I swore at the stupid vegetable garden as I scuttled back and found my feet. Of all the senseless luck.
Why hadn’t Belle warned me about this increased speed? Where was a friggin’ good empath when I needed one? Where was the sympathy?
After flinging the muck from my butt and my fingers, I tramped inside heading 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, the burst of water sprayed on me and I dealt with the stench.
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 like where Magio was and how long had it taken Davio to flash home? Because I was pretty sure 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, walking into my violet and cream bedroom and shuffled my homework about on my student desk, trying 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, being cast aside so quickly and easily.
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.
I shook my head in frustration–I was such an undecided female. Now I knew 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, gritting my teeth and forcing 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, pushing away from my desk to stop before the 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, they suck big time.”
I exhaled and crossed my hands behind my head. Turning eighteen had sure been monumental. My hearing was now phenomenal if I turned it 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, picking up the sound of it opening.
“Hey, Faith, it’s just me.” A key jingling and Silvie entered.
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, hooking my knees over the side of the bed as I scooted forward. “Come in, guys. I do have one day for all things Peacio to be explained.”
Belle followed behind Silvie, substantially less cheerful from the worried expression on her face. “Clearly the situation today didn’t end well.” She sat on the edge of the bed beside me. “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.”
My brow quirked. “Well, then tell me. Davio has left you here for a day. Is this Dralion and this war something of significant importance to me?”
“Perhaps. There’s been hostility 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 this way for too long 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–”
“No, no, no,” I gritted, sensing exactly where this conversation was headed. “A Halfling is not of strong lineage. 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 the facts, even though Davio has.” She gave me a small smile as she paused for breath. “Now you’re listening–truly listening. 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.
As she sat forward, Belle said, “Our people no longer physically age past 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– What? 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–you’ll need to deal with the fact you won’t age.”
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 n
o aid from that quarter.
Turning back to Belle, I cleared my throat and tried to make her see reason. “O-kay-doe-kay, so next you’ll be telling me I won’t be getting any gray hair either?” More than suspicious.
“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. About reaching adulthood at eighteen, well, you’ve never once said Magiolings never aged.” I stuck both hands on my hips and ground my teeth. “That’s impossible.”
“Provided you have the information that’s all that matters. Given time, you will see.”
I wagged my finger at her, then dropped it. I needed information. “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 is simply the luck of the draw as far as we understand.”
Huh, I needed more. “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 do not live in an age as advanced as yours is in this scientific field. We do not 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 so since the first male in their line has had the knowledge of forethought and could guide us.”
“That’s 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 did not 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 does not 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 man will be slow in coming, as is for all others who do not find their bound one.”
“What about you? Are you mated?”
“I have not 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 will not return. 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. “Trust me. Davio will be suffering from his decision. The male’s emotions regarding his female are all-consuming, and it is a part of the bond the males have no control over. Have you not 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 as best as I could. “A touch. Maybe a bit more.” My chin lifted. “But not in a good way, I might add.” 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 spoke. “Perhaps you need to stop overanalyzing and just go with the flow.”
I turned to my best friend, my brow lifting. “Nope, I barely know him.” Yet there was a niggling doubt, 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 what you do not say. You must see that you are the soul-bound mate chosen for our prince. You have to at least consider the full circle behind the concept.”
I dropped my head into my hands in growing frustration. “I don’t have to consider it at all. Davio left. His decision stands, and I will not change it.” I shrugged my heavy shoulders, knowing I couldn’t ask him to come back. What was between us was done. Finished. Over.
Belle knocked my arm with hers. “Hey, even women in Peacio are prone to changing their minds just as often as Earth women.”
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 was not 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 was not 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 at that comment. “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 and you well know it. It wasn’t that far-fetched 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, okay, you two.” With a scowl on her face, Belle pushed in between Silvie and me. “You two are so odd.” She nudged us further 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 obviously supposed to become aware of.
It was a weird, wacky and very long day.
Chapter 3
I woke with my brain fuzzy from the fantasy dream I’d had the night before, one which still gently floated around and kept me snuggly happy. Well, that was until I realized said dream was of one infuriating man named Davio Loveria.
Abruptly I dissolved that dream and bolted upright.
I grumbled and shuffled, on my bottom, toward the headboard. Leaning back, I listened to the chirpy sound of a Tui bird outside in the native Pohutakawa tree. At a guess, he had wished me a good morning.
I zeroed in on the Tui bird’s pretty call and turned up my receptors to a more satisfactory level. Simultaneously, I turned down the volume of passing traffic, not to mention blocking out my mother’s atrocious singing from her adjoining bathroom. Now there was a bo
nus.
Ah, sublime.
Perfect.
Only the pretty Tui bird’s trill left to fill the silence.
Finally, a more fulfilling start to the day.
Especially considering yesterday.
Oh boy, yesterday. Now there was a slice of reality.
Davio Loveria.
Nope, I wasn’t going to think about him.
Not worth it.
In fact, I would forcibly thrust him and his dratted recurring image from my mind.
Yeah, that’s better.
There’s precisely no need to go back there.
He was gone and so soon would Belle.
That was the way it should be. Pesky, Peacian people, be gone.
With that thought predominantly in my mind, and as the Tui bird flew away, I pushed back the covers and dropped my feet over the side of the bed and onto the cream carpet to begin my day. Eagerly, I dressed in a blue stretch t-shirt and shorts so I could go for my regular morning run before school, a run that had become important since my birthday last week. A need that must have something to do with my increased speed.
Racing through to my mother’s beloved kitchen, I skidded on the hardwood flooring and pulled open the white refrigerator door to grab a strawberry yogurt and a glass of water.
I made my way down the hallway and tapped on my mother’s bathroom door. My mother’s rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” came to a sudden halt at my insistent knocking. “Hey, Mum, I’m taking a run,” I yelled through the closed door.
“Be careful.”
“Will do.”
I cringed as Lady Gaga’s song resumed in my mother’s vocal disharmony. Time to go.
As I took Centennial Park Drive, my sneakers clipped across the pavement as I made the gravel entrance. The early morning sunshine beamed through the treetops, and I glanced left and right before checking my pace and slowing down my sprint so I appeared more like a normal morning jogger. None of this speeding along like a freak.
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