“I’ll go stir crazy if I’m not doing something. Do we have a tiller I could strap to the horse?”
“No, but I’m sure we could pick up some materials to make one, or perhaps purchase one in the next civilized time we stop in.”
“When you harvest seeds, would you let me know? I’m interested in learning.”
“Of course dear.” Her regular, cheery smile returns.
After a couple trips to the spigot to refill the can, I manage to properly wet everything. Returning the watering canister to Agatha, I put my arm around her shoulder as she admires the garden. She leans into me. Our imitation mother-son bond leaves me feeling comfortable enough to ask a question bothering me.
“Am I a burden? I’ve brought a lot of baggage here. You have three more travelers than you used to, and I’ve put us all in danger.”
Agatha looks at me and replies bluntly, “You aren’t a burden. You’ve gotten us out of a few jams, and if it weren’t for you our lives would be very boring.”
“Thanks Aggy.” I kiss her on the side of the head.
“Please don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a new man.”
Releasing her from my grasp, I snatch up a ripe, delicious looking tomato. Deep red, and firm to the touch, I pick it and wipe it off on my shirt. It sprays tomato juice and seeds when I bite in. Instinctively, I stick my neck out and jump back to narrowly avoid drenching my shirt. My face is another story. Agatha laughs. She pulls a napkin from the clothesline, wets it at the faucet, and comes back to wipe my face.
With a smirk she comments, “You remind me of my husband: strong, but in need of a little mothering now and then.”
This makes me avert my eyes and I feel sad she doesn’t have him. “Did you ever find out what happened to him?”
Though a smile persists on her face, I can tell she’s been drawn into sad memories. I realize I must have upset her.
“Never mind. It’s okay. You don’t have to answer.” I try to backtrack.
“He was out when Evalyn died. I’m certain she held on just long enough to wait until he was gone. Of course, because he wasn’t here, he didn’t come with us when the vortex swallowed us.” She sighs. “We landed back in Chas near our starting time once. It was about seven years for us, but only three for him. When I found him he had lost his grip on reality. He became scared, claimed I was a hallucination. He wouldn’t come see Ami.”
“I’m so sorry Agatha.” I hug her tightly and sense a well-hidden despair in her. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s all right. I wept for many nights after, but it’s only a sad memory now.”
“Well, no matter how deep into crazy I fall, I’ll always be here for you and Ami.” I smile and try to bring a little light to the darkness.
I let her go, and we stand in silence, watching as the sun nears the edge of the sky. It has become a little chillier, both the air and because the conversation died. The apple tree catches my eye, and the branches look to be in need of trimming.
“Do we have anything to trim the tree?” I ask.
“Yeah, we have some branch clippers with the other tools in the basement. I’ll show you where they are tomorrow,” she says, her normal cheeriness returning.
“It’s about time we go start dinner, isn’t it?” I smile.
“You might be right.” She nods as her stomach grumbles.
We laugh and head inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finished with cleaning up after an uneventful dinner, I retire to my room. With too much time to think, my mind is brought back to who I used to be. While I don’t want to revisit the memories, it is unavoidable as Tiberius’ consciousness presses against mine.
“Tiberius, it is time,” Ralig the Advisor speaks.
“Do I have to? I do not remember what to do.”
“Young prince, we have been over the coronation procedures a dozen times now. Have confidence you will remember what to do when you are in front of your subjects.”
I stand in front of a full-length mirror, adjusting my white gown and cloth pauldrons. My hair is a mess, but Ralig brushes it down.
“Just remember what we discussed…” Ralig reminds me.
Thinking of Ralig draws me into more of my past. With my light off, I sit at the head of my bed. I lean on the open window’s sill and stare out as stars start appearing one by one in the sky.
Drake killed our parents and was exiled. I grew up under the care of several advisors to my parents, but Ralig was always there – he corrupted me. The coronation was smooth, and I was given the crown and scepter to rule the people.
But he had already been working, planting the idea in my head to ‘liberate’ the nearby city from its unworthy ruler. He persuaded me into giving up my innocence under the guise of his family being held unlawfully for a tax they didn’t owe.
Lies. He manipulated me. He suggested sending a small band of warriors pretending to be bandits to kill the duke, and it was done. I came in after the duke’s death: under the banner of ‘peace and order’, I took control.
He taught me everything he knew about deviously meddling in other kingdom’s affairs. The second land I conquered was a small town, through subterfuge. I convinced the local mayor an attack from outlying lands was imminent and he would be safe under our banner. He swore allegiance to the Kingdom of Astid and me. But I realized then it took too much effort to win people over.
Then word from Drake came, and I saw an opportunity to expedite the expansion of my kingdom. With Drake as my assassin, I was able to sweep away the old and offer ‘new’.
Ralig corrupted me, and Drake furthered my darkness.
My mind turns away from rehashing my past.
I am no longer king and Drake has no reach here.
Sleep creeps in and I take refuge in the covers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My night was filled with no dreams, no nightmares. I wake feeling a little refreshed.
After changing into clean clothes and putting on the crystal necklace, I stop for a moment to look out my window at a pre-dawn sky. The outdoors calls me. I bring my dirty clothes down with me, depositing them in the basket near the clotheslines.
