was envious as I watched her get comfortable; the bed was so soft and my eyes were so heavy. She must have been watching me as well, because after a moment she pushed back the blankets and whispered to me, “Here, get in the bed. You look like you could fall over at any moment.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice! I slid under the covers, accidentally kicking her leg in the process, and then rolled to my side facing her. Propping my elbow up, I watched her profile as she lightly fingered her broken lip.
I could tell that she wanted to ask me something. I noticed that her lips kept taking in air as if she were about to speak, and then she would hesitate. I finally asked her what she was thinking, and after a moment she rolled over to her side and faced me.
“Will you tell me about Tyall...how do you say it?”
“Ty-al-brook,” I enunciated each syllable for her.
“Tyalbrook. Yes - will you tell me about it? Not the bad things, but the good.”
I sighed, knowing that I didn’t really have much I could tell her, since I had only lived there for the first four years of my life. I decided to tell her what Rioden had told me about our home, and to keep from her, for now, the truth to our history there until Rioden could help me.
With our faces just two feet apart and her eyes locked onto mine, I began.
“Tyalbrook is like nowhere you have ever been…”
SIX - TYALBROOK
Skye
“Tyalbrook. Yes - will you tell me about it? Not the bad things, but the good.”
I heard myself ask the question but was still surprised by it. It was the first time I had admitted, aloud, that there was actually such a place. Having now seen the monsters that had terrified me for years up close and personal, I was extremely curious about the place that I was supposedly from.
However, I didn’t want to hear about the evil that chased me, or the past and what had, supposedly, brought me here. I couldn’t help that my head was still thinking in terms of ‘supposedly.’
It was a lot to come to terms with, and I could only deal with baby steps right then. So as I lay across from Xander, I asked him to tell me about his- our- world. He gave a soft sigh, and for a moment and I thought he would deny my request. Then his blue eyes met mine and he began.
“Tyalbrook is like nowhere you have ever been. It is so magical and primitive compared to here. Envision the most beautiful mountains and valleys you’ve ever seen, and that is what Tyalbrook would be.”
I held my breath as he continued and noticed that his voice took on a dreamlike quality, as if he had been transported back home and was seeing it all as he spoke.
“It’s important for you to know that there are no modern conveniences there. Travel is done by horse. There is no electricity or telephone either. It’s very much like stepping back in time to the medieval days, with kings and queens and knights.”
“Whoa! There are kings and queens?” I inquired, hearing my voice crack. “Like Queen Elizabeth or some of the old monarchy that some countries still have?”
Xander shook his head in reply. “No, they’re more like a true acting king and queen. They rule the country…but let’s not talk about that right now,” he muttered, and continued on.
I got the feeling that the royalty must not have fallen under the “good things” category that had I asked him to describe.
“The castle, Montibello, is magnificent. The property sits in the foothills of a large range of mountains, and contains acres upon acres of lakes and gardens to explore. The country itself is vast, and full of small villages with larger holdings that look after them. Each of those land owners report back to the king with news of how everyone in the village fares. There is a lot of harmony, or there was…” He trailed off and rolled onto his back, then lay there quietly and stared up at the ceiling.
“You miss it,” I acknowledged, trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a world like that.
I thought back to some of the movies I had seen like ‘Braveheart’ or ‘Robin Hood’, and tried to get a mental picture. His brows were drawn as he lay there, and I decided to try to lighten his mood.
“Do the gentlemen wear tights?” I jested, a picture of Xander in green tights parading across my mind. I couldn’t help but giggle as a smile broke out across his face and he turned back to me.
“Actually, milady, they do not. Men wear a type of trouser very similar to the pants we have here, but we do wear tunics,” he retorted in a bit of an uppity voice; his smile now reaching his weary eyes.
The way he had said milady made my heart leap, and I chided myself for letting him affect me so.
“Ladies, on the other hand, are at a disadvantage, as you must wear dresses and corsets every day, along with all other sorts of garments that I don’t even know the names of. The richer the family, the more clothing I think the female wears.”
“Good! Then I shall be in rags!” I laughed lightheartedly, thinking about how I had very little to my name.
He winked at me playfully but his smile actually faltered, and I immediately regretted the comment. For whatever reason, Xander seemed to think I was better than my circumstances. While I had to disagree, I hated to upset him after all he had done for me in the past 24-hours.
We lay there talking about scenery and clothing for a while before I finally got up the courage to ask about his family.
“Well, my family is a family of Guardians. As I mentioned before, Guardians are protectors. It runs in our blood. We have always been trained to guard royalty or other important people through the years. I guess for your reference, we are much like knights were once upon a time.” I noticed that he left out any of the personal details I had been looking for.
