by Kya Lind
Reya angrily replied, “Breaking things is no fun if nothing gets destroyed.” she complained breathing hard. Lady Talone nodded her head in understanding.
“My father. . . .,” her voice quivered, “he is mostly likely dead.”
Again Lady Talone nodded.
Reya dropped her head into her hands and wailed in despair. Lady moved across the room crawled up into the middle of the huge bed and wrapped Reya in her motherly arms.
When Reya finally quieted, exhausted from crying, Lady Talone smoothed back her hair.
“What are we going to do now?” Reya whimpered in a small, lost voice.
“Sir Talone has gone to see what he can discover; if they know your suspicions. You are not safe here now. We must get a message to your Uncle Moncary immediately. He and your aunt must be told so that they can protect you. If this impostor cannot find Ryan, he will use you to secure his position.”
Reya’s whole body shuttered in reaction to her words. She lifted her head and looked her tutor in the eyes. Terror filled her own. “I am not ready for this. . .. I don’t know what to do,” her voice trailed off.
There was a knock sounded on the bedroom door. Lady Talone turned her head and bid the newcomer to enter. She still sat in the fireplace chair. Reya still sat on the bed, surrounded by colorful pillows, obediently finishing the last of the food on her tray. The room was in perfect order.
The boy appeared in the doorway. “Pa is back,” he said, confusion in his voice. He did not understand why his mother didn’t already know. She always knew these kinds of things.
“Thank you, Benji.” His mother smoothed his unruly hair as she walked passed. The boy glanced at Reya, and opened his mouth but quickly closed it. Reya’s face was closed and expressionless. Not a good time to be asking questions, he decided.
Reya climbed out of the bed and wrapped a dressing gown over her slips. She followed Sir Talone’s voice to the sitting room.
“I do not know,” Sir Talone shook his head in apprehension and uncertainty. “I do not think they suspect, but I do not think Reya is safe. . . .Surely, they will not try to do anything until after Reya has forwarded the message she has been requested to deliver.”
Reya moved to sit on one of the sofas.
“They will want to secure Ryan, or marry Reya to a suitor of their choosing to produce an heir that they can control. We must get a message to your uncle Moncary quickly. They will keep you safe.”
Reya nodded her agreement. Her insides felt numb.
“You must stay in these rooms where you are safe until your uncle comes to rescue you,” Sir instructed. Reya again nodded her understanding. “ I will send messengers immediately.” He collected his cape and departed. Reya moved back to her bedroom. Lifting the silver tea tray carefully from the bed, she sat it on a small table next to the large glass vase filled with flowers.
Drained, Reya crawled into the bed. This time there were no dreams.
Lady Talone, Reya, and Boy stayed in Reya’s suite the next morning. Reya felt trapped and claustrophobic. Boy tried to interest her in cards, but after losing several hands to him she declined to play. She wanted to do something, but there was nothing to do, but wait.
Shortly after noon a message arrived from her father. Reya was requested to attend that night’s dinner with a young man just recently come to visit her father. Sir Talone asked around and discovered that the young man, Lord Vince, had only been in residence for a week. All three of the adults knew the dangers that could be waiting if they let something slip tonight.
Reya smoothed the rose silk of her dress down with both hands as Lady Talone curled each lock of the elaborate hairstyle she was constructing on the top of Reya’s head. The dress was stitched with silver embossed thread and the pattern of the thread woven throughout the skirt and bodice. The thread alone probably added an extra fifteen pounds to her outfit. Silver threaded ribbons weaved through her hair. A simple solid band of silver encircled her neck and silver earrings cuffed each earlobe. Reya had traded her twenty dangling bracelets for several close fitting bands that encircled her wrists and her forearms. Under the clothes, where no one could see, were silver chains around her waist and ankles. Her shoes even had silver plates in the soles.
Reya looked up as Sir Talone entered the room and closed the silver coated door.
Reya frowned at her tutor. “I am going to fall over under the weight of this much silver,” she complained. Sir Talone ignored her grumbling. “A necessary precaution, if you are to attend this ball without my presence to protect you tonight. The silver will protect you some. However, you must remain diligent. You must stay focused,” he instructed yet again.
