“Are you even trying?” he yelled at her.
“Yes, this might be easy for you, but it isn’t for me!” she yelled back at him.
“It’s not easy. You must focus. Feel your magic, then let it go slowly, you need to learn to control it.”
“No kidding, that’s the reason you’re here, isn’t it to teach me how to control it?” Sparks were flickering around her fingertips as she yelled at him.
Seeing El’s fingertips, he realized Zamian might have pushed her too far. “Ok, I think that’s enough for today. You both need to separate for a while and allow things to cool off,” Lazeen stated thoughtfully.
“Tell him that he’s the one that expects me to be perfect. He’s the one that has had years to practice” I just begun to learn.”
“You can do this; I know you can. You just have to focus on your target.”
Vigdis walked over, grabbed El’s arm, “Let’s go; you’ve done enough for today.”
“No, she hasn’t,” Zamian yelled to their backs.
Lazeen moved to stand in front of Zamian, “Yes, she has, you need to calm down. You can’t train her effectively by yelling at her.”
El wanted to give Zamian more of what was on her mind; unfortunately, Vigdis dragged her off. “Girl, you need to calm down before you hurt someone.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not going to hurt him. I just want to give him a piece of my mind as she raised her hand. She noticed the sparks dancing at her fingertips. Oops! He would have deserved it.”
“You would have regretted it later on, better to separate the two of you to calm down.”
“Fine, you can let go of me now.” She walked next to Vigdis as they walked out of the back gate of the training area. She went over to the water's edge, seeing the fish swimming about, she started to calm down.
“Feeling better?”
Smiling a little, “Thanks, your right, I didn’t want to hurt him. He just kept yelling at me.”
“I know I was there.” Vigdis laughed, “He got under your skin big time. Another thing you will have to work on.”
“Ugh, your right.” She frowned.
“WHAT WAS YOUR OBJECTIVE with that training lesson today? Was it to make her mad to the point she would lose control? For you were working on it.” Lazeen asked Zamian.
“What do you mean, I was trying to get her to focus on the metal man with her fire.”
“She was. You are going to have to be patient with her. You’ve had years. She’s only had months, and she’s doing fairly well with her magic.”
“Well, she still needs to focus.”
“Do you even realize how mad you made that poor child.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t see the sparks dancing around her fingertips?”
“Oh, No!”
“Who needs to focus now?” Lazeen looked him in the eye.
Zamian knew he was right. He needs to be patient with El. Just every time he gets close to her, his body temperature rises with a fire within to the point he wants to pull her tight and never let go. It was infuriating him. He liked being a loner. He didn’t want to be with her like that, or did he. It’s driving him crazy. He had to get her trained the sooner, the better.
“What’s going on with you?” Lazeen had been watching him, “It’s like you have an internal battle going on within you?”
That old-man had no idea. Zamian wasn’t about to tell Lazeen he was on fire for the Princess, “Nothing, I’m going to go lie down.” He walked off ahead of the old-man. He didn’t want to talk anymore. He headed straight for his room, locking the door behind him as he entered.
Chapter Seven
EL WALKED OVER TO THE table; she was still upset about the way Zamian had treated her in the training area. She picked up the book she had been waiting all day to finish. She climbed onto the windowsill without further delay; she opened the book. Within a minute, she was engrossed; it was indeed a fairy tale for the book ended with them getting married and having kids.
She climbed off the windowsill, went over to the table. Setting down the finished book. She picked up another one off the new stack Ivoka had put in her room. The book was thick. The cover was light in color; it was an old book. Curious, she sat down, propped up her feet on the other chair. There was no title on the cover. After the first chapter, she realized it was about Elven History. She wasn’t a history buff, but she had to admit this intrigued her since it would tell her more about herself, plus about the people whom she lives with daily. A quarter of the way through the book, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.
The next morning there was no sun shining through her window. Getting up, she went over to look outside; it was a gray day; it was raining. Well, this would put a damper on her training today. Wondering what the day would hold in store for her, she took her time getting dressed since there was no need to rush. Vigdis hadn’t knocked on the door, so she wasn’t late. Looking at herself in the mirror, she made sure everything looked satisfactory, hearing a knock at the door, she walked over, opened the door. She smiled at Vigdis, “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Vigdis looked at El; she wondered why she was in such a good mood, “You’re in a cheerful mood this gloomy day.”
“Yeah, can’t let the weather ruin one’s day.” She bounced down the hall, not sure why she was in such a good mood, but she simply was.
Shaking her head, Vigdis fell into step next to El. They took a different direction, a hall she hadn’t been down before. Walking into a large room, it contained a long wooden table which was in the middle of the room. The walls were rather bare compared to the rest of the place. Everyone was already sitting at the table.
“Ivoka prefers to eat outside; however, the weather is not permitting it because of the rain.”
“This is supposed to be the dining hall?”
“Yes,” Vigdis walked over, took her seat.
Ivoka cleared her throat, the weather being as it is today, gives you a day off to do as you please.
Shocked at this news, what the heck was she going to do with a whole day of no training; she surely didn’t want to be locked in her room reading all day.
