by Sara V. Zook
“All I knew is that I had to get to the castle, that someone here would have the ability to get me home. I just didn’t know how I was going to convince anyone here of why they would help me.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
I frowned. “Because I’m a human.”
He gave me a worried gaze again as if trying to look through me to see what I had been through the last few days.
“Please,” I said. “Tell me what’s going on.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, his hands still gripping onto my own. “Atavia is my real mother.”
“So you said.”
He nodded. “Right. She hid me on Earth when I was a baby because the Scaves were after me. They killed my father.”
“Karn killed your father.”
“Yeah, Karn. She didn’t want to give me up, but she knew if I were to stay here, I probably wouldn’t survive. She set up the entire adoption thing on Earth. Lainey Tritt was a discrete choice.”
“Did Lainey Tritt know you were a … prince?” The word stuck in my throat. Emry Logan was a prince of Evadere. I had always known he belonged to this world instead of mine.
“No, no. Anna, can I get you and your friend anything? Have you eaten? You look …”
“Beautiful?” I laughed, knowing how disgusting I probably did look. It hadn’t even entered my mind until he had mentioned it that he was looking at me in all of my filthy glory. “I do need to be cleaned up.”
Emry stood, ready to command someone to draw a bath for me I’m sure.
“No,” I said, pulling him back onto the couch. “I need to know everything. Please.”
He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. As he looked down, the pieces of hair fell back down over his eyes. The familiarity of this habit of Emry’s was wonderful.
“You’re right. Okay. Ben Hanley, my so-called lawyer, is really my protector. He’s watched over me on Earth since I was a baby and has reported my every move to my mother.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He came for me on the beach. My mother knew of all the trouble I had gone through on Earth with Mrs. Anderson, and she sent for me. It was time for me to come home, she said. It was time for me to fulfill my destiny as king and deal with … things.”
I knew he had meant to say the Scaves, but now sensed my sensitivity on the subject. “Mrs. Anderson the witch?”
“She’s from this world originally. She practiced black magic here. She was beginning to threaten royalty and became a hindrance to my mother, so my mother exiled her to Earth. Somehow she found out about me there.”
“Hmm,” I said, this new information swarming around in my brain. “It’s interesting about Earth.”
Emry raised his eyebrows.
“You know, Earth as a place to hide you and also a place of exile?”
“What are you getting at?”
I shifted positions on the couch. “What exactly does your real mother think about Earth, about humans?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and stood. He began pacing around the room. “You’re right, Anna. Earth is thought of as an area of waste.”
“Humans, the lowly life form, lowly like Scaves?” I questioned. I suddenly felt the need to defend myself. I already felt threatened by his mother, the queen.
“Not lowly in the same way. Humans are thought to be selfish.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“They don’t have any faith in themselves, in God. They don’t believe in other life forms, other planets. Come on, Anna, this isn’t exactly news to you. These things are all true about humans.”
“I believe in myself, Emry,” I said in a quiet tone. “I believe in God.”
“You’re an exception to the rule.”
“Am I?”
Emry scooped me up in his arms. “Anna, I love you. I’d never let anything bad happen to you.”
“Oh, really?”
Emry looked hurt by the comment.
“Do you know how many times others wanted me dead here? You didn’t even know where I was.”
He swallowed. “I’m so, so sorry. I know. I know. I don’t know how things got so messed up. I was assured when I was approached on the beach that when you woke up, things would be explained to you, that you’d know where I was and that you’d be transported right back to Earth to wait for me.”
“Well, instead I was stuck in Evadere to figure out a world I knew nothing about, and the only person I could depend upon was Jo, a little Scave girl.” She turned around and faced us.
Emry bit his lip as though he had just realized Jo had witnessed our conversation. I could feel Emry’s tension and Jo’s anxiety to the situation. “Thank you for bringing Anna back to me safely,” he finally said. “I apologize you had to hear all of that about your people.”
Jo said nothing, just returned to flipping through a book she had found with lots of pictures.
“So what was your plan?” I asked. “Were you going to return to Earth for me?”
“Of course,” he said quickly.
“When?”
He ran his fingers through his hair again. “As soon as my training was completed. As soon as I’d figured things out.”
“What exactly is entailed in your training?”
He shrugged. “My mother is trying to teach me about my powers, how to use them properly.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” I smiled. “Someone has to.”
“Very funny.” Emry grinned back. “I want you in my life, Anna James, human or not.”
“Emry, you’re a prince.” I put my hands over my face as I felt the tears return.
He wrapped his arms around me and drew me close. I was sure I was getting dirt all over his beautiful clothes. “None of this matters in the scheme of you and I,” he whispered. “Nothing comes between us. Do you hear me?”
I wept against his chest.
“Nothing,” he repeated.
“I don’t belong to Evadere,” I cried.
“You belong where I am.”
Emry and I stood there like that for a few minutes, intertwined together in this twisted world that had gleams of beauty in it once more now that it was owned by Emry Logan. Surely if anyone could take the pain out of Evadere, it was him. He would stay at the castle and learn about his powers of royalty, and I would teach him what I knew from the Scaves’ standpoint, how things had gotten way out of hand decades before he had ever been born. Together we could figure this out and come up with a solution.
