Callie's Guardian: White Tigers of Brigantia (Book 1)

by Lisa Daniels

  Each of the shots appeared to be aimed at the woman, but Caden pushed her behind him. Callie began to scream but stopped as soon as she realized the woman was screaming. The woman cursed at the men as she tried to hold Caden up. The man who had spoken laughed as he spurred his horse forward. He pulled out a length of rope and threw it around the woman’s neck. Pulling at her, the woman dropped Caden and stumbled to the ground. The man threw another rope around her as she staggered to her feet. Unable to move her arms, she screamed as she was pulled up and onto the man’s horse.

  Before leaving, he turned to look at Caden, who was crumpled up on the ground. He worked a gag around the woman’s mouth as he said, “Looks like you were right. We aren’t willing to sacrifice ourselves. Whenever there is a guardian nearby, there is never any need to worry about it. You are all so willing to throw your lives away, there is no need for any of us to die. Now everybody wins, except this abomination. We will get recognized for succeeding, our master will get the energy source he needs. And you win because you get to die for her.” His laugh was cruel as he trotted away.

  Callie tried to run to Caden as he bled on the ground, but for every step forward, she seemed to be pulled back twice as far.

  ***

  Callie felt her brow crease, but couldn’t remember what was bothering her as she woke. Something bad had happened, but at the moment everything seemed fine. Unsure how much time had passed since she had fallen asleep, Callie tried to open her eyes. Her body tingled and her mind didn’t seem to recall the previous day. After a few seconds of fighting with her eyelids, she gave up.

  Something moved beside her and a gentle voice spoke into her ear, “Sleep.”

  Callie couldn’t remember the voice, but it felt familiar. She smiled and rolled toward the person who had spoken

  “I thought you were going to tell me to get up and work. Are you that proud of how well I did while you guys were gone?” She was smiling as she imagined one of her fathers leaning over the bed, giving her a little extra sleep while her other father was out making a house call. Something definitely seemed wrong, but it was the only explanation that she could find for someone else being close to her.

  She realized that it wasn’t her father a second later, but the realization did not cause her any discomfort. There was something warm and firm next to her, and she buried her face in it as she pulled her knees up. Her body still felt cold, but she couldn’t remember why. Despite how tired she was and the strange coldness that seemed to come from inside of her, Callie felt comfortable and safe. This time she drifted off feeling like everything was fine, and she wanted nothing more than to stay right there forever. Whatever was wrong didn’t matter. Finally, she knew where she belonged. She couldn’t remember what had changed, but now Callie was certain that she was moving toward a future that had been hidden for too long. If only she could remember what that direction was. Letting out a little sigh, she moved against the warmth, and then she was enveloped in it. The feel of lips on her forehead was the last thing Callie noticed as she drifted back to sleep.

  Chapter 6

  Change of Plans

  Callie woke and immediately tried to remember why she felt so drained. The memories of her dream were strange and she couldn’t figure out if it was an omen of a bad day or something else. Feeling a little confused, Callie noticed a warmth that was unfamiliar. It was almost like her blanket had its own heat. Snuggling closer to it, Callie moaned and tried to pull the blanket around her. As she reached out, Callie’s hand hit something solid that clearly was not a blanket. She frowned, but kept her eyes closed because she was not ready to face the day. Her palm rested flat against something that felt like smooth skin. Moving her hand along the skin, something in Callie’s mind twitched like an uncomfortable muscle. Trying to focus on the thought, the young woman frowned.

  A low, soft voice murmured near her ear as a hand wrapped around hers, “It is healed enough.”

  An image of Caden standing in her shop looking far too handsome to be real popped into her head.

  Suddenly Callie’s eye flew open. Her hand was a couple of inches from Caden’s shoulder and what appeared to be a fresh scar. His hand was holding hers, and his yellow eyes were shining as they looked at her. Callie was torn between being mortified by the situation and ecstatic that he was fine as the events of the previous day flashed through her head. Taking her cue from Caden, she tried to ignore the fact that they were sleeping near each other in a bed.

  “You’re alright?” Her voice wavered as she looked at his wound.

  He released her hand and smiled at her. “Thanks to you, there will be no lasting effects, although I will likely limp a little for a couple of days.”

  “Limp? But it’s…” her voice trailed off as she realized what Caden meant. “Oh, when you are a tiger. Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to ride you again. Not if it means you end up getting hurt. Not now that I know you won’t tell me you are hurt.” She felt her cheeks flush a little, and Callie tried to sit up. Feeling lightheaded, she fell back on the bed, her hand moving up to her forehead.

  A warm hand covered hers and pulled it away from her forehead. “Knowing that you will risk yourself to save me, I can’t let myself get hurt to that extent again.” Another warm hand felt her forehead, and Callie repressed the urge to moan at the feeling. She tensed up a little, and the action caused a dull pain in the back of her head. Caden seemed aware of the reason why she was suddenly tense. He pulled his hand away and rested it under his face. “Relax. Your body needs to recover. What you did last night was not something you should have been doing with no training. Even after your training, you should never be using that kind of magic on me. Certainly you read the story of the mystic and her guardian in the book. You aren’t supposed to be trying to protect me. A new guardian will be by your side in a matter of days if something happens to me.”

