The Orphan's Secret

by R. J. Francis

  “Keep practicing,” said Alessa. “You’ll get it.”

  Elaina took a deep breath and considered how casually Alessa was treating the bizarre occurrence. “And I suppose you can do it too…” Elaina said.

  Alessa nodded, giggling.

  “Let me see.”

  “Sit down,” Alessa commanded. Elaina obeyed, planting her bottom on the slick underwater ledge.

  Alessa set her persimmon down on the bank and focused on the center of the pool. Elaina waited and watched. After a few seconds, the water in the middle of the pool began to rotate. Elaina kept shifting her attention to Alessa, almost as fascinated by her companion’s stern expression as with what was going on with the water.

  “Watch the pool, not me,” Alessa said. A disc-shaped patch of the water’s surface was spinning, and a bulbous knob of water was forming in its center. The knob morphed into a column—the thickness of a finger—which climbed from the pool’s surface into the air.

  “Whaaaat…?” Elaina said, amazed.

  The water in the pool was milky with minerals, but the appendage that now grew steadily higher off the pool was perfectly clear. It seemed the cloudy minerals were falling out as only the purest water ascended. Alessa’s gaze was fixed on the pillar, which detached from the pool’s surface and gathered into a rotating sphere two meters up.

  “Don’t be afraid, now,” Alessa said. “Watch.” The sphere contracted slightly, and then it exploded into a million glimmering droplets, which, a split-second later, stopped suddenly in mid-air, suspended in a huge sparkling orb: a miniature galaxy three meters in diameter, which slowly descended until it was hovering just above the pool.

  “Now collect them,” said Alessa, without breaking her gaze.

  “What?” Elaina was mesmerized by the display. Then she understood what Alessa was asking her to do. She thrust her hand into the glistening beads, turned her palm upward, and watched the nearest droplets gravitate toward her open palm.

  “I’ll help you,” Alessa said. The droplets accelerated, merging into an expanding, spinning ball of water that hovered above Elaina’s palm. Elaina gaped in amazement. “That’s all you,” Alessa said.

  “What?” Elaina asked again. The ball continued to spin at a steady clip.

  “I’m not helping you anymore,” said Alessa. “You’re doing that yourself.”

  “No,” said Elaina, “I can’t… I can’t…” She started to panic. “I can’t hold it!” The sphere fell, broke over her wrist, and splashed into the pool.

  Alessa retrieved her persimmon from the bank and dusted it off. “That’s all right, dear,” she said. “It’s only water.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Jaimin arrived at the overlook first that night. Elaina, distracted by thoughts and questions about her newly-discovered talent, had not made good time. Alessa had refused to explain how a pool of water could respond to the designs of a girl’s imagination. “Tomorrow I’ll explain everything, dear,” she’d said. “Tonight is about you and Jem.” And Elaina was content to wait.

  Jaimin smelled winter in the breeze off the ocean. He sat on the cliff edge, hugging his legs. He knew after a few minutes of stillness that his sweater and pants—both grey in honor of Victor—and his rabbit-lined black leather cloak, weren’t going to keep him warm enough.

  Assuming that Elaina relied on the moon and sun to tell time, Jaimin thought perhaps his date was late because ridge clouds had obscured the moon. She wasn’t that late, and soon he heard Nightmare trotting down the cutoff from the western road. He stood.

  Elaina had on a thick white sweater, and over it, her good cloak—the black one lined with ermine. Her pants were the same style as those she had worn the night before, with the colors reversed: grey on black. “Good evening,” she said.

  “Good evening.” He reached to help her dismount. She made sure she landed facing him, well within his personal space, when she hopped down. “How was your day?” she asked him.

  “I attended a funeral.”

  “I’m so sorry. Was it someone you knew well?”

  “Yes. My father’s cousin, actually. Remember the arrows you saw in my horse the other night?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, my hunting party was attacked. Victor was killed.”

  “Outsiders,” she muttered, eyeing the forest behind him. “What were they doing here?”

