I had Silvie.
My mother too.
In fact, men had never been a constant in my life, starting right from my defective father who I’d never known, and now Davio who couldn’t have left quicker if I’d been the one to push him away.
I mean, who needed men anyway?
I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them tightly. Ultimately, Silvie and my mother were the only people in the world who mattered to me. They would always be right by my side.
Chapter 2
Still partially in a daze, I jogged home from school after Davio’s departure. I hit the pavement along Centennial Park, my backpack strapped to my back and my PE gear of navy shorts and a white t-shirt and sneakers still on from last period. Best to do what I normally did and not wallow in Davio’s leaving anymore. This park was beautiful too, and captured my attention. It consisted of miles of green trees and gardens with a ten-foot wide, meandering blacktop drive, the common ground following a leisurely path as it wove snakelike in and around the town. It linked schools and homes, and delivered a safe pathway for cyclists, runners and schoolchildren, the park’s aged trees providing natural coverage against the elements.
I caught up to and passed primary school students walking home. Their home-time bell rang almost a half hour before ours, and my fellow classmates chattered with their younger siblings as they joined them.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any younger siblings. It was just Mum and me, and even though there were occasional times when a real craving to share my life with a sibling struck me, I thankfully had Silvie instead to fill that gap. She was my best friend, she was my sister, the one I’d been raised with since childhood. Baby photos taken of us together in the very beginning showed Silvie with her cute red-gold locks, and me with my pale skin and tufts of blond hair just starting to grow.
I smiled and picked up my pace, fairly flying home.
Along my street, I streamed along, my long hair whipping behind me like a full-blown sail and—whoa. I couldn’t slow down. My pace increased even though that was the last thing I wanted.
Oh boy. What was happening now?
I screamed as I almost took out my mother’s newly painted gray mailbox, freaked and locked my knees. Bad move. I hurtled, head over feet then skidded across the slippery grass on my backside. Crap! My mother’s newly composted vegetable garden loomed. I tumbled and rolled headfirst into the ripest, stinkiest soil on the road.
Swearing at the stupid vegetable garden, I scuttled out and found my feet. Of all the senseless luck. Surely Belle could have warned me about this increased speed skill I’d soon be coming in to, because that’s what it surely had to be. A skill her people from Magio held. I’d never moved so fast in my entire life. Not a human speed at all.
After flinging the muck from my butt and my fingers, I tramped inside and marched down the hallway of our two bedroom, brown brick and tile home. I needed a shower. And I needed it pronto.
Snapping up the brass lever in my shower, I dealt with the stench as the burst of water sprayed on me. And why couldn’t I get Mr. Royal-pain-in-the-butt Highness out of my head? Every five seconds I thought of him.
Questions raced through my mind. Like where was Magio? And how long had it taken Davio to flash home? Because that hadn’t been some nifty little trick.
Shaking my head, I hated that I couldn’t disperse these thoughts of him just as easily as he had done with me.
Although I didn’t give in. I would attempt to dispel all thoughts of him yet.
I dried off and changed, walked into my violet and cream bedroom and shuffled my homework about on my student desk. I’d try to get my mind into gear and off the man who’d left me before we’d really even met. It was a hard thought to tolerate though, being cast aside so quickly and easily by him.
I sat.
I nibbled on my fingernail and reluctantly closed my eyes.
Then I just couldn’t help myself. I needed to see his image.
I pulled it from my memory, and let out a staggered breath as his form crystallized with stunning clarity before me. Damn, he hadn’t been so hot looking, surely.
I bit back a sigh.
“Why did you have to make the decision to leave so quickly?” I asked his illusionary image. “I mean, I know you said the bond develops and cements fast but surely we could have had a few more minutes, you know, before you poofed out of there and completely left me without another word. You worthless, worthless—”
Huh, I was acting irrational. I hadn’t even liked him.
And of course, the dirt bag didn’t bother to answer me. His obstinate form wavered and disappeared, just as the real obnoxious man had so effortlessly done.
Yeah, teleportation. I couldn’t deny I’d seen that in action.
I shook my head in frustration. I was such an undecided female. Now, he’d left me with very little persuasion on my part to stay, but that didn’t mean he should have.
Still, I had to cease these unnecessary and completely unhelpful thoughts. What was done was done.
I had a future. One I’d already planned.
One which was vitally important to study for, which meant textbook.
I flicked to the right page, gritted my teeth and forced my mind to where it should be.
Several uneventful minutes ticked by.
I heaved a frustrated sigh because there was nothing going through my foolish mind but him.
Stupid, stupid bond. I bet Davio wasn’t having these insane thoughts.
After another endless minute, I gave up, pushed away from my desk and walked to my full-length corner mirror.
Reflecting back at me was a pitiful young woman in frayed, blue denim jeans and an overstretched coral t-shirt. My feet were bare and my damp hair messy. I appeared as unraveled and exposed as I currently felt.
Birthdays truly were the pits.
I dropped into a tangled heap onto the violet covers of my bed. “Yeah, birthdays sucked big time.”
