The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1)

by Nicole MacDonald

  She could almost see the wheels spin in Catherine’s head and it made her smile.

  'If you have any questions I’ll be happy to answer them.'

  'Clothing made by a fabricer must last a lot longer than regular clothing?'

  'Yes, and there is the occasional fabricer who will transfer their skill to metal work and create highly sought after armor.' Kristanya shrugged. 'Those are most often men who have had enough of dressing women.'

  It was Alek’s turn to interrupt and he invited her to lunch with them.

  Lunch was long and Sian snorted in amusement at the sight of Cat, eyeing up everyone’s clothing. Normally she’d be doing the same but Sian was far more interested in conversing with Jolient, the owner of the Arcane shop, but it didn’t seem like there’d be time today. She smothered the urge to sigh; instead smiling at the people Daron introduced her too

  'Sian, this is Artama. He is the region’s bow master. This is his son Claud and daughter Nikol.'

  She managed to halt her look of surprise just in time. The people before her didn’t appear to be human. Artama had dark tan skin which glowed with delicate green undertones. His eyes were like a cat's and much larger than a human’s, with long eyelashes. His ears were surprisingly small, in comparison, with pointed tips that stuck out a hint.

  Nikol and Claud must have some human in them, she thought as she glanced at them, before responding to Daron’s introduction. Both Artama’s children had the same slanted, large eyes, but they were light brown instead of dark like their father's, and their skin had only the faintest hint of green. The three of them appeared to be ‘wiry’ as Kassie would say, light builds but with strength and grace.

  The girls appeared fascinated with Artama and his family and Daron was pleased to see Sian chat to them. He’d thought it would be good for Artama to meet Sian now, as he would very likely be training her later on. Realizing how late it was, Daron made his way around the men and suggested they head home. They were pleased to see the girls were disappointed to be leaving so soon.

  'What is Artama?' Sian asked him as they rode back toward the castle. 'He doesn’t look human.'

  'Artama is a half breed. Half elvan, half goblin,' Daron explained. 'And he married Toualine who is also a half breed, but half elvan, half human. That’s why Claud and Nikol look so unusual.'

  Cat moved her horse closer to listen to Daron. Alek still appeared to be giving her the cold shoulder.

  'Are goblins good or bad?' she asked. 'And is a half breed seen as a good thing or a bad thing?'

  Sian bit her lip at Cat’s bluntness and hoped it wouldn’t offend Daron.

  He looked at her in surprise.

  'What do you mean good or bad? They’re like anyone else, some are good, decent and honorable, and some,' he paused. 'Aren’t. And a half breed is what it is. It has no status.'

  Well that was nice. I was impressed. I guess after nine millennia or so you’d get over the race issues. Sian gave me a narrow look. It seemed she wasn’t so impressed with my questions. I wrinkled my nose at her and steered my horse toward Gredel and Citaan. I’d thought Alek had been getting over his weird mood, but it appeared I was wrong.

  That evening as we got ready for dinner Sian pulled me into the wash room for a word.

  'Has he said anything?'

  I shook my head, 'No. Just this weird cold shoulder thing. I don’t get it?'

  'I wonder if perhaps Elena or Yakov had a word to him.'

  'About what?'

  'Well, he is the Prince, Cat. Maybe it isn’t deemed appropriate.'

  I hadn’t thought of that.

  Cat fell silent after she’d pointed this out and Sian gave her a swift hug.

  'I’m sure he’ll sort himself out, and if he doesn’t, we’ll do it for him.' She gave Cat a devilish wink making her chuckle.

  'C’mon, let’s get out of here, I’m starving.'

  Sian’s idea had merit to it. Still, when we entered the Great Hall it felt like a public slap to the face when I saw my chair between Elena and Yakov’s. My breath hitched in my chest and I fought back an embarrassed blush.

  Stop it Cat-no one else knows so you can’t be embarrassed by this. It’s a great honor to sit between Elena and Yakov, my rational voice was firm. Holding my head high, I smiled pleasantly at everyone, even Alek, and took my seat. Yakov did his best to make me laugh and was utterly charming.

