The door opened and shut quietly. It was unlike Taleon. He had a decided sound all his own when opening the door. If it’s not Taleon, who is it? Her heart quickened with hope and fear. She turned around.
For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. The man from her dream stood before her.
Curly brown hair slightly silvered at the temples. His striking blue eyes were tender instead of worried as she remembered. He was tall and wearing that strange...but familiar...coat of arms on his tunic: red and gold checkered with a white lion.
Had her mind become so crazed with questions that she could see her dreams? Panic tried to surge through her being, but it could not move from her mind and stir her into action. She was numb head to foot.
He was walking towards her, such a tender expression on his face. The man with the brown curly hair was before her, taking her face in his hands, lifting it to gaze into his own.
This is frighteningly real. I can feel him. Wake up, it’s only a dream Alexandra. Only a dream. A dream. I tell you, a dream!
“Oh Cassie,” he was saying, and he bent and kissed her forehead. She was folded into his arms. She heard the beat of his heart through his tunic and chainmail.
How can this feel so real? I must be insane.
“My Cassie, you are safe at last.”
Why does he call me Cassie?
She was aware of tears running down her cheeks that were not her own. Something in her caved, and she began to cry though she didn’t know why.
“You remember me. I hoped you would. Taleon said you didn’t.”
She broke free from the embrace. “Taleon saw you?”
“Of course he did. He is the one who let me in.”
“So you are real?”
He laughed.
The same laugh from her dream. But was it a dream? Was her whole life a dream or was Raven Castle one horrid nightmare that she would just wake up from safely in her own bed? Or worse, was it all real—so real that she didn’t even know it was true.
“Of course I am real.” Then he looked at her, scrutinizing, his countenance becoming grave and grieved.
The countenance change somehow broke her heart, making it ache. Her tears came harder.
“Don’t you know me, Cassie?”
“I don’t know.”
“I know you were little, only three years old. But don’t you remember anything? Just the slightest bit about me?”
“No. I don’t.” She looked into his blue eyes, her heart aching but so afraid. “I really don’t,” she reiterated, trying to make it true—to let herself believe that this was all just a dream—a crazy dream that would just go away when she woke up. If she could only wake up.
“Do you know who I am, Cassie?”
“No!”
There was a long silence as he looked into her eyes as if trying to rekindle the memories that lived in his heart, in hers. “I am your father. I am King Aric.”
A chill ran up Alexandra’s spine. Her legs folded beneath her. Darkness sheltered her.
“Cassandra, Cassandra?” the voice was faint but familiar, unpleasantly so. She fought the light that was coming back to her, but it was no use. She opened her eyes.
“Are you all right?” It was Taleon kneeling beside her.
“Oh Taleon, I had the queerest dream about your king.”
“Cassandra,” he murmured very softly, “It wasn’t a dream.”
“What?” she said, sitting up.
Then that voice that was so familiar, yet so strange, spoke. “Cassandra.”
Turning her head, she saw the man with the brown curly hair. A thousand emotions rushed over her. A scream of terror rushed over her. Turning, Alexandra spun into Taleon’s tunic and clung to him.
“Make him go away,” she sobbed.
“Cassandra, it’s all right. He wants to talk to you,” he whispered in her ear.
“I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear anyone. I want to go home!”
“It’s all right, Taleon.”
Alexandra listened as the man with the brown curly hair left. His footsteps sounded dejected and heavy. Suddenly she wanted to take back the words she had said and go rushing to his side to tell him....
What would she tell him? That she had a dream about him every few months—it was always the same dream as real as ever, day or night. It just burst upon her at unexpected moments, especially when she thought about her mother. But that seemed insane, more absurd than him being a dream and walking in her room. Or was that more ridiculous? Alexandra didn’t know anymore. She just wanted to cry and have Judith gather her up in her arms, talk about pleasant things, and make it all go away. Judith always did. Why couldn’t she do it now? Why did she have to be here? Why wasn’t her mother still alive to explain all of this to her? Why in the world did she have two fathers?
“Cassandra. Are you all right?”
Alexandra pulled away from Taleon. She had forgotten that he was there, that she was holding onto him for dear life. “I am fine.”
“Are you sure? You fainted.”
Alexandra blushed. She didn’t need to be reminded about that embarrassing fact just at the moment. “I’ll be okay.”
“You don’t remember him at all?”
Alexandra pushed herself to her feet and walked to the window.
“Do you remember him?”
She didn’t answer.
He stepped closer.
Taleon was infringing on her personal space. He was attacking her with this horrid question. Her fate lay in the way she answered it.
Turning to him, Alexandra swallowed the dry lump swelling in her throat; it made it almost impossible to breathe.
“No. I don’t, Taleon.” Tears rose in her eyes as she admitted it. Fear held her tongue from saying more.
He nodded. Silently he left and closed the door. It locked with a click.
Alexandra gasped, holding back tears that wanted to tear her apart. Spinning, she put her face in her hands and hid in the corner, trying to conceal herself from the light gently streaming in the window.
