by Lauren Wood
“Who the hell are you?” One of the robbers said as another grabbed at him.
“I’m the person whose family you should never have messed with.” Kaiden said his eyes steaming.
He unleashed the lightning bolts from his fingers. But before he could save him, his father was dead; the other robbers had no chance at that point. He killed them instantly, taking great relish in their loss of life. What he hadn’t realized was that there were other people who had witnessed the event.
They had run to the town and spread the gossip quickly. Kaiden had gone into town to get help to bury his family, to mourn his loss. He had been told that he wasn’t welcomed; they didn’t know who he was.
“You know my family has magical powers, why are you turning me away?” He had asked one of the people who closed his shop doors to Kaiden.
“Aye, we know your family. But we have never heard of such demon power coming from them. They always helped us; I don’t think your parents would have killed anyone.” The man had said.
“But they killed my family? What am I supposed to do, let them go?” Kaiden had argued.
The man had shaken his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. But I don’t want to be the only one to let you in his shop.” The man had closed the door.
He had gathered what he could from his family home and made his way to this cabin. It had been one his family had visited before in the past. But as far as Kaiden knew it wasn’t something that many knew about.
Right now all he wanted was to go back to his old life though. It was hard to not think about his family and be sad. He knew he had been different from his parents though. Where they had always been so caring and nice to people, Kaiden had seen mistrust.
Now he understood where that feeling had come from in the past. Even the townspeople had thought Kaiden was different then, how long had they felt this way? He wondered as he looked out in the woods.
At least he had a nice view and it was so far away from anyone. Kaiden knew it would be best for him to stay here the rest of his life.
He saw a horse approaching from the side of the house. On the back of it was a hooded rider. It was clearly someone who was female, or perhaps a smaller boy. With the hood he couldn’t tell, but he didn’t feel a threat in the air. He had worked on his skills of being in tuned with nature since he’d been here the past few months.
Though he felt no threat he still watched the rider approach cautiously, Kaiden stayed on guard his skills ready to be used if needed. She slowed as she came closer to the cabin. He could now clearly see that the figure was a female.
He saw the long black hair as it flowed over her shoulders. She looked at him finally and he saw her green emerald eyes. He couldn’t take his eyes off of them right away. They were astonishing he found them to be amazingly startlingly too. Kaiden felt a mixture of apprehension and fear coming off of the girl’s body.
“Are you Kaiden Sahmes?” She asked him.
“Yes I am. Who are you?” Kaiden asked her.
He saw the girl take a deep breath of relief. “Lady Sylvia McCloud sent me. I am Colleen McDoon.” She told him.
Two thoughts crossed his mind at that moment. The first was why would Lady McCloud trust him this much? Did she support his truth? Could he possibly go back to town, with her support? The second was everyone knew about the McDoon’s. “Don’t be silly everyone knows that the McDoon family was slain. Why would Lady McCloud send you to me?” He asked.
Kaiden’s eyes were half way shut trying to recognizing any of the feelings of nervousness at being caught in a lie. He couldn’t quite read her completely. It was those eyes of hers; they kept attracting his attention away from what he was trying to do.
Colleen heard his questions, but the one that worried her the most was “why would Lady McCloud said you to me?” She heard it as if it was being shouted directly into her brain. Along with that question she was hearing Lady Sylvia as she said “We can never be too careful who we trust.”
There was a warning bell going off in her mind. But still she stood in front of this man. There was something else about him that seemed to pull her in, to keep her in this spot.
She looked at him once again to study him. He was tall, around 6’ 1” tall, a bit taller than her, she stood 5’ 8” tall. She looked at his hair it was a dark brown, and there were a few silver hairs coming in on the sides. He was obviously older than her 18 years.
There was an odd feeling of kindness that surrounded him too. His eyes were brown, but they looked as if there were small sparks of yellow in them. It made her look closer at his eyes once more. The harder she starred the more yellow seemed to appear in between the brown.
She shook her head again, realizing she hadn’t answered his questions yet. “I’m the middle child, the one who didn’t look like any of them. According the Lady Sylvia though, the Queen has put a bounty out on my head. She doesn’t want me to build up and opposition and throw her off the crown.” Colleen explained. She wasn’t sure why she was sharing so much. But she had to admit she had felt safe since she first saw him. Except for those few moments of fear where she wondered why he didn’t know Lady Sylvia trusted him.
He shook his head but didn’t say anything right away. Colleen didn’t trust the silence much yet. It made her mind think about what this man was like in other ways. He made her feel so many odd things in such a short amount of time, Colleen wondered if he was one of those male witches.
She had heard about them from her older brother. He had warned her since she was close to turning 18 and would soon be dating. “You know father will want you to marry well, so you’ll be meeting a lot of princes.” Her brother had told her.
