“Okay. I’ll pack.”
I allowed him to leave and went right for my closet, packing whatever I touched first. I didn’t care what it was. I just wanted to get out of here and see her.
I began my pacing routine again while waiting for him to get back. I was completely ready. I just needed him to say that mother approved of us spending almost a week completely alone with each other and that meant without the other male members of the family either. I don’t remember the last time we’ve done that so hopefully she’ll encourage it.
It was getting dark, almost dinner and I was getting worried for his success.
“Seth?”
My speed carried me around to my father finally entering. “Yes?!”
“She thinks it’s a great idea that we go but—” I tried to calm from being too excited. “There’s only one slight conundrum with our plan.”
“What?”
“She asked if we could take them and the boys to the mountain palace for the summer.”
“But that would take us out another day because I doubt that she wants to leave tonight.”
“No. In the morning. Troy and Darius will be here to manage my affairs and I will drop you off with her when we’re finished.”
“I don’t mind spending the summer there if Cadence won’t be coming here but I want to have a few days with her. I’ve only had minutes before and it was never enough.”
“I know but I couldn’t explain that. You still get to see her. You just have to—”
“Wait. Yeah. I’ve heard that before.”
“It’s just another day. I think it’s worth it. You will see her.”
I kicked off my shoes with the longest sigh I’ve ever made in my entire life. “Still not soon enough.”
“It’s almost dinner then you can go to bed early. Tomorrow will come faster and you’ll need the rest. I’ll take all of you for the first stretch and we’ll see how you do when we head to Dorlin. This will be your longest run you know.”
“Worth it.”
He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder to turn me towards the door. “Come on. Tell your mother all about how excited you are to spend an undetermined amount of time with me.”
“You didn’t say how long?”
“I left room for change.”
“Smart thinking.”
I put my happy face back on and headed to the dining hall to meet mother.
She didn’t seem at all suspicious about why we were really doing it but I think Troy knew. He was trying to stay out of conversation about it a lot since he knew about my father introducing me to Cadence almost a year ago. He was good about not giving anything away and stayed true to his promise not to tell.
The night had finally passed and we were saying goodbye to leave.
“Seth, don’t have too much fun, okay?” Troy winked at me, saying something entirely different.
“I’ll try not to.”
He patted my shoulder and father was ready to take us out of the city. I held Rift for now but I knew he wouldn’t be able to come with us when we were going to make the fast trip. He could never keep up and was too big to carry.
The ride was relaxing for me and I guess I was going to need it. I didn’t want to stay long but father made sure we didn’t make unwanted questions arise and made sure they were settled in.
“I’ll be back with him in maybe a week. I’m not sure how far out this will take us but then I’ve got to get back.”
“I know.” My mother said. “And we’ll be back at the end of summer before the boys start another year.”
“Goodbye, mother.” I hugged her like she would expect.
“Have fun with your father, okay? We’ll make sure Rift is taken care of until you get back.”
“Thank you. Bye Dirk. Bye Bryce.”
“Bye.” The chorused.
My father kissed my mother and had less intimate goodbyes with Ruby and Jaylyn before we finally got to leave.
“We’ll leave our horses.” He said. “It will be much easier for you on foot and I can bring mine back to Randal when I have to get back.”
“Okay, father.”
“You ready? Keep up with me and don’t hasten your breaths. It will only make you tire sooner.”
“Okay.” I took one deep breath, making sure my bag was strapped tight to my back and we headed off.
At first it was like racing as we had done before until it lasted longer than a minute. It was fun. I managed my breaths well and only started to become a bit tired after a few hours.
My father took my wrist next to me and we stopped.
“You all right? Need a break?”
I didn’t want to take a break but I wasn’t going to be stupid about this. I needed to pace myself.
“Maybe a short one. Are we in Kalu now?”
I looked around at all of the thick forests in the distance and my father nodded. “Yes but we’re still a few more hours away from Dorlin.”
“Oh. I need a drink.”
I sat down on a rock exposed from the earth and took my bag off my shoulders, rummaging through it for the pouch of water.
“How’s the run for you?” My father sat next to me and drank some of his own water.
“It’s different. Almost like I don’t feel like I’m moving at all after a while but I get tired.”
“It looks to be midday. You ready to run some more? We can get there by dinner.”
“What are you doing to do when I’m with Cadence? Surely we won’t need supervision.”
“Need it or want it?”
“You know what I mean. You don’t have to be there.”
“I know but that just means you’re accepting my trust and I expect you to remember it even when your mind may be on other things.”
“Father.” I groaned the word to what he was insinuating. “We didn’t arrange this to have sex. We just wanted to see each other.”
“Well, you never know. I couldn’t just assume you didn’t. I was young like you once. I haven’t forgotten how I was.”
“How were you?”
“A lot like you.”
“Well, just so you don’t assume, I haven’t yet and don’t intend to until it’s the right person.”
