Celtic Rose

by Campbell, Jill

  “It is about time Ephiny. I had thought you left,” Kallisto said jokingly. “Could you run me a bath? I have had a long trip and I am too tired to do it myself.” She never ordered Ephiny around; she didn’t like the idea of a slave. Kallisto didn’t have a choice though; she either accepted her or she’d be put to death. It was their way of being humane, rather than let them live on the streets dying slowly of starvation and disease, and she didn’t want any of that on her conscience, so they agreed to keep up appearances. She only ordered her when someone was around.

  “You talk so politely to your servant,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind her. Kallisto jumped from the bed with her sword unsheathed before she turned around. She pointed it at the man standing in her room. He stood unthreateningly with his hands clasped behind his back, smiling at her reaction. His accent was Scottish. Immediately she assumed that he had come to take her.

  “You ask her to do things rather than ordering her.” He spoke as if she’d never moved. Kallisto stood at the ready, unmoving. “I wonder what type of princess you are, that you do not seem spoiled like the others.” He took one step closer and stopped as Kallisto brought the sword up to point at his face.

  “Who are you?” Kallisto saw him and it was William, but she didn’t know him in the dream. “How did you get into my room?” She glanced quickly at the door, judging if she could get to it and scream for the guards before she was taken.

  “Do not be afraid, Princess. I am an advisor to the king. He asked me to come here.” Kallisto squinted, her eyes suspicious.

  “My father would never allow a man into my room, much less a Scottish man.” But with her ability, she could tell he was telling the truth. Maybe Gabriel was right; maybe there were people who could fool her into thinking they were telling the truth. She remained suspicious of him, never moving from her guarded stance.

  “He only allowed me now, knowing that you would be dressed. Besides, he did not want to deny your future husband a glimpse at his bride before the wedding.” He bowed in respect, but his smile was arrogant. Kallisto stared at him in horror, unable to believe her father had placed her into an arranged marriage with a Scot. Sure, he was a handsome man, but still, she didn’t know him. She didn’t know the prince either, but she felt a familiarity with him that she didn’t feel with anyone else. She knew her father wanted her to marry Scottish royalty to try and show their allegiance with them, but he must’ve thought up a contingency plan in case the royal family tried something, which they had.

  William looked just the same as he did in reality, but with longer hair. He was a very nice looking man, and she might’ve thought this was a good idea had it not been for the fact that she had met the prince, and now wished that it could be him in her room.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Yes, my dear princess. I am your future husband. Your father wishes us to get to know one another.” He raised his hand, palm up, and walked slowly toward her, clearly wanting the sword. Kallisto dropped the tip down to the floor, but she didn’t release it. He came up to her, confident that she wouldn’t hurt him. She was still in shock as he moved beside her. Slipping his arm carefully around her shoulders, he grabbed the hands that clutched the sword’s handle, then pulled it from her grasp and placed it on the mantle. He came back to her and guided her to the couch at the foot of the bed, and sat them down side by side.

  “Are you all right, Princess?” he asked, looking concerned.

  Kallisto cleared her throat quietly, trying to wade through the shock and disbelief to find her voice. “I am fine. If you are to be my husband then you need to start calling me by my name, not princess.” Knowing she must compose herself, she straightened her shoulders and tilted her chin upward to look at him. Dignity was what her father would expect of her; as a princess she had an obligation to do what was expected.

  “As you wish, Kallisto. And I suppose you should call me William. I am of the House of Teirna.” William grabbed Kallisto’s hand, and although she wanted to, she didn’t pull away. He was handsome, but she wanted the prince. In her mind she knew his name was Talus, but the princess from the dream didn’t know his name. She only knew he was of the House of Rathburn. She thought this was a strange dream, one that felt more like a vivid memory.

  “When is our wedding set for?” she asked William.

  “The king would like us to be wed by next month. If that is too soon, we can extend it for a later time,” he quickly added, obviously seeing the disappointment on her face.

