Chapter 11
The night was long and Elah spent most of it wondering what had happened to her mother and prayed she was okay. Elah also spent a lot of time trying to figure out if she could escape but she couldn't find a way. Unless she could make herself really small or sneak passed the guard at her door, she wasn't going anywhere.
Elah sat on the bed and watched the room lighten as the new day began. She ate some of the fruit to keep her strength up but food was the furthest thing from her mind, she wanted to rip the guards throat out and stomp on it.
Elah stood at her small barred window and watched the world outside get brighter, when she heard the door swing open. Elah didn’t turn, she knew it was him, who else could it be? She listen to him walk across the room and could feel his breath on the back of her neck as he stood behind her.
“I see you’ve learnt that struggling gets you nowhere” she could hear arrogance in his voice.
She breathed in and turned the dagger Lavi gave her so the blade was no longer hidden in her sleeve. She gripped it hard as she swung around and aimed the blade at his throat. His eyes widened as he stumbled back, with a loud groan.
Elah couldn't believe she missed and quickly swung again. Her swing was wild and uncontrolled and she knew if she missed she was in big trouble.
He caught her arm as he regained his balance and twisted her arm causing pain to shoot up her arm but she retained the dagger. She groaned in pain and looked at Lavi's dagger, she then told herself that if she didn't take control of the situation, she was never going to see Lavi again but it was the thought of not seeing Alon again that hurt the most.
Pushing her back against the wall, he let her arm go to get a better grip but she saw the opportunity and managed to a small swing of the blade, slashing him across the arm. He pulled his arm back in response but caught her arm again with his other hand, mush to her demise. He then slid his hand down her arm and crushed her hand in his, causing her to drop the dagger as he let her go.
As he kicked the dagger away, he grabbed her by the throat and held her at arms length. “Do you have any other little surprises for me?” roared at her, staring into her eyes, as anger took over his.
With both hands Elah gripped his arm and tried to pull him off her but he was too strong and all she could do was take small breaths and pray that he lets her live. He only let go when he threw her to the floor sideways. Her arm slammed against the floor, taking the full force, as she slid up against the wall.
Before she could get up he placed his foot on her chest and pushed down firmly. She couldn't catch her breath and found when she tried to lift his foot he push in slightly harder so she ended up just holding his leg.
She tried to keep her strength but she knew she looked pathetic. She wished River was around to protect her but like Talib had told her, they were not going to always be around to protect her. She had no idea that she would be left unprotected so soon.
Elah looked up at him and watched as he snatched a dress from the girl that she had seen the day before. The girl looked like she didn’t know what to do and let him take the yellow dress. Once the dress was gone the girl put the rest on the bed and quickly left the room, not wanting to get involved.
The guard waited for the girl to leave, then turned his attention back to Elah. He looked down his nose at her before saying “You need to start behaving or your going to find yourself in a world of trouble. Now get dressed.” He took his foot off her and threw the dress at her before leaving her on the floor.
After hearing the door close, Elah threw the dress off her and turned to her side and started coughing. Her entire body shock as she tried to clear her throat and regain her breath.
Once she caught her breath she curled up in the floor and stared at the wall in front of her. She laid like this until she heard the door open. As she heard foot steps coming toward her, she closed her eyes and pushed her self to sit up.
“If you don’t get dressed in the next five minutes, I will dress you myself” she heard the guard bark at her and heard the door slam as he left.
Elah forced herself to get up and dressed as quickly as she could but her arm was bleeding and her she found it difficult to pull the dress up. She winced every time she moved her sore body the wrong way and all she wanted to do was curl up in the bed and cry.
She was running a brush through her hair when she heard the guard walk up behind her. “Much better. Now was that so hard” he stated, with hate in his voice.
Elah frowned and turned around with a remorseless look on her face and threw the brush at his head. He moved out of the way as the brush flew past his head, only River was ever that fast and she wondered if her father had trained this man as well. His laughter, infuriated her even more and she wished she had a bow. He than grabbed her by the arm causing more pain to her already damaged arm and dragged her out of the room and down a long hall.
