by Stacy Lee
Chapter Nine
Drip-Drip-Drip
The sound of dripping water has me on my feet and backed against the wall immediately expecting Raider to attack me. I grab the candle and search the darkness but feel no other presence within the room. Carefully I scan the walls watching the shadows, waiting for something to jump out at me. When one of the shadows break apart from the rest to dart across the room from one side to the other I gasp and press myself further against the wall.
What in heaven’s name was that?
Another, then another dart around the room moving closer to me. I hold the candle out in front of me hoping the light would drive them away, still they come closer.
“Back my pets.” I feel him the instant Raider appears in the room.
Terrified I scream out in my head ‘Xavier! Help me!’ Hoping he would hear me through the bond and wake me up. Keeping my eyes on the floor I watch as Raiders feet step closer to me.
“You are so much more powerful than I thought you would be. You don’t even know what you are doing and yet you save a whole town from massacre killing almost fifty of my Ranoy.” His feet stop toe to toe with mine and I slam my eyes shut before he could make me look at him. As expected his hand grips my chin tightly, raising my face to his. “I cannot wait to be able to use you, child. No one will be able to stop me.” He cackles as he drops my chin and backs away. Unwilling to let my guard down I keep my eyes shut.
“How is my boy, Evangelina? Has Xavier told you he is my son?” I refuse to answer him and keep my mouth firmly closed. A burst of pain explodes in my cheek from a backhand causing me to momentarily open my eyes in surprise. Instantaneously he is in my face. I manage to shut them before the bond tries to connect pissing him off enough to slap me again.
Xavier! I scream once more.
“He will turn on you, you know that don’t you? That is why you refuse to finish the bond with him. You know he will become just like me. Have you seen his temper yet?” He chuckles quietly like he has all the time in the world. “He was known far and wide for his temper tantrums as a child. Not many still had problems with it at fifty but he did. Still does.” His voice is filled with demented pride making me want to defend Xavier.
“He is nothing like you. And he never will be.” I state firmly. Again he laughs.
“Ask him about Lucas, then make up your mind.” His voice fades as I am sucked from the dream.
“Samantha!” Xavier has me by the shoulders shaking me furiously, trying to wake me up. Unwilling to open my eyes till I knew I was safe I keep them screwed shut.
“Xavier?” He breathes a sigh of relief and pulls me into his chest.
“Thank goodness.” He breathes. “I have been trying to wake you since the first time you called for me. You wouldn’t come out of it.” Pulling me back he smooth’s my hair away from my face. “It’s okay to open your eyes, Sam.” Hesitantly I let them flutter open. His are averted and covered in the dark glasses. “Your face is bruising.” He says absently as he gently strokes my cheek where Raider had slapped me. Then all of a sudden he freezes, his eyes grow cold, I might not be able to see them completely but I could see them change from the gentleness that had just been there to the ice that now resided. He turns my head from one side to the other with a light grip further back on my jaw. His finger glides over where Raider had gripped my chin so tightly to where he hit me.
“Did Raider do this?” He all but growls out. A movement behind him draws my gaze to Axel; I hadn’t realized he was in the room. He also has a grim set to his jaw, a look of murder in his eyes. “Sam, answer me.” He bites out. I’m not sure if it was what Raider had said or just the warning in his tone but I flinch with his words.
“Yes.” I whisper.
“Tell me what happened.” His voice is deathly calm.
“I made him mad.” I hedge.
“Sam, please tell me what happened.” I breathe out a long sigh. His voice has gentled some but the edge of anger was still present.
“He said I was more powerful than he thought. Then he asked if I knew you were his son. I refused to answer him and he hit me, twice.” I whisper the last word as I watch his teeth grind together.
“Anything else?” Axel adds.
“Um…. Just for me to ask Xavier about Lucas.” His whole body tenses with the name. With a gentleness I didn’t think possible with him so worked up, he lays me back on the bed and leaves the room without a word.
