Second Chance

by Sawyer Bennett

  Carrick didn’t respond but gently squeezed her hand.

  “How did you convince them to let me stay?” Ava asked.

  Rather than answer, Carrick gathered up Ava closely in his arms and hugged her. Putting his nose in her hair, he took a deep breath. He had always told her she smelled like sunshine. Then Carrick leaned down, and lightly brushed his lips against Ava’s.

  Ava leaned into Carrick and opened her mouth to him. His kiss deepened and his tongue claimed hers thoroughly. But all too soon he pulled away from the deep kiss.

  Carrick then whispered urgently into her mouth. “Never forget that all I do for you, I do out of love.”

  Ava sighed and leaned farther into Carrick, her body molding to his and urging him to return to the kiss they had just shared. Instead, Carrick released Ava and stepped quickly back from her.

  A sudden wind whipped up around Ava, causing her hair to swirl around her head and her long dress to flap against her legs. She looked at Carrick, but not a breeze touched him. His lips were moving but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. The look in his eyes frightened her. It was one of complete and utter guilt. Ava tried to take a step toward him but she was frozen in place.

  “What have you done, Carrick?” Ava shouted over the wind. She held her arms out to him, silently begging him to come closer.

  Carrick stepped farther away. Ava couldn’t hear him but she could read his lips. He was shaking his head side to side and saying, “I’m sorry.”

  Ava felt something tug at her body, and she watched as Carrick seemed to fade before her eyes. And then she realized that Carrick had betrayed her and was sending her away from Vyronas.

  “NOOOOOO!,” Ava yelled at Carrick. “Please stop this.”

  But Carrick just stood there, silently repeating the words, “I’m sorry”, over and over again.

  Before Carrick faded away completely, the last thing Ava recalled was dropping her arms to her sides and clenching her fists so tightly her nails drew blood from her palms.

  “I hate you Carrick Dunne and I will never forgive you for this.” Then she let out a wail of heartbreak as she was whisked away from Vyronas and all that she knew.

  Ava was jolted out of her memories and her eyes sprang open. She felt wetness streaming down her face and realized she was crying. Her breath was ragged. She looked up into Carrick’s face and saw the same guilt reflected there that she saw before he banished her from her home. But she also saw a pleading look on his face. Perhaps pleading her to forgive him? Never!

  Without even thinking, Ava drew her right arm back and slapped Carrick as hard as she could across his left cheek. It made a resounding and satisfying crack.

  “I’m so sorry,” Carrick said, his voice ringing with hurt and guilt.

  “You son of a bitch,” Ava said through gritted teeth and slapped him again.

  Carrick stood up from the coffee table and Ava stood right along with him. Not done by a long shot, she started pounding on him with her fists, screaming to him about betrayal. Hatred poured from her and Carrick just stood there, letting her take it all out on his body.

  Finally, her strength started waning and Carrick wrapped his arms around her, tucking her face into his chest while she sobbed. Ava immediately pushed away from him as if he had the plague.

  “I don’t need your comfort,” she snarled at him. “I want you and your brother out of my house now! Do not ever return here again.”

  Ava shoved past Carrick and ran to her bedroom, Bing hot on her heels. She slammed the door and threw herself on her bed, face down into a pillow. Oh, gosh, her chest hurt. It felt like her heart had been ripped in two. For her, the pain of betrayal was fresh, as she experienced it like it had just happened today, not four years ago. Then the tears started again.

  ***

  “That went well, don’t you think?” Kieran stated as he sat down on the couch, picking up the bottle of Jack Daniels. He poured two glasses and handed one to Carrick.

  “In what way did that possibly go well?” Carrick growled, accepting the glass and downing it swiftly.

  “It seems to me she had the option of shooting you with that gun of hers. So…I’d say things went pretty good compared to what could have happened.”

  Carrick sat down on one of the chairs and scrubbed his hand through his hair in frustration. He’d known that Ava would be beyond furious when her memories were reintegrated. He was aware that the burning hate she had for him on their last day together would be there waiting for him in this dimension.

