Then he was gone. I giggled and shook my head. It's sad that the best way to get rid of a guy is to tell him you have private girl issues. They always think the worst.
I took a deep breath, brought to mind the giant wooden door of the king's castle, and without giving myself time to think about it, or change my mind, I phased.
I landed firmly and confidently just inside the door to the castle. Even though I had never actually seen inside the castle, I purposely pictured the other side of the door I had seen. And ha! I made it. And they said I couldn't do it.
I decided to go all cloak and dagger on my secret girl mission, so I pulled into the shadows. I briefly staggered under their weight. It was always a surprise to me how heavy the shadows were in Acadia compared to Earth where they were light and easy to hold.
I glanced around. Not seeing anyone or any sight of an aura, I tiptoed down the entryway. I peeked inside each room I came to, but didn't see anyone or any sign of anyone at all on the first floor. Weird.
I came to a stairway. I was just making my way up when a girl, about my age, came rushing down the steps. I pressed as close to the wall as possible as she shot past me. She didn't hesitate or make any sign that she was aware of me being there, but I waited a full minute after she had passed before moving on. The only difference was that my heart was suddenly beating, out of control fast.
What was I doing? What if I got caught? I had succeeded in almost talking myself into just turning around and phasing home when I came to a room that held several people. One being the king, who was sprawled out on a large blue settee, taking what I assumed was a nap. It was early evening. Why was he napping? His aura hadn't changed a bit either. It was still two separate colors, red and dark forest green. The colors twisted and danced around him like waves, but always separate, never mixing. Never clouding.
Also in the room were several members of the Shadow Guard. There was one in each corner of the room. They stood still as death and just as quiet. They all had their hands clasped before them, heads down. All that was unusual, but what actually made me pause was a very subtle hum coming from within the room.
Each of the Shadow Guards had the same green aura. All walkers I had seen up to that point had a very separate, very individual aura. Why then did all four of those walkers have the same calm mossy green?
I glanced around to be sure the occupants in the room were the only ones about then I tried to enter the room. Just as I stepped forward, I came up against a pliant wall, like a bubble. I pressed against it. I felt it give and bow inward, but it didn't allow me to enter. My way was blocked by it.
I was so busy with the wall bubble that I didn't right away notice that all four of the walkers in the room were now staring at me, or at the doorway at least. Could they see me? Did they feel me hit the bubble? I immediately stepped backward a few steps to put a bit of distance between the bubble wall, the guards, and myself.
One of the guards, an older man, not old as in decrepit, but old enough to be my father, stepped away from his corner and headed to the doorway. He didn't pause or seem held back by the bubble that I knew was there. He simply stepped through the doorway. He squinted into the hall, his eyes searching, for me I assumed.
I glanced around, nervous knots twisted tightly in my tummy. I didn't know what to do. Should I just sneak away? I wouldn't get another chance at finding a guardian if I left then. The only reason I had half a chance at all was because they weren't expecting me, or anyone, to hop from the shadows into the castle. The only other thing I had on my side was that they didn't know what I was after.
I made a quick and hasty decision. I ran to the man, pulled him quick and forcefully into the shadows with me, and then phased us directly to my room.
We arrived in a mess of tangled robes, legs, and arms. Unable to compensate for the added weight of the man, we landed with a hard thud on the floor. "Ow," I whimpered and reached a hand up to my head where it had smacked the floor. I sat up where I landed, which happened to be on the man's legs.
"Sunny?"
I slammed a hand over the man's mouth after hearing my mom's questioning voice, and with wide eyes tried to convey silence. "Yeah?" I shouted back, all the while wondering, why wasn't he struggling, at all?
"What are you doing?" she asked.
She sounded closer. Crap! "Nothing. Getting dressed. I just tripped over something in my room. I need to clean it. Ha!" I slapped a hand to my forehead. Ha? Really?
The man wasn't fighting me or struggling at all. He lay in the same place we had landed and watched me. It was a bit strange to say the least. Taking advantage of his unexpected cooperation, I placed a finger to my mouth in the 'shush' sign.
He nodded once. I jumped up and frantically pointed to the little space where I had made Lucas sleep. The man scurried quickly around my bed and ducked down, just in time too, as my mom opened my door not even a second later.
I spun around and plastered a smile on my face. "Hey…what's up?"
My mom regarded me for a moment. "Nothing. What are you doing?"
What was I doing? Smile still in place, I said, "Um, nothing. Just thinking about picking up a little bit."
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm good," I said and nodded my head.
"All righty."
I could tell she didn't believe me at all.
"Well, dinner's in fifteen," she said and slowly headed out of my room. She glanced around as she went out, looking, I assume, for something amiss. All she had to do was look beside my bed.
"Kay," I said.
The moment she was out and the door closed, I ran around my bed and saw my captive. He was laying quite contently on the pillow and blanket Lucas had left the night before. His hands were folded over his chest and he watched me, an easy relaxed smile on his face. "So," he said. "Would you like to tell me where we are?"
"I am so sorry for that," I said. "I didn't know what to do and kind of panicked. Obviously."
He arched an eyebrow at me but otherwise didn't move.