“Axel?” I don’t know if I’m asking him to tell me or if I want him to go after Xavier.
“That’s not my story to tell, Sam.” He says softly. Stepping up he sits beside me in the chair and clasps my hand with his. “What else did he say? You’re leaving something out, Sam.” His tone isn’t rough, he isn’t trying to force me to talk. He is giving me an opening to finish if I needed to. An opening I take.
“Can you keep something to yourself, Axel?” I meet his eyes letting all the seriousness I feel pool in my own hoping he realizes this is important. “Can I trust you?” I whisper.
“Yes, Samantha. I would give up my life for you if that is what it took to keep you safe. If you need me to keep it to myself, I will.” The honesty in his eyes prompts me to go on. I had to trust in someone. I couldn’t tell this to Xavier, he was too close to it. He would over react as soon as I started talking. I glance to the door then back at him. Sensing my hesitancy to be disturbed he strides over to the door and throws the bolt before returning to my side.
“It started that first day the Ranoy attacked in the mountains. I know you say it’s impossible but when I met Raiders eyes the bond tried to form.” His low growl makes me shrink into myself a little.
“I’m sorry, it’s just not possible Sam.” He says on a sigh.
“I know what I felt, Axel. It was exactly the same feeling as what happens with Xavier. It’s like being held prisoner. I can’t breathe, can’t move, it takes everything I have to make my eyes listen to me. I know you say it can’t be but it is.” I plead with him to believe me.
“Alright. Let’s say it is the same. What else.” He still doesn’t look like he truly believes me but at least he is listening.
“The next time I fell asleep was when he first infiltrated my dreams. I do remember what he said, I’m sorry I lied but at the time I wasn’t sure what else to do because you insisted it wasn’t possible, then when Xavier said it was his dad, well I didn’t want him to know. He was trying to force the bond by holding me still with his hand in my hair. That’s how he ripped it out, I fought back.”
“That makes more sense. Go on. What about this time?” His finger absently rubs his jaw while he listens. His nervous tick, we all have one but this is the first time I have seen him show anything but complete confidence.
“Basically what I said except he slapped me because I made him mad and I wouldn’t open my eyes. Then he started talking about Xavier, how he had a temper and he would turn on me because he is just like his dad. I told him he was wrong and that’s when he said to ask about Lucas. I woke up then.” I take a deep breath knowing that out of all of it this was going to be the hardest to explain. “I know I will finish the bond with Xavier, I plan on doing it as soon as I can. It’s just….” I let my head fall into my hands, how do I explain this?
“It’s what, Sam? If you plan on doing it then why haven’t you? You have had the opportunity more than once.”
“It isn’t time yet.” I whisper.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I just know that it isn’t the right time. There is something that has to happen first, I just don’t know what. I have really begun to care about him, Axel, and I hate causing him pain, making him think I am fighting him when I have accepted it. I just know it can’t be done yet.”
“Why don’t you tell him that? It would make it easier on him.” His eyes search mine as if he can’t understand why I would keep this from Xavier when a simple explanation would fix it. I wish I knew that answer to.
“So we need to keep you away from Raider and wait for this thing to happen. I can work with that, Sam. Now that I know, I’ll keep a closer eye on you when you sleep. Any signs of stress I’ll wake you. I feel like I need to tell you that Raider was correct. Xavier has a temper. That being said, he would never hurt a single person with it. He has his ways of venting, mainly weapons practice but he has been known to take it out on a few Ranoy.” He chuckles setting my nerves at ease some.
“Thank you, Axel.” He nods as the door knob turns. He stands and walks to the door.
“Who is it?” The fact his hand is on the hilt of his dagger at his waist isn’t missed.
“Xavier.” Is growled back. He glances over his shoulder at me and I nod for him to let him in. “Why was the door locked?” He looks between us but neither answer him. He growls again but doesn’t say another word about it. “Give us a minute, will you, Axel?” He glances to me then leaves shutting the door behind him. Xavier paces the room for a short minute then sits in the chair Axel had vacated. Still he remains quiet.