  Kallisto had been hoping to find the prince and possibly work something out, but she didn’t have time to find him. It would take several months to track him down. Even though her father knew how to get there, he’d never tell her. After the events that happened on the ship he’d probably have the prince killed on sight. Because of that event, Kallisto would never be able to convince her father to let her marry the prince.

  “No, that will be fine,” she heard herself say, but there was no enthusiasm behind her words. She couldn’t force herself to show the excitement William was expecting; all she could do was sit there and wonder why this was happening, and why now? Why so out-of-the blue? Had her father expected the betrayal on the ship?

  “I apologize for this abrupt decision; our parents agreed to this for the sake of our families’ alliance. I believe the king would give us more time if we were to ask.” The soft, sincere sound of his voice made Kallisto smile, and for the first time, she thought the arrangement might not be so horrible.

  “It is going to be fine. I am sure we will be happy.” Kallisto patted William’s hand and stood up. “Well, I suppose we need to go tell my father the good news.” She turned and waited for William. Her father would expect them to come and make the decision public, even though it wasn’t a decision of her own. William wore a look of shock on his face, but then he smiled and got up from the couch. He came to Kallisto’s side and held out his arm for her to take. Lacing her arm through his, she let him lead her to the throne room.

  Her father was ecstatic when they told him the news. Kallisto smiled with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Pretending that she was marrying the prince helped her to fake the enthusiasm he expected. By the end of the day, she had made everyone happy.

  Exhausted from all the people-pleasing, Kallisto went to her room. This time her nurse maid was there with her bath drawn. She helped Kallisto into the bath so she could sink into the hot water. She felt it relax her muscles and melt away the tension.

  Kallisto’s nurse maid, Ephiny, was a little on the short side, just over five feet tall. Long dark hair cascaded over her bronze shoulders. Her sensitive brown eyes added to her pretty appearance. Kallisto’s father had told her she was Spanish, and as she had never seen one before, she took his word on that. The clothes Ephiny wore matched her station, but the kingdom’s servants were never in rags. Ephiny wore green satin, which was the chosen fabric for the female servants.

  Ephiny pulled the curtains and walked out to get the soap. There was a knock on the door. Kalan came in and sat on the side of the tub. “How are you feeling?” he said, his ice-blue eyes narrowed in concern.

  “I am fine, Brother.” Kallisto gave him the same faux-excited smile she’d given everybody else, except he didn’t buy it like the others had. She knew he wouldn’t.

  “You know you do not have to pretend for me, Sister. No lies or secrets between us, remember?” He put his knuckle to Kallisto’s chin and raised her head to look at him. “How do you really feel?”

  “I do not want to marry William. I want to find the Prince from the House of Rathburn.” There was no use lying to Kalan. He’d never allow it, and he knew her better than she knew herself. They both had the ability to tell when people were lying; therefore, they could never lie to one another. The ability was a type of sixth sense they’d always had. Gabriel tested it several times and they were always able to tell lies from truth. That was the very reason why they were allowed to handle such business as that on the
ship, because they could sense sincerity in truth, or lies. Kalan interrupted Kallisto’s thoughts.

  “Then why did you agree to this arrangement?” Dropping his hand from her chin, Kallisto saw a spark of anger ignite in his eyes. “You could have refused.”

  “You know my responsibility as Princess of the Kingdom of Wren demands that I accept the engagement with dignity and enthusiasm. Father would never allow me to refuse.”

  “I am not angry at you, Sister.” He calmed himself before continuing by taking a deep breath. “I am angry at our father for denying your happiness.” He pinched between his eyes with his fingers, like he had a headache. “We have to find a way out of this. I will help you any way I can. You need to do something dramatic, to show our father that this is not what you want.” He looked back at Kallisto, smiling. “I have it! You need to run away!”

  “What?” Kallisto couldn’t believe he’d suggest such a thing. “Do you not know what goes on outside of these castle walls? What if I get attacked?” She had never been outside the castle walls before without Gabriel to protect her.