“Which leads us back to me bringing you across the world so you can see Cadence.”
I stood up anxiously. “I don’t think it’s going to be like that. I mean, we haven’t spent much physical time with each other. It’d be too soon.”
“All right.” My father laughed. “You’re taking it slow with her. I get it and I’m proud of you.”
“Can we go?”
I put my water back and reattached my bag to me.
“Yes.”
He was gone first and I followed for our second leg of this trip.
I was much more used to it now and could start to notice when it got dark around us.
“Adjust your eyes.” My father said, almost yelling so I could hear through the wind we were making. “You’ll be able to see in the dark when they’re black.”
I tried it. My eyes grew black and the scenery around us became more visible like it once had. Then a brightness began to grow in the distance. It was the city. We had finally made it to Dorlin.
My father took my wrist again and stopped us. “All right. Let’s try to do this a bit more normally. We don’t want to scare anyone.”
“Do they know about us?”
“I would guess that rumor has reached here if your mother heard about it. We just don’t want to scare them further.”
We walked the rest of the way to the city and were let in at the gate.
“Where do we go? I don’t know exactly where she lives.”
“Please don’t hate me, son but it’s late. Perhaps we rest at the palace and see your grandfather than you can have all day with her tomorrow.”
“More waiting?”
“It would be better, wouldn’t it? If you saw her now, it would only be for maybe an hour and I know
you’re not going to think that’s nearly long enough.”
I didn’t argue it because I knew there was going to be no point. “All right. Let us see Grandfather then.”
“It will be a surprise. He’s not expecting us.”
We walked to the palace, getting plenty of stares along the way but made it without being disturbed to a surprise.
“Uncle?” I saw my uncle Ryon walking with Trever through the main hall and they both turned.
“Seth!” He came right towards me and we hugged. “Wow, look at you. Someone is trying desperately to leave childhood behind him.”
“I’m thirteen, you know?”
“I do know that, yes.”
“How are you, Zayden?” Trever said. “Where’s the rest of the pack?”
“Oh, it’s just us.”
“Is it?” He looked suspiciously next to him at my uncle. “Well, I wonder why that could be. Perhaps it has something to do with this?”
They both moved to the side and I saw the most precious thing walking this way. I wasn’t the only one trying to leave childhood behind me as uncle said. Cadence had grown in the year we spent a part. Her hair was longer, she had gotten taller and I don’t want to sound too excited but she had breasts that were noticeably present.
“Cadence!”
She got the most beautiful smile when she saw me and started running. “Seth!”
When she reached me, I tried not to fall from the momentum of her throwing her arms around my neck and pressing her body against mine.
“You came!”
“Of course I came.”
“You knew.” My father had his rather surprised smile on Trever.
“It was foreseen you could say.”
“We wanted to surprise him.” Uncle said.
“Thank you.”
“And you’re just in time for dinner but even you knew you’d be.” Trever said.
“That was the plan.”
“Of course you’re welcome to join us. We’ve heard some interesting things coming out of Seni.”
“They’re true, I’m afraid but I assure you, they only know about us. Your secrets are still safe.”
“Aleks will be pleased to hear. You can tell us all about it.”
“You should have been there.” I said. “It’s easy to see. Uncle, you can show them.”
“I’d be delighted to but later. Why don’t you run off to dinner with your little friend?”
“You not joining us?”
His eyes mysteriously met my father’s. “I was just on my way to do some other business. I can grab something later.”
“Okay. Bye. Shall we, Cadence?”
She smiled and took my arm as I offered it. “We shall.”
It was great to see her. I was glad it wasn’t until tomorrow but what my father said ended up being true and she had to go within an hour.
“My mother is expecting me. It’s not that far.”
“Mind if I walk you?”
“Of course I don’t mind but will someone else?”
She hinted towards my father locked in conversation with Trever and my grandfather.
“Excuse me, father?”
“Yes, Seth?”
“Do you mind if I walk Cadence home? She has to be getting back but it’s just up the street.”
He looked at those around him and everyone was smiling, only making this more embarrassing for me.
“I don’t see why not but make sure you hurry back so you don’t run into any trouble along the way.”
“Thank you, father.”
I turned with Cadence on my arm and we headed out of the palace, down the lit street.
“I’m glad you came.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it, even if it is for a day or two. I’ve been waiting to see you all year.”
“Me too but I couldn’t imagine how tall you actually got.”
“You’ve grown some yourself but I’d recognize you anywhere.”
“So! Tell me everything!” She suddenly got excited for some reason and jumped right into conversation while we walked to I-don’t-know-where. “All the details you left out in your letters.”
“Details?”
“Yeah. I know you couldn’t have written about everything. It would have been too long. Do you have a girlfriend over there?”
I laughed. “What? No. Not really. Nothing is official. We’re just friends.”