Covering a yawn with my hand, I angled for a better answer. “Where is your family now? Are they still in Tyalbrook, or are they over here? What are they like?”
Sitting up abruptly, Xander turned his back to me and started to stand up from the bed. My arm darted out to grasp his and stopped him. “I’m sorry, Xander. You don’t have to answer that, and I didn’t mean to make you upset,” I whispered, and dropped my hold on him.
As he stood up he turned back to me and shrugged. “No, it’s not your fault. Um, my family, or at least my parents, are dead,” he offered; his voice and face flat of emotion. “I was an only child, so Rioden raised me. I really don’t know much about my extended family. Listen – it
’s getting late.
Let’s get some sleep, okay?”
Pain swept through me at the realization that he was an orphan too. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was part of the reason why we had the bond that we did.
Janelle was the only person I had ever trusted, and even with her it had taken a long while to feel truly comfortable. However with Xander, I felt that mysterious warmth growing within me from the moment I first met him. He instantly made me feel safe and comfortable.
Sensing his unease at talking about his past, I filed my questions in my brain for another day.
“Sleep is a good plan,” I agreed.
Rolling over, I closed my eyes. It was almost midnight and I had no idea what tomorrow would bring. Xander turned the lights off and left the bathroom door slightly ajar; leaving a small sliver of light to shine through the crack onto the hotel room floor.
Suddenly, being encased in darkness didn’t seem like a good idea, so I was relieved when I felt the reassuring weight of his body as he laid back onto the bed beside me. Fighting the heavy pull of my lids, I lay there listening to every sound made outside the room and waited for a black creature to come barreling through the hotel door.
The urge to sidle up to him was overwhelming, but I fought the impulse and curled up into a ball instead.
After saying good night Xander rolled over and turned his body to face the door. Judging by the heavy, even breaths I could hear coming from him, it sounded like he had promptly fallen asleep.
Before I drifted off to sleep, I dwelled on everything he had told me about Tyalbrook, as well as some of the things he didn’t. He had a pretty good poker face, but occasionally he slipped. When he had spoken of the country’s royalty, I noticed that he definitely had to work harder to keep his face composed. I couldn’t help but wonder if Rioden, or he, were in trouble with the law. Perhaps that was why they were here in the first place. Of course, that didn’t explain my story.
What was he keeping from me? I yawned to myself and allowed my eyes to close as I tried to work out my conflicting thoughts.
I crouched down in the flower bed behind some bushes and had to bite down on my sweater sleeve to keep myself from crying out, as I heard screams coming from inside the house.
The shatter of glass sounded as a fireball exploded out of the kitchen window.
“SKYE! Ruunnnn!”
I stood and stepped out of the cover of bushes to see the silhouette of a boy standing beside me.
“Listen, Skye - you have to run. Go to our hiding spot at the park and don’t stop for anything. I will come and get you, I promise! Run! Now GO!”
Grasping my arms, he turned me towards the park and pushed me to go. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the glow from the fire lighting up the lawn. I could feel the heat warming my face, even from across the yard.
I looked to the boy again. “I will never let you fall, remember?” he pleaded, and I shook my head as tears ran down my face. “Run!” he shouted one last time as he ran towards the house.
He turned at the door, looking for me, and for a moment the flames lit up his face. But all I could see were his bright blue eyes staring at me…
“Gah!”
I shrieked as I jumped into a sitting position and gasped for breath. Beside me, Xander scrambled out of the bed and grabbed a dagger from the table next to him, all in one fluid motion.
“What is it?! What?” he snarled, as he moved to the door with remarkable speed for someone who had just been woken up.
“It’s nothing, I…I was just dreaming,” I cried, as I covered my face and tears rolled down my cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
I felt the bed sag from Xander’s weight, and I sunk back down to my pillow and retreated underneath the blankets.
I turned away from him and tried to cover the sounds of my sobs with a fist.
“Hey, hey,” he soothed as he stroked my hair. “Don’t turn away from me, Skye. Please don’t cry…”
I bawled louder, which caused me to hiccup as I tried to calm down. The dream, or rather nightmare, had seemed so real. The house, the fire and the shadow of a boy were so lifelike I could touch them. The images felt like a feather tickling the back of my brain, almost as if it were trying to wake up long-buried memories.
Xander’s hand running through my hair felt so comforting, and he babbled on softly about how everything was going to be alright and for me not to worry.
After a few minutes I began to feel more composed, and my sobs turned into sniffles and silent tears.
“Come here,” he begged, and lifted the blanket from my shoulders slightly as I turned to face him.