  Jaimin concealed his surprise. How did she know outsiders had been responsible? “I don’t know,” he said. “Don’t worry. They’re long gone.”

  “Had I known about your loss, I… I’ll understand if you want to go back home.”

  “No. This is where I want to be tonight. With you.”

  Elaina smiled. “Shall we ride down to the beach?”

  “Can your horse carry both of us?”

  “I don’t imagine you’re any heavier than Alessa. She and I ride double all the time.”

  Jaimin mounted Nightmare, and then helped Elaina get situated in the saddle behind him. She was much lighter than he’d expected. He took the reins and spoke to Nightmare, scratching the horse gently on the withers. Elaina wasn’t sure where to hold on to her date, so she put her arms around his waist and hooked her thumbs under his belt. Both of them enjoyed the closeness, even though they had a mass of clothing between them. She rested her cheek on his back and closed her eyes.

  The trail led them down a steep path, and then out of the trees onto a black sand beach. The moon had slipped out from behind a cloud and it lit up the breaking waves. A light snow was falling.

  They dismounted, and walked hand in hand along the shore. Soon they found a rocky cove, sheltered from the wind. The tide had gone out, leaving several still tide pools near the base of a smooth boulder. Jaimin sat down on the damp, hard-packed sand, with his back against the boulder, and gestured for Elaina to sit in front of him.

  She removed her cloak. “I’ll put this over me in front, like a blanket.” Elaina scolded herself for not remembering to bring an actual blanket. She sat down in Jaimin’s lap and draped the cloak over her chest and legs. As she was somewhat taller than he was, she slid down so she didn’t block his view of the sea.

  “Won’t your head be cold?” he whispered, stretching the top of his hood out to shelter her from the snow. His mouth was just behind her right ear. He crossed his arms over her abdomen and rested them on her fuzzy sweater.

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “My blood is uncommonly warm. I even swim in cold pools this time of year.”

  “Then let’s meet like this every night. Whatever the weather.”

  “I’d like that.” She reached back and slid her fingers into his hair. Her gaze was on the tide pools, and she was sure she was causing slight ripples to form in the nearest pool. Jaimin didn’t notice.

  “Elaina, there’s something you need to know about me,” he said, “and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”

  She and the tide pool were at once still.

  Is it something awful? she wondered. Was he dying? Was he married? Was he a fugitive? What could it possibly be? Had her feelings gotten her into trouble yet again? Not only did her faith in Jem hinge on what he was about to reveal, but also her faith in Alessa, and, most importantly, her faith in her own inner voice. “Go on,” she said.

  “My friends call me Jem,” he said, “but my given name is Jaimin. I’m the son of King Julian.”

  He’s a prince?

  That’s it?

  Elaina’s face lit up in a smile, which Jaimin couldn’t see because she was facing away.

  She let the truth sink in. What now? As her heart rate slowed to normal, she pondered how a romance with a prince might change her life. It might be complicated, but wouldn’t the rewards be sweet? Even if the rewards were as simple as what she was experiencing at that moment—resting in the arms of a handsome young man, watching the moon coruscate on the waves and pristine snow gather on a black sand beach, she’d be happy.

  Jaimin waited patient
ly for a response. “I’d prefer to call you Jem if I may,” she said. “But I promise not to call you that in front of your father.”

  “He wouldn’t mind.” Now Jaimin’s anxiety dissipated. His secret was finally out, and Elaina’s reaction could not have been more promising.

  She turned and knelt facing him. “I’m glad you waited to tell me,” she said. “Had I known earlier, I might have acted differently.”

  “You still hardly know me, Elaina. I’ve told you so little.”

  “I know what my heart tells me about you.” She leaned in slowly until her lips met his. Time meant nothing to them as they embraced the sensation. It was Elaina’s first kiss.

  Elaina drew back slowly and opened her eyes. Her eyes were alive with fire, excitement and desire.