“Xavier?” I ask hesitantly. He rubs his face roughly then exhales in a loud whoosh.
“Lucas was our best friend. Axel, Lucas and I were hardly ever seen apart. One day we were practicing with swords, Lucas was my partner that day. He wasn’t any good at weaponry, never had been, so I normally took it easy on him. I was pissed about the most recent beating Raider had given my mother and was rougher than I should have been with Lucas. He had been complaining of a wicked headache all day and shouldn’t have even been at practice. I knocked the sword from his hand and should have stopped there but I had to make one last move. A move I will regret for the rest of my life.” He turns his face towards the door siting in contemplation for several minutes.
Sensing his hesitation to finish I scoot closer to the edge of the bed, clasping our hands in a comforting gesture. He looks down at them with a ghost of a smile on his lips, his thumbs grazing my wrists rhythmically.
“I turned my sword, using the flat side, I smacked him lightly across the back of the head in a move I’d made a hundred times before. I barely touched him.” He draws in a ragged breath then brings our hands to his lips laying a gentle kiss across my knuckles. “His eyes widened in pain and he fell to the floor, dead. No one really knows what happened, why the soft tap killed him. Several Phranoy were in the room watching, all of which had seen us fight before. None of them said there was anything different about the way I had hit him than what I had done previously, all vouched that I had barely touched him. When I got home Raider had praised me for taking a life and beating the curse. That obviously Lucas wasn’t innocent. He was the most innocent kid I knew, Sam. The only thing the elders figured is it was going to happen anyway, something was already wrong, maybe the headache was the cause and my small hit finished it. It still doesn’t take the knowledge away that I killed him.” He adds the last part quietly, his features twisted in agony.
“It wasn’t your fault, Xavier. I’m sorry I listened to Raider and asked you about it. I should have known you couldn’t have hurt anyone. I promise not to make that mistake again.” With determination I grab the glasses from his waistband and slide them on his face. Once there I cup his cheek then search his eyes. Sadness, loss, blame and guilt wash over me. I throw back at him confidence in his innocence, trust and concern. His small smile shows his relief as his emotions start to change. Gentleness, caring, and something else I can’t read before he abruptly pulls himself away from me and clears his throat.
“The Drumon here would like to meet you. To thank you for saving them. You feeling up to it? They have a whole dinner planned for you.” He grins as he stands. I look down to my dirty clothes, filthy, mud caked feet and hands making me cringe.
“Is there any way I can take a bath or a shower first? Maybe get a clean set of clothes?” I ask embarrassed. He cocks his head and scans my body then chuckles.
“Yeah, sure. I guess we have run you ragged over the last few days, huh?” His grin is breathtaking as he backs toward the door. “I’ll have a tub and fresh clothes sent up to you momentarily. Don’t take too long getting ready.” Then he nods and leaves the room. A tub sent up? Oh yeah, no running water. I forgot about that. With a sigh I throw myself back on the bed.
A short time later two very large men bring in a metal tub followed by a stream of ladies that made me look like a bee next to an eagle. When the last one closes the door behind her the tub is filled with scalding water and a tray of what I assumed was soap set on the table. Shaking my head at the powdery substance I conjure up a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and body soap then gleefully lower myself in the hot water.
After removing the three days’ worth of dirt from my body and hair I lay back and just let myself enjoy the moment of peace. I felt better now that Axel knew what was happening. I still didn’t think Xavier needed to know, it wasn’t that I didn’t trust him it was just a sense that I had. I knew he would probably be hurt when he found out everything but hopefully he will trust me enough to know I felt like I had no choice.
There was something coming, something I needed to do on my own before I could make the bond permanent. Now I just had to figure out what it was so Raider would stop attacking me in my sleep. It bothered me he could find me anywhere while I slept. What if Xavier and Axel were nowhere around, how would I be able to wake up? I would just have to make sure I never fell asleep alone. A knock at the door startles me making me splash water all over the floor.