"The coast is all clear, you can get up now," I said.
"Are you kidding? This is the first chance I've had to get off my feet, recline, and relax in weeks."
"Weeks?" He had to be exaggerating. Right?
"Yes, weeks," he replied. "We have been on around the clock duty since early spring. We have learned to sleep standing up."
"Oh, well then, enjoy," I said, not sure what else to say. "Um, I guess we should do introductions. I mean I know I kidnapped you and all, but it's not like that. You aren't actually my captive or anything."
He smiled at me. "No introductions necessary on your part. I know who you are."
"You do? How?"
"Everyone in the whole of Acadia knows who you are. You are the Sunshine of the Realm; The leader of the Army of the Sun; King Malcolm and Queen Arianna's daughter. Yes?"
"Yeah, but--" I began only to be cut off.
"You look just like your mother. No one could mistake who you are."
"Oh," I said. I have such a way with words, don't I?
"I, however, am certain you have no idea who I am. Correct?" he said.
I smiled at him and said, "Correct."
"I am David Rice," he said simply. "Now that introductions are over, what can I do for you?"
I sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "I'm looking for someone. I was hoping you could help me. You are obviously part of the Shadow Guard and would know how I could find them."
"Who are you looking for?"
"I don't know who, exactly. I'm looking for a Shadow Guardian. Have you heard of them?"
"Yes, I've heard of them, but why do you need one?" he asked.
"Well, it seems too many people know where I live and how to just pop in anytime they want; one person in particular, possibly more."
"So?"
"So, I want to come home and sleep and not have to worry about being taken or killed or whatever else they have in mind. I also don't want to have to have a bab
ysitter every night."
"What do you think a Shadow Guardian can do?"
"Well, I'm hoping they can teach me how to keep people out. I know there is a way to keep people from phasing away, but I want to learn how to keep people from phasing in. You know what I mean?"
"Yes, I do know what you mean," he said, "but sadly, it's not something you can learn. It's something you can either do or not do. It's a gift. You have your own gifts that no one else can do. It's the same type of thing. You have to be given the ability."
"Well, crap," I said and huffed out a breath. Great. I was going to be stuck with a nighttime babysitter for the time being.
"You could always just use the services of a Shadow Guardian."
"That kind of defeats my purpose," I said. "I don't want to have someone watching over me all the time. I wanted to be able to deal with it myself. Besides, I still don't know how to find one and even if I did, why would he want to share his gift with me? Help me?"
"You have already found one," he said.
"Where?" I said a bit sarcastically.
"Right here," he said. "I am a Shadow Guardian."
I jumped to my feet and shouted at the poor man, "Well, why didn't you say so?"
He chuckled, not at all upset with my yelling. "I needed to find out what you wanted from us first. We have been trapped in the castle for years. Made to protect the king whether we wanted to share our gift or not. I would be honored to help you."
"But why? Why would you want to help me? You don't even know me."
"I knew your mother and your father. I can see them both in you. You have their goodness, their strength, and also a bit of your mother's recklessness too, considering your little stunt just now at the castle."
I considered him for a moment then asked, "What will you expect in return from me?" The one thing I had learned from Leif was that everything came with strings. May as well find out what his would be, sooner rather than later.
He smiled again and said, "Smart too, I see."
I didn't reply. I just waited for him tell me what he wanted in return for helping me. I didn't have long to wait.
"There are only four Shadow Guardians left. My family. The king is paranoid and fearful of intrusion. Not without good cause, but he is getting worse with time. He uses our gift constantly now. It takes all our strength and makes us weak. I think the king likes us that way. We are too tired and exhausted to fight anymore. We can't run and we can't leave.
"That's a terrible way to live," I said.
"All I ask," he continued, "is that if you succeed, if you win this battle for the throne, that you let my family go."
"I just kidnapped you. You don't really even know me. Why would you believe anything I say?" I asked. "I could always agree to what you want then when the time comes, not give you your freedom."
"Yes. That is true," he said. "But sometimes you have to believe in something. I want that something to be you. I want to believe in something better than what we have now. I am willing to take a chance for that freedom."
"What if I fail?" I said. "What if I don't win the battle?"
"Then you don't. We won't be any worse off than we are now," he replied.
I held out my hand to him and said, "Okay. Deal. If I do win, you and your family will be free. You do know that that's the same deal I am making for everyone right?"
"Yes. I just wanted to make sure we were included."
"Okay," I said. "Oh, one more thing."
He again arched an eyebrow at me.
"You do know that we aren't currently in Acadia. That we are in the Water Realm? Earth."
"No. I didn't," he said and looked around for the first time since we arrived. "I wondered why everything seemed so different."
"You okay with that?"
"I suppose. How different can it be?"
It was my turn to laugh. "You'd be surprised."
Chapter Seven
"Hi!" I said to the room at large, which included Gabriel, Simon, Jack, and Lucas. "I have something to tell you. Now, I know you are all going to freak out, but before you do, you have to stop and remember it all turned out okay. I'm fine.
Gabriel stood up and stomped his way over to where I stood in the doorway. I chose the doorway in case I needed to make a fast escape from the drama I was about to cause.
