“So you could just pick up this box-thing and speak to whomever you wanted? You didn’t have to send letters and wait for responses for days, or walk across town to speak with people?”
“Nope, it’s called a telephone, and you would love it. Oh, and the computer. With that you could get on and talk to anyone around the world. It seems so strange to be here where we can’t just call the King and yell at him. Back at home, we would have already confronted him.”
“Oh, that would be heavenly. Why would you want to come here, then? Why didn’t you just stay safe in your dimension?”
I contemplated that for a moment. Except for perhaps fast food and a hot shower, I hadn’t really missed life at home too much yet. As I’d sat outside earlier watching the guys practice fight, I realized how wonderful and serene this life could be. The slow pace of life was such a change from the crazy, hectic world I’d always lived in.
“Well, I realized that the King wouldn’t stop hunting me down until I came back and faced my prophecy. Part of me would love to just run back home and go into hiding.” I spoke honestly, trying to put words to the confusion I felt. “Another part of me has started to love it here. I want to see where I came from. I want to see the Enchanted Forest and see the Castle. Then I think about what I’m supposed to be able to do, and the thought of bringing joy and peace to an entire Kingdom, and…well, it gives me a purpose I didn’t have before.”
I was startled to find myself feeling this way even after learning about the things that Rioden and Selene had done, and after learning of Janelle’s disappearance and Rex’s death. With all of the scariness of my past and unknown future I still knew I was meant to be here. It was time for me to start trying to figure out the prophecy on my own.
I stifled a yawn and looked over at Emeline sitting across from me. I wanted to trust her with my dreams about Griffin and the strange ‘white dream’ I’d had after my attack, but I was afraid it would be bad to bring her too deeply into the situation. I didn’t want anyone else to be hurt by the crazy happenings of my life.
Trying to act casual, I broached the subject of the elves.
“Emeline, you said that you’ve never met an elf, right?”
“That’s right. Cillian would never let me venture past the village, and they never travel outside of the forest.”
“Well what do you know about them? I understand they have magic. Have you ever heard any stories about them?”
“The stories we were always told were of their beauty. The faeries too. Some say that they’re actually foul creatures with rotting teeth and slimy skin, but that they use magic to mask their real image. But I think that was just to scare us kids. Magic seems to scare people who aren’t magical very easily.
“I know that they are immortal, or at least I’ve been told they are. I really don’t know much else, I’m sorry. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I was just wondering. My prophecy mentions that ‘all creatures will love her’. I guess I was just wondering if that meant elves and faeries too.”
“Skye, I want to come with you to the castle.”
“What? No - no way!” I interrupted her. “I doubt Cillian would let you anyway, and I don’t want you to get involved.”
“But I’m already involved! You are my Princess. You can say that I’m your lady’s maid! It would make sense to them, and I can help counsel you or at least give you someone to talk to.”
“Emeline, thank you. I am so grateful for your offer, but I just can’t risk anything happening to you. I can’t be the cause of anymore deaths.”
I arose from the chair, deciding it was time to go to bed. The guys had been meeting for several hours already, and it irritated me just a teensy tiny bit that they had decided to keep me out of their plans. Tomorrow I would sit them all down and let them know that I needed in on everything. For the night, though, sleep was in order.
THIRTY - LOST
Skye
The aria of thousands of flowers woke me, and I was immediately aware that I was back in the Enchanted Forest. I found myself lying on a warm bed of soft green moss. The moon was high as usual, and glowed down on the forest floor; making everything shine with an ethereal beauty.
The flowers that were serenading me swayed to the rhythm of their song. It was so peaceful, that I allowed myself to lay there and invited their lullabies to fill my soul.
I waited, expecting Griffin to show up. After a while of languishing in the music and rest, I pulled myself up and took in my surroundings. No sign of Griffin. To that point I’d never been able to explore the forest on my own, so I decided to meander over to one of the gardens, where I spotted some glowing golden foliage. They reminded me of what angel feathers would look like; soft, flowing golden feathers that swayed to the tune.
When I reached out to touch them, their softness tickled my fingers; the glittery tips leaving a trail of gold across my open palm. The purple tulip-shaped flowers nestled around the golden patch gradually changed their tune. I could have sworn that they stretched their stems towards my hand as I stroked the feather-like plant.
I reached out to tenderly stroke one of the glowing flowers, and it emitted a chime of bells that sounded suspiciously like a peal of laughter. I laughed along with it, completely amazed. The other flowers picked up the sound, and soon the meadow was filled with a joyful harmony.
“They love you, Princess.”
