by T R Tells
“Are you enjoying the view so far, Thea?” Nobius asked her. He turned around to look at her from the front of the carriage. “The All-Father birthed the mountains to protect its people from invaders and the forest that we are riding through is spelled with magic.”
“Spelled?” Thea asked. She thought of the old trees and assumed it was meant to scare off invaders.
“Yes. If someone isn’t familiar with the layout of the land or acquainted with spells, they can get lost. They say if you leave a man out in these woods long enough, he’ll chew his leg off to not starve.”
“Interesting. Not the most gruesome thing I’ve heard. What happens when we get there?”
“Well, I’ll allow Nathan to show you around, get yourself acquainted with the town area, and then we’ll head to the church and talk about your marriage.” Nobius gave her a sly grin. Thea found herself blushing and tried to hide in her hair.
“No need to be ashamed, Thea. You’re a lovely girl, and you would be the right fit for my son. A Magi and a Cryptid, for one, is all — what may seem flawed is truly perfection.”
“When do you think I can meet my sister? I want her to walk me down the aisle at least.”
Nobius nodded. “We can arrange that once you’re settled in, take in the new sights, and meet other girls in the monastery. I think you’ll find them quite interesting and have some things in common with.”
Thea smiled back and felt Nathan’s arms wrap around her shoulders. She leaned into him and a piercing needle-like pain tingled from the back of her neck and skull, telling her something wasn’t right. While the sensation was unpleasant, she pushed the pain aside and turned her thoughts to what kind of life she could give Kadda here.
***
“Wake up,” a voice whispered in Thea’s ear, making her grin. She could feel warm hands caress her body, tracing delicate circles on her arm. “You know we can’t sleep here forever.”
“Just a few more moments, it’s comfy here,” Thea told the soft voice. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist and she wrenched from her half-sleepy state, her eyes shot open to see his golden blonde hair fell into his azure blue eyes.
She let out a giggle.
“Okay, I’m up,” she sounded content. Her naked body wrapped in brown satin sheets, and she was laying on top of a man’s chest. She rested her head against him and twirled her fingers around his blonde chest hairs. “You sure know how to wake a girl.”
“Wouldn’t want you to sleep the day away. Besides, you know I can’t go throughout the day without you. How did I get so lucky?”
Thea lifted her head and smiled. She reached out her hand and traced her finger along his cheek and down the length of his smooth jawline. The person’s face was a blur, but despite being unable to make out his features, Thea felt her heart beat faintly. It was a feeling that she had never known or even thought possible.
“Always and Forever.” Thea let the words slip out casually — they felt as natural as breathing. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she felt his smile stretch into a wide grin.
“Always, My Gift . . .”
My Gift. Those two words were magic, and Thea felt a warm, burning sensation in her chest. She had never thought anyone would whisper sweet things like this to her and she enjoyed every moment of it, wanting it to last a lifetime.
“Thea . . .Thea, it’s time to wake up.”
Thea gasped and opened her eyes, seeing the faint blue sky above her. She squinted her eyes, feeling an ache in her head again. She slowly sat up, grabbing the side of her head.
“Are you alright, Thea?”
Thea turned to see Nathan’s concerned face. He rested his hand on her back, and she pulled her lips into a small grin rubbing her head. Had that been a dream? Or a vision?
“Hey, look we’re almost there,” Nathan said to her. Thea looked where he pointed, and her jaw dropped.
The carriage was on one of the towering mountains Thea had seen earlier, and the forest was several hundred feet below. She stood up in the wagon to get a better look at the landscape. The hard-packed dirt road before them was on a cliff and the wagon slowly climbed it; eventually, it led them right to the Bastion. From this height, the forest looked more like a field of trees and the green blanket spread out even more beautiful from above. The smell of fresh cut grass wafted up Thea’s nose and there was a faint smell of flowers in the air. In the town, Thea could make out red houses, painted brightly enough to be visible from miles away. There was a crystal-clear lake just several kilometers from the town and from the vague figures Thea saw moving around it, it looked like children were playing at it.