“Can I stay?” I asked him. “I don’t have to go back to Earth, do I?”
“I would love for you to stay here at the castle with me. I’m sure my mother won’t mind. She’s away right now on a trip.” He saw my concern. “Trust me?”
I pressed my lips together in a smile and nodded.
He flashed a smile back and then he bent forward to kiss me. It felt like forever since I had felt the magic of his touch. Then I took a few sudden steps backwards. “What is it?” he asked.
“Oh, Emry,” I said. I must smell so gross. “I’m so disgustingly dirty. I need a shower so bad.”
“Oh, that.” He sighed, relieved, and extended a hand.
Placing my hand in his, I could see the dirt covering my skin intertwined in his own flawless fingers.
“We’ll get you both cleaned up and then food, lots of food. How’s that sound?”
“Good.” We walked over to the door, Jo following. He opened it and we stepped out into the broad hallway. It wrapped around the top of the spiral staircase so that you could see below to the ground level.
I tried to enjoy the details of the castle. We made it around one corner of the staircase when something above in the hallway caught my eye. It was a small, middle-aged woman with gray curls tied back away from her face. She was hunched over on the floor of the hallway on hands and knees scrubbing away, a bucket at her side. She stopped her work for a moment and looked up at me. Our eyes met. I saw loneliness in her eyes along with
terror. She quickly looked away and began fervently cleaning once more.
Chapter 8
“Honestly, Emry, I leave you for one day, and I get news there’s a human and a Scave living under my roof now …”
I pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes to see who had just burst into the room. It was an older woman with brown hair pulled neatly back, away from her face. She wore a purple dress decorated in crystals, and I assumed by the crown on her head with matching crystals, that this was Queen Atavia. She huffed and put her hands on her hips.
“A human and a Scave both in your room? What is going on here, Emry?” she asked, struggling to remain calm.
I looked to the opposite side of the table where Jo put down the spoon she had been using for her breakfast. Her eyes were wide in alarm. She looked posed as though she was ready to run if needed. She was used to escaping confrontation, not being face to face with it. Emry rose to his feet. His hair was still tousled as he hadn’t fixed it yet for the day. He kept glancing from his mother to me.
“Mother, this is Anna,” he said calmly.
I stood and joined Emry. I didn’t know if I should shake the queen’s hand or not, but by the look on her face, I decided to keep my distance.
Atavia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Anna? Anna James?”
I nodded my head, slowly. My hands moved to my hair where I tried to comb it quickly with my fingers and tossed it behind my back.
“But how … how did you get here?” she asked.
I frowned.
Emry wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “She was left on the beach. No one took her back to Earth. You assured me she was safe.”
The beautiful queen looked to the ceiling and took a deep breath. Then she looked back to her son. “I’m not sure how such a terrible mistake was made. My informants told me she had been returned. I will get to the bottom of it,” she said a little too quickly. “I must say, I’m very surprised to learn that a human made it the entire way here and survived that journey.”
My mouth dropped open.
“God was watching over her,” Emry said.
Queen Atavia raised an eyebrow. She pressed her lips together. “Why yes, I suppose He was.”
“This is Jo.” Emry looked over to her. She still looked like a scared mouse. “It’s okay, Jo. No one is going to hurt you. You’re safe.”
Jo crouched lower in her chair, her eyes to the floor.
“She’s a Scave?” Atavia asked, her tone threatening again. “As in a Scave that has been with Karn her entire life?”
“Calm down, Mother,” Emry pleaded.
“Are you aware that Karn destroyed my family?” she asked Jo accusingly. “He murdered my husband in front of my very eyes and has been hunting my son ever since so that I was unable to raise my own child. He had to live among humans.”
I saw Jo’s hand begin to tremble. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her.
“She put her life on the line to get Anna here,” Emry said. “They defiled Karn and even lost one along the way. They’ve been through a terrible ordeal to get here, their lives at stake all along. Look at her, Mother, she’s terrified. I couldn’t leave her alone last night. They both slept safe and sound in my bed while I watched over them.”
Atavia’s face twisted in disgust.
“Her actions outweigh her background,” he continued. “If it wasn’t for her, Anna wouldn’t be here. She’s our friend, our ally.”
Atavia rubbed her temples. “This goes against everything within me to allow them to stay.”
“Anna is my girlfriend,” he snapped. “She’s staying. Jo is too.”
I met Atavia’s stare. She immediately loathed me and Jo. Something made me think that if the situation had been different, if Emry hadn’t been here and I had to have faced Atavia alone, I’d be a goner. I also didn’t believe that my being left on the beach was an accident. Atavia obviously hated humans and hated even more the fact that her son was with one. This wasn’t in her plan, and so her leaving me behind on Evadere was her scheme to get rid of me. She never in a million years would’ve thought I would survive both Scaves and contributors to be standing in the castle. Now that I think back on it, I’m not sure how I escaped all those situations, but as Emry said, God was on my side. There was no other answer for my survival, but now I had a rival on my hands. The queen had been reunited to her beloved son, and I was still in the picture. This interrupted whatever plans she had for him, and she didn’t like it. Furthermore, a Scave was in her midst. It was like we had just marched in here and stabbed her in the heart, yet she wasn’t comfortable with kicking us out of the castle against Emry’s will. She needed her son to stay on her side. I’d have to sleep with one eye open from now on. The pit of my stomach twisted. I could only hope that the love between Emry and I was strong enough to withstand a scheming queen who I’m sure had powers greater than any I’d seen.
