Love lines

by Nixon, Diana

  “Not bad. She knows a lot of things about Dever, which, of course, surprised me a lot,” I said, helping Darcy.

  “She, like all of us had to keep everything a secret for many years. You really shouldn’t be angry at her,” said Amelia.

  “Of course, not! I wouldn’t even think to be angry. It’s just time for me to stop being so surprised about weird things in my life. But I still can’t get used to all of this,” I said with a sad smile.

  “I know what you mean, Eileen. I never thought I would get used to a new life either.”

  “Did it take a long time?” asked her Darcy.

  “Some things are still surprising to me, though, as Eileen has said, I’m used to it. As an example though, the story about Alexis and Eric. Who would have thought?..”

  Suddenly the doorbell rang.

  “Are we still waiting for someone?” Amanda asked, coming back to the kitchen.

  “Yes. Frederic is staying in Dever, and kindly agreed to accept our invitation to dinner.”

  “Frederick Fairey?” not believing my own ears, I asked.

  “Yes. He is an old friend of our family. Unfortunately it is not often possible to find us all together at one time in our country, so we use every opportunity to meet with him when he arrives. Come on, I will introduce you all.”

  Darcy and I took trays of fruits and followed Amelia into the living room.

  Frederic looked very much like all the Fairey family, so this shouldn’t have been surprising. He was also one of them. And the color of his emerald eyes couldn’t belong to anyone else. He was quite tall, dark-haired and well built for his years.

  “And this is Eileen Clark,” Amelia said, introducing us to each other.

  “I've heard about you, Eileen,” Frederick nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, and I’ve heard a lot about you as well. Only good things, of course,” I said smiling nervously, while shaking his outstretched hand. His touch was surprisingly very warm. When I thought of him I pictured some strict and not so good-natured man. Apparently, I jumped to conclusions. And his voice seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had heard it before… Even though, we had never met before.

  “Since everyone is now here, let’s go to the table,” Patrick said.

  He and Amelia took their seats on both sides of an oval table. Christian and I sat on the right hand of Patrick, next to Evan and Darcy. Opposite us were sitting Amanda and Lucas. And along with them - Frederick. Several times I caught his gaze on me.

  “Perhaps he knows about my unusual abilities,” I thought. I wanted to ask him some questions, because he was one of, if not the most powerful, wizard who I had heard about. His glory was so widespread not only because he possessed an unbelievable power, but because he wasn’t hereditary Wizardy, and only thanks to his talents had managed to become such a famous magician.

  “Well, let's have our first toast for this gathering, for our friends, and for the fact that no troubles could spoil such a wonderful evening like this,” said Patrick. All joined in his toast and raised their glasses.

  I found myself on thinking that if it wasn’t for current events, this night could be called truly pleasant and carefree. Everyone was joking, smiling, and no one thought about Eric, Alexis, Nora, or the Cup. Amelia had worked really hard to make all the dishes simply excellent. I knew that when it came to using herbs and spices she was a real expert.

  After dinner they all went out to the terrace to enjoy the fresh air and warm evening. Christian wasn’t leaving me even for a second which seemed strange to me. Usually, he behaved like that when he felt danger. But tonight I didn’t feel anything threatening. On the contrary. I even managed to relax a bit and really enjoy good company and the evening itself.

  “Is it too cold for you?” Christian asked caressing my shoulders.

  “Not at all. I never feel cold when you're near,” I replied.

  He touched my hair with his lips.

  “I’m glad to hear that. I wanted to ask you something,” he started uneasily. “Eileen, would you mind talking with Frederick? He would like to ask you some questions.”

  “Of course I don’t mind! I wanted to talk to him too, just thought it wasn’t polite to throw myself at a stranger with my million of questions.”

  Christian smiled relaxed.

  “Good. He’s in the library now.”

  I took a deep breath, trying to make my mind calm down, but it did nothing to help the shaking of my knees. Fortunately, the library door was open, and I didn’t have to knock. Christian didn’t even offer to accompany me, so I had to deal with my excitement and fear on my own.

  “Why am I suddenly so nervous? He's a stranger, and why should I be afraid of him?” I asked myself. When I entered, Frederick stood with his back near one of the bookcases and, without turning around, he said:

  “Eileen, you have joined me.”

  I was surprised by the tone of his voice, as it sounded nervous. He turned and took a few steps in my direction.

  “You can feel auras,” I said realizing how he knew about my presence.

  “Yes, and I do it exceptionally well, I admit. For example, at the moment, I can tell that you are very nervous. You shouldn’t be,” he said smiling genuinely. “I just found it very interesting to see the person, who may eclipse my glory in the near future.”

  “Oh, um… I don’t think that is possible. Besides, I still have not been able to fully possess or control my powers and, honestly, I don’t know whether I will ever be able to when the time comes.”

  I felt a little calmer, I went to one of the armchairs by the fireplace and sat down. Frederick took the opposite one.

  “You will master everything,” he said. “You have to, it can’t be any other way. Magic and the other powers will start to gain force very soon. Remember, you have to learn how to keep and control that crazy amount of energy. How do you feel now? Is there anything you would like to ask me about?”