As they walked through a small door, Elah was surprised by how beautiful the rooms became. They were finely decorated using natural materials that complemented each other. Even the people she saw were well dressed.
The guard stopped in front of a large timber door and turned Elah to look at him. “You will behave yourself or you will be dealing with me” he said harshly and pushed her through the door.
Elah stumbled into the room that contained a beautiful large table surrounded by beautifully carved chairs. One wall was floor to ceiling windows that looked out on a garden, while another contained cabinets full of fine china and silver ware. Elah gasped at the site, she had never seen a room like it.
At one end of the table sat the man she had healed eating fruit. He gestured for her to sit at the table with him, where an empty table setting was waiting. Elah cautiously walked over and sat down.
“That will be all Averill” the man said and waited for the guard to leave. “You must be hungry” he said, putting some grapes on the plate in front of her.
Elah looked at the grapes and popped one in her mouth. As she chewed she noticed how sweet it tasted and grabbed another. The man watched her as she ate with an amused smile.
“So, what is your name?” the man asked, breaking the silence.
“Elah” she answered and popped another grape in her mouth.
“I am Ceawlin” he said introducing himself. “I think I own you my thanks.”
Elah looked at him surprised by how nice he was being, since he looked so important. “Oh, it's okay” Elah said, not knowing what to say.
“My men tell me you have been quite a handful” Ceawlin said, putting a piece of apple in his mouth.
“Oh, perhaps they should have let me go. Do you know what happened to my companion?” Elah asked, feeling she at least deserved to know what happened to her mother.
“Hmmm perhaps” he said, rubbing his chin. “I believe she was sent on her way. I understand you have quite a special gift, tell me about it.”
Elah stared at him, she wanted to believe him about her mother but was not sure if she should. She finally dropped her head and started to play with her hands not wanting to tell him about her gift but he asked again.
“My gift is my own and no one else’s business” Elah answered, trying to keep the spite out of her voice but failed.
He looked at her and studied her for a moment. "Shouldn't we share and help each other" Ceawlin said, taking another piece of apple.
"It's not sharing if only one person is giving" she retorted.
"This is true but most do not have gifts as special as yours"
"But only I should choose who I share with and not be forced into doing something they don't want to do"
"Would you have left me to die?" he asked, his question opened a pit in her heart.
"No but I would have willingly gone to you if asked"
"I'm sorry this has happened. You see my men were unsettled as they had to fight off a number of dark fae who attacked us before you came along" he explained.
"I'm sorry you went through something horrible but they are the royal guard, they should have more self control" Elah said, folding her arms.
"Very true. So tell me how did you get that bruise on your face?"
Elah put her hand to her tender face and looked into his deep blue eyes. "Your men did that" she said bitterly.
"I'm sorry to learn of this. My men said I was close to death, you must have a good trainer to become that strong at your age".
Elah frown at his sudden change in subject, as she wanted to know what he was going to do about ihis men but figured he would do nothing, he probably didn’t care and was most likely meeting with her out of obligation and interest in her gift.
"I don't have a trainer" Elah stated, rolling her eyes.
"Really, well then I will have to find you one, it would be great to see you at your full potential" he said, watching her frown turn into confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I can't have you working for me, knowing your not working at you full potential"
"What if I don't want to work for you?"
"There is no choice in the matter. Now I'd better be off" he said, getting. He then glanced at her with a knowing smile before leaving her alone in the vastness of the room.
Elah put a few more grapes in her mouth before Averill returned. She wasn't sure when she was going to get to eat such sweet tasting grapes again. When he came in, he pulled her chair out and pulled her to her feet. He wasn't gentle about anything he did with her and she hated him more for it.
She looked up into his blue eyes and all she found was anger. This frightened her and she wished she spent more time practicing hand-to-hand combat techniques.
