by Missy LaRae
Alix watched as Rory swallowed. He knew that her father was entrusting her safety to him, and he was more than willing to see to the young female’s safety.
“Princess, this is a welcome and unexpected visit. Is there some official reason for your visit?” Malek Ma’atal stared at the Princess, and tried not to notice the way her silver hair seemed to caress her face while she walked.
“I require safe passage to the palace. I would like an audience with the King and Queen.” She was intrigued by the look of the male in the khatah. He was much older than her, but she was still fascinated by the way the material clung to his arms and chest. Her eyes focused ahead of her as the male led her into the darkness of the transport center. She tried not to stare at his backside as she walked, but it was difficult to do considering that the material was pasted to him and left nothing to the
imagination.
“We’ll be more than pleased to arrange travel for you to the palace. The King and Queen are not in residence at this time, but they should be returning to the Palace of the Sword soon.” Malek wondered at the Princess’ visit. It was not often that royal daughters traveled so far outside of their own Hemisphere.
“I understand that my visit was not planned. I do not require their immediate counsel.” Rory was disappointed, but knew that it would take her time to adjust to her new surroundings anyway. She glanced back at the crew of the aeroship as they began to board.
“When will you depart, Alix?” She asked.
“I intend to return when I deposit you into the care of the King and Queen, Princess. Your mother and father would have me do no less.” Even though Rory was not fully transformed, her value was greater than that of any other race of Syren female because of her prophet abilities, and her status as a Princess of the House of Dreams. He would not leave her unprotected.
“I appreciate your concern. You must let my father know that all is well when you return home.” She looked at the palace in the distance and knew that her future was there. Now she needed to chase it.
Chapter 11
Talon left his bedroom in a rush and
made it back to the living room as his father was introducing himself to Lily. He tried to figure out what she was thinking, but all he felt was fear rolling off of her in deep waves.
“Dad, this is Lily. She and her brother are the ones that I sensed.” Talon got all that out in one breathless rush.
Kellen Tedor looked at his son
quizzically. He could tell that there was something wrong with him, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was.
“It’s my pleasure to make your
acquaintance, Mistress,” he bowed low to Lily. He sensed her extreme fright, and moved slower than usual.
“Talon, keep her company until I have Timothy settled in his room. Then I’ll be back to talk,” Kellen ushered his younger son out of the room as fast as he could.
“Don’t be afraid of my father. He’s not a bad person,” Talon really didn’t know what else to say. He was confused by her fear. As a Syren she should know that they would never hurt her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to get into trouble because we’re here. We can leave,” Lily was shaking. She hadn’t realized how scared she’d been all day. How scared she’d been her whole life.
“You don’t have to leave. My dad and I would like to talk to you. You can trust us,” Talon definitely didn’t want her to leave. Obviously she and her brother had trouble chasing them, but he just knew that he needed to be with her. He stared at her tiny hands, her pale face. She looked so vulnerable and beautiful. His fingers strayed to her hair, and he brushed it back from her face.
“There are some things I think you both are going to want to know,” Talon wasn’t sure where to begin with this.
“Get your hands off my sister!” Tyler’s angry shout sounded from across the room. He crossed the living room as fast as he could, and stood in front of Talon as the other male stood up.
“I meant no offense,” Talon hadn’t meant to touch her, and he felt ashamed for taking a liberty that was not his.
“Whoa! Y’all both need to settle down. First, he wasn’t touching me. I’m pretty sure my hair was touching him. Second, you look a lot better in those clothes Tyler.” Lily’s voice held just a hint of amusement, and she couldn’t help but laugh at her brother. He stood there bravely attempting to guard her honor.
A throat clearing at the back of the room made all three teenagers turn towards the sound. Kellen stood with his hands braced on the back of the sofa, and regarded the three of them with narrow eyes.
“Come, sit,” he gestured to the sofa, and to the recliner on the other side of the room.
Lily stared at Talon’s dad expectantly. She was still uneasy about the things that Talon had told her earlier, like them being aliens, and wanted some reassurance that Talon and his dad would help keep them safe.
“Talon, come and show me what happened,” Kellen inclined his head to his son, and waited for his approach. Talon knelt in front of him and placed his right hand in his father’s hand. He poured into him his experience in the forest with Lily and Tyler, and what he’d told the twins thus far about their existence.
“You’ve done well. Take a seat,” Kellen knew that what he was about to say to the twins was going to make them more confused than ever, and he didn’t know where to begin.
“Before I start, let me just tell you that you will be safe here. No one will hurt you. We are not warriors, or peacemakers, but we are protectors of our species nonetheless.” He cleared his throat.
“Since the beginning, when there was a thought of a beginning in time, Amatia Prime has christened Syren with our abilities when we come of age. Syren come of age when they are eighteen cycles of life. That is when male and female Syren who are fated mates take their vows and become one. It is during this union that each Syren undergoes their final
transformation. Some who are born as
Peacemakers or Swords will transform into Prophets, or Fire. This is the design of Amatia Prime. Amatia Prime bestows her gifts to us early on in life, when we are growing as children. When we mate with our chosen Heart that intensifies a hundredfold. It is this joining that gives Syren unmatched strength. There is no other species in the star system with our kind of power.” He stopped and cleared his throat.