“Very well,” Atavia said, her voice empty of all emotion. “They may stay, but I will get their own rooms prepared.”
Emry started to protest.
“Is there something I’m unaware of?” She raised her eyebrows at her son. “Are you and Anna married?”
Emry glanced at me. “No …”
“That’s what I thought. Then she spends her nights in her own room.” With that, Atavia turned on her heels, her purple gown twirling with the movement as she exited the large bedroom.
When it was time for dinner, I anxiously walked over to my mirror in my newly prepared bedroom completely independent from Emry’s. Atavia had many servants, and one had helped me into a dark rose-colored gown. They pulled my hair back for me, leaving a few strands to fall on my back. I hadn’t seen Emry or Jo since this morning, and I didn’t have anything to do except stay in my room all day and think way too much about the Atavia situation and how much she hated me. I had myself all worked up and worried sick. Someone had just came to my door and announced dinner was being served on the main floor. After giving myself one more look in the mirror, I had decided there was nothing I was going to do to erase the dark circles that still lingered under my eyes or the weight I felt I had lost over the last few days. This was as good as I was going to look tonight, and I better get going downstairs in case I got lost in this gigantic maze of a castle. I wasn’t even sure where Emry’s room was in relation to mine.
I was one of the last ones coming into dinner. Everyone immediately became quiet and stared at me. It was as if I had been the topic of conversation all day and probably was, considering I was a human. I felt uncomfortable and clumsy. My gown began to itch.
There was a long rectangular table in the center of the room. Most of the chairs were already filled as I searched face after face, knowing no one. Someone stood. Emry. He smiled warmly at me. I returned the smile with a sigh of relief as he motioned for me to come over to him and sit. He held out my chair.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered in my ear as I sat.
“Thank you,” I replied, my cheeks flushing red as everyone continued to stare.
One by one, conversation amongst the guests resumed again. I took a deep breath and leaned in to Emry who squeezed my hand as if he understood exactly what I was going through.
“Who are all these people?” I asked.
“Some are my family, uncles, aunts, cousins. Ben is up there at the end,” he said motioning with his head.
I met eyes with Ben who gave me a little wave.
“Some are contributors from outside the castle, close friends of my mother’s. She has different guests every night.”
I scanned the faces again. Jo wasn’t here. A twinge of worry filled me.
Then the heavy chairs screeched against the cement floor as everyone pushed them out and stood. I quickly fumbled to do the same. With a noisy entrance of thrusting the doors open, in bounded Queen Atavia. She had changed into another gown, this one a brilliant gold color with jewels and gems dangling from her ears and neck. Her nose went in the air as
she flashed a grin and hurried over to her seat. She raised her arms and gestured for everyone to sit. She glanced at me momentarily, her eyes becoming dark as she did so, then she quickly looked away and began merrily chatting with the woman on her right-hand side.
“Hungry?” Emry asked.
“Yes.” I smiled again at him.
“You okay?” he whispered.
I smoothed my hands over the front of my dress. “Fine, thanks.”
He jabbed me teasingly with his elbow. “I know, it’s a little overwhelming. You have to admit, it’s a little exciting at the same time.”
Emry looked so happy. He looked like he fit in here with all these handsome people. I had to admit, I was thrilled to be by his side.
“Emry, where’s Jo?” I asked, but then the queen started talking, and everyone turned their attention toward her.
Queen Atavia stood. I heard chairs go as a few people scrambled to their feet.
“No, please, sit, relax,” she told them. “Raise your glasses with me. Join me in a toast.”
Everyone grabbed their glasses. I couldn’t believe how heavy it was as I raised it in the air with the rest of them.
“I am such a happy woman. The pieces are fitting together, my friends. My son, my sweet, sweet, Emry is home once again.” She smiled adoringly at him. He returned the smile. “He soon, will be king. So join me, my friends, my family. Let us drink to King Emry. His father would be so very proud of the man he’s become.”
“To King Emry! To King Emry!” they chanted out after her.
I pressed my lips together and forced a smile. Why didn’t I feel right? Shouldn’t I be happy that I was here with him in Evadere? I should be happy just to be alive, but something felt off. Perhaps it was just the ill feelings I felt toward Atavia. Maybe it was just because I didn’t feel as charming and beautiful as all of these strangers around me. I had no idea what they thought about me, but I could guess. After all, I was merely a human.
Emry stood. Everyone looked to me.
“Stand,” he said to me.
“Emry, no …” I protested.
He pulled me to my feet. I pressed my lips together and tried to avoid the looks that everyone was giving to me.
