Kael's Quest

by T. J. Quinn

  “Oh, did you see anyone around?” she asked, not very happy. She knew about Rhiannon’s trips to the waterfall, and though she worried for her safety, she understood her granddaughter’s need to make her own decisions in life.

  Going to the waterfall was her way of rebelling against the system she hated so much,

  “No, I wasn’t able to see anyone, but I decided it was best to leave. So, I decided to come and visit you. Thought you might have made some fresh bread,” she said, with a smile.

  “Yes, I did.” Gwendolyn smiled. “Why don’t you go ahead and have some, while I finish here?” she asked, again looking around as if she was expecting to see someone coming out of the bushes.

  “Are you expecting visitors? I won’t stay if I’m bothering you somehow,” she asked, frowning, intrigued with her grandmother’s attitude.

  “What? No, I’m not expecting anyone, and even if I did, I wouldn’t ask you to leave,” Gwendolyn protested, with a tremulous smile.

  Not very convinced, Rhiannon nodded and walked towards the kitchen door. “Don’t take long. I’ll prepare some tea for us.”

  “Good. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Once in the kitchen, Rhiannon picked up the kettle and filled it with water before she put it over the stove. While she was at it, she was observing her grandmother through the kitchen window.

  She was acting strangely. She secured one piece of clothing on the clothesline and looked around, clearly nervous. There was no doubt she was hiding something from Rhiannon, but if she didn’t want to share it, she wouldn’t be able to get a single word on the subject from her.

  She had inherited her own stubbornness from the older woman.

  Sighing, she turned to the table and picked up a loaf of bread, cutting a few slices and spreading some of her grandmother’s delicious butter on them. By the time she was done, the water was boiling and taking the kettle from the fire, she added her favorite mix of herbs to make a delicious tea.

  She was pouring it into the cups when her grandmother entered the kitchen.

  “That smells delicious. I never get tired of your teas, you should open up a tea house.”

  Rhiannon snorted. “People in this town don’t appreciate my teas,” she grumbled, picking the cheese and ham she had brought from home, adding it to the bread.

  “You never know, this could be what you’ve been looking for,” she insisted.

  “You know what my father thinks about that idea. He doesn’t want me becoming an old maid, with no husband and no children,” she sighed, taking a sip of her hot beverage. “Sometimes, I think he blames me for the fact that my mother didn’t have more children.”

  Gwendolyn opened her mouth to deny her words but closed it again before she uttered a word. She still remembered her son’s reaction to the difficult labor and how poorly his wife had been after it. He had refused to look at the little girl for weeks.

  “You know your father. I was never able to understand how his mind worked,” she finally muttered, picking up one of the sandwiches.

  “I know. So, what else is new?” Rhiannon asked, smiling.

  Her grandmother looked up, startled. “Nothing, what could be new?” she mumbled, wriggling her hands on the table.

  “I don’t know, you tell me. You’ve been acting strange ever since I got here.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied, looking away from her granddaughter’s inquisitive look.

  “Alright. Do you mind if I stay here all day? I’m not in the mood to put up with my father today,” she asked, getting up and starting to clear the table from their small snack. It was true she didn’t want to go home, but more than anything, she wanted to find out what was going on.

  “Oh, I… I had planned to visit some friends on the other side of the village,” she muttered, clearly lying.

  That only made her more determined to stay. “It’s alright, I don’t mind being alone,” she assured her.

  Gwendolyn rubbed her wrinkled face with one hand, not sure of what to say. “I guess I could stay here with you…”

  “No, please, you don’t have to. I’ll use the time to read one of your books on herbs and medicines,” she assured her, smiling vivacious.

  Caught in her own trap, Gwendolyn finally nodded, picking up her shawl, and got ready to leave the house.

  “Will you be back for lunch? I can prepare something if you want me to.”

  “That would be nice, thank you. Why don’t you make one of your famous chicken soups? I sacrificed a hen this morning. You can use it.”

