“Of course,” Rico’s father replied.
A few minutes later, Caleb heard Rico walk in, talking to a girl he assumed was the one who had saved him. Her voice didn’t sound the same, though. He turned around to face her. It’s not her, he thought, relieved. She was beautiful, and also looked a lot like his surrogate mother, but this was not the girl who had saved him. Saddened, he turned back around and faced the table, uninterested in anything that was going on.
“What did I do this time?” she asked once she walked into the room. She sounded to Caleb like she had been expecting a summons. So this likely wasn’t the first time she had been called into her parents’ room for doing something she wasn’t supposed to.
Rico’s father placed both his elbows on the table, turned his hands down, then placed his chin on top of them and looked at Elizabeth with disappointment in his eyes. He reminded Caleb of a father scolding his youngest daughter for disobeying his orders. “Elizabeth, nice of you to join us,” he said, sarcastically.
“Thanks, but what am I doing here? I was on my way back to the house for training; I don’t want to be late,” Elizabeth informed them.
Training? Caleb thought. Why would a girl like her need training? Wait a minute… Caleb turned back around and looked at Elizabeth, who was standing next to Rico and attempting to explain her innocence. It can’t be, he thought.
“Who is that?” she asked about Caleb, who was staring at her as if she were the harbinger of death come to take him away.
“I’m glad you asked, since you’re the reason that he’s here,” Rico replied in that same jealous-boyfriend tone.
“What?” she asked, taken aback. She then looked from Caleb to Rico. “I don’t even know this man,” she contended.
“Really?” Rico’s father asked, confused. “You weren’t the one who saved his life and pointed him in this direction?”
Elizabeth laughed, then shook her head.
“What?” Caleb asked, confused.
“That wasn’t me; it was someone else,” she said playfully.
Caleb could tell that she knew who it was, but getting the information out of her would probably be a lot harder than he would like.
“Who?” Rico’s father asked.
Elizabeth waved her finger back and forth. “I will only tell him,” she said. She pointed towards Caleb who was looking back at her, completely lost and afraid for his life.
His heart was racing a mile a minute as he realized that he was finally meeting the person responsible for the way his life had turned out. The girls were in the camp, and one of them was standing right in front of him. And it wasn’t just any one of them—it was Elizabeth, the girl his father had thrown away his entire family and life in order to raise.
“Really, Lizzy?” Rico asked, annoyed.
“Yeah. I need to talk to him anyway, so could you guys give us a minute?” she asked, looking at Rico with puppy-dog eyes. It was the same look he had seen his surrogate mother give his father any time she wanted him to do something.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Rico said, looking back and forth between her and Caleb, who was looking confused and afraid for his life.
“Yeah, I agree,” Caleb said nervously.
“Please. It’s important that I speak to him,” she begged, turning her attention to Rico’s father, who had stood up and, like the others, was looking at her confused.
“Elizabeth…” Angelo started.
“My aunt has been teaching us teleportation, so if I wanted to I could just grab him and leave the room before you could stop me. I am being nice by asking,” she informed them.
Teleportation? Caleb thought, both fearful and in awe of the powers that he hadn’t known she had.
Rico’s father sighed, then walked towards the door. “Very well. Come along, men.”
Rico looked at his father, confused, while the man that hadn’t spoken a word stood up and joined him. “You can’t be serious?” Rico asked.
“You heard her, son; now let’s go,” his father ordered. He then looked back at Caleb, who was looking at him like a scared kitten, begging them not to leave. “We’ll give you half an hour.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said with a smile. And with that they walked out of the room. Elizabeth then turned her attention back towards Caleb, who was trying to decide how to escape from her clutches. “Sorry,” she said, walking to the door and closing it. “I didn’t want anyone else to hear our conversation,” she informed him as she made her way towards the chair that was next to him. “Is it okay if I sit down?” she asked, shyly.
“Sure,” he said, cautious.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a seat next to him. She then studied his face and smiled brightly.
“What?” he asked, feeling like a fish in a bowl.
“You look just like him,” she said, with a huge grin.
Caleb pushed back, startled. “What do you mean I look just like him? Just like whom?”
“Father,” she said, sweetly.
Caleb blinked repeatedly, as if what he was hearing was unbelievable. “Wow,” was all he could say.
“What?” she asked, curious.
“He’s not your father, so please refrain from calling him that,” he said bitterly.
She sighed and looked down. “You’re right, he’s not my father. I apologize for calling him that in your presence, your highness.” She then looked back up at him, and her eyes were sad and full of worry. It was the same look Lenilla had given him in the castle after he had yelled at her for caring so much about his father, and for the first time since he had learned about the girls, Caleb felt sorry for her. “Is your father in the castle?” she asked suddenly.
“That is of none of your concern,” Caleb retorted. Although there was a part of him that wanted to tell her, in an attempt to both comfort her and to break her. She didn’t care about his father. She couldn’t have; she wasn’t human.