The air is cold. I breathe deeply. Though I’ve had haunting thoughts, and my memories have come back, I refuse to let it cripple me right now. I return to the kitchen and keep my mind busy cooking breakfast. The kitchen heats up with smells of sausage, potatoes and onion. This brings in the first of the women and I’m surprised which one.
Eve sits down, elbow on the table and presses her face into her palm. Her eyes are barely open but I smile anyway.
“Food is your motivator today I see,” I joke.
“Whatever it is you’re cooking smells good, but it’s not why I’m up. Had a nightmare about being caught in the firefight which killed my parents,” she mumbles.
“Ah, I’m sorry,” I bring her a plate of food. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Thanks babe. But no. I’m not in the mood.”
The others wander in at different intervals. Agatha first, then Emma, and finally Ami. I serve them each when they come in, and when the last has been served I sit down to eat.
“This time we’re in is nice. Because of my personal ‘issues’, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about others and the despair,” I tell them.
“Rain, if you need to talk, we’re here for you,” Ami answers with a mouth full of food.
“I’ll make sure to call on you all as needed while I dredge through my past.”
Despite sitting down last, I am the first to stand up from the table. I clean up and put a bowl of leftovers into the refrigerator. Keeping busy, I head downstairs to the tool room to search for the branch trimmers. It dawns on me that I don’t know what they look like. Footsteps approach from behind. It’s Agatha. She moves over to the far wall and pulls down what looks like a large pair of curved scissors with two long handles.
“He
re you go. Don’t hurt yourself.” She hands them to me.
“Thanks Aggy.”
“If you need help, just let one of us know.” She places her hand on my shoulder briefly before passing me on her way back upstairs.
A light mist covers the plateau when I step outside. Low clouds are moving past, covering things in a light fog. The tree is easy to navigate and I work my way around it from the top down. Spiraling around it, I finally reach the bottom an hour or so later.
I take a break on the edge of the cliff, my legs dangling over. The fog has burned off and dark spots flutter through the air in between other plateaus in the far distance.
This didn’t take as long as I hoped it would. Maybe I could go spend some more time with Evalyn and figure out what we do when we gather some of these artifacts. What happens if we do?
I’m no longer a king. I have a new life here as a member of this household, with duties and responsibilities.
But we should be rightfully ruling. The heirloom was the proof. Our ancestor saw it, knew it! If Asta does not exist wherever we stop and rest permanently then we breech the local government. We can take control once more!
Though Tiberius spouts mostly nonsense, he’s right on the heirloom. It was proof. A reminder of what I used to be, and the kind of person I no longer am. It may have been useful to serve as a pledge to not becoming an evil man again.
When we shift through time, it will be lost forever. Can I get it back somehow?
I lie down. Ami exits the kitchen and heads my way. Her hips sway and draw my attention. I can’t help but stare at her curvy figure, dressed in tight jeans and a red, V-neck, long sleeve shirt. She’s biting her lower lip.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“How’s it going out here?”
“I’m done with trimming. Just need to toss this all over the cliff there, and then I’ll have nothing to do.”
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Not having some adventure going on, I mean.” She sits down next to me.
“I am going a stir crazy to the point I’m contemplating going to find my sword.” I let out a sigh.
“You know that’s insane right? Even if you could climb down, how would you get back up?”
“I hadn’t thought that far.” I stand up and brush myself off. “How about we cut my hair instead?”
“Sounds like a better plan.” She smirks.
Heading inside she leads me to the bathroom and holds her finger up, indicating I should wait here. She returns with a chair, towel and scissors. I sit, and she drapes the towel across my chest, tucking it into the neck of my shirt.
“Do you care how it’s cut?” She asks.
“Not really. I just want it out of my face.”
She begins cutting and I watch locks of hair fall. I close my eyes and relax, losing my sense of time while she cuts away. My head becomes lighter. I peek through my peripheral vision at the mirror, but I can’t catch a clear view. Leaving for just a moment, she moves to the sink to wet a bar of soap and grab a razor.
While she’s busy away from me, I turn my head to see. She has cut my hair quite short. It’s messy, but I can tell the sides are significantly shorter than the top. Returning, she uses the soap to lather up the back of my neck and takes care to not cut me while bringing the hairline up. Wiping off my neck she looks me over.
“Let’s wet your hair and see how it looks,” she says removing the towel from around my neck.
At the sink I run my head under the running faucet while she sweeps up. When I run my fingers through it, it spikes up and looks interesting. It reminds me, though, of the way Drake liked to keep his hair.
“Shall we do your face next? You only look like half of a hobo now.” She giggles.
“Sure, why not.” I shrug.
In front of the mirror, she lathers up my face and shaves with care. Slowly she runs the blade across my skin and I watch her as she concentrates on not cutting me. Our eyes meet a few times but she isn’t distracted.
I have to be strong against Tiberius, against my past. For her. I can’t let her down.
“There. Now take a shower, otherwise you’ll itch. I’ll get you a towel and fresh clothes and leave them at the door.” She reaches up and strokes my chin.