  “Perfect, that should keep me busy while you’re gone. Have fun with your friends’.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  She finally left the house and Rhiannon decided to start cooking the soup before checking the house. To properly prepare a hen, you needed time.

  When she had the meat cooking in the iron pot, she started looking around the house, searching for a hint of what her grandmother might be hiding.

  Chapter Five

  Kael flew back to where he had left the hood Gwendolyn had lent him and decided to go back to the escape pod to check if there was a way he could communicate with his friends. He scolded himself for not knowing all the pod’s functions. He had never thought he would need to use one. Their vessels were strong, and they usually resisted all kinds of attacks, but they had never been through an ordeal such as this.

  The ship had been thrown from one side to another, while millions of small meteorites collided with them. It had been a real miracle they had survived long enough to leave the black hole and reach the planet’s orbit.

  It didn’t take him much to reach the pod, and after making sure he was alone, he opened the pod and jumped in, closing it immediately after. It was a tiny vessel, so there wasn’t much room for more than the basic, but he was happy to find a more powerful weapon and a tablet with all the information he might need on the planet. It had enough energy for a week but used carefully, he could make it last a lot more.

  Before he left, he tried the communication device, but the pod didn’t have enough energy to make it work.

  He would have to find a fuel substitute if he wanted to make it work, but he didn’t have high hopes. This planet still seemed to rely on animal power, so there was little chance he would be able to make it work unless he was able to capture some of the sun’s energy. That should be good enough to use on the pod, but he wasn’t very good at those things. He would need Nezir’s help for that.

  With a heavy sigh, he abandoned the pod, considering if he should leave immediately to the place where he was supposed to meet his friends. The coordinates given by his mother were somewhere in America, and getting there wouldn’t be an easy task, considering these people didn’t even know it existed.

  He closed the pod and decided to return to Gwendolyn’s cabin. He was starting to feel hungry.

  When Rhiannon opened the guest room’s door, she knew for sure something was different. It was as if someone was occupying it.

  Frowning, she walked towards the bed and picked up one of the pillows and smelled it. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but it certainly wasn’t the musk and sandal scent that filled her nostrils. It smelled like the soap her grandmother used to prepare for the men in their family.

  She knew for sure her father hadn't slept there the night before and her grandfather had passed away several years ago. The scent was too fresh for that.

  Could it be possible her grandmother was hosting a man? But who could he be? And why was she keeping it a secret?

  More intrigued than ever, she returned to the kitchen to check on her soup and add the vegetables and herbs that made it so special.

  She was busy working on it when she heard the door behind her being opened.

  “That was fast. I thought you would be away longer,” Rhiannon said, as she started to turn around to look at her grandmother.

  But it wasn’t her.

  Kael had been so dis
tracted by his thoughts he didn’t realize the person inside Gwendolyn’s cabin wasn’t her. The minute he stepped inside, a woman’s scent filled his nostrils, and his whole body tensed up in attention. It was the woman from the waterfall.

  “Who are you and who gave you the right to enter this house like that?” she scolded him, furious, standing with her arms on her hips and a daring look on her shining green eyes.

  “I’m Kael, Gwendolyn’s guest. Who are you?” he replied, thankful he was still using the hood, that kept half his face hidden.

  “I’m Rhiannon, Gwendolyn’s granddaughter. She didn’t mention any guest. Why should I believe you?” she replied in a cold tone assessing the man’s very tall and strong body. He was like no one she had ever seen.

  “She didn’t mention a granddaughter, either, so I guess that makes us even,” he stated, in an amused tone.

  Now that he was able to see her up close, he could see she was even more beautiful. And her sweet floral scent was simply inebriating, to the point he wanted to take her in his arms and lose himself in her sweetness.

  “Hardly, since I can prove I’m her granddaughter. Can you prove you’re her guest?” she challenged him, though she was sure she was looking at her grandmother’s secret guest.

