by M. L. Greye
Sazx was well aware of Olinia’s preference for Will. He knew that she had once loved the Ethon. This much had been apparent during the little time he’d spent with her in the Other Worlds. But now, after so many months away without any form of interaction, her feelings for Will could have dwindled. She was certainly not the same person she was before she entered the Other Worlds. In a way, she had grown up. Visiting another realm with a completely different lifestyle had adapted her to its ways.
Even if the princess had changed over the course of her time within Ethon, she would still not belong to Sazx. Olinia wore Will’s Silver Heart. Sazx would never be anything more than her loyal defender. Despite Olinia’s willingness to kiss him that night, he knew that it did not mean to her what it had meant to him. Once again, he never should have allowed himself to give into his weakness. It wouldn’t happen again.
Watching Olinia now, Sazx could see that she was conflicted. Sazx didn't need the ability to read minds – he could see it clearly on her face. She was torn over Will’s return. The circumstance was causing her to lose her appetite. Her brother was obviously not feeling the most comfortable either though.
For Legann, the current situation was an awkward one. He sat beside his sister at one side of the table, while Will and Sazx were on the other. They had just begun the meal Olinia had ordered for them. She called it Chinese take-out. Will, a native Ethon, dove into it eagerly as Olinia picked at her food silently. After a few failed attempts at conversation, Legann resorted to simply stare at his plate. Sazx pitied him. To Legann, Will’s return was only positive. However, to his sister, it complicated her emotions.
“So, where did you go today?” Legann asked Sazx in yet another endeavor to converse.
“I drove to one of the battlefields and walked around,” Sazx replied, deciding to indulge Legann. Virginia was filled with old historical battlefields. After driving for an hour or so, it was hard not to find himself at one eventually.
“Oh, yeah?” Legann raised an eyebrow. “Was it the one I told you about yesterday?”
Sazx nodded. “It was oddly soothing to be in a place that once experienced the pain of war. For the first time in a while, I felt at home.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Olinia said, lifting her eyes from her plate. “War is all you’ve known for so long that to take comfort in a place where men who could have encountered the same experiences as you seems only natural.”
She seemed to know him too well. Her insight only made her more stunning to him, even in her Ethon garb. Sazx had to look away from her face. He had learned that it was easier for her to know his thoughts when she could look him in the eyes.
“The Dark reminded me of battlefields,” Will joined in, setting his fork down. “They have the same feel to me. Both are eerily cold the moment you step foot on them.”
Across the table, Olinia grimaced. Sazx guessed she was thinking of the Dark in her home world of Caprith. The Dark was a rotting prison her uncle started at the time of her parents’ death. It was the shame of Caprith. Sazx had always despised it. He was pleased to see the Eves overthrow it.
“Hey, I never asked you,” Legann turned to his sister, “did you talk to Porter today?”
“Who’s Porter?” Will took a sip from his cup.
“He’s a guy in one of my classes.” Olinia glanced at Legann. “I did see him, but not for very long. Our class was canceled.”
“What did you find out?” Legann took another bite.
“He’s a student teacher for DS.”
Sazx frowned. “Was that all?”
“Basically,” she said, dropping her eyes to her plate again. “He wouldn’t think of the other night.” Her vague answer convinced Sazx that she was purposely concealing information.
“What is this DS place?” Will asked.
“Not entirely sure,” Olinia admitted.
By now, Legann's food was gone. He pushed back his plate and stood. “I’m done.”
“You can’t clean up after yourself?” Olinia looked up at him.
He smiled sheepishly. “I figured you’d get it for me.”
She rolled her eyes and waved her hand toward the sink. Sazx watched as the plate flew through the air without Olinia giving it a second glance. He grunted. Living with Wends was still something he had yet to get used to.
“I think I’m going to grab that part for my car before the autoshop closes,” Legann told his sister.
“What part?” Will blinked.
“I lost the lid to my washer fluid somehow,” he answered. “I just need to pick up another one. Want to come along?”
“Sure.”
Legann turned to Sazx. “Would you like to join us?”
Sazx eyed the princess. This could be his chance to speak with her privately, and yet, he didn’t feel it right for him to stay. If anyone should be alone with Olinia right now, it should be Will. Sazx nodded once. “I might as well.”
“What about you, Olinia?” Will smiled slightly.
She shook her head. “I’ll clean up here.”
: : : : :
Tiara returned to the exact location she had left from. She was on the floor of her room in Tlaid. The doors to her wardrobe were open in front of her. It looked like nothing had changed. That was good. She hopefully wasn’t gone for very long. With one hand, she pushed herself to her feet. Even though she traveled to the past, her present didn't stop to wait for her. Sadly, that one instance she’d paused time had not happened while Globing.
Globing. Tiara repeated the word inside her head. She liked that her gift had a name.
A knock sounded on her room’s door. She whirled. “Yes?”
“Tiara, are you ready?” It was Archrin.
She hurried to let him in. When she opened the door, he stared at her in surprise. “You haven’t changed yet.”
“I haven’t really been here.” She pulled him inside by his wrist and shut the door behind her, leaning back against it.