She winced as he lifted his hand and smoothed his dirty blonde hair back. She scolded herself for it, showing him any weakness was not an option, not if she was going to show him how strong she was but deep inside she knew she would never be strong enough.
He smiled down at her, showing her he knew how he made her feel. "Don't think your anything special just because you had breakfast with the king" he snarled, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out of the room.
Elah was shocked to hear that the man she had saved was the king. She wondered if her mother knew who he was and if she was at the kings castle as well, she also wondered if River nearby too. Perhaps she could somehow escape and try finding River.
As Averill pulled her along, they walked into a large waiting room, with beautiful chairs and large paintings on the wall. As Elah tried to quickly look around, Averill suddenly pushed Elah to the floor and got to one knee.
Elah tried to see what was going on but Averill pushed her head down and all she could see was a red silk skirt with beautiful silver embroidery around the hem. As the lady walked Elah could see glimpses of shoes that matched the dress and she thought about screaming to cause a commotion, so she could make a run for it but somehow knew this was not the right time.
As the sound of the ladies shoes disappeared Averill got up and pulled Elah up with him, almost lifting her off the ground. The lady must have smiled at him or something as Averill looked happier. Unfortunately, for Elah, it didn’t stop him from roughly grabbing her arm and dragging her through the halls before forcefully pushing her into the small room she had spent the night in and slamming the door behind himself.
Elah sat on the bed and stared at the door. She wondered when he was going to come back and what was going to happen? Was she going to have to stay in this small room for long or was there somewhere worse? Elah shivered at the thought of what could come next.
By the time Averill came back, Elah was relaxing on the bed and didn’t move when he came in. “What do you want, babysitter?” Elah spat at him.
“Get up, you little swine” he hissed at her.
Elah just looked at him, maintaining her position on the bed definitely. He narrowed his eyes at her and walked over so he was standing over the bed. Looking down at her, he reached down and yanked her off the bed. She hit the floor hard but despite the pain she looked up at him and snarled. He laughed and pulled her up, making sure he grabbed her injured arm roughly.
Wincing at the pain he was causing her, Elah wished she could just crawl into a small hole somewhere and hide. She wanted to hide from all the hurt she was feeling and cry until it all went away but she knew better.
He then took her outside to a waiting horse and pushed up to the rider. Elah thought about making a fuss but was happy just to be leaving Averill. As they started to ride off, Elah poked her tongue out at Averill, who gave her a hard look.
As the sun started to dip low in the sky, causing the rider move off the path and dismount in a small clearing. He kept Elah by his side as he set up a small tent and made her help him take care of the horse. Elah didn’t mind the horse was kind natured and deserved a good rest.
The guard seemed nice enough and Elah figured anyone was better than Averill. It also helped that despite his size, the guard looked nothing like Averill, he had dark brown hair, dark skin, silver eyes and no matter how hard he could try, he had a kind face. He reminded her of Varg.
After a small meal the guard sat Elah in the tent and pulled out some metal cuffs. He then attached one end to Elah’s ankle and the other to his own before making himself comfortable. Elah could tell he was exhausted and after laying in the tent for a while Elah rolled over to look at where he would be in the dark.
“What do the dark fae look like?” Elah asked, she had thought about this ever since the king told her his story.
The guard groaned and sucked a large breath before saying “just like you and me except hideous.”
Elah wanted to ask him where he was taking her but his breaths softened and his body relaxed as he fell asleep. Elah was alone in the dark with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company and even though she was exhausted herself, it took quite some time before she was able to fall asleep.
The morning came too soon and to Elah’s dismay, the guard made her get up with the sun and help pack up their little campsite. Before they set off the guard pulled out some food and shared it with Elah. The guard wasn't very talkative which made Elah uncomfortable since she had so many questions.
As they rode Elah couldn’t stand the silence between them any longer and started singing. Although the guard did not join in, he didn't stop her either and appeared to enjoy it. The horse even seemed to enjoy the break in silence.
