Heirs of Avalon

by Alica Mckenna Johnson

  Shin shrugged and opened a cap in the round platform to secure the pole into the floor.

  “Little Sister,” Kayin said. “You did very well.”

  Shin perked up, his sadness switching to hopefulness. I looked at him, but his thin black eyes focused on Kayin. Oh, well this was interesting.

  “Thanks, Big Brother. I think my abs are finally strong enough to support me through the whole routine.” I grabbed my water bottle and started pacing as I waited for my breathing to slow to normal. Gavin had drilled it into our heads that we should ‘Never stop moving until you can breathe normally again.’

  “Excuse me,” a little girl tugged on my shirt. “How did you do that?”

  “Oh, well,” I began. “Lots and lots of practice. You have to be really strong, eat all your vegetables, and get plenty of sleep.” Her mother smiled at me.

  “I’m going to be strong like you some day,” said a little boy staring up at Kayin.

  “I bet you are. Can you show me how strong you are?” Kayin asked kneeling in front of him.

  He scrunched his face and flexed his arms.

  “Oh, yes, you are very strong. How old are you?” Kayin asked.

  He puffed up his little chest and held out three fingers. “I’m four!”

  “Such a strong young man,” Kayin said. “I bet you are a big help to your mother and father.”

  He nodded his head.

  “Are you going to teach classes?” another girl asked me. “Mum, I don’t want to take stupid dance any more. I want to take her classes. But you hold the classes during my mom’s yoga class, it makes her happier that way.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said trying not to giggle. “We are just here for a few weeks.”

  “Look another one is starting! Can we watch, Miss. Williams, please? Daddy won’t mind I’m sure.”

  “For a little bit.” She sounded distracted. I looked back and saw that she was staring at Taliesin and Sasha who were in the middle of their silks routine. They twisted into the silks, each movement in sync with each other. Their bodies half wrapped in the black fabric, they paused then let go. The crowd gasped as they rolled, free-falling towards the floor. Little ones peeked through their fingers holding their breath as Sasha and Taliesin stopped mere inches from the floor. They clapped wildly as Taliesin and Sasha began to climb back up the silks.

  “Do you mind if we stay and watch?” Kayin asked. “We should stretch out anyway.”

  “Of course it’s okay.” Kayin sat next to me while the Chinese pole performers warmed up for their set. I bent down and wrapped my hands around my calves.

  A piano and guitar piece played. They began to bounce from one foot to another, while the music sounded in the background. The Chinese pole performers turned in a circle as they climbed up the poles. Kayin’s eyes were glued to Shin, which I understood. Slowly Shin climbed the pole, pulling himself up using only his hands and keeping his taut body a foot away from the pole. It was very impressive, and the play of muscles under his tight shirt was something worth staring at.

  “Kayin, you like him.”

  “Of course I like him, he’s my friend.”

  I pursed my lips wondering if I should say something more. Shin obviously liked Kayin as more than just a friend, and it sure seemed as if Kayin felt the same way.

  “This is brilliant,” said a little boy sitting down next to me. Soon Kayin and I were surrounded by small children gasping as Shin and the other Chinese pole performers leapt in synch from one vertical pole to another.

  While stretching I did my meditative breathing to strengthen my shields. Between Shin and Kayin lusting after each other, and our audience admiring the performers, I felt overwhelmed and in need of a shower.

  I flinched when everyone started clapping at the end of the performance. Turning, I saw that the back wall was lined with adults, most of them in workout clothes.

  Kayin stood when the music faded. “That was amazing, as always.”

  Shin grinned. “Thanks.”

  Both boys shifted nervously, their eyes darting back and forth.

  “Kayin, are you ready? Shin, are you headed back to the hotel? You can walk with us,” I said.

  Shin ran his thick fingers through his black and blue bangs, letting them fall over the right side of his face. “No, I still need to practice the acrobatics routine.”

  “Okay, see you later then?” I said.