  But I could feel him, the whole time we were there. I was so intensely aware of him watching me. I wanted to leap out of my seat and march over to him, demanding to know what this was about.

  I didn’t eat much. Half scared I’d blurt out the words that felt wedged in my throat. I kept my fingers mentally crossed that this was just to keep things looking appropriate and waited to see what happened at the end of dinner.

  He watched her the whole time, unable to resist.

  Does she have genuine feelings for me? Or had she fooled herself into thinking she did, as she expected to meet her soul mate? Cat didn’t glance at him once during dinner. Alek shoved the nauseous feelings aside.

  Fine. Then we’ll deal with this out in the open and it can be done. As dinner ended and the men invited the other girls for a walk, Cat stood and finally looked at him. Her face looked like a cold mask. Alek flinched inwardly at the awful, tight sensation in his chest.

  Loi smiled up at Sabyn, about to say yes to his invitation to wander in the courtyard when Alek spoke up.

  'I believe I’ll have an early night.'

  His voice rung out through the room, and the tone in it was apparent, as everyone in the Great Hall turned to look at Cat.

  Loi watched in horror as Cat turned white, the freckles across her cheekbones in stark contrast. Then she flushed red and walked slowly out of the room. Sian and Kassie made noises of shock, and Loi went stiff with fury. In a surprisingly even tone she managed, 'Actually you know what? An early night sounds good to me.'

  She marched out of the room and made sure to brush past Alek, feeling a twinge of revenge when he flinched.

  You mongrel.

  Sabyn gaped in surprise as the three women went from friendly, to fury. All made terse replies then stormed out the room, shoving past Alek.

  Alek. A feeling of absolute annoyance swept through him as he eyeballed his cousin.

  Oh shit. Perhaps a public statement wasn’t the best idea. Alek gulped as his three friends turned to stare at him. Yakov and Elena didn’t appear impressed either. Indignation flashed through him.

  Since when was this their business? So what if the other girls were grouchy at him, they’d get over it. Rumal took a step closer. Giving him a hard look, Alek turned and stalked out the room, ignoring the courtiers gasps of shock.

  I woke the next morning and lay there, feeling a horrible sense of loss. Then an overwhelming fury.

  Why was I letting this bother me? So he’d turned out not to be who I thought he was. It wasn’t the first time. And I liked being single. I loved it. No one to have to report to, or think about, and I LIKED BEING SINGLE.

  Tears welled in my eyes and then flowed down my cheeks and I stuffed the sheet in my mouth to stop any sounds.

  Why? What had I done? He’d seemed so sweet and thoughtful and I thought the chemistry was there. The weird pain in my chest wouldn’t go away and it hurt to breathe. I curled into a ball and pulled the covers over my head. Yanking the sheet out my mouth, I wept into my pillow. I couldn’t decide what was worse, the sensation of loss or the feeling of self-deception at allowing a mere male to affect me like this.

  A strange noise whispered into her dream. Kassie thrashed about, wondering what the sound was and woke disorientated, staring about the room.

  What was that sound? It happened again and she realized what it was.

  Cat. She leapt out of bed and pulled Cat’s covers back then felt her heart wrench. Cat was curled in a ball, sobbing her heart out into her pillow.

  'Honey, little kitty cat,' she crooned as she scrambled into the bed and wrapp
ed an arm around her friend.

  Sian and Loi had woken and joined her, kneeling beside the bed.

  'I’m sorry,' Cat snuffled. 'I hate myself for being so stupid. I’m sorry, I’ll be okay in a minute, I’m sorry.'

  'Stop apologizing Cat, it’s not your fault,' Sian stroked Cat’s head.

  It was a while before they calmed her down. Eventually they got her out of bed and into the shower and while she was in there, laid out her clothes for the first day of training.

  'Do you think she’ll be okay?'

  Loi looked at the other two.

  'Cat’s a trooper.' Sian had her stoic face on. 'And she’ll deal with this. She has to.'