Spinning on my heel, I spotted Griffin approaching me from the west with a smile upon his face.
“There you are!” I called out, leaving my new flower friends. “I wasn’t sure if you were coming.”
“Of course I would be here; it’s why you’re here.”
“It is?”
“Yes. You can’t come here in your dreams on your own, without me bringing you here. I needed to talk with you.” His hands were in his pockets, and the look of stress that was written on his face worried me.
“What’s wrong?” I questioned.
“I need to tell you something. Are you ready to begin your journey?”
“My journey? What do you mean? What do you know?”
Griffin’s eyes glinted in the moonlight. He motioned for me to join him as he sat upon an oddly shaped, moss covered chair. As I stepped closer to him I realized that it was a log, and I sat next to him gingerly.
“I can read your fear, Princess. You are worried about going to the Castle, and about meeting with the King,” he stated with certainty.
“How…?” I stuttered, surprised at his knowledge of what had happened earlier that day. “You know that the King has requested my presence?”
He focused his gaze out across the lake as he spoke to me. “Yes, I’ve been filled in. You must go.”
“You were ‘filled in’? Magic, I take it?”
“Something like that,” he chuckled, which caused a spark of anger to flare up in my stomach.
“Whatever!” I spat out, increasingly tired of his half answers. “I was planning to go anyway, Griffin. Why do you want me to go?”
Sad eyes met mine as he quietly answered me, “It’s the only way you can save her.”
I felt my stomach flip at his remarks. Hesitantly I pressed him, “Save who?”
“Your…,” he shut his mouth as a loud crack sounded in the distance. Grabbing my hand, Griffin jumped up and pulled me into a sprint.
“You need to go to the Castle and ask to see your mother’s quarters. Hidden in a secret compartment in the wall, you will find a necklace…”
“My mother? Griffin, she’s been gone for fifteen years! Surely the room has been cleared!” I argued, trying to keep up with his long legs as we ran across the stone bridge.
The meadow was filled with an angry song now, and I could hear the deep resonate voices of someone calling after us. I was reminded of the Semvon that had chased me back at home, and fear gripped me.
“No, listen - the room is the same. Princess, you need to find the necklace and wear it. It will protect you from the magi
c that the King will try to use against you. You need to know the truth…”
We stopped and Griffin faced me with a look of urgency clear on his face. As he opened his mouth to speak, an arrow flew through the air and stuck him in the shoulder.
“Griffin!” I dropped to my knees to help him as he sank to the ground.
“Wake up, Skye! NOW! Wake yourself up, and go find the necklace. I will find you again soon. GO!” he thundered, as he started to fade from my vision.
Turning, I saw the glowing red eyes of the Semvon catching up to me. I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to wake. A hand grabbed the sleeve of my gown just as I bolted awake in my bed at the cottage.
“Oh, crap!” I leapt out of the bed and turned in circles, looking for the Semvon.
I was alone.
My heart still racing, I felt a pain in my upper arm and touched it. The sleeve of my nightgown was ripped and I could feel something warm popping up.
Blood.
They had reached me and injured me…in my dream! I had a flashback of watching an old 80’s horror movie with Janelle one time. The demonic razor-clawed killer had entered people’s dreams to take their lives.
“Dang that was too real for me!” I moaned, and then grabbed a cloth from the washstand and pressed it to my arm.
I wandered into the front room to find Xander sleeping on a cot in the corner. He must have come back and let Emeline leave to get rest. Disappointment that he hadn’t joined me in the more comfortable bed filled my heart. I swept it aside as I tried to recall what all Griffin had said.
A hidden compartment, a necklace from my mother, and I needed to save her. ‘Her’ who?
A sob fought to escape my lips when I recalled seeing Griffin’s face as the arrow pierced his arm. He had faded away – did that mean he was dead? No – I remembered that he was an immortal. I assumed that meant he couldn’t die at all, but maybe I was wrong.
I needed to get to the Castle, and I needed to see if I could find the necklace.
And then what?
I walked back to my room and dejectedly crawled into the bed. What was I supposed to do?? Nothing made sense to me yet, but at least I still had a job to do. I would get the necklace Griffin had spoken of, and then I would wait for him to find me again.
“Skye?” a husky-voiced Xander called from the doorway.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you?”
He stood against the door frame; a dark shadow with the very small glow of a light behind him. “What’s wrong? Did you have another nightmare?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“I’m so sorry about Rex, and I promise you that if Janelle was brought here we will do everything we can do find her!” Xander promised.