Zamian looked at Ivoka, a smile tugged at the side of his face, El wondered what he was planning.
Vigdis leaned over, “Don’t go getting soft because you have a day off!”.
Laughing, she tried hard to keep a straight face as she ate her food. She looked down the table catching the site of Zamian. He was looking at her; she just looked at him, wondering what he was thinking.
“Zamian, would you please do me the honor of escorting El today? I need to discuss some things with Oberson, Lazeen, and Vigdis.”
Thinking this wasn’t a good idea; however, he couldn’t refuse, “It would be my honor, your majesty!” Great, he gets to babysit, maybe she’ll want to go back to her room for the day.
She didn’t like the idea Zamian now assigned as her security detail. Especially after the way he treated her yesterday. Now she wasn’t so sure she was happy to have the day off.
Standing she realized Zamian had come around to her side, “May we walk a bit, I don’t want to be locked up in my room yet, please?”
Looking at El, he realized she was in her room a lot; he didn’t know she was locked away. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to be out of the room as much as possible, “Yes, we can do that.” He followed her out of the dining area.
She turned down the hall to explore. She’d never been down it until this morning. Figuring it was as good of a place to start as any. She opened the next door; it was a room full of pictures all over the walls. She slowly walked, stopping at each image to look at intently. She figured they had to be past relatives.
As Zamian walked next to El, he realized as she was looking at the pictures that hung on the wall, she had no clue who any of them were. “Has anyone showed you around or told you about your people?”
“No! I have only been in
the library, a small sitting room, arena, balcony, Great Hall, the room we just ate our morning meal, and now this room. Oh! Plus, the garden outside.”
Man, that must suck El hasn’t seen much of anything, Zamian didn’t want to tell her that he’d seen more than she had, for this was supposed to be her home. Why hadn’t someone taken the time to show her around? It was like; she was a prisoner within her own home. He walked silently, next to her, as she looked at each picture; one even looked like her. There were slight differences, but if you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t see them. Once she’d seen all the pictures, they left the room.
As they walked down another hall, she opened several doors to realize they were servants’ quarters. At the end of the hall, there was a set of stairs that went down to another level. “Do you mind if we check it out?”
“No,” he grabbed a torch that was on the wall, using his fire magic, he lit the torch as he descended the stairs with El hot on his heels. At the bottom, the hall was completely dark, except for some torches that hung on the wall.
As they walked down the hallway, a creepy feeling swept over her, she didn’t like how she was feeling, but she wasn’t going to tell that to Zamian.
“Is it me, or is this hallway creepy?”
Looking over at Zamian, she wondered if he could read her mind, “Yes, very creepy, I thought it was just me.” She looked side to side as the hair on her arms; it was like pens and needles standing up. She picked up the pace. She didn’t like this hallway. She wanted out of it as soon as possible. She noticed Zamian had done the same so he could keep pace with her.
At the end of the hallway, there were two doors. El opened the door on the left; she walked in with Zamian right behind her. She looked around the room, seeing what seemed to be a rack, pillory, whip, branks, fireplace with several pokers that lined the walls. She gasped; it was a torture chamber. She wanted out of the room immediately.
The next-door El walked thru. She saw several cells that looked to be empty; now, she understood the creepiness; she was ready to get out of this part of her new home. “Let’s go back upstairs, please!”
Looking around, “Yes, I agree, this isn’t someplace to linger unless necessary.” Zamian grabbed El’s hand. He pulled her along back down the hall. He had a bad feeling, wanting out of this hallway as fast as possible; he wasn’t about to leave her behind down in this creepy place. He now knew what the eerie feeling was. It was the spirits that had passed on. They were still lingering within these walls. He wasn’t taking any chances of one of them, thinking they could get revenge on either one of them. He wasn’t sure if they could do so since he hadn’t had much experience with ghosts; however, he wasn’t about to find out.
Once they reached the first level, Zamian let go of El’s hand. She wished he would have held on to it. She felt safer, feeling his touch. She took off down the hall, passed the servants quarters she wanted out of this hallway. She heard Zamian running after her. He caught up to her grabbing her arm, he pulled her into a hug, “It’s ok we are safe.” He noticed she was shaking, holding her tight he waited until she calmed down.
Breathing in Zamian scent as he held her close, she laid her head on his chest. She didn’t like what she had seen. She never wanted to be on the receiving end of the items below. She knew this world was different, and there was no way to prepare her for what played out in her mind. She wondered, did her mother go down there during the torture of people? Would she be required to do so? She shivered at that thought. Glad he was here to comfort her, she felt safe in his arms, wishing she could stay here forever.
Feeling El was no longer shaking, he released her. They walked down another corridor, “Thank you.” He walked beside her, “You’re welcome.” They continued neither saying a word. She was trying to rid herself of the creepy feeling she had experienced from the floor below.
Stopping turning to El, “Do you, by chance, play Chess?”
El looked at Zamian, “Yes, I do.”
“Good come on,” Zamian grabbed her hand. He led the way down the hall. They entered into a room. It was large, with a couple of chairs placed in front of a fireplace. On the table between the chairs was a very exquisite Chess set.
