Lola sat forwards watching me intensely as I opened up slightly. “We’re all incredibly close to each other.” Ace wrapped his arm back around my shoulders. “We’re family - bonded through past and present.”
I had to force my eyes ahead instead of turning and looking to see Cedrix’s reaction to the word family.
Aeron made a large movement off to the left dramatically crossing his legs before stretching his arms. “Relationships are forbidden,” he said bluntly, shrugging and we all laughed as the tension left the room, but I caught a glimpse of Ace wiggling his eyebrows. I jutted my elbow into his side.
“But we like to break the rules sometimes,” Ace added. This time his arm dropped from my shoulders and gripped my waist. I barely blinked an eyelid. The gesture may have been unnecessary but he was right to give the fans what they wanted, even if it was talking about breaking rules; rules that were also about not wiping out everything as we knew it.
“Well, there you have it,” Lola said to the camera with a small laugh before her face turned serious. “Now that we’ve gotten the fun stuff out of the way, it’s time to address the elephant in the room.”
I crossed my legs, and all of us sat forward keeping jokes aside. “Onto more pressing matters.”
She turned to a cue card beyond the camera. “The Rebellion is a growing threat to our everyday lives and children. They are growing stronger by the day and we have been growing more and more fearful in our homes.”
Ace sat forward, his arm coming from around my shoulders to rest on his knees. “Lola, let me interrupt you here. You have absolutely nothing to fear.” What the fuck Ace? But I kept the encouraging smile going. I was supposed to say that…
“We’re happy to say the Rebellion is being carefully dealt with and we can assure you things will not get out of control.”
Lola sat forward in surprise. “And the Raven?”
I quickly cut in before Ace could say anything else. “This Raven,” I looked into the camera, “is no threat. They stand against the seven of us defending you - our home and city.” I felt a surge of confidence when I could see the others nodding their heads and so looked back at the camera.
“Raven. We are offering you to turn yourself in, you have the chance to train alongside us and be an official Time Bender…” People started moving around offstage with confused faces. “Whether you have more or fewer lives than me…” They started speaking over me. “If you fail to do this, you will face…“ I paused, looking at my friend’s faces and then around the room.
“What is it?” Lola asked.
A producer sent a confused look toward us. “We’re offline. Something’s interrupted the broadcast and-”
“Sir…” A small woman entered, a screen in her hand. The Producer looked at it and grabbed the remote, turning one of the large screens in our direction so we could see.
What I assumed was the Rebellions logo flashed onto the screen before a slightly fuzzy face appeared. They clearly had crap cameras in the Rebellion. Although it definitely made a dramatic first appearance. It was a woman, surprisingly young, probably in her early thirties. She looked kind, deep brown hair - almost black, and warm brown eyes. She was looking to someone off-camera who most likely signalled for her to begin.
“Hello, citizens of Prospect.” Her voice was slightly crackled but everyone could hear. “My name is Cleo, leader of what you call the Rebellion and I’m here in direct response to Time Bender Nova. From my brother, the Raven: Catch me if you can.” Her lips formed a confident smile and she began to open her mouth before the screen turned static as the people surrounding us regained control.
It seemed the Rebellion was coming for my ‘dramatic entrance’ crown.
CHAPTER 11
Time: Present
Location: Prospect
Immediately after the incident, several guards rushed us from the building and into a white car.
“Nova?” Fynn lent me a hand. I nodded and lay across the seats, resting my head on his lap.
He scrambled into his pocket and found a pair of earphones to put in my ears. We had no blindfold and so made the best out of a tricky situation and Ace began taking off his blazer. As my eyes fell shut I saw my friend’s anxious expressions for the last time.
Ace’s eyes were intense, his lips in a straight line as he fumbled with his jacket. Aeron had a hand over his mouth in concentration, watching me with an expression so serious it almost didn’t look like him. Cedrix - well for once Cedrix actually looked interested in what was going on and sat on the edge of the seat behind us.
I leant my head back into Fynn’s lap, his brown eyes soothing me with the sheer calm in his expression. I clenched my jaw, as the blazer settled over my eyes until I could see nothing.
“Can you hurry?” I heard Ace say and felt the car pick up. Thankfully new technology made the car run so smooth that I could barely tell we were moving. The only thing I could feel was Fynn’s hands moving up and down my arm in an attempt to help me.
It only took a minute before I was completely absorbed in darkness. Time had stopped and I was no longer in the present or the past. Nothing existed at that moment but the timeline and the Raven whose rich black feathers almost blended into the darkness. Its wings were outstretched as if floating through the air but getting nowhere. I paused and watched my Totem patiently waiting in the distance but this Raven asshole stayed put - probably watching my Totem to see if I went anywhere.
I don’t have all day, asshole.
He failed to do anything and I had no idea if I’d been here for a minute or an entire week but then it didn’t matter because suddenly I could feel my body falling - whether it was falling in the present or something was wrong I had to force myself back. Except I couldn’t, my body felt like I was falling but I could still see my Totem in front of me and a Raven hovering tauntingly over me. And then suddenly it soared into the air - or well, darkness. I reached upwards in an attempt to grab hold of my Totem to follow the Raven but my hands only wrapped around silky strands of darkness.
