“Shoot,” I muttered, as I pulled back abruptly and jumped out of the bed. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Do you need to use the restroom first?” I asked her as curtly as I could manage.
Her eyes narrowed at my face for a moment before she slid out of the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.
I mentally kicked myself again, telling myself that I needed to straighten up and steel my body from acting on my feelings for her. Her innocent face and soft lips were just so damn tempting!
When she stepped out of the bathroom I dove for the shower as quickly as I could. I stood still under the water stream for a good long while, and allowed the cold water to cool my hormones down.
In a calmer frame of mind, I pulled on some jeans and a black tee. When I stepped out of the bathroom I found Skye sitting on the bed staring at the far wall, with her shoulders hunched over and her face downcast.
“Your turn,” I offered, and I pulled out my day pack to stuff clothing into it.
“Why are you packing?” she asked, as she slowly got up to grab her own bag and then began to rummage through it.
Not sure how to tell her that I was afraid we would have to switch locations, I just shrugged.
“I just always like to be ready. Grab a quick shower and we can wait for Rioden to arrive, then I’ll share some more about Tyalbrook with you, okay?”
“Whatever you say,” she retorted with little emotion in her voice, as she breezed past me and into the restroom, shutting the door with a click.
Almost an hour later Skye appeared dressed in clean clothes, with her hair pulled to the side in a long braid. If you just looked at her face, she looked like she might have been around twelve years old. However, when your eyes wandered down her body, it became quite clear that she was not a little girl.
Her long, lean legs were ensconced in skin-tight jeans that would probably show the imprint of a quarter if she’d one in her pocket. Her black shirt barely covered her torso, and the neckline hung off one shoulder. I imagined that if she lifted her arms I would get a peek at her smooth stomach.
The shirt was loose everywhere but in the chest, which I’d already glimpsed in the shower two nights earlier. She was a man’s dream, my dream, and yet I couldn’t touch her.
I swallowed the lust as it started to build up in me again and finally sat down in a chair, motioning for her to do the same.
“Are you ready to hear some more?” I practically hissed at her.
If she noticed my strange behavior she made no comment. She just nodded her head and sat down on the bed that I’d made while she had been in the shower. She crossed her legs, pulled a pillow to her chest and waited for me to begin.
SEVEN - HISTORY
Xander
“Fifteen years ago during a siege on the Kingdom, you were sent here through a portal in order to keep you safe. I’ve described Tyalbrook to you, but what I didn’t mention is that Tyalbrook is enchanted. That is to say, there is magic in our land.”
I stopped for a moment and rubbed my neck as I thought of how to explain so many things to her.
“This is harder than I thought,” I muttered.
Placing her hand on my arm she encouraged me, “Xander, just tell me what you can and I’ll ask questions if I need to.”
I nodded my head and forged ahead.
“Okay, so - the portal. Well you see, a mystical sorceress somehow found a way to transport people to this dimension, by request from the King and Queen. They realized that those who wished to overthrow them would stop at nothing to get their hands on you.”
“Why did people want me, and why would the king and queen even care?” Skye interrupted.
“Hang on, I’m getting there. When you were around one year old, the king and queen visited a seer – that’s someone who sees the future, like a fortune teller here. Understand?”
She nodded and I continued.
“The seer had foreseen your fate, and declared that you would be the one to bring peace to the entire kingdom someday. You were predicted to unite all the nations, rule over a prosperous and fruitful land, and reign through your bloodline for many, many years.
Your parents tried to keep the information quiet, but eventually word of this prophecy was leaked. It was at that point when many ambitious leaders began to seek out your parents for your hand in marriage.”
“I was only a baby! How sick is that?”
“No, it’s actually very common in our country. Many members of wealthy families are betrothed when they are just children, in order to create wealthier and stronger alliances amongst the people. It’s not much different than what once happened in the Regency era. As a matter a fact, according to Rioden, your mother herself had been betrothed to someone before she met your father.”
Skye’s face paled at that, and I mentally kicked myself for having spoken ill of her mother.
“She left another man for my father?” she bemoaned. “Why?”
“Skye, I can’t speak of your parents, since I didn’t know them…I’m sorry. Perhaps Rioden can give you more information on them, since he was very close to their personal Guardians.”
She nodded in agreement and then asked me to continue.
“So where was I?” I murmured. “Oh - your parents were against you being betrothed, but as weeks went by and the unrest throughout the kingdom grew, it became obvious that they would have to do something, as word of impending war started to arrive.
As is human nature, there were some larger land holders who were fed up with their lot in life, and they decided to oust your family from the throne in order to control it themselves. Several battles were waged by warring factions, but they were never a large enough threat to take down the royal guards or army.”
“All of this - the wars, the deaths, what’s happening now…it’s all because of me? Because some fortune teller said I would bring happiness to the kingdom?”