  Yes, he had anticipated this, and knowing Ava as well as he did, things were progressing exactly as he expected. He also knew what he had to do next and it made him sick to his stomach to have to do it. He was going to have to play on and further abuse her emotions to make her go back to Vyronas with him.

  He really, really hated the idea of doing it. Carrick had seen a lot of misery over the past four years. Immersed in a constant state of war for the Kestevayne throne, he had seen death and suffering that could not even bear description. Yet he would rather deal with that for the rest of his life than have to hurt Ava any further. But what he was about to do, he was doing it for Ava and her future, even if it hurt her in the short term.

  “Are you okay Carrick?” Kieran asked with uncharacteristic concern in his voice. Kieran was forever joking and teasing, regardless of how depressing a situation could be. “You don’t look so hot.”

  “I’m good,” Carrick stated as he stood up. “Get Ava’s horses together with all the necessary tack. We are going to be leaving for Vyronas soon and I know she’ll want to take the horses with her.”

  “How are you going to talk her into coming with us when she’d just as soon slit your throat?”

  Carrick headed toward Ava’s bedroom door. “That’s not your concern. Just do what I asked and be ready to go within the hour.”

  ***

  Ava had not cried long. It wasn’t in her nature. But boy had she been hurt and pissed beyond anything she had ever felt before. She was actually embarrassed her reaction ranged toward the tearful. She wished she had remembered the shotgun under her couch. That sure would have saved a few of her tears.

  Rolling off her bed, Ava padded into her bathroom and washed her face with cold water. She stared at her red rimmed eyes. She had never been a pretty crier, which is why she tried not to do it. But what did she care what she looked like. With any luck, Carrick and Kieran were gone and she could go back to her life.

  Or could she? Knowing about her life in Vyronas, what was happening there now, could she peacefully exist here?

  Ava heard her bedroom door open and then close. She walked out of her bathroom and saw Carrick standing by the door, eyeing her stonily. Her blood boiled just looking at him. How could you have ever trusted him, Ava?

  “What part of ‘leave my house’ didn’t you understand?” Ava seethed.

  “I’m not leaving without you, Ava. We will all be leaving within the hour for Vyronas.” Carrick’s voice was low but exuded command.

  Well, if he thought he could tell her what to do, he had another thing coming. “You are crazy if you think I’m going anywhere with you. I want you out of my life and I never want to see you again.”

  Ava thought her voice sounded pretty commanding as well and she squared her shoulders to lend extra authority to her statement. She waited for him to say something but he did nothing but stare at her.

  “Don’t you think you have wrought enough pain in my life? If you had any decency whatsoever, if you want to try to make amends for the hurt and betrayal you have heaped upon me, you can just go and leave me alone.”

  Ava noticed her voice now sounded whiny and pathetic. She could tell her anger was giving way to hurt feelings again. Please don’t start crying Ava. Be strong girl.

  Looking at Carrick, wondering what his next move would be, she was absolutely stunned when he said, “I don’t have time for your princess dramatics, Ava. You need to grow up and act like a woman, no
t a petulant child.”

  Ava inhaled sharply with surprise then sputtered, “Who the hell do you think you are talking to—.”

  “Oh give it up, Ava,” Carrick interrupted her. “You know as well as I do that you are acting like a spoiled brat. So I sent you away against your wishes. Boo hoo. Poor little Ava has been so abused and mistreated.”

  Ava felt like she was in the Twilight Zone. How dare he say these things to her when he should be groveling at her feet for forgiveness? She was the victim here and yet he was acting like he was the one that should be affronted. Ava saw red and didn’t have any control over her next actions.

  Screeching like a feral cat in heat, Ava picked up a book on the dresser she was standing next to and hurled it at Carrick’s head. He easily ducked the missile which made her all the more angry. She picked up a bottle of perfume, wound up and let it fly at him. Without waiting to see if she hit her target, she picked up her next projectile—an alarm clock—and made ready to take aim. But as she looked up with the clock in her hand, Carrick was standing in front of her grabbing both of her wrists. He squeezed just hard enough that she dropped the clock.

