by Kim Stokely
Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I’d thought. I changed my mind when Geran stood, pushing his chair aside. I’d grown up without a father, so I had no idea if the lightning bolts shooting from his eyes were a normal part of paternal discipline.
Kennis held me at arm’s length. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”
“I’m sorry. I needed to clear my head.”
Geran strode over. “Never do that again!”
I clamped my teeth together and struggled to keep myself in check.
Kennis looked between us, taking measure of our moods. “Geran, please. Let me handle this.”
“Is this how you raised her?” He waved his arm in the air for emphasis. “To be stubborn and rebellious?”
I pushed past Kennis. “Don’t talk to my mother that way.”
His eyes flashed. “She is not your mother.”
“She’s the only one I’ve ever known. And no, she didn’t raise me to be rebellious. Maybe I inherited that from you.”
Kennis put one hand on my arm and the other on Geran’s, in an effort to keep us from getting into each other’s faces. “Please. She’s back now. She’s safe. Let’s sit down and talk about what happened.”
I pulled my eyes away from Geran’s intense glare so I could look at her. “I need one more minute.”
“What?” my father shouted.
I ignored him. “Where’s Tegan?”
Geran stepped away from Kennis. “I don’t know what you think will happen with that Commoner, but it ends now. Do you understand?”
“That’s right. You don’t know what I think because you don’t know anything about me.”
He looked as if I’d slapped him.
Kennis chewed her lower lip for a moment. “He’s on the back porch.”
“Thank you.” I circled around Geran. The clock on the microwave read 10:38 as I slid open the patio door.
Tegan lay stretched out on a chaise deck chair, his arms folded tightly across his chest. At first, I thought he was sleeping, but then I caught the flicker from a citronella candle in his eyes. “Don’t say anything,” I said. “Just let me talk
He shifted so he sat up cross-legged on the chair.
“I’m sorry you feel the way you do.” He started to protest, but I cut him off. “I’m not here to change your mind. One of the things I came to peace with tonight was that I wouldn’t have done anything differently, even if I had understood what that contract really meant.”
I sat on the edge of the lounge chair. Tegan rubbed his hands on his thighs. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t reach over and touch him. I kept my hands in my lap.
“I realized that I’m basically a selfish person. It might have been easier for you if Braedon had killed you, but I couldn’t have lived with myself, knowing I could have saved you. And I’m glad that Braedon will never have the satisfaction of taking what we had away from us. He would have filled your last days with as much torture and pain as he could, and he would have made me watch every minute of it. So I’m not sorry for what I did, but I’m sorry for how you feel.”
I stood up. “I won’t try and change your mind. I respect what you believe. It’s what’s made you the person I love. But even if Quinn can’t get me out of this contract and I have to marry that monster, I won’t regret it, because you’ll be alive. And for me, that’s all that matters.”
“Ally?”
I stopped at the door.
“I know I should thank ye, for savin’ my life. But to know you’re with him. It will kill me.”
I turned to go.
I barely heard him whisper, “I love ye.”
I walked into the house to face my father.
The three adults waited for me in the living room. Kennis and Geran sat on the couch while Quinn took the arm chair. It was odd seeing him there in his monk-like robe. He didn’t belong in this world any more than Tegan did. I sat cross-legged on the floor and rested my back against the entertainment center that housed our television.
“I’m sorry I ran off like that. I needed some time to think. I should have come in first to tell you, but I was too upset.”
Kennis put a hand on Geran’s knee to stop him from speaking. His irritation with not being in control of the situation was evident. He clenched his fists and rested them on his thighs.
“What upset you?” Kennis asked.
I stole a glance at Quinn. “A misunderstanding about something I did back in Ayden.”
The Portal’s eyes narrowed. I turned back to my mother. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.”
Geran growled under his breath. “Nothing is over. As queen, you’re going to have to learn to face your problems, not run away from them.”
I leaned toward him. “I don’t want to be queen. And I wasn’t running away, I was looking for a quiet place to think.”
“It is the same thing.” Geran sat forward on the couch. “What are you going to do when a problem arises in Ayden? Disappear while your counselors wonder where you’ve run off to? And what do you mean you don’t want to be queen?”
“I wasn’t brought up wanting to rule anyone or anything. It’s not who I am.”
Geran turned on Kennis. “What did you do? You were supposed to raise her to rule a kingdom.”
My mother paled under his scrutiny. “I did the best I could. This world is so different than Ayden. I wasn’t even sure she could ever return.”
“You never prepared her?” He stood, towering over her. “What were you doing for the past sixteen years, Kennis? What did you think our sacrifice was for?”
She remained quiet. Her eyes focused on her hands.
“Did you tell her the truth about anything?”
“I’d planned to. When she was ready.”
A vein in my father’s temple bulged out. “And when was that going to be?”
Kennis lifted her eyes to meet his. “You could tell me so little about what had happened in Ayden. How much control Braedon had been allowed after we’d escaped and he’d killed Etain.” Her voice grew in intensity. “I wasn’t going to let you send her back if there was no hope of her defeating him. I wasn’t going to let Braedon kill the only family I have left.”