  Kassie gave a sad sigh.

  'But what happened? It looked so right.'

  The door to the washroom opened and they fell silent.

  It felt some what comforting to be putting on my ‘arrival’ outfit again. The others appeared to feel the same, and our room was silent while we got ready. Nnelg hadn’t slept over, and Audrey waited impatiently for us to get on our way. Breakfast flew by, and before I knew it, we all sat in the library while Elena requested two of the men join us today.

  Only Rumal, Daron, and Sabyn were in the room, and Daron and Sabyn agreed to accompany us. The air was somewhat tense as Loi, Sian and Kassie kept firm looks on their faces when they spoke to their guys. I wished they wouldn’t. It wasn’t their fault.

  'Where is Gredel?' Loi asked while the unspoken question of a certain other rang loud.

  'With his wife,' Elena said briskly. 'Spending some much needed time together.'

  We stood to leave.

  'Catherine a word?' Elena arched an eyebrow, then nodded to the others to go on.

  The door closed behind them, and I turned back to Elena with a sense of apprehension. The Sorceress had an impassive look on her face.

  'I’m sorry that things appear to have not worked out well with you and Alek, but I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain. I’m not interested in any silly hysterics, so I trust you got them out of the way this morning.'

  My face flushed hot. Anger swirled in my gut.

  Staring at her coolly I snapped, 'I’ll uphold my end. I’ll need all the skills I can get for when I leave at the month’s end.'

  Her expression didn’t change.

  Damn it. I’d thought that might get a rise from her. I stalked off.

  When I arrived at the Griffons quarters everyone buzzed with excitement.

  'Cat.' Kassie squealed, 'We can hear them.'

  Loi and Sian beamed at me.

  ‘They’re rather elated to have caught up with you,’ observed Loushka.

  OH. It clicked. They could hear the griffons now. I felt a swell of delight. It was good to be back on even par with them all.

  ‘So, are you joining us today?’ I would enjoy Loushka’s company. And maybe she would have insight on what Alek’s problem is. I wondered if she knew about it. It felt like everyone I passed in the castle gave me looks of pity. Especially that overdone Countess—bitch.

  ‘No, Nesha and Tomiar will be with you. Kerak and I are going to visit Phroma and Ageip at Gredel’s estate.’

  ‘Sounds like fun,’ I gave her as genuine a smile as I could manage.

  She seemed to register my mood.

  ‘You’ll be fine Cat, not to worry. And Alek will be waiting when you get back.’

  I flushed red at his name and bit the inside of my cheek hard, to hold back tears. It appeared she didn't know. Not wanting to feel like a tattle tale, I gave her a nod and turned to help the others.

  As we got ready, Elena noticed Audrey, she frowned.

  'Nnelg!'

  The little blue dragon appeared amongst us.

  'Yes madam?'

  'I need you to look after Audrey and Lucky today as they can’t come with us, will you accept this task?'

  Nnelg swelled with pride at being asked by the Sorceress herself to do such an important task.

  'Of course, I shall be certain to take good care of them both.'

  We all hid smiles at Nnelg’s delight, and I fussed over Audi for a moment before telling her to go with him. She was more than happy to oblige and dashed off without a backward glance.

  We piled onto the griffons and flew off. It took about an hour to reach the desired location and once we’d all climbed down, Elena spoke quietly with Rumal and Daron, who headed off on an errand for her.

  I stood near Kassie, looking about.

  'Where are we?'

  The landscape here was very barren.

  'We’re at the beginning of the Merrej desert.' Elena indicated with a nod, 'This way.'

  Kassie studied the land around them. There were a few trees, with a small stream trickling behind them and before them began the desert, with ebony sand that glittered in the sunlight. The dunes were visible in the distance and she wondered what creatures lived in it.

  We stood and waited for Elena’s instructions. The Sorceress walked around an area of sand murmuring to herself. Her long dark hair hung in a thick plait down her back, and it was the first time I’d seen her wear trousers. All of a sudden, the air felt strangely thick, and we looked about in surprise. Elena had her arms at her sides pointing toward the earth, and we could see the sand shift around her.

