by T M Caruana
There was silence for a few seconds followed by an apology from the man.
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean what I said.”
After that, there was silence. They seemed to have drifted away. I jumped up from the bed to snoop around the enormous chamber.
The room was like one you might imagine in a medieval fort with high ceilings, light purple floral wallpaper and heavy rustic furniture. I found my clothes in the dresser. They had been washed, ironed and folded neatly in the top drawer. I looked down at the white nightgown I was wearing. It was too long and reached more than down to the floor. It was white with a yellow ‘N’ embroidered on the chest exactly over my tattoo. I noticed the window and went to look out, hoping I would see something that could help my escape. However, it only increased my disappointment. What could be seen from the window wasn’t of any help. I had never been here before so I wouldn’t be able to recognise anything anyway. Outside in the courtyard there were children playing happily – boys and girls with balls and a rope. The parents sat on benches around the playground, supervising their children. It all looked very normal and no one seemed to be afraid or in captivity. What little I could see over the fort wall was all covered by forest. What would I do now? Old fears of being locked up and isolated started to plague me.
<><><>
The days passed. Katrona visited me daily and we became better friends. We most often sat together on the windowsill to comment and gossip about the people in the fort. Katrona said she had no children and no special man in her life. She loved animals and had always wanted to be a veterinarian and especially liked the sound of horses’ hooves galloping over the fields. Her favourite colour was yellow so she loved her eyes, but hated her fluffy curly hair. She was opinionated but humble and caring at the same time. She relaxed with the sound of the guitar, which her master usually played in the evenings. She wanted more adventure in her life, but she seemed to have a duty that kept her in the fort. The list of things I knew about her was long, but I never divulged a word about myself even when I had persuaded myself that Katrona’s friendship was genuine.
For tactical reasons I had never asked about what happened to the kidnapped little girl because I didn’t want to know the horrible things they might have done to her. Maybe because it was possible she was already dead and I didn’t want to understand the reality of what would probably happen to me.
“Good night,” Katrona whispered as she left my room after a pleasant evening spent laughing together as usual.
That night I was woken up by a long creature, covered by a dark coat that hid its body and head. It crept quietly around in the room rummaging through the belongings that I had received from Katrona. I didn’t possess many and my jewellery I still wore around my neck. The creature was looking for something, but what? I had almost nothing. When he looked up after searching through the bottom drawer in the dresser, his hood fell down revealing his face. To my surprise, he was not from Pixi. I could clearly see his short dark hair even in the darkness. I sat up in my bed with the hope that maybe he could help me out of here. Even though he seemed to be one of them, maybe I could convince him to help me.
“Hey, you? How did you get in? You have to help me out of here,” I whispered to the man who halted in a flash at the sound of my voice.
I stood up and, with terror in my heart, slowly approached the man. He stood still until we could both see his body start to glow and then he turned slowly, looking at me with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. He looked terrified himself, as if I were a ghost. I was also terrified of his glowing body. What powers were those? What was he going to do to me?
I went to light the lamp on the dresser and noticed some strange details about the man. He had purple eyes like a Pixi and his skin was almost as white as mine, but with dark hair. I scanned my memories of the others in the group to make sure that he wasn’t like any of the others either.
Before I could ask him again he had rushed out, slammed the door to the bars that he had left open when he had entered, and stormed out of the room. I could hear him talking to Katrona in the next room. I pressed my ear against the wall to better hear them.
“Noah, what is it, you look pale?”
Katrona had obviously been woken up and sounded worried.
“You know…do you know who the woman is? Captured…” he stammered.
“Don’t start that again, I have said that I take responsibility for her, she isn’t dangerous, believe me,” she replied in a tired voice.
“No…no…I mean…you have no idea who she is…and I have kept her prisoner…she has been hit over the head…how could I let this happen?”
“What is it Noah? I’ve never seen you like this before, you are shaking.”
Katrona sounded concerned and I pressed my ear even harder against the wall to hear more clearly.
“I should have visited the prisoner…I should have…it would have spared her from this…what have I done? The woman in the room…it’s Susy.”
He groaned in grief and anguish over what had happened. How did this man know me? Noah…it rang a bell. Hunter might have mentioned his name, but I can’t remember.
“You mean your Susy? The almighty Susy?”
Katrona sounded as shocked as I was over her description of me. Almighty Susy, what did she mean by that?
“Yes,” he moaned. “What do I do now? She didn’t remember me, probably an effect of the time on Teli. I don’t understand; how could she be here in my fort, after so many years when I had thought she was dead? And now I can’t just wander into her room and say: ‘Hey I’m sorry that I held you captive’.”
He sounded desperate, and so was I. What was the man on about? What did all this mean? I put my ear against the wall again to keep on listening to their conversation. “I must try my best to explain to her. But not like this. Tell the servant to prepare my best royal attire, with the purple and grey spotted cape with the high collar. I need a white shirt with grey trousers.”
“I thought she was dead,” he repeated anxiously.
It appeared to me listening on the other side of the wall, as if his thoughts were trapped in a sad past. “I need to find Hunter and Nina. The time has come!” he exclaimed.
“You will look ridiculous, but it’s your choice,” Katrona replied, as blunt as ever.
Then there was silence. Had they left the room? Where did they go? What should I do now? I stayed awake. It seemed safest and I was too excited to sleep, even though I felt much more tired here on Pixi than I did on Teli. Tarus was right as always: the moon really did have an effect on me.
