The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1)

by Nicole MacDonald

  'Kassandra Boyd. Where the hell have you been?'

  Kassie stopped short in the room and gave Sian a look.

  Last time I checked I was still the oldest of the group, she thought and ignored them as she headed to the shower. When she came out, a good twenty minutes later, they still hadn’t budged from their beds. The sensation of three sets of eyes watching her was unnerving. She found the long tunic she used as a nightie then climbed into bed. There was a long pause, then three heavy thuds as the others landed on her bed.

  'Kassie,' squealed Cat. 'Where were you? Whatcha been doing?'

  'We’ll tickle it out of you,' threatened Loi.

  Kassie pulled the covers down from her face and gave them all a stern look which then dissolved into a very naughty one.

  After a long and pointless attempt to get any more information out of Kass, we gave up, and instead got ready and headed to breakfast. Ms. Kassie snored away as we left the room. We gossiped as we walked the corridors.

  'I can’t believe she was out all night.' Loi couldn’t seem to decide if it was scandalizing or not.

  I chuckled, 'Well she looked like she had fun.'

  Sian snorted. Loi and I exchanged an amused glance; Sian was the prude of our group.

  Then she giggled, 'Did you see her neck?'

  'No!'

  'I missed that!'

  Rumal watched the doors to the Great Hall experiencing a bizarre sense of anxiety. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this. The sound of the girls voices at the doors had him tensing as he watched them enter.

  Kassie isn’t with them, he realized with a pang. He stood to greet them as the other men did, and was surprised when the three girls stopped in front of him.

  'Rumal, you look so tired,' Sian had a look of concern on her face that didn’t match the mocking tone of her voice. The other two gave him cheeky smiles.

  'Ahh, where’s Kassie?'

  'You know, that’s exactly what I said when I discovered her bed, un-slept in, this morning.'

  There was a long pause as he considered his options.

  'So she’s in bed now?'

  'Yup. Seems she’s pretty tired too,' Cat grinned.

  'Well then, if you’ll excuse me I’ll arrange to have breakfast delivered to her.'

  The girls chuckled as Rumal hurried out the room.

  'I think that’s the closest I’ve seen Rumal come to blushing,' Daron glanced at Sian. 'What was that all about?'

  'Nothing much. Just Kassie pulling an all-nighter,' Sian slipped into the seat beside him. Daron gave her a shocked look.

  'Indeed. Didn’t you notice the extra company in your quarters?'

  'No. Rumal didn’t sleep in our quarters last night.'

  'Oooooohh,' Loi and Cat chorused teasingly.

  After breakfast everyone split up. Daron and Sian headed to the library. Loi and Sabyn went to take their horses out for a ride, and Rumal and Kassie were, of course, rather absent. Which just left Alek and I wandering down the corridor.

  'Did you want to do anything in particular?'

  I pondered ideas as we walked past the ballroom.

  'Can we visit Loushka?'

  An hour or so later we were walking in the forest of the Scrodian Mountains. Alek took great delight in showing me different things. I’d marveled over tiny, jewel colored dragonflies with wings like leaves, and now clutched the stems of a delicate green colored flower. Its scent was very much like jasmine, my favorite flower on Earth. I twisted it into the plait in my hair, so to enjoy the fragrance as we explored. Loushka had flown off to the high peaks, so it was just the two of us.

  Alek watched as she examined things, it was interesting to see what caught her attention. Being so close to her, with no one in the immediate proximity, felt almost reckless. When she turned back to ask him something about the beetle she’d found, he reached out to pull her close and was pleased when she started to glow. It was an easy way to tell how she felt, until she learned to conceal it. Every day the girls developed more skill with handling their energy, but until then he was going to enjoy watching her visual barometer. She made some pathetic attempts at protesting when he wrapped an arm around her and tipped her chin up.

  Alek chuckled at me when I objected. Curse my silly energy reaction. He seemed to recognize the different shades now and while I wasn’t about to admit it to him, at least not verbally, I was quite ready to throw my ‘go slow’ oath away.