However, the one thing that astounded Thea the most was the rocky stone mountains that surrounded the town and the castle-like structure that Thea assumed was the Bastion of Amac.
“It’s beautiful,” Thea said. She took her seat so the carriage could pull off.
“I thought you would like it. Those mountains as I’m sure you know, are made of stone. They sprung up from the ground several thousand years ago.” Nathan told her, pointing to the mountains in the distance. “We can take a carriage ride over to the mountains if you like?”
“I think that would be a great idea.” She told him and as Thea sat back down, she felt herself going back to the dream Nathan had woken her from, wondering what it could mean.
***
One week had passed since Thea left on the Queen’s Magician to the Bastion of Amac leaving Maggie with Kadda. When things were tough and Maggie couldn’t leave Kadda in the room alone, she would often bring her over to Laura’s, so she could watch her when her husband wasn’t home. The thought of raising a child with Laura left happy thoughts in Maggie’s mind. She did love Laura and wanted nothing more than to raise children together; but no matter how much her husband mistreated her, Laura wouldn’t call the Sicarri or leave him.
“Maggie,” a young boy said. He looked down at Maggie with large almond-colored eyes and stood a foot taller than her at fifteen. Men usually liked him because of his creamy tan skin and roguish build. “Edward wants to see you in his office.”
Maggie frowned and wondered what it was he wanted to speak to her about.
“Thanks, Seth. Is there anything else you need?”
“Uh . . .” Seth paused, and a faint scarlet blush slowly rose on his cheeks. “What do you . . . I mean, when your mouth is tired from sucking?”
Maggie grinned, wanting to chuckle, but held it in as she licked her lips. “Your hands work fine, right?”
Seth raised his brow and lifted his two hands.
“There you go. Next time gargle saltwater and do that every two days, so you don’t get sores.” With that, Maggie went upstairs to Eddie’s office on the third floor. When she got there, she knocked on the door, “Eddie it’s me, I’m coming in.”
When she opened the door, Eddie jumped. “Maggie, what the hell, can’t you knock?” He yelled back at her, just as a red-hair male’s head popped up from they were on their knees in front of Eddie.
Maggie raised her. “I did knock. You were just unaware of your surroundings. Can we have a minute, Liam?” Maggie asked.
Liam gulped and nodded, taking his clothes and leaving out the door, closing it behind him.
“Seems like you miss Flint,” Maggie said, her voice filled with sarcasm.
“What? Why are you saying that?” He said as he stood up and adjusted his pants.
Maggie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Right. No reason really, what did you want to speak about, Eddie?”
Eddie placed his usual frown on his face and retook his seat. “I told you and Thea not to call me that.”
It was a sad reminder that Eddie was not the same person they had known so many years ago. Where at one point even if they did call him Eddie it didn’t bother him, but both Maggie and Thea knew he wanted to assert his authority for people to take him seriously, to fear him, like Flint. “Pretty much in front of other people to assert your dominance or
some bullshit. What is it that you wanted? I have other things to attend to.”
“Like your lover, I presume?”
Maggie stiffened at the mention of Laura and couldn’t be sure if Eddie was serious or not. He kept his eyes half closed, his lips pressed together and his back erect. It made her shiver at how much he had turned into Flint and it always reminded her of the brother she had lost.
“What do you know?” She asked him. He hunched his shoulders and leaned his elbow on the desk.
“I know that she has a husband. I didn’t take you for a home-wrecker.”
“Oh, for the love of Eddis - so are half of the damn men in Kingsland,” Maggie spat. She would not let Eddie threaten her or Laura into whatever he wanted.
“Well, you know that’s a double-standard. Men have needs and don’t rely on frivolous emotions as women do.”
