by Stock, L. J.
“Earth to Cassandra.” Alexa's voice pulled me out of the weeks’ worth of information mulling around in my head and back to the present. We were out by the river again, practicing.
“Sorry, Lex.” I sighed, as I finished pulling off my socks. It was a heavily overcast day that was threatening rain. I was still trying to translocate to Acantha’s garden hose. Alexa had even asked her to stay close so I could focus on her if I failed to focus on the stream of water from the tiny round opening I was expected to appear from.
“It's not a problem. You've been working your ass off for a week solid. If you need a break–”
“No.” I cut her off, placing my shoes in the truck and tying my hair back. “I want to perfect this.”
I was still having the odd misfire and ending up somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be, and I wanted to be able to do it as naturally as Alexa did. I wanted it to be second nature to me.
“You pretty much have.”
Pretty much wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted it to be effortless, to think and go. Pretty much, was like saying keep your head up and hope for the best.
Nodding, I moved toward the river that looked even colder against the heavy, acrimonious gray of the sky. I was shivering before I was within ten feet of the banks. If I wasn't careful, I was going to end up on my Hawaiian beach again. Just the thought of the warm sun and balmy water was enough to sway me from the garden hose waiting for me at the farmhouse.
“Don't you dare.” Alexa laughed, closing the door to the truck and crossing her arms. She seemed to have a radar for when my head wasn’t entirely in the game.
“What?” I pouted. “Are you telling me you don't think about it when the weather's like this?”
“Of course I do, but it's not what today's about. The only issue you're having is landing in a more concentrated spot. Believe me, it will make life so much easier once you've perfected that.”
“Fine!” I groaned.
Alexa laughed again, her light eyes brightening. We'd become closer over the last couple of weeks, and I appeared to have a real friend, someone who got me and could accept me for who I was and what I could do. The fact that we shared the same gift was just an added bonus. We spent a lot of time together even when I wasn’t freezing my butt off in the river. She and Zander had taken me under their wings and I finally felt as though I belonged somewhere after years of feeling misplaced. Living here was like being a part of a secret society. As a kid, I'd always known I was different, but I had assimilated and adapted to my environment the best I could. I’d tried to be who I was expected to be, but the effort was never enough. Here, I could be me. I wasn’t molded and shaped, and I definitely wasn’t ridiculed for simply breathing as my father had taken great pleasure in doing.
The cool blades of grass sliding beneath my toes brought me out of my thoughts and back to the task at hand. I took as deep a breath as I could before heading to the frigid water roiling over the rocks.
“Hold up a second,” Alexa said, freezing me on the spot. “I want you to try something before you climb in there.”
“Like what? A wetsuit?” I asked sarcastically.
“Now there's a good idea.” She smirked, holding out a bottle of water to me. She shook it from side to side as though it would make it more enticing for me. “But alas, I think this is even better.”
“Nuh-uh, no way. I'm just getting the hang of this.” I held up my hands and kept them moving so she wouldn’t have a chance to trick me into using the bottled water to translocate.
“Oh come on, you won't master it unless you try.”
I rolled my eyes and gladly stepped away from the rushing river behind me. At least if I managed this, we didn't have to venture so far out into the wilderness to practice anymore.
I'd only just reached out for her to fill my palm when a tingling started at the nape of my neck and weaved its way down my spine, making me shudder. For a second I thought she’d already managed to fill my hand, but the tingle transformed into a shiver of what I could only describe as excitement. A second later, Damon was standing between us with a sweep of the wind. I stumbled backward at his unexpected and sudden appearance. Losing my balance, I knocked myself on my ass, the jolt up my spine making me yelp out in pain.
“Sorry,” Damon muttered, holding out his hand for me to take. There was a laugh tucked behind his hazel eyes, but he looked genuinely apologetic. “I didn't realize it was the two of you standing so close together that was channeling the breeze.”
“Way to look before you leap, jackass.” Alexa snorted as she rolled her eyes. It was obvious her humor was aimed at me. She seemed to enjoy the rare occasion when I fell on my ass.
“Hello, Alexa,” Damon said, shaking his head as I slipped my hand into his. His warmth seemed to flood my system, traveling through my veins and straight to my heart as he pulled me to my feet. I was hoping the hammering of my chest that echoed in my ears wasn’t loud enough for them to hear. Damon released my hand quickly, subtly shaking his before stepping to the side so he could see us both. I tried not to feel offended by the action, even though I was the only one who seemed to notice.
“What can we do for you?” Alexa asked impatiently, fighting the laugh that was in reserve for the view of me rubbing my ass, which I more than happily answered with a one fingered salute as Damon turned to look at her. “We're in the middle of a training session.”
“The king has granted Cass her request,” he replied pointedly, his eyes shooting to Alexa filled with an unspoken prompt that told me absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, it was a silent conversation Alexa seemed all too privy to. “He only has a couple of hours before his war council meets.”
“You mean, now?” I asked, my arms closing around my body to make myself smaller. “Way to give a girl some notice.”
“Is that sarcasm I hear?” Damon teased, stepping toward me. Lowering his voice, he said, “You've been spending too much time with Alexa.”