“Once every thousand years, give or take a hundred or so, a set of twin Syren will be born. Twins are rare in our species. Every set of twins that has been born since the beginning of consciousness in our world has had powers far beyond that of any other Syren. Peacemakers are not only strong, but wield the sword, and command fire. Prophets that not only dream, but can command with just a look or a touch. Many twins of our species have been remarkable leaders. They are treasured.” Kellen stopped at Lily’s look of disbelief.
“Do you know who we are?” Lily’s heart was pounding. She’d listened to the deep baritone of Kellen’s voice, and begun to hope that he could tell them something about who they were.
“Yes, I am one hundred percent certain of who you are,” he sent his son a silent command. Rising to their feet Kellen and Talon knelt with fluid grace in front of the sofa where Lily and Tyler were sitting. They bowed their heads, and pressed their right fists over their hearts.
“You are the son and daughter of the King of Swords, your Highness.” Kellen smiled at Lily’s indrawn breath.
“Honestly y’all are crazy. You can’t tell me that Tyler and I are aliens, and then go on and tell us we’re royal aliens. That’s just crazy.” Lily shook her head as Kellen and Talon stood up and sat back down.
“You may think it’s crazy, but it’s true, Princess.” Kellen’s face was flushed. It’d been four long years since he’d been on Amatia Prime, and he could think of no better reason than this to go back.
“What’s happening to me?” Tyler finally spoke. He’d been silent the entire time, absorbing their words.
“You’re transf
orming. You’ve been out of the moonlight for your entire life. Now that your spirit knows that you are free it is shaping you into who you have always been destined to be.” Kellen could barely keep his fire contained. He didn’t know how this female or male had come to be with them, or what Amatia had in store for them, but he was ready to meet the challenge head on. He saw the way his son looked at Lily, and hoped with all of his heart that she was his mate. He noticed the way her hair strained to come into contact with Talon when he was near, and could tell by the way her eyes were unfocused that she was drawn to him. He wasn’t ready yet to talk to the twins about mates. He first needed to figure out how to get them off Earth and back to Amatia Prime.
“What do we do now?” Talon looked to his father as he spoke. His father had always been a strong guide for him.
“We need to contact Syren immigration. They will have others there to help us get back to Amatia Prime.” They were not wealthy enough to be able to afford their own transport ship, and didn’t have anywhere to put one even if they did.
“Wait a minute. Y’all are tellin’ me that there’s an alien immigration office?” Lily’s face gave way to laughter as she looked at the two Syren males in front of her. They looked completely serious.
“Star travel has been in place for many years, and it’s important that we are able to communicate with our species openly and freely no matter what planet we are on. There are immigration stations all over the star system. The one for Earth is in South America. We can contact them by phone.”
“Where will we be staying tonight?” Tyler was tired. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, and was about to crash if he didn’t get something to eat, and a bed to sleep in.
“We’re going to eat dinner in just a bit. You can stay in Talon’s room, and Lily can stay in my room,” Kellen was more than happy to give up his room to her.
“I’ll call immigration now and tell them we have an emergency transport out of this world. They may be able to arrange for us to leave tonight, but most likely it will be
tomorrow before they’re able to come.” Kellen’s head began to hurt just thinking about it.
“We appreciate your hospitality, sir.” Lily said with all sincerity. Her head was still reeling from everything that he’d told them. A princess. She wasn’t going to believe it until she got a fancy tiara on her head full of diamonds. Her heart was beating harder than ever, and she looked over to see Talon’s eyes on her. She wanted him next to her, and couldn’t understand her feelings. She’d never even looked at a boy before. She was amazed at her depth of feeling for Talon, especially since she’d only known him for about two hours. She felt like there was no one else in the world but him, and didn’t know what this meant. He smelled good enough for her to eat. Which was weird considering that she’d never wanted to smell someone before in her life.
“Let me just ask a quick question,” Lily chewed on her lip. “The other night when I transformed my eyes went all black, and I had fangs appear. What’s that mean? Do we need to drink blood or somethin’?” She seriously hoped not. The thought of it made her stomach turn, and not in a good way.
Talon’s eyes sparkled as he looked at her. “No you don’t need to drink blood. They’re fangs, but they’re for killing, not for eating. When you’re full of pain, or in danger your fangs will come out as a weapon, protecting you.” Talon laughed at the look of relief on Lily’s face.
“Thank god. I was afraid I was gonna have to eat blood or somethin’ crazy like that for the rest of my life.” Lily’s relief could be felt by both of them.
Talon was smiling, but in an instant he felt himself getting hotter. The way he’d felt that afternoon. He stopped smiling and put his hand up for Lily and Tyler to be silent. He whistled for his father and waited for him to come out of the kitchen. His father rounded the corner, his hands full of flames as he crouched down by the end of the couch.