  Loi felt her jaw drop at this example of Elena’s power. The sand smoothed out into a large circle that had a seat at each quarter. Just a low simple seat with no back, all made of sand.

  'Come,' said Elena. 'Let us begin.'

  They hesitated a moment then entered the circle. Each seat had a symbol inscribed in the sand.

  They represent each of the elements Sian realized. She walked to her ‘water’ seat, 'Kassie, you’re across from me, Loi, you’re on my left and Cat, you’re on my right.'

  Elena smiled and nodded in approval, 'Learn to recognize your symbols girls. It will be useful for you in the future.'

  I stared at mine before having a seat, a triangle, easy.

  'Now get yourselves comfortable. I am going to seal the circle so that we won’t be disturbed by anything and then I will talk you through the first exercise.'

  Elena walked the circle three times, like Sian had done during that now infamous spell, chanting something in a foreign language.

  Again the air swelled, and before our astonished eyes a bubble appeared around us. Clear and shimmering with hints of color breaking across it.

  Sian gaped at this very visible, physical manifestation of the circle. Unable to resist she reached out a finger and touched it. The bubble resonated with a chime, tiny ripples echoing from her touch. The others looked at her shocked, but Elena smiled.

  'It won’t harm you if you want to touch it. It’s only in place so we have peace.'

  The Sorceress walked to the center of the circle and lowered herself gracefully to the ground.

  'To begin with I want you to close your eyes and slow your breathing. Take good, deep breaths and expel them completely. Allow any thoughts to drift through your mind, but do not focus on them. Let them drift away. When you have relaxed sufficiently I will talk you through raising your energies.'

  Kassie nodded; sounds simple enough. She began to slow her breathing and felt her heart rate drop and body relax. Images and thoughts popped into her mind but she did as Elena had instructed and shooed them away as though they were as light and insubstantial as clouds.

  Elena watched as the girls relaxed further and further into their seats and continued.

  'I want you to become aware of your hands. With your mind's eye feel your way around and through them. Until you are intimate with them.'

  Loi felt the tiny hairs on the back of her hands prickle as she traced over the skin in her mind, the creases and cracks, even the roughened edges of her nails. She focused her mind on them until she could see how the nails were woven together. Then moving inside, following the veins and pricking at the nerve endings. Her fingers jerked, and her muscles twitched as she tugged and probed at them. />
  It’s fascinating, she thought, I can truly see the insides and how my hands work. She pushed deeper until she came to the bones, seeing the cartilage between the joints and the tendons which fastened them together.

  Elena smiled as she watched their hands twitch and the frowns they wore while they studied their hands.

  'I can see you are aware of your hands, so I want you to focus on your heart. Your heart is an immensely strong muscle. Feel the blood rush into it and the sudden glow as it fills the blood with oxygen. Then feel as it pushes the refreshed blood back into your body. Once you are aware of this process, trace the blood down the major artery in both your arms to your hands. Watch the flow of blood as it comes rushing down your arms and around your hands, then back, as your heart draws it through again.'

  Sian could feel the underside of her wrists fluttering with her pulse as she followed her blood down, around, and back up. It was refreshing to observe, as though she could feel each cell within her arms and hands sighing in pleasure as the freshly oxygenated disks moved past them.

  Elena spoke again, taking care to keep her voice gentle, so as not to startle the girls in their meditative state.

  'Now I want you to focus on your heart again but this time look past it a little. With your minds eye, see the color of your element swirling behind your heart. Loi, you should see a beautiful fresh green, Kassie, a vibrant yellow, Cat, yours will be a rich red and Sian, a lovely sky blue.'

  I relaxed my mind further, relieved to have a deliberate reason to focus on something else. The sense of calm and peace within the circle was very soothing. Following Elena’s instructions I allowed myself to slip past my heart and was confronted with a swirling mass of ruby red light.