It was mid afternoon by the time they reached a large clearing. Stopping at the edge of the clearing the guard dismounted the horse but made Elah wait and tied the horse to a tree. She watched as he took a seat on a nearby rock and waited.
She started to sing again to pass the time. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the guard still hadn’t moved. Elah even asked the guard to join her but got no response.
Elah was starting to get restless when a man wearing a yellow robe came from across the clearing, although she didn’t recall seeing where he had started his journey. The man walked over to the guard who stood and started talking. Although, Elah couldn't hear them, she knew they were talking about her, the guard had even pointed at her a few times.
After what seemed to be a long wait, the two walked over and while the guard helped Elah off the horse the man stood by and silently waited. She didn’t take her eyes of the man in yellow, she wanted to know who he was and what they were doing in this particular clearing.
The guard then guided her over to stand in front of the man by gently placing his hand on her back. The man looked at her, then placed both his hand on either side of her head, he then shoot a burst energy through her body and suddenly took his hands away. This caused Elah to stumble backwards in surprised.
Elah looked at him confused. He looked at the guard, nodded agreeably and smiled at Elah. "Come, you must be hungry" he said kindly.
Elah looked to see the guard getting back on the horse and ride off in the direction they had come. Even more co
nfused Elah looked at the man, how was going to stop her if she just ran off but she had no idea where she was, or where would she go? She looked into the forest and debated if she should make a run for it anyway.
"We're not going to hurt you" the man said, noticing the struggle going on in Elah's mind.
Elah looked at him curiously, he had one brown eye and one blue, his hair was a mix of red and brown and his face while young looked like he knew more than she could ever imagine.
"Where am I?" Elah asked, still looking for somewhere to run to.
He looked at her and started to smile again, then looked into the clearing. Elah turned to follow his gaze and nearly fell backwards. Where there was nothing before stood a building, it's grandeur rivalled the kings castle. It was taller than the surrounding trees but looked like it belonged in the forest.
"Welcome to Treriton" he said with pride. "I am Adam."
"Oh wow" Elah said amazed. "I'm Elah" she added holding out her hand to shake his but not taking her eyes off the building.
He gently took her hand and shock it smiling broadly at her. Elah smiled back at him and felt herself relax. She figured if he was going to hurt her, he would have already and something told her he had no interest in hurting her.
As they walked in through a grand entrance, Elah gasped at how beautiful everything surrounding her was. All the material came together well and there were even objects she had never seen before.
After walking down a hall to the right of the entrance, Adam stopped in front of a wooden door with beautiful images carved in it. Once they walked in Elah found herself standing in a large bedroom with soft carpets, a king sized comfortable looking bed and seating area in one of the corners.
"This will be your quarters for the duration of your stay here" Adam said, watching the surprised look on Elah's face. "I'll have some food sent in, there are clothes in the cupboard and I'll leave you to rest. Your training starts tomorrow."
Elah nodded and watched him leave. She looked around the room and decided the first thing she needed to do was find the bathroom and clean up. She didn’t want to get anything dirty and knew if she didn't clean her wounds, they would get infected.
After finding a walk-in cupboard and a small porch leading into an enclosed garden, Elah tried the final door and entered a beautiful bathroom. She looked around the spacious room and even though there was a tub, she decided a shower would suffice since she was so tired.
Wrapped in a towel, Elah came out to find some food left on a small table in the seating area. Grabbing a couple of bites she went to relocate the cupboard and found some night clothing to wear. She decided on a pink singlet and a pair of grey shorts. She figured if the material wasn't touching her wounds it would hurt less.
Her evening was uneventful and after eating her fill, Elah relaxed in the bed, sinking into the soft material. She ran her hands over the material thinking about how much of a difference her bed was from when she was at the kings castle. As she laid in the bed she gently rubbed her wounds and wished she could heal herself before drifting off into a deep sleep.
A Healer's Destiny Page 11