‘That was too easy,’ I said, feeling smug.
‘You’re obviously very clever,’ he replied.
I wrapped my arms around his hips. ‘This is so much fun.’
‘I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.’
‘What about all of the others in the air and down there?’ I said, nodding in the direction of the launch area.
‘Hmm, there is a storm coming I think.’ As Leif said it, his eyes took in the people both in the air and on the land. Within moments the spectators had dispersed and the gliders in the air were landing and joining their fellow thrill seekers in swiftly packing up their equipment.
I held tight to Leif and watched in disbelief as the whole area became clear in a few short minutes. When everyone was gone I turned my attention back to him.
‘You’re amazing.’
He smiled and reached behind his back to unlock my hands from him. ‘Are you ready to fly, Marla?’
I couldn’t imagine it. I caught my bottom lip between my teeth and gnawed on it while I considered. ‘I’m not sure,’ I said after a moment.
‘Not sure? But you have your wings now. You are ready,’ he assured me. He reached behind me and ran a slow finger down my back. ‘These muscles, Marla, at the base of your wings—just move them. See what happens.’
‘I’m nervous.’
‘Don’t be, I’m here with you.’
I reached out to him and he took my hands, then I closed my eyes and put every bit of my focus on the muscles that joined to my wings. The wings began to move back and forth—slowly at first, then faster until they seemed to beat without me even trying. It was instinctual, like breathing. Then Leif’s hands vanished from mine as the pace increased and I flew up into the air like a helium balloon. I screamed, completely unprepared and utterly terrified. Though I made no conscious decision to do so, I must have stopped the movement, because the next thing I knew I was plummeting back to Earth and a little part of my mind was preparing my body for the impending crash. But Leif caught me deftly and gently in his arms. He was laughing but I was too relieved to be in one piece and hyperventilating too hard to tell him off for it.
‘That was good,’ he said, ‘But next time, don’t stop.’
‘Next time! You must be joking—I’m not doing that again!’
‘You will be fine.’
‘I’m not doing it.’ I folded my arms across my chest, reminding myself of my mother.
‘Well then, there’s only one other way.’ He ignored my protests and scooped me into his arms before flying out over the sea again. I felt tiny and insignificant as I glanced back to the cliff. Especially since I knew what Leif was about to do.
‘Ready?’ he asked when we were high in the sky again.
‘No.’
‘Come, Marla, be brave.’
‘Fine, but you’d better stay close.’
He released me from his arms and we both began to plummet towards the ocean. My wings sailed out behind me uselessly.
Go on, Marla, you can do this.
But I couldn’t, I was too frozen with fear. ‘Leif, I can’t,’ I cried to the wind. ‘Please hold me.’
He flew close and hauled me back into his strong arms. Then he took me high into the sky again. ‘You did this before, Marla. You can do it again. We are in the air now—there is nowhere for you to crash.’
‘There’s the sea,’ I pointed out.
‘You know I will not let that happen.’
‘Maybe I can do it if you hold onto me.’
He kept my hands and gave the rest of me to the sky. But this time he didn’t allow us to fall. Instead he hovered in the air, letting me dangle beneath him.
I started to move my wings and just like before, they seemed to speed up of their own accord. I shrieked as I shot above his head.
It’s okay, I’ve got you. Leif’s grip on my hands was firm, and after some serious concentration, I managed to gain some control. I wobbled up and down, adjusting the speed of the movements and soon—to my delight—I found myself keeping perfect time with him, my body matching his, weightless in the sky.
‘I’m flying, Leif!’
‘You are, my love.’ He laughed and let go of my hands.
I squealed, euphoric as I found my bearings after a few dips and twirls. Then I flew through the sky, my confidence complete, laughing like a mad thing as the cold air pricked my skin and whipped strands of hair around my face. I couldn’t stop. We played together, Leif and me, far out over the deep green sea where nobody could see us. We tumbled and chased each other, clutching at limbs and tangling together in the naked sky. But suddenly Leif stopped and hovered in place. I went to him and hovered beside him.
‘What time is it?’ he asked.
‘Quarter past two,’ I replied after looking at my watch. ‘Whoops.’
‘Come, it will be faster if I carry you.’
He took me in his arms. With a flick of my newfound muscles, my wings vanished and Leif flew as fast as a lightning strike to my home.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
If there was one thing guaranteed to provoke my mother’s wrath, it was being late for Sunday lunch when you’d made a commitment to being there. And if you were late, you’d better have a good excuse. I wondered if mine qualified.
But I needn’t have worried, because when Leif and I came through the balcony door, lunch was nowhere to be seen and my mother was sitting on the lounge looking pale and overwrought, her hand tucked securely into my father’s.
Dad looked up from their joined hands. The expression on his face was similar to the one he’d worn at his father’s funeral. Something inside of me came undone.
‘What’s wrong?’ I cried, rushing to my father’s side, praying that everything was okay.
‘Sit down, love . . . we need to talk—you too, Leif.’
My heart was pounding behind my ribs. ‘Nobody’s hurt are they? Where’s Ash?’
‘Everything’s fine, love, your sister’s at a friend’s house.’