"What did you do?" he said right in my face. It was part question, and it was part statement, and mostly it was just yelling.
"Well," I said a bit hesitantly. The hard part was the telling. "See, I decided I needed to find a Shadow Guardian and I didn't want to wait for you to tell me all the reasons not to go and find one, and I didn't want to argue about something I was just going to go and do anyway…so…IphasedovertoAcadiaandjustgrabbedone," I finished in a rush and plastered a big wide toothy smile on my face.
Silence greeted me. Well, for a moment anyway and then all Hell broke loose.
"You what?!" Lucas shouted and came over to stand next to Gabriel.
"I knew she would try something like that. Just like her mother," Jack said. I couldn't tell if he was annoyed at me or not. Maybe he really had expected me to do it. I don't know.
Simon didn't say much at all. He just hmph'd at me with a shoulder lift.
The most fear inducing though was the reaction I got from Gabriel. He grabbed my arm and shook me, once, and again, hard. "Are you out of your ever loving mind?! How do you expect me to help you if you run off like that, without even telling anyone where you were going? What if you got caught? What if you were hurt? We wouldn't know where to find you or how to help you!"
"Gabriel," I said, desperately trying to think of something to say to calm him down. I was truly shaking in my shoes. He was yelling so loudly that the windows of the great room shook and rattled in their sills.
He continued to shout in my face, hardly stopping to take a breath. "Just like your mother. Stubborn! Willful! Uncaring of others!"
"Stop!" I said and jerked out of his hold. He wasn't holding me as hard as I thought. When I furiously pulled away, I slipped easily out of his grasp and toppled over my feet to land in a sprawl on the floor. I didn't let the fall interrupt me though. I shouted back from right where I sat on the floor, "I didn't get caught, or hurt, or anything. Yes! It could have happened, but it didn't. I needed to try."
"Why?" he snapped. "Why did it have to be you? Why did you have to do it alone?"
"Because," I snapped right back at him as I got to my feet and up in his face, "I needed to know I could take care of myself! I needed to know that I don't have to rely on anyone! I needed to prove it to myself!
Gabriel stepped back and looked at me a moment before he said softly, "Why? Why did you need to prove anything?"
I looked at all those big warrior type men and answered honestly. "Because I know what you all think of me. I know you think I'm weak and can't take care of myself. You think that I need constant protection and watching. I know I haven't been able to control all my gifts and then all the stuff with Leif. How I let him lead me around. How I let him keep me in the dark."
"Sunny," Lucas said and shook his head at me. "We don't."
"Yes, you do," I said. "Yes, I was stupid when it came to Leif. I know. I trusted when I shouldn't have. I learned my lesson from that. And I am weak." I shrugged at them with the admission. "But I'm not going to stay that way. I'm getting stronger. Every single day I get stronger. I'm going to figure out all my gifts if it kills me, and it might. But, I'm going to."
"We don't think you are weak," Jack said. "Yes, we want to protect you and keep you safe, but it's because we care for you."
I didn't believe that. "The extra training…"
"Sunny," Lucas said, "we are training with you because we also want to make sure you can take care of yourself. We are training all the soldiers. Not just you."
"Then why are you all so mad?" I asked. "I can take care of myself. See?"
"Because you snuck around and lied to us," Gabriel said.
; "I didn't," I said and shook my head frantically back and forth.
Gabriel nodded once at me and said, "Yes. You did."
"But…"
"You knew what you were going to do, but you didn't tell us. You hid the plans from us, which is lying. Then you proceeded to get rid of Lucas, the one sent to look after you for the night with more lies. Should I keep going or does that clear it up for you."
"You are always telling me to take charge. To deal with everything and make decisions. That is what I did, Gabriel."
"No, that is not what you did. You chose to sneak around behind our backs, like a child."
I shook my head, but Gabriel kept talking. "You are supposed to lead your people. Not lie to them. Not keep them in the dark."
"Oh, God," I said. I was just like Leif. I had done all that stuff and more. I was a liar and I had done it on purpose just to show them that I could. I had proved what I could do all right.
I beseeched them all with my eyes and said, "You are right. I'm so sorry. I didn't think about what I was doing from your point of view. I just saw my own need to show you that I was worthy. That I was worthy…of it all."
I dropped my head into my hands and tried to breathe away the tears that I could feel behind my eyes. I had just about conquered the emotion when I felt big strong arms wrap around me and squeeze me tightly. That one small comfort and I couldn't hold back anymore. The tears overflowed and I hiccupped and cried my heart out against Gabriel's strong shoulder.
When I had finished my crying jag, Gabriel leaned back from me and said loud enough for the entire room to hear, "Yep. Just like Arianna. Has to have a good cry before she feels better. I don't understand women."
I gave Gabriel a quick hug and whispered for his ears only, "I love you, Uncle Gabriel. I really am sorry."
He squeezed me back and said, "I know. We'll work it out."
After I had dried my eyes and could face the room again, Simon broke the silence and said, "So…who'd you steal?"
I smiled. At least he was ready to move on too. "David Rice," I answered.
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