  Jaimin reached around her, pulling her close, guiding her lips back to his. And she connected deeply. Oddly, she was sure she could feel his pleasure, not just her own. Getting a feel for which of her motions aroused Jaimin the most, she focused her efforts on these, and she shared his ecstasy.

  She slid her arm around his back and turned so he was cradling her. The fragrance of their kisses lingered in the air around their faces.

  “I don’t know how I found you,” he said. “You are truly a mystery.”

  “Oh no,” she said, giggling.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “That’s what… Devon called me.”

  Jaimin sighed. “I am so sorry for his behavior. If I were king, that man wouldn’t even be allowed freedom.”

  “You know what he did to me?”

  “I heard about it.”

  “He’s awful! I’ve never been in such pain.”

  “I was furious when I found out he’d confronted you. I scolded my father over it.”

  “You scolded the king?”

  “He’s my father.”

  “Wow.”

  “Elaina, if you’re a mystery to Devon, that’s impressive.”

  “I’m a mystery even to myself. Now, enough about them.” She reached for his face and gently guided it down onto hers for another kiss. He felt as light as air when her lips were on his—it was a perfect kiss, one that enveloped his soul and cleared his mind of all thoughts and worries.

  The snowflakes fell fatter, and the clouds again swallowed up the moon. Nightmare wandered up the path and chewed on some weeds in the forest. Jaimin situated Elaina’s cloak so it was again covering her. “I don’t want you to freeze,” he said. “We can’t stay out here much longer.”

  “Just a few more hours, then,” she suggested.

  Jaimin didn’t object.

  They discussed very little in the hour that followed, and only regained their sense of time when Elaina began to shiver. Her high tolerance for cold did have a limit. She continued to shake even after she put on her cloak at Jaimin’s insistence. Although the snow had tapered off to flurries, a thick layer of the white stuff now blanketed the sand, the rocks, and their clothes.

  “We have to go,” Jaimin said.

  Elaina nodded. They stood up and stumbled up the beach, hand in hand. Nightmare carried them back up to the overlook, where they dismounted to say good night. Jaimin wanted to escort her home, but he couldn’t risk being seen on the streets.

  “Why don’t I give you a ride part of the way?” asked Elaina. She was flirting with hypothermia, but she didn’t want her magical evening to end.

  “No, you need to get right home. Are you warm enough to make it?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Tomorrow there’s no school,” said the prince, “but I can’t leave the castle during the day.”

  “Not even during the day?”

  “I’m not allowed. But I can slip out in the evening, and I’ll be here at the same time tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure it’s safe for you to be out here? Maybe your father’s right.”

  “Don’t worry. Nobody’s going to suspect a prince would be cutting through the woods alone after dark.”

  “All right. I’ll be sure to bring a blanket.”

  They shared one last kiss and a long hug, which gave Elaina extra warmth for the ride home. “Good night, Elaina,” said the prince.

  “Good night.”

  While the farm girl and her new love embraced on the snowy clearing, in the shadows of the forest edge two hooded, black-clad riders were tiring of their vigil. “We can’t let them keep this up,” said one of them.

  “I agree with you,” said the other, “but I won’t betray her.”

  “Then allow me to handle it,” said the first. “He’ll try to slip away again tomorrow, and I’ll confront him.”

  “You do what you must,” said Alessa.

  “I will,” replied Saunder, turning his horse back toward the castle.

  Alessa had to hurry home, because she knew Elaina would soon be pounding on her door with some amazing news.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The next day was Seventh-day, the day Nastasha usually took a break from her studies to go on adventures with Jaimin. On their excursions, she and the prince had explored every corner of the kingdom. They had spelunked through every safe cave, scaled the peaks, searched for gems in the riverbeds and in the beach sand, and scoured the shops in the city for odd treasures.

  Despite all that had transpired since the previous Seventh-day, they still met as scheduled. Since Jaimin couldn’t leave the castle, they decided to take a walk on the castle wall.