Motioning for Lily and Tyler to get on the ground Talon called to his little brother. He came out of the bedroom with his green eyes wide. Talon knew he was scared, and motioned for him to get on the ground as well. They crawled to the kitchen, and opened the garage door as silently as possible. The smell of dinner on the stove made his stomach growl. He could sense danger, and needed to get them away from the house as soon as possible.
Moving fast Talon unlocked the car and got everyone inside. He waited a tense minute for his father to get in the car before hitting the remote for the garage door and peeling down the driveway. He saw a car sprint towards them from the rearview mirror, and looked at his father. He was grateful that Tyler and Lily were quiet in the backseat. He felt desperate to get away from who ever was chasing them.
“Tyler, can you stop them at all?” He didn’t know the extent of Tyler’s power, but hoped that he’d be able to do something.
“I can try,” Tyler turned in his seat and looked back at the car chasing them. He’d never in a million years imagined that he’d be in a car being chased by bad people.
“Who are they?” Lily’s voice trembled, and she grabbed on to Timothy as the car swerved and he was thrown into her.
“Most likely they’re the same people who had you held captive this afternoon,” Kellen wasn’t sure who they were, but he knew they needed to get out of there as fast as possible.
Careening down the road at break neck speed Talon watched in amazement as Tyler focused on the car and it went flying over an embankment and into a field. He’d never seen anyone move an object that big before.
“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Talon muttered. He wasn’t used to driving the car. Technically he wasn’t old enough to be able to drive yet, but his father let him do a lot of things that human law prohibited.
“I’m not really sure what I did.” Tyler felt his face flushing, and looked over at Lily. She was staring at him with wide eyes. He’d focused on the car, and thought hard for it to just turn. Turn away from them and drive
somewhere else.
The car sailed down the road, and it wasn’t long before who ever was chasing them was completely gone. Talon slowed down so they wouldn’t attract attention, and tried to think of somewhere they could go that would give them some kind of cover.
He didn’t think there was such a place.
Talon looked in the backseat at Lily and Tyler and knew that who ever was chasing them was not going to give up. They needed to get ahold of Syren immigration immediately. There was no way he and his father were going to be able to fix this alone.
L ily watched as Tyler inhaled his
dinner. They’d stopped at a Krystal’s to get something to eat, and driven to a Holiday Inn where Kellen had gotten them two adjoining rooms. She didn’t think she’d ever seen her brother eat faster in her life.
“How many of those have you put down?” She figured he’d eaten at least a dozen of the tiny delicious burgers by now.
“I think about fifteen,” Tyler told her with his mouth full. He’d never eaten a hamburger before, and the ones he’d been scarfing down he could devour in about two bites. His hunger started abating somewhat, and he started to slow down, but he was by no means finished.
“I just got off the phone with the commander at the immigration facility. They’re sending an aeroship tonight. Apparently your father is on his way to earth, but based on what we’ve been experiencing he did not feel it was in your best interest to wait for him to arrive. They should be here in about three hours.” Kellen was relieved that he’d been able to get in touch with the commander so quickly, and that they were sending help. For the first time since he’d met Lily and Tyler they both seemed more relaxed, more certain that they’d be okay.
Kellen looked at his son and tried not to smile as he watched the way Talon moved towards Lily. His desire to be near her was a telling sign that she was possibly his mate. He’d wondered over the years why his son hadn’t found his Heart. Now he knew why. He wasn’t sure how to approach the situation with the King of the Sword, but knew
that once they were back on Amatia Prime he would do everything he could to make sure Talon was able to stay with Lily.
“Dad, are we going home?” Timothy approached his father, and Kellen ruffled his shock of bright red hair. At five years old Timothy still had a few years left before he would be ready to be presented at a Fut’uah ceremony. It was a good time to return to Amatia Prime.
“Yes we are squirt. We’re going back to Amatia.” Kellen knew that his son didn’t remember anything about his home world. He’d been an infant when his mother died and Kellen had made the decision to leave Amatia Prime for Earth.
“Will I be able to play soccer there?”
Timothy’s innocence tore at Kellan’s heart. “I think so, buddy. If they don’t have a
soccer team we’re going to have to make sure
we start one. I think the other Syren there will
have fun with it.” Kellen wasn’t sure that was
true as most Syren had abilities that made any
team sport very hard to judge.
“I’m gonna go outside for a little bit,” Tyler
didn’t want to be holed up in the room any
longer. Since he was pretty certain Lily could
defend herself he didn’t feel the need to stay in
the room. He actually believed the implausible
story that they were aliens. He was less sure that
they were royal aliens. He felt safe with Kellen
and Talon. He didn’t know why, but his body
was relaxed around them. He didn’t feel like
they were going to hurt him. That’s what always
troubled him about his mother. He’d always felt
relaxed around her, like he didn’t have to be on guard. It took a lot of years taking her abuse for him to be able to have his guard up around her. He’d never thought of her as an enemy, even