  Heck might as well try before you buy, thought my rational voice in a teasing tone.

  Mmmm, now that’s a good thought. My energy flared out brighter as he kissed me.

  Elena had a surprise for them when they arrived at the training circle the next day.

  'Today we are going to practice attacking and defending. On each other.'

  The girls froze and stared at Elena with alarmed expressions.

  'Isn’t that dangerous?' Loi asked dubiously.

  'Only if you do not defend yourselves.' Elena replied, somewhat smug. Then she chuckled, 'I don’t think you will be able to do any damage to each other as you’ll be hesitating. But you’ll get over that, and by then be prepared to attack and defend yourselves adequately. It’s the best way to learn, probably not unlike your Jujitsu.' They kept up their dubious expressions.

  'And I can heal any injuries you have,' she smiled brightly at them. 'So you will be fine.'

  What she didn’t mention was that she could heal our injuries once we were back at the castle. There was a bit of preparation involved, you see. Nothing makes the flight back to the castle seem eons longer than it is than a decent injury. And if you happened to cause it, you got to spend the ride back feeling like an utter bully.

  'I’m so sorry.'

  It was the eighth time I’d said that.

  'Seriously, Cat, shut-up. This is part in parcel of the training and I get that, but right now my back is really stinging and I’d love to hurt you. So shut-up.'

  I flinched at her tone. Elena had split us into teams, and Loi and I faced off against Sian and Kassie. We’d won, thanks to Loi’s clever idea to create a tunnel through the ground through which I’d then directed a hard stream of fire. And singed a good layer of skin off Sian’s back. I’d say it was payback for her nearly drowning us, but a burn like that is pretty vicious. The look Daron shot me, when he helped Sian down, was cold. All the guys had issues with this, even though it was the third session of the week. Only two days until our rest day. I was looking forward to it.

  So far this week I’d had my feet broken by Loi when she buried my legs, not realizing that area contained mainly rocks. Kassie had electrocuted us when she pulled in a storm with Sian’s help. The look on Alek and Sabyn’s faces when they saw our hair that evening had been classic. Loi had broken her leg when Kass dropped her from a decent height, and otherwise, we’d all received numerous cuts, bruises, scrapes and burns. It easily proved Elena’s healing gift, but you weren’t sure whether to be grateful or not.

  Grateful, because it didn’t hurt anymore and you were fine, not so grateful as it meant the following day was physical training. Then there was the other kicker we’d discovered through injuring one another. We can sense each others pain through our gift. Being Elementals means we really are linked to an extent, so that too, made the ride back feel long.

  Elena’s healing touch was fascinating, and we crowded around to watch. It was bizarre to see skin heal before your eyes, and to feel the stinging sensation we all felt, thanks to our link, vanish at the same time. Sian relaxed straight away and we settled down to dinner in our room. It had become a habit after our Elemental training, as we were too tired to dress for the Great Hall.

  Yakov, Elena, and the men joined us, making them enjoyable evenings.

  'What did Sian do?' Yakov deadpanned after seeing her back.

  Everyone laughed as I blushed and apologized again.

  Dinner flew by and it seemed far too soon that Alek kissed me goodbye. I kept my arms locked around his neck
as I grumbled, 'I don’t want to go to sleep. ‘Cause tomorrows not the rest day and I’m tired.'

  'Awww, Kitten,' he teased, chuckling when I narrowed my eyes at him.

  Kitten had never been a pet name I’d envisioned for myself.

  'But we get to practice sword fighting tomorrow and then you girls get to annoy Iggy in the afternoon.'

  That’s true. Iggy had been trying to best one of us ever since Kassie’s demonstration with him. He had yet to win.

  Cat pouted at his words but they appeared to appease her a little. At the mention of Iggy a smile had tugged at her mouth.

  Actually I think it's Cat’s turn tomorrow, can’t wait to see her kick his ass. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, savoring the kiss, until Loi started to tease them.

  I threw a pillow at Loi when I got to my bed. 'Thanks a lot.'

  'Some of us want to sleep, Cat, you two could have been at it all night.'