Suddenly I wasn’t falling anymore. I was standing upright - black glass surrounding me - reflecting my image. I stepped forward and greeted the darkness in front of me, my face morphed slightly - like looking into a window at night.
And then as if a finger was comfortingly stroking my face I was drawn forwards and I could see past my reflection.
And there it was - my Totem: a blue firefly outside of a glass-paned window.
“Oh my!” shrieked a voice. There was an attempt to hold me up as I slumped to the floor.
“Wha- what...” I murmured, leaning my head onto the woman’s lap and staring out into the night sky where a blue firefly flickered in front of me.
And that was all.
I was hot, sticky and my eyes would flutter open every now and then to the sound of concerned voices and then shouting. I finally fell into a deep sleep only to awake several times during the night restless and muttering things that made no sense to the people tending me.
By the time I awoke, rested and aware, it finally set in that I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
I was lying in a four-poster king-sized bed with silky sheets and feathered cushions propping me up. The room was adequately sized with a dressing table and mirror in the corner of the room with a chest of drawers next to it. Candles covered every corner of the room and there was a window seat on my right with an arched window that overlooked trees and hills for miles. On the opposite side of the room was a fireplace with intricate designs.
I didn’t remember this life… at all. I couldn’t tell what year it was but the stonewalls, furnishing and the white nightgown I was wearing would suggest it was pre 20th century.
Feeling myself begin to panic, I scrambled under the duvet until I got to the side of the bed. I swung my legs onto the wooden floor and paused when I heard voices outside the wooden doors.
“I want to see my daughter!” An English voice grunted. Good. The location sug
gested England, which wasn’t unusual for me. I was used to having different lives in Europe and occasionally America. So I could be in England but let’s face it… the British were everywhere back in the day so there was no telling just yet.
“My Lord, I’ve been told by-”
“She is my daughter. I will see her if I want to.” The door swung open and a man most likely in his late fifties maybe early sixties stood before me, dressed in… old clothes. Like robes and white wig kind of old.
What the hell was this year?
“Ah, Marion you’re awake! What’s all this nonsense of a fever?” He glared at who I could presume was my nurse. My name was Marion. “Here you are standing before me as though there were nothing ever wrong with you.”
My eyes widened in shock, I was confused - very confused. I only held some recollection of being called Marion but I had no idea what this life was about, which was bad. Really bad, I couldn’t conform to rule 1 if I didn’t know what life this was.
“Uh.”
“Richard!” There was a shrill voice from the doorway, my father’s face dropped into a deep scowl and he pivoted to face the doorway where a woman appeared.
She was stunningly attractive, and surprisingly young compared to my father but then again was anything that had happened so far not a surprise? Her hair was a curly brown and piled into a bun on her head and she wore a tight corset accompanied by a deep blue navy dress.
“Hello?”
“My god, lie down child.” The woman came rushing forward with her arms held out as though I were going to fall. “I told you that you shouldn’t have sprung such a thing on her! After what happened to Nugget.”
“Nugget?” I questioned.
Both their mouths dropped open in shock. “Tell me child, don’t you remember what happened yesterday?”
It’d been a hell of a lot longer than yesterday for me. Trust me.
“No.”
The woman looked towards my father in shock who glanced at me with an open mouth and then suddenly he snapped. His face went from white to an instant red and he lunged towards me. “Stop fooling with me girl! This is not like you!” he yelled and instantly the woman stood between us, shielding me with her body.
“Leave Richard!”
“You have no right to tell me what to do! You hold no role here other than whoring around with my servants!”
So I assumed they weren’t married… For a foolish moment, I had hoped this woman had been my mother but that was impossible. In all my lives my mother died - it was my recurring theme.
“You have two months and then you will give up your name for the sake of this family!” he screamed, slamming the door shut behind him.
What? What? Wait what?
What kind of hellhole was this lifetime?
“Shh,” the woman murmured sweetly, guiding me back into the bed and placing a cool hand on my forehead.
Oh hell no, I wanted the hell out of this life.
The woman stroked my hair and spoke in a soft voice. “It happened to me too you know.”
I blinked dazed. “What did?”
“An arranged marriage. I was in love with the gardener’s son but I married the man anyway to please your father and our parents. Don’t stress, child. I fell for him in time. Albeit not as much as my first love but love nonetheless. You will learn to love him in time too.” She smiled warmly. “Besides he’s long dead now.”
Okay, so that was a lot of information to digest. I’d pretty much stopped listening after she had indirectly told me I was to be married and that she was my aunt.
“Oh,” was all I managed to get out. I could only hope she would spill more.
“On the plus side, he’s far richer than us.”
I strained my neck to face her. “Who is?”
She blinked in surprise. “Why... the Count of Eldermore you’re to be married to.” My face dropped - as did my mood. Not that I was feeling particularly cheery in the first place.
There was a loud caw from the window and we both jumped, turning quickly to see a Raven pecking its nose against the windowpane. It was the same unusually large bird from 1944 with eyes the colour of obsidian.
