Forgotten (Guardian Legacy Book 3)

by Ednah Walters

  To our right was a rocky divide that went all the way to the sea. It was the same pile of rocks I’d seen the first time I’d come to the beach, which meant it separated this beach from West Coronis Beach. A waterfall to the left neatly confined the occupants to the narrow land. It didn’t seem to bother them, though.

  “Is this part of Coronis Beach?” I asked.

  “No, this is Rocky Beach,” Katia said. “Or, should I say, the minions’ beach. On the other side of the waterfall is East Coronis Beach, which, if you’ve noticed, is favored by families.”

  The beach had more pebbles than sand. No wonder they called it Rocky Beach. “What happens when a family has a child without powers?” I asked.

  Katia chuckled. “I don’t know. They keep it to themselves, I guess. Do you see her?”

  I followed Katia’s gaze and saw who she was talking about—Seraph, the little girl I’d healed weeks ago. She’d seen us and was pointing.

  One by one, the minions dropped to their knees, bowed their heads, and pressed hands to their chests. “No, don’t kneel.”

  By the time we walked across the sand to their side, the entire beach was on their knees, on the rocky ground. Please, stop bowing. Get up. Now.

  No one moved.

  Please, stand up, I added.

  One by one, heads lifted. They were confused, but they got to their feet. I recognized faces from the castle. Most workers there rotated, getting a few days off every week. Surprise flashed in their eyes when I remembered their names, but I didn’t dwell on it, because Seraph was running toward me, two of her friends following. I was sure she was going to hug me but stopped short and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

  I knelt down. “Hey, Seraph. I promised I’d come.”

  She just stared.

  “Sorry it’s taken me so long,” I added, feeling a little guilty.

  “Five weeks, twenty hours, and fifteen minutes late.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Green Eyes. Dressed in a black surfing suit that hugged his masculine chest and taut abs, his hair plastered to his head and falling past his shoulders, he looked utterly male and tempting.

  “I didn’t know you were keeping count,” I said.

  “I always keep count, Princess.” He glanced at Katia. “Hi.”

  “It’s you again,” Katia murmured. “Are you stalking us?”

  “No. I just happen to have a large family to feed and must work as often as I can.”

  “But the High Council is in charge of making sure everyone is fed,” I said.

  “Weekly provisions are based on work hours, Princess, whether a minion works in some nobleman’s home, a shop, farms, or the palace grounds. You want decent meals each day, fresh fruit and vegetables, or even a decent home, you work your tail off. The problem is that when parents are busy working, the children are cooped underground doing nothing or working alongside them. Coming to the beach means lost work hours and less provision, yet the children need fresh air.”

  Rocky Beach was small for the number of people flocking it, but he couldn’t be serious about food and home. The minions working at the castle always seemed happy. As an empath, I would have known if they were angry, hungry, or unhappy. As for their homes, I knew that most of the minions lived in the belly of the city, but I hadn’t visited them.

  I glanced at Katia. “Is this true?”

  She nodded.

  I studied the minions and something registered. No one was speaking, not even telepathically. Were they listening to our conversation? I knew the ones closest to us could hear us.

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked.

  “Just as you made sure Sir Kellion stopped abusing the volunteers and got him bumped to number two, the rest of us need a champion, Princess,” Green Eyes said.

  “What? He stopped?” I laughed.

  Green Eyes grinned. “Sir Norath is now the head of the knights. He started a new regiment made up of minions. They started training this morning.”

  “That’s great!” I hugged Katia.

  “Like I said, the rest of us need an advocate, someone who cares about our welfare. Someone who can go to the High Council and demand changes.” He nodded at the minions. “Ask them what they need to make their lives better and you’ll be surprised.” He bowed and disappeared.

  Why did he keep doing that?

  I didn’t realize I’d spoken out loud, until Seraph’s mother said, “He’s always been like that, even as a child. On Coronis Isle, he’d bring the children treats, then disappear. Now he brings supplies to the shop.” She indicated the beach shop with a nod. “Drinking water and fresh fruit.” She looked at something behind me and fear flashed in her eyes.

