by Joanne Ellis
“Alright, tell me what you feel now.”
Instantly the tranquillity shrouded him and rendered him completely helpless but deliriously happy.
“It’s alright. I don’t need your answer.”
“I have two more and please, forgive me if I hurt you.”
“I do not think you could physically hurt me, Seraphina.”
Sending the warmth through her hands, Sera tried to increase the power used previously. The invisible force shot out to push against Keelor, pinning him to the wall. Sera held it, to discover, she could hold him in place and noted he struggled to break her hold. She held him there for a while to tease him a little before letting him go.
“Sera, you are amazing,” he said.
“I can use each separate emotion in different ways. I believe each one becomes a healing power and an extension of the emotion. The first one I used was anxiety which you didn’t feel but I’m hoping vampires still do. The second was concern and I believe this heals people around me emotionally. To entice the physical healing power I use compassion. The feeling I used just then was annoyance and would be interested to see what happens when I’m really angry. So far when using the bolts from my hands I have felt sadness at the same time.”
“Try just sadness if you can.”
The thought of losing Keelor brought her sadness to the surface and as it overcame her, Sera’s hands glowed red hot, pulsing. Keelor stepped forward and the pulse grew stronger as though pushing him away or perhaps she decided, warning him away. She stopped it immediately. Sera didn’t like how she felt when this occurred.
“I don’t like that one,” she told him.
“Yes I felt warned as though you were protecting your feelings against me. Perhaps that is why the bolts pulse when you are feeling angry and sad. Anger alone may produce a stream. Tomorrow we will practice.”
Deciding she wanted only love, she gratefully allowed the emotion to devour her body. Keelor’s face became full of her and his love. Crossing the room he kissed her with such intensity she began to drown in it. As the feeling increased so did his passion. He began to tear at her clothes, pulling her hard against him as though he couldn’t get close enough to her.
Walking backwards he brought her with him to her hammock and as her passion became the predominate emotion his need to be as close as possible to her was ferocious as though making love to her would save his life.
They lay together silently wrapped in each other’s arms, content and fulfilled, the warming glow surrounding them.
“Sera,” he spoke quietly not wanting to break through the magic surrounding them. “As much as I love how fantastically hungry you make me for you, I am afraid I am going to hurt you with my vehemence and craving to be close to you.”
“Not possible, I feel way too good. You should know you can feel it too.”
“Yes I do, being with you is ... I cannot explain it. I love you does not seem like enough.”
With a suddenness that scared her he grew quiet and sombre.
“What is it, Keelor?”
“I am concerned about my ability to protect you adequately.”
“I promise to avoid any of my abilities which could make it difficult for you to do this.”
“Sera, even when you do not generate these wonderful feelings, I am still unable to completely focus around you. I have been unable to since the moment I saw you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, why do you think I ran hot and cold all the time? I wanted to break the law every time I was near you and fought against those feelings because they are forbidden.”
“What are we going to do, Keelor?”
“Continue to hide from everyone. Keela has seen right through me.”
“So have my mother and Nermo. He was here before.”
“I know, I saw him outside. We will have to be more careful around others. This evening while dining in the courtyard you touched my face this could give us away. It is alright for folk we trust to keep our secret however I do not believe we can trust all within the circle to conceal the truth. Speaking of revealing our secrets, what did that infuriating pixie want this time?”
“It isn’t important.”
“What did he do?” his voice held more than simple annoyance now.
“Who is Hallow?” A groan was his only response. His eyes closed as though he didn’t want to look into her eyes and reveal the truth.“Keelor?”
“Ridiculous pixie cannot keep his thoughts to himself.”
“Please, Keelor.”
He sighed and turned to stare into her eyes before pulling her closer.
“There is a reason beside my profound respect for the law, why I was so reluctant to allow you to become close to me.”
“Did you love her?” she whispered not really wanting to know.
“My feelings for her were strong affection.”
“What happened?”
“It was many years ago now. I had recently become Keela’s protector and we were training to join the circle when we came of age. Hallow was already the pixie princess and so beautiful.” He stopped and another irritated sigh escaped. Sera wasn’t sure if it was annoyance at Nermo or at himself.
“I don’t know if I want to hear this after all.”
As fear began to grow in her chest, Keelor winced in pain.
“Sera, please do not do that. It feels like you are piercing me with a knife. You have absolutely nothing to fear. Shall I finish my story?” She nodded.