“Where-”
“I was in Ethon.” She cut him off. “Time took me to Will Patten’s past.”
Archrin blinked. “Why?”
“I don’t really know.” She frowned. “But Olinia went there with me.”
“The princess was here?”
“No.” Tiara shook her head. “She met me there. It was strange now that I think about it. I’ve never done that before.”
“So, what did you see in Ethon?”
“It’s more like what I learned from Olinia.” She ran her tongue along the back of her teeth. “She and Legann are trapped there. She begged me to come get her.”
“They both are in Ethon?” He raised an eyebrow.
“There’s more. Before Time took me, my brother was here.” She winced. “He basically said that our war isn’t over.”
“Which brother?”
“Trier,” she replied. Even though Archrin had never met any of her siblings, he knew their names and birth order. “Trier said the Fraers want me to learn to see the future.”
He stood very still. “Is it even possible to view the future?”
“If he says I can, then I guess so,” Tiara answered resignedly. “I’m to find a woman tutor, but the way he said it makes me think that she will find me.”
Archrin rubbed at his eyes with one hand. It never seemed to end with Tiara. Just when he was certain that they would settle down into her new kingdom, she decided to run off on another quest. What had happened to the Drivian that wished for nothing more than a simple life in her world? He pulled a face. “Did your brother tell you why?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Of course not.” Archrin groaned inwardly. “So, let me make sure I understand you. First, we pick up Olinia and Legann from Ethon, a world that may or may not actually exist, and then we search for a woman to teach you to see the future because a group of mythical Fraers want you to.”
“The Fraers are not mythical,” she retorted. “I’m sick of that Kendren outlook you have
about them. As for Ethon, I was just there, and it does in fact exist.”
“Alright, fine,” he sighed. “Do you intend on using the shimmer stone to get the princess?”
She nodded. “I don’t know of any other option.”
“Nor do I,” he said. “After we get them, I suppose you’ll want to search for your woman tutor next. Why must it be a woman? I feel like that detail limits our already limited options.”
Tiara rolled her eyes. “If you don’t want to come with me you don’t have to.”
“No, with your luck you’ll end up getting yourself killed,” Archrin shot back. “I’ll go with you.”
She grinned sheepishly. “When have I ever been in a life-threatening situation? I think you’re overreacting.”
He decided to ignore that comment. “We can get Olinia first, but what do you plan on telling the Tlaidians? They happen to share my same Kendren belief that Fraers are just a myth. You can’t say that your duty to the Fraers outweighs your duty to them.”
“Good point.” She grimaced.
Archrin moved into the sitting area near the room’s large stained glass window. Nearly every chamber in Desnbi Castle had stained glass. It was one of the castle’s better features. Archrin sank into the chair, suddenly tired.
The negotiations and alterations within the former Kendren kingdom were going smoothly. The transition from the brothers to Tiara was almost complete. His life was not supposed to be getting any more complicated. Archrin was beginning to believe that Tiara secretly enjoyed chaos.
“Do you have any ideas?” Tiara crossed the space between them and sat on the floor, looking up at him. “What if we just say we’re visiting one of the worlds under my new rule?”
He shook his head. “It won’t work. If you suggest visiting other worlds, then a guard of at least a devatte must accompany you. As future queen, it could be even more. In Tlaid, protocol is everything.”
“It would be difficult to slip away unnoticed,” Tiara concluded.
He nodded, glancing around the room. Tiara’s wardrobe stood open at the opposite side of the chamber. It was a reminder that she still needed to dress for a meal that they both were required to attend.
“What if I were to be called to Evedon by Olinia? Would I still need a devatte?” Tiara offered.
A devatte was fifty men – forty-nine soldiers and one officer. It was actually a low amount of soldiers for a world's future sovereign. The Kendren brothers would usually travel with a vatte – five hundred men.
“Wherever you go, a devatte would be the minimum,” Archrin replied.
Tiara sighed, her frustration evident on her face. Her emotions were always so obvious to him. In Drivian she had fooled everyone but him. Archrin liked that he could read her while others could not.
“There’s got to be some excuse,” Tiara moaned. “What about a dying family member?”
“Who do you plan on killing off?” Archrin raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe I could just use someone who is already dead?”
“It won’t work.”
“I know.” Tiara groaned.
“We still need to go to dinner tonight,” Archrin reminded her. “We can come up with a reason for leaving later.”
Tiara straightened and turned to her open wardrobe, but then stopped, facing him again. “Did you know that I’ve always dreamed of getting married in Drivian, just outside of Ildatch forest? I still want that.”
He blinked. “Once everything is settled, I’m sure we can arrange it.”
“Well, if we were to get married there, we would eventually need to survey the location.”
Now he saw where this was going. “We would still need a devatte for your escort.”
“Did you have any friends as a Kendren?”
Archrin stared at her, confused by the sudden change of topic. “What?”
“Wherever we go we’re going to need soldiers,” she answered. “When you were a Kendren, didn’t you have friends you would use to cover for you?”