  Callie frowned through the fuzzy feeling in her head. Trying to focus her eyes on Caden, she said, “I always hated that story. She used her guardian like he was disposable, but he cared about her. I only read it once because it upset me so much, and I always said that if anyone was ever that dedicated to me—wait!” Something clicked in her head. Staring into his yellow eyes, she asked, “You are my guardian?”

  His smile was warm and inviting. “Of course. Why else—” He turned his head to the side as if to hide something. When he looked back at her, there was something like amusement in his normally serious eyes. “Would you be so careful with a log that you plan to burn for fire? Or a root that you need for a potion? Or a piece of cloth that needs to be torn so you can bind a wound? I am a tool, a means to learning and growing. You should not get bogged down by trying to protect me because that will expose you to the kinds of dangers I am trying to prevent.”

  Callie sat up quickly, her expression one of anger for a fraction of a second until her head started to pound. Squeezing her eyes closed, she fell back on the bed. Gritting her teeth, she said, “I don’t think I want to go wherever you plan to take me if this is the way they think. I have never heard something so revolting in my life. I don’t care how you see yourself, you are not a tool to me. And if you are going to treat yourself like one—”

  A hand took hers and pulled her hand off of her eyes. Callie looked up and her heart skipped a beat as Caden’s face was just inches from her own. He did not seem at all bothered by how close they were.

  Or maybe it doesn’t even register with him, the unbidden thought caused her to flush a little. It was about the only thing she could think about as he spoke.

  “I already told you that I won’t allow myself to get injured so seriously because I now know that you will completely disregard your own needs to save me. It would be the ultimate failure for a guardian to be saved at the expense of his mystic. And I couldn’t live knowing that my life had cost yours.”

  Callie blinked up at him, her mind trying to work through what he had said. His bare skin was so close and she felt far too comfortab
le being so close. “What do you mean? All I did was make sure my decisions and obliviousness didn’t end up getting you killed. After everything you did for me, how could I do any less? I have not grown up believing that anyone is disposable, and I have loathed that I lived in a country that did. If you have really been watching me this entire time, you know that I could never treat anyone that way.” The last sentence was almost muttered as she tried to find something else to look at.

  “You illustrated that last night. I had hoped to save you from seeing my injuries or death, but I was in worse shape than I had anticipated. I apologize for putting you through that.”

  Callie had no immediate response to his apology. “Wait, you were hurt because of me, almost to the point of dying, and you are apologizing to me? That makes no sense.”

  He smiled and looked away. When Caden looked back at her, his expression was serious. “You have my word that I will be more careful of myself. Now, if you will excuse me. It appears that you are getting some color back, so you will recover from over-extending your abilities. You had me very worried for a few hours last night when your breathing almost stopped and your body was far too cold.” His eyes looked down on her as if he were reliving some sort of anguish. He cleared his throat, “I will need to get us ready to leave as soon as you feel you are ready.”

  With that he slipped out of bed. Callie’s eyes followed him as he picked up his coat and put it on. Both wounds were still visible, but they looked about a week old instead of less than a day old.

  One day. This time yesterday I didn’t even know he existed, and now… Callie rubbed her eyes after realizing that she was ogling the man. Not that he would take it that way.

  As much as she wanted to get up and help, Callie knew that she didn’t have enough energy to do more than be in the way. Trying to get a better understanding of their position, she struck up a new conversation. “I thought that we had a couple of days before we needed to leave.”

  There was a moment of silence. Peeking out between her fingers, she saw Caden cleaning up the mess she had made the previous night. “With the amount of magic you used yesterday, they will already know exactly where we are, and you can be certain they are sending men this way. We only have a few hours to get out of range of their detection, although even that is going to be tricky.”

  “Why?”

  Caden turned to look at her, a hand touching one of the places where he had been injured. “There is residual magic that they will be able to track. If we don’t get to the next town within the next four hours, things are going to get complicated.”

  “But the next town of any size is in the wrong direction.” Callie may not have travelled much, but in her free time she had pored over maps and charts. Her fathers had encouraged that over the fairytales. “Wait.” She frowned. “If we’re going to Solona, we are already heading in the wrong direction. We need to be going southwest.”

  Caden smiled as he re-entered the room. Wiping his hands on a small cloth, he responded, “Yes.”

  Callie waited for a reason. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to offer further information without prompting, she asked, “Why?”

  “They know we need to get to Solona. They would not have expected us to go this way because it is the wrong direction. That is the only reason why I was able to tend to you here instead of leaving immediately. Now that they know which direction we are going, we need to change our plans. And yes, that does mean we are not going to the closest town, just the next one. Fortunately, I know of a couple of small villages where we can stop for food so that we can get on the road sooner. I do have something for you to eat.” Caden picked up something from the table near the door and carried it over to her.

  Callie looked at the large biscuit filled with egg and cheese.

  Caden gave her an apologetic half grin. “I apologize that it isn’t much and that it is cold, but we need to get going.”