“She was a very powerful pixie more so than Nermina. She could control and imprison anyone and anything with her dust. As she was so proficient with her magic and at fighting, the elders instructed us to train together as mixing folk to fight helped fine tune our abilities. Soon her affection for me became more than intended. I was in awe of her, for she was older and thus wiser than I at the time. One day she kissed me and suggested we reveal ourselves to the circle and endure the consequences. She said she did not care about the law and would sacrifice everything to be with me. To begin with I agreed. I was totally infatuated with her which was more obsession, admiration and the thrill of breaking the law than love. The day we were going to announce our intention and face our punishment I realised I loved my home, honoured my duty and respected the law more than any feelings I had for her. She did not take it well and revealed her feelings to the circle anyway. I hide my true feelings and lied. I told the circle the feelings were not mutual. She was banished and I never saw her again.”
“This is why you are so aloof because you were upset with yourself for allowing it to happen and for hurting Hallow.”
“Yes”
“Did you ever ...?”
“I have been able to control such feelings for folk that are not my own, not even my feelings for her would allow me to break the law in this way. There have been elfin though.”
“Are you sorry you have with me?” she asked in a small voice.
“No, Sera. I would be prepared to receive any punishment the elders and circle saw fit to be with you.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“Nermo said you would never break the law for anyone.”
“Nermo does not know my heart, Seraphina. I would never have broken the law willingly for Hallow, however I would for you.”
24
Preparation for the Dawn
“Seraphina, concentrate!” Keelor said.
They’d been practising isolating her individual abilities the entire long mystic lands morning and she was getting tired and hungry thus losing her focus.
Sera discovered her anger alone did indeed produce a continuous beam of light which could prove to be her most damaging power. Keelor prodded her to the point of extreme annoyance, which in turn put him on the brunt of powerful shots from Sera’s hands.
Reluctantly Angeles allowed Sera to try out her anxiety as a single emotion with more powerful results than before. Keelor began to feel confident they would be a pair to
contend with when they went to retrieve Nermina the following day.
When lunchtime came and went Sera began to find it difficult to maintain her aim which prompted an irate Keelor to reprimand her.
“Keelor, I’m tired and hungry. Perhaps if we broke for lunch I would be able to focus better.”
“Do you think tomorrow if it takes us all morning to cross the field and enter the castle you will be able to say to our enemy, I am tired can we stop for a while?”
“This is hardly the same, besides I know exactly how to tune into each emotion now.”
To prove her point she sent out some calm to soothe her grumpy elfin.
“Sera, that’s cheating.” Her response was to smile and intensify the feeling before easing it toward her love so she was full of him and in turn him of her. “Have it your way, we will have lunch and then we can practice on moving targets.”
While they enjoyed their tofu salad, Anna appeared to sit beside Sera with her lunch and studied them both for several minutes. Sera tried without success to hide her feelings and she envied Keelor with his indifferent face. How did he do it?
“I see you two are continuing with this ridiculous charade. You’ll be discovered. Sera has never been able to hide anything. Remember the time you broke my favourite vase and blamed Artheous - our cat, she told Keelor for clarification - and I knew immediately you were lying and when -”
“Alright, Mum, we get the point. What would you have me do?”
“What I never had the courage to do.”
“You want us to go to the elders and plead our case, come out in the open?”
“Yes it could go to vote. You may be surprised how many votes would go your way.”
“With all due respect, Elder Annaphina, it would be idiotic.”
“I disagree and I think part of the reason I stayed in the human world was because I think the law is obsolete. With the correct mixed matching it could be used to our advantage.”
“That’s what I said,” Sera mumbled.
“They will never change the law.”
“What are your other alternatives? Sneaking around, hiding how you feel from everyone? Getting discovered will only lead to banishment due to lack of honesty. I believe that if you put forward a sensible case the elders will listen and I believe they are the only ones whose minds you will have to change. Anyway, it is completely up to you. Sera, Sam sent me a letter for you.”
“What? How? Where is it?”
She reached into her pocket and pulled a small note with Sera’s name in Sam’s handwriting.
“He was able to send it with Athena. I was going to give it to you yesterday but I thought it would be better to wait until you were less upset.”
“There is no possible way I will be less upset that Sam can’t stay here and I might not see him again.”
“You can always return to the human world when we have defeated Mecaldorf,” Keelor advised her.
“Why would I want to go back? Do you want me to leave?” She started to feel dread at the thought of leaving Keelor, the lands and her new friends. Her hands began to glow and she almost burned Sam’s note in her hands. She let it fall from her hands to the table.
“No, I do not want you to leave,” he said gently. “I meant for a visit.”
Slowly her hands stopped glowing and retrieved Sam’s note from the table.
“Sera, if you wish to keep your feelings for Keelor unknown you really should control that.”
Anna touched a comforting hand to her daughter’s cheek and left them to it. Keelor stood as though to leave.
“Can I read my note before we start again?”
“I was going to give you some privacy.”
“You don’t have to leave.”
