I cried out to him, "Leif!" But he turned his back on me and walked away. I tried to run after him but I couldn't. My feet felt like I was trapped in mud. I couldn't move. Horses were suddenly all around me. Grey cloaked men sat upon them and they laughed. One figure pulled out a giant sword and swung it at me. I screamed and screamed…and then I was being shaken.
"Come on. Wake up."
"Lucas?" I asked. The last remnants of the dream finally let me go.
"You alright?" He asked.
I sagged against him in relief and nodded against his chest. His arms wrapped easily around me.
"Must have been some dream," he said.
I took a deep breath. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Want me to leave?" he asked.
"No."
"Okay."
I drifted back to sleep against Lucas's chest, only to be shaken awake once again as my screams echoed in the night all around us. I had jumped right back into my nightmare. I looked at Lucas and saw the concern bright on his shadowed face.
"I'm sorry," I said
"It's not like you can help it," he said.
Over his shoulder I could see and feel the glare of Gabriel's stare. I lowered my face and looked down at the ground. Embarrassment was heavy on my shoulders.
"I think it's my leg. It really hurts," I said.
Lucas tried to look at the wound but it was still too dark. "We'll have to wait for dawn. It's not far off now. Why don't you try to sleep a bit more? You're exhausted."
"And you're not? I'm pretty sure you have gotten as much sleep as I have," I said.
"Yeah," he said and shrugged, "but I'm used to it."
"Oh, sure you are," I said. He looked as tired as I felt. I shook my head at him and said, "Whatever."
I pulled my blanket up around me and lay down in the thick darkness. I turned and said, "Will you stay with me?"
He hesitated for a moment, just long enough for me to worry, but then he said, "Yes. I won't leave."
I heard him shift around and then it was quiet.
I just started to drift off when I saw a dark shadow next to the burned out fire pit. With my eyes barely open, I watched as Gabriel stirred the fire back to life. It was a small fire, but it was enough to chase away the darkness.
My lips twitched into a smile. Gabriel was a hard man but he was a good one. I closed my eyes and finally fell asleep. No bad dreams followed me.
Chapter Six
Traitors and Sides
I awoke to bright sunlight warm on my face. I was cocooned in my blanket, as well as sprawled out on top of Lucas. My head lay against his chest, and I could hear the steady beat of his heart. I slowly tilted my head back to look at his face.
In sleep, his face lost some of the tension he seemed to carry while awake. His long black eyelashes fanned against his cheeks. His mouth was in a soft smile and his dark hair was gathered in a riot around his head. There was a light shadow on his face where he needed to shave. I brushed my hand against it to feel the roughness of it.
A vision of Leif suddenly flashed into my head. I guiltily stood up and limped over to the stream. I sat down next to the water and focused on my leg.
The wrapping was yellow and red and icky. I gently unwound the material. The two holes were an angry red and oozing. It looked infected, which would be why it hurt so much. I scrubbed out the wrapping in the stream and used it to clean my leg.
"Doesn't look good," Gabriel said.
I recoiled in surprise at finding him suddenly behind me. "I hate when you do that."
"Pay more attention to your surroundings," he replied.
He squatted down next to me and inspected my wound. He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a small leather bag. He pinched out a bit of what looked like green moss. He pressed it into my wound, not un-gently, but firmly all the same.
"Ow!" I said.
I tried to pull my leg away, but Gabriel just held on tightly and continued his ministrations with habitual ease.
"It must be done," he said.
After he finished torturing me, he pulled out a clean wrap and re-secured my leg. He then grabbed my chin and inspected my face. "You have a fever."
"Great," I said.
He let go of me and said, "You have the look of your mother."
That stopped me cold, including my heart, which I swear dropped into my stomach for a moment. "You knew my mother?"
He nodded once, sharply.
I had several emotions running through me. At the front was frustration. "So you knew who I was the whole time?"
Again he nodded.
"Why didn't you say something?"
"I just did," Gabriel said.
Well, how do you respond to that?
Then his words really hit me. He knew my mother. Not just heard of her, but he actually knew her. "What was she like?"
Gabriel looked off into the forest, although I don't think he was actually looking at the trees. He was looking back into a past I couldn't see, at his own memories. I knew I was right about that when he said, "She was so full of life. She had such warmth and joy within her. It spilled out onto everything she touched, but she had strength too, strength of body and mind. Everyone was her friend and everyone loved her. She made everyone and everything feel. It was hard when the king was killed, but when Ariana vanished, she took all the good in our world with her. Our kingdom fell into darkness. Not just because of the new King, but because without Ariana…"
He stopped, turned, and looked at me before he continued, "I see her strength and light in you."
I looked away from him and stared at the white bandage on my injured leg. My vision blurred with emotion at his words. How do you miss someone you have never met?
I didn't know what to say. Truthfully? I didn't feel strong. I didn't feel like any of the things he said she was. I was a coward, afraid of the dark, of my gifts, of the unknown. No, I was not strong.