Trying to keep myself from crying again, I changed the subject.
“You guys met for a long time…did you come up with anything? Is there something I need to know?”
I could hear the waver in my voice and was sure that he could too. My suspicion was confirmed when he walked in and came to my side of the bed. “Don’t worry about that now. Go back to bed. I’ll sit here to make sure that you can sleep soundly.”
“You don’t have to sit there. Go get some sleep yourself, I’m fine.”
“Haven’t you noticed that you always have nightmares when you’re by yourself? Whenever I’m with you, you sleep like a baby,” he pointed out.
He had a valid point. Was Griffin not able to reach me when I was with Xander? Or was it just a coincidence? I didn’t really want to be alone though, so I relented.
“Fine, but you can sleep with me. You know I hate it when you have to sleep in a chair,” I insisted, and pulled the covers back for him.
“I’m fine in the chair.”
“I know you are, but I’m not fine. I want you in my bed, Xander,” I urged. Thank the sweet lord it was dark and he couldn’t see the flow of blood that rushed straight to my face at that comment.
Awkward!
I rolled to my side and tapped the empty spot for him, “C’mon.”
He sighed and slipped into the bed next to me. I smiled to myself for winning but said nothing.
Xander
There was something about the unnatural stillness of the house that pulled me from my sleep the next morning, and immediately set alarms ringing in my head. The bed beside me was empty.
I leapt up and called out for Skye, expecting her to be in the front room. When there was no answer, I hurried into the room to look around. There was no fire, nor was there a basket with food from Emeline.
“Maybe she went to visit Emeline herself,” I told myself as I pulled on a pair of leather boots and a tunic.
Last night’s meeting had gone on for hours and hours. Rioden, Cillian and I had sat around a table drinking ale and discussing all of the ways to go about ousting McClintock.
The bad part was that we still didn’t really have any answers, and the truth of the matter was that we didn’t really care as much about regaining the throne as we did about finding justice for both her parents and my own. As well as for the hundreds, if not more, of innocent lives that had been lost when McClintock had thrown his little coup.
But what the problem ultimately boiled down to was that we still didn’t know much about him. How had he gained access all those years ago to the Castle?
And why?
Was it for the power?
Was it because of the prophecy?
The one thing the three of us had agreed on, was that as dangerous as it was for Skye to present herself to the King, it was the best way for us to gauge what his plan was.
I walked into the bright sunlight and took measure of the men who worked throughout this little section of the village we were staying in. A few men were sharpening their weapons. Several were unloading a cart that was hitched up to a horse. The cart was full of wood that they must have just cut up for firewood.
I saw Cillian across the way, talking with Selene and Rioden. Walking over to them I couldn’t help but watch the way they acted towards each other. Selene had her hand resting on Rioden’s arm, and was listening intently to the men speaking.
“Have you guys seen Skye?” I called out, scanning the area.
Ri and Selene shook their heads simultaneously as Cillian added, “I just got back from town. I haven’t seen Emeline, so perhaps they’re in my cottage?”
Selene had moved out of Cillian’s place last night and into an empty cottage with Rioden, giving Cillian and Emeline their place back. Just as I was walking that way to investigate, Emeline stepped out of the door with a large basket. And no Skye.
“Good morning all!” she sang as she glided over to us happily. “Hi, Xander! I was just bringing some food over to Skye. I imagine that you’re both famished by now. I slept late today and…”
Fear punched me in the gut and I interrupted Emeline quickly, “Skye isn’t with you? She’s not in our cottage. Where the hell is she, then?”
Taking charge, Rioden started to shout out orders.
“Cillian - get the men to fan out into the forest to look for tracks or clues. Selene - try a tracking spell and see if you can find her. Emeline - check the stables and the other cottages.”
I watched as Emeline dropped her basket and ran off, while Selene scurried into the cottage they were staying in.
“We’ll find her,” Rioden promised, grabbing my arm. “C’mon, let’s mount up and ride into town. Cillian, once you get the men moving, catch up with us.”
I tried not to let the fear eat through my stomach as we rode into the center of town. Rioden had me wait outside as he went into the inn that the King’s men were supposed to be staying at. After a moment, he came out and signaled for me to wait.
I watched as he slinked around to the back of the inn. He appeared back around the building in a flash with his brows knit together in thought.
“There are plenty of horses tied up. The innkeeper said the men are still here, and by the looks of it he wasn’t lying.”
“You thought that maybe they kidnapped her? Ri, I would have heard them break in. She left the cottage herself. She must have been restless and decided to go for a walk.”
Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) Page 28