  “My bag is in the guest room. I can show you if you want me to,” he offered, with a smile.

  “We’ll better wait for her to arrive, don’t you think? She should be here any minute now,”

  He took a seat at the table. “I thought you were saying you didn’t expect her so soon,” he reminded her, with a naughty grin.

  “I was just teasing her.” She looked at him furrowing her eyebrows. “Why don’t you take off that hood? It’s warm inside here,” she suggested, eager to see his face.

  “I’m fine, thank you. But I would appreciate a glass of water, if you would be so kind,” he asked, refusing to remove the hood. He wasn’t ready to show her his face.

  “I’ve prepared some orange juice; would you like to have some?” she offered instead. “It’s very refreshing.”

  “That would be nice, thank you.”

  She served the juice and handed the glass to him.

  When he stretched his hand to take the glass, her heart missed a beat, before it went on at a frantic pace. The man had black claws. Could he be a demon? They were the only beings she had seen with claws like his. But he spoke her language perfectly. Everybody knew that demons only spoke some gibberish no one was able to understand. If he wasn’t a demon, then what on Earth was he?

  Shaking a bit, she turned to check on the soup, trying to get a grip on herself.

  “That smells delicious, what is it?”

  “Chicken soup, one of my specialties,” she replied, stirring the pot, a bit nervously.

  “If it tastes the way it smells, I’m sure it’s delicious,” he complimented her, and she nodded, without turning to look at him.

  Struggling to keep her nerves under control she tried to rationalize the situation; her grandmother would never shelter a demon. She had lost her grandfather to them, so whatever he was, he wasn’t a demon.

  “You’ll have to judge for yourself,” she said, turning around and grabbing the butter dish from the table.

  Taking a good chunk of it, she put it in another bowl and added a few garlic cloves and a few leaves of finely chopped parsley before she stirred it until she had a smooth paste.

  “What are you preparing?” he asked, curious.

  “Garlic butter. I like to toast some slices of bread, with this butter on, whenever I make soup. An Italian Merchant taught me how to do it.”

  She proceeded to spread the mix on some bread slices before she put it on a baking tray and took it to the oven. Soon, the smells of garlic and parsley were filling the kitchen, mixed with the ones of the soup.

  Kael’s stomach growled with hunger.

  He had been observing the woman ever since he had arrived, and he had to admit she had taken the situation quite calmly. He realized she had gotten a bit nervous when she saw his hands, but fortunately, she didn’t run out of the house yelling demon.

  She intrigued him like no other female had. He hadn't felt the call of the instinct he had grown up listening to, but the attraction he felt for her was like none other. He wanted to pull her into his arms and lose himself with her full lips, make love to her until they were flying free in the wild swirls of the most powerful orgasm.

  His whole body reacted to his feverish imagination, and he was able to feel his hard shaft pushing against the restraint of his clothes. He had to control himself before he lost the thin thread of self-control he was holding on to.

  At that moment, the kitchen door opened up, and Gwendolyn walked in, looking a bit flushed. She stopped abruptly taking in the scene developing in front of her.

  “Oh. I see you’ve two have met,” she mumbled, closing the door behind her.

  “Yes, Kael arrived a few minutes ago. He seemed to know his way around the house, so I believed his claim that he was your guest.” There was a clear reproach in Rhiannon’s tone.

  Gwendolyn cleared her throat, distinctly uncomfortable. “Yes, I was going to mention him to you, but you know, I left in a hurry, and I forgot,” she mumbled, lying through teeth.

  “You certainly were,” Rhiannon said, making sure her grandmother knew she hadn't bought her story. “The soup is almost ready, why don’t you freshen up a bit? You seem to need it.”

  “Yes, I’ll do that,” she left the kitchen and looking back a couple of times as if she wasn’t sure about leaving the other two alone.

