Endless Winter (Guardians of The Light)

by J Armitage

  “You look amazing, Sensational! Arcadia did a wonderful job.”

  “Arcadia merely added the final touches to an already beautiful young lady.” Winnie cut in.

  “Of course Mama.” Alex looked embarrassed and left to go and talk to Rafe and to get another drink.

  “Thank you Winnie.” She hugged her tightly

  “Not at all, I was just stating a fact. Were you just with Aldric?”

  “I was. The things he said were terrifying.”

  “Don’t you worry; I have complete faith in my husband. He will have found a cure by nightfall knowing him. Now drink up and let’s have some fun.”

  Anais drained her glass which was swiftly filled by Alex who had appeared once again by her side.

  “Where is Aethelu?” asked Anais

  “I think she’s still with Arcadia getting prettied up. She’ll have to do a good job to hold a candle to you.” Alex blushed.

  Anais had forgotten that Aethelu was having the same present as she had. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to wait for her much longer. Alex was a sweetie and great company but he was making her nervous telling her she was beautiful all the time.

  She quickly drank her second glass and then reminded herself to slow down. It was already going to her head.

  When Alex asked her to dance again, she accepted mainly to keep him from talking although she was enjoying the old fashionedness of it all, even though the song they were waltzing to had only been released a couple of years before.

  She was mildly embarrassed about what Arcadia had told her earlier about Alex and Rafe but as long as she was enjoying herself and Alex kept his hands in an appropriate dancing position then she’d carry on dancing. She stole a look at Rafe as she was twirled past him and saw that he had a face like thunder, watching her and Alex dancing.

  She hoped it had nothing to do with her. She didn’t want to be a cause of disquiet amongst her new family. She wondered if she should ask Rafe to dance after she had finished the song with Alex. She still felt rather awkward around him but made up her mind to ask him anyway.

  August had now grabbed Winnie and was weaving his way around the room with her in his arms. He didn’t seem to notice that her feet were not actually touching the floor and he was in effect just carrying her around the room. She was laughing so hard that Anais guessed she didn’t mind so much.

  When the song ended she quickly scanned the room looking for Rafe. She found him at the buffet table, filling a plate with food.

  Untangling herself from Alex’s arms she made her way to Rafe at the buffet table. Despite Augusts best efforts to eat everything on the table there was still a lot of food to be had. Plates of sliced meat, pies, and colourful salads of every description, chicken skewers and crudités for dipping in various sauces filled the table. The spread was wonderful but the best part was the end of the table which held the deserts of which there were many. Christmas cakes and puddings, chocolate gateaux and cheesecakes with raspberry sauce. A large gingerbread replica of the house covered with icing snow was the centrepiece and looked magnificent. So beautiful was it, such a work of art that no one had yet cut into it. The whole spread looked so delicious that Anais decided to enjoy her one night in the amazing dress because she was sure she wouldn’t fit into it by the next day. She followed Rafe’s lead and piled food onto her plate. Winnie saw that the others were eating and extracted herself from August’s arms to join the line for food. August, having already had three helpings of everything went straight to the desert table and started on that, being careful not to knock over the gingerbread manor.

  Anais wondered if she should get a plate for Aethelu when she heard the door open. Ever since Arcadia had picked out a red dress for her, she had been secretly worried that with Aethelu’s love of red, they would both end up looking like tomato coloured twins in matching red dresses. She was totally unprepared for the sight that greeted her as Aethelu walked through the door. So apparently were the others in the room as they all stood open mouthed at the sight of Aethelu.

  Even August stopped eating to gaze open mouthed at his sister.

  To say Aethelu was stunning was like saying the Grand Canyon was quite deep. It was such a gross understatement that words could not describe how amazing she looked.

  She was wearing a floor length layered gown with countless layers of sheer nude coloured material. Thousands of gold beads and crystals had been hand sewn on to the top half of the dress which, like hers was sleeveless and high necked. She was wearing matching gold high heels which peeked out from under the hem of the dress. A slight bronze glow of Aethelu’s skin showed that Arcadia had given her some kind of spray tan. Her usual pale skin now shimmered with a healthy colour and the gold eye shadow and pale nude lips finished the look off perfectly.

  The biggest change though was Aethelu’s hair. Her long silver locks had been cut into a short pixie style in which Arcadia had dyed a much warmer blonde and sprayed gold glitter spray. The whole effect was breath taking and the gold reminded Anais of the hot tub which made her blush.

  It was the first time she had seen Aethelu not wearing her traditional red clothes and lipstick although she was pleased to see the ruby heart broach had been fastened on the dress.

  “Wow!” said Rafe

  Aethelu ran towards Anais.

  “What do you think?” Aethelu gave a twirl.

  Anais knew that everyone was staring but she didn’t care. She took hold of Aethelu and doing her best to ignore the shocks that were coursing through her hands and then her arms and finally her lips, she kissed Aethelu.

  Her whole body tingled with the effect of The Light and her hands and arms were beginning to burn. It felt like her mouth was on fire but she didn’t stop.

  She heard a wolf whistle from somewhere in the room which she suspected was August.