Reya sighed, “I know you cannot use your talents to protect me tonight. But I do not feel ready to face this test alone.” Her hands fluttered in her lap nervously.
He patted her on the shoulder in a fatherly manner. “We have trained for years, you will do fine,” he reassured her. Lady Talone’s eyes locked with Sir Talone’s in the silver backed mirror. She knew when he was lying. He was as terrified as the young girl who sat before them.
“The trick is to be persuaded without losing yourself,” he continued. He reached out with his mind and pushed a strong persuading thought into hers.
Reya remained relaxed, and picked up a bottle of perfume sitting on the table before her. She smiled sweetly and raised the bottle to her mouth as though to drink. At the last second before the bottle touched her lips, her smile widened, and she held the bottle out to her instructor. “Want a drink, kind sir?”
Sir Talone laughed delightedly and took the bottle, returning it to the dressing table. “You are ready, child.”
Reya smiled at his compliment.
Maybe she could do this. Doubts still held the tension in her hands. “But can I stand against my ‘father’s’ new Persuader?” she wondered.
Reya left her silver protected chambers and moved gracefully with her companions through the building to the great doors of the dining hall. When her arrival was announced, Lord Vince appeared at her side almost immediately.
Reya curtsied. “My father has requested that I attend with you tonight, my lord.”
“Excellent, my dear!” Lord Vince presented his arm to Reya. She slid her hand into the crook of his arm, and smiled sweetly. Reya noted the close proximately of a servant that she assumed must be her father’s new Persuader. The man stood to Lord Vince’s left. He appeared to be the same height as Reya, in his late fifties or sixties, and seemed slightly faded as though the years had worn him thin. She could feel his gaze follow her. Reya and Lord Vince moved toward the head table; her companions followed closely behind.
Lord Vince’s true self was a rather short man, almost as round as he was tall. His light green vest only emphasized the width of his girth. Reya noticed that he was several inches shorter than herself. He was sweating profusely, and kept wiping his face with a linen kerchief that was already damp with perspiration. His eyes shifted back and forth as though searching for someone.
Lord Vince’s debonair mirage that he projected for the world to see was a tall, well muscled man with blond hair and blue eyes. He was well over six feet tall, with a warrior’s physique. As they moved through the groups, Reya noticed all the women, young and old, flustered at the sight of her handsome escort.
His pudgy fingers clasped hers in a gesture of intimacy. “Can’t you tell your attendants to take the night off, dear? Do they always hover so?” Lord Vince requested, in her ear, indicating her two companions who followed closely behind.
Reya felt the tug on the corner of her mind. She knew the tug would have been much stronger if she had not been encased in silver. Reya blinked. “They do hover, all the time you know. I cannot ever go anywhere without them.” She leaned close and whispered in Lord Vince’s ear, “They have to keep me safe. It is their sworn duty.” She nodded as if she had made an important proclamation.
Lord Vince waved his hand, “But you are in no dang
er here?”
Reya looked around at the large hall where many of the Nobles sat waiting to eat dinner. Reya felt the calm reassurance gently caress her mind, “Oh, yes, we are safe here.”
“So, tell your companions to have the night off,” Lord Vince suggested again, ignoring the footman and pulling Reya’s chair out himself.
Reya smiled and confessed, “Truthfully, they would love a night off. I am sure they are tired of following me around.” After being seated, she leaned back and motioned her tutor closer. “Sir Talone, I have decided to give you and Lady Talone the night off,” she declared magnanimously.
Sir Talone stiffened at this declaration. “My Lady, that would not be advisable,” he protested just as they had rehearsed.
Reya reached up and twirled a lock of her hair.
Sir Talone noted this movement and recognized the signal they had agreed upon previously, which meant that she felt she was handling the persuasion well. “We will move back as to not crowd you and your guest,” he compromised.
Reya had the strong urge to tell him to get lost, but smiled at him instead and instructed him and Lady Talone to move to the other side of the room.