  “I don’t like the way this power extends to practically all the spheres of my life. Managing all the elements as well as magic, I shouldn’t have to put much effort to get what I want. I'm scared of all of it. I'm afraid that it could be hard to stop and I...”

  “Don’t worry, Eileen. If nature has chosen to gift you with such rare and extraordinary abilities, you will learn how to control them. Everything is done with a reason and purpose in mind.”

  “Destiny, of course,” I said rolling my eyes. Recently, I began to really believe in its existence, what I haven’t done previously.

  “What is very important, is not to be afraid to use your powers, because the power of possessing it’s not to have it all, but know how to control it. You have many good friends who will help you. Evan is a very capable young man; he’s experienced, so you can always turn to him for help or advice. Christian is an excellent specialist of his element; he will help you cope with its force. Patrick and I will always be ready to help too. He told me about you and your talents. Frankly, I was really surprised. I didn’t expect to see such great power. I'm very pleased that you are so young and yet such a talented girl. Evan told me how you felt the forces of the elements in practical classes. This surprised me, because my own abilities started to develop after the age of eighteen, but you already possess them. It is simply unbelievable! But trust me, Eileen,” he added quietly. “I know how difficult it’s to keep these forces inside of you. But I hope you will handle this.”

  “I promise, I will try very hard,” I replied. “Thank you for your words of support and encouragement. It really means so much, since nobody can understand what is going on inside of me better than you.”

  “You can call me any time if you need anything. I am often away, but will spend the next few weeks in Dever, so you can always find me.”

  “Are you staying because of me?”

  Frederick stared at me thoughtfully.

  “Not exactly,” finally, he said. “Recently, a lot of things
have happened, which has caused concern, so it’s important that we all stay together.”

  “Yes, you are right. Well, it was nice to meet you and talk to,” I said rising.

  “It has been a great pleasure to meet you, Eileen,” he said. I thought he would just shake my hand, but instead, he stepped closer and hugged me tightly, like some close relative. I didn’t know why, but I was pleased. So I hugged him back.

  “Am I intruding?” Christian asked, entering the library.

  “Of course, not,” said Frederick. “I’ve already taken a lot of time from you two,” he added with a smile. Christian smiled back and walked up to me putting his arm around my waist.

  “I won’t ever feel I have enough time with her,” he said looking into my eyes. There was so much love and tenderness in the depth of his emerald oceans, I could barely breath, being mesmerized by their beauty.

  “I understand you,” said Frederick smiling thoughtfully. Then he turned around and left. Something in his tone surprised me. The impression was that I had just seen the most miserable person in the world. His eyes were sad, and the same sadness mirrored in his voice. Even though I couldn’t still see the aura, I knew that what I felt was true.

  “It's sad that he is so unhappy,” I said to Christian.

  “Everyone is unhappy to a certain degree, Eileen,” he replied. “Just as everyone has happiness. Personally, I’m sure that no one can be one hundred percent perfectly happy. We are always looking for something new; we are always setting ourselves goals and achieving success, go to the next one. And so it should be, otherwise our existence would be simply pointless.”

  “Oh, I wish I could achieve at least one goal now - to survive after my eighteenth birthday,” I said.

  My words brought worry into Christian’s eyes. Despite the fact that today, we were all carefully hiding our emotions, they were not gone, just were buried somewhere deep inside of everyone. And now I have just dug them up for both Christian and myself. He pulled me tightly to his chest and I felt myself melting in his embrace. I put my hand to his heart and tried to relax, enjoying the sound of its beating. And it worked, it always worked when Christian was with me.

  “Maybe it's better to focus on what is for dessert?” changing the subject, he said.

  “Ice cream with strawberry syrup?”

  “Yes,” he nodded smiling.

  “Then let’s hurry up, so that it’s not all eaten.”

  Even before I finished my favorite dessert, I was sorry that the night was coming to an end. Those few hours were for us a kind of respite in an endless marathon of secrets and mysteries. Despite my fatigue, I didn’t want to go back to my room.

  “How about a little walk?” I suggested.

  “You don’t want this night to end, right?” guessed Christian.

  I shook my head.

  “Where shall we go?” he asked.

  “Do you know of somewhere that I haven’t been to yet?”

  “Let me think,” he said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Oh! I think I know a place. Let’s go.”

  Thanking Patrick and Amelia for a wonderful dinner and said goodbye to the rest, we went out into the yard. The time was already late, so besides us the street was empty. We walked past dormitory and academic buildings, turned the corner of the Great Hall and found ourselves in a small gazebo with numerous flowers around it.

  I stopped, stunned.

  “How could I miss this place?”I wondered.

  “Just a few people know about it,” Christian smiled mysteriously.

  “It's so beautiful, even at night. And the flavors are amazing. What are these flowers?” I asked, pointing to a source of the fragrance.

  “This is wisteria,” he said. “It means welcome. This place used to be one of the gates of Dever. Usually it was used by the people who didn’t want to reveal their presence here. They settled in the rooms of the Great Hall’s tower, so no one but the administration was aware of their presence. Later, the gate was closed and this place became just a gazebo.”