Chapter 9
Taleon locked the door. His hopes had been crushed. The girl was more stupid...no, that wasn’t the word. Clueless? Yes, that was it. She was more clueless than he had calculated. That, and maybe just afraid.
He looked over his left shoulder; there stood King Aric at the window looking down into the courtyard. Quietly he approached.
“You tried to warn me. I should have listened. My hopes were so high I couldn’t hear you. She is so much like her mother.”
“Her eyes are blue like yours.”
“That is the only trait she inherited from me—that and the slight twist to her hair,” he said running his hand through his.
“Sire, I am sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, turning and placing his hand on Taleon’s shoulder.
“I tried to break through to her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“I am not disappointed in you, Taleon. I know you did everything possible,” he smiled as he looked into the young man’s honest blue-green eyes. “How are the preparations coming?”
“Quite well. We are nearly ready.”
“How is the mine?”
“It’ll hold, as long as the war doesn’t go on for years and years.”
“I hope not. Archibald still in the capitol?”
Taleon nodded. “We set up a rabble-rousing in the streets. That is how we rescued her.”
“I never thought I would have to kidnap my own daughter.”
“It is an unusual predicament.”
“Isn’t it,” King Aric said with a brief laugh. “I can’t believe she is terrified of me. After all these years I thought I would get my little girl back—the one who sat on my shoulders and laughed at nothings and gave me butterfly kisses before she went to bed. But no. She is all grown up.”
“Not quite grown up, sire.”
“Archibald has seen to that. I would have moved the army on him long ago
, if I knew that he wouldn’t destroy her. I never thought my brother was capable of harming, much less killing anyone. After he slew Serena, I couldn’t risk Cassandra too.”
“Not even for your country?” Taleon asked probingly.
“The reason we failed in our first attempt, Taleon, is that my forces weren’t strong enough. We should have stormed the capital and taken it, but we were returning from a war and surprised to find ourselves overtaken and the world of Chambria turned upside down. My little brother was sitting on the throne, he claimed for his own. He took many of my men’s wives and children captive. Some he killed; some he set free. I was shocked. I never thought that was a part of him, but I was blind—blinded by my own good fortune that I assumed he was happy to share.
“We were all so stunned by his actions that we came up here to Raven Castle—the only place that remained safe from his reach. He hadn’t made it his own. We were being overwhelmed between his two forces. He thought we would be crushed into accepting his terms of surrender, but they were beyond unacceptable, and we retreated here under cover of darkness.”
“Why didn’t you ever marry Fiona?”
The king shot him a glare.
Taleon bowed his head. “I am sorry, sire; I was out of place.”
“Funny that you should ask that now. It’s been years. How did you remember?
A smile tugged at the corner of Taleon’s mouth. “One of those questions that I asked when I was little that no one would ever explain to me, I guess, and by the time I was old enough to know about it, it was unimportant.”
King Aric’s lips smiled as distant sadness lurked in his eyes.
“Everyone thought it would be best, but I couldn’t. I tried to give the people hope, but in my heart, there will only be one person I love. I was blessed beyond compare, Taleon. My wife, my queen, she was the other half of my soul. I couldn’t love another woman, and I knew that it would be unfair to Fiona to be in a marriage where she would love me, and I would fight to love her with the memory of Serena always between us. I couldn’t do it. As much as I needed a new heir with the risk of Archibald brainwashing Cassandra against me, I couldn’t bear the thought of raising my children as enemies.”
“What are you going to do about Cassandra?”
“I don’t know. Has she fainted like that before?”
Reluctantly Taleon shook his head.
“She was really terrified of me. I don’t understand her behavior. It was all so strange—like she knew me, but yet I was a foreigner to her.”
“Do you think she knows more than she is letting on?”
“If Archibald has brainwashed her completely, no. If she has kept her wits about her despite him, I say yes. I don’t know. I am too much in the midst of it to be able to tell. Were I to spend more time with her, I might be able to discern, but the way she is terrified of me...” he turned back to the courtyard below.
The troubled look on King Aric’s face twisted Taleon’s gut. He wanted to shake Cassandra for what she had done. How can she be so blind? So willfully blind.
The king had one weakness: his daughter, and to make him so troubled at such a time... Taleon’s hand curled, wishing he could make her understand.
King Aric cleared his throat, interrupting Taleon’s thoughts.
“The trip into the valley went well, but I have to return soon. There is a fever going about, and they are in dire need of help. If we attack and Archibald takes it out on the people, we’ll all be in a strait. We need them strong and ready if this campaign is to be successful.”
“How is the drought?”
“It’s lasted too long; three years and hardly a decent rain. It’s a good thing we can get grain over the mountains; we’ll need to stockpile it. Once a war starts, our money will be near worthless. People will be afraid to accept coin that will be of no value if we lose.”
“They could always remold it.”
“And mess up their countries currency? Risky. Only a few merchants would take the chance, and those willing aren’t usually worth doing business with.”
