It nearly tore a hole in Alex’s chest. He felt a pain, one he never felt before, a feeling of loss. He clenched his fingers to stop his hands from shaking, as a faint golden aura covered him for a moment.
‘Not likely,’ said Carrie.
‘How about an elf woman?’ said Donna.
‘Or one from the Order?’ said Livvy, and none of them looked at Alex, but knew soon as the girls ran over to him.
Talitha leapt into his arms. ‘What’s wrong, Papa?’
‘Nothing, honey, just a bad memory,’ said Alex, and held her tight.
Adhara put her arms around his waist. ‘But you have good memories now.’
‘Yes, honey, I just wish I could forget the bad ones.’
‘Like the sun and moon,’ said Sarin.
‘Always there but so far apart,’ said Alex, fighting back all his emotions. When he turned around, the women had gone.
~~~~
Livvy and Donna returned to the Elf World where the others waited for them.
Luella stood nervously waiting. ‘Is it done?’
Livvy nodded with tears in her eyes. ‘Yes, and I can never go back to the mansion now.’
‘Of course you can.’
‘How can I? He’s my father now, and has shown me nothing but love and kindness. We are what we are because of him,’ said Livvy, now sobbing. ‘I broke his heart . . . I could even hear it breaking.’
Luella wrapped her arms around her, as she fought back her own tears. ‘Yes, but if Carrie’s right you may have saved his life, he is going to need you.’
Donna shook her head. ‘He won’t want us near him ever again.’
~~~~
Carrie went to bed and had never felt so lonely in all her life, she knew there would be many more nights like this from now on.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Not So Clever Now Are You!
Alex fell asleep knowing Carrie would not be coming to his room and part of him did not want her there.
He woke annoyed, not because Carrie was gay but because of how she had been with him. He believed she was gay when she moved in, but over the months he thought George had been wrong. Carrie had sent him photos and flirted with him. It confused Alex, as he had never felt this way about someone before. There was no chance of them ever being together because of his dream, but for some reason this hurt more. Alex did not hate Carrie as he still loved her, and would never hurt or ask her to leave.
He decided sleeping together would be unfair on Carrie, as he did not think she would appreciate his feelings towards her. Alex did not want to lose her as a friend either, but was not in the mood to talk to her for the foreseeable future. The answer about the question of what to do about the situation eluded him. He found the answer when he opened the door, and it was in the shape of a little girl.
Talitha looked up with a beaming smile. ‘Hey, Papa.’
‘Hey, sweetheart.’ Alex picked her up, and felt silly about his emotions. It was the children which came first, and he was going to make sure it was them from now on.
‘What we gonna do today?’
‘Whatever you want to do.’
‘Can we go horse riding on the Elf World?’
Alex liked the idea. ‘Yeah, it sounds fun . . . we will do it after breakfast.’ He carried her to the party room which was quite full.
Talitha sat by the other children. ‘Papa is taking us riding on the Elf World.’
‘Can I come too, Papa?’ James asked, in a silly childlike accent.
‘Only if you have been good,’ said Adhara.
‘That rules him out,’ said Asima.
James did go with them as did a few others. The children as usual decided to jump over everything they could and the horses didn’t seem to mind. James and Asima followed after them. Alex enjoyed watching but followed at a much steadier pace.
Joseph rode up next to him. ‘Have you given any thought to whom the master Dagur spoke about?’
‘Not really, I’ve been hoping he’s from the Dark World and is now trapped there.’
‘That would be nice.’
‘Yeah, there’s always something keeping me away from the children, and I would love to spend some time with them.’
Luella glanced across at him. ‘I wondered why we were here.’
‘I’ve not been neglectful, Mother, I’ve been somewhat busy.’
Luella raised an eyebrow at the tone of his voice. ‘I know, dear.’
‘Is this part of your punishment?’ Blaze asked.
‘No, this is something I wanted to do,’ said Alex. ‘Believe it or not I do love being with them.’
‘I didn’t mean it that way.’
Alex smiled at her. ‘I know you didn’t. This is something I hoped I could do a lot more with them, but as punishments go it wouldn’t be bad.’
‘Have you thought about the punishment?’
Alex nodded. ‘Yeah, but have no idea, so I passed it on to the ladies of the mansion.’
Blaze raised a brow. ‘They’re not very happy with you at the moment.’
Alex winked. ‘I have complete faith in them.’
~~~~
Claire looked up from the book she was reading. ‘Why didn’t you go with them?’
Carrie shrugged. ‘I would be the last person he wanted there.’
Paige sighed. ‘What’s happened now?’
‘Shit’s happened, that’s what.’ Carrie rubbed her eyes and told them about the previous night with Livvy and Donna.
‘Are you frickin’ mad?’ said Claire. ‘And apart from anything else I think it’s bloody offensive.’
‘Thanks, I feel bad enough as it is.’
‘So you should, too.’ Paige sounded angry. ‘Do you realise what you’ve done? For months, you’ve been all over him, slept in his bed, and sent him pictures. You feel bad, how do you think he feels? You’ve basically stuck a finger up at him and called him a sucker.’
