Riftkeepers: Prime

by Carrie Whitethorne

  How is that funny?

  “It's fine. It's been lovely seeing you, Dane, but I need to go. I have a few more things I need and it's getting late. I need to get back for the children.”

  “I'll see you all tomorrow. I've been asked to spend an hour with little Zander, training,” he said, lifting his cup.

  “What will you be teaching him?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

  Why?

  “I hate to brag, but I'm the most powerful shadow wielder alive. I'll be testing his fortifications and telling Blair where he needs to improve. Then I'll be returning to work.”

  He's only six, a bit young for an exam.

  “Oh, I'll see you tomorrow then,” she said flatly and walked away, not waiting for a reply.

  Callan found her browsing the window displays in a quieter corner of the city.

  “I set you loose in the city with my wallet and you manage two bags?” he scolded.

  “And a cup of tea,” she laughed. “I hate shopping. I'm done though, I'm ready to go home. Where are the kids?”

  “With Ma. She took them for a walk through the gardens. She begged me to leave them with her.”

  “I'm so pleased they all get on so well. I worried Zander wouldn't handle all the changes but he's doing brilliantly,” she said.

  “He's using his power. It'll be clearing his mind. He must have really struggled having so much held in,” he shrugged. “He's a different boy.”

  It was stored magic doing it? No! They said…rubbish.

  She gave him a quizzical look but said nothing.

  “Ready?” he asked, offering her his hand.

  She took it and they arrived back in their room. She still hated that method of travel but she was getting used to it slowly. It was so much easier than driving.

  The bed was unmade, their clothes still in heaps on the floor from the night before. Throwing her bags on the bed she gathered the clothing up and draped them on the stool by the dressing table. Callan was grinning as he watched her. Making the bed she gave him a warning look as he made towards her.

  He held up his hands and laughed, “Okay, not now…”

  “Is it still okay for me to visit Ferne and collect a few things?”

  “Of course,” he nodded. “We'll be fine for a few days. Try her again, plan a weekend. Then we'll find everyone.”

  “I wondered when you were going to get back in touch. Are you okay? I've left messages since your phone goes straight to voicemail.”

  “We're great, I'm struggling to get reception up here,” she half lied. “I'm planning to come back for a few days and wondered when you were available. I rang yesterday but couldn't get hold of you”

  “Oh, I was busy. I've met someone and we were out for the day.”

  “That's great! When's good for you?”

  “We're away next weekend, so the weekend after? You're really staying there, aren't you?” Ferne said, sadly. “Have you met his family yet?”

  “Yeah, his parents, brother and sister are smitten with the kids. I've hardly seen them. There was a family party last night, that was nice.”

  Callan chuckled from the other side of the room. “Liar,” he whispered.

  Mouthing 'shut up' she continued, “Okay, I'll ring a week on Friday when I get back. If you need me try this number. My mobile isn't working.”

  “Brilliant! I'll make sure I'm free all weekend. I can't wait to see you, I've really missed you,” Ferne said brightly.

  “I miss you too, love you.”

  She put the phone down and sighed. “I hate having to lie,” she complained.

  “It isn't really lying, is it? You're just, omitting certain points.” Brushing a thumb across her cheek, he kissed her gently.

  “I suppose so. Okay, let's find our children.”

  He looked disappointed as he took her hand and ported out of the room.

  Chapter 17

  The cairn was a couple of miles away from the city. It stood in the middle of a moor, a stream tinkling its way through its centre. They ported in to find Blair and Dane already waiting for them. Dane was dressed in joggers, trainers and a t shirt, his dark hair pulled loosely back from his face. She'd only ever seen him in formal dress so was surprised at his more relaxed appearance. Enya gave them a broad smile and said, “I had a big breakfast, Blair!”

  “Where's Dagda?” Charlotte asked, disappointed. He'd led her to believe he would be there.

  “He's in Liverpool chasing something up for me,” Dane answered.