Then I realised all the gloom was because of me. I relaxed back into my seat. Leif took my hand and held it in his lap.
After a moment, Dad said, ‘Everything you told us was true.’
I didn’t know if it was a question or a statement—not that it mattered. ‘Yes.’
‘The betrothal connection—this other world—the immortality at eighteen?’
‘All of it, Dad.’
My mother looked at me, her eyes were red and swollen and filled with something I’d never seen before—fear, perhaps? Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. I lay my hand on her arm and said, ‘It’s okay, Mum.’
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye as she murmured, ‘You’re my daughter, how could I not know?’
‘I’m still me, Mum. Nothing’s really changed.’
‘Everything’s changed . . . ’ A sobbing sound caught in the back of her throat and more tears started to leak from her eyes. She whispered, ‘I’ll wake up in a minute. I must wake up in a minute.’
Dad pulled her hard against him. Outside of our family, everyone thought Mum was the tough one and that Dad was quiet and gentle. But it wasn’t true. I mean it was true that Dad was quiet and gentle, but he also had this invisible strength—like he was made of steel but all wrapped up in cotton wool. And in my whole life, I’d never been more grateful for it than now. As he stroked my mother’s shoulder, he tucked his forehead against hers and said, ‘Karen, everything is going to be all right. Amy is safe and well and that’s all that matters.’ Then he looked at me and said, ‘Grab some money from the jar, love. Get you and Leif some lunch; your mum just needs a bit more time.’
He wanted us to leave them alone. I went to the kitchen and took a few dollars from the emergency stash and then Leif and I flew off to the beach.
When we returned a couple of hours later, though her eyes were still puffy, Mum seemed a bit more together.
‘Are you okay, Mum?’
She nodded but didn’t seem able t
o speak.
Dad made a pot of tea and put it on the table. After he’d brought milk and sugar and cups, he said we all needed to have a chat.
When we were seated at the table, Dad looked directly at Leif and in a voice that left no room for avoidance, said, ‘Is our daughter in any kind of danger?’
Leif didn’t miss a beat. He said, ‘I will never allow harm to come to your daughter, Lewis.’
Dad said, ‘Sounds like you’re evading the question, Leif, so I’ll rephrase. Is your father any threat to my daughter? He did banish her from this . . . Faera, did he not?’
‘My father is king. He is more powerful than you could possibly imagine. But I promise you that if he had wished Marla more harm than this earth was always bound to afford her, then her parents bringing her here would have been no real impediment to him.’ Leif’s face softened. ‘But please be assured, I will be staying close by until this whole situation is resolved.’
My eyes opened wide. I looked at Leif, but his face gave nothing away. I didn’t understand. Yesterday he’d told me it was unsafe for him to remain even one more night and now he intended to stay. Not wanting to worry my parents further, I kept the observation to myself.
‘And what exactly does that involve—the situation being resolved?’ my father asked.
‘Faera is Marla’s rightful home and I am currently in the process of acquiring leave for her to make it so. Only in Faera will she be able to reach immortality and become the person she was born to be.’
My mother’s hand flew to her mouth, stifling a strangled sob. Dad wound an arm around her, drawing her to his body.
‘Mum, don’t worry about it! I probably won’t even be allowed to go to Faera anyway!’ I gave Leif a look that told him he’d said too much.
He said, ‘Karen, please do not be concerned. I am prince of Faera and as my wife, your daughter will be permitted to come and go between Faera and Earth as she pleases.’
‘Your wife!’ my mother cried, trembling now. ‘Amy is only seventeen! She hasn’t even finished high school!’
I glared at Leif and this time he shut his big mouth.
‘Where is this place, Faera?’ Dad asked Leif.
Leif was thoughtful for a moment and all eyes were on him, waiting. ‘Where the sun reaches, Faera exists. It cannot be seen, unless you are within in it, but it is as tangible and connected to the sun as your Earth.’
‘Surely if the place exists we should be able to see it?’ Dad said.
‘The wind cannot be seen, nor the air,’ Leif said.
‘It’s not the same thing,’ Dad said, sounding impatient. ‘Those are not things that can be touched—they are not meant to be seen.’
‘And Faera is not meant to be seen by humans,’ Leif said, his voice gentle. He paused, but my father made no response, just sat staring at the cup before him, so Leif continued. ‘We are of different worlds, Lewis. If not for my father’s temper, our paths would not have crossed. Marla would be in Faera now, with little knowledge of this place. She and I would be planning our future together.’
Leif’s words reached right into my heart. It was difficult to comprehend that somewhere, in some alternate world, there was a whole other life I was supposed to have lived, a whole different set of people I should have fallen in love with. But it was also a strange reality that if King Telophy hadn’t seen fit to punish my parents, the family and friends I had grown to love in this world would be unknown to me. They would be nothing but numbers in a sea of humanity. Suddenly I couldn’t hate Leif’s father quite so much.
‘I feel like I should be sorry for the events that sent our daughter to us,’ my mother murmured after a few moments. ‘In a way, I suppose I am. But would I change anything? I don’t know.’
