I got the grouchy knight to let out a chuckle. It made my heart pause for just the briefest of moments, but I felt it.
Why did that make me feel slightly happy?
“Don’t let them hear you say that, but to answer your question, yes, they are.”
There it was! A response without attitude! That wasn’t too difficult to get out of him. Humor was the way to his heart. Duly noted.
This guy had a gleam in his eyes. He might have an attitude problem and may be a little judgmental, but there is no denying he is attractive.
Sir Axel makes Keenan look average. I know I will wake up in the morning, go to school, and when I see Kennan after lunch, I will spend the whole fifty minutes comparing Sir Axel to him. I already know that he will beat Kennan in every way.
“Why do I see two suns? In my world, there is only one. Do you not have night time here?” I asked.
“Not in Morthsoul, no, there is no time of darkness. Morthsoul’s counterpart is Morthshadow. There it is always dark. There is a legend about why this is so."
"A very long time ago, a king died on the battlefield. His two sons were fighting over who would take the thrown. The oldest son who should have inherited the throne was good-hearted and would have run the kingdom well; at least that’s what we all have come to believe. The younger son, who would not inherit the throne, was greedy and hated his brother. He challenged him for the right to rule.
Well, it became such a battle that they killed each other. In these battles, armor is not allowed. Once the goddess greeted them in the sky, she cursed them both to spend eternity fighting for control of the sky as two suns. It is said that the moon in Morthshadow is the queen, their mother, who died from a broken heart. However, it is widely thought now that the dark skies over Morthshadow are the result of magic gone wrong.”
It was silent, for a moment I really thought about that tale and the mention of magic. I could see all the irony in it.
Definitely a tale if it mentioned magic.
“What else is there to know about this land?” I couldn’t help but ask.
A bunch of make-believe stories is better than an uncomfortable silence.
“Well, the only thing that connects Morthsoul and Morthshadow is the shadow bridge. That is where we are heading. Many people have died trying to cross any other way. The water that runs between the two lands is red, heavy with the blood of the knights who fight to their death,” he explained.
His voice softened at the end like he didn’t want to finish the explanation.
Why the dramatics? River’s running red could be clay muddying the waters, but not blood.
“That sounds depressing,” I answered at a loss for words.
I feel like explaining any scientific options would just anger him again. He might push me in when we get to the river if he’s too angry.
Trying to swim across does not sound like it will be enjoyable.
He was silent for a moment before adding, “The water used to run clear, but one day a great war broke out. After the first death, the water started running red. When the war finally stopped, it turned clear again. Our king has us in an endless war now, and so the water once again runs red,” he said pessimistically.
It sounds like he disapproves of the war and the King, yet he is knighted. I sense a story for another day.
A river that runs red with the blood of those killed seems a little insane to me.
After what felt like a long time, Axel stopped walking in front of me, and I bumped into him. He turned around and looked at me. He was clearly annoyed.
“This is a good as place as any to stop for a rest. We do not have a 'night time' as you called it. We do take our rest when the second smaller sun is high in the sky.”
Axel pulled a blanket out of the bag that was hanging by his side.
Then something happened that shocked me. Axel showed a shred of decency.
“Here, you can take this blanket, I don’t need one,” he said.
He turned his head away from me as he extended out the blanket toward me.
Why wasn’t he trying to make eye contact? Was that a sign of rudeness here?
“Are you sure? I’d feel bad taking it,” I told him.
“I would be a horrible person if I let you freeze to death,” he said.
Wow, some more decency with a hint of sarcasm. My mind couldn’t pass up sarcasm, so it made this perfectly hot sarcastic guy. Awesome, I sure know how to pick them.
“It looks big enough, maybe we could share it,” I countered.
“Share the blanket? That’s not really proper of an unbound man and woman.”
“I won’t make a move on you, I promise.”
“Make a move? Never mind…” he responded. He chuckled again.
I secretly loved the sound. Can I hear it again?
“As you wish,” he sighed.
Axel then focused his attention on the ground. He walked around like he was looking for something. When he found it, he got down on his hands and knees and pulled it off the ground. It was a little flower. It was a bright blue.
“Here,” he handed me the flower.
I put it to my nose and smelt it.
“You’re not supposed to smell it. You eat it,” he said.
Was he smiling? Did he find it that funny?
He shook his head at me. That caused me to laugh.
“In my world, most people don’t eat flowers,” I told him.
I tried to force the smile off my face.
Do not flirt with him.
“I would have hunted earlier, but I ran into a distraction. These flowers are edible and will help you sustain some energy. Why are you still continuing with this act?” he asked me.
“If you are playing crazy, or if you are running from someone, I will find out.”
And just like that, our light mood was gone.
Why was he so rude? I almost contemplated handing him the blanket back to make him feel like an ass. Almost.
“This is not an act,” I said quietly.