  Ava started kicking and trying to wrench her arms loose. She brought up her knee between his legs, but he turned away at just the right moment and her knee glanced off his thigh. Still gripping her wrists, Carrick walked Ava back toward her bed. Just as her knees hit the side of it, he gave her a slight push, releasing her arms.

  Gravity pulled Ava down and she sat hard on the bed, bouncing back up slightly, and then coming to a rest in a seated position. She started to get back up but Carrick held up a hand and said with cold menace in his voice, “Don’t even think about it!”

  Ava stayed seated on the bed, her breathing hard and ragged. She was so mad her ears were ringing but the tone of Carrick’s voice also caused a little course of fear to run through her.

  “I’m going to only say this once,” Carrick began. His voice was icy and brittle. “Yes, you are acting like a spoiled brat. You can choose to believe me, or not, but I am sorrier than you will ever know for what I did to you. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. But that is over and done with Ava. I need you to let that go, and I need you to remember who you are. You are Ava Clairmont, of the House of Clairmont and sovereign ruler of Kestevayne. You have people who belong to you, who are dying, and suffering, and will continue to do so without your help. Most of all, if you fail to return with me, you will dishonor the memory of your parents. Their murder will have been in vain and that will be on your head.” He fairly snarled those last words at her but then the heat died from his eyes. He looked worn to the bone.

  “Now, I’m going to give you one half hour to consider my words, pack up what you want, and be ready to go.”

  Without another word, Carrick turned on his heel and walked out of her bedroom, softly shutting the door behind him.

  CHAPTER 6

  Carrick stood outside the paddock while Kieran worked getting the horses ready. Yeah, he’d been rough on Ava but it was probably the only thing that was going to snap her out of her sulk. There was too much at stake in Vyronas for Ava to stay behind so it just wasn’t an option.

  Carrick heard the door to her house open, and then close. He turned around and saw Ava coming down her front porch steps. She had changed into jeans and an olive green, long sleeved t-shirt. Her long hair was pulled up into a pony tail, and it swished back and forth as she walked toward him. She wore her cowboy boots and carried a backpack, which he guessed contained some more clothing. Bing was trotting by her side.

  Looking at her face, he tried to judge her mood. Clearly, she had decided to come with them, but if the disdain in her eyes was any indication, she wasn’t happy about it.

  “Where’s Kieran,” Ava asked.

  “He’s in the barn getting the horses ready. I figured you would want to bring them along.”

  “As usual, you figured wrong. I only need King. I’ve made arrangements for the other two to be cared for until I return.”

  Carrick gritted his teeth and let that last remark slide. He knew, for Ava, there was no coming back. If they were able to reclaim her throne, she would need to sit upon it to rule. There could be no substitute for the magical line of Clairmont to continue. She would hopefully realize that once she returned to Vyronas and got re-acclimated. Carrick turned away and walked into the barn to tell Kieran to ready just King for the trip.

  ***

  Ava watched Carrick walk away. Her stomach was rolling with emotion. Yes, she was angry at him. Pissed as hell. But he had shamed her too. He was not wrong to point out that she was selfish not to immediately want to return to her homeland and help her people. Her parents would have been so disappointed in her had they seen the way she had behaved.

  Carrick had given her a half an hour to decide what she wanted to do. She only needed three seconds after he walked out of her bedroom to know she was returning to Vyronas. She was not about to let her parents down or their death be in vain.

  She spent the remaining time setting up for someone to care for the ranch. She contacted her former ranch manager and asked him to run the place in her absence. She told him it would be for an undefined period of time. She then set up online payments from her bank to secure his salary indefinitely until she returned. She also gave him access to a fund so he could pay the ranch bills. He was only too happy to accept.