He was so close I could see the gentle lines that framed his subtle dimples, his unique, natural scent enveloping me like a comforting embrace, which only made my heart hammer harder in my chest. I couldn’t just see his amusement, I could feel it, and for a brief second, I wanted to lean closer to him.
“I heard that, you tool,” Alexa responded, giving him a slight shove so he stumbled to the side.
“Case in point,” Damon added smugly, giving me a subtle wink. I cursed myself for the girly giggle I offered in response. This new, relaxed version of him was something I could get used to.
“Fine, I'll head back to the house and let Acantha know. Oh, and Cass needs a big bullseye to land in. She still hasn't perfected her targets.”
“Duly noted,” he responded with an understanding smile.
“You okay with this?” Alexa asked me, looking past Damon to catch my eyes. I knew I didn't really have much of a choice but it was nice to be asked. If I were to say no, she’d probably tell me to suck it up, but she’d come to learn that I preferred to be included in the decision-making process, and I could have hugged her for doing it now.
Inclining my head, I looked to Damon who was watching me curiously. His dark hazel eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't even put a name to. Perhaps he'd expected me to turn him down, to walk away and try to keep things on my terms. I normally would have, but this was the King of Mortisali, someone with answers to the endless questions I had. Being difficult was only going to make me more impatient in the end. Being stubborn in this case would only create more hassle for me. There were so many things I wanted to know, including what the king was like? Did he enjoy having so much control over people’s lives? I knew he wasn’t discriminatory with women. Alexa was a Vis Liberi, so was it just me?
If this was the only chance I was going to have to ask these questions then I was going to use it. I was terrified of facing the King, but hopefully it would be the first and last time I would have to do it. Alexa had explained that she and Zander had only been to the palace
once, and that was when they’d first discovered what they were. The meeting was a formality. It would be the same way for me. I just had to get this over with.
I was physically ready to start my training. Zander had still been running with me every morning, which I’d grown to love. There was the weight conditioning in the barn’s gym, but I wanted more. I craved more. Weeks of endurance running and weights had made some changes to my body, but it didn’t mean I was ready to fight on my own. Strength was simply strength; the power came with knowing what to do with it.
“Why don’t I translocate? Then you can focus on me,” Damon said, pulling me from my own thoughts. I nodded in response and gave Alexa a smile of encouragement. At least one of us would feel better about the whole thing. There was no need for her to know I was panicking.
Damon wandered into the edge of the forest, turning to give me a smile before his body literally swept away from the space he’d just occupied. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. The leaves had rustled lightly, but it was the gradual disintegration that held my open mouthed stare.
“That's really freaky,” I finally stuttered out, snapping my jaw shut. Watching Damon translocate was like watching an hourglass dropping grains of sand. I was speechless and a little freaked out by it.
“Isn't it?” Alexa laughed, walking up beside me and squeezing my arm with a knowing smile. “It’s your turn now, and if you want my nickel’s worth, don't you go easy on him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you’ve figured it out. The fact that he left out how he could’ve contacted you once he’d learned it all. I think he believes that you haven’t deduced that yet. If I were you, I wouldn’t let on you know the truth. Make him work for it.”
“You're evil in the most beautiful way.” I chortled, bumping her shoulder with mine. Alexa sometimes understood me in ways many others couldn’t.
“I know.” She grinned, flipping her hair with grandeur.
“Cass, I'm here,” Damon said, his tone distracted. For a moment I wondered whether he’d been listening, or if something at the Palace had his attention.
“And just to prove my point.” Alexa smirked. She held out the water bottle she'd been about to pour before Damon's appearance, and picked up my hand to meet it. “You're still going to do this my way.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
She stuck out her tongue in response and poured the water into my hand before stepping back with a smile. Her fingers motioned a wave as I concentrated on the weight of the water in my palm. I let my mind move to Damon, which inevitably led to thinking about that tingling on the back of my neck and the unfathomable look in his eyes when they met mine. My skin quivered and buzzed gently and I pushed through. The familiarity of my body moving to the water and the tickle of the shimmer all surrounded me until I was sat waist deep in water in the marble basin of a large and rather spectacular fountain.
Meet and Greet
Blinking furiously to bite back my complaint at the surrounding cold, I looked up to see Damon grinning at me, his face lit up with amusement. The nagging pins of the cold water seemed to stab at my legs and hips until I shuddered violently, forcing him into action. He offered me his hand gallantly.
“Welcome to Brendaro, the Royal Palace of Mortisali,” he said quietly, stepping back and revealing the most beautiful building I'd ever seen in my life.
There was nothing in my world that even came close in comparison to it. Four towers rose high above the four or five floors of the base building, each holding an arrow slit and a Red, black and white flag that danced in the wind that had gathered around us. The cold was forgotten as my eyes glanced off each one, spotting the archers hidden away amongst the noble-looking stone. The façade of the place was just as awe-inspiring. The stone continued to all four corners, the windows framed in squared off pieces, while the eaves sheltered them from the elements.
