The door opened and Able came in, alone, carrying a rather large package. He winked at Delphi as he passed the ladies on his way to the kitchen to set down the meat. Delphi cleared her throat and followed him.
“We should get going,” Rai said, ruffling her short purple hair as she stood .
“Yeah, we have things to do,” Rira said, stretching.
“What are you two talking about?” Renae asked.
Rai and Rira hauled Renae to her feet and the triplets left Es all alone at the table. She stood and began clearing away their dishes as Delphi and Able returned, big smiles upon both of their faces. Able gave her a wink and left while Delphi helped her collect the cups. Es wondered what could be going on as she helped Delphi prepare the meat Able had brought home for dinner.
Ӝ
Valdrik’s nerves were shot. He had bought Revlis many gifts, including a special betrothal gift, and left them on the ship. Now he had to figure out when it would be the right time to present it and not screw it up. He was a soldier preparing to mate a princess after all.
Vivaldi came up behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. “My apologies, Captain.”
Valdrik shook his head and she continued. “It is as you thought. There are still many supporters of the King here. We have apprehended many, however we believe there may be more. We have questioned those that we have, and they suspect you have the Princess. Perhaps we should move them? If they come after her tonight, your family will be in danger.”
Valdrik nodded his understanding. “Inform Draconis and Kira to come to my parent’s home after nightfall. You are in charge of the ship. I will inform Yasu so that he and his can be equally prepared.”
There was no movement to indicate she had left and he sensed she was still behind him. “There’s something else, isn’t there?” he said with a sigh.
“Our prisoners have mentioned that a few of the King’s children are here, as well. They are likely here for Kalis and the Princess,” she replied.
Valdrik nodded and Vivaldi disappeared. He drew a long breath and slowly exhaled. The trouble had begun.
Ӝ
“Are you certain?” Yasu asked.
“Do you question your mate’s intel?” Valdrik retorted.
Able raised a brow. “And just when were you going to tell your mother and I about you finding your mate as well? Hm?” he asked Yasu.
Yasu laughed nervously then licked his lips. Not looking at his father he replied, “Ah, well, it had happened pretty recently. She’s Val’s First Officer.” He flushed under his father’s gaze then looked at his brother before looking up at his father.
Able smiled and clapped both of his boys’ backs, nearly knocking their heads together. His two eldest had found their mates and he couldn’t be happier for them. Problem was, they were all in danger and he didn’t want to see his boys lose their mates after finally having found them. “What can I do to help?”
Ӝ
“Where are we going?” Es asked Valdrik as they prepared to leave. “I thought we were staying here.”
Valdrik stopped packing their bags to cross the room to his beloved, kissing her hand. “We were going to, only if it were safe enough to do so,” he said as he lifted her bag over head and adjusted the strap across her shoulder.
“Something has happened, hasn’t it?” Es inquired. Valdrik nodded and returned to loading his things.
A knock on the bedroom door sounded, drawing their attention. The door opened to reveal Yasu and Delphi. “Ready?” Yasu asked. Valdrik nodded as he cinched his sack and flung it over his shoulder.
Es followed Valdrik down the hall and down a set of stairs into a dark and damp room that Es could barely see in.
“Listen to me, little ones. You must stay close to us, understand? I know Elves cannot see well in darkness, so be sure not to stray,” Able said as he disappeared into the darkness with Kira and Yasu following close behind. Kalis went next with Es and Valdrik bringing up the rear. Es gripped Val’s arm as they moved through the dark, sensing tense muscle beneath his coat.
She wondered what could have happened to cut their visit short and put everyone on edge. She understood they didn’t want her to worry, but she was worried anyway – more so because they weren’t giving her details. Why not tell her what’s going on? She lost herself in thought as they walked in complete silence.
They came to a sudden stop. “Do not make a sound,” Able instructed them, and then they moved forward again. Es stubbed her toes on something hard.
“There are stairs, here, Love.” Valdrik whispered into her ear. She nodded her understanding as he guided her slowly up the steps. The further they went, the easier she could see the stairs. The staircase wound up in a spiral and light was coming from somewhere above. Upon reaching the top, she found herself in the garden in the back of the castle. The one she had once called home.
Es opened her mouth to ask if the tunnel had always been there, but Valdrik placed a hand over her mouth and shook his head. She nodded and looked ahead. Parts of the home she once knew sat in ruins.
Able patted Es and Valdrik on the shoulders as he passed and retreated back into the tunnel. Valdrik pulled Es along with him as they followed the others into the castle. They made their way through the familiar corridors until they reached her room. Once inside, the group breathed a sigh of relief and Yasu spoke up. “I will do a quick perimeter check and return.”
“I will go as well,” Kira offered.