  Blair had lifted Enya as she'd ran to him, “Good girl. This is Dane, he's come to watch and see if he can help you get even better, okay?”

  Charlotte eyed Dane coolly and sat down on the grass. Callan walked over and clapped him on the arm saying, “Thanks for this. It's a great help.”

  “Any time, we want our new Prince and Princess well trained, don't we?” He smiled, winking at Enya. She giggled and ran to Zander as Blair set her down.

  At least he's being nice today.

  “The easiest way to do it is to have Zander create a structure, fortify it and Dane can check it over and point out weaknesses,” Blair explained. “If he's able to follow Dane's instructions to improve he can knock out the kinks early on. Ready Zander?”

  Without any further instruction, he touched the ground with one hand.

  “You don't have to hold it back here, there's power in the earth, waiting for you to pull from it. Not much, just borrow some and build me a box. It must be a strong box. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out,” Blair said softly as Zander prepared himself.

  The earth shook. Zander didn't look worried by it and pressed his palm flat into the grass.

  A small square etched the space around his splayed fingers. He closed his eyes and raised his hand, drawing the ground up. A cube of earth rose with him. Carefully, he turned and lowered his creation onto a fresh patch of grass, then looked to Blair.

  “Well he nailed that,” Dane said, surprised.

  Of course, he did, he's amazing.

  Blair grinned, and said, “That's perfect, Zander. Now, as we've practiced, set it. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out.”

  Nodding, Zander placed his hand above the earthen cube. He stood up, wiping his hands on his t-shirt, then placed both hands over the box, and closed his eyes. A low rumble came from beneath their feet and Zander stood up.

  “I think I did it,” he said, uncertainly, and looked to Dane.

  Dane looked the cube over. Rubbing his fingers together he ran them along its edges. “Its solid,” he said quietly.

  Tendrils of purple and black left his fingertips, seeping over the cube until it was covered in a dense shadow. “Can you lift it up, please?” he asked.

  Zander obliged and used his power to raise the cube. Danes shadow crept beneath and encased it.

  “It's bloody perfect. Well done,” Dane said as he ruffed his hair and turned to Callan. “Not a single fault in that. He's certainly talented.” He turned to Enya, “Okay Princess, your turn. Over to the stream.” He turned to Charlotte and gave her a brief smile as both children raced Blair to the stream.

  Blair was talking to Enya. Charlotte couldn't hear what they were saying from this distance.

  Callan came and sat with her and explained, “He's going to see if he can get past her shield. She'll have to keep it up and attack the shadow he sends at it.”

  If he frightens her, I'll flay him.

  Enya dipped a finger into the bubbling stream and listened carefully to Blair's instructions. Nodding she summoned a shield and straightened.

  Dane smiled warmly at her and nodded. He rubbed his fingers, sending tendrils of shadow creeping towards her. Holding her shield, she positioned her feet for an impact. Dane flicked his fingers wide. Like lightning the shadow hit her. She extended the shield right over her head, covering her completely, Blair murmuring instructions at her side.

  Charlotte couldn't help grinning with pride as she watched.

  Dane laughed a
s she pushed him back, firing an arrow of water into the shadow gathering around her. Nothing happened. She summoned and fired again. Nothing. Charlotte was sure she was going to get upset, but instead, her beautiful, tiny girl got angry. She clenched her teeth as wave sprang from her shield. The force of it washed clean over the shadow and hurled straight at Dane, knocking him to the floor.

  Charlotte burst into laughter and walked over to them as Dane got up, a huge grin on his face. He was soaked. “That was a dirty trick, Princess! Brilliantly done,” he called.

  “Mummy did you see?” Enya squealed excitedly as Callan lifted her onto his shoulders.

  “I did, you were both brilliant,” she said picking up Zander and giving him a hug.

  “Don't know how you did it, but those two are something special,” Dane said to them.

  Callan nodded, grinning, “They certainly are. Really, thank you.”