He pulled me towards him halfway and then slid himself the rest of the way. After a moment, I found that I was wrapped in his strong arms with my face pressed against his T-shirt-clad chest.
His breath stirred my hair as he shushed me, which made my pulse race. His soft shirt smelled spicy, like ginger and cloves, and I rubbed my cheek against it and inhaled deeply. I could feel the hard muscles of his stomach under my hand as it rested on his abdomen.
“You know how I told you my parents died right before my eighth birthday?” I blurted quietly, and I felt the slight tightening of his muscles.
“It was never solved - the murders, that is - but apparently it was pretty gruesome. There was a fire.”
“Skye, you don’t have to talk about that,” he interrupted, and squeezed me tighter to his chest.
“I know, but like I told you earlier, I’ve never really had any memory of the event. I’ve always wondered if it was an ordinary car wreck that killed them, or if it were something more sinister, magical, you know?” I asked, although I wasn’t looking for an answer.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that I just dreamed about the night they died.” My voice was barely audible, and I began to recognize the truth in what I was saying.
I could hear Xander’s heart speed up under my ear and his hand stilled in my hair as he replied, “What did you see?”
I closed my eyes and let my mind go back over the nightmare. I described the screams, the heat of the fire and the shadow of a boy who yelled for me to run. As I recalled the scene, I could feel that something else was missing. I searched the cobwebs in my brain for what I was leaving out.
The voice, the promise he made to me…it was so familiar to me, yet I was unable to put my finger on it and sighed in frustration.
Xander tipped my head back with a light tug of my hair and his blue eyes were able to penetrate my cloudy senses; pulling me back to the present.
“It’ll be okay, we’ll figure it all out together, tomorrow,” he promised, and he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to my forehead.
Feeling his warm breath and soft lips on my forehead, I wanted to press my lips to his just to taste them. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax, and in his arms I quickly drifted off to sleep again.
Xander
My father was fond of saying, “The light of the morning brings with it the truth for all to behold. Secrets and evil lie in wait in the dark, but goodness and justice will be had when the sun shall reign.”
That saying was one of the very few things I had left of my parents. My father had written it in a journal that I’d found after their deaths, still singed from the fire. I would finger the charred pages of his journal for hours a day as I read about his wisdom on training. Some pages held drawings of combat positions, others held tactical maneuvers. My favorites were the ones with his personal reflections. That saying, and others, were my motivation to one day avenge both his and my mother’s deaths.
Never had that saying meant more to me than it did that day. With the bright sunlight peeking through the cracks in the curtain and under the door, I was reminded of the goodness that would reign once again. Skye sleeping against my chest was the goodness.
The light of the morning was sure to bring some truth to Skye, and I planned to tell her about her prophecy. Her role in this was something much bigger than she coul
d even imagine. Although I was pretty sure that Rioden would be there at any moment, and I knew he would certainly frown upon our sleeping arrangements, I was in no hurry to wake Skye up. Holding her in my arms the night before had been by far the best feeling I had ever had. Second only to waking up with her in them that morning.
I knew that I should push her away, and if we managed to get to Tyalbrook I would be forced to back away from her anyway. Rioden had already made it pretty clear that if we could ever get the Guardians to reunite, I would most likely be set aside for an older, more experienced Guardian.
They wouldn’t be willing to trust someone as important as Skye to my care, and the most I could hope for would be a job shadowing her main guard. It angered me to think of others taking over guardianship for her, when I had been the one to watch her all my life. Maybe if I faked some indifference, I would be able to convince them to leave me with her. After all, we already had such a strong bond.
“Wrong side of the bed?”
Her voice, husky with sleep, pulled me from my somber thoughts. She scooted out of my arms and into a sitting position, and I sat up against the headboard.
“What?” I asked confused, as I watched her finger comb her hair out of her face.
“You looked mad,” she explained. “I was wondering if you might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I’m sorry, I guess I used you as a pillow last night. I hope you weren’t too uncomfortable,” she offered; her face tinting pink but her eyes holding mine.
There was something in those deep brown eyes that made me think she was actually less than sorry. So I decided in that moment to tell her the truth, no matter how stupid it might make me look. Sitting up and running my hand through my own hair, I confessed. “Actually, I don’t know if I’ve ever slept better.”
Her hand stilled as she took in what I had said, and then she shyly acknowledged, “Me too. Thank you.”
Sitting two feet from her in a bed after lying with her in my arms all night was about to drive me senseless. I felt myself actually start to lean towards her, like gravity was pulling me into her orbit. I couldn’t stop it; I couldn’t stop loving her and I was in serious trouble.
Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) Page 6