  Finally it became too much to bear and she let Aethelu go. Aethelu grinned and a flush came to her cheeks. Looking around Anais could see the family watching them both. Winnie came over and hugged her daughter.

  “You look wonderful, my beautiful girl. Arcadia, you did a grand job.”

  She turned to Arcadia who had just entered the room looking very pleased with herself. Just behind Arcadia, Anais noticed Alex leaving. He looked downcast as he went through the door. Anais thought about following him to see why he was upset but the music started again and Aethelu was in the mood to dance.

  They danced for hours and ate and had fun. Anais had never laughed so much in her life.

  At some point in the festivities, Andrew had arrived with Judith. Arcadia, the gossip queen had managed to let everyone know that Andrew had a new girlfriend and that she was arriving today so her entrance was not entirely unexpected. She was just as beautiful as she had been in the photo if not more so in the flesh. Tall and slim with an athletic body, she stood straight and proud, and despite having travelled over thirty hours, still managed to look amazing. She was wearing a tailored suit with Andrews coat over the top to protect her from the snow. She had a regal air about her but a warm smile on her face despite her shivering with cold. It seemed that despite the many layers she was wearing it was not enough to stop her feeling the British winter weather. Winnie was the first to run up and welcome her in traditional Winnie fashion by hugging her tightly. As Judith said hello to everyone, Anais could see Andrew brimming over with pride. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him really smile before and it really suited him. He was transformed from the shy serious computer nerd into rather a handsome man. He even looked taller.

  It’s funny what love can do to you, mused Anais smiling. She grabbed hold of Aethelu for another dance and that’s when she noticed Rafe. His mood hadn’t seemed to have lightened up. He was still glaring but she was relieved to see that the subject of his stares had now moved to Judith. She remembered about her promise to herself to offer him a dance. Perhaps that would cheer him up a bit.

  Alex had at some point returned and was now sulking alongside Rafe. Se
eing the two of them together gave Anais an idea, probably brought about by too much champagne. She kissed Aethelu quickly, telling her to get some food before August ate the lot. She moved over to where Andrew was awkwardly dancing with Judith, his feet standing on hers more than the floor. Judith laughed every time he tripped over her or stood on her foot and was now leading him instead. Anais noticed he was back to wearing gloves again, this time for Judith’s benefit. She asked if she could borrow Judith for a second and winked at Andrew.

  “Of course, I think she could do with a break from my clumsy feet.” He made his way over and joined Aethelu by the food.

  Anais told Judith her plan and pointed to the twins who were both sulking in the corner. If Judith was surprised by the request she did not show it. She was obviously not a shy character.

  Anais deliberately chose Rafe whilst Judith walked up to Alexander. The men both seemed surprised to be confronted by Judith and Anais.

  “Please can I have this dance?” Judith held her hand out to Alex who quickly got over his shock and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the middle of the room to dance.

  “Shall we?” Anais waited for Rafe to make his move. He seemed hesitant but then took her hand and followed his brother to the dance floor.

  Both brothers were good dancers and each wanted to outdo the other. They both spun their partners faster and faster to the cheers of the rest of the family. Anais just caught a glimpse of Aethelu as she span by and saw that she was laughing hysterically. She could hear Augusts booming cheers and Arcadia’s delicate laugh as the room span around and around her. She’d never been much of a dancer but Rafe expertly guided her making her seem more accomplished than she actually was. At some point both brothers flung their partners out at the same time. Anais thought she was going to crash headlong into Judith but Alex expertly caught her and span her round. Looking up she could see that Rafe was now doing a similar move with Judith. The boys had skilfully changed partners and were now guiding them through moves that seemed expertly choreographed.

  “I’m so glad I got to dance with you again,” Alex said. Anais looked up into his black eyes. “You are so beautiful. You can’t imagine how it feels just to hold you for a second.”

  Anais felt herself going red. Alex was embarrassing her and she didn’t know how to respond. He knew she was with Aethelu so why was he saying these things to her? Despite Rafe’s miserable demeanour all evening, she’d rather still be dancing with him. At least he didn’t talk as he danced.

  “I’m tired. I think I’ll stop now, get some food, you know.” Anais tried to retreat.

  “But you’ve already eaten!” Alex looked crestfallen.

  “Dessert! I’ve not had dessert.” She managed to extricate herself from his arms and made her way back to Aethelu who was still laughing raucously.

  Taking up a slice of cheesecake she noticed that Judith had also given up dancing and had gone back to Andrew. He didn’t look too pleased to have lost his girlfriend to Alex and Rafe if only for five minutes and Anais wondered if she’d done the right thing.

  Looking across the room she could see that the twins now seemed to have cheered up and both were sharing a joke with one another.

  In the early hours of the morning the party finally wound down. Anais feeling extremely drunk kissed a final goodnight to Aethelu and made her way up to her bedroom on the second floor. It was only when she finally got into bed that she realised that she had not talked to Aethelu about Jago and his virus. She made her mind up to talk to her at breakfast the next day. She finally closed her eyes and fell into a very deep sleep.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Early the next morning Anais awoke to the faint strains of somebody having an argument. She couldn’t make out who it was or what they were saying but it ended with the front door slamming and a car being driven away down the driveway.