  “I'll have another training session with them when I next visit, see what the Princess has for me then. Zander, keep that up, try a bigger one.” He grasped Callan's shoulder and moved to Charlotte.

  “Until then,” he said quietly, kissed her cheek, and vanished.

  “Mama I'm starving,” Zander complained.

  “The more power he uses the hungrier he'll be afterwards. That must have taken a lot to summon, it was flawless. I think we should move training sessions out here and bring snacks,” Blair suggested.

  Charlotte nodded.

  “Tomorrow morning then,” Blair vanished leaving them on the moor.

  “Lunch and?” Callan asked.

  “Nothing, I'm knackered,” she said, chuckling. “We need a quiet day together.”

  “Any preferences on films?” Callan asked, “We have a cinema in the palace.”

  Of course, you have a cinema.

  Charlotte rolled her eyes “Well, why wouldn't you?”

  Callan laughed and took her hand, with Enya still on his shoulders he grasped Zander and ported them home.

  After lunch, they went down to the cinema, it wasn't far from the suite. The room was large, huge leather recliners positioned in an arc before a screen that filled an entire wall. A thick black carpet, deep red walls and soft, inset lighting made it feel cosy.

  Along the back wall there was a fridge full of drinks, a freezer that presumably held ice creams and, on a counter, she saw a popcorn machine.

  “Get yourselves snacks, what are we watching?” Callan called.

  The first problem was agreeing on what to watch. Enya wanted Princesses, Zander wanted superheroes. Charlotte wanted them to stop bickering.

  “Enough,” she groaned.

  “Okay, Superheroes first, Princess second,” Callan said and started the film as they curled up in their recliners.

  Four hours they spent curled up in front of the huge screen. For the first time in weeks they'd done absolutely nothing and now the children were restless.

  “Okay, late lunch and we'll find something else to do,” Charlotte said, stretching out.

  I've no idea what.

  “I'll see what everyone else is doing today, perhaps we can do something together before I have to go back to work,” Callan suggested.

  The children ran off ahead as they made their way back to their suite.

  “What exactly do you do?” she asked. It had never been discussed in any sort of detail and she was curious.

  “I keep the portal to the other world, make sure the defence are secure. We can't afford a breach. We don't have any problems to be honest, more time is taken up with tracing any magical fluctuations and physical training.”

  She nodded, “Like exploding sinks and rogue warlocks draining magic around the country?” She tried to keep her tone light.

  “We don't get those often, either. It's been a long time since we had anything to do. We spend a lot of time training, we're always ready for battle,” he told her as they walked. “Not many of those to be had, either,” he added in a low grumble.

  “When was the last time you had a warlock problem?”

  “Nothing major since the 1940's. Advances in technology have drawn attention away from that sort of power, thankfully. We get the odd one accessing it by accident but they're not a threat,” he shrugged. “Sandwiches okay?”

  Back in the suite, Enya and Zander went to play in their room while Callan prepared lunch.

  She curled into the corner of the sofa lost in her thoughts. Dane's words crept into her mind.

  “There's a darkness in you.” What did he mean by that?

  I can't work him out. He was great with the kids this morning. They clearly liked him. Zander's a good judge of character and I didn't sense any distrust from him. Maybe it's just me. He makes me nervous.

  She wondered how Alayna was. She hadn't seen her since she'd threatened Dane. She didn't blame her, seeing anyone flirt so openly with your brothers…

  What had I been then? She was his finance now but they'd never officially been anything.

  He wants to marry me.

  Callan called them all for lunch and she left her thoughts.

  They'd just finished eating when the door opened. “Callan? Charlotte? Are you here?” Caoimhe and Taran came through the door holding bags. “We have gifts.”

  Both children hurtled for their grandparents.

  “Wow, thank you! Mummy look it's the dolly I saw yesterday,” Enya said.