Elizabeth wiped her cheek, ridding herself of the one teardrop that had escaped her eyes. “Right,” she replied with a forced smile. “I shouldn’t ask. It’s not my place. I was just curious to know if he was okay,” she said, softly.
Caleb laughed a bitter laugh. “Of course he’s not okay. And do you know why?” he asked sharply. His eyes were full of hate and loathing as he looked at the person who was responsible for his family ending up the way it had. “Because of you,” he said, spitefully.
Elizabeth sat back and looked at him with pain in her eyes. She looked as if her whole world was coming to an end as he told her everything that had happened to their father, including Caleb’s role in capturing him. Once he had finished, Elizabeth brought her knees up to her chest, and with her arms wrapped around them, she sobbed. No longer an evil creature that he despised, she transformed before his eyes into this fragile creature that, for some strange reason, Caleb felt a need to protect. Once he had finished, he felt extremely bad. “You must really hate me,” she said, softly.
He looked at her, conflicted. Did he really hate her, or was it his own jealously stemming from his father choosing her over his family? However, he only said, “Yes.”
She closed her eyes and sighed as more tears escaped them.
“Why would he risk his life for something like you?” Caleb demanded. “I am his son. He had a whole family back home in the castle, waiting for him, and instead of thinking of us, he chose you. Why?” he asked, scaring her.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I didn’t ask him to give you guys up for me. I was a baby,” she reminded him. “I didn’t even know that he wasn’t my real father until a couple of days ago. Nor did I know anything about a prophecy,” she said while rocking back and forth, looking at the floor.
He looked at her, confused, “What do you mean you didn’t know? No one told you?”
She shook her head.
“Why should I believe you?” he asked, skeptical.
“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but
it’s the truth. Our birthday was supposed to be the starting point of our adult lives. We were turning eighteen, which was a big deal in our village, and we were planning to visit the capital,” she explained.
“Why? Why would you go someplace you’re not wanted?”
“Like I said, we didn’t know,” she reminded him. “We were just curious about the outside world. My father—I mean, your father—and their parents had never allowed us to leave the village, and now we know why,” she said bitterly.
“Why?”
“Because your uncle is a tyrant and he wants our powers.”
“My uncle is a good man,” he shouted.
“A good man?” she asked, looking up at him with eyes full of hate. “Your father is in the dungeon right now. My entire village was burnt to the ground and only a few of us made it out alive; how is he a good man? What good man does that sort of thing?”
“You brought that on yourself,” Caleb shouted, though a part of him didn’t believe it. After all, she was only eighteen, which meant that she had only been a baby when it all started.
“How?” she asked bitterly. “I didn’t ask for any of this. None of us did,” she said, dropping her legs to the floor. A week ago, we were normal girls looking forward to our birthday; now, we’re these super-powerful witch-cousins whose entire existence has been a lie. Do you have any idea how that feels?” she asked.
He said nothing and only looked at her, conflicted about what to believe.
“Do you know in this last week alone we were chased by soldiers, almost sacrificed by some power-hungry nutcases in robes, and almost killed by man-eating beasts in this weird tunnel of death, all so we could make it to this place to escape your uncle, and apparently you and your evil cousin who gets off on killing innocent people?” She stood up and started to pace, then brought her hands to her head. “Why couldn’t you people just leave us alone?” she asked, looking at Caleb.
“Sacrificed?” he asked, puzzled. He had always seen the girls as the criminals, and had never taken into account that maybe it wasn’t their fault, but that of the world they lived in. They had never asked for any of it.
She nodded.
“Why?” he asked softly.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess they thought if they drank our blood, they would gain our power,” she said, sitting back down in front of him.
“Is that when you discovered your powers?”
She shook her head. “It was weird. Rico had died trying to save my life, and the next thing I knew, I had brought him back to life. But I wasn’t sure how. It wasn’t until I got here and met Mr. Angelo and my aunts, that I realized why I had always felt so different, and why my two best friends and I looked so much alike,” she explained.
“You brought him back to life?” he asked, finally realizing why Rico and everyone else reacted the way they did when he told them.
She nodded.
“So all of you can do it?” he asked, curious about his mystery girl.
“Seems that way,” she replied, remembering the conversation that she’d had with Renee their first night at the camp.
“Where are your real parents?” he asked suddenly. It wasn’t just the fact that Elizabeth looked like Lady Lenilla… their personalities also seemed to be similar.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t know. My aunts won’t tell me.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. They just keep telling me that it is not the right time to tell me. But I really want to know,” she admitted. “Why do you ask?”
He shook his head. “You just remind me of somebody that I know,” he admitted surer then, more than ever, that she was Lenilla’s daughter.
“Must be a bad person,” Elizabeth said, softly as she lowered her head.
He shook his head no, shocking her. “She’s really sweet and caring, but she can be a bit of a brat when she wants to be.”
Elizabeth laughed. It was her first real laugh since meeting Caleb. “What’s her name? Is she my age?” She asked curious.