  Jaimin knew he was driving the archers insane by being out in the open—but he wasn’t technically violating any of his restrictions. Each time he and Nastasha rounded one of the castle’s corners, the archers scrambled to take up new positions, in keeping with their orders.

  The afternoon’s blazing sun had melted most of the snow. Out over the ocean, a vast flock of cumulus clouds grazed on rising currents of warm air. Jaimin still wore grey. Nastasha had on a light blue dress under a solid white fur-lined robe.

  “I found a short research paper on the suggestion power your father has unwisely allowed some of his subjects to employ,” she said. “It seems it is inherited, as we thought. It’s mostly the males in that family line that develop it.”

  “Do they have it from birth?” Jaimin asked.

  “No. Can you imagine if young children had the ability?” Nastasha twisted her hands into grotesque shapes and put on a villainous face. “Give me all the cookies,” she hissed. Jaimin rolled his eyes. “No,” she said seriously, “the ability surfaces in late adolescence. It’s roused from latency by hormonal activity.”

  “Have there always been Arrans with that ability?”

  “I don’t know. There’s not much written on the topic, and what is written is quite vague. Not typical of a research paper.”

  “I hope someone is keeping an eye on Raquel,” said Jaimin.

  “It’s strange you should put it that way, Jaimin. These people—apparently, if you can see their eyes, or if they touch you, you’re theirs. I do hope someone is monitoring Raquel, but, like I said, it’s the males who usually inherit the power.” They rounded a corner, triggering a major redeployment of security snipers.

  “Another thing I learned,” she continued, “is that the attack itself doesn’t destroy thoughts and memories. The assailant injects a sort of psychic fog into the victim’s mind to obscure memories and re-route thoughts. The fog just lurks in the mind like an insidious poison, selectively diverting neural transmissions. But because the brain will naturally adapt itself to new thought patterns, in the long term the effects do become permanent.”

  “How did Elaina resist?”

  “I don’t know,” said Nastasha. “There was nothing on immunity in the study I read. There were some references to works we have in the Royal Archives. Perhaps the answer’s in there.”

  “Can you get into the archives using the secret passages?”

  “There is no back way into the archives. Only the front door. I shall get in, though. And I did fi
nd out a few things out about Elaina. I’m not sure how useful they will be.”

  “What did you find?”

  “That she sells the best cheese in the central market. Her farm has won awards. She’s described as friendly, and the boys adore her, but she won’t let them near her emotionally. Whenever the conversation turns personal, she shuts off.”

  “She’s let me past her defenses.”

  “Did you tell her you’re the prince?”

  “Yes, and she didn’t even seem surprised.”

  “Sounds promising,” said Nastasha. “But I shall have to find out more. I shall research the male menders who died when she was small. One of them has to be her father. I need to know where she fits in.”

  “She is who she is,” he said. “She’s wonderful, and I don’t care where she fits in.”

  “You’re wrong not to care. If anything comes of this, the kingdom will care. And you’ll have to tell your parents. You can’t keep sneaking out every night.”

  “I’ll do what I have to do to be with her. Something will work out.”

  Nastasha shook her head. The way he spoke of Elaina tore her up, but she buried her feelings. She would need to be patient.

  Nastasha went downstairs to freshen up for dinner. On Seventh-day evenings extravagant feasts were set up in the dining halls and dancing went on well past midnight. This week, however, due to the somber circumstances, dinner would be ordinary and there would be no dancing.

  She unlocked the door, took off her shoes and robe, and carried them into her bedroom, when whack! something soft, heavy and red knocked her off balance and rode her down to the rug.

  Raquel straddled Nastasha, pinning her wrists to the floor.

  The beastly intruder’s hair drooped like a tent over Nastasha’s face, and her scarlet satin gown fell loosely over her prey’s legs.

  “Your mother was gracious enough to invite me in,” sneered Raquel’s wicked red mask, “and I’ve sent her on her way.” In the shade of her hair, Raquel’s real face looked to be in a trance; her eyeballs were swiveled upward with only their white parts showing.