“Excuse me?” Maggie enunciated as her voice rose in anger. She wanted nothing more than to smack the smug grin off his face. “I’ll show you emotion when I kick your—”
“. . . Anyway,” Eddie said, cutting her off before she could act on the impulse to punch him. “Tell me where the kid is, and I won’t tell her husband about your affair.”
Maggie’s face contorted with rage. “What the hell do you want with Kadda? She’s perfectly safe if that’s what you’re—”
Eddie slammed his fists on the table, making Maggie jump. He had a dark look in his eyes as he gritted his teeth together, leaning forward.
“Because she’s my fucking daughter, that’s why. And since her careless mother left her here, then it’s my responsibility to take care of her.”
Maggie shook her head and snorted. “Right. Quit saying that, you aren’t the father. And even if you were, Thea was pregnant for nine months and you did nothing and or after Kadda was born; you did nothing. Now you suddenly want her? If it's for some sideshow attraction, you’ll have to kill me first before I ever let you have her.” She then shrugged casually. “She isn’t yours; some part of you has to know that.” Maggie breathed heavily with rage, her face turning bright red.
Having heard enough of Eddie’s idle threats she turned around and opened the door. She needed to get out of there before she strangled him. But, no matter how much she wanted to, she knew it would mean severe punishment from Flint. She left the brothel and headed toward Laura’s house.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The bustling frenzy of people in the town felt like it had a life of its own — the vibrant clothing from passersby moved like enchanting, colorful fish as they moved through the crowd like a river. A few of the people walking through the town gave Thea a peculiar look. She was usually good at reading intent, but something was just a little off about these people. She assumed the looks had to do with her being new here and shrugged them off. There was chatter between sellers and buyers, there seemed to be a smile on everyone’s face, and Thea – who could usually point out a thief in a large crowd – couldn’t see an elusive or dangerous motive, everyone seemed to be friends whether new or old. This place was vastly different from Kingsland.
“You know, I love this town,” Nathan spoke. Thea was surprised that she heard him among the noisy patrons. “Every person you see has a history, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at them, right?”
As they were walking through the streets, Thea had to make sure not to bump into anyone. Each person in the crowd moved as if some unseen force was guiding them and, quite frankly, there could have been.
“You see that man over there selling the fish?” Nathan pointed out. Thea looked over and saw a gentleman holding out a fish to a woman. He wore a red and black knitted cap with a gap-toothed smile on his face. “That’s Sammy. He lost his wife and two sons two years ago in Hawold. He started stealing food to save his daughter from dying.”
“And over there,” Nathan said as he pulled Thea’s attention over to older women selling pottery. “That there is Ida, she lost her daughter, her grandchildren, and her leg during a raid in Toneian some years ago. She takes care of the children who lost their families.”
They stopped and moved to the side and out of the way of the busy traffic.
“There are many others, but I’m afraid we’ll be here all day if I introduced you to them all.” Nathan chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I just wanted to show you that there are people here who have lost so much, but . . . the forlorn faces that they had when they came to Bastion have disappeared, their eyes have filled with joy and light. Our basic mundane instinct is to show love and kindness, but somehow, we’ve forgotten that. The Bastion was built to give those broken a home and to give them kindness when no one else has shown them because they're different on the inside. Just like everyone else, we’re all mundane.”
Thea couldn’t help but feel her heart squeeze at Nathan’s words. She could tell that he was passionate every time his voice hardened. She put her hand on his arm.
“Thank you for making me a part of this, Nathan. What you, your father, and everyone else are doing is amazing. I only wish that my sister and I would have found you years ago.”
Nathan pulled Thea closer and pressed his lips to her forehead, wrapping her in a tight embrace.
“Come, we should get to the monastery, you’ll be spending some time with the others there.”
***
It was a bit of a distance to reach the Bastion, but Nathan kept Thea entertained with stories about how the Bastion of Amac and the town were at one point a small nomadic group. They lived in huts and their church was no bigger than a barn. Those who were refugees either lived out on the streets or died from lack of nourishment. It was Nobius’ ancestors that sought out a better way of life for Magi with the All-Father’s help.