“Samantha? I have your clothes.” Xavier’s voice calls out.
“Um, I am still in the water. Can you just crack open the door and drop them in?” I ask lamely.
“Sure.” The humor in his voice makes me smile. The door opens just a little, his arm sliding in to drop a pile of material far enough in to shut the door without hitting them. “You have about ten minutes till they will be ready for you. I’ll be back in eight.” His deep laugh follows him down the hallway as I growl at him. Eight minutes! Hoping out of the tub I quickly dry off and retrieve the clothing. Before putting it on I grab the ones I had been wearing and throw them in the tub scrubbing the dirt from them. I add a little shampoo to make them smell better then rinse them and hang them in front of the fire to dry.
With that done I examine what he brought me to wear. Unfolding the simple but pretty dress I’m surprised he could find something small enough to fit me in this land of giants. I slip it on, however it gets caught on my wings in the back making me twist and spin trying to fix it. When the knock comes on the door announcing Xavier’s return I am still fighting to right it. With an exasperated sigh I yell at him to come in.
He enters then stops and stares at me trying to fix the dress. With a broad grin he walks to me and adjusts the material to fall around me. It was a very stretchy material making it pliable and easy for him to pull the wings out and tuck the low cut back against my skin. The thin spaghetti straps went from the front all the way to my waist in the back, the two thin scraps of material the only thing holding it up. Once it was positioned it hung all the way to the floor. If I wasn’t careful I might trip on it and bust my butt.
Quickly I retrieve the brush I had conjured from our bag and run it through my hair, then braid it over my shoulder. Last I slip the dainty slippers he had brought on my feet then turn to him. He studies me from head to toe a slight confused l
ook on his face. I look down to make sure nothing was hanging out that didn’t belong out but saw nothing amiss. Still when I look back up to him his confusion is evident.
“Is something wrong, Xavier?” I ask perplexed.
“You’re beautiful.” He says quickly.
“And that confuses you?” I ask.
“No, the fact your eyes are shinning very bright and are green, is what confuses me.” My eyes weren’t green! They were blue. Closing my eyes I imagine a mirror and call it forth. A small three by three hand mirror appears in my hand and I hurriedly take in my reflection. He was right, my eyes were an otherworldly glowing green. I gasp as I look back towards him.
“How?” I ask a little scared. I glance back down to the mirror and once again they are blue, only a lot brighter than they had been before.
“I don’t know, Sam. You are one of a kind.” He grins then offers me his arm. “Shall we go to dinner?” Taking it I let him lead me downstairs into a huge room filled to capacity with very large Drumon.
The night is filled with food, --real food, not cubes-- music and celebration. Late into the evening we enjoy the hospitality of the Drumon people as everyone in town stops by the inn to introduce themselves and thank me. Many of the men pull me to the dance floor, much to Xavier’s grumbling. For all my reservations about these people I find they are very much like any human on Earth. They had hopes and dreams, granted they were geared more towards farming and staying alive instead of computers and trips to the moon, still they were people who lived like any other person. Day to day.
There was one little boy who had been watching me from behind his mother’s skirt most of the night. Every time I would look his way he would pull his head back and hide. He was a cute little guy who couldn’t have been more than five, although I could have been wrong with their sizes so much different than ours. I have worked my way slowly towards him watching him as I draw ever closer. When I stop to talk to his mother I hear a small whimper come from behind her. Glancing down I can no longer see him as he had completely wrapped himself in her skirt.
“He is scared of you. Please forgive him.” His mother begs. I give her a smile and pat her hand reassuringly.
“It’s okay, sometimes I’m scared of myself. What’s his name?” She grins at me.
“Sari, he’s three.” I nod as I kneel beside her and speak to the swaddled lump behind her.