I turned away, no longer wanting to look at him.
I ate the flower. I chewed it slowly because I wasn’t sure how I felt about eating a flower. It certainly didn’t taste all that great. The nectar inside the flower tasted buttery, so I swallowed it without gagging.
Axel found us a bunch of the flowers within a short distance of where he had set up camp. We had a silent feast of little blue flowers.
When we were full, on what I imagined was a large amount of fiber, we laid down side by side. He thought it’d be appropriate if we slept back to back. I was almost asleep when Axel spoke beside me.
“I know you think I am rude. I won’t deny that I am. You need to understand that I am taking a risk by helping you. So I cannot afford to take pity on you, just because you are a woman traveling by herself. Wisdom will tell us what we need to know, and if you are lying to me, there will be consequences,” he warned.
It felt like I had rolled my eyes for the hundredth time today after his monologue.
With that, he fell silent except for even breathing. I sat and stewed over his last comments.
Chapter Four
Axel
This woman, she was beautiful. She reminded me of the portraits I’ve seen in the main halls of the castle. The only difference I could notice from memory was that the Queen had perfectly smooth white porcelain skin. This girl’s face was dotted with freckles.
I didn’t know what to make of this beautiful stranger. She was dressed very oddly. There was no one with her.
What was she doing wandering on her own with no protection? Was she dangerous? She must be if she is traveling alone.
I continued to follow her from a distance watching her. She followed the creek, heading towards the mountaintops that protected the castle from the sometimes treacherous storms.
Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s the weather that makes those storms or magic meant to scare the people into not approaching their king.
Back to the woman before me...
I wanted to go talk to her, the goddess with the brown wavy hair. I was on official business, though. The King was expecting me back within a few hours, and I was already way behind schedule. He wanted me to come back with the document that tells of his undoing.
The Prophecy was written two hundred years ago by a powerful seer. It told of three beyond powerful individuals that will grace these lands.
The first has come to live and pass. The mighty Queen Victoria, she had done precisely what the Prophecy demanded of her. She saved our lands and she is now resting peacefully, watching from the heavens.
The King wishes to stop the second person in the Prophecy, who will bring the nation peace in a great time of war. The war of his doing.
I was sent to find the written Prophecy. It has been missing since it was first written long ago. I don’t wish for the king to succeed, but I don’t want to die either. I agreed to go investigate a lead that had been given to the King. It was a dead end.
I am reluctant to go back and tell him this news. I will surely take the grunt of all of his anger.
I usually do when I fail.
It has always been this way. I have been fortunate that it has only been me. The King is known to blackmail others by using their families against them. He truly has no limits when he wants something.
My mind keeps wondering like a drunk fool... Back to the girl.
I drew my sword and walked up behind her.
Who knew how dangerous she could be?
I needed to take precautions. I was alone without another Knight to watch my back. I called out to her, and she hesitated before she turned around.
I quickly realized something was wrong when she looked so startled. She looked like she had been woken up from a dream suddenly. She seemed so confused.
I wanted to speak to her to find out her business in the outlying fields. We were only a day’s journey from the castle.
Does she have business with the King?
She spoke the new tongue and was so adamant that she was not from Morthsoul.
She is either crazy or very lost.
Although, something similar had happened in the past when our great Queen was found. She had been wandering the grounds outside of the castle. Someone took her to Morthshadow. It was there she learned to train in magic and save our Kingdom. She eventually took over the crown, even though she was a visitor to these lands, just as the Prophecy predicted.
It is unknown her place of origin, but this girl's story has similarities to what I’ve heard of our late Queen.
I have questions about the Queen and this girl. Could they be connected?
I didn’t know a lot about what was predicted of the second woman in the Prophecy, but I know of someone who does.
Was this girl part of the future the seer predicted? I am going to find out.
I knew that if she was part of the Prophecy, I wasn’t going back to the King's service. I would aid this girl instead.
I will not be the messenger to the King with the bad news. I refuse to be punished again for things out of my control. One can only take it for so many years.
If I was the best knight, why was I the one always being tortured? I’m not going to let that happen anymore.
Part of me wishes she isn’t crazy.
Maybe I could court her? We could live in hiding in Morthshadow together. Who knew what the future held for me?
All I knew was that, in several hours, I would be a traitor to the Kingdom of the Morthlands, and a fugitive on the run because of this beautiful clueless girl.
What have I gotten myself into?
Chapter Five
Violet
This time I really woke up. I wasn’t waking up within a dream and exploring a new made up world. I woke up in my own bed in my Grandmother’s house. The light from one sun was coming through my window.
Okay, so I’m not crazy. It was just a very realistic dream.
I’ve heard about people waking up from dreams and thinking they were abducted and such.
I just had an even weirder one...