He shrugged and sat down again. Sera opened the note slowly and felt a tug at her heart. Until this moment, with everything that had happened, Sera didn’t realise exactly how much she missed her best friend. There’d been little time to grieve over her loss.
Dear Seraphina,
I regret I was unable to say goodbye to you when we were abruptly banished and it is with a heavy heart I bring you this news.
Angel and I had planned to stay with her previous coven but they have rejected us due to my previous vocation even though I am one of them now. We will be moving on and finding another clan of our kind - I still find it difficult to refer to myself as vampire - so I don’t know if I will see you again.
More than anything I wished Angel and I could have stayed within the circle but mystic land law is what it is and we cannot change it. Take care of your heart with the elfin as I do not believe he would choose you over the law and his home.
Perhaps one day I will return to our home and if I do, I will be sure to advise you of my return. For now this is the best way, as it pains me to look at you knowing how much I thirst for your blood.
I will always love you.
Your best friend
Sam
Sera was unaware of her tears until she looked up and saw the concern on Keelor’s face and discovered she was almost burning the note in her hands once more. When her anger took over it was irrational. Anger at a ridiculous law which took her Sam away. Anger for a law that didn’t give you the freedom to fall in love with whoever you wanted. Finally anger that she was supposed to be some kind of princess who had absolutely no say over her own life.
As she stood up abruptly, the bench fell with a bang to the ground. Keelor mirrored her motion with more than mere concern on his usually inscrutable expression.
“Sera, please calm down,” he pleaded softly.
“Why? Because you don’t want everyone to know how you really feel about me. You are simply waiting for this to be over before you send me on my way, just like Hallow,” she hissed the words quietly although due to the late hour of their dining for lunch the courtyard was empty anyway. “You won’t stand up for our love to the elders because you’re afraid. You don’t think we could convince them we could be a good thing for the mystic lands and I know you won’t give up your home for me.”
She stormed off, her heart now heavy and her hands blazing. Sera fired off two long beams towards a table on the way past which burst into flames before turning to ash.
“That is in case you’re thinking about following me,” she told him over her shoulder. “I’m done practising today.”
Once in her room, her anger dissipated and despair crept in. Frustration then became the paramount feeling, at not being able to feel any human emotion without there being some kind of impact on others or damaging her surroundings.
Her tears flowed freely now as she lay on the swinging hammock thinking about Sam and how there was the likelihood she would never see him again. She’d taken him for granted all these years and now he was gone. She suddenly felt very lost and alone. There was her mother and in whatever capacity there was Keelor but replacing Sam would be impossible.
She was unsure how much time had passed and the sun was low in the sky when there was a quiet sharp rap at the door.
“Go away, Keelor.”
“Sera, please, we have to talk.”
“Fine.”
His entry was tentative and his face for the first time, without her power, was full of emotion. He sat on the edge of her hammock and gently touched her face.
“I do love you, Sera. Please know that I do.”
“Not enough, Keelor. Besides you only do when I project my feelings onto you.”
“No, I love you much more than you know. I have been struggling with my growing feelings as they are so new to me. Would I have kissed you and risked everything I stand for if I didn’t?”
“You kissed Hallow too and when push came to shove, you shoved.”
“Yes I did but I never shared anything special like I have with you with Hallow. You are different, I am different, we are different. When we have retrieved Nermina and the threat from Mecaldorf is contained, I promise I will go to the circle and declare how I feel about you.
For now I will put on my indifferent face and pretend I am merely your protector. Annaphina is right; if we are found without being honest the outcome will not be as favourable.”
“Do you really believe we can change the law, the minds of the others?”
“We can try and hope. If we do not then I suppose we will be looking for somewhere new to live.”
She touched his face as the glow of love and tenderness swelled within her.
“That’s better.” He smiled and kissed her gently. “I know how dearly you would be missing Sampson and I do not want you to be alone tonight. Will you come and stay with me?”
“Why not here?”
“My bed is bigger.”
Neither of them slept well that evening. After they’d tenderly affirmed their love, Sera told him what Sam’s letter entailed while he affectionately played with her hair to help sooth her pain.
During the early hours of the morning, as they lay entwined, she ran her fingers across his hard stomach and chest and noticed bruises across his body. With sudden compassion, Sera realised she’d been the cause while practicing that morning. Instantly her healing hands were glowing and she ran them over his wounds.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have done it sooner.”
“Seraphina, what type of warrior would I be if I asked you to heal me from wounds you inflicted.”
“You don’t have to be tough for me, Keelor and why not take advantage if I can.”
He shrugged. “Pride I guess.” She giggled which provoked him to tickle her to hear more.
As the dawn spread its first golden rays across their intertwined bodies they shared their secrets and what they hoped were not their final moments together.
25
The Wizard’s Castle
