Curtis rubbed his arms as he backed away. He looked at me and mumbled, “Sorry,” before rushing across the street to his house.
“Why do you do that?” Amira asked.
“Do what?” Jai continued to watch Curtis as he retreated.
“You didn’t have to humiliate him.” Amira shook her head. “He will be watching us more closely now.”
“No,” Jai smiled. “I don’t think we will have to worry much about him. I could see it in his eyes.”
“You can read his mind by looking in his eyes?” I asked. What other kinds of alien powers did he have?
“No, I’ve just seen cowardice before. He talks big, but he won’t bother us anymore.” Jai glanced toward Curtis’s house just as the front door closed.
****
A week later we sat on my front porch swing, chatting. Amira leaned over to me. “Holly, will you please take Jai to the movies or something? I would like an evening by myself.” I looked at Jai in surprise. A slow blush crept up his neck.
“Amira, why don’t you let me ask her instead of begging her to take me?” he thought and then seemed to remember I could hear his thoughts too. “Sorry, Holly.” He looked at Amira. “I am uncomfortable leaving you alone. I must keep you safe.”
“I won’t be alone. Marshal and Delilah are capable of protecting me. Besides, I have no intentions of leaving the house. I want a break from you.” Her thoughts sounded light, but she had a serious undertone to her words.
I would probably die of irritation if I was always with someone and never had time for myself. Of course, if it was Jai I was always with, I might make an exception. He wasn’t my cousin after all. I could stand to have him around a lot more.
“But what about your Vision? You were so panicked he was going to be able to come find us,” Jai said.
“I haven’t had any other Visions,” she said. “If he knew our location and was coming for us, I would be warned in advance.”
“I can’t be sure about that,” Jai shook his head.
“Well, how would you know?” she asked, sounding irritated. “I’m one of the few on Rommader who has Visions.”
“What makes you think you know everything about it?” he pressed. “There isn’t much scientific evidence or studies done to know how it works.”
Amira placed her hand over her heart. “I know what I see and feel in my Visions is real. I don’t need a study it to prove it to me.”
I shifted uncomfortably as they argued. How much did they mean for me to hear? I coughed politely.
They stopped and looked at me in surprise.
“Sorry, Holly,” they said in unison.
“No problem.” I waved their apologies off. “What movie do you want to see?” I turned to Jai. Amira beamed.
“I don’t know.” Jai sighed then looked at Amira. “I’m still uncomfortable leaving you, but I suppose Delilah and Marshal are very capable of keeping you safe. And it’s probably true you would see Visions of something if Shander knew your location.”
“See?” Her smile made me sure she thought she’d won. “You go do something fun for yourself for once, and I’ll have a nice break from you.” She poked Jai in the ribs.
“I will only go if you promise to call me if anything seems out of the ordinary,” Jai said.
“I promise.” She placed her hand on her heart. Turning to me she added, “Sorry if he gets a little protective of you while you are out at the movies. He can’t help himself. It’s been trained into him too well for him to let it go.”
“You do know I can hear you,” Jai thought.
“Yes. I meant for you to. You need to know how irritating it can be for you to be that vigilant.” She grabbed onto his arm and gave it a hug to soften her words.
Then turning to me, she whispered, “You know, he used to check the bathroom and the bedrooms of every place we stayed before he’d let me go in there.” She reached over to Jai, placing her hand on his. “I am glad you take such good care of me, but for one evening, I’d like to pretend there is no need for it.”
“As you wish,” he told her. “But now I’m afraid Holly will think I’m taking her to the movies just to make you happy.”
“Holly is smarter than that,” she said. “She’ll know you are there to be with her and not to just be away from me. And she’ll enjoy being with you minus me there, no doubt.”
I couldn’t believe how right she was, but didn’t want to let them know how excited I felt that she’d said it. Or even noticed it in the first place.
“Very well then. When do you want to go?” Jai turned to me. I was surprised at the abruptness of the question.
“Whenever.”
“What about tonight?” He smiled as he looked at Amira out of the corner of his eye.
“Sure,” I agreed. “But I do have to double-check with my parents. I’m sure if we get home before eleven, I’ll be good.”
Amira clapped her hands together. “Great, now that's settled, let me get rid of the extra wheel, and you can get a real conversation going.” She stood up, making the swing rock slightly. “I'll be over at the house getting all my home spa items together to give myself a relaxing evening alone.” She winked at us and walked away. Jai started to follow her, but I heard her thoughts as she told him to stay. He looked torn but let her walk home alone.
“Does she always get her way?” I asked as she strode confidently down the sidewalk.
“Most of the time,” he answered as he sat next to me on the swing. “But it is nice when her way is also beneficial to others. She's like that at home too. She's pretty considerate of others and their feelings. She will be an amazing queen,” he said proudly.
“I can see that in her.”
“Are you honestly okay going to the movies with me? You don't have to.” He seemed a little unsure.
I smiled. “It’ll be fun. Besides, she ate most of my popcorn last time.”
“Mine too.” He chuckled. “I think she missed out on a lot because her father had a very restrictive diet for his health.”