‘You already told him I was gay when we moved in,’ said Carrie, meaning Claire, and put her head in her hands realising she had made him feel like an idiot. ‘I just wanted to protect him like he protected you years ago.’
Paige narrowed her eyes. ‘At least he had the decency to leave.’
‘I did leave remember, but I had to come back, or is that what you want me to do, just pack everything and go?’
‘No, she didn’t mean that,’ said Claire. ‘No one is questioning your reason, just the method.’
Paige stood and embraced Carrie. ‘Oh, Cas, what are we going to do with you?’
‘I don’t know anymore, I just wish he didn’t hate me.’
‘He doesn’t hate you, he’s not like that.’
~~~~
On the evening Alex sat chatting to James when the women he had insulted came over to them looking rather pleased.
‘So tell us,’ said Sammy, ‘did the intelligent men come up with anything?’
Alex shook his head. ‘I forgot to mention it to them.’
Skye sat opposite. ‘Have you given it any thought?’
‘Yeah, but my mind keeps going blank.’
Sammy folded her arms. ‘Well, we have an idea.’
Alex feigned shock. ‘Really? What’s that?’
‘A trip,’ she said, and told him of their idea.
Alex smiled and clapped his hands. ‘That’s brilliant . . . I knew you would think of something.’
Claire groaned. ‘No, not again.’
‘What do you mean?’ Sammy asked.
‘He conned us, he wasn’t being insulting, just getting us to sort it out for him.’
Alex nodded. ‘Yeah, and just think how happy the children will be when I tell them what I’ve come up with.’
‘You’re evil,’ said Skye.
James laughed. ‘I’m coming too.’
‘So are we,’ said Sammy.
‘OK,’ said Alex, ‘we’ll sort out who’s coming tomorrow.’
The following morning Alex found the children waiting out
side his room. ‘Are you not having any breakfast?’
‘We were waiting for you,’ said Sarin, ‘to see what we were going to do today.’
‘What happened to you running in and jumping on my bed?’
‘Your privacy of course,’ said Adhara.
‘You can sense my emotions, so you know if I am happy, sad or just dreaming. So you’re allowed to wake me.’
Sarin nodded. ‘OK, but we won’t do it if Carrie is with you.’
‘You don’t have to worry about that anymore. Anyway, I’ve an idea for your adventure . . . what if we go for a ride?’
‘We did that yesterday,’ said Alhena.
Alex smiled. ‘What if it was a long one where we have to camp out at night?’
Talitha leapt into his arms. ‘Really, we can do that?’
‘Yeah, we could visit another kingdom on the Elf World, and that could take over a week to get there and back.’
‘That would be fun,’ said Adhara, ‘but what about our friends?’
‘Some will come and some will be happy when we return.’
‘You’re very clever, Papa,’ said Shaula.
‘Not this time,’ said Alex, ‘it was the ladies here who thought about it.’
‘Can we go today?’ Sarin asked.
‘I’ll go and check with Auntie Blaze first,’ said Alex, as a warm calmness came over him.
He walked into the party room and found her having breakfast.
She looked up. ‘Is there a problem?’
‘Yes, woman, I have a proposition for you as it’s partly your fault.’
Blaze raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m listening.’
‘I’m taking the children away for a while, and I want to know if you’re up to coming with us.’
‘Taking them where? And how’s it my fault?’
‘You told them to think hard on their punishment, so I’m going to take them to one of the other elf kingdoms for their adventure.’ Alex watched the children hugging the women.
Luella sipped on her drink. ‘How is that an adventure when you could be there in seconds?’
‘We’re going to ride there, which means camping. The children are very excited including Thomas.’
‘I like the idea,’ said Blaze. ‘I haven’t been camping in a very long time.’
‘So do I,’ said Asima.
‘I’m going too,’ said Sammy. ‘I’ll see who else wants to go after breakfast.’
‘I will go to the Order,’ said George. ‘It sounds fun, but I would like a tent that doesn’t take me all day to put up.’
Alex glanced over at him. ‘I’m sure elven tents are not that bad.’
‘Maybe not for them, but I’m not an elf.’
‘They Order has tents that can be put up very quickly,’ said James, ‘and you saw how long it took at the festival.’
‘Yeah,’ said Alex, ‘but I don’t think they’ll be using those for camping.’
Torgon and Thalion also liked the idea and agreed with George about the tents. They also told him what they needed to take and what they wouldn’t need when camping on their world. Fergal and Jarlath and six other gnomes chose to go, four of them being children. Alex talked with the pucas before returning to the mansion to find it full of camping equipment, and six members of the order including Simon and Victoria.
Sammy walked over to him. ‘Everyone apart from Livvy, Donna, and Carrie want to come.’
It surprised Alex. ‘Why not? I thought they would love it.’
‘They don’t think it’s for them.’
‘I’ll go and see them,’ said Alex, and found two in the woods.
‘Hi,’ said Livvy, without looking at him.
‘Why don’t you want to come camping with us?’
‘We didn’t think it would be a good idea.’
‘But you love being outside, and I really want you to come with us.’
‘Why do you?’ Donna asked.
‘Because it’ll be fun, and I think you should be having fun.’
‘Do you,’ said Livvy, as she looked at him.