Colleen realized that she was lucky that hadn’t taken place yet. If it had, the men who had killed the rest of her family would know all about Colleen. They would have found her in the caste sooner or later, unless she lucked out and got out. Even then they would have been on her trail a lot sooner, and she stood out among the people. She knew this. Sometimes it was hard to think of the good things that came out of her families deaths. But this had been one of the best things, timing. Had they waited until now and her family was still alive, everyone would have known about Colleen.
“Lady Sylvia told me you were a good man, she said she trusted you.” Colleen finally told him.
She had to admit she was quite nervous about having told him who she was; however, again there was a feeling of being safe at the same time. Colleen thought maybe she was delirious from the long ride to get here.
But here she stood in front of him as he studied her more. She took the time to look at him more. Wondering how old he must be? What was his story? Why had Lady Sylvia picked this man to help her out? “How do you know Lady Sylvia?” She finally asked.
Colleen watched his face for a reaction. “Well it seems like she might be one of the only people who trust me in the area. Maybe she is more of an ally then I’ve realized in the past?” He said.
The answer didn’t really give her anything, she looked at him. She waited for him to continue, again looking at his eyes and seeing the yellow flecks in them. As she looked at him she suddenly realized what her mother had meant by eyes that entice you. His eyes were something that kept her wanting more.
“She was a friend of our families.” He finally said.
“But I don’t know of you? Why not, surely if you’ve lived in the same area as me for so long I would know you.” Colleen asked. She studied his face to try and place him. But then she realized she didn’t really go out much. Her family had been afraid of being attacked for the past several years. The last time Colleen had been out from behind the castle walls was well over 10 years ago.
“I don’t know why but I’ve never seen you either? So with that being said, who is lying and who is telling the truth?” He questioned her as well. She saw his eyes narrow once more as if seemed to scan over her.
“I know why, my family has kept us inside for many years now.
My sisters and I especially because they knew someone was after the family. However, when it came to me, they used to make sure very few people knew of my true nature. I guess they were told by a witch that one day they would give birth to me, and I would be a special key for something. I’m not sure what it could be or what it really is, if it is even real. For so many years I’ve not believed in magic or anything like it.” Colleen said.
She watched as he created fire with his fingertips, he simply flicked one up and there was a flame coming from the end of it. “What the hell?” She jumped back from him.
“This is magic.” He stated.
“What all can you do?” Colleen asked. She was curious more than scared. Again she had no reason to fear this man. Lady Sylvia had trusted him and honestly he didn’t seem like a bad sort. Colleen realized she thought he was good looking.
She smiled at his face, realizing that he was handsome as well. The brown eyes with yellow flecks did something special for him. Colleen felt herself drawn to him as by a rope. She wondered if this was him making her behave this way.
“I can do some other things. But I would rather not talk about my magic right now.” Kaiden stated.
“Okay I’m sorry if I asked too many questions. I’ve just never seen it. I always thought it was crazy people saying things. But the maids would tell stories about magic. Nothing like that fire from your finger though. I remember one story where someone conjured some sort of animal though, can you do that?” She asked.
He looked at her again. Colleen held her hands up as to say sorry, and sat down on the chair beside him.
In his mind Kaiden was wondering if she had heard stories of his magical event. Maybe and he didn’t want to talk about that. Instead he would rather look at her eyes and her face. She was a beautiful woman.
For him she was the best looking of the McDoon’s he had remembered seeing in the past. He thought about her story of how her family had kept them inside. He realized that it had been years since he’d seen one of the females of this family.
Kaiden knew a couple of the boys though. The whole family was dead? He still remembered the day he had heard of that tragedy. It had been a few months before his own heartbreak night had occurred. I know how she feels right now, he thought.
“Come inside, I’ll get the bath water so you can clean up. I’m sure you are tired after your trip.” Kaiden stood up and said. “If you’re hungry I’ll heat you up a little stew. I’m sorry it is all I have right now.” Kaiden said.
“I’m a little hungry.” Colleen admitted.
“Let me warm the water up for your bath first though.” Kaiden stated.
She sat by the table and offered to help. “I can help with something.”
“No its fine you did have a long trip. Do you realize how far this is actually from the city?” He asked.
“No I just know it seems like I’ve been riding for all most the whole day.” Colleen admitted.
“Yes you have. Now come on get in the bath I’ll bring your food to you in a few.” Kaiden said and left her in the room.
Colleen slowly undressed, and tried to figure out how to cover her body up for when he brought the food into her. She finally grabbed her under garment and draped it over the edges of the pool covering most of her body successfully.
Kaiden brought in the meal in a few minutes after she had gotten in the bath. He knew she was beautiful, had already seen that. But when he saw her body near naked, since she had covered the most precious parts of her skin already, he stopped cold. He didn’t feel lust for her, well he did, but it was more than just an animal need to possess her. Kaiden felt like he was put on this world to protect her from everything. He had to wonder if it was because he had lost his sister, but really Colleen wasn’t anything like his sister.
No he might have to think about this more. He placed the food down and walked out of the room without a word. He had meant to talk to her more, learn even more about her as a person. But more so about the situation she was facing and how dangerous it might be for them.