“At last, we can breathe without those busybodies hearing every word,” She laughed in delight. She signaled, and the meal began.
Reya concentrated on her cranberry soludan served with pecan whip. She always thought it should be dessert and not a first course dish, but then some liberals declared that life was too short and that one should eat dessert first. She spooned the cool concoction into her mouth and let it melt onto her tongue. “Divine!” She was concentrating on her food so strongly that she missed what Lord Vince was saying.
She realized she had missed what he wanted when she felt the nudge, but did not know what she wanted to do about it. “I am so sorry, my Lord. What did you say?”
“I asked you if you know what a white elephant refers too?” he asked candidly.
Reya blinked; her mind registering that the reference was from her meeting the previous afternoon with her father. She must be more careful. Batting her eyes at Lord Vince, she smiled in delighted. He had given her the perfect opening for her favorite mindless topic.
“Oh, Lord Vince, I am ever so glad you asked. White Elephants are items of value that you no longer have a use for, but cost too much just to throw out. You know that Lady Faran and I are working to find donations for the orphan’s school here in the city. She came up with the perfect idea; a White Elephant sale. We are asking all of the Lords and Ladies for donations. You wouldn’t believe some of the lovely pieces we have received. There are a large owl clock and several ball masks. You know the kind. They are similar to the ones we wear at the Fall Paloosa. And a giant black cape, . . . .” Reya continued listing items endlessly as the courses were served. She could see that Lord Vince was bored to tears. It served him right.
“Dear, stop talking,” instructed Lord Vince when he could not take it anymore.
The waiter placed a crème brulee before her. She smiled and stopped talking immediately.
“Thank you,” he breathed rubbing his forehead with his drenched cloth.
“Oh, anything you wish, Your Lordship,” Reya gushed. She gazed at his handsome image feeling the desire to throw herself in his arms. Reya relaxed and tightened her mental control. She tried to keep the balance between recognizing what the persuasion wanted and 'Being' persuaded. It was getting too hard. She looked around for Sir Talone, but she could not locate him.
She was beginning to feel the panic rising at the back of her mind. Outwardly, she smiled sweetly and took Lord Vince’s arm as they left the table and moved to the ballroom. The gentleman swept her into a brisk dance to the music of Genosky played by the orchestra. Reya loved to dance and did not even seem to notice the many times that Lord Vince stepped on her feet during their several times around the dance floor.
At the end of the dance, Reya was flushed and breathless. “Oh, My Lord, you dance so exquisitely. I am sure all the other ladies are just quaking in jealousy that you chose to dance the first dance with me.” Reya noted that there were indeed several ladies glaring darts of envy in their direction.
Lord Vince laughed in good humor. “None can hold a candle to your beauty and grace.”
“Oh, do call me Reya, My Lord,” she playfully admonished. In the back of her mind, the panic clamored; this was so much. She had not meant to say that.
“Reya,” Lord Vince breathed the name like a caress, “We should find a quiet place to talk without all of these people.”
Reya nodded her head in agreement. “He is so cute,” she thought, “and so intelligent.” Reya pinched the underside of her arm. “Ouch. Stop being a ninny,” she lectured herself. Lord Vince moved her from the dance floor, though the great hall, and into the library. Looking around, Reya noted Lord Vince, the Persuader and herself were the only ones present.
“Oh, Lord Vince, you are so naughty. You know I cannot be alone with you like this. Whatever are you thinking?” Reya batted her eyes at the handsome Lord, who had swept her away from the crowds.
“What do you mean, dear? Your companions are here.”
Reya looked again, and sure enough Sir and Lady Talone stood silently in the corner of the room, smiling back at her.
Reya smiled at the handsome Lord and agreed to the arrangement. She moved to sit on the end of one of the sofas. “What did you wish to talk to me about, my dear Lord Vince?”
Lord Vince moved to sit very close to her.
Reya started twisting her silver bracelets around her wrist. This was the signal that she was not handling the persuasion well and needed Sir Talone to help her. She was confused when neither of her companions reacted to her silent plea.