“I see.” Her mood kind of went down like it was a disappointment.
“Do you have any boyfriends?”
“That’s a definite no. The boys around here are complete jerks. That’s one of the reasons I’ve missed you so much. You’re not like other boys.”
“How do you know?” I was nervous to ask because it has been a year and I’ve grown to like girls more since I saw her. I didn’t want her to hate me if she was wrong.
“Because you haven’t tried to kiss me after exchanging more than a few words.”
I tightened. “That’s happened?” My voice didn’t let it come out just as a question but also sounded defensive.
She laughed. “See what I mean? You didn’t say that you wanted to, you sounded like you wanted to avenge my virtue.”
“Well—” I was ready to change my mood so I wouldn’t grow angry. I haven’t triggered that part of my gift my father warned me about and I didn’t want to do it here. “I do want to kiss you.”
She laughed and I was glad she was being playful about it. “You’re so cute, Seth! Keep your fingers crossed and I might let you kiss me goodbye.”
I’ve been looking forward to it longer than she could possibly realize. Getting this chance to see her again just made all those thoughts priority. I tried to fight them. I didn’t want to become like other boys she knew, whoever they were. I could guess she was referring to someone like Dirk. He has grown overly fawned of girls, spending all year practically having two girlfriends. One of them, Lynn, wasn’t allowed to date so they’re just good friends then there was Janie who of course always had a thing for him. She wanted him to be only hers but he was having too much fun with the freedom and keeps refusing.
Would I become like that? I seriously doubt it. There’s only one girl who truly held my interest and she was here, walking beside me with a spring in her step to be in my presence. I would love to call her mine but with this long distance of seeing each other only once a year and the attention I get back home, it would be difficult for us. I may be young but I’m not stupid. I know I couldn’t stay completely away from the other girls and I wouldn’t want Cadence to worry that I was being untrue. For now it was better that we were good friends like Dirk and Lynn until we could really be together in three years when she becomes an Assassin and I take up my full duties of being Crown Prince as well as the respectable position of Great Seni Fighter.
Thinking about it now made me realize how far off that really was. It would be torture to wait and tomorrow, when I get to spend the whole day with her, I’m going to prove just how much I want us to work for the future. My father introduced us for a reason and our future together was it.
“Here we are. Home sweet home.”
We stopped outside a modest little house with a nice stone wall that was waist high and had a metal gate and a path that led to the door.
We stopped on the top of the steps and the moment was awkward at first.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow and we can do some kind of an activity?”
She said it in the form of a question and I didn’t hesitate to answer it. “Yes. You want me to meet you here in the morning?”
“Only if you don’t eat. I know a great little place for breakfast.”
“That sounds perfect. Sleep well.”
I turned slightly like I was going to go down the stairs but she stopped me. “Seth?”
“Yeah?”
“I think you deserve that kiss now.”
I was becoming nervous and I swear my palms started to sweat. “Okay.”
I stepped towards her and she was really unsure about how this was supposed to work. I could see how nervous she was.
I brought one of my hands towards her face and with the other, I took her waist and pulled her slightly towards me. When our lips had finally met for the first time, she brought her arms around me and her tongue grazed my lips. I opened my mouth to get a taste of her and her grip on me got tighter. This had to stop before either something really embarrassing happened while she was standing so close or I neglected to leave at all. I wouldn’t have taken advantage of her, especially tonight.
I slowly moved back and she was breathing slowly with her eyes still close. “Whoa. That was so—”
“Yes.” I smiled, caressing her cheek. “It was. Goodnight, Cadence.”
Her eyes opened with her smile and she quickly kissed my lips again. “Goodnight, Seth.”
“I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”
“I’ll be counting the seconds.”
I turned from her with a smile and walked the path to get back to the street.
She was still standing at the door watching me when I looked back. I waved and so did she while going inside. I was utterly, head-over-heels in love.
It made me smile wider just from thinking it to myself and I took off running to get back to the palace.
My father was still sitting in the dining hall with grandfather and Trever even though they have finished their food and uncle had joined them.
“Look whose back!” Uncle got everyone’s attention drawn towards me when I appeared in the room. “Have a nice walk, did you?”
He looked around the table with a teasing smile and Trever chimed in. “Steal a kiss perhaps?”
They all laughed and my father calmed them. “All right. Don’t force him to boast about it if he doesn’t want to.”
“It’s okay, father. It’s only their curious nature.”
“So?” Uncle asked.
I smiled and stayed aloof. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
They laughed again.
“That just means you did.” Trever said.
“Getting cozy with your Princess. We’re happy for you.”
My uncle’s words took the smile right from my face. Did he just say what I think he just said? I looked to my father and he was trying to void my eyes with no success.
“You knew.” It wasn’t a question because I would have already knew the answer.
Blooming Life (Fate's Intent Book 10) Page 15