Kaiden had a lot of things that he should make Colleen aware of as well. However, he found her bare skin far too distracting and knew that he might take her. Not that she would agree to this, he wasn’t sure.
However, they had much more important things to discuss before he could focus on his feelings for her and her body. Going into the other room he tried to clear his mind, but all he could picture was her naked body. It was too much of a distraction to him. Kaiden wanted nothing more than to go back into the other room and sit by her, just to watch her wash herself.
Instead he stayed out in the other room and decided to build a fire. It would be a lot cooler out soon, and with her just bathing, she was sure to have wet hair. “It is only nice to build a fire.” He commented to himself.
Seeing that more wood needed to be chopped he gladly went outside to take out some of his sexual frustrations on the wood. It helped him out a lot, but the time Kaiden was back inside, not only did they have enough wood for several days. But he also had little energy left to think of anything more physical than raising a glass to his lips.
As he watched her come from out of the bathroom, her wet hair hanging down her back, that all changed. His body found out that it had more than enough energy to begin to consider those more nefarious actions he had so nicely blocked out before.
He had seen beautiful women in his 28 years before, but she had a different effect on him. His body and mind both reacted when they thought of her. It wasn’t just his body. That would make this far too simple if that had been the case.
But Kaiden could tell that his mind was more than intrigued about this young female. Colleen’s eyes might have held a lot of that interest; those stunning green eyes seemed to stand out more than normal. He found it attractive and like it lured him in a bit.
He sat and thought about her a bit more. She was eating and he didn’t want to interrupt her. By the look of how quickly she was eating, she hadn’t had much food in the past day.
“I know you don’t believe me yet, who I am. I get it; I do look so different from my family. But that doesn’t mean I’m not who I say I am.” Colleen stated in between bites of food.
“No it isn’t that I don’t believe you. I just don’t know how they managed to keep you such a secret for 18 years of life. Were either of your parents dabblers in the craft of magic?” He asked her.
“I don’t think so. But I told you already that I didn’t believe in it. I had never seen it before. So how could they do magic and me not have seen it?” Colleen questioned him.
“There are spells that make people forget things they’ve seen. In fact there are even spells that will make you forget people.” He thought silently for a minute. A spell that size to make a kingdom forget a princess? That would mean someone who was more powerful than even he could imagine.
“I don’t know honestly. I mean I guess it is possible. But why would they do that?” Colleen asked.
“Well you said that they knew for years the enemies were getting closer right? If they knew this, why not send out a spell, something that will make people forget they’ve seen the McDoon girls? How many of there were you?” Kaiden contemplated the implications he was making.
“There were two other girls and three boys in total.” She said, remembering her siblings with sadness filling her heart.
“I’m sorry I know it hurts still to think about them. I don’t know how long that will last honestly. You might have to deal with it for years.” Kaiden stated.
“No I understand why you are asking. Is there anything you can do to help me remember?” Colleen looked up at him with hope in her eyes.
“You’ll have to go through it all, not just the good times.” Kaiden stated as if he could read her mind.
“How did you know? Wait is that part of your power too?” She asked him.
“Yes I don’t mean to pry and I try not to do it. But seeing people’s thoughts and feelings just seems to
come naturally to me.” He admitted.
He saw her turn red and knew exactly what she was remembering. It had been a thought she had when he was in the room earlier. Though he had tried to hurry, he had stopped long enough to look at her. He realized he had been staring, but he had heard her enjoying his gaze.
“I would love for him to do more than just look!” Had been the exact thought he had heard from her.
It had been all he could take; he had run out quickly and went to cut wood. He had needed the physical exertion at that moment. More than ever though he had wanted to remove his clothes and touch her all over.
Kaiden was much older than her though, and he didn’t want to leave her with an older man to take care of. Why was he thinking long term with her? He didn’t know but it just seemed logical. As he thought again, it is more than just physical with her.
As she heard that he could read minds she flushed bright red. Now it all makes sense, she thought remembering the washroom scene. There was something about him that had made her want to touch him.
He threw off an animal magnetism that she seemed to be honed in on, and she couldn’t shake the feeling. Colleen wanted to have him touch her so badly. She wanted to learn what it was like to be a woman, and wanted Kaiden to show her exactly what to do.
She looked up at him again. Colleen could tell by the look on his face that he hadn’t missed a single thought she had in the past few seconds.
“What is it?” She asked him.
Kaiden closed the space between them and swept her up into his arms. He kissed her as he carried her to his bedroom. “You’ll have to say it out loud before I do anything though.” He finally said to her.
“Please just show me.” Colleen sighed.
They kissed deeply. Kaiden guided her tongue around with his and soon she had the idea of how to kiss him the same way. Colleen sighed as he put her on the floor.
“One last time, I’ll ask you. Because after you have your clothes off I won’t be able to stop.” Kaiden stated his eyes almost full of yellow more than it was of brown.