  Rhiannon turned her attention to the soup, stirring it a bit more before she added the coriander and pulled the soup off the fire. She pulled the tray of bread out of the oven and transferred it to a serving plate. Gwendolyn returned to the kitchen when she was putting it on the table.

  “Right on time,” she said with a smile, pulling a chair next to Kael.

  “Are you planning on having lunch with that hood on?” Rhiannon asked, in a scolding tone.

  Chapter Six

  Kael looked at Gwendolyn as if asking for permission and Rhiannon’s frown grew deeper.

  “Go ahead, she won’t give up until she gets what she wants,” the old woman told him before she turned to look at Rhiannon. “But you’ll have to promise me you won’t freak out,” she warned her.

  “Very well,” Rhiannon accepted, not knowing what to expect. She already knew he was different, she just didn’t know how much.

  With a sight, Kael got up and took off his hood, preparing himself for her reaction. But, it wasn’t anything like what he could have expected.

  She just stared at him, in some sort of trance.

  He was handsome, even beautiful if you could use such term to describe a man. Probably, not many women would think the same way she did, but she was sure he would stop more than one woman’s heart. He had deep gray eyes, with pupils so small you could barely see them, a perfectly chiseled nose and cheekbones, a kissable mouth and an enviable olive skin.

  Taking a deep breath, she continued her examination, looking at his long, straight, blond hair, his tall and muscled body finally the feature that showed the world he was not from these parts: the perfectly aligned ridges that started at his temples and disappeared under his impressive mane.

  “Where are you from?” she asked him, amazed.

  “I’m from Zuvrak, a place very far from here,” he explained.

  “How come you speak our language?” she asked again, curious. Most merchants were only able to speak the essential, and they had been coming to town for years.

  “I speak many languages,” he assured her.

  “Why are you here?”

  “Can we leave the questions for later, darling? I’m hungry,” Gwendolyn interrupted her.

  For a second, Rhiannon looked at her grandmother as if she hadn't been able to understand her words, but then, she seemed to snap out of the trance she was in, and she nodded.

&n
bsp; “Yes, certainly.” She served the soup and took the plates to the table before she took a seat in front of Kael.

  For a few minutes, they enjoyed the soup in silence, but soon, Rhiannon’s curiosity was stronger than her.

  “Do you realize people will think he’s a demon?” she asked, looking at Gwendolyn.

  “Yes, probably, at least, at first sight, but it won’t take them long to realize he isn’t,” she replied, with a confident tone.

  “You’re not being realistic. They will shoot first and ask later,” Rhiannon insisted.

  “We’ll figure out a way.”

  “I don’t want to cause any trouble,” he said, putting down his spoon. “I’ll leave before anyone else sees me,” he suggested.

  Rhiannon looked at him, disgruntled. She didn’t like that idea, for some reason, she wanted him to stay there, at least for a while longer. “Like my grandmother said, we’ll figure out a way.”

  “Unless, you prefer to leave, of course,” Gwendolyn added.

  He didn’t, especially not now that he had met Rhiannon. She wasn’t the one he was looking for, but he had never felt that way, and he wanted to explore it, as much as possible. “No, I don’t want to leave now. I’ve just arrived, and I feel I need to learn a lot more about this place before I can venture onto another one.”

  “I guess we’ll have to keep you hidden for a while,” she said, enjoying the soup.

  “I’ll do whatever you believe it’s necessary,” he assured her.

  She nodded. “Where is this Zuvrak you come from? I’ve never heard of it,” she asked, returning to her questions.

  “Well, it’s a bit hard to explain,”

  “Try.” She wanted to know.

  “Do you know what a planet is?” he asked, cautiously.

  “Yes, I do. Who doesn’t?”

  “Well, Zuvrak is a planet, from another galaxy.” His words were followed by a thick silence. Both women were astounded. “The device you saw me in, Gwendolyn, is an escape pod. My friends and I were forced to use them when our main vessel was about to explode.”