“Isn’t she worried about gaining weight or getting sick to her stomach?”
“She doesn’t eat like that all the time,” he said. “Delilah is an excellent cook and makes us delicious and healthy meals, but when Amira tries something new she likes, she goes overboard. The day after we came back from the mountain, she showed Marshal and Delilah how to do s’mores, but she only ate two. And we’ve eaten pizza and chips again, but she only eats a little more than the rest of us. Nothing like the first time she tries it.”
We sat quietly for a bit, rocking on the swing.
“The king is sick?”
“Yes.”
“Haven’t you tried to Heal him?”
“Better Healers have been working with him,” he answered. ““It doesn't work as well on him as on others. It helps for a while, but then he has problems again. The Healers have been studying his illness and why he has no strength to contribute to getting well. They aren't able to understand it fully.”
“That seems strange,” I murmured.
“It is. I'm sure they will eventually solve it.” He didn't sound confident.
“So how does your Healing work?”
“Most of it comes from the person being Healed. I only help it to happen sooner.”
“But I don't have any scars from that burn. If I healed on my own, I’d have a scar.” I showed him my hand.
“Some of the Healing does come from me.” He took my hand in his. “I am able to share a bit of my strength with the person I am Healing. If it is something serious, it is harder for me to do it. I tire quickly from it if I am Healing for a long time.”
“What does it feel like? Do you know what to do automatically or did you have to study?” I asked.
“I just know most of it. However, the more we study, the better we are.”
Jai didn’t release my hand right away, and I didn’t try to take it back. It felt nice cradled in his.
Cha
pter Eleven
Ryad
The movie was the perfect place to be with Jai. I sat close to him and held his hand in the dark. We ended up not watching much of the movie because we thought to each other for most of it. My little bottle of Densinne was awesome. At first he talked a lot about Amira, more than once saying he shouldn’t have left her alone, but before long the topic turned to us. He asked me more about things I liked and what I did as a kid. I asked him a lot of the same things and about how much training he went through in order to be the bodyguard of the princess. Best thing was we were never shushed by others in the movie.
We did get some funny looks when we would laugh out loud during a part of the movie that wasn't funny. We would both duck down in our seats and giggle more. He seemed more relaxed toward the end of the movie. Hopefully, I'd be the only one on his mind the rest of the night. With the way he kept looking at me throughout the show, I had high expectations.
We were so engrossed in each other when the credits rolled, we didn't notice it. The slow lights coming up in the theater showed us to be the last ones still in our seats. Of course, there weren't many people here to begin with. I picked up my almost-empty bucket of popcorn and my empty cup.
“I’m going to need to visit the little girls’ room before we go,” I said as we walked by the restrooms.
“I’ll meet you there.” He pointed to the posters lining the walls.
I checked my lip-gloss in the mirror after I’d finished washing my hands. Would applying more lip-gloss make him want to kiss me, or would it be more of a deterrent because he wouldn't want to get it on him? I added a little to make them shine, but not too much. I was too distracted thinking about Jai and about kissing him, I didn't pay much attention to anything else. I walked out and ran right into a tall guy pacing by the water fountain between the two bathroom doors.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t see you there.” I looked up, but before I could meet his eyes, he grabbed me, put one hand over my mouth, and hauled me to the side doors. I tried to yell but nothing escaped his hand. I bit him and I tried again.
“Help!” I squeaked before he clamped his hand across my mouth, putting pressure on my jaw so I couldn’t open it again. I looked around at the mostly empty parking lot and panicked that there weren’t any people out there.
The stranger dragged me to the car closest to the doors we'd come out of. I’d heard enough stories of girls being abducted that I didn’t want him to get me in his car. If he did, I’d never see my family again.
I screamed but no one was close enough to hear. I yelled as loud as I could in my mind, hoping Jai would hear me. I fought against him and looked back toward the theater. Our movie didn’t have many viewers in it, being a Monday night, and the movies weren’t all that good. But where was the ticket seller? Where was Jai? Why didn’t he come when he heard my screaming?
We were almost to the car. I tried to remember all the things I’d learned about self-defense. The most effective tool being to make sure you never put yourself in a place where you would need to use it.
Always be aware of your surroundings. I was very aware I was alone with him. That didn't help me much.
Make lots of noise. I tried, but it didn’t help since no one was around.
Notice everything you can about the attacker. He was a few inches taller than I. He had dark wavy hair and green eyes. His full eyebrows and chiseled face made him look like he'd been carved from marble. He had a mole by his left ear.
If required, fight the assailant. I tried to hit his hand holding tightly onto my upper arm, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He saw me swing at his face and blocked it easily. I tried stomping on his foot, but the way he dragged me made it impossible to reach him with my heels. I yanked and pulled at my arm and tried to get away from him.
Then for the first time he spoke. His voice sounded smooth and flowed over the words, yet I didn’t understand a thing he said. He almost seemed to be pleading with me, but when he called me Amira I stopped trying to kick him.
My mouth opened but no words came. I tried screaming again to Jai in my mind. I was too stunned to tell him I wasn’t Amira. He must be from their planet. I felt pretty sure he wasn't Shander. He was too young, but who was he? Since he was taking me by force, I knew her father hadn’t sent him.