  I smirked, 'No, that’d be Kassie.'

  Sian and Loi laughed hard as Kass clambered over the top of her bed to mine and walloped me with her pillow.

  'But, it’s, true.' I protested between thumps and she gave in, laughing. Kass used her gift to extinguish the lamps and I was asleep with minutes.

  Loi had a weird dream. She was in a vast swamp; the mud was thick and the stench strong. Her feet were firmly stuck and she wriggled hard to try to loosen them, but it seemed to make them more stuck. She reached down to pull one up, when a force grabbed her by the throat and squeezed tight.

  I woke in an instant as I felt Loi’s silent scream.

  'LAURA!' Kassie screamed.

  'Cat, light!' roared Sian.

  Something was seriously wrong and we felt it. The terror and the awful sensation of Loi weakening. I flared my energy out.

  'HOLY HELL WHAT IS IT?'

  Sian gaped at the creature that had Loi by the throat against the wall and then blasted it with her energy.

  'Shit.' Her energy pinged off. 'It’s shielding!'

  Noticing Nnelg cowering beside Audi, she yelled at him.

  'Get Elena. Get everyone!'

  The dragon vanished.

  'Loi, get your shield up.' Kassie circled the creature warily, an expression of revulsion and fury on her face.

  Loi focused hard as her vision begin to blacken, and visualized her energy expanding out, under the clawed grip. Relief washed through her as she managed to take a breath. The strange reptilian creature hissed in anger, and slammed her, again and again, against the wall as she struggled to keep her shield in place. The girls hurled bolt after bolt at the monster and Loi realized she could sense its shield weaken. It turned and hurled her to the floor.

  I grabbed Loi by the arm and pulled her behind me, then Sian, Kassie, and I moved toward it. The freakiest looking thing I’d seen yet. Its head looked similar to a crocodile, with a long snout and jagged teeth, but its body was human-like in form. Covered in scaly skin, its hands were strange curled claws. It hissed at us then opened its mouth and spat. We jerked our shields up and the nasty brackish scum that splattered over them, dissolved away. I could feel the acidic properties in it and shuddered.

  Kassie gave me a hard look then began to concentrate an intense wind tunnel, directly onto the creature. I knew what she wanted and focused my energy.

  Fear streaked through Sabyn as he sprinted for the girls’ room with the other men. Nnelg had burst into their quarters, screaming that a koratil attacked Loi and the girls couldn’t stop it. They’d bolted from their quarters and met Elena and Yakov racing down the turret. As they reached the suite Elena extended a hand, and the doors wrenched open exposing the chaos within.

  Kassie had it pinned against the wall, and Cat shot it with a bolt of fire. It shrieked as its shield dissipated, and there was a loud thud as it exploded, remnants splattering everywhere.

  I stood, panting, and stared in shock at the remains strewn about.

  My brain wasn’t up to making sense of this. Being wrenched from a deep and much needed sleep, then thrown into a sudden, intense fight, bewildered me. I didn’t know what to do. Sabyn pushed past Kassie, Sian, and I, and scooped Loi into his arms. It was then I realized her throat was bruised and bleeding. Elena hurried forward to attend to her and we were led away.

  'Where are we going?'

  Yakov looked at Cat, 'You are being moved to your official Quarters. It’s earlier than intended but your suite is in no state to be used now.'

  He expected more questions but she just nodded and allowed Alek to lead her onward. After he saw the girls settled in, he headed to Elena’s suite.

  'Are they okay?' she demanded as he entered.

  'Yes, just in shock. Will Loi be okay?'

  'Yes. All healed. She will be fine now.' She sunk onto the seat at her dressing table, her beautiful face creased with stress. 'How did this happen? It shouldn’t have been possible.'

  He stood behind her, gently massaging her neck. 'I don’t know.'

  He was silent as he thought through it all.

  She’s very right, it shouldn’t have been possible.

  Elena put a hand to her head and leaned back to look up at him her eyes troubled.