Leif’s response was instant. ‘I will be forever in your debt for the way you have cared for my betrothed so well. You have nothing to feel sorry for. You have no power to change anything that has happened so it serves no purpose to consider whether you would if you could. You love your daughter—of course you cannot imagine her not being part of your world.’
Mum managed a weak smile but drank the rest of her tea in silence. Then she went to her room for a lie down. Silently, Leif told me he was staying in the apartment beneath ours after confusing the owners and that he was going to go there now so I could talk to my father. He made an excuse to leave and I went to the living room with Dad.
‘Will Mum be all right?’ I asked him.
‘She’ll be fine, love.’
‘What about you?’
Dad patted the armrest of his recliner. ‘Come and sit with me a minute.’
I went and sat beside him. He put his arm around me and I tumbled into his side.
He said, ‘I should be stunned by all of this. And of course, in a way I am. But . . . I can’t deny that I’ve always known there was something different about you.’
I looked at him. ‘Really?’
‘Of course, Amy, I’m your dad. And it’s not just because you’ve struggled so much with your health. There’s more to it than that. Ashleigh’s always been my princess—when I recall her as a little girl, I think of her clomping around the place in your mother’s heels and jewels, making her presence known—solid and strong. But you were different, so fragile and ethereal, forever gazing out a window, lost in a dream. You’ve always been my fairy.’
‘I remember you telling me so,’ I said, warm at the recollection. ‘You used to say I was made from light and dreams—something like that.’
‘I used to tell you that you were my fairy, made from light and air—part light, part air, mixed together with love and created in mine and your mother’s dreams because we wished so hard for you.’
I smiled. ‘When I was sick and you told me that, it always made me feel better.’
‘How could I know how close to the truth I was?’ He squeezed me tight. ‘It’s never made any difference you know—you not being my blood. No father could love his daughter more than I love you.’
‘I know.’
‘None of this stuff will make any difference either—might just take us a little while to get used to, that’s all.’
I put my arms around my father’s neck and pressed my forehead to his temple. ‘I wonder if my Fae parents knew when they brought me to Earth that I would find my way to the best mum and dad in the world.’
My father squeezed me close. There were tears shining in his eyes.
Later I sat on the balcony with Leif, admiring his long legs propped on the balcony before him.
‘How come you’ve decided to stay?’ I asked him. ‘Yesterday you said it wasn’t safe.’
He watched me for a moment, then picked up my hand and laced his fingers with mine. ‘This morning I would have been here earlier. I was too early in fact, and afraid you might be sleeping still, so I stopped for a while at the beach. While I was enjoying the sun, I had a feeling of not being alone. I turned towards the hills just in time to notice something glittering in the distance. I can’t be sure, but I think it might have been a pair of Fae wings. I flew there directly, but whatever it was had disappeared. If I’m right and someone was following me, it could only have been a king to move so swiftly. I have decided I will stay. That way I can protect you directly and eliminate the risk of being followed again.’
‘Would it have been your father?’
Leif shook his head. ‘My father would not leave Telophy just to follow me. He would have someone do it for him.’
‘Who then?’
‘I don’t know—he is close to several of my grandfathers . . . I just wish I could be sure,’ he murmured, frowning.
‘Don’t your grandfathers have their own kingdoms to look after?’
‘Many are retired.’
‘Well, at least we can be together now.’
He smiled and squeezed my hand. ‘You are brave, Marla.’
‘Why wouldn’t I be? I have you to protect me.’ I lay my head on his shoulder. ‘What happened nex
t?’ I asked after a while.
‘Hmm?’ He was distracted, weaving his fingers into my hair, watching the long blond strands slide through the spaces between them.
‘What happened after you chased whoever it was away?’ I repeated with a smile, loving the attention.
He laughed softly. ‘You give me a lot of credit.’
‘Well, you did.’
‘When I was certain I was alone, I came and made an arrangement with the people in the unit beneath yours. They believe me to be a cousin come to visit.’
‘I wondered why you were so late today. I thought you weren’t coming.’
‘I’m sorry you were worried.’
‘It’s not your fault.’ I lifted his big hand and brought it to my lips, felt that divine essence come into me. I went to heaven for a little while.
‘I can’t bear that I’ve put you in this position,’ he said when I came back.
‘It’s not you—it’s that awful father of yours.’
‘But if I was followed, it is my fault. I should have stayed away.’
‘Don’t say that. I thought I was crazy before you came. Anyway, you can protect me now, can’t you?’
‘My father could send his entire guard and they would not get through me.’ He let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around me, pulled me tight against his chest.
‘I wouldn’t like to have to peel your arms away.’ I laughed. He loosened his grip—a little.
‘So what now, Leif?’
‘We wait. You go to school and do all of your usual things—I stay near enough to hear you if you need me. I don’t think he will be able to find you though. If I was followed, it was only to the beach.’
‘Won’t your father want to know where you are?’
‘Of course, but I have no intention of communicating with him.’
‘So you’re stuck here with me?’
He smiled. ‘That sounds quite nice actually—but it won’t be for long, I have arranged to present our case to a royal assembly.’
‘A what?’
Betrothed Page 16