I crossed my hands behind my head and glared at the ceiling. Turning eighteen had sure been monumental. My hearing was now phenomenal if I turned it up and focused, and my running speed, well, my running speed was world-class spectacular if one actually wanted it that way.
I channeled my superb hearing to the front door as the clear creak of it opening traveled to me.
“Hey, Faith, it’s just me.” A key jingling and Silvie closed the door with a thunk.
Well, at least the precise hearing was a nice bonus. “Bedroom,” I called back. “Mum’s at work.” Where she usually was since apparently I needed to be fed, clothed and housed, as she liked to point out.
“Hey, I brought Belle with me.” Silvie blew into the room with her far too cheerful bounce. “I heard all about the prince.”
I bolted upright, hooked my knees over the side of the bed and scooted forward. “Come in, guys. I do have one day for all things Peacio to be explained.”
Belle followed behind Silvie, a worried expression on her face. She dropped in beside me and muttered, “Clearly the situation today didn’t end well. I believe, and I say this with the best of intentions, that Davio should have given you more time than he quite obviously did.”
“Ooo-kay.” Where was she heading with this?
“Davio never told you about Dralion or about the war that rages between us and our neighboring country. He should have done that.”
“Well, then tell me. Davio has left you here for a day. Is this Dralion and this war something of significant importance to me?”
“Hostility has raged between our two nations for centuries. To explain, you must understand that Peacio is rich in raw mineral deposits compared to the neighboring land of Dralion. Dralion is ruled by its monarchy, a King Donaldo Wincrest and his son, Prince Alexo. The tension between Peacio and Dralion is ugly. The Wincrests want what the Loverias have and it’s been that way for too many centuries to count. Davio’s battle is one that has continued from generation to generation, and you’re his
mate, his soul match, the one woman who should be standing by his side, not standing unknown a million miles away. Davio should not have turned away from you so easily, not af—”
“Hey, hey, hold on. I’m a Halfling. New Zealand is my country. This is my place of birth. There’s no standing by his side. He ’ported away.”
“Yes, but Magiolings have strength skills which are imprinted into our DNA and passed on from parent to child. You have forethought—an ability not seen outside of the Loveria family for as long as Peacian history has recorded it.” Leaning forward, she continued, “Around ten percent of our people can teleport as Davio can. Most have excellent hearing along with the sharpest eyesight. Then there are our elite protectors who usually hold these skills plus necessary battle skills and fast-healing. Next, are those like me who hold other strength skills, all varied and spread out in some form or another. Although, a stronger lineage denotes stronger skills, as does the resulting mated matches being blessed with higher skilled offspring. How you’ve come to hold one of the strongest, rarest skills on our planet is shocking, particularly when you’re a Halfling.”
“Well, don’t ask me how I came about that skill.” I gritted my teeth, sensing exactly where this conversation was headed. “Let’s not forget Davio left and he’s not coming back.” I wanted to pace the room, but I stayed on the bed, my nerves tied into a knot. “Nothing you say will change that.”
Belle twiddled her fingers together, straining the knuckles white. “Yes, but as an empath I’m driven by feelings. I can’t leave without giving you all the facts.” She gave me a small smile as she paused for breath. “Now you’re listening—truly listening, and I need to take advantage of that.”
She was right. I needed to hear what she had to say, particularly when my forethought fully came into being. “Go right ahead then.”
“Thank you.” Belle smiled reassuringly. “One of the most important things you need to know is that our people no longer physically age past the age of eighteen, and we live easily to around one-hundred and twenty.”
“I—what?” I coughed raggedly, almost choking on that piece of unheard of news. “Please tell me you’re joking. One-hundred and twenty years?” She couldn’t be right. “L-looking like this?” I plucked numbly at the tight skin of my cheeks.
“Yes.”
I flicked a hand to her temple and double-checked her temperature.
“I know it’s a shock, but you’ll look just as you are now until the day you die. This is knowledge you should have, particularly when you’ll need to deal with the fact that you won’t age as other humans do. People will eventually notice that.”
I gulped and sent Silvie a very worried “help me” look. Except she inclined her head as if acknowledging Belle’s words and agreed. Obviously no aid from that quarter.
Turning back to Belle, I cleared my throat and tried to make her see reason. “O-kay-doe-kay, so you’re telling me I won’t be getting any gray hair, right?”
“No, not a strand.” Her gaze softened, and she squeezed my hand. “Adulthood is reached at eighteen. We come into our strength skills at eighteen. We don’t age physically past eighteen, but we do eventually die. Like I said, we live easily to one-hundred and twenty.”
My eyes almost rolled to the back of my head. “You seem to forget that I’ve never paid much attention to your previous ranting and raving of strength skills until I actually showed signs of them myself, and about reaching adulthood at eighteen, well, you’ve never once said Magiolings never aged.” I stuck both hands on my hips. “It sounds impossible.”
“Yet it’s still true, and provided you have the information that’s all that matters. Given time, you’ll see the truth for yourself.”
I wagged my finger at her, then dropped it. I needed more information, and I needed it now. “Does every Magioling have strength skills?”
“No. Not at all. At times, brothers and sisters born to the same parents differ. One may have multiple skills and the other some, or even none at all. It’s simply the luck of the draw as far as we can understand it.”