“You promised your sister.” My father lowered his voice but his anger still boiled underneath his words. It made the hairs on my arms stand up. “You were supposed to raise her daughter to take her place.”
My mother stood to face him. “No. I promised to keep Alystrine safe from Braedon, which I did for sixteen years. They couldn’t find her until you made me give her that ring!”
My father’s face reddened. “It is her birthright!”
“It’s a death sentence!” Kennis retorted.
“Stop!” I pushed myself up off the floor.
Geran and Kennis turned to me, both struggling to keep their emotions in check.
Quinn coughed quietly from the arm chair. “Alystrine is right. What’s done is done. The world of Ayden knows she exists now. She is not safe here anymore.”
“What?” My heart skipped a beat as I tried to process what he said. “Why not?”
Quinn rested his arms on his knees. “Braedon has gained much power in the time you lived here. And I don’t mean political power. He and the Druids have delved into even darker magic. He’s corrupted several of the Portals with the power of the Fallen.”
Geran took a step toward Quinn. “Portals like you?”
Now it was Quinn’s turn to try and keep his irritation from growing into rage. “All I have done, I did in order to keep your daughter safe. I turned my back on my family, on my faith, and lived among the enemy, so when the time came I would be in place to serve her. You have no right to doubt me, Geran.”
Great. Another person I owed. Would the list never end?
My father’s shoulders sagged. “You are right. I’m sorry.”
I stared at Quinn. “Why aren’t I safe here anymore?”
He shifted in the arm chair to face Geran. “I had no means to wa
rn you. To get word to Devnet would have been too dangerous. If any message between us had been discovered before Alystrine’s return . . . I had to remain quiet.”
Geran growled. “What has Braedon done?”
“He’s created his own passage to this world.”
“You mean the one we took?” I asked.
Quinn nodded.
The room chilled. I reached out and balanced myself on the shelf of the entertainment center. “Can he travel here?”
Quinn shook his head. “No. But he has Portals who can. And now that they have seen you, met you, they should be able to transport directly to you.”
Kennis buried her face in her hands.
Geran took a step back, nearly tripping over the coffee table. “What?”
“We have a few days, no more. Braedon and his Portals will be scrambling to figure out where she’s gone. They’ll think Maris and Devnet took her to the Elder Lands. But it won’t be long before they learn the truth.”
“Why won’t they come straight here?” I asked.
“They have to have some idea of where you are first,” Quinn explained. “None of them have a strong enough connection to jump into the void and find you without knowing which realm you’re in.”
My mother let out a ragged breath. “How long do we have?”
Quinn shrugged. “Two or three days in Ayden.”
Her eyes focused on the Portal. “Five days here?”
He shook his head. “Four at the most.”
I wrapped my arms around my waist. “They wouldn’t come here, would they? I mean, they couldn’t blend in here. People would know they were different.”
“They only need to find you. They don’t have to fit in.”
“What if we moved somewhere?” I turned to Kennis. “South America or someplace?”
Quinn stood. “I brought you here so we could bring Kennis and your father back. It wasn’t meant as a plan for your escape from Ayden.”
I leaned back against the entertainment center, trying to stop my legs from trembling. The thought of one of Braedon’s Portals finding me, wielding the Chrysaline to get me to return to Ayden under the Lord Regent’s power, it was too much for me to wrap my brain around.
Kennis put her arm around me. “It will be all right.”
I choked back a laugh. “You don’t know what I’ve been through, or you wouldn’t promise that.”
Quinn took a step toward us. “We can spend a day or two honing your abilities. Geran and I will provide you with some valuable training before you return to Ayden. Having Geran and Kennis by your side when you take the crown will increase your chances of outwitting the Mystics.”
I shirked away from my mother and focused my thoughts on the Portal. And when do we tell them about the contract? How do I tell Kennis that I’m going to marry her ex-husband? Or my father that I’m pledged to the man who killed his wife?
It will never happen. Don’t worry.
Don’t worry? The two of them are going to freak when I tell them.
Quinn’s eyes flickered to Kennis then back to me. Then you mustn’t tell them.
Geran frowned, his eyes darting between me and Quinn. “She can Mind Speak?” He took a step toward Quinn. “What are you telling her? What don’t you want me to know?”
“I was only reassuring her. Do not fear.”
My father whirled around to face me. “What are you keeping from me?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
His face contorted with fury. “Do not lie to me, Alystrine! I may not have the gift of Mind Speak, but I know when it’s being done. There is something you are trying to keep hidden.”
I could read the fear in Quinn’s eyes. Now wasn’t the time to admit to the betrothal contract. “I asked him if he was certain I had to go back.”
Geran staggered. He sat down on the edge of the coffee table. “You do not want the crown?”
I found it difficult to speak over the tears I held inside. “I’m afraid.”
“You will have the power of the Elders behind you. You have the only legitimate claim to the throne. There is nothing to fear, Alystrine.”
“Nothing to fear?” A hysterical laugh escaped my throat. “In the five weeks I was in Ayden, I did nothing but run for my life! I’ve had people try and strangle me, poison me, hold swords to my throat, shoot me with arrows and I nearly died from blood poisoning! Excuse me if I’m not in a hurry to go back!”
