by Sara V. Zook
“Feeling better?” he asked.
I felt the sting return of knowing he hadn’t come to check on me. “Yes, actually.”
As if reading my mind, he added, “Mother suggested I let you rest today.”
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows and glanced toward Atavia sitting at the table. “That was … nice of her.”
“I have so much to tell you about my powers and what I’ve been learning.” He grinned like a little kid, and just like that, all of the tension melted away from my body.
“Can’t wait to hear about it.” I weaved my arm inside of his as he escorted me over to the table.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” he whispered into my ear.
As we approached the table, Emry led me to an empty chair and held it out for me. There were two men on either side of me. I turned to give him a look.
“And you’re sitting where?” I asked.
He turned and looked toward his chair. Raleigh met my glance from behind her silky blonde hair that was covering one of her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “Mother put me next to Raleigh.”
I felt my ears grow warm in heat.
“It’s just because she doesn’t know anyone, and mother doesn’t want her to feel left out,” he quickly explained.
“Oh, and I know everyone?” I asked, sitting down and allowing Emry to push in my chair. I didn’t want to look up at Atavia as I could already feel her eyes on me, and I was sure I’d lose my temper if I saw a smirk crossing her lips.
I picked up the cup in front of me and stared at the red liquid inside. Atavia was probably planning on poisoning me, I thought. It’d be smart not to eat or drink anything in this castle. Frowning, I glanced up and realized a man across the table was staring at me. He looked very similar to Emry with the same tan skin, brown hair, only shorter, with blue eyes. I felt color rush into my cheeks and looked up the table at Raleigh and Emry who seemed to be deep in conversation with each other. Trying to push the jealousy aside, the realization hit me that Jo wasn’t here again. I really needed to see her, to make sure she was okay.
“Oh, good!” Atavia exclaimed. “I’m starved.”
In floated the servants, their hands carrying platters piled high with food. Among them was Cassie Banesberry. I watched her, but she never glanced my way. A plate of food was placed in front of me, the smell of the meat drifting into my nostrils making my stomach churn in anticipation. A few more plates were set down. I looked up and straight into the face of Jo who met my eyes. Distracted, she bumped over a cup and spilled the sweet red wine all over the turquoise tablecloth, the liquid extending into the lap of one of Atavia’s guests.
“Stupid Scave!” The man jumped to his feet, throwing his arms up in the air, his pants drenched in wine.
Jo retreated against the wall in alarm. It all had happened so fast, it took me a moment to realize that she had been delivering food to the table.
“What did you call her?” I hissed, now rising to my feet.
The man glared at me. “I said stupid Scave. Look at me now. This will never come out.”
“It was an accident,” I yelled at him, all of my built-up anger exploding from within. “I’m sure you have hundreds of other clothes exactly like that.”
“My queen, this is an outrage,” he shouted.
Atavia sighed. “Get him a cloth, and get this mess cleaned up.” She looked Jo’s way, who seemed to still be attempting to sink into the wall. “Now!” Atavia yelled.
Jo jumped at the sternness of the queen’s voice and hurried out the door.
“Unbelievable,” I said aloud. “I thought you were going to take care of Jo, not turn her into one of your futile servants.”
“I think it’s time you sit down,” Emry suggested, his jaw line showing signs of irritation.
My mouth dropped open. “Emry?” I said, the hurt coming on thick. “You agree with what your mother’s doing?”
“What’s she doing?” he asked.
“Yes, Ms. James, enlighten us,” Atavia added.
Jo entered the room and practically threw the cloth at the wine soaked man. She began frantically dabbing at the mess on the table.
“She’s turning the girl who saved my life, who got me the entire way here, into a slave. Do I really have to spell it out for you?” My body felt alive with roaring hatred aimed at the conniving queen.
“Anna, there are things you just don’t understand,” he said, his tone on the verge of belittlement.
“You’re taking her side?” He was now embarrassing me in front of all these people, servants and guests alike.
He took a sip of his own wine and stood. “There’s no side to take. Come on, sit now. Let’s enjoy our meal.”
“I refuse to be in this room for another moment,” I cried out, the tears now stinging my eyes and trailing down my cheeks, adding to my public misery. “It seems to me there are things that you don’t understand, Emry.”
“Be careful how you speak to the future king,” Atavia warned.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Emry Logan is not my king.”
The guests gasped.
“I’m a human, remember?”
“Anna,” Jo said, hurrying to my side. “It’s okay, really.”
“How is it okay, Jo?” I asked her. “You at least had your free will before. Now you’re bringing them their food? Must I remind you of your heritage, how you were hunted by these exact same people?”
“Anna …” Emry said, coming to my side and taking hold of my wrist.
“Don’t,” I said, jerking my arm free.
Jo put her hand on my shoulder. “Listen, I know this looks bad in your eyes, but it’s not, I swear.”
I looked into her calm eyes, my lip trembling.
“I have food in my belly now. I have a warm, comfy place to sleep. I don’t fear for my life,” she explained.
“You’re fine with all of this?”
“Yes, really, I am,” she assured me.
I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Not even the victim was going to confess to being victimized. I looked like a total idiot.