“True. What do you want done with—?” and he nodded towards Cassandra’s door.
“I wish I knew. If I had more time, I would talk with her. That is, if she would talk with me, but I should be back in the valley. I’ll have to take time to think it over.”
“How soon do you think you will go down?”
“Three days. It will be enough to get supplies ready and hear from the scouts and decide who needs the most help. Well, Taleon, I need to go talk to the council and an upset woman named Enid,” he said with a smile.
“Of course, Sire.”
“Want to come along?”
“Yes, Sire.”
Chapter 10
Three days later, Taleon watched as King Aric mounted his horse, wearing peasant clothes.
“Taleon, I can’t think of anything else. Leaving her locked up in that room isn’t doing her any good. Her thoughts are eating her. She needs to see as well as hear about the way we live. Telling her how we live isn’t going to change her,” he sighed.
“Maybe she will wake up?”
“One can only hope. Protect her for me until I return.”
“Yes sire.”
King Aric’s hand was laid on his shoulder. “Thank you, Taleon.”
Glancing behind him, King Aric noticed that the men accompanying him were ready. “Move out,” he shouted, with a fleeting look behind him at the upper balcony.
Taleon’s gaze followed. Alexandra stood exactly where she had been told to stay, her head lifted high with a touch of arrogance gracing her features. Taleon turned to watch his king ride out of the gate.
Then he glared back at her. “She has no idea what she is doing to him.” Striding through the courtyard and taking the stairs two steps at a time, he soon stood close to her.
“How long will he be gone?” Alexandra asked, not turning around.
“Two weeks, a month, maybe more; depends on how much the people in the valley need his help.”
Alexandra bit her lower lip and nodded. Unexpectedly she turned to him. “So what exactly is going to happen?”
“He told you.”
“I know, but I don’t think it makes any sense.”
“You are to shadow me around the castle. Most things that need to be done you can help with; some things you will just have to watch.”
“And if I don’t want to help?”
“You can just watch, but your father thinks that being closed up in that room is bad for you.”
“I won’t change.”
Taleon looked at her silently.
“I won’t,” she reiterated as his silence annoyed her.
“Come on; there are things to get done.”
“Like what?”
“Refugees.”
“Refugees?”
“People that come up from the valley looking for help. A few came in this morning, just before your father left. They need tending to, and I need to oversee what is being done.”
Walking down the steps, he took her into a corridor where people lined the wall in various attitudes of rest. A few were well-kept, but most were looking worn and tired. Their clothes had seen better days, and there were just a few that seemed, to Alexandra, terrifying. Covered in dirt or blood, they lay on the floor, weak from their climb to safety.
Immediately Taleon was among them, helping the few women and men already there assisting those in need.
Stunned, Alexandra stood on the steps, one hand gripping her elbow. Clutching her arm to her side, she watched with wide eyes. No one seemed to see her or mind her wide eyes or surprised gawking gaze. In fact, to them, she didn’t seem to exist at all. Hesitantly she started to follow Taleon. Standing there on the steps was frightening and discomforting. At least with him, he might try to make some sense out of the situation for her. But he was almost impossible to follow as he darted here and there. Then he would spend a long time feeding a sickly child or weak, elderly adult.<
br />
He didn’t seem to really notice her until a woman carrying a jar of wound ointment nearly spilled it as she ran into her.
“Cassandra, go, sit there in the corner. You can still see, and you won’t be in the way.”
Quietly she shuffled to where he pointed, feeling ashamed and awkward. Nearly an hour passed and Taleon was still busy. Alexandra felt as if she had fallen off the face of the earth. No one paid attention to her; she was stranded in a corner with nothing to do but sit and stare.
And he thought that this would be better for me than sitting in my room all day. Why, I am invisible! No one knows who I am and even if they do, they don’t seem to care. She sent a glare in Taleon’s direction, but he failed to receive it, and Alexandra was left to search the room for anything that would catch her fancy. There was nothing.
A woman was standing in front of her, pushing a small noisy child onto her lap. “Hold this baby. Here is his bottle. I’d do it, but I have too much to get done.”
“But I-I’ve never held a...”
The woman was already walking away, and she looked down at the thing in her lap. A pair of large blue eyes were staring pitifully up into her own, tears streaming down his little rosy cheeks. He had long black eyelashes and a crop of dark ringlets. He took a few small gasping breaths. Then started to cry very softly. Slowly it grew louder. Alexandra was clueless about what to do with him. He was such a sad little thing. Then she looked at the bottle the woman had forced into her hand.
Gently she put it to his mouth. The small being closed his mouth around it and sucked with joy. Relaxing his tears and crying, he lay back in her arms. Alexandra was surprised to find herself admiring the babe in her arms, as awkward as she felt with him. He was really very cute. When his bottle was finished, he pushed it away. Alexandra looked around helplessly.
What am I supposed to do with it now?
They stared at one another, his small chubby hands exploring her face with soft chatter that seemed to ask questions by the bright expression in his eyes and the lifting of his eyebrows.
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