Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook)

by Michele G Miller

  She started to shake her head no, but Xander sat in the chair next to mine and gave her a look that clearly said ‘Have a seat.’

  “We really need to get moving. I’ll be happy to explain everything to you both once we get to Tyalbrook,” she pleaded, as she sat on the edge of the couch across from us.

  Suddenly fed up with the delays I had been faced with in my quest to get the information I needed, I spoke up a little more forcibly than I had intended.

  “Let’s get something straight right now. Both of you need to know that I’m not going to Tyalbrook until I understand the whole story. Period. End of story. Got it?”

  Xander smirked at my command and Selene frowned, but they both nodded assent. I started to list my questions, again.

  “Selene - Xander and Rioden filled me in on a lot of things, but there’s still so much I don’t know. It was obvious from the phone call last night that Xander had no clue who you were until he talked to you. Can you explain your part in all this? You told him that you were the one who made the portal that brought us here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, well then why did you come through with us, and why have you been hiding out?”

  Selene stood up, walked over to the kitchen and pulled three glasses from a cabinet and some napkins from a drawer. She walked back to us and placed them on the table before sitting back on the couch. Taking a deep breath, she began.

  “Let me start at the beginning. My beginning, that is. If you don’t mind?”

  Xander leaned forward to pour juice into the glasses and nodded for her to continue. His eyes watched her every move, and I felt a pang of jealousy at the attention he afforded her.

  “I was barely eighteen when the King and Queen summoned my mother to Castle Montibello. They were in search of a powerful spell that would be able to protect the Princess from harm. However, little did they know, they were about to be attacked by their own people.

  “When whispers began to circulate that someone was trying to kidnap you, they started to fear for your safety in Tyalbrook altogether. My mother told them about another realm - here, in this dimension - where they could send you. It seemed so easy and perfect to just put you out of harms reach until the traitors could be killed off and the war could die down.

  Xander, your parents stepped up immediately. They said they would bring you both here and keep you safe, until everyone could be summoned back.”

  “Why couldn’t my parents, or at least my mother come with me instead? Why someone else?” I asked, trying to rationalize how my parents could let someone else assume responsibility for my safety.

  “Your father was King, Skye. He couldn’t very well leave the kingdom to fall. They discussed your mother coming along, but they feared you would need anonymity more than maternal comfort. When the time came to send you away, they planned to dispatch many loyal members of the royal household out all around the country in order to discourage anyone from knowing who took you or where you went.”

  My face must have held obvious disbelief at the excuse Selene had given, because she forged on fervently. “Skye, they loved you so very much. I saw this with my own two eyes. Nobody expected this to happen! No one thought we would be gone for more than a few months.”

  “So what happened?! How did we end up stuck here? And why did you come with us?”

  “You know Selene, I think Skye posed some interesting questions. How did you end up coming through, and why have you been kept a secret all these years?” Xander asked; the frustration in his voice clear.

  “Let me do this in order, please! There is just so much to explain and understand.”

  Selene continued, “As I said, I was barely eighteen when my mother started working for your parents to create a portal that would send you safely here. My mother had been quietly training me in the magic arts all my life. She didn’t want anyone to know that I possessed the talent. You see, magic has always been in high demand in Tyalbrook, and she feared for my safety. So together we practiced making a portal, but she never told me why I needed to know how to do it.

  My mother was able to create a portal inside the Castle, using a mirror. The four of you - Xander, your parents and you, Skye - went through the portal early one morning when the castle was first attacked. I don’t know what happened on that morning specifically, but in the furor to get you through safely during the attack, the mirror was broken.

  That was the last day that anyone saw your parents alive. My mother disappeared with them.”

  “What do you mean ‘disappeared’?” I asked, the blood draining from my face. My heart raced as I tried to imagine the terror my parents must have felt when sending their baby girl into another dimension, never knowing if they would see me again. Tears blurred my vision and I shook my head to clear them. As Selene continued, I reminded myself to be strong.

  “I was at home all that day and the next. My mother never came back from the castle, but there was little going on in the village to make you think the castle had been taken over.

  On the third day of my mother’s absence, a knock came at our small hut. Opening the door, I found a young man just a year or so older than me, who said he brought urgent news from the castle.”

  I saw the warmth in her eyes when she mentioned this man, and noticed the slight tremor in her voice. This young man was special. Xander interrupted, his voice echoing my thoughts. “Rioden?” he exclaimed.

  Selene took a visibly deep breath and shook her head affirmatively, confirming it was, in fact Rioden. My mind whirled at this information.

  “I invited him in, and he told me bits and pieces of what he knew. See, at the time of the attack he had just come back from Guardian training, and had gone to visit his sister and Xander at the castle.