“Thanks Ami.” I grab her hand and hold it on my face.
Our eyes lock and I dive deep into her brilliant blue eyes. A few moments pass and I contemplate drawing her in for a kiss, but a noise in the hallway startles us both.
She drops her hand and leaves me to my shower. I take my time and let the hot water soothe my body. It washes away both hair and tension. When I’m finished, I shake off a bit before stepping out and retrieving the garments left for me. I dry off and put on the clothes and shoes provided.
I deposit my dirty clothes in the washbasin in the yard, and walk around to admire the calm skies. Circling around I head for the tree only to find Emma has taken over my job, throwing the branches off the edge of our plateau.
“Thanks,” I smile at her. “I was actually coming back to finish.”
“Wow! You’re handsome!” she exclaims when she sees my new look. “I’m going to have to beat Ami and Eve away with a hoe.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Don’t let them take advantage of you. I see how they both look at you. If they try, just yell for me and I’ll come to your rescue.”
I laugh and we finish tossing the branches over the side. Watching the last branch fall I estimate about how far my sword could have made it with my throw.
Get it back.
They aren’t going to like it, but I have to have it back. It may be a reminder I used to be an evil person, maybe one day I can use it to redeem myself.
I caress the round gem hung from my neck.
But jumping from this height and using a shockwave, even with my crystal, I’d likely be hurt severely. I just can’t anticipate how I’ll be thrown upon the shockwave impact.
As a sign my thoughts of retrieving it might be valid, dark shadows appear, darting and swooping across the tops of nearby plateaus. Ear piercing screeches echo through canyons, and a flock of large, leathery winged creatures approach. Their bodies are minimal compared to their enormous wingspan, but they don’t look like any sort of bird I’ve seen before.
Emma gasps and lets out a scream as the creatures make their way around the plateaus toward ours. She makes a break for the house. When I look back, she’s gained the attention of the other house members.
“Flying monsters!” Emma screams while running past them, inside and slamming the door shut.
Do it!
“This is my chance,” I mumble to myself.
Get it back!
Quiet, Tiberius.
Looking at the creatures and then back at the women I focus on Ami’s face. She sees it in my eyes. She knows what I’m about to do. I grin. The flying reptiles approach closer to our plateau. I run back a dozen or so feet.
“Rain, no!” Ami runs at me and yells.
I ignore her. Timing it as the creatures near the side of our plateau, I begin running. Their flock begins a pass and I leap with an extra push from a shockwave. Launching myself out I soar through the air and find myself heading directly for them. A few hundred feet drop seems significant, but it passes quickly as I arc toward them. I near the creatures and connect with one.
It squawks and shrieks in protest. I slide along its leathery hide, trying to grip onto it. We spiral out of control, falling out of the sky together. It tries to snap at me with its beak, craning its neck around, while at the same time trying to regain flight.
I hear faint screaming and look over my shoulder. Several hundred feet above, small figures which I know to be my family peek over the edge. We tumble a few hundred feet more toward the ground before it finally spreads its wings out again, catching an upward air current.
Sliding from one wing toward the other, I catch its neck. It protests and tries to bite me, but I punch it in the snout and it l
eaves me alone.
I feel empowered taking control, and it finally dawns on me: This whole time I have been subconsciously seeking out conflict. It was Tiberius attempting to surface.
It was me. I am what kept them out of danger. My prowess. My cunning.
I’m brought back to reality when the flying creature dives toward the ground at a significant speed. When another set of screeches comes from above, I fear for my life. Several of its flock are pursuing. One swoops down to try and grab me with a pair of mighty talons, but I slip underneath the creature’s neck. The only thing keeping me from falling is my death-grip on its hide.
Coming up quickly on the ground, I assume it’s going to attempt to dislodge me or worse, smash me. Though we’re coming in fast, I have to avoid that.
We approach a tree and I let go. The branch I hit is large. My head smacks against it. Dizzy, I do my best to hang on for dear life. The winged creature swings up and swoops back around to grab me with its talons. I’m forced to let go of my branch to avoid it.
I tumble, hitting many branches on my way down, finally coming to rest on another thick branch. My body aches. There’s a knot on my head, and I can feel a near future number of bruises across my body. The leather-winged beasts screech. I’m no longer in their sight. Their sounds recede and it appears they’ve given up.
I guess that went better than it could have. I could be dead. Now, where am I? I’ll need to find my bearings before I can start looking for the sword.
Sitting for a few moments I gather my composure. That composure is lost when a long necked, scaly creature reaches its head into the tree and begins to eat leaves right near me. My heart beats quickly, and I worry it might be omnivorous. I sit completely still as it takes little or no notice of me.
When it’s gone I breathe a sigh of relief and climb down the tree. A pool of water lies below, surrounding the tree and I drop into it with a splash. My clothes are soaked, but it’s the least of my worries.
I’m in the middle of a number of the long necked creatures mingling about. I hug the tree closely. One misstep on their part would crush me. There is a break in the herd and I push through the waist high pond to shore, toward the column of rock the house sits on.
R.E.solve (Rain Experience Book 2) Page 32