“My life is better here, now,” she said.
“You see?” Atavia said from behind me. “It was your little friend’s choice to work for me. She can see what’s best for herself, yet you can’t. You always yell out persecution.”
“The Scaves are persecuted,” I growled.
Atavia laughed. Her guests chuckled along with her. “How many times must I remind you, this isn’t Earth.”
“Please forgive her,” Emry said. “She’s a human.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe he had just referred to me as a human in the same manner and tone as everyone else on Evadere had. He had grown up as a human, too. His newly found position in life was going to his head. He was turning into his mother. “Did you really just say that?”
“Anna …” he said.
I darted around him and straight out the door. I had to get away from all of this. My head was spinning, my emotions intertwining with each other making me feel utterly unstable. I wouldn’t stand for how Emry was treating me, for how everyone in there thought of me. There’s no way I could put myself through the humiliation of staying in that painful atmosphere knowing Raleigh and Atavia were by Emry’s side brainwashing him every step of the way, knowing that Jo was going to keep popping in and out of the room serving food to her archenemy.
I turned to the right and sprinted down a hallway I had never been in before. Large double doors were at the end of the hall. I pushed against them with my body to get them to budge. Right outside was some sort of outdoor entertainment area. There were lush plants everywhere. I looked up at the red sky, white stars twinkling down at me. I slumped down onto a bench and put my face in my hands and began to sob, letting everything out.
“Hey!”
I glanced up, and though my tears were blurring my field of vision, I saw a flash of Emry coming toward me. I buried my face in my arms again. Now he w
as coming to apologize while no one was around. It had hurt before to be away from him, but now it was beginning to hurt even more when around him.
“Do you mind if I sit?”
The voice wasn’t Emry’s. I sniffed and looked back up. It was the man I had noticed seated at the dinner table. His resemblance to Emry was astonishing. He smiled and sat down next to me on a gray bench, the trickling sound of a running fountain behind us. His blue eyes gleamed underneath the sparkling white stars overhead. I realized I was staring, comparing him to Emry and quickly looked away.
“I’m Treyu,” he said softly.
I wiped my face with the back of my hand and forced the tears to halt in front of this imitation Emry. “Anna.”
He quietly chuckled. “Yes, of course. I know who you are.”
“Are you a friend of the queen’s?”
“She’s my aunt.”
“Aunt?”
He grinned, his smile not nearly as stunning as Emry’s but welcoming nevertheless. He crossed his arms in front of him and peered up into the sky. “Emry’s my cousin. Some say we look alike.” He peeked at me out of the corner of his eye.
“Ha,” I said. “That’s an understatement.”
“You think so?” Treyu grinned and jabbed me with his elbow.
“I think you two look very much alike,” I stated, realizing I might be giving him the wrong impression by saying so.
“You’re upset, that much is obvious. I hated to see you run away like that. After all, I was so very excited to have dinner with a human,” Treyu admitted.
I sighed. “It’s like I’m a freak show. I should start charging admission.”
He laughed. “You’re funny, Anna James. I like that.” He stared back at me for a moment.
I immediately felt comfortable with him. He was royalty, yet wasn’t treating me like an outcast. He had left dinner to come talk to me. “Thanks for coming to check on me. You didn’t have to leave for me.”
“Oh, nonsense,” Treyu said, wrapping an arm around my neck, the smell of his skin intoxicating. “I’d never met my cousin before, but he’s certainly a chip off the old block, so to speak.”
“Oh, I hope not.” My shoulder slumped under the weight of his arm.
“My aunt can be impossible. Actually, she’s always impossible, but Emry, you can tell that even being raised on Earth hasn’t changed the fact that he’s Calan and Atavia’s child,” Treyu said. “Perhaps you thought he was someone else?”
“I don’t know.” I took a deep breath, my stomach twisted from being so upset. “He was so kind and gentle. He always consulted with me on everything. I was his biggest supporter and vice versa.”
“Really?” Treyu raised his voice as if shocked by my explanation of who Emry was. “I don’t see any of those things, honestly. Not to burst your bubble or anything. Perhaps you were blinded by love.” He stared at me for a moment, assessing what he thought I might be thinking. “Atavia, Emry, they’re all about the power.”
“I’m so sick of hearing about powers.” I sat forward to lean against my knees. Treyu retracted his arm from around me.
“I’m sure you are. You went from a world without it to a world that thrives on it. And Emry, he’s been bound up on Earth all this time. Now he knows who he really is. It’s only natural he’d want to be trained in the way of his powers, but it’s not fair to you who he claims he loves. It’s not fair to leave you in the dark on the subject of how this world works.” Treyu’s eyes moved toward the doors that led back inside. “I don’t see what you see in him, honestly.”
“But it’s Emry,” I blurted out, then sighed.
He shrugged. “He’s destined to be king. There’s enough in that statement to let you know who he really is.”
“I know who he really is. He’s just …”
“Forgotten? Changed? Conformed into his heritage?” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being harsh, aren’t I?”
I pressed my lips together. “No more harsh than anyone else here has treated me. You’re the first to sit down and have a conversation with me.”