Valdrik placed a kiss to Es’ forehead. “We will find your Memcry trinkets and anything else you want to keep. We will not be returning here. You two should remain here. I am going to help them make sure you are safe.”
Es watched as he, too, left her behind. She opened her wardrobe to, sadly, find it empty. She had left a few dresses in there she was attached to, before she’d left. If she could’ve, she would’ve taken them. But, it was too late for that now. With a sigh, she closed the wardrobe and searched her room. It seemed the castle had been ransacked by thieves. Or, she thought, her sisters had stolen away what they had wanted.
She dropped down to her knees and wiggled beneath her bed. It was harder than she remembered, but she should have expected that, since her body was much different now than when she was a teenager. She felt around for her old familiar hiding spot and popped up the loose flooring. She reached in her hand and felt around for her treasure box. She pulled it up and replaced the flooring. After wiggling out from her bed, she came to realize she was alone. Kalis must have left while she was under the bed. With a sigh, she opened her box to find that, thankfully, it was untouched.
She smiled as she rifled through the various crystals and found a small orb with a preserved lily inside. Her mother had preserved it for her after she had told her the story behind it. It was precious to her - the first gift Valdrik had ever given her - and it reminded her of their first kiss. It was also the last time she had spoken to her mother. She let herself get lost in the memory as if she were reliving it.
Revlis sat upon a branch, giggling as she leaned over, searching for her seeker. No matter where she looked, she did not see him and assumed she had finally outsmarted him or at least out ran his nose.
“Found you,” he whispered into her ear as she sat back up.
She shrieked and he laughed as she swatted at him. The momentum from her swing made her lose her balance, and she fell off of her perch. He grabbed her arm with one hand and the branch she had been sitting on with the other. He was able to swing enough to ensure she landed on him upon hitting the ground.
As he wheezed for air, Revlis rolled off of him, worried he had gotten hurt from the fall. He saw her concern and sat up, brushed leaves from his hair and gave her a big grin.
“Found you,” he said again.
“You scared me,” she said, smacking him again as she laughed.
“Hey, I want to show you something,” he said as he helped her to her feet.
They walked through the forest and aft
er a while, he covered her eyes and guided her to where he wanted. Then he removed his hands and she saw lilies everywhere.
“I know they’re your favorite, so when I found this nice spot out here, I planted some,” he said as he took her hand and led her into the lilies.
They sat down where he had hidden a basket. He removed a cloth and pulled out bread, meat, cheese, and a bowl of berries. They talked and laughed as they ate, becoming brave enough to feed one other. As they prepared to leave, he picked a fire lily and placed it above her ear.
They gazed at one another, their pulses racing, their breathing shallow. He touched his nose to hers, and she tilted back. For the first time, their lips met. It was the greatest sensation Revlis had ever felt and her heart fluttered.
He pulled away and smiled. She smiled back as she took his hand. She couldn’t wait to tell Father that she had fallen in love.
As Es came back to the present, a smile still upon her lips, she replaced the orb and closed the box. She had other things to collect that were not in her room. She stood up and dusted herself off as she put the box in her bag and left the room.
Ӝ
Valdrik returned to his mate’s old bedroom to find it empty. Aghast they had disobeyed him, knowing their safety was at stake, he stalked out of the room, following Es’ scent and mentally rehearsing giving her a good scolding.
Ӝ
Es entered her mother’s room, locking the door behind her, and went to her mother’s secret hiding spot. She had trouble moving the wardrobe, but once it was out of the way, she was able to get into the hole easily. Inside the wall, Es counted her steps and reached up towards where her mother had always kept her special belongings. Es grabbed the small box and climbed out of the wall. She opened the box and found the beautiful silver lotus necklace her father had proposed to her mother with and a fist-sized Memcry. She sat in her mother’s chair and grasped the crystal, wondering what memories her mother had locked away.
The crystal began glowing in her hand. She didn’t remember putting any memory on this crystal, so she let her mind follow what the crystal wanted to show her.
Someone fumbling with the door brought her back to the present. She clambered back inside the hole and pulled the wardrobe back into place. She made her way through the wall as her mother had shown her when she was a child in case of an emergency. She found her way to the hidden stairwell and proceeded downwards into the darkness, her movements based only on memories.
Ӝ
Es had been in here recently, according to her scent. She was driving Valdrik mad. He had specifically told her to stay put; now here he was chasing her down. It was one thing to move about the castle to collect things, but she could have waited for him. He left the room, but did not smell her scent nearly as strongly as inside the room. He went back inside and closed the door, following her scent.
It led him to the wardrobe. His curious little kitten must be hiding from him. With a triumphant smirk, he flung it open. Empty. He shut the doors and sniffed the air again, confused. Then he caught it. A slight waft of air drifted from behind the wardrobe. He yanked it away from the wall and found a hole large enough for a child. He put his head into the hole and caught her scent. That was where his little minx had run off to. He climbed into the hole with some difficulty and squeezed himself along the wall, cursing his beloved’s curiosity.