  I turned and groaned. Lottius and my guards had caught up with us, but they weren’t alone. Lady Nemea and several guards were with them.

  “We are so busted,” Katia whispered. She sounded scared.

  Lottius hurried to our side, a broad grin on her face. “Are you done? I took them all over the island before they finally caught on. Idiots.”

  Katia giggled. “You won’t believe what we just learned. They’ve started training minions as guards because of what Lilith did.”

  I tuned out Katia and Lottius as Lady Nemea and the guards drew closer. A psi scan said my father was in the castle. I tried to ping him, but his shield was up. I tried again, hoping he’d recognize my energy and respond. No response. Weird.

  The minions took off, some going back to their activities. Others left the beach altogether. I waited, my mind already made up.

  “Don’t leave, please,” I called out. A few looked back and smiled, but the majority acted like they hadn’t heard me. Seraph and her two friends shuffled back with their mothers.

  “What’s going on?” Lady Nemea asked imperiously. Nearby minions looked down.

  “Join us, Lady Nemea,” I said. “We came to the beach to swim.”

  Her eyes narrowed on Katia accusingly, then Lottius, before coming back to me. “You’re supposed to use West Coronis Beach.”

  I shrugged. “We like this one better. Lots of rocks and itty-bitty space.”

  Annoyance simmered in her eyes. “Swimming? Where’s your swimsuit?”

  I looked down at my sundress, wishing it was a swimsuit. The material shifted and remolded to form a swimsuit. Grinning, I glance at Lady Nemea. “This swimsuit?”

  She sighed. What are you really doing here, Princess?

  I let the image of my sundress fill my thoughts, and the swimsuit transformed back into the dress. “My friends and I ended up on this beach and we wanted something fresh to eat and drink. You know, fresh fruit or a cold smoothie, but surprise, surprise, they didn’t have enough to go around. That little shack”—I pointed at the lone building—“can hardly handle the needs of this many people. There should be more shops here.”

  Lady Nemea gave me a tight smile. “There’s still a lot of work being done around the island, so more stores will be added on Rocky Beach.” She glanced around at the minions and nodded. Three elderly ones—two men and a woman—had moved closer. Standing protectively behind them were buff younger ones in their teens or early twenties. From their expression, they didn’t believe Lady Nemea.

  “I will talk to Kasset and make sure your supplies are increased, but right now Princess Lilith has duties in the castle that require her attention,” Lady Nemea added.

  The expressions on the faces of the minions didn’t change, but their thoughts filtered through unchecked. They didn’t expect their situation to change. They didn’t trust Lady Nemea, and if I did nothing, they’d never trust me, either.

  “No, Lady Nemea. My duties are here, serving my people.” I indicated the minions with a nod. “They need me.”

  “Princess—”

  “I will return to the castle, Lady Nemea, but first, we need some…” I glanced at the elderly woman.

  “Fresh fruit,” she said.

  “How many crates?” I asked.

  “Three or fo
ur.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. Four crates of fresh fruit.”

  “And at least two barrels of drinking water,” one of the men chimed in.

  “Anything else?”

  “Fresh vegetables,” another added. “Three crates.”

  Lady Nemea sighed. “Princess, I don’t think there’s enough to go around this week. They’ve already been given their weekly supply.”

  I hated arguing with her in front of the minions, but dang it, Mount Hermon Island was home to all of us. “I know, Lady Nemea, but they need more now.” The minion elders nodded. “I know you’ve been busy preparing my etiquette lessons and probably haven’t had time to visit the storage, Lady Nemea.” Chances were she had, but I couldn’t accuse her of lying. “But there’s enough food to feed everyone on this island for years. Just yesterday, I saw crates of fresh apples, pineapples, mangoes, and peaches.” I paused and smiled at the elderly minion woman. “May I know your name, ma’am?”