  He told me he’d barely arrived before alarms sounded at the castle. He knew that those alarms meant someone had breached it. According to Rioden, my mother quickly opened the portal and the four of you hastily went through. He was confused about what had just happened, so the King and Queen tried to explain it, along with my mother.

  He left the three of them and went in search of other Guardians to safeguard your parents, and also to see if he could help with the threat. When he returned, they were all gone. My mother, the King, and the Queen.”

  Tears brightened Selene’s eyes as the scope of everything began to crush me. Xander, Selene, Rioden, and all of our parents. Eight people whose lives were ruined, all because of me and what I supposedly represented.

  I wanted to run. I wanted to find a bottle of Jack and drink away the pain that bore down on me like a child tumbling down a hill.

  But instead, I sat there and listened to more of her story.

  “Rioden was so amazing! He asked me questions about the portal and how it all worked. His love and devotion to you, Xander and your parents was so evident. He wanted to know how we were supposed to get you back here.”

  Selene continued, “That was when he told me that the mirror that held the portal was broken. When he went back to the hall and saw that everyone was missing, he found the mirror on the floor, shattered.”

  “He asked me to create a new portal so that we could find you guys, and so we ran. By that time, unbeknownst to us, an army had begun to sweep through the countryside in search of Skye. Anyone found to have been loyal to the royal family were captured.”

  “Why didn’t you just create a portal at your house?”

  “I don’t know,” Selene laughed lightly. “I was young and foolish, Xander. I had no idea what I was doing. We thought we should find a deserted area, because we thought that any portal I made would remain open. We wanted to hide it so that no one could follow us. I didn’t realize that my magic just wasn’t powerful enough to create a portal that strong.”

  “Is that how you got through and he didn’t? You weren’t strong enough?” Xander prodded.

  The glare that Selene pinned on Xander could have frozen the Heat Miser. She was pissed!

  �
�Yes, Xander - that is why!” she spat; standing up and wandering over to the windows that overlooked the forest. “We made it to the edge of the village easily enough, but as we were heading through the forest we realized we were being pursued. We ran as fast as we could, but we couldn’t seem to shake our tail.”

  Softly, Selene continued, “Finally we came upon a dense copse of trees, so I started working on a spell to create a portal with Xander keeping watch. A single creature, something I had never seen before, had followed us, and Rioden began to fight it.”

  “Once the portal was stable I called out to Rioden. He told me to go through first and he would follow. He swore to me he would.”

  “So what happened, Selene?” I asked softly, noting the way her voice trembled.

  “I went through and waited. I waited and waited. I almost went back through to search for him, but he had promised, so I waited. Ten minutes after I went through the portal, it closed and I was alone. Just like that.”

  “I didn’t know what happened to him,” Selene confessed. “I sat in the middle of the forest and waited, hoping that somehow it would be different on his side and he would still be able to get through…but he didn’t. So I did the only thing I knew to do. I began to track you guys. I knew I could locate you with a tracking spell, and I knew it was what Rioden would have wanted.”

  Selene turned back to us and fixed her gaze on Xander. He still sat in the chair next to me with his elbows resting on his knees; his face composed, deep in thought.

  “Xander, I’ve been here fifteen years. I have a lot that I could tell you about what I’ve done here, but most of it isn’t relevant to you, or to Skye. We need to leave here now and get back to Tyalbrook. It’s time to go home.”

  Her voice was matter of fact. She stood straight and locked her blue eyes to his. I wasn’t surprised when he finally stood up and turned to me.

  “Skye? Do you want to ask her anything else?”

  What? Ask anything else? I still felt like I had a million things I could ask! I stood as well, not wanting to seem any smaller to them than I already was.

  “Yes, I have more to ask! Selene, why didn’t Rioden tell Xander about you? Were you ever able to find us once you came here? Well, of course you did,” I stammered, answering my own question. “I mean, you found Rioden when he finally got here, right? Why didn’t you just find us and stay with us?”

  “I did find you. It took me about a week to track the four of you down. I met with Xander’s parents, and we all agreed that I would stay in this dimension. I had no reason to go back to Tyalbrook, with the kingdom falling apart and my mother gone.

  Xander’s parents didn’t want me near you for safety’s sake, because of the magic I have in me, Skye.”

  She must have (correctly) deciphered the crazy look I gave her as a question, because she quickly added, “There are many ways that magic can be tracked. They were worried that McClintock’s men would be able to find us here by tracking my magic. We agreed that I would stay a few hours away. Close enough for us to meet up if there was danger, but far enough to keep the two of you safe.

  As I stated earlier, I didn’t have much skill yet with my magic, but I was able to place a spell that helped me keep track of your safety. Then, I made my way to these mountains and found myself a small place to live. I helped by providing your parents with money, as well as a few items to help keep you undercover through the years.”