  Callie picked it up. “It’s amazing. When did you have time to make food?”

  Caden pursed his lips. “While you were sleeping. There is a small cooking area down the hall. Right before you woke, I made it so that you would have something to eat until we get to the first village.”

  Callie took a bite, then realized there were tomatoes and spices mixed in. Her eyes widened. “Where did you get all of this?”

  “I’m sorry if it is a little strong. The spices were rushed a bit and—”

  Callie shook her head, “This is the best breakfast sandwich I have ever had. I have no idea how you did it. Is that part of the training that guardians undergo?”

  Caden’s cheeks looked a little flushed. “No, that is just what I have learned over the years. If you are ready, I have some clothes and can help you dress if you need it.” Apart from the slight blush from her compliment, Caden didn’t seem to notice what he was suggesting. He leaned over and picked her up.

  There were so many things to say, but the first words out of Callie’s mouth were, “I don’t have a change of clothes and I don’t want to wear yours.” Callie wondered why he would offer her clothing if he hadn’t bothered to change. His coat had holes in it, not that you could tell by looking.

  Caden’s eyes flicked toward hers as he carried her to the bathroom. “I retrieved clothes for you.”

  He placed her gently on a little stool. On a nearby shelf was a beautiful dress completely unlike anything she had ever seen in her little village. There was something strangely familiar about it, but Callie couldn’t imagine what. This was the kind of dress a noblewoman would wear, not the apothecary of a small village. The fabric was shiny and there were frills on the dress. It was impractical for an apothecary.

  When he reached for her, Callie realized what he intended to do. Talking louder than she intended, she placed her arms over her chest and exclaimed, “It’s alright! I can change myself.”

  His eyes bore into hers. “Are you sure you have enough energy? I promise not to take long.”

  Callie wasn’t sure how he could miss the problem with his offer. “It’s fine. I feel well and think I can probably dress myself faster.”

  Caden looked at her and nodded, “I will take that and warm it up while you change. If you have any trouble, just say my name and I will hear you.”

  “Alright, Caden,” Callie smiled shyly at him as she handed him the partially eaten sandwich. He took it and nodded at her before turning and leaving the room. Callie noticed that he did not shut the bathroom door when he left, but the door to their room closed a few seconds later and she knew he had returned to the kitchen. Wondering how he could possibly hear her through the door, Callie rushed to get her dress off. Certain her legs wouldn’t carry her to the door to close it, she wanted to make sure to be fully dressed before he returned.

  Removing the dress was easy enough, but as soon as she picked up the dress from the shelf Callie realized why she might need help. Trying to wiggle into the bottom, Callie found that she got lost on the way through. Trying to look for the light that would certainly be the neck hole, she struggled as the material seemed to be tangling around her arms.

  The sound of a muffled laugh caused her to stop. Suddenly, she felt the dress slide over her body. Then she was lifted off the stool. “Come on. I will take you outside.” He paused by the door to pick up her breakfast and handed it to her. Callie wondered how he was able to carry her with only one arm, and that led to thoughts that caused her to blush again.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled into her breakfast.

  “I am at your disposal. All you ever need to do is ask.”

  Callie chewed her food a bit before answering, “I suppose that isn’t the way it usually works, though, right? Most mystics order their guardians around.”

  “That tends to be the way it works. But for you, I can make an exception.” The small smile on his face was one of the most stunning sights she had ever seen.

  Allowing herself to relax, Callie let her head rest against his chest as she ate. Careful not to ge
t food on his splendid coat, she asked, “What did you eat?”

  “Nothing yet.”

  Callie picked her head up. “What? You need to eat, too.”

  “I am fine, I promise you. You are the one who has failed to eat for nearly 24 hours.”

  The reminder caused her stomach to growl, and she nibbled on her sandwich.

  This time, she didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings as Caden carried her through the hallway and down the stairs. When they reached the lobby, he moved his face close to hers. “I apologize,” his voice was barely above a whisper. “I wouldn’t invade your personal space, but we need to keep our faces hidden. Given how we arrived and how we are leaving, they will assume we are meeting in secret and making the most of it. With that dress, they will assume you are a noblewoman from the capital, which will make it difficult to answer questions from your pursuers no matter how much they are paid. They will end up having to use their powers to sense the residual magic, which will take both time and upset the establishment. They won’t get far before getting kicked out, so it will take them longer to be able to pursue us.”

  Callie said nothing, finding that she couldn't move her muscles because her heart was beating far too quickly with Caden at her ear.

  “I apologize. I know how you prefer your personal space. Don’t take it the wrong way, I am not going to do anything to you, so you can relax.”

  Callie looked at him as he seemed to be suddenly a bit less articulate than normal. He must be able to feel my increased heartbeat. It was a sobering thought and she tried to brush it away. Keeping her voice low, she said, “Don’t worry. I don’t mind, it was just a bit startling, that is all. There is no need to apologize.” She tried to will her heart into beating normally.

  “Thank you,” his smile was a bit awkward as he kept his face close. “We are nearly to the door. As soon as we get outside, I have a horse ready for you. It is one of the express horses, so it will take you down the right path to our next destination.”