“I figured this might help get the images from below out of our minds if we had something else to focus on.”
A small smile crept across her face, “Good thinking, you want to be white or black?”
“I will be black?” he took a chair.
She sat down across from him as she moved a white pawn to start the game.
Zamian thought to himself; this should be an easy game. Boy, was he dead wrong? She was better than he had given her credit. She was very good at this game. He now feared he might lose.
As she moved her knight, she had to admit he was a formidable opponent. Which El was grateful for because she loved a challenge. She was watching as he made the wrong move. She was in for the kill.
“How did you learn to play so well?”
Oops, she hadn’t thought about the consequences of winning. She couldn’t tell Zamian she was a chess champion at her school; he wasn’t to know of the other world. “Well, when you have lots of time locked away in your room, you get to read. I’ve read about almost every strategy; there is to win the game. Want to play again?”
Thinking Zamian could redeem himself, “Yes!” He grabbed the pieces, handed them back to her.
They set up the board again, this time they both took their time, calculating each move. It wasn’t going to be a quick game like the last one had been. El moved a piece Zamian hadn’t expected.
“Woof!”
Hearing the noise, he made she busted out laughing.
“Hey, not funny!” he gave her a stern look.
“Oh, yes, it is.” She smiled at him.
“No, it’s not,” he looked at the board he was trying to figure out his next move since she had taken this game in a different direction than what he thought she would have. Thinking he’d figured out what to do, he made his move.
“Augh!”
Hearing her make a noise, he laughed.
“Not funny at all!” she eyed him.
“Yes, it is,” he laughed harder.
Thinking about it, “Ok, maybe it is,” she busted out laughing. Funny how karma can come back to bite you sometimes. She looked at the chessboard, planning her next attack, thinking about every possible move Zamian could make, with each move she could make. She took her Knight moved it “Check!”
Zamian looked at the board, “No way, already?”
El saw the surprise on his face. He was studying the board hard, but he figured out what she had hoped he would miss. His move, he took her Knight releasing the check, but at least she had him on the defense, she just had to keep it up. She studied the board, contemplating her next move. She had two options one could put him in check again, or the other would end the game. Not wanting to end the game for fear that he wouldn’t want to play with her anymore, she made a move putting him in check, allowing the game to continue.
“Why didn’t you go for the win?” he looked at her curiously.
She looked up at him, “I was afraid if I won and the game ended, you wouldn’t want to play anymore since I had won both games, and you’d take me back to my room. I don’t want to go back to my room.”
Shocked Zamian relaxed a bit, “Tell you what, I won’t take you back to your room until you are ready to go if you don’t throw any more games, deal?”
Smiling, “Deal.”
They reset-up the board to play again, and this game went on for hours. They played several more games. El won most of the games. She had to admit; this was the most fun she has had in a long time, since her old life in the other world. They had just finished a game when they realized it was time for the evening meal.
“I don’t know about you, but I am hungry.”
Zamian smiled, “Yeah, I’m starved, might not have been such a good idea to play through mid-day meal. They laughed
together.
“We would have missed all this fun.” She smiled at him.
Her smile affected him; things were stirring within him, “True, we couldn’t allow that to happen.” He stood as he walked out of the room with El by his side. They walked down the hall, which led to the balcony.
El walked over and took her seat.
“Did you enjoy yourself today?” Ivoka asked while taking a bite of the meat that was on her plate.
“Yes, ma’am, I did!” she responded between bites of her food, enjoying every morsel of this meal; it was delicious. She had to admit, if she hadn’t been doing her training with Vigdis, she would be as big as a house. After everyone had finished eating their meal, Vigdis walked her back to her room, once she had gone inside; she locked her door. Hearing Vigdis double-check her door. She walked over to the bathing area, Elva had prepared her a hot bath with Lavender oil; she could smell its aroma, loving the Lavender Oil. It was so relaxing, plus it made her smell good. She was climbing into the tub, leaning back against the back of the bathtub, soaking up the warmth from the water. When the water turned slightly cold, she got out of the tub, drying off quickly; she dressed in her nightwear.
Zamian was in his room lying on his bed, he thought about today, he enjoyed spending time with El. She was much wiser than he had first considered she would be since she was so young. He wondered how she got to be so smart. He didn’t think all her knowledge came from the books she had read. He felt she was holding something back, but he wasn’t sure what, nor why.
What he did know was the more he is around her, the more his body reacted, coming alive inside. Even when they were in the creepy hallway, as he held her hand to get them out of there quickly, it was like electrical currents had flowed between them. He didn’t know if she felt it as well, or if it was just him. He felt this empowering need to protect her, while they were in that creepy place, he couldn’t imagine something terrible happening to her, and it wasn’t because she was young, there was more to it, though right now he couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. What he didn’t understand was why he was feeling this way, he’d been having a hard time keeping her out of his thoughts here lately. He’s been trying his best to keep his distance from her, but it seems the more that he’s around her, the more she invades his thoughts. Closing his eyes, he laid there, trying to clear his mind, willing sleep would come.
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