“What else can you tell me? I want details of Magio and the people. Do you not have specialized scientists as we do who can provide this information?”
She shook her head. “I’m not pre-cognitive, and we don’t live in an age as advanced as yours is in this scientific field. We don’t have such strategic technology, nor do we desire it. Peacians live by a different standard, one of simplicity and selfless giving. Our children are raised within villages by their immediate and extended family and not within bustling concrete cities where one passes another in the street that they do not know. The Loveria royal family lead, and it has been that way since the first male in their line was gifted with the knowledge of forethought and could guide us.”
“So is that how Carlisio knew to send you here three months ago? Did he have forewarning I would need our friendship, to believe in a world I can’t see?”
“Yes. Now you’re beginning to understand the wider picture. Carlisio knew I would be needed here and before you turned eighteen and met Davio for the first time. He saw your image, the image of a young Earth woman who was important to someone close to him, although he didn’t know exactly to whom. The king’s gift is not as strong as his father’s before him, and you heard Davio say his grandfather’s visions are like snapshots in time, ones he must decipher to the best of his ability. Our choices are our own and Carlisio doesn’t take that away from us. Now it’s obvious you are Davio’s mate. A mate he has decided not to appreciate when most men are overprotective where their soul-bound one is concerned.”
She edged forward. “Nothing can compare to the chemistry and our need of the one our soul is created for, and no mated male does well without his chosen female if he is one of the fortunate ones to receive one. Any feelings for another will be slow in coming, as is for all Magiolings who don’t find their soul bound mate.”
“What about you? Are you mated?”
“I haven’t been found.” A simple answer and her tone held sadness. “Yet should you ever wish to make a stand and have Davio return, I will aid you. We have our telepathic connection and it can cross the divide.”
“Hold on. Davio isn’t returning. You were there and he was pretty adamant about us not working out. Besides,” I said and flicked my fingers upward. “I’m quite happy if he stays there. We’ll both move on.”
Belle heaved a deep sigh. “If you change your mind, you must tell me.” Then a rolling wave of contrasting reassurance and comfort emanated from her, and soaked into me. “Trust me. Davio will be suffering from his decision. The male’s emotions regarding his female are all-consuming, and that’s part of the bond the males have no control over. Have you noticed your thoughts returning to him? Dwelling on him?”
There was clearly not going to be a simple answer to that question, but I gave it a shot. “A touch. Maybe a bit more.” I lifted my chin, stared down my nose at her. “But not in a good way.” That was important to point out. “So, say I believe you about all this male-female bonded stuff. Why would I ever want to convince Davio to take on a Halfling when I would only be detrimental to his line? Out of curiosity, of course.”
Silvie rested her hand on my back, her quiet touch reminding me of her presence as she said, “Perhaps you need to stop overanalyzing and just go with the flow.”
“Nope, I barely know him.” Yet a niggling doubt reared its ugly head, one that said I could know him if I wished, one that a brief second later I firmly quashed.
Belle stared at me, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “Faith, you forget I can feel your emotions. You are the soul-bound mate chosen for our prince, which means you have to at least consider the full circle behind the concept.”
Frustrated, I dropped my head into my hands. “I don’t have to consider it at all. Davio left. His decision stands, and I won’t change it.” I shrugged my heavy shoulders. There’d be no asking him to come back. What was between us was done. Finished. O
ver.
Belle knocked my arm with hers. “Hey, even women in Peacio are prone to changing their minds just as often as Earth women do.”
I would have laughed if I wasn’t feeling so deeply lost inside. “I’ll tell you what, should I ever see Davio again”—which according to the man in question wasn’t going to happen—“then I’ll be sure to mention your concerns.” A downright lie. I wasn’t the type of woman to consider groveling.
All in all, the current situation wasn’t going to change.
With that thought in mind, I lifted my head and forced my brightest smile. “There must be other young and well-connected women for Davio to choose from. Perhaps a noble lady or a princess or two?”
A hard elbow into my ribs from Silvie. “That’s outrageous.”
“Ow.” I glared at her. “What was that for?”
She raised her hands in the air as she quite often did with me. “A noble lady or a princess or two?”
“Well, how would I know? We have a ton of royalty here on Earth. It wasn’t that far-fetched of an idea.”
As I returned her swat, it made me feel better until she kicked out at me with a low growl. “Quit that, Stryker,” she ordered.
I grinned, feeling a little normal again.
“Okay, you two.” With a scowl, Belle pushed in between Silvie and me and sat squarely between us. “You two are so odd.” She nudged us even farther apart. “Now, we do in fact have other royalty, along with a hierarchal system similar to many cultures right here on Earth. It wasn’t an outrageous question.”
“See,” I gloated, peering around Belle to send Silvie a nasty look. “Davio can set sail and find one of his own kind. We’re all good.”
Silvie shook her head, although thankfully she kept her mouth shut. Not that she had much of a choice since Belle chatted nonstop about strength skills, their hierarchal system, their culture and almost every other necessary subject I was supposed to become aware of.
Protector: A Young Adult / New Adult Fantasy Novel Page 3