  “You know how to protect yourself. You are as strong a fighter as anyone else in this land. You can do it Kallisto, I know you can. I will join you later, then we can come back claiming I found you, and you can plead your case.” Ephiny came in then. Kalan turned his back so that she could wash Kallisto’s back and hair.

  “When should I go?” Kallisto said, and waited while he thought it over.

  “Tonight…you can take my horse. He is faster than yours and he is trained to protect the rider, thanks to Gabriel. I will distract the guards so you can get out of the gate unnoticed. Come on, you need to get dressed.” He held out her robe, holding it up in front of his face. Kallisto stepped out of the tub into it.

  Ephiny looked at Kallisto in horror. They knew they could trust her, so they told her what was happening. She started crying; she loved Kallisto like a sister and she didn’t want to lose her. She also knew she’d die if Kallisto wasn’t around. Kalan promised to keep her safe no matter what. That made her feel better, but she’d still miss Kallisto. Kalan left so Kallisto could dress in her riding clothes, and they met outside her door. Ephiny trailed behind, tears streaming down her face.

  “I will be fine Ephiny, and I will come back before you even know I am gone.” Kallisto hugged her. Kalan grabbed Kallisto’s cloak and placed it over her shoulders, raised the hood, and tied it into place. He walked her out to the stable and helped her get his horse ready. Afterwards he kissed her and helped her on the horse.

  “I will be there with you before you know it. Stay safe.” He smiled and so did Kallisto. He slapped the horse on the haunches and off she went. She rode the long way around to give her brother a chance to do his work. Before she got to the gate, Kalan was there distracting the guards. He had them far enough from the gate that they wouldn’t see her, but the hooves on the cobblestone walkway echoed and she was afraid the guards would hear it. Kalan spoke loudly to compensate for the noise. They never looked up.

  Kallisto was out of the gate and far into the forest before she started to relax. There was no sound of a chase. The ruse had worked, much to her amazement.

  As she traveled through the forest, she heard a rustling sound in the trees. She turned to see what the noise was and got knocked off the horse.

  Kallisto woke before she hit the ground. Squinting sleepily, she looked at the clock. It was seven o’clock in the morning. She groaned and rolled over, thinking about her dream. It felt so real, and her subconscious came up with some strange things. She bet Freud would’ve had a field day with her dreams. Her brain was working too hard for sleep to claim her again, so she decided to take a shower. She chose some clothes from the dresser and made her way quietly to the bathroom so she wouldn’t wake Ramina.

  After the shower, Kallisto headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. It was about seven-thirty. Sitting at the table, she found herself obsessed with the dream again. She wondered if she had seen a guy like Gabriel somewhere and her subconscious let him leak into her dream, and that Maulro guy; she thought that was a weird name. She didn’t remember ever seeing anyone like him. She was fairly sure she’d have remembered someone as scary as that. No, this dream felt too real, and it couldn’t be a coincidence that she was having the same dreams; not recurring, but continuing, and so was Ramina. She could feel it; her brain was trying to tell them something, but she couldn’t figure out what. She drank her coffee, staring around the hotel room. At about nine-thirty Ramina woke up and went to the kitchen for some coffee. Rubbing her eyes with a fist, she looked at Kallisto sleepily. “How long have you been up?” she asked as she poured herself a cup.

  “Since seven.” Kallisto took another sip of her third cup of coffee, which was abnormal for her. Usually she only drank two cups of coffee and she was good for the day. Ramina turned and looked at Kallisto with wide eyes.

  “Why did you get up so early? The guys won’t be here for a while.” Ramina sat across from Kallisto and took a careful drink of her steaming coffee.

  “I didn’t mean to get up that early; I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. My brain wouldn’t stop working long enough for me to go back to sleep,” Kallisto sighed.

  “What were you thinking about so hard that you couldn’t sleep?” Ramina put her cup down and stared at Kallisto, giving her the impression of being interrogated. She knew what the problem was, but she wanted to be told.