I got up and made my bed. It was something Grandmother always told me to do. If someone asked me what I did today and I couldn’t think of anything else of worth, I could always say, “I made my bed.”
That’s still more than most teenagers do...
After I had made my bed, I stepped into the shower. I spent extra time scrubbing my body. For some reason, I felt extra itchy, like I had actually been sleeping on a patch of grass.
After I was clean, I stepped out of the shower, dried off, and tried to dry as much of my hair as I could without making myself late.
I put on my uniform. It is ugly, but required by the school. Even Lacey has to wear the same one. She made some modifications to it adding as much pink as she could get away with. She also doesn’t button up the shirt as far as dress code requires.
The way she was able to get away with just about everything made me sick...
I grabbed my bag and met my Mom downstairs in the kitchen. Grandma wasn’t there to hand me my morning apple. I preferred not to eat anything, but Grandma insisted I eat something.
“It’s not healthy”, she’d always say.
So I always took the small amount of food she offered to bring her some peace. The significance of her absence made me sad.
Today will be a day that she isn’t all here...
Mom drove me to school. Arlington Prep doesn’t offer any buses since it is a private school. She thanked me for my help yesterday and asked what going to happen at school today. It was just an attempt at conversation to fill the silence.
I'll play along.
“I think I just have a quiz today. The rest of the classes will be lectures,” I answered.
I hoped I was right. I didn’t want any surprise quizzes.
Those sucked.
“Well, I wish you luck,” she said in a cheery voice.
It was too early to be cheery. I blame her second cup of coffee.
“Thanks Mom, you know I don’t need it though.”
“I know, maybe you can pass that luck around to the other kids,” she teased.
“No way! They can buy their own luck. Their money should be able to do that.”
Mom pulled the van up to the curb. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and jumped out of the van. I grabbed my book bag and walked towards the building.
I wove my way through the hallways doing my best to avoid Lacey and her crew. I found Madison waiting for me at my locker.
“Are you sick? You look like crap,” she said as I approached.
Leave it to her not to sugarcoat anything.
“Madison it is so good to see you too,” I said sarcastically.
“Sorry, you just look really tired,” she rephrased her insult.
“I feel that way,” I said.
Madison’s eyes directed their way down and I could see her eye’s stop at my necklace.
“That’s cool. Where did you get it?” she asked.
“It was my great Grandmother’s. I found it last night.”
I reached up and grabbed it, holding the pendant between my fingers.
“That’s crazy. So it is old?” she asked.
“Yeah, a hundred years old I would say.”
“Well, good for you, I can’t rock vintage. You can though, good for you,” she said.
Was that a flash of jealousy I saw before she turned away?
“Thanks.”
We walked towards first period together. We had the same class, English. My bullies aren't in this class, so at least I could start my day off right, even if it would get worse after.
This class was easy. We wrote a short essay on what we were supposed to read last night, and how it pairs with the rest of the story so far. It wasn’t hard at all.
I finished early, so I pulled out my sketch book and started sketching Axel.
No sketch I could ever do would do him justice, bu
t I wanted to have some kind of picture of him. I was half way done when the bell rang. I had his head just about done along with his shoulders. When he was done, he would be holding a sword just like the first time I laid eyes on him.
I packed up my sketch book and shoved it back in my bag. I turned in my essay and walked out the door with Madison close behind.
She said good bye as we turned and walked opposite ways to our next classes. The rest of the day was uneventful until fifth period, which was when everything usually started going downhill.
Always predictable.
Once again I walked into class only a moment before the bell rang. Everyone stared as I walked to my seat.
This was nothing new.
Someone stuck their foot out in the isle and I tripped. I landed hard on my hands and knees.
Tripping me was new though...
At first I had to keep myself from crying. It didn’t necessarily hurt my body, just my pride. I blinked backed tears and slowly stood up.
There were giggles around the classroom. All of them were laughing at me. I balled my hands into fists. I felt so much furry at that moment.
Where was the teacher? Why didn’t he interfere?
I was about to say something, but the necklace at my neck felt freezing cold. It was freezing the skin on my chest where the emerald lay. I sat down at my desk and pulled the emerald out from under my shirt, it was a baby blue.
How could a stone change colors? In my dreams maybe, but this was real life!
I’d forgotten about my dream two class periods ago, and here I was snapping back to it in a room full of people I hated.
I left the pendant above my shirt so it couldn’t give me frostbite. Lacey eyed the necklace and gave me a look of disgust.
Of course, it was too much to ask for it to be the next fashion trend.
I kept my head down and ignored everyone for the rest of the class.
I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be at home, locked in my room. I’d rather be doing just about anything.
Whoever says hell doesn’t exist hasn’t stepped into this school as a scholarship kid.
I made it through the rest of the day without incident. I walked outside and waited for my Mom to come pick me up in the van.
Emerald Dreams (The Dream Traveler Series) Page 3