I focused on another thought instead of my own weaknesses and said, "Apparently, not everyone loved her."
Gabriel simply nodded at me.
"Do you think it was Gideon? That killed my dad, I mean," I asked.
"What do you think?" he replied.
I shook my head and said, "I don't know."
"That is something you need to figure out then," Gabriel said. He got to his feet and held out a hand to help me up as well. "We need to get moving. We still have a bit of ground to cover before we make it back to my keep.
"Wait. Before we go, I want to ask you one more thing," I said.
Gabriel crossed his arms over his big chest and simply waited. I took that as a go ahead, ask. So I did.
"That man yesterday, the one that called you a traitor, why did he say that?"
When Gabriel didn't immediately respond, I said, "I mean, why haven't you chosen sides yet?"
"Neither side has proven itself worthy of my support," he said.
"What?" I questioned. "What about the rebels? They are fighting for the Kingdom, for its survival. How can you not be on their side?"
"How do you know that they are fighting for the Kingdom?" he asked.
"Because they told me so," I replied.
Gabriel still stood with his feet apart and his arms crossed, completely at ease. Me? I paced, or rather, limped around him in agitation.
"If I told you the sky was orange, would you believe me, or would you look up to see?" he asked.
"What?" I said. What did that have to do with anything?
"You don't know me. Not really. Why would you believe in me and give your trust without first having me earn it?"
"I don't understand you at all, Gabriel," I said, completely exasperated.
"You don't know these rebels any more than you know King Gideon. Just because they say he is bad, does that make it so?"
"I know Leif!" I all but shouted.
Gabriel simply raised an eyebrow at me. "And the rest?"
"So, you have met the King and made up your mind about him then?"
I pressed my lips together and didn't answer. He knew very well that I had not met the King.
"That's what I thought," Gabriel said.
Then he stepped over to me, put his hands on my shoulders, and looked deeply into my eyes. "You need to make up your own mind about what is going on with the Kingdom. You have to decide who you trust, not who and what you have been told to trust."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"You are stronger than you think. Have faith in yourself."
"Why can't you just tell me what you think?" I asked.
He slowly shook his head back and forth at me. "You need to see the Kingdom and the people of it with your own eyes. You need to really see, not just be told what to see, what to do, who to support. Then you will know what side you stand with. It may be with the rebels, it may be with the King, or it may be with neither. But it has to be you who makes that decision."
"How will I know what I am even supposed to be looking for?"
"You will know. If you are as much like your mother, as I believe you to be, then you have been given the gifts to help along the way. Use them."
"You're no help," I said. I wasn't really angry with him, especially since he was right. I was taking the easy way out and letting everyone tell me what to do, as well as depending on them to be truthful.
"Why did you come here, Sunny?"
"I don't know anymore," I said. "I thought I was coming to meet the people and see the kingdom, that it would be a fun, easy time. I guess I was stupid. I had no idea Acadia was like this."
"Why did you not know?" he asked.
Because Leif hadn't told me, that's why, but I wasn't going to say that. It felt disloyal. It was a very good question and it raised many more in my own mind. Since I couldn't tell him that, I simply shrugged.
"Come on. It really is time to go," Gabriel said. He turned and headed back towards the camp, but before he was out of earshot, he left me with one parting thought. "You can lie to me all you like, but in the end, you can't lie to yourself."
I couldn't argue with that. He was right.
~ * ~
In the amount of time that Gabriel and I had sat by the stream, camp had been cleaned up and the horses saddled and ready to go. Even mine. Yay! I didn't have to fight with trying to do it myself. Also, in that amount of time, my leg was feeling better. Whatever was in that moss, it worked.
I headed straight to my horse.
"Good morning," I said to her.
She snorted back at me.
I scrunched up my face at her. The horse hated me. I just knew it. Then I saw that my bag was already tired securely on. I rummaged around in it, pulled out a granola bar and immediately opened it.
"Don't these people know about breakfast?" I mumbled, and took a big crunchy bite.
"No. Not so much."
I turned around to face Lucas. I tried to smile at him but my mouth was so full that my cheeks puffed out. I quickly chewed and swallowed. "You heard that, huh?"
Lucas smiled right back at me. "Yeah."
"Umm…you want a bite?" I asked, holding out the bar.
Lucas gave it a curious look but shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."
He indicated my horse and asked, "You need a leg up?"
I shrugged. "I think maybe Gabriel is right, I need to learn to do some of this stuff myself. As I now know, I may not always have someone to help me."
Lucas quickly looked around us. Then he dug into his pocket. He pulled his hand back out, palm down, and held it out to me. "Here."
In my outstretched hand he placed my lovely pink mp3 player!
"Oh! How did you get it back?" I asked.
"I just picked it up as soon as everyone moved forward. I'd put it away and keep it away if I were you," he said.
"I will. I promise," I said. I reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much, Lucas."
He blushed. It was so cute.
"Yeah. Just put it away," he said. Then he turned and walked quickly away.
I watched him until he was out of sight. I was sure I had a stupid grin on my face, because I felt all warm and tingly. "Hmm."