  “It’s the dream again. Only last night Talus and William were in it.” Kallisto paused to judge her reaction. It was what she expected. Ramina froze and stared at her wide eyed. “You did too, didn’t you?”

  “Crap! Now we’re either both really messed up, or there is something going on here,” Ramina replied.

  “I don’t know. Mom looked really weird when I mentioned the first dream to her. She seemed a little freaked, and then she wanted me to come see Kalan right away, and bring you; which in itself was weird.” Kallisto threw her hands up in defeat. “It can’t be our imagination, can it?”

  “I don’t think so, Kal.” Ramina paused brow furrowed. “If we’re in the dreams and we’re both having the same dreams, then do you think Kalan might be having them too, since he’s in them?”

  “I don’t know; we should ask him when we see him today,” Kallisto shrugged. Ramina bit her lip. “What are you thinking Ramina?” Kallisto asked suspiciously.

  “I’m thinking we should go get Kalan now,” she said with a grin.

  “Ramina,” Kallisto scolded. “We came here to visit, yes, but we said we wouldn’t let our visit mess with his school.”

  “I know, but I really want to know if he is having the dreams too. If he is then we really need to figure out what’s going on. If not, then we’ll just assume it’s because we’re so close and maybe we’re just on the same wavelength.” Ramina laughed. “Besides, you know you want to see Talus and William again.”

  Kallisto smirked and rolled her eyes. Ramina always knew when Kallisto wanted something, and she usually used it to her advantage. “All right we’ll go, but if Kalan’s not having the dreams we’re coming back here to wait until they’re out of class.” Ramina jumped in the shower and was out in record time.

  They made their way to the office. Kallisto had to show ID to get the secretary to tell her what class Kalan was in. The secretary reluctantly told her that Kalan was behind the building assisting with the construction of a house for the architecture class. That shocked Kallisto; she had known Kalan liked to build things but he never said anything about wanting to build houses for a living. She and Ramina shared a look before walking out the door. Apparently Ramina had no better idea than Kallisto did.

  They got the car and drove around the side of the building. Immediately, they saw the frame of a house being built and could see several guys working on different parts. They couldn’t see Kalan from that distance and the cones blocked off part of the lot, keeping them from driving any closer.

&nbs
p; They climbed out of the car and walked toward the nearest guy. He was working on cutting a piece of wood with a table saw. His shirt was at his feet and the sunlight made his toned muscles glisten. They walked right up to him and Kallisto tapped him on the shoulder. The butterflies immediately came to life at the touch and fluttered around in her stomach. She was thinking it was strange because that had only happened with…the thought was cut off, the guy turned around and there stood Talus. Kallisto’s mouth dropped in shock, which obviously pleased him because he beamed a bright and friendly smile.

  “Hello, sweetheart. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” He waited, still smiling. Kallisto couldn’t talk. All she could do was look at him, her eyes scanning his gleaming torso. He had hair on his chest, but not too much, just enough to look mature. As her eyes trailed down, she noticed a line of hair that trailed down from above his belly button and disappeared into the line of his pants. She blushed and cleared her throat as she looked back up into his smiling face. He seemed satisfied by her reaction.

  “Wow!” Kallisto mouthed the word more than said it. She shook her head to try and clear it. “Um…where’s Kalan? We need to talk to him.” Kallisto was still in shock; she made the effort to smile but it ended up being a quivering half grin.

  Talus’ eyebrows bunched together as he stretched his left arm out to touch her face. “Is everything okay?”

  She opened her mouth to say yes, but the word caught in her throat as her eyes fixed on his outstretched arm. Following Kallisto’s gaze, he dropped his arm to his side. Ramina had seen it also and was staring back and forth from Talus to Kallisto with wide eyes.

  “Sorry, I normally don’t let anyone see that. I don’t like it, but the guys are all right with it.” He frowned when she didn’t say anything. He reached for her again but she stepped back quickly and tripped on a board, falling backward. Talus started forward but stopped because she’d already been caught. Kallisto looked up quickly, her eyes wide with fear. Kalan looked down at her with concern.