  Taran helped Zander set up the train set he'd admired in the toy shop. He lay on the floor with his grandfather, watching the little engine puff round the track that took up half of the floor space while Enya busied herself dressing and undressing the little doll in the dozens of pretty outfits Caoimhe had bought to accompany her.

  Callan made tea and Charlotte sat with Caoimhe at the table.

  “They're wonderful, thank you,” she said.

  “We want to spoil them, we love seeing them happy,” she said as she looked over at them and smiled. “They're precious. We didn't think we would ever meet them.”

  Charlotte laughed. “Well you aren't very easy to track down. We've decided to move here, well, to Arran, on a more permanent basis. I've no family to stay back there for. They're better off closer to family,” she said, gesturing to the children. She fought to keep the sadness from her voice.

  Caoimhe held her hand gently. “You have a family here, Charlotte. Are there any plans to make it official yet?”

  Callan glanced their way from his place on the floor with Zander and Taran.

  Charlotte lowered her voice and said, “Sort of. I just need some time to get settled. They've had enough upheaval over the last few weeks. I'm going back to collect a few things next weekend, to see a friend and we'll go from there.”

  Caoimhe was beaming. “That's wonderful! You should go out and celebrate. We'll watch the children.”

  “Maybe at the weekend, I'm back at work tomorrow. Thanks Ma.” Callan said as he kissed her cheek.

  The conversation turned back to the children, how they'd enjoyed the city and their training. Taran offered to accompany them the following morning, since Callan wouldn't be there. Charlotte was grateful, she didn't like the idea of being lost in the palace. They left just before dinner.

  Callan joined her in the kitchen when she took their tea cups away. He stood behind her, chin on her shoulder, with his arms around her waist. “I thought we were keeping it to ourselves?” he murmured into her neck.

  “I wasn't going to lie to her face, Callan. Anyway, it isn't a dirty little secret, is it? We're getting married.” She tipped her head back into his shoulder. “And I can't wait.”

  He spun her and lifted her to sit on the edge of the worktop. “I love you,” he said.

  Before he could kiss her, Zander appeared at the door. “My train won't go.”

  Callan laughed and said, “Let's get it started again.” He lowered her to the floor and kissed her forehead, following Zander to the lounge.

  I'm getting married. After all this time, he found me and we'll
be married.

  Callan cooked, again. The evening passed with games and reading and the children went to bed early. Their training was making them more tired.

  “Is it okay if I go for a bath?” she asked.

  “Why are you asking?” he asked, frowning. “Have a long soak, we can have an early night.”

  She had really missed the long soaks in the bath. She just hadn't had time since they arrived on the island. It used to be the only way to pass the evenings on her own.

  Finding a bath oil on the vanity she poured a small amount under the running water. It swirled as it slowly mixed with the clear water, reminding her of the shadowy tendrils Dane had summoned that morning and she shuddered. Pushing the image from her mind she sank into the steaming water.

  Questions started popping up in her mind.

  How have I ended up here? I'm living in a palace. This shouldn't be real.

  How are my kids doing all that?

  Why does Callan want me? Is it just for the kids?

  Would he have believed me if they weren't just like his mum? Suppose the magic would have confirmed it.

  She submerged herself, trying to wash away the doubt she was feeling.

  Callan was watching her when she came back up for air. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yep, just thinking…” She didn't want to discuss any of it.

  He nodded, and said, “I got you a new robe. I've hung it on the door. What would you like to do for the rest of the evening?”

  “Honestly? Sleep. This has been the first quiet day I've had in weeks and I'm so tired. Is that okay?”

  Nodding, he left. She didn't get out of the bath for another half hour.

  Wrinkled and tired, she dried herself and tried her new dressing gown, thin but warm it was perfect.

  She settled on the bed and waited for Callan to come back.

  The sound of the shower woke her. She hadn't meant to fall asleep and had no idea what time it was.

  “Sorry, did I wake you?” Callan said softly as he slid into bed, hair still damp.