“. . . So, he guided my great ancestor and it was a struggle. There were far too many deaths that he couldn’t handle and he even attempted suicide at one point, but he kept going because he cared for the people and didn’t want anyone to suffer; because if he didn’t care, who would?”
Thea nodded as she listened to Nathan speak. They were coming up on the Bastion, a drawbridge and a river separated them.
“That’s kind of like how I feel with my daughter, Kadence, and my friends. Even at times, I still care for Eddie. It’s hard, you know?”
Nathan looked at her with sympathy in his eyes and nodded. “I do know. You feel if something happens to you that everyone will turn their backs on your family.”
Thea licked her lips and wiped her eyes, feeling a tear trying to escape. Nathan reached out and wiped the tear away for her.
“You won’t be alone, Thea. There are people like you here and you will be accepted. Even when you pass on to be with the All-Father, Kadda will be taken care of by people like her. You won’t have to worry about her being alone or if she won’t know who she is because there will always be someone for her.”
Thea sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. She looked up to the sky with red eyes and tried to blink away the rest of the tears.
“How did you know?”
Nathan raised his brow. “Know what?”
“What I call my daughter. You said, Kadda,” Thea couldn’t remember telling Nathan or Nobius that she called her Kadda and was puzzled by how he knew that.
Nathan frowned and shrugged. “I’m sure you must have told me or said it when you were sleeping. Don’t worry, we’ll get her soon enough.”
“Oh,” Thea whispered. She scratched the side of her head and walked with Nathan across the bridge and along the path until they made it to the front gates of the Bastion. Nobius cleared a crate from the wagon when he spied the two walking towards him.
“Well, that was a quick tour. What did you think?” Nobius greeted them with a smile.
“It was beautiful and quaint. It seems like there’s real life here,” Thea replied, returning his smile.
“I thought we could introduce her to some of the other girls,” Nathan told his father.
“Oh,
yes, of course. I’m sure they would be happy to have another companion with them. Anyway, Nathaniel, I need you to get some paperwork for me in my office, will you?”
“Right away, Master,” Nathan said. He bowed before turning to Thea and placing a kiss on her cheek. Thea watched him leave through the gates then she turned to look at Nobius.
“How did Hapy settle in? I know he was kind of sick during the sixth day, but he held up well for an old horse.”
Nobius frowned. “I’m afraid, Thea, he didn’t survive the trip. I’m sorry. Our doctors even said it would have been a miracle if he would have survived another week. If it gives you peace of mind at least, he was able to be with you for a little while before passing on.”
Thea’s heart dropped, at a loss for words, she felt her chest ache. It was like losing Jiran all over again. She shut her eyes tightly, forcing herself not to shed a tear. “When can I see him?” She finally asked after regaining her composure.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you see him, at least not before we cremate him. You understand that the possible diseases that he could have brought over, right? I can’t risk my people’s safety.”
Thea gulped and slowly nodded, the gnawing of guilt in her chest never entirely going away. “I understand. Is there any chance I could see my sister soon then?”
“Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, Thea,” Nobius said in a sing-song voice. He stretched out his lips into his charming smile. Thea had forgotten how charismatic he could be when he wanted to. “You will get to see your sister, but we have to follow certain protocols around here. That’s what the paperwork Nathan is getting. Now, why don’t you follow me and I’ll show you inside.”
Thea exhaled and started to follow Nobius but stopped as a thought crossed her mind. How does he already know to set papers for me to see Dominya or marry Nathan? Thea furrowed her brow and a piercing sensation began on the side of the head, similar to the one she’d felt earlier today. She rubbed her temples in a circular motion. Did he use magic to communicate with someone the moment I accepted?
She was interrupted from her thoughts when Nobius called for her. She headed across the drawbridge, looking up at the remote one-hundred-foot castle struck. Its large stature cast a shadow over her as she walked inside.