“Have you and Emry spent any time alone together?” Treyu asked.
“No.”
“He hasn’t shown you around outside?” Treyu sounded surprised again.
“No,” I said, shrinking farther into my misery.
“Some boyfriend he is.”
I looked at Treyu. I couldn’t understand his intentions. Was this his way of trying to befriend me, to see where my head was about Emry? “He hasn’t been much of one lately. I know he’s training …”
“He will only get busier as time goes on. If he’s acting like this now, I can’t even begin to imagine how he’s going to be when he’s king. He’s going to be terrible. Terrible, like Atavia.”
“She hates me,” I said, trying to block out the rush of emotions he had just caused by making me think that Emry could only get worse and not better.
“Of course she does,” Treyu said. “You’re a human. You’re after her precious baby boy.”
“I’m not after him. I mean, we’re together.”
“Are you?”
I frowned. “Please, I think I’d rather be alone right now.”
“Listen, I know I sound rude, but I just want you to really think about things. I’m not going to sugarcoat the situation for you. The way people are here, they’re taught to block out their emotions. It’s a way of living and works for most people. Humans are thought to be overemotional creatures who can’t control their feelings. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone cry before, and it seems fitting that my first time witnessing it, it’s come from a human,” Treyu explained. “We’ve just had a head start on Emry, that’s all. But now, he has his mother who desperately wants to make up for lost time. She believes the Scaves are getting close … too close. She needs Emry to be powerful so that if they make a move, he’ll be ready for it.”
“They’re not getting close,” I told him.
“Do you think Karn told those measly Scave kids everything? He’s smarter than that, unfortunately.” Treyu grinned.
I frowned. I felt stuck here. I wanted to be on Evadere, yet I didn’t. I had too many powerful people against me here, people Emry was more likely to adhere to than on Earth. After all, he had found his rightful place. He had a real family now.
“Listen,” Treyu whispered, placing his hand on my knee and sliding closer. “Let me give you a bit of advice. You should find someone else to be with, someone that deserves you. Emry Logan, his ego is already going through the roof. He’s not who you thought he was, and I can understand why you’re upset about that, but really, people don’t change. You’re not going to be able to make him be someone he isn’t. He’s going to be king. Are you willing to be continuously pushed to the side?”
I moved my knee a little feeling the warmth of his hand through my clothing.
“The way I see it,” he continued. “Emry is going to end up with someone who doesn’t mind being treated like crap, because all they’re going to be interested in is the power that comes along with being with him. But you, Anna James, you’re the opposite. You could care less about power. You want to be treated right. I’m correct, aren’t I?”
I looked up into Treyu’s blue eyes. There was something devious about them. He stared back at me, his head uncomfortably close to mine, but I couldn’t move. My emotions were all over the board. I wanted to run, but I knew that I should sit here and listen to Treyu no matter how much his words stung. He had a lot of logic to what he was saying. These were facts that I had needed someone to tell me, the bitter truth.
“Anna James,” he whispered, his finger now under my chin lifting my face upwards. “Such an interesting human you are.”
It was as if time was in slow motion as Treyu pressed his lips against mine. I felt paralyzed, unable to stop what I knew shouldn’t be happening.
“He’s kissing the human!” someone shrieked.
Hearing this, I pushed Treyu away and turned
to see Raleigh and Emry at the doors that led back inside the castle. Emry’s mouth was hanging open. He turned around and stormed back inside.
“Emry!” I called out, but he was gone.
I looked back to see Treyu skipping around the fountain, a wild look in his eyes. “Foolish humans. Emotions do rule their lives. What fun to mess with them.” A wicked laugh echoed off the cement as he continued to hop around.
I glared at him. How could I have let this happen? I felt the angry tears moisten my eyes. I turned away forbidding myself to give Treyu anymore ammunition to mock my human emotions since it was obvious he didn’t have any.
Treyu’s loud laughter rang out as he continued to carry on. I glanced toward the door where Emry had been only to see the back of Raleigh’s dress flutter lightly in the wind as she went back into the castle to chase after my Emry Logan.
Oh, no, I thought. Don’t even think about it, Raleigh. My mind raced about what I was going to say to Emry when I found him, but I knew I had to say something. I couldn’t just leave it as is, especially not with Raleigh hunting him down in a state of vulnerability. My mind kept trying to get me to return to my room to try to think things through, but jealousy overrode all other emotions at this point.
I practically ran into Jo as she rounded a corner, a tray in her hands.
“Jo!” I exclaimed.
“Anna.” She smiled. “I feel terrible about what happened at dinner. I’m grateful you’re trying to defend me, but I really need you to know that I’m fine, really fine. No one is treating me badly. Look,” she said holding out her free arm. “Clean clothes. Can you believe it? Clean clothes. My hair is washed. My belly is full. I think I’m already putting on weight.” She grinned.
“I know, Jo. I’m so sorry for lashing out.” I didn’t have time to rehash dinner’s mess right now with her. “Hey, have you seen Emry? I really need to talk to him.”
She pressed her lips together almost as if deciding whether or not she should tell me. She pointed down the hall. “Third room on the left, I think, but he’s not alone. Raleigh …”