Once I stopped fighting him, he opened the door of the car and shoved me in the back seat. He closed the door immediately and got in behind the wheel. I lunged back to the door and yanked on the handle. It didn’t do anything. I pushed and slammed my body against the door, then slid across the seat to the other side. The handles wouldn’t open from the inside. My aunt owned a car like this, one you could flip a switch on the inside of the door to keep little kids from opening it while the car was in motion. The only way to open these kinds of doors was from the outside. The windows wouldn't even roll down. I lay on the cushion and kicked at the window. It only made my feet sting.
I growled to myself that I didn’t have a cell phone. I should have paid for one myself. I'd never wanted one as much as I did now. I climbed over the front seat, trying to get out of the passenger door. He grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me back into the seat.
He spoke, sounding like he was warning me not to try it again, but I didn’t want to just give up and go easily. I pulled on the door handle and had it almost open enough to jump out. He swerved wildly as he leaned over to pull me back in. He slammed the brakes and shoved the car into park. Gripping my hand in his, he bent it back until I felt the skin on my wrist burning from the tension. I cried out in pain, and he slapped his other hand on my forearm, just above the wrist. My body convulsed and I couldn’t move.
“Ouch! What did you do?” At least I could still talk.
He looked at me with raised brows and pulled the seatbelt across my lap and buckled me in. I watched him in confusion. I guess he didn’t want his princess to die in an accident. He buckled himself in and put the car into drive. He started talking again, not even looking at me as he drove. I was still able to see him, though I couldn’t move my head.
I tried to calm myself and think of what I could do to make him let me go or at least not hurt me. Should I tell him he’d gotten the wrong girl, or should I pretend to be Amira and find out what he planned to do with her?
He wore one of those black medallions like Jai and Amira both wore. He was definitely from their planet.
He looked like he might be about twenty. If he hadn’t kidnapped me, I might have thought him good-looking. He was still talking to me, but I didn’t understand a thing. I tried to listen to his thoughts, but didn’t hear anything from him. I'd been yelling for Jai constantly, but my abductor didn’t seem to notice. Either he could communicate telepathically and was ignoring me, or he’d run out of Densinne.
I shouted in my mind, “I am not Amira, you idiot! I'm from this planet, not yours! Turn around and take me back!”
That didn’t elicit any response from him. If I pretended to be Amira, I could get him to give me information. Maybe I could help them out — if I ever got away from him, that is. I didn’t want him to hurt me by any means, but wouldn’t it be better for him to kidnap me and discover I was a fake than to catch the real princess? He would take her back to Rommader, and Jai would follow her. Besides, this guy couldn’t actually take me home with him since I didn’t have a Traveling medallion.
Trying to remember exactly how Amira talked, and the tone of voice she used when she wanted her way, I said, “Did you even bother to learn English before you came here?”
He stopped his ramblings when I spoke. He looked at me a little funny. It took him a moment to form the words, but he responded. “Yes, Your Highness. I have a talent for language learning.”
“What are you doing taking me in this manner?” I demanded louder than before.
He didn’t answer, just watched the road as he drove out of town.
“I insist you answer me!” I wanted to bang my fist on the dashboard, but I still couldn
’t move. “Why are you taking me?”
“Shander sent me to return you to Rommader.”
I sucked in my breath. Shander had found them. I tried to think of what Amira would say. “I refuse to return to Rommader by Shander’s insistence. He has no authority over me.” I hoped I wasn’t laying it on too thick.
“But Shander requires you to calm the people down.” He glanced at me briefly. “They are becoming more and more worried about your father’s health. Shander wants you there to ease the concerns of the people that the transfer of power will go smoothly,” he said as if that made everything better.
“How did you find me?” I asked in as close to Amira's tone as I could manage.
“I have a searching talent.” He sounded smug.
“You have two talents? How does that work?” I asked then cursed myself for wanting him to explain his talents to me. Amira wouldn’t be asking him how his talents worked. She would probably know about it already.
“Yes.” He seemed rather proud of it. When I didn't say anything else, he continued. “I apologize for my roughness, Your Highness, but it is important that you return to Rommader.”
I tried to move, but I still couldn’t control my body. What had he done to me? “You think by forcing me to return home and making me marry Shander that it will make things better?” The thought disgusted me, even though it wouldn't actually be me marrying him.
“Marry him? That’s what he wants from you?” He seemed surprised.
“You didn’t know?” I said with surprise myself. “Why else would he want me there? He figures if he marries me he will be able to get his hands on the throne.” At least that's what Jai told me.
“But would the king allow that?” He shook his head, as if to deny my words.
“How is the king? My father?” I added quickly.
“I have not seen the king, Your Highness,” he said, glancing at me again. “Shander has been the one signing the laws and decrees. He instructed me to come retrieve you and return you to your father. You are to be ready to take the crown. He also said you would refuse to come with me because you didn’t know me, so I should take you by force if necessary. And to do it when I could keep Jai away from you.”
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