“Wars have been fought over less, Skye,” I replied solemnly, as I caught her steely gaze with mine and held it. “Way less.”
She leapt up and slowly began to pace, catching her bottom lip in her teeth and chewing at it in a way that was both endearing and erotic.
The muscles in my stomach tightened at the thought of biting her lip for her, and I hastily looked away when she stopped and questioned me again.
“So, wait a second. You said people wanted to remove my family from the throne and that I was supposed to reign and rule over the kingdom,” her voice squeaked, as she began to see the bigger picture.
“Who am I, Xander?” she asked urgently, and then almost immediately she put her hand up.
“Wait! Don’t tell me, I think I know.”
I let her concentrate and then she spit out incredulously, “I’m a princess? Oh my…oh, I need to sit down…”
She began to panic at the thought, so I pulled her down to sit next to me and waited for her to calm down before confirming her guess. But before I could even speak, she burst into tears.
“Crap,” I muttered, rubbing her back in small circles in an effort to comfort her.
“Skye, it’s alright. Don’t start crying before we even get to talk about it, please.”
Knock, knock, knock
Three knocks sounded on the hotel door and I skirted over to peek out the window, confirming it was Rioden. Grateful to have his help with these revelations, I hurried to unlock the door and let him in.
“It’s Rioden,” I assured her and pulled open the door.
Rioden stepped in and a quick look of surprise swept over his face when he spotted Skye as she sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over and crying softly.
“You were able to get her to come back?” his deep voice boomed from the doorway. “Why is she crying?”
I shut the door and sighed, admitting to my less-than-stellar handling of imparting the news of her true identity.
“I’ve been explaining to Skye how she came here and who she is,” I groaned, throwing myself into a side chair. �
��And very badly, I might add.”
Rioden met my eyes and lifted his brows in a silent question. I nodded my head in answer to let him know, without words, that Skye was now aware that she was the Princess of Tyalbrook.
Stepping further into the room, Rioden removed his hat and bowed slightly in front of Skye.
“Princess,” he said reverently in a deep voice.
As I groaned at his gesture, Skye looked up at him in confusion, wringing her hands. After a few moments of tense silence she finally spoke in a hushed tone.
“Can you please explain this Rioden? I am so confused.”
I watched as Ri stood straight again and then stared down into Skye’s face as if he were looking for something. Then he nodded.
“Of course.”
Skye
A freaking princess? Seriously, me? As soon as I connected the dots to what he was saying, I was even more confused than ever. I was in shock, and then Rioden walked in, bowed to me, and called me princess; thus confirming what Xander had not yet confirmed.
After a moment, Rioden sat in the other chair in the room and began to tell me basically the same story that Xander had: the tale of a princess who was prophesized to bring a long reign to all of those in her bloodline, along with much prosperity and peace, and who was apparently quite a catch.
Greedy people from all over the kingdom had begun to crave the power I would be able to provide them once the news had leaked out.
The King and Queen, my parents, were so fearful of what might happen to me that they asked a sorceress (yes, a sorceress!) to find a way to send me somewhere I would be safe, if a time ever came when they could not protect me.
“Skye,” his thick voice continued. “You must know that your parents loved you very, very much, and they were only trying to save you from those who would use you for their own personal gain. They were wonderful people Skye; fair and gentle and friendly to all. Everyone loved your father and trusted his rule over Tyalbrook.”
“Apparently not everyone,” I mumbled, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.
Rioden looked at me with a smirk on his face, and confirmed my whispered comments.
“You are correct. Obviously if everyone had loved them as much as we thought, you wouldn’t be here right now, would you?”
Turning my head to face Rioden and Xander, I tried to fill in some gaps in the story. “So I was what – two? - when we came here,” I reasoned, as I calculated in my head.
“That means we lived here almost seven years before they were murdered. What did we do here? What happened back in Tyalbrook, and how did they end up getting killed?”
I spit out question after question, wanting to hear about everything I had missed. Now that I had heard the story, I felt like there was this small part of me that was tingling…like I was finally awake.
“I can’t tell you what your family did here for those first five years,” Xander stated. “I would assume that you lived just like normal people would: got a job, bought a house, went to school.”
“But, weren’t you here? Is there no one else here that could tell me about my life with them?” I asked, sitting back up.
I wanted so badly to remember my past, just so I could know something about my parents.
Xander started to speak, but Rioden quickly stopped him. “No - you came alone, and obviously the less people who knew where you were, the better.”
Small warning bells went off in my head as I saw Rioden give Xander a sharp look. They seemed to be keeping something from me…or maybe it was just my imagination, due to hunger or stress or the fact that Rioden still seemed so foreboding to me.
When Rioden started to talk again, I decided to shrug off their shared glances for the moment and just focus on what he was saying.
“What happened in Tyalbrook when you left isn’t important right now. I promise we’ll get to all of that, but first I want you to know about some of the things that have happened here, that you’ve been blissfully unaware of.”