“Hello Sari. My name is Samantha. You know when I was little, there was this man I was scared of who lived next door to me. I would run and hide every time he came outside. Do you know what he did to make me not scared?” The dress moves just enough to see one little grey eye poking out and to make out his shake of the head. I smile at him. “Every time I would look at him he would make a funny face at me, like this.” I stick my thumbs in my ears and wiggle my fingers, stick my tongue out and cross my eyes. A giggle reaches me as I drop my hands. “After about a week of him doing this every time I saw him, I started doing it back to him. Can you do it?” I ask as I make the funny face again. Very slowly he drops her dress and copies my actions. I laugh with him, then do it again, so does he.
“Later after I got bigger he told me he figured it would be hard for me to stay scared of him if I laughed every time I saw him. You know what, Sari?” He shakes his blonde head. “He was right.” I give him the funny face again as peals of laughter fall from his lips before he copies me, slowly moving towards me. “Can you show me a funny face?” He thinks about it for a second then pushes his nose back like a pigs, crosses his eyes and pulls one side of his mouth open with his tongue out. I clap then copy him with a giggle. When I release the face he is right in front of me. “One more, you do one and I’ll do one, okay?” His head bobs eagerly. “Okay, ready, go!” We both pull a face then burst out laughing. His little arms fly out and engulf my neck as he squeezes me in a tight hug.
“Thank you for making the bad monsters go away.” He whispers in my ear making my eyes prick with tears.
“You are very welcome.” When he lets go he runs back to his mom and stands by her side. I rise to my feet and it’s only then I realize everyone in the room was watching me. Feeling my face heat I look around for Xavier. When I pass over Sari he makes a face at me and I can’t help but return it. The room bursts out with laughter as Xavier’s hand falls on my waist pulling me into him and leading me away.
The murmur of the room picks back up now that I was no longer the center of attention. “I thought you couldn’t remember anything?” Xavier whispers in my ear as he leads me back to our table. I shrug and give him a crooked smile. His deep laugh fills the air making my insides turn to jelly. I loved his laugh. “So you made it up?” He grins.
“Just fabricated a small story to make him unafraid. It worked and I don’t know it isn’t true, the words just fell out of me. You never know, it could be what happened.” Again I shrug as he pulls my chair out for me. Glancing back to Sari he makes a face at me and I reward him with another one then giggle. A gentle kiss is pressed to my cheek and I turn to Xavier surprised. “What was that for?” I ask breathless. A kiss on my cheek should not have affected me like that. I force my racing heart to slow as I wait for his answer.
“For being you. For taking the time to let these people gawk at you, for setting a little boy at ease when you didn’t have to, for saving them when we would have been too late if it had been left to us. Pick one.” He nonchalantly studies the crowd as he speaks. His neck and cheeks grow pink and I wander what exactly had embarrassed him, the kiss or the explanation.
“Thank you.” I whisper emotionally.
The rest of the night goes by uneventfully till Xavier drags me away in the early morning hours. They had done so much I hadn’t wanted to be rude by leaving but I was dead on my feet and he knew it. When he makes to leave me at the door to my room I can’t help the hesitation I feel in being alone for Raider to find me in my dreams. Seemingly unaware of the fact, he bids me goodnight and leaves me to sleep alone.
Once I have changed back into my now dry clothes I tuck the dress away in our bag and lay down to sleep. After a few minutes a knock sounds at my door making me jump up and run to it hoping Xavier had changed his mind. Instead I find Axel leaning against the wall.
“Leave your door open.” He says as he strides in grabs the chair in the room and places it in the doorway. Sitting down straddling it, he faces out into the hallway throwing over his shoulder. “Go to sleep, I’ll wake you if I need to.” It shouldn’t disappoint me that it was Axel who came to guard me when I hadn’t told Xavier the truth of what was happening, however somewhere in my heart I wanted it to be him at my door protecting me. With the emotions warring in my body, mind and heart, I curl into my bed and fall into a deep sleep.