‘Yeah, I do,’ said Alex, with his arms open.
Livvy accepted both invitations,’ OK, we’re in, and I’m sorry,’
‘What on earth for?’ said Alex, surprised by it.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
He left them and went looking for Carrie. He found her in the gym training on her own. Alex had been upset, not that she was gay but of the pictures she sent him. It felt like she had led him on in some twisted game, but decided it was just a joke as he had been embarrassed about the whole picture thing. He was already in love with her before the pictures, which was his own fault. His only wish now was that she trained with more clothes on. ‘Why don’t you want to come with us?’
‘It’s not really my thing,’ said Carrie, and like Livvy she didn’t look at him.
Alex could feel so much sadness in her. ‘But you’ll be left all on your own.’
‘I’m used to it.’
‘Well don’t be, and come with us.’ Alex put his arm around her, she stiffened, relaxed, and leant into him.
‘OK, I’ll come.’
Alex put clothes into a bag when Luella walked through the open door to his bedroom.
‘Is this trip for the children, or are you running away again?’
Alex folded a shirt before he put it into the holdall. ‘The children, what do I have to run away from?’
‘I can think of one reason.’
‘If you mean Carrie, she’s coming too. I know my feelings for her are wrong but I couldn’t help it.’
‘Of course you can’t, your feelings is part of what you are.’
Alex zipped up his bag and sat on the bed. ‘I nearly told her how I felt, and I guess I saved myself some embarrassment when I didn’t.’
‘Why didn’t you?’ said Luella, as she sat on the bed next to him.
‘I had a dream where I told her I loved her, and in the next instant she lay there with her throat cut open,’ said Alex. ‘You cannot imagine how I felt when Dagur grabbed her.’
‘Why would your dream show you that?’
‘To warn me away, as we were never meant to be together. Something is going to happen and I don’t think being in a relationship will help me.’
‘Do you mean the Final Destiny?’
‘Yes, and I have to be prepared for it.’
‘Why does it have to be you?’
‘Because it was always me,’ said Alex, but did not know why.
~~~~
Carrie sighed as she sorted her clothes out for the trip. How can he be like that after what we did to him, she thought.
Aileen leant on the frame of Carrie’s door. ‘What made you change your mind?’
‘Alex, he asked me to go, and I know I couldn’t refuse him anything right now.’
‘You ought to be careful what you say there,’ said Aileen, with a cheeky grin.
‘I wouldn’t refuse him that either.’
Daralis entered the room. ‘I wonder who the real enchanter is.’
‘If he is one he doesn’t know it. My knees nearly gave way when I first saw him, and had to embrace him before I fell over.’
‘It is best not to dwell on it.’
Carrie opened a drawer, and took clothes out. ‘Why not, when I’m going to be single for the rest of my life?’
‘You don’t know that,’ said Aileen.
‘Yes I do, as I could never love another. Do not take me for some helpless victim, as it was me who broke his heart, and I will never forgive myself for it, nor will I ever hurt him again.’
‘Well,’ said Daralis, ‘be careful what you wear, as there will be swimming on this adventure.’
~~~~
Summer stepped out of the kitchen and glanced around the hall. ‘What food are we taking?’
Alex put his bag with the others. ‘Only some spices, but the elves are bringing them.’
‘Are you not going to let me cook?’
‘No, you’re on holiday now.’
Summer shrugged. ‘I can live with that.’
Briana appeared. ‘The pucas didn’t want to come.’
James grinned. ‘They’re probably waiting for the great ladies to go, so they can have some fun.’
‘That’s a horrible thing to say. It might be a good idea if I stayed behind.’
‘No,’ said Alex, ‘you’re coming with us. There are plenty of gnomes and elves who will be looking out for them.’
Kaeya jumped on his shoulder. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Camping, are you coming with us, your Majesty?’
‘Yes of course, as there are three who didn’t want to be away from Daralis for too long.’
Daralis smiled. ‘That makes me happy.’
‘Oh,’ said Alex, ‘it’s not because you’ll miss me?’
‘I didn’t say that,’ said Kaeya, and hugged his neck.
Alex glanced over at the fireplace. ‘Where are the wolves?’
On the Elf World, said House, they will be joining you there.
‘Are you looking forward to it?’
It does not make that much of a difference to me, but the children are as excited as Adhara and Sarin were when they moved in here.
Luella tied her hair back. ‘Had they not seen it while it was being repaired?’.
‘None of us women had,’ said Claire, ‘only the men.’
Alex shook his head. ‘As if I was going to ask you to come and take a look.’
‘Be nice dear,’ said Luella.
‘I am being nice, she wasn’t the friendliest of people towards me.’
‘It’s true,’ said Claire, ‘I didn’t trust him at all.’
‘And yet you still got them to come here,’ said Luella.
Alex nodded. ‘It mattered not if any of them liked me, as they were the only ones I trusted around the children.’
Adhara looked up and smiled. ‘We were bridesmaids that day.’
‘That was such a strange day, too,’ said Michelle. ‘We were going to our friend’s wedding and ended up with new jobs and a new home.’
The Final Destiny: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Three - Fantasy Page 13