  The rest of the time she spent changing her clothes and putting some other provisions in her backpack. She knew she wouldn’t need much. Her magic was strong in Vyronas and she would be able to provide well for herself. Instead, she took advantage of bringing clothing that would be practical to wear. She assumed she would be camping out and possibly involved in battles. No, she wouldn’t be wearing any royal gowns until she was seated back in her palace.

  Ava didn’t look backward as she walked out of her house. She wasn’t sure if that was because she felt she would be back, or if she was realizing that this ruse was never her home. Now as Ava waited for Carrick and Kieran to come out of the barn, she let her mind drift over her situation.

  The Carrick that stood in her bedroom shaming her was not the Carrick she had loved back in Vyronas. This Carrick was a bit scary…cold… almost cruel. She wondered if that was an act to motivate her or had he really changed that much in the past four years. Not that it really mattered to her anymore, but a memory came unbidden to her. She had seen him act with that frigid menace once before.

  Ava was just eight years old but already being an heir to the sovereign throne of Kestevayne put quite a burden on her young shoulders. Oh, it’s not that her ultimate duties of ruling and protecting her people were bothering her at this tender age. It was the burden of being unpopular with the other children.

  Although Ava was a sweet and generous child, none of the other kids wanted anything to do with her. Oh, she sometimes had her cousin, Quentin who she could count on. But he was away traveling with his parents and she was lonely.

  Ava was old enough to know that the other kids were jealous of the privilege that being a Royal brought to her. But she didn’t know how she could change her circumstances. Her family was wealthy, their magic was the strongest, and they lived in a palace. Ava often thought she would give that all up if she could just have one true friend. Since that wasn’t really an option, the most she could do was be extra nice to the other kids and hope that one day they would accept her.

  On a beautiful spring day, Ava followed a group of kids, of varying ages, as they went to play in the meadow that lay just to the east of the palace, yet still inside the city walls. The kids were from all diverse backgrounds, poor and rich alike. They all got along well which confused Ava as to why they would not accept her into their group.

  Some of the kids came from the working class families such as farmers, butchers, potion makers and the like. Some of the kids came from the Maiorn caste, which ranked above the working class, but was not of royal lineage. These were families w
ho owned land and oversaw the running of towns and cities that sat upon their land outside Kestevayne. The Maiorn swore allegiance to Kestevayne and although most Maiorns had some type of military force of their own, they were also under the protection of the Kestevayne Army.

  The rest of the kids were from the Warrior caste of Kestevayne. While not part of the Royal family, they were about as close to royalty as one could get. The Warrior caste descended from a long line of strong Magi. Their only duties were to protect Kestevayne, its citizens and the royal family. It was a great honor to be part of the Warrior caste.

  So, there was a hodge podge of kids in the mix, and they all seemed to get along relatively well. The children, about twenty in all, gathered together and discussed what they would do for the day. Some wanted to go fishing, while others wanted to play a group sport game. Ava stood on the fringes, watching the discussion but not participating. When it was finally decided that they would go fishing, Ava decided this could be her chance to get included.

  “We could go fishing on Parness Creek just off the Ainse River.”

  All the kids turned to look at Ava, and by the looks on their faces, she was beginning to think that maybe she had sprouted antlers or something.

  “Sure,” said one girl who looked to be a few years older than Ava. She thought her name may have been Ralina. “We can just go fishing on Royal land. I bet everyone in Kestevayne is invited and we can all wear our jewels while we fish.” The other kids snickered and Ava realized she was being made fun of.

  “No, really,” Ava continued hopefully. “My father would be more than glad to let us all go fishing there. It has some of the biggest and best fish in the area.”

  One of the older boys pushed through the others and came to stand in front of Ava. She knew his name was Barney and his dad had a large farm a few miles from the palace. She would often ride her horse that way and Barney’s dad always had a friendly wave for her. Barney was not so friendly. There had been times where he had tripped Ava as she walked by or pinched her if they were standing close to each other in a crowd.