He kept his voice low but I could sense his frustration. “Once you’re crowned queen, all that will change.”
“You can’t guarantee that. You have no idea what Braedon has planned.”
My father started to say more, but Tegan slid open the door from the patio and Geran swallowed his argument.
Tegan didn’t look at me, instead he focused on Kennis. “I’m sorry. I thought it better to come inside and sleep.”
“Of course. It’s getting late.” Kennis glanced at the others. “We’ll all think clearer in the morning. Quinn, you sleep here on the couch. Ally, get Tegan your sleeping bag and camping mat from the storage closet. Geran has been using your bed, so you’ll have to sleep with me.”
I found the keys for the closet in a kitchen drawer. Tegan and I avoided each other like opposing magnets when I passed him for the deck. I unlocked the closet, putting the keys into my pocket as I fumbled for the light switch. Kennis had packed our camping gear up along the right side wall. Our sleeping bags and mats rested atop the Coleman Cooler. I didn’t pull them down right away. Instead I looked at the plastic bins piled along the other side. Christmas decorations and winter clothes peeked out of the clear containers. A shiver raced down my spine when I realized I’d never celebrate Christmas again. No stockings. No Santa. Just chalk it up to something else I had to give up in order to be queen.
Letting out a sigh, I grabbed my sleeping bag and mat, shut off the light and locked the closet door. I wondered if there was anything I could take with me back to Ayden. I’d love to bring my IPod, but with no electricity to recharge it, the thing would be useless in a week or so. I’d miss electricity. And television. And music. I pulled the sliding door open. I’d miss air conditioning and pizza. And the ocean.
I tossed the mat on the floor then untied the strings of the duffel protecting my sleeping bag. I kept my eyes on the knot and away from Tegan. Geran grunted as he made his way up the stairs to my room. Tegan and Quinn stood off to the side as Kennis made up a bed for the Portal and I unrolled the mat and bag for Tegan.
Exhaustion had settled in to every muscle in my body. I dragged myself up the stairs but stopped outside the bathroom door.
My mother came up behind me. “What is it?”
I let out a contented breath. “I can’t wait to brush my teeth.”
I slid into bed ten minutes later after brushing twice and flossing. It was a relief to run my tongue around my mouth and not feel like my teeth were wearing little coats of plaque. I took off my sling and slipped on one of Kennis’s oversized t-shirts. My mom’s mattress was harder than the straw bed I’d been using for the past couple of weeks. My wounded shoulder protested so I rolled onto my left side and tried to get comfortable.
Kennis shifted next to me. “What happened?”
“Huh?” I mumbled, already fighting sleep.
“With Tegan.” Her fingers combed through my hair. “What did he do?”
My eyes pooled with tears again. “Nothing.”
“Ally, please. Tell me what you were so upset about.”
“A misunderstanding.” Tears clung to my lashes. “It’s over now.”
She continued to play with my hair and took in a shuddering breath. She was crying, too. I rolled onto my back. “What’s wrong?”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.” She stroked my cheek. “I wanted time to prepare you for that world. To warn you . . . .”
I stared up at the ceiling. “You did. All those camping trips and horseback riding lessons? All that stuff helped.”
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“I wanted to go with you. I wanted to help guide you through.”
“It would have helped, but I wasn’t alone the whole time. I had Tegan and his friend, Brice. Devnet and the healer, Andrew.” My mouth opened wide as a yawn escaped. “Malina . . .” My eyelids wouldn’t stay open. “And Quinn. I had help.”
Before I drifted off to sleep I heard Kennis whisper, “I wish neither of us had to go back.”
CHAPTER SIX
Same Demons, Different Day
I stood inside a cave wearing a t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Water trickled down the walls and dripped from the low ceiling. The cave was lit somehow, but I couldn’t see a light source. Still, a golden glow reflected off the tiny streams that danced along the stones.
Something hissed, obscuring the gentle sound of the water. A low hum filled the space around me. The rivulets began to undulate as if something grew inside them.
The cave sprouted snakes. They oozed out from the walls and slithered toward me. I tried to run, but two serpents hanging from the ceiling wound themselves around my arms and held me in place. I kicked at the writhing mass that swarmed at my feet but couldn’t stop them from slithering up my legs. They wrapped around my body, snake after snake crawling up, one on top of the other until only my head remained free. A giant serpent hung from the ceiling in front of me. I knew what was coming but was powerless to stop it.
The demon’s head hovered just inches from my own. Diamond shaped, but with emerald eyes like a human’s. It leered at me. “You cannot hide from us, Etain’s heir. We will find you.”
I closed my mouth and tried to twist away, but the snakes around my neck held me fast. One moved to cover my nose. A smile crept across the demon serpent’s face as my lungs begged for breath. When I finally gasped, the serpent lunged, dove into my mouth, then pushed its way down into my throat.
I couldn’t breathe. The serpent cut off all air as it moved toward my heart.
Etain’s child. You will be ours.
The snakes shook my body, thrashing it from side to side.
“Alystrine!”
Someone’s voice called to me. One of my arms came free. I dug at my face trying to pull out the serpent while I flailed.