I turned back to my horse and happily stowed my mp3 away in my bag. "All right, horse. We need a name for you."
The hateful animal turned to me and happily nipped me in the arm.
~ * ~
"Will you quit fooling around and get on the horse!"
I turned swiftly around and said, "Geez, Gabriel, a simple, 'I'm ready to go' would have worked just as well."
I had spent the last several minutes cleaning up. I did put on a clean bright yellow shirt but I wasn't screwing around with my shorts. They were already injured leg appropriate, thanks to Gabriel, so they would do for the time being. I had also pulled my hair up into a ponytail. It was forest and climate appropriate. See, I could learn.
"You don't have anything better to wear?" Gabriel said, scrutinizing my outfit.
"No. This is as good as it gets," I replied through slightly clenched teeth. When I found Leif…
Gabriel shook his head at me and sighed. "Fine, get on the horse and let's get moving already."
"Fine." Although not gracefully or even very quickly, I did haul myself up onto my horse.
"Her name is Poppy," I said.
Gabriel glared at me. "What?"
He was a grouch all of a sudden. I glared right back and said, "My horse, her name is Poppy."
He didn't respond. He just quickly and easily, the jerk, mounted his horse, wheeled around and tromped off.
I sighed. I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.
"Oh, come on, think of it as an adventure," Lucas said, as he came up even with me on his own big horse.
"I've had enough adventure to last me a while, thanks," I said, giving Poppy an appreciative pat on the head at her nice easy walk.
Lucas laughed. At the simple sound of his joy, my mood was lighter. It made me feel better.
"Is that your gift?" I asked.
He didn't pretend to misunderstand me. He said, "Nah, I'm just a tracker and a walker. Nothing special."
I stared straight at him and said, "I don't think you are 'just' anything."
He flashed me one of his sweet smiles, and then we both just enjoyed the easy silence as we headed on through the forest.
Chapter Seven
Possession vs. Person
We had only traveled for about an hour when I heard thunder. Memories of the last time I had heard that sound brought my heart rate up fast as fear zipped through my body. I instinctively pulled in energy.
"Oh no," I said. Then I swiftly let go of the reins and wrapped my arms around my body. No repeat of the day before was my plan.
"Circle!" Gabriel shouted.
My eyes flew to Lucas, "What does that mean?"
"Just sit tight," he said.
Then I watched the group form a close circle around me. They shielded me from view as well as anything else. They were protecting me. These men, that didn't really even know me, were protecting me.
I felt weird letting them put themselves in danger for me. It didn't seem right, but they had so effectively boxed me in that I didn't know how to change the situation.
I felt more energy pull inside me. I was getting scared. If I pulled in much more, I wouldn't be able to control it. It would snap and tear its way out of me whether I wanted it to or not. Plus, since I was blocked in as I was, there was no way for me to let it out either without hurting someone or something.
"Lucas," I said.
He stood almost in front of me. He turned just his head and said, "Yeah."
"Scoot over."
"No, we want you safe."
"Lucas, I can't be enclosed like this."
He just shook his head at me then concentrated on the group thundering our way.
Th
e group was galloping in on horses and they didn't appear to be slowing down. I realized then that they looked like they were going to ram into us. I quickly grabbed hold of Poppy's reins and held on tight.
A blur made up of ten horses and ten men crashed into our circle. Horses cried and men shouted, and Poppy reared up on her back legs, just as I expected her to do. I screamed. Because of my injury, I didn't have the leg strength to hold on like I had the day before.
Again, I felt more energy slip inside me as I tried desperately to hold on and stay up on Poppy. I lost my battle for balance and flailed myself right off of the horse.
As I fell to the ground, someone grabbed my arm and tried to jerk me onto their lap. A burst of energy lashed out of me and directly into him. I didn't know who he was. Was he from my group or the other?
Our screams, both of shear pain, echoed around us. As he let go of my arm, the energy got the better of me and took control. In a show of bright white light, it pulsed out of me. It encircled me and took everything in its path down. Horses and men alike were thrown into the air, where they hung for but a moment before they crashed back down to the ground.
I dropped down to my knees and began to cry. The battle hadn't lasted very long. Not with me in it anyway. I had taken out everyone.
Gabriel was the first to rouse. He sat up and shook his head before he got to his feet. I jumped to my feet and ran over to him. I just about tossed myself on the poor guy. "I'm so sorry, Gabriel. I didn't mean to."
He gave me a quick once over and then pointed at my face and said, "You're bleeding."
I lifted my hand to my face and sure enough, my nose was bleeding. "It's fine," I said with a quick shake of my head. "Are you all right?"
He looked around at the men and horses that still littered the ground like fallen leaves. "What was that?"
I refused to look at the destruction I had wrought. Instead, I laid my head against his chest and started to cry again. "I didn't mean to."
"Look at me, Sunny," he said very softly.
Only after I lifted my head did he ask, "You didn't mean to what?"
Shadow Dancer Boxed Set Page 20