  “Halib,” she said, then pointed at the man on her right, “Jalal and Dadelon,” she pointed to the man on her left. “We are the elders and representatives of the P-zero group.”

  I winced. This crazy way of defining people by their power had to stop. P-zero meant they had no powers. Having no psi power didn’t mean they were powerless or insignificant. Someone needed to remind them that as long as they were contributing members of the society, they were important. But that was for later. Now…

  “How many barrels of water do you get daily, Halib, and how many more would you like daily?”

  “We get water in our homes, Princess,” one of the elders explained. “It’s only here at the beach that we don’t have enough. But the waterfall is nearby.”

  As the minions went into details about what each household needed, which included fruits and vegetables, Lady Nemea’s disapproval grew.

  “To add that amount to their supplies, we need to talk to Kasset,” Lady Nemea said. “She’s in charge of food.”

  I’d spent enough hours visiting the servants in the kitchen and Kasset in her office in the sublevels. She would understand.

  “Can I have some volunteers, please?” I called out.

  Several men and women raised their hands. I waved them over. The others stepped aside to let them pass. When they reached us, they went on their knees and touched their chests.

  “We are here to serve you, Princess,” a woman said, and the others echoed her. I recognized her from the rides. She was the one manning the booth where I’d healed Seraph. “My name is Jazreel.”

  “Nice to see you again, Jazreel. Come with me. All of you.” I didn’t look at Lady Nemea.

  “Princess, what are you doing down here?” a short, round woman with rosy cheeks and white, curly hair asked, hurrying from an office when we appeared on the second sublevel. Behind us were huge barrels, crates, and sacks on raised platforms.

  “Hi, Kasset. You said I could visit you whenever I liked.”

  “Yes, to get a few pieces fruit or share the cook’s pie. Today, you brought visitors.” She studied the men and women who’d teleported behind me, her eyes locking with the woman from the rides. “Jazreel.”

  “Mother.” The anger and hurt in that one word said it all.

  “Can we talk in your office, please?” I asked.

  Kasset nodded, her glance going to her daughter one last time. Once inside, she faced me. “What’s going on, Princess?”

  “We need barrels of drinking water, fresh fruit, and vegetables sent to Rocky Beach.”

  “May I know what it is for? Are you having a party?”

  “It is for the people. I just found out some of our people are not getting enough fresh vegetables and fruit. I hate using the word minions or P-zeros, but they’re just as important as P1s, or the Specials, for that matter. The bottom line is they need water on the beach and fresh fruit, and I’m hoping you’ll give us some. Whatever their daily or weekly rations, I would like to see it—”

  “Oh, Princess.” She cut me off, took my hand, and pressed it against her ample bosom. “Thank you. May the Principalities always guide you. I have placed requests for months, but Malax kept saying it was enough. I knew it wasn’t, because my daughter tells me in excruciating detail what the minions need.”

  “She has no special powers?”

  Kasset chuckled. “She does, but she’s what you call an activist. She and her friends work with the minions to better their lives.”

  I frowned. “By doing what?”

  “I don’t know. She refuses to discuss anything with me because, according to her, I am part of the problem.” She sighed. “She doesn’t understand that I answer to Malax, who answers to your father.”

  “I’ll talk to my father.”

  “That’s wonderful,” she said in an upbeat voice. “We’ll need to increase our budget to buy more. The fresh fruits we have right now might not be enough for a week—”

  “Then let them last three days. Where do we get our fruit and vegetables?”

  “We’ve grown our own since arriving here, but it’s not enough, so we buy from Hawaii and other parts of the US.”

  According to my tutor, Mount Hermon Island was somewhere in the Pacific. “We have orchards here on the island?”

  She nodded. “On the east side of the island.”

  I hadn’t completely explored the other side of the island, just the beach. “Who does the planting, the tending, and the harvesting?”

  Kasset hesitated, then said slowly, “Minions.”