It just seemed to go on and on, every intricate detail being swallowed whole as I stood gawping, only moving when Damon tugged on my hand and coaxed me forward again. My eyes moved to the stone arch ahead of us. It was a courtyard of sorts, and as we passed under the arch, I saw the large porte-cochere cradling huge oak doors that looked as though it would take at least four people to open them.
It was about that time that it dawned on me I was about to meet a king while looking like a drowned rat, in what was probably completely alien attire to him. Crap!
Rocking back on my heels, I slowed the two of us to a stop and looked up at the building again. What the hell had I been thinking? It had been so damn easy to envisage meeting a king and asking permission to do something he really didn't think I should be doing. It was a whole other thing to actually be doing it. I feared I'd truly gone and lost my damn mind.
“Cass?” Damon inquired, his eyebrows rising as he tugged on my hand. For a full minute he had the decency to look confused about my hesitance. Then it seemed to click, his amusement at my conundrum immediately annoying me. “It's really nothing to worry about.”
“Easy enough for you to say,” I grumbled, my hand flying out to point out his practically formal attire. “You don't look like you just took a bath in some weird trans-dimensional outfit. I'm meeting a damn king!”
“You look rather fetching wet.” There was an undertone to his voice that I would have probably appreciated at any other time, but I was so lost in the horror of what I was about to do, I ignored it, responding instead with a snarky, off the cuff comment.
“And you're a liar... in more than one sense of the word.”
“Excuse me?” Damon asked incredulously, his thick eyebrows high on his forehead.
“Oh, you're excused. For now,” I said pointedly, looking down at the gravel under my feet, trying to figure out how to dry off enough to not ruin whatever carpet they had in the palace.
“I’m sorry? I really don't understand.”
“You wouldn't. Now, can we get this over with before I lose my nerve and turn around?” I started off toward the huge doors again, the crunch under my feet like an announcement of my approach. My legs were freezing as the wind viciously whipped around them, making the bitter water even colder and sending another violent shudder down my spine.
I tried not to think about the fact that entering the place would mean actually having to meet the king. It was beginning to look like an impossible task when I hadn't so much as reached the doors yet. They seemed even farther away as Damon's warm hand wrapped around my upper arm and spun me around to face him.
“Why do you speak in so many riddles?”
“Me, or women in general?” I asked with a cocky tone, my lip curling into a sneer.
“You.”
“I'm really not speaking in riddles. Damon, you do realize that I have been practicing translocating for a while now?”
He looked at me and looked at the palace, almost as though he was proving his point. It seemed to take forever for him to make the connection.
“You mean...”
“I mean you just spoke to me from the palace while I was at the farmhouse... How many miles did you say that was?”
“Cass–”
“That's what I thought.” I leaned in closer to him, my finger only inches from his face. “It means you could have let me know you were alive. There was no risk involved whatsoever. You didn’t even have to leave the palace to do it.”
“We've been over this.”
“That's right. Duty and honor, correct? How very stupid of me.”
“You're twisting my words.”
“I'm–” My rant was cut short as the click and groan of the huge doors pulled my attention away from the pointless argument I’d started at the most inopportune time. It wasn't as though I could change the past.
A well-dressed man stepped outside the doors with a rigid posture and approached us with a quick step. With him were two heavily muscled guards in forest green uniforms.
“Damon, the k
ing requests your company. Miss Collier, if you would please accompany me, we have a suite ready for you to dry yourself.”
“Deacon, could you please give us a minute?” Damon asked. I could tell he was trying to be respectful, but his voice was strained with impatience. Whether it was with the intrusion or me was anybody’s guess. One of the guards seemed to look quite amused, though he was hiding it fairly well.
“I'm sorry, sir, but there's no time. King Kyros asked that you join him immediately.”
Damon nodded but gave me a lingering look before heading back toward the doors, leaving me alone with Deacon and his guards. Why he – someone I could only assume was the butler – would need guards was beyond me, but I wasn't going to ask, so I followed him silently into the huge building.
The architecture was amazing, and although I’d assumed the décor would be cold, it wasn't. In fact, the style was nothing like the pictures I'd seen of palaces from the same era in my own dimension. It seemed any likeness to the trans-dimensional palaces on the outside did not extend to the interior. The long corridor we were currently walking through had smaller halls off it leading to wings and rooms. The stone walls were covered in draperies and tapestries woven in warm colors, and the stone floor had a runner carpet laying down the length of it. The ceiling was far above, and there were chandeliers hanging every twenty feet or so, which I imagined would look spectacular at night.
It was all so archaic. I’d seen so many books filled with palaces from over the course of our dimension’s history, but I’d never seen one at work, and filled with the possessions of the Monarch who lived there.
“This is the Great Hall,” Deacon told me gently, obviously watching as my eyes tried to take everything in. “It leads to almost every wing in the Palace. It has a lot of history attached to it. These were the first stones laid when they began building the Palace. There are smaller, unseen corridors behind some of the draperies that were built after Thánatos made his intentions clear. King Layland made sure that there was always somewhere to hide should Thánatos choose to return. He wished to keep his people safe from his brother’s tyranny.”