Ӝ
Es pushed on the old wooden bookcase that she remembered led into her mother’s study. Other than a few books having been tossed about, the room looked untouched, as if whoever had been there couldn’t find what they were looking for.
Es gripped her bag, wondering if the crystal she had found was what they had been after. She picked up the books off the floor and returned them to their rightful places. As she put the books back, she slid her fingers across the spines, remembering the time she and her siblings had spent in this room with their mother. They had sat at the big square table, listening to their mother’s teaching.
Es went over to her mother’s desk, running her hands across the magnolia wood as she pictured her mother sitting there reading her books. She opened the top right drawer and bent her arm around the backside of it, feeling for the little switch her mother had shown her. Her fingers found it and up popped a secret compartment in the drawer. Her mother’s journal.
She ran her fingers across the velvet cover, wishing she could see her mother again. To smell her perfume, to feel her embrace, to hear her voice. She brought the notebook to her lips as tears welled up in her eyes. She really wanted to take the time to read it right here, but she knew Val had probably returned to the room by now. She was sure he would be upset that she hadn’t stayed there as he had instructed.
Es stuffed the book into her bag and felt around in the compartment for anything else. Her fingertips brushed against something cold. She grasped it and pulled it out into the dim moonlight shining from the large window that sat above her mother’s desk. A key. But to what? Again she swept her hand into the drawer and came across another Memcry. After that, there seemed to be nothing else. She placed the key and the new crystal into her mother’s box and headed for her father’s study.
Ӝ
Valdrik saw light up ahead and quickened his steps. As he exited the staircase from behind a bookcase, he cursed at the empty room. His little Elf was moving quickly and he couldn’t seem to catch up. Oddly enough, this was the only room he found to be untouched. Catching his beloved’s scent all over the room, he realized she must have tidied it up. He glanced at the books and recognized many as stories from his childhood and history he had studied over the years.
He must be in the Queen’s study, since she was the one who had conducted her children’s lessons. Glancing at the large table in the center of the room, his guess was confirmed from the many stools placed neatly beneath the table. He smiled at the thought of his mate gathering their own offspring around a table and teaching each of them about their ancestors as well as magick incantations.
With a skip in his step and a grin on his face, he exited the room, continuing the search for his mate. He just couldn’t stay angry with her.
Ӝ
Es paused at the cracked door of her father’s study as she heard someone rifling through her father’s things. She crept up toward the edge of the door to peek into the room. Just as she began to look, her shoulder bumped the door causing a soft creak. She backed away, mentally kicking herself, then tried again to peer into the room. She was met with a dagger inches from her face. A pair of black eyes, shrouded in shadow by a cloak of black hair, peered into hers. The dagger was sheathed as Zanan stood back to allow her entry.
“What are you doing here, Princess?” he asked.
“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Zanan pulled her inside and closed the door. “Looking for anything that can be used as evidence against your Father, but someone left this room a mess before I got here.”
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t do it,” she said as she held up her hands.
“I know, but you haven’t seen the state of the castle, Princess,” he said as he shuffled through some books and papers.
“I can guess,” she said. “My clothing and jewelry are gone as well as mother’s. Her study was in disarray, but not nearly on this level.”
Es stepped over broken glass and piles of books and made her way to the desk, wondering if there would be a hidden compartment like in her mother’s. She pulled on each drawer and ran her fingers across each one, looking for the switch.
“What are you doing?” Zanan asked as he crossed over to her.
“Mother’s desk has a secret compartment, and the same craftsman made father’s desk, so I thought he might have one as well, but I’m not finding the switch.”
Zanan yanked each drawer out of its setting and proceeded to shake each one. None made a sound. He checked each as she had and did not find any hidden switches. He tapped on each drawer; one sounding differe
nt than the others. He turned it every which way, looking for the lever. He huffed and pulled out his dagger. Wiggling it in a crack, he popped open the hidden compartment, revealing a book.
The door creaked open, and their heads snapped up to see Kalis had had the same idea as them. Zanan stared at his mate in shock, mouth falling agape. Es knew Zanan hadn’t seen Kalis in over four hundred years, and last he’d heard, he’d been killed by a chimera. Yet, he now stood before him. Kalis gave him a sad smile and walked over to them. He squeezed Zanan’s arm and saw the book. He reached in, flipped it open and tossed it back into the drawer. “It’s blank,” he said.
“Of course, it’s blank, you fool!” a voice said from the doorway.
“It was a trap all along,” another voice said.
“Malik!” Kalis cried out.
“Mikalis!” Es exclaimed.
Lotus: Dark Lotus Chronicles One Page 11