  “Yes, we should be done in time for lunch.” Shin waved as the first child brave enough to go up and ask him a question tugged on his shirt. Soon the performers were surrounded by kids. Looking at the other end of the gym, Sasha and Taliesin knelt on the floor surrounded by little girls and boys in ballet costumes. It was so cute. Picking up my bag I found my phone and took photos of our performers talking to the children.

  Kayin sighed as he watched Shin lifting little kids onto the poles so they could try them.

  “Come on, we’re close to the park. Let’s get lost for a while.” I tugged on his arm and led him through the crowded hallway as another group stood outside the left room watching the German wheel practice. The German wheel looks like a thin, human-sized silver hamster wheel. The performer stands inside the wheel and uses the strength of his body to make it spin, turn, stop, and even revolve on its side like a coin before popping back up again.

  “That is bloody brilliant,” said a man as the performer began to flip in-between the two large rings. The air outside was cold and wet

  The park was beautiful in a desolate kind of way. Trees, naked in the cold December wind, seemed to reach for the gloomy sky. Flowerbeds absorbed the decaying leaves, ensuring that next year’s buds would blossom. Junipers shrubs brightened the dormant grass with dusky green needles.

  We walked, and I waited for Kayin to start talking. Hey, I could be patient when I had to.

  “You were brilliant,” said a boy as he rode his bike past us.

  “Yes,” squealed a little girl. The streamers on her bike fluttered as she rode. Their dad nodded at us as he passed.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Kayin rubbed his hand over his face. I grabbed his other hand in mine for support.

  “My dad sent me a letter; he wants me to come home. He was angry that I had been sent away. He remembered stories of people changing how they looked and having special powers. He’d never told my mother because she was from another tribe and was obsessed with demons.” Kayin wiped his eyes. “He took my brother and sisters, left my mom, and married another woman. He was so mad. He tried to find me, but there was no trail to follow.” Kayin reached up and tugged on his black and red hair.

  I waited quietly. He wanted to say more— I could feel it.

  “Liking the same sex is considered a white people’s disease. Those who do are sent to a healer.” Kayin stopped walking and looked up into the bare branches of an old oak tree. “I don’t think I can risk losing my family again, not when I just got them back. They sent me letters, and there was a picture of all of them, including a new baby brother from his new wife.”

  “Would it not be okay for you to be gay? Is there a chance they would accept it? Accept you?”

  “There have been gay couples who visited the nature preserve before. My father was always polite and never said anything rude, but then my father never speaks ill of people. I’m not sure how he’d feel about me, and what if he hated me, or rejected me?”

  “I don’t know, Kayin. But I hate the thought of you living your life without falling in love— and hiding who you are.”

  “I’ll always have you, right?”

  “Of course you have me. I will be by your side no matter what you choose, but Kayin, I hope you choose love and happiness.”

  Kayin smiled, but the sadness didn’t leave his eyes.

  My heart ached. I wanted to help Kayin, but didn’t know where to start. We walked back to the hotel with my mom’s words playing in my mind.

  Love is an amazing thing, and never should be taken for granted.
The love of a parent, friend, child, sibling, or romantic love. It’s all beautiful and should be cherished. However, before you can accept love and freely love others, you must love yourself, even the parts you don’t like, the parts that scare you, and the parts you wish you could change. Love is worth it, it’s worth the risk, the heartache, and being that vulnerable. I hope you find love in your life and cherish it.

  We were almost to the hotel when strong arms wrapped around me. “Bloody hell,” I yelled, as I wriggled to get loose.

  Shin laughed and let go. “You need to be more aware of your surroundings. Gavin asked me to teach you Hwa Rang Do to protect you from getting kidnapped. I feel like I’m failing.”

  Glaring, I shoved Shin. He didn’t move. I wanted to tell him that I could feel the Sons of Belial and their walk-in minions coming, their unnaturalness made me ill. But Shin wasn’t a Child of Fire and didn’t know about the ancient magical evil that hunted mythical beings, including us.