  'Thank goodness we began training them immediately. If we had lost our Earth elemental…'

  'Hush.' Yakov interrupted her, 'Don’t do the ‘ifs’ Ellie. There’s no point. They’re safe in their Quarters now and we can arrange for increased security.'

  She nodded and stood, he pulled her close enfolding her into his arms.

  'Should we cancel the ball?'

  He shook his head. 'That’s not possible now, it’s too soon.'

  'But what if she strikes again?'

  'We won’t let her, we’ll have more troops in place and you’ll set up extra traps to warn us.'

  She nodded against his chest, then sighed, the stress ebbing out of her. He felt her chuckle and looked down.

  'What?'

  'Do you think Nnelg spotted you?'

  He laughed, 'I don’t think so, but that wee cretin nearly made my heart stop.'

  She laughed with him, 'Certainly unexpected.'

  Waking in a new suite was strange, and we didn’t get any time to explore. Elena woke us early and made it apparent that we had to treat this just like any other day. We stumbled about as we got ready, mumbling to each other, all of us too tired to talk. As I sat back on the bed I’d slept in and pulled my boots on, I had a look around.

  This suite made the last one look tiny in comparison. The bathroom alone was almost as big as our previous suite. The room was divided into four and each bed was tucked into one of the corners. After a quick examination, I realized the walls could be extended, so that we each had our own room if we wanted. Complete with our own dressing table, armoire, and seating area. It was impressive, but I felt a little lost, not having the girls as close as normal. It was good that we were learning to link with our energy more and more. Then we still felt close to each other.

  The guys escorted us to breakfast and led us to the library afterward. Elena was there with Yakov and the Lieutenants, all wore serious looks.

  Elena greeted us then got straight into it.

  'Last night was an unfortunate incident, that shouldn’t have been possible. The creature that attacked you was one of Jenviet’s, and we thought we had things in place to stop it.'

  There was silence as we stared at each other. I knew I shouldn’t be shocked that she wanted to kill us, but we’d never even seen this woman. It felt strange to know that someone out there, truly wanted us dead.

  As we had no questions Elena continued, 'We have ordered the return of the Centaur Cavalry, and the Lieutenants, along with selected members of the General Guard, will be moving to sleeping quarters on the second floor.'

  She mustn’t have told the Lieutenants this yet as Rashid and Patel looked surprised but nodded. Iggy, however, turned a dark red.

  'What? That’s ridiculous. I can’t possibly.'

  Elena cut him off
with a sharp look, 'It is necessary, Ignatius.'

  Undaunted he went on, 'But these Elementals are supposed to be protecting the heir. It is not our responsibility to protect them. What’s wrong with them that they are so weak?'

  Yakov glared at Alek and Daron when they both shifted in their seats at Iggy’s outburst.

  Stay put, he growled at them in his mind.

  Trust Iggy to have an issue with this. The four girls stared at the Lieutenant with dark eyes, their energies smoldering around them.

  'The girls are still learning to master their gifts, Ignatius. By the end of the month they will be skilled enough to not need protection. But until then it would be ridiculous to allow them to be harmed. I don’t expect anymore complaints.' Ellie’s voice was even, though her eyes flashed with annoyance. She dismissed the room, and the girls went with the men to sword training.

  Yakov felt sorry for them this morning; they looked bewildered and exhausted after last night.

  Soon they’ll be able to relax a bit, once they have the skills they require.

  The rest of the week was hard. We fought against each other singly and in pairs, each of us determined to learn what else we could do with our gifts. Kassie was now very capable of lifting herself and anyone else into the air. It had just taken a full explanation from Elena for it to click. The trick was to realize that because air is essentially everywhere, it isn’t about the weight that you lift, rather how much air you draw around it and how you space the molecules.

  As with all new things there were a couple of practices that didn’t go as intended, though they only resulted in bruises.

  'Better a bruised butt than a broken one, Cat,' Sian grinned impishly.

  I scowled at her as I eased down to the ground.

  Elena had Kassie and Loi practice shielding, using their energy, rather than the physical manifestation. They’d picked it up quickly while Sian and I struggled to keep ours in place.