Lord Vince stilled her hands by taking them into his. “I can tell that all of these rings and bangles bother you. Why don’t you take them off?” He suggested in a smooth voice.
Reya looked into his beautiful eyes, and relaxed. She nodded her head in agreement.
One after another, Reya pulled the silver bangles off, dropping them onto a low table at the end of the sofa. She gazed up into Lord Vince’s handsome face and sighed.
Lord Vince placed his hand under her chin and gently raised her head. “I know we have not known each other long dear, but I am certain that we are meant for each other.”
Reya blushed and tried to duck her head. He smiled into her eyes, and Reya knew he was going to kiss her. The persuasion swirled in her head. Her heart beat with excitement. His head slowly lowered; his mouth paused for a second right before their lips touched. Reya’s eyes drifted closed, and she tilted her head to receive his kiss.
The door flew open. Sir Talone in marched. He was followed closely by Lady Talone. Reya jumped and jerked her head guiltily. Then she looked from the two chaperones, standing in the corner of the room smiling, to the angry face of Sir Talone towering over the sofa. Sir Talone grabbed Reya’s hand and pulled her up from the sofa, before turning on the Persuader. “Her father will hear of this,” Sir Talone nearly shouted. He turned and marched out of the room, hauling a confused and disoriented Reya behind him. Lady Talone caught up with them, both of her hands filled with Reya’s silver jewelry.
Once they arrived at the suite, Sir Talone immediately sat Reya down and concentrated as he stared into her eyes. He found the persuasion and released it. Reya’s eyes cleared of the confusion and instantly she was seething with anger.
Once released, she exploded. “That man! First his takes my father’s place. . . .”
Sir Talone interrupted, “So, Lord Vince is the Allure who has replaced your father?”
“Lord Vince is not the person you described,” added Lady.
Reya blinked at them. “You still cannot see through his mirage?” she asked in surprise.
Lady Talone frowned in confusion.
“I don’t care what that short, fat, bald, . . sweaty, . . .ugly, . . . man is trying to do. . . HOW DARE HE TRY TO KISS ME!”
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br /> Reya stomped angrily back and forth around the seating room, continuing to rant. “Who does he think he is?”
“How is this so?” asked Lady Talone of her husband; the quiet conversation was in their minds alone.
Sir Talone frowned. “I do not know. I have never heard of an Allure that can hold an image for extended periods of time in the midst of a large crowd.” The image of Lord Vince sitting at the dining table surrounded by guests flashed quickly through their minds.
“If he thinks I will just land in his lap like a ripe plum. AGGG! He has another thing coming,” Reya continued to rant.
“Or one that can hold an image to himself and project a separate image.” Images of Lord Vince sitting on the sofa with Reya, their own images smiling back from the corner of the room, projected between them. “I have never heard of a Magic, who is strong enough that he deceives other trained Magics in his presence.” Sir Talone ducked his head; the frown lines creased his face.
“I will kill him with my own bare hands. How dare he ask me to betray my brother. How dare he persuade me. How Dare He Try To Kiss Me!”
Lady Talone moved, in her mind, to stand close to her husband. They both knew that kissing was not all that Lord Vince had in mind. Worriedly, Lady Talone looked up at her soulmate for guidance. “What should we do? How do we keep her safe?”
“I will skewer him alive. I will have him drawn and quartered for his treachery. I will have him hung from the portcullis.” Reya declared.
“How do we get a message to her uncle?” asked Lady Talone.
Sir Talone shook his head. “Her uncle cannot help. He will not believe a report that only the girl herself can see.”
Lady quivered in his arms. “What do we do? She will be persuaded and married to that man against her will and through her he will control her father’s position until Ryan returns.” They both shuddered in fear at what would have happened if Reya had known her brother’s location. “Or Reya’s husband will hold this position until Reya’s heir is old enough to be placed in the position.”
“I cannot believe that ogre of a man thought to kiss me. I will cut his tongue out.” Reya shuddered in revulsion and slumped into a high-backed, leather chair.