His Totem would lead me to where he was; I just needed to get out of this hellhole.
“I think I need some fresh air,” I mumbled sitting back up and trying to get out of the bed. The woman had already crossed over to the window and flung it open whilst shooing away the Totem. I just wanted to get this over with.
“I meant outside, I think I need a walk.”
The woman nodded her head in understanding. “Shall I send for Abigail to dress you?” she said, suddenly appearing at the foot of my bed with a bundle of clothing.
I’d forgotten the pain of getting dressed during these times. Beauty literally came with pain.
“Oh yes, please.” I felt the material of the light blue dress under my fingertips and touched the corset that would accompany it.
It was as though at the click of my aunt’s fingers the maid or nurse or whatever she was had appeared like she’d been waiting.
She flashed a grin of slightly dirty and crooked teeth and her rosy cheeks glowed at me. She was actually quite young, maybe a year or two older than me - Nova. Shoot, this is really confusing. I was definitely a few years younger than nineteen but not anything too unfamiliar. I felt lighter with my height and lack of muscle - my skin pristine and smooth, not covered in scars and calluses.
“How are you feeling?”
“Quite alright...”
“Lady Susanna said you wanted to go for a walk. Your father’s men have gathered downstairs for you.”
I’d rather they didn’t. I sighed - the struggles of being a woman in… whatever year it was.
As though fate realised my struggle, a diary sat open on the chest of drawers across the room. I crossed the room in an instant, my head swirling at the sudden motion.
“Marion?”
“One moment,” I called glancing over the last entry dated 16th June 1661. It was only a short entry with ink smudged and detailing the events of my horse dying and being told I was to marry in no more than two or so months.
Well that was lucky (that I found the diary). It meant the day was 17th June 1661... what happened in 1661? I lost track of all those lives and who the hell would want to come back this far anyway? The English Civil war had ended a decade ago. I was an estimated sixteen or seventeen years old, which meant some of my life had consisted of war. My father hobbled on his left foot, which would suggest a war injury, and he had the title of a Lord by either reward or heritage. Charles the second sat on the throne in 1660 so life was relatively peaceful - but maybe hesitant? Right? I should have paid more attention to my logs. I would have visited this life at least once and yet I have nothing on it.
It was only a guess. I’d lost track of all those lives and who the hell wanted to come back to 1661 anyway? The Raven apparently… I supposed it could have been worse. I could have been some whore or peasant with the plague.
Wait, wrong time-period. Or was it? It would probably hit within the next five years but I’d be long gone by then.
The sooner I found and killed him the better - hell to negotiations. He could be across the country and if he was then I was sure as hell screwed because I wouldn’t be able to make it within a day.
I could only hope he was following my Totem in an attempt to kick my ass however unlikely it was. He had no idea what my Totem was.
I held onto the back of the bedpost as Abigail tightened the corset and helped me wiggle on a series of clothing.
It would have to go eventually.
There was no way I would be able to kill the Raven dressed like this - no matter how much I felt like a princess. Not to mention getting past whoever these men were.
CHAPTER 12
Time: 17th June 1661
Location: England?
Walking downstairs with tight shoes and a corset actually proved to be not as difficult as I ima
gined and soon I was out of that dreadful place.
Three men bowed their heads towards me with friendly faces. This was a screw-up. A really big screw-up I should have just found my Totem and gotten out of 1661 there and then.
Except a lot of people in the future were depending on me and I didn’t want to seem weak. And I would. It’d be 1 point to the Rebellion and 100 for the Time Benders.
“Marion,” one of the men said. A slightly scruffy brown bearded man stepped forward and lent me a hand onto the path.
“Good morning gentlemen.” Was that right? Who knew?
The guy with the beard looked behind me and nodded his head to Abigail and then we were off through the stone gateway arch and away from the looming grey bricked building. There had been a weak attempt of adding some colour to the gloomy building by planting various flowers and plants around the courtyard, and what would be a beautiful tree if it didn’t look so dead and grey.
The air was humid but there was a gentle breeze which I was thankful for or else I would surely faint in this dress, and that would be humiliating. I wasn’t going to conform to the damsel in distress ideal of the past. I was Nova. No, I was Super-Nova and I was going to kick these men back to the civil war and then kill this stupid man-bird.
However, once we were a distance away from the building walls, the bearded man stopped and his slightly chunky friend turned to face me.
“We shall leave you for a moment’s reflection.” What?
And then they left! Just wandered off in the opposite direction and I was left in the middle of a clearing staring at trees. What did they expect me to do?
Well, that was easier than I would have thought. Once I saw their heads disappear under a mound I smiled giddily, picked up my blue skirt and bolted… which as you might have imagined was pretty difficult.
Almost instantly, I skidded down a slope of mud until my foot clashed with a mossy boulder and I tumbled the rest of the way down. Quickly, I clambered back up using the help of a branch (which looked way cooler in my head, might I add). It turned out wearing a puffy blue dress and corset didn’t make you look like a badass ninja jumping from building to building like Batman… just some fairy godmother forgetting the controls to her wings.
NOVA: The Time Bender Series Book 1 Page 9