“About five years after you arrived here, someone was finally able to create a new portal and the Semvon were sent here to find you. At the time, I had infiltrated the enemy’s army and was keeping an ear out for any news about their search for you. Early one morning, I overheard some soldiers talking about how they had located you and had been able to create the portal. Grabbing as many weapons as I could, I stormed the room and jumped through the portal as it was closing; chasing those Semvon like a bat out of Hell to keep them from getting to you.”
Rioden leaned down and put his head in his hands as if the memories were too hard to remember. “The portal actually put us right in your back yard, so by the time I came through, there was already a fight going on in the house. There were probably thirty Semvon as well as a sorcerer there. When I stepped out of the portal I was jumped by at least ten Semvon, and it took me a while to fight them off, and….” His voice faltered for a moment, and I felt a tear slip down my cheek at the thought of this huge warrior who had come to save my life, and who was now in pain over a battle only half won.
After a moment Rioden sat up, straightened and then looked over at Xander, whose own eyes were bright with unshed tears.
“I couldn’t save them. By the time I’d fought off my attackers, the house was on fire and the Semvon were turning over everything in their search for you. I spotted a robe-clad sorcerer standing off to the side, working on a spell and chanting in a trance. I assumed that they had brought him there to help create a portal that would get them back to Tyalbrook. So, I did the only thing I could do at that moment…I killed him. I knew that it would at least keep you safe, because they couldn’t get back without a portal. I then slowly slaughtered them all, one by one, and searched for you through the wreckage to make sure that you hadn’t been killed.”
“But you didn’t find me because…” I remembered, filling in some blanks for him. “I arrived home right as the fighting started and I ran. Something told me to, I…” Frustrated by the holes in my memory, I filled him in on the dream I’d had that morning.
“Skye,” Xander spoke up for the first time since Rioden had gotten there. “You must have felt the danger that was present and knew that you had to run. It saved your life that day.”
I let his answer hang in the air, but I knew that he was wrong. Something else had happened that day - I could feel it, and someday I would figure it out.
Standing up abruptly, Rioden stretched his long legs and spoke; his deep voice booming after having used our hushed tones to relive the past.
“Well, that’s pretty much the history of how you got here, as I know it. There’s so much more that we still need to discuss, of course. How about we discuss it over lunch? You both look like you could use some energy.”
I looked over at Xander and then at the clock on the bedside table, and was shocked to see that it was after lunch time and I was definitely starving.
Getting up off the bed I walked over to Rioden and took his large hand in mine, which caused a slight look of unease to cross his face. “Thank you for trying to save my parents’ lives, and for saving mine. I am forever grateful to you,” I admitted, as I grasped his hand in mine tightly and swallowed a lump in my throat.
Then he surprised me, as he lifted his other hand and patted my head before pulling me into his large chest for a hug.
“I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner, Princess.”
I laughed through the wave of emotion his hug brought me, and pulled back; looking up at Rioden. He was so tall, that my head was bent all the way back as I admonished him, “Please don’t call me that. I don’t feel like a princess, and I’m certainly not one here in this dimension.”
Rioden released me, saying, “I am required by duty and law to call you by your true title, for you are my Princess. But I’ll make a deal with you and refrain - at least in public, since it would draw unwanted attention to us - until we get back to Tyalbrook. Deal?”
Shocked at being told that he wa
s bound by both duty and law, and with him calling me “his” princess, I shook my head numbly.
“Deal.”
Rioden bowed his head my way and told us to hurry up as he stepped out of the hotel room. Xander came up from behind me and smiled his beautiful smile of encouragement at me.
“You okay?”
“Um, yeah, I think so. I mean, that’s a lot of information to put on a girl, you know?” I teased halfheartedly.
He reached his hand up to my face and touched my cheek briefly, before pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes and gently tucking it behind my ear.
“You’re not a girl - you’re a Princess, remember? You are so much stronger than you know. You’ll see.”
Stepping back, he opened the door for me and his eyes twinkled as he added, “Come on Princess, let’s go eat.”
I started to walk by him stoically, like he hadn’t said anything, and then my fist darted out and knocked him in the gut as I continued on out the door. Grasping his stomach as he shut the door behind me he groaned, “See? I said you were stronger than you knew!”
With that, all three of us burst into laughter.
EIGHT - JEALOUSY
Skye
The walk to find food had temporarily robbed me of my racing nerves and millions of questions. The early November air held a slight chill, but the sun was shining brightly in the sky. It warmed my face while we made our way to a small diner around the corner from the hotel.
Xander made several small remarks about my punching him, which made me laugh as we walked along the street. Even Rioden cracked a smile at his teasing. It almost felt like a normal day out with friends.
The diner was pretty typical for a hole-in-the-wall type of place: booths with cracked leather seats, scuffed up linoleum flooring, menus that were sticky to the touch and questionable wait staff.
Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) Page 7