“Cover for me? It wasn’t school. We were soldiers.”
Tiara rolled her eyes again. “Fine, did you have friends you could rely on? If so, would those same friends be willing to say they were with us the whole time in Drivian even though they were not?”
Archrin let out a short laugh. Leave it to Tiara to come up with as desperate a proposal as that. “I don’t know a devatte worth of men who would help us.”
“We wouldn’t need a devatte, just a few key men in leadership positions who could pretend that we were with them.”
He frowned. “We would need a decoy for you.”
“And a new lady-in-waiting,” she added. “My current one wouldn’t let me out of her sight.”
Archrin sighed, resigned to the idea. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“A week at least for me to find the right people,” he told her. “Then another week to go through all the preparations demanded by protocol.”
“Two weeks.” Tiara pulled a face. “I hope Olinia can wait that long.”
: : : : :
Alone again. Olinia released her breath in a rush and ran a hand through her loose, straightened hair. She would have to thank Legann later for taking the two men she was having mixed feelings about away from her. Having some time to herself to think without any interruptions from the minds of Sazx and Legann was much appreciated.
Now that the opportunity to leave Ethon was upon her, she wasn’t so sure that she was ready to go back to the Other Worlds. What little drive she’d possessed to return had been based on seeing her twin again. But Will had informed them that Zedgry was with Trenton and would be joining them shortly. With both of her brothers now in Ethon, was there really a need to leave? She didn’t care to fill her destined throne anymore. Even though she had to hide her gifts, Ethon had grown to be a pleasant residence for her. It might not feel like home, but Olinia couldn’t really remember ever calling a place home. Her home was stolen from her as a child. She had been able to make do in Ethon.
Her Globing in Ethon from that afternoon was also bothering her. She hadn’t been entirely honest with Will and her brother earlier. When explaining the event, she’d only mentioned that she and Tiara ended up in Will’s house and that they weren’t there for long. She told them that she saw a younger Will studying. She didn’t bring up that he had been with his sister, even though she probably should have. Instead, she acted as if nothing had really happened, and that the main purpose for the travel was talking to Tiara. It was a horrible lie, but Legann had been so anxious for updates on the Other Worlds that he stole Will away to other topics, much to Olinia’s relief.
Now that she was alone though and had time to think, she was utterly confused over her Globing. There had to have been a reason why she and Tiara were shown that particular conversation between Will and Ariel. She knew it had to do with DS Academy.
Remembering the unfinished search on her laptop, Olinia left the kitchen where she had been cleaning up the remnants of dinner for her bedroom. Her laptop was still on her bed. With the wave of her hand, she moved the laptop through the air to her desk as she entered her room. She hit the space bar with her finger to wake it up before turning to her stereo. She had an iPod already plugged into it, meant just to play music in her room. Olinia felt like singing. It had been a few days since the last time she had.
When it was just her and Legann, Olinia would sing everyday, practicing. Legann didn’t mind. In truth, he enjoyed hearing her voice throughout the house. He found her voice pleasant and soothing. But ever since Sazx had joined them, Olinia only sang when she was alone. She didn’t want any more of an audience than she had with Legann.
Back in the Other Worlds, during her slave days, she had been forced to sing at banquets. For a while after she was freed, she refused to sing in public, only singing when she was by herself. When she entered Ethon, though, she turned to her singing for comfort.
Now, she had entire playlists of just accompaniment on her iPod that she would use to sing along to.
Olinia stepped to the stereo and flipped through her playlists to her favorite song. It was an old Italian aria. Olinia loved it. She pressed play on her stereo and went back to her desk just as the first notes began. She shut her eyes, letting the music seep through her. There were no mysteries in this song. Olinia knew where each note rose and fell. She felt like the song belonged to her as much as it did the actual composer.
When it came time for the words, Olinia opened her mouth and the lyrics flowed out of her. As she slid through the familiar stanzas, she felt the passion behind the words. When the song finished a few minutes later, Olinia sank into her desk chair, now ready to continue her search. The singing had once again calmed her. A moment later the song switched on her iPod, and she hummed along with the first few bars.
“I had no idea you sang.”
Olinia whirled, nearly toppling out of her chair. Will jumped to her side, steadying her with one hand. She regained her balance and yanked her arm free, glaring at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I decided not to go,” he answered simply.
There would be no thanking Legann after all. As he exited her hundred-yard radius, he’d led her to believe that both Sazx and Will were in the car with him. That little liar! Olinia fumed inwardly. She was supposed to be by herself!
“I want to talk to you,” Will said.
“Well, I wanted to be alone.” Olinia quickly shut off her stereo mid-song, and headed out of her room, around Will.
He followed after her, through the hallway. “Princess, wait.”
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she kept walking – down the stairs, into the kitchen, out the back door. Even once outside she didn’t stop. She continued into the thick trees surrounding her house. Behind her, she could hear Will trailing her, his steps heavy over the fallen leaves. He was catching up fairly quickly. A warm wind pulled at her t-shirt.
“Olinia, stop.” He grasped her shoulder, pulling her around to face him. “What’s wrong with you?”