  “Rioden told me that he’d explained to you how he eventually did end up here, right?” she questioned Xander.

  “Yeah - he said that he chased some Semvon though a new portal once he’d finally gotten word that they’d found us. So what happened? How did he find you?”

  “He didn’t, I found him. And you. Like I said, I’d placed a tracking spell on you so I would be able to sense if something bad happened. As soon as I realized there was trouble, I tried to reach you guys. I was too late, of course. Looking at Skye, she continued, “By the time I reached the house, Xander’s parents were dead and he was unconscious, you were missing and Rioden had already killed everyone else. I helped ‘sway’ the authorities that it had been a simple gas explosion and that we were nobody.”

  “What?” I asked, astounded that she could actually compel someone to believe something.

  “Skye, they would have asked questions – questions we couldn’t answer. I had to get them to think it was an accident. Rioden and I found a local hotel and watched over you, Xander. You woke up a few hours later screaming for your parents, and for Skye. You barely even remembered Rioden at first.”

  Thinking back on the vague details the police had given me about the incident, I assumed that Selene messing with their minds might have been the reason why I’d never truly known what had happened.

  “You telling the cops that it was a gas explosion - is that why no one could ever tell me what had happened to me? When they found me, did they think that it had been my home and assumed I had escaped somehow?”

  “I suppose that must be what happened,” Selene agreed.

  Xander spoke up, “I don’t remember any of this, Selene. I mean, I remember Rioden, but not you. I recall waking up and yelling at Ri that we had to find Skye. We ran to the park where I’d told her to hide.” He turned to me with sad eyes. “We searched everywhere for you, but there was nothing, not even a trace.”

  Selene coughed and shifted nervously. I could tell there was something she wasn’t telling us, but what? What could she still be hiding? Could we trust her?

  Xander seemed to trust her. I think knowing that Rioden had sent us to her was all he really needed as proof of her trustworthiness, but I still had my doubts.

  I shook my head and told myself to stop thinking ill of her. Evidently my lack of trust in people was clouding my judgment. Selene had sat here with us and gave us all the information she could. I needed to trust her, because I really didn’t have many other options.

  The three of us stood there in a circle, each looking at the other, and it distinctively felt like a standoff; everyone caught in their own personal thoughts or memories. A cell phone ring finally interrupted us. Selene pulled a phone out from her under her cape and answered.

  “Hello?”

  Her eyes brightened immediately, and I guessed it was Rioden before she said another word.

  “Are you alright? Mmmhmmm. We’re still at the cabin. Soon. Well, they had questions…okay, hold on.”

  She held the phone out towards Xander and smiled. “It’s Rioden.”

  He grabbed the phone in a rush and paced in circles before heading to the bedroom to speak in semi-private.

  “Ri? Yeah, no – we’re fine. She’s doing well. When will you get there? I know, but…” He sighed heavily and I fervently wished I could hear Rioden on the other end. I watched as Xander moved his hand through his hair in frustration.

  “Ri, this is gonna work best with you, man. You’re the only one who saw and heard McClintock’s men. You’re the only one who can convince the ones who are left, that the man was a traitor. Okay, we will. Yes…I love you too, and I promise. With my life, you know that. Bye.”

  He walked back into the front room and gave the phone back to Selene, telling her that Rioden still wanted to speak to her. She reached out her long slim fingers to take the phone, and then made her way to the front door. Looking back at us with a slight shrug, she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

  I stood there watching the door, waiting for her to return, when Xander came up next to me and wrapped his hand around my own. I turned to face him as he pulled me into a light hug, and I could feel the muscles beneath his shirt flex. His stress had him as tight as a wire.

  “What did he say, Xander? Are you okay?” I whispered, rubbing my face against his chest. The feel of his hand on the small of my back made me lightheaded. His other hand softly stroked my hair.

  “I’m okay. But we have to go, Skye. We need to get to Tyalbrook and find a resistance army.”

  I pu
lled back at the word ‘army’ and stared into his face in shock as he added, “It was always the plan. We need to start a war with McClintock and remove him from power. You are the heir, and it’s time for you to get back what is rightfully yours.”

  “But I don’t want a war! And Xander, I don’t need to be Queen! Hell, I don’t know if I even want to be. I just know that I don’t want to cause any more death, Xander. I can’t take any more pain being brought about for my sake.”

  It was Selene who answered my statement as she reentered the cabin. “Skye, every day you aren’t Queen is another day that people die. Every day is just another day of suffering.”

  “Selene!” Xander growled, easing his hold of me enough so I could step aside.

  “What, Xander? It’s the truth. It was her fate, her prophecy, was it not? She is the one who would start a war, and she is the only one who could bring back the peace.”