  “And the rooms in the tower above the hall are empty now, right?”

  “Yes. They are closed. All prefer the apartment in a residential building. Although, my father said Frederick asked to settle him there. In the past, he liked to stay here.”

  “You know what? I liked him,” I said.

  “Whom, Frederick?”

  “Yes. Looking at him you can feel his power. It’s just impossible not to notice such a magnetic energy.”

  “When I first met him, I had the same feeling. By the way, he liked you too.”

  “Really?”

  Somehow, Christian’s words pleased me, though I myself wanted to make the best impression at Frederick.

  Christian smiled.

  “He couldn’t not to like you, Eileen. Everyone likes you.”

  “Are you jealous?” I asked surprised.

  “About him - no, but in general - of course,” he said embracing me.

  “You shouldn’t be. I can’t go anywhere without you,” I replied, pretending to a sad sigh.

  “Thank God!” Christian laughed. Then he leaned over and gently kissed my lips, caressing them slowly with the tip of his tongue. Our kisses had always been gentle, now suddenly they were hot, deep and made me feel uncontrollable. Not that I didn’t like it.

  I felt as he pressed me closer to him, and his palms began to go down, lower and lower to my waist, making my skin burn under his fingers. I threw my arms around his neck, not leaving the slightest amount of air between us. He groaned quietly and deepened the kiss, increasing the speed of our tongues dancing. I enjoyed every second of our intimacy, losing myself in him. Our feelings were mutual, and I wondered if the gazebo was about to explode in flames of our deep red energy, radiating around. Christian pulled away from my lips, leaving light kisses on my cheeks, around my neck until I felt his lips on my ear lobe. This time I couldn’t stop myself from groaning, as his torture was crushing. Every touch was teasing, every kiss was intoxicating and every move was mind-blowing. His touches were so sensual, I could barely think straight. Every time his palms found my bare skin I stopped breathing. Every inch of my body was trembling with passion and wild desire. Realizing that the situation was completely out of control, I tried to find the remnants of still not blurred mind.

  “Christian, I... “

  He didn’t let me finish, covering my lips with the new kiss. Then pulled back slightly and said:

  “I know that you are not ready to take the next step, and I'm not rushing things. I want this moment to be special for both of us.”

  He kissed me again, and I thought that sometimes it was really useful to feel each other so well. I could feel how hard it was for him to control himself, and sail close to the wind, being with me. I smiled to myself.

  Once all of this was over our day will definitely come...

  Even though I was terribly afraid for our lives and even more afraid to miss something of all that has been destined, there still were things I didn’t want to rush.

  As Christian had just said, some moments needed to be special.

  Chapter 27. Tests and puzzles (Christian)

  It's been almost a week since Eileen met her father. And although she still didn’t know that Frederick was the one, they spent a lot of time together. He suggested holding a few extra lessons to replace Evan, who now had more time to search for Eric. He wasn’t doing this alone. All of us were helping, and while Eileen was busy with Frederick’s classes, we didn’t stop the search around Dever’s boarder. Once or twice we've been able to find other people's tracks, not only footprints, but also traces of magic. It seemed that Eric often used his powers to provide himself with some essential things. For example, he took food from the store without paying for it, or did the same at a clothing store. Of course, he was doing it at night, so no one noticed the loss, moreover, this was done with magic. However, it wasn’t difficult to determine the direction in which our enemy headed, so we carefully examined t
hat area several times a day. Apparently luck wasn’t on our side recently, as all the attempts ended up with no results. Either Eric managed so well to mask his location, or we just missed something very important.

  In addition to participating in the search, we all continued to prepare secretly Eileen’s birthday party that was to be held this Sunday. Amanda tried to do all her best to ensure that our efforts remained a secret until the right moment. She told Eileen that her birthday would be celebrated in my father’s apartment, who, of course, agreed to play along with us a little bit and told Eileen that my mother couldn’t wait to arrange another dinner. Despite all the anxiety, I wasn’t the only one hoping to make this birthday a real celebration. Its organizing was one more reason to distract ourselves a little and just enjoy life. The only person who didn’t feel much joy about this was Frederic. This day meant that his relationship with Eileen had to be revealed soon. However, he hadn’t decided yet when to tell her the truth.

  The first test for candidates for the presidency of Dever was supposed to begin this afternoon. There wasn’t anything special to be prepared for, because no one could predict exactly what kind of tests there would be, so my father was having his ordinary classes. Although he didn’t say it aloud, I was sure that he couldn’t stop worrying. It was his second time of participating in the trials.

  I was waiting for him in his office. I came there to support him and discuss our plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow we were going to go round the part of the area, where Eric could be according to our assumptions. Beatrice made me some coffee and left. After half an hour my father came.

  “Ah, Christian! There you are, I just wanted to talk to you,” he said coming into the office. “Frederick has a small problem. He doesn’t know how to give Eileen his present.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked puzzled.

  “I don’t know exactly what he has prepared, but he said that his personal presence at her birthday party may seem suspicious, because he wasn’t invited. So he thought, maybe you could hand his present to Eileen or ask anyone else…”