  “And really, Sapphire, you’ve only been here two days and already picking up British cuss words.” He shook his head and tutted at me.

  “You make it sound like it’s a foreign language,” I said, as we pushed through the revolving door.

  “It is. Between their accent and slang, I hardly know what they’re saying,” Shin said. Was he pouting?

  I rolled my eyes. “If you joined our British immersion marathon, you would be having an easier time.”

  “All you did was watch Dr. Who and some weird department store show.”

  “That’s not all, we also watched some mysteries, and Miu made us watch everything Jane Austen. The point is we’re all having an easier time understanding what people are saying.”

  “My favorite was Sherlock,” Kayin said.

  “Maybe I’ll watch that one,” Shin said with a smile. “But I don’t like Dr. Who.”

  “I can’t even look at you when you say stuff like that.” I turned and walked towards the blue banquet room.

  “But Sapphire,” he whined, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t let this little thing come between us.”

  “Little thing? Little thing? You walked out on David Tennant.”

  “He’s hot, but I’m not that into science fiction.”

  I huffed and tried to pull away. Shin leaned in and began to nuzzle my neck. “But, baby.”

  “Stop it!” I giggled trying to push away as Kayin opened the door. “You brute, leave me alone.”

  “What exactly are you doing to my niece?” Gavin’s voice was firm and a touch cold.

  Anali waved to me, smiling as she sat at the table. She looked pale but a lot better.

  Shin straightened up, clearing his throat. “Nothing, sir.”

  Gavin raised an eyebrow. “She’s only fifteen.”

  “I’ll be sixteen in a few days.” Wow, that somehow sounded younger than fifteen.

  Shin held his hands up and moved closer to Anali. It was always a good plan. If anyone could calm my uncle down, it was Anali. “Dude, Gavin, no way. We’re just friends.”

  “And you’re eighteen,” Gavin said. “Far too old for her.”

  Anali and I rolled our eyes, ignoring the fact that he was twenty-eight when he married Anali who was eighteen at the time.

  Anali sighed. Gavin turned his head so fast his wild fire red hair whipped around him. “Honey, are you okay?”

  “Yes, dear, I’m fine,” she said fluttering her hand. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “But could I get a glass of water, with a slice of lemon?”

  He smiled and the love and tenderness nearly overwhelmed me. “Of course. Anything.”

  Where the breakfast buffet had been this morning there was now an array of beverages and snacks. “Do you want anything, Kayin?” I asked.

  “What kinds of juice do they have?”

  “Um, orange, apple, pineapple and mango.”

  “Mango please,” Kayin said.

  “Me too, me too.” Shin batted his eyes at me, his short lashes not helping his cause.

  He could be such a brat. I sighed and poured three glasses of juice. I held my breath and walked back to the table. Success! I smiled as I gave them their juice—juice I had not spilled all over the floor.

  Gavin chuckled. “It’s cute how you can do an entire statue routine, balancing in challenging position in the air while Kayin holds you up, and yet you seem prouder of yourself for being able to carry three glasses a few feet.”

  Blushing, I picked up my glass. Rude!

  “Hey guys, how was practice?” Miu asked.

  “Good. What did you do this morning?” I replied.

  Miu held up sparkling, cotton-candy pink nails. “I practiced my fan dance routine in the room. I’m going to start training in hula-hoop this afternoon.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Anali said. “I’m glad you’ve found something else you are interested in.”

  “Hello,” Sasha, said as he walked in. Taliesin followed behind him.

  “Did you escape your rabid fans?” I teased.

  “Fans? Were people bothering you at the gym?” Gavin asked.

  Taliesin sat down after pouring a glass of pineapple juice. “Sapphire is trying to be funny. A few young kids watched us practice and came up after.”

  I pulled out my phone. “I have pictures.”

  “Oh, that is so cute,” Anali cooed as she looked through the photos. “I took a photography class in school, maybe I should start taking pictures again now that I can’t perform.”

  “What?” “Why?” “Are you okay?” were all said at once.