  Yet they weren’t getting enough to eat. Oh, my father was going to hear an earful. “Give them what they need for now.”

  The ten volunteers were about to leave when Lady Nemea arrived. The gleam in her eyes said I wasn’t going to like whatever she said next.

  “Your father wants to see you, Princess Lilith,” Lady Nemea said.

  “Where is he?”

  “In the throne room.”

  The last couple of weeks, I’d become very good at finding the energies of those closest to me. I searched for my father’s. It amazed me how bright and red his energy was. Was mine like his? Some people had yellow, others orange energies. The minions’ were bright and white. Father?

  You pinged me earlier. What’s going on?

  I’m helping our people and I wanted you to know about it before you hear it from someone else.

  A chuckle. Good.

  Can you join us on Rocky Beach?

  Silence.

  Father?

  I’ll be there. He sounded wary.

  “He’s coming to the beach,” I said. Lady Nemea didn’t hide her surprise, and the minions’ fear was equally easy to read. “It’s okay,” I reassured them. “Take the crates to the beach.”

  PART II LILITH THE LEADER

  -12-

  Lady Nemea and the guards followed us back to Rocky Beach. Lottius and Katia helped hand out fruit while I talked to the elders. They had a list of complaints, minor and major. Some minions took their share home, while others sat and munched.

  Lottius, Katia, and I joined them. Lady Nemea and the guards didn’t. She was such a buzzkill. I ignored her long-suffering expression as laughter and excited chatter filled the air. I soaked it all in.

  No more thoughts about the Guardians and what they’d stolen from me. No more thoughts about making them pay. I glanced around, exchanging smiles. These were my people, my concern, not the Guardians. I found out that Seraph’s mother was called Ziminair and that her father, Anzu, was a day laborer in the fields.

  I searched for Green Eyes, but he hadn’t returned. I couldn’t feel him, either. It was hard to explain how the mere thought of him sent my pulse racing. I had a serious crush on the guy. Probably more than a crush, but the situation was hopeless. My father would find me a mate, and minions weren’t qualified.

  Silence spread across the beach like a giant wave. I turned and grinned. Father had arrived. Minions went down on their knees. Even Lottius and Katia joined them. I guessed
I should be nervous about interfering in matters that didn’t concern me again, but I wasn’t. This was the right thing to do.

  “May the Principalities guide you, Lord Valafar” followed him as he walked past the people. He paused to pat heads and shoulders, ask about family members. Some reached out to touch him as he passed them. From their reaction and emotions, they revered him.

  I waved. “Over here.”

  “May the Principalities guide you, sire,” the elders said when he reached us.

  “Thank you.” Then he turned to me. “Daughter.”

  “I’m happy you came,” I said, offering him an apple.

  He smiled and took it. “I’ll always come when you need me.”

  I grinned and patted the sand. “Want to sit?”

  He looked around, face expressionless. I don’t think so.

  It shows that you are one of us, Father.

  I am one of you, he said stressing “am”. Someone appeared with a chair for him. The guards stayed standing.

  No one offered me a chair, I griped.

  That’s because you’re not our leader yet.

  Yet? Did that mean he meant to step down? I didn’t want to think about that now. “Sit, please,” I told the guards. “Grab some fruit.”

  They acknowledged my words with a nod, but they didn’t take me up on the offer. Instead, they studied everyone and the horizon as though they expected Guardians to pop up from the sea of harmless minions or from the water.

  The minions pressed closer as though waiting for Father to say something. The children grew restless. A few tried to move from their mothers’ sides but were stopped by firm grips. I closed my hand around the mango core and felt it shift and change texture. When I opened my hands, the core had turned into sand. I made eye contact with Seraph’s mom.

  Ziminair, the children are bored. I want to play with them in the water. Can you see if it’s okay with the other mothers?

  She smiled. Of course, Princess.

  I stood when she nodded, and took Seraph’s hand and the hand of the friend she’d been playing with. The other children, nudged by their parents, joined us.