  Deciding her massive hangover was more of a priority than finding out what the shouting was about, she turned over and went back to sleep. When she did finally get out of bed it was way past breakfast time. Normally she would have felt guilty missing breakfast but she assumed the rest of the household would all be rising around the same time and in the same state.

  One glance in the bathroom mirror convinced her to put off breakfast for a few more minutes and have a quick shower. She’d gone to bed the night before without taking her makeup off and now she resembled a panda. The sultry eye make-up had travelled all over her face in her sleep and she now had black streaks all down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and her immaculate hair from the night before now resembled a bird’s nest. A very untidy bird’s nest at that. She stepped into the shower, still bleary eyed, and did her best to wash away the evidence of the night before along with the panda make up. Choosing a grey jumper, which probably matched her skin tone after the excesses of the day before, she teamed it up with some black trousers and comfortable shoes. She brushed the knotty mess that was her hair before making her way down to the main part of the house. Hearing voices from the kitchen, she made her way down the spiral staircase to be confronted with a worrying scene. Aldric was sat at the head of the table with a grim expression on his face. Winnie to his right had been crying and held a tissue in her hands that she was using to mop up the tears.

  Arcadia was sat with her head in her hands and both Rafe and Alex were lost in their own thoughts. Andrew was sat on his own at the end of the table so Anais guessed Judith must still be in bed. Only August paid her any attention. He busied himself making coffee which he then thrust a steaming mug of into her hands. It was way too hot so she rested it on the table.

  “I will not do it!” Andrew looked wretched. Anais looked at him more closely and could see that he too was on the verge of tears. Despite that, he had a defiant look on his face as he looked at Aldric. Winnie only sobbed harder at this and Alex gave her a look. It was impossible to read his expression but it almost looked like he was pleading with her.

  “Why don’t we ask Anais herself Father?” Alex dropped his gaze down to the table.

  This sounded ominous.

  “Please sit down Anais,” Aldric said.

  She did as he asked and took a chair nest to Andrew at the other end of the table.

  “I’m sure you recall what I told you last night.”

  Anais nodded her head

  “Well, things have developed and the time has come to tell everyone the predicament we all face”

  Anais almost laughed at the word predicament. It was such a trivial word. She thought calamity or catastrophe would be closer to the mark. She nodded and then sipped at her coffee. It was hot and burnt her mouth.

  Aldric continued in his gruff tone “I gathered the household here and told them all what I told you last night. The reason I did this is because of a letter that I received this morning. It was hand delivered and left here on the kitchen table which means, not only does Jago know where we live, he also knows how to defeat our numerous defences. It was a warning. Another nudge if you will. He showed Anais the letter. It was typed just like the last one but this time it was much shorter. It read:

  1) Alistair

  2) ?

  Who will be next? Do as I ask or there will be another death.

  Jago

  “He is obviously threatening the family,” Rafe said pointlessly.

  Aldric ignored him and carried on his speech, directed at Anais.

  “Andrew has agreed to step up the defences around the manor and unfortunately for the time being we are to have a lockdown. That means we all have to stay within the grounds of the manor including Arcadia who will have to let Hollywood run itself without her for now.” He shifted his gaze from Anais to Arcadia giving her a knowing look.

  Arcadia looked miserable at the thought of it but she kept silent.

  Anais took another sip of the coffee. Everyone was looking at her now. She knew she should be more scared that Jago had been in the house but instead she was just angry. He had killed her parents. He had robbed her
of her whole family, taken her whole life away from her, and now he was threatening to hurt her new adopted family. No, she wasn’t as scared as everyone else seemed to be, she just wished she had stayed awake long enough to see him. She didn’t know what she would have done if she had come face to face with her parents murderer but the sharp kitchen knives on the kitchen counter were giving her ideas. Besides if Andrew was half as good as Aldric made out then he would keep them all safe. The thought of spending the next few weeks stuck with Aethelu and her new family in the manor didn’t sound too bad at all. She certainly was less upset about the prospect than the rest of the family seemed to be.

  “It’s just threats though,” Anais said

  “Anais. The man is dangerous. He’s been inside the house,” Winnie sniffed.

  “He did get in here, yes, but he didn’t actually do anything beyond putting a letter on the table. We were all a bit drunk last night. We were sitting ducks. He could have hurt any one of us but he didn’t. He’s just trying to scare us.”

  “Don’t underestimate him Anais. Look what he did to your parents.” Aldric looked at her intently.

  “From behind the wheel of a car, in the middle of the night. He’s nothing but a chicken.”

  “The brakes on my car didn’t just fail,” Alex said.

  Finally the enormity of the situation sank in.

  “They were cut?”

  “Yes. They’d been cut halfway. We were lucky that they lasted as long as they did and only snapped when we were going slowly.”

  Anais slumped in her chair and was silent. She looked to Aldric who gave her a small sad smile and then continued where he had been interrupted.