  Anali smiled and took Gavin’s hand. “We have some news. I’m pregnant.”

  After a moment of stunned silence. Miu squealed, breaking everyone out of their stupor. I stayed back while the others offered hugs and handshakes and congratulations. Once it was clear, I gave them both a hug. “Congratulations.”

  “Kayin and Sapphire, we are going to have to ask you to take over for statue right away,” Gavin said.

  “Of course,” I said, “She’s pregnant—she can’t do anything like that.”

  “Is everything okay?” Kayin asked. “Or is this an American thing? The women in my village kept working while pregnant.”

  Anali sighed, and I felt a soft cool sadness coming from her.

  I strengthened my empathic bubble. There were too many emotions floating around here.

  “I was pregnant during our first year of marriage, but had a miscarriage. We are being extra cautious, and I think everything is fine, I already have morning sickness. Last time I had none, and I have a mommy line.”

  “I am sure everything is just fine,” I said.

  “What’s a mommy line?” Sasha asked.

  “Some women get a dark line from their pubic bone to their belly button when they become pregnant. I guess it’s a reaction to the hormones,” Anali said.

  Sasha frowned. “I’m sorry I asked.”

  “Are you going to keep traveling with the circus?” Shin asked.

  My gut clenched as fear flooded me. I stared at the glass of juice. I would have taken a drink but my throat felt so tight I wasn’t sure I could swallow.

  “Of course. I already talked to Michael, and we will take six weeks off from touring, because Anali wants to be in India with her mom and sisters to have the baby,” said Gavin. “But we plan on staying with the circus.”

  “As if we could leave you guys. We’re family,” Anali said, her eyes glistening with tears.

  I forced a smile and did my best to keep my emotions to myself. Anali was also empathic, and I didn’t want to ruin her happiness. I wrapped up my fear and worry in a cocoon of energy. I guess it worked, because Anali’s smile never dimmed. While the others talked baby stuff, I replayed Gavin’s words. We plan on staying with the circus. Plans can change, plans aren’t certain. And because as the Jewel, I was the only one who can open the portal to Akasha, I would be staying with the circus no matter what they chose. And no matter how I tried, between t
he constant traveling and being hunted by the Sons of Belial, I couldn’t fit a tiny helpless baby into the picture.

  * * *

  My muscles were warm after jump rope practice, and I slid from yoga pose to yoga pose as I waited for the others to be ready for Hwa Rrang Do practice. Shin took Gavin’s request to train us seriously, and we practiced at least four times a week. I frequently wound up with bruises on my body and even more on my ego. Every time I thought I was getting better, Shin would teach us something new and I was lost again.

  “That was a great flip you did during jump rope,” Kayin said as he joined me.

  “Thanks, they said if I can do it right three more times during practice I can do it during the show.”

  “All right, my little grasshoppers, time to get beat up,” Shin said with an evil grin on his face. “Today we are going to continue to work on escape and evasion, focusing on bear hugs. Someone grabs you around the waist with the intention of taking you wherever they want to.”

  I shivered at the thought of one of the Sons of Belial ever grabbing me.

  “You have seconds to react. Never, ever allow them to take you to a secondary location,” Shin continued. “The first few minutes are the ones where the aggressor has the least amount of control. Whatever he tells you to do helps him, so always do the opposite.” Shin pointed at me. “Come, my little warrior princess.”

  Sighing, I walked over to him willing my muscles to relax. I learned early on the more relaxed and the more you went with the move, the less it hurt. Shin stood in front of me.

  “Wrap your arms around my waist,” he said. Shin found that we all learned better if we had the move done to us first. “Most people find being this physically close to a stranger startling and will freeze. You will not. You will yell for help and then place one hand on the chin. You reach the other behind your attacker.” Shin’s palm covered my chin and his fingers wrapped around my braid. “My left hand is in her hair so I’ll step back with my left foot. Pushing her chin to my right, I’ll pull her hair towards me and down.”

  The rest of my body followed my head and soon I was on the floor, exhaling as I landed.