“No, she’s older. And I guess you could say she’s a second mother to me, since she helped raise me,” he said, smiling just thinking about Lenilla. He wished he was back in the castle so he could apologize for what he had said to her.
“Sounds like a really nice lady. I’d love to meet her when this is all over,” Elizabeth said, with a smile—the same as Lenilla’s.
“So, about that name…” he reminded her.
Elizabeth smiled. “Why are you so interested? I thought you were afraid of us, or at least hated us?” she asked coyly.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure about anything anymore. You don’t seem as bad as everyone’s made you out to be, though I’ll admit your powers are kind of scary. But I need to meet her,” he admitted. He didn’t know why, but something about this mystery girl made him want to see her—made him need to meet her.
Elizabeth laughed. “Her name is Jasmine and she is my cousin. She’s also just like me, and thinks you’re cute.”
He laughed. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You can meet her when you leave here, if you aren’t too shy,” Elizabeth teased.
Caleb’s smile widened. It was so easy talking to this girl. Just like Lenilla, he got the sense that could tell her anything and she would always offer some good advice. “Can I take your word on that?” he asked, playful.
“Don’t believe me?” she asked.
“I do. And thank you.”
She stood up to leave, but he stopped her.
“Oh, and Elizabeth… it’s okay if you call him father.” She spun around and looked at him, and her smile was so bright and warm that it completely destroyed every defense he had.
“I can?” she asked innocently.
He smiled, then approached her. “Yeah. After all, he did raise you, right?” he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“But then that would make me your sister. Can you really accept someone like me into your family?” she asked shyly.
He hugged her, and she let him, and for the first time, he truly felt the need to protect her rather than harm her. It must have been because a part of him really believed that she might actually be his little sister. That made more sense than anything else he could come up with. “Of course,” he assured her. He then released her and looked into her eyes.
“There you are, Lizzy. What’s taking so—”
Caleb and Elizabeth looked towards the voice and let each other go. Standing before them was the image of Lady Lenilla, only her eyes were blue and she seemed more short-tempered than the woman who had raised Caleb.
The moment Caleb saw her, he stood up. His mouth was wide open and he couldn’t help but call her. “Lady Lenilla?” he asked in shock.
Elizabeth looked from her aunt to Caleb. “What did you call her?” she asked, shocked.
“That’s impossible; you’re supposed to be in the castle. Why are you here?” he asked.
“Lizzy, go home now,” her aunt ordered.
Elizabeth shook her head. “Why is he calling you Lenilla, aunty?” She looked to Caleb who looked back at her. “Is my mother in the castle?” she asked, hurt.
“It’s a lot more complicated than you think,” Elizabeth’s aunt explained. Her eyes had shifted from Elizabeth to Caleb, who was staring back at her, just as confused as she was.
Who was this woman with the blue eyes? he thought to himself.
Elizabeth stood up and ran out of the room.
“Lizzy!” her aunt called after her, but it was too late; she was already gone. The woman then turned back around and looked at Caleb, who was staring at her as if she were some kind of puzzle he couldn’t put together. “Why are you here?” she demanded. Her posture had changed from nervousness to fear. It was as if he were an evil spirit and she needed to get rid of him.
“Why do you look like my mother’s friend?” he asked her back.
She closed the door behind her, then approached Caleb.
>
“Listen to me. You are to say nothing to anyone here about me looking like your aunt’s best friend,” she warned.
“Why?” he asked, curious. “And why didn’t you tell Elizabeth?” he asked, angrier more at the fact that his new-found little sister was in pain, than at the secret itself.
“That is none of your concern. We will tell her when the time is right, but right now you need to keep your mouth shut,” she warned. Her eyes pierced through him like daggers. It was as if she could see into the deepest parts of his soul, and with one word destroy his entire world.
“Or?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest. In that moment he felt extremely intimidated, and for some reason frightened for his life. But he wasn’t sure why; she was only a woman, and he was a trained soldier in the King’s army. However, there was something about her that made a part of him want to get as far away from her as possible as quickly as possible.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he flung across the room and hit the wall hard. “Ouch,” he said as he fell to the ground in pain. Is she going to kill me? he thought to himself as he looked up at her from the ground. Her eyes were wild like a beast’s, and her mouth was curled up into a smile; she looked like a demon and he her torture victim. The impact left a crack in the wall and a few of the paintings that had hung there, were now scattered on the floor next to Caleb.
“Let that be a warning. No one knows; you got that?” she ordered.
He hastily nodded his head, and in doing so caused the pain to intensify.
“Now, I don’t know how you got in here, your majesty, but I will do everything in my power to get you back home. For now, stay the hell away from the girls,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yes ma’am,” he nervously replied. This woman was crazy; he knew that. She was the reason his uncle feared the girls. He understood that now. And with them living in this camp with these people, it was only a matter of time before the girls became as corrupted as this woman standing in front of him. He couldn’t allow that to happen. Their powers should be used for good, and not whatever the rebels were planning to use it for. The only place he knew would be safe for them was the castle.
The Journey: The Ultimate Power Book 1 Page 23