A thud on the door caught my attention and I crawled deeper down under the duvet as I saw the handle of the door being pushed down. I didn’t want to feel vulnerable so I made my way to the windowsill, which was where he would see me as he once again stepped into my room. The man was tidied up and somewhat overdressed for the occasion. I felt exposed in the light nightgown, but was still confused over the bizarre situation. I decided I would feel safer in bed and quickly crawled back under the covers again to wait for the man to approach me. I wondered if it was this man who would decide my fate? It would be peculiar if my fate were decided like this in the middle of the night. In his new attire, he looked very handsome and statesmanlike. His height and muscular body were emphasised more in white against his pale skin than when he wore the black cloak. He quietly sat down on the chair beside my bed.
“Susy, dear Susy. I can’t describe how sorry I am about how this situation – forgive me.”
“Huh?” I was more confused than before. “You know who I am?”
“Yes, I am the one who knows better than anyone in the world who you are. I know you must have gone through a lot and everything will eventually come back. For what it’s worth right now, I am Noah, Pixi’s rightful king and…”
“And my brother?” I remembered now.
Hunter had said that I grew up with the Royal Children in the castle, Noah and Nina. I felt delighted that he wasn�
��t there to condemn me to death.
“Huh! No! Who told you that? You are my soulmate,” he coughed confusedly and appeared a little upset.
He moved over to the bed, so close to me that his body began to glow again. The information scared me and it was too much to process at once. I pulled the sheet up a little higher to cover more of my body. This couldn’t be true, could it? Why had Hunter left out that bit of information, why hadn’t he told me? Or had he tried? I was always too impatient to wait for others to reply so I was used to filling in the gaps of the sentences myself. I should have guessed the end and even tried to read between the lines. I sat so still that I had to wiggle my toes to confirm that I hadn’t turned to stone.
“Why don’t I glow?” I questioned at last.
“No one knows, I have always believed that it’s due to your powers,” he explained kindly and patiently despite my doubts.
He placed a wild rose on the bedside table that he had brought for me and seized my hand in his.
“Everything will be all right now. We need to return and regain the throne in the castle and retrieve all the stones. Hopefully it’s not too late to save the worlds. But first, do you know where we can find Hunter?”
I had listened to his explanations carefully, but still didn’t understand what he meant by saying that everything would be back to normal again. What was normal? As Noah scratched his neck I glimpsed a bit of the tattoo of the pentagram on his chest through his shirt. This made me lose all doubts I had had concerning his words. Michael had explained that the tattoo was only crafted on people who were the rightful descendants of the bloodline. What Noah said must be true. Everything was so strange. It seemed the unanswered questions just multiplied.
“If you are from Pixi, how can it be that you have dark hair and aren’t blonde like the others?” I asked, not sure if that was too personal and so I hurried on. “Why did I see the little girl kidnapped from the forest by one of your guards?”
I was becoming increasingly frustrated with all the questions, when my memory never seemed to return. But at this point I only wanted to have one question answered; what was the situation with Tarus and myself, and after Noah’s declaration of love I just couldn’t ask that.
“The girl you saw in the forest lives in the west wing of the fort and had gone on an adventure. Her father went to bring her back. I don’t understand why you thought she was kidnapped. Did she look scared? The guards saw you and thought you were from another world, so they hit you on the head to bring you here, and for that I am sorry,” he elaborated.
What he had explained was true, now when I thought about it. The girl hadn’t cried, nor had she fought against the man. She’d only been carried under her father’s arm. If it had looked violent it could have been due to the speed and strength of the Pixi people. It was no wonder that I had misjudged the situation.
“Why didn’t you come to Teli to save me?” I asked, suddenly feeling abandoned.
Had the man, who claimed to be my soulmate, just left me to my horrible fate at the first sign of trouble?
“The day you were kidnapped…I tried to rescue you and I would have killed the two men, from Teli, with my bare hands if necessary. But Eutychia was there and cast a spell over me. It was afterwards that, that Leo put a protective spell over Pixi.”
His eyes narrowed and his voice became weaker. It was obvious that he had re-encountered a subject that he had repressed for many years.
“The explosion from her magic threw my body from the castle all the way here, to the place we are today. I had been almost lifeless when Katrona came across my body and healed me back to life. An old man in the village had locked her up as a prisoner and had used her as a life-saving source of healing powers. During the turmoil after your kidnapping, she had finally been able to find a chance to escape. That’s why she couldn’t recognise you,” he affirmed.
This was so reassuring that I dared to ask more questions.
“Then Katrona is as I assumed, like Michael, from Medi? Is that the reason she is near you all the time, because you have to protect her now that you’ve been linked by her healing powers?” I asked with my newly found knowledge.
“Oh, you know about that, yes, we will always need to be close to each other,” Noah agreed.
Katrona, who had appeared in the doorway, gave a discrete cough, indicating that a more affectionate description of her importance was needed.
“Well, it just so happens that she is a loyal friend too, who has supported me in these difficult times and I’m glad she still lets me be near her, to protect her,” he said emphasising his gratitude.
“When I first tried to return to the castle after my recovery, the people had already announced Net as the new king, thinking I was dead. My sadness at having lost you was too profound to care so I hid in the forest. I created a new stronghold and my faithful followers have been moving in over the years as they found the place.”
“Why did the people elect a new king when they have Nina and Hunter?”
“Hunter was sent to Teli to find out what had happened to you and Nina was too busy taking care of their new-born son. The people didn’t trust her to put their interests ahead of her own. I know Nina though and she has never been interested in ruling the world.”
The tender feelings for his sister were apparent in his eyes.
“When all the stones are back, the power will once again give life to the people.”
“I don’t think Hunter has found all the stones yet,” I replied, feeling I had somehow failed a mission.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them in the end and with you alive, we have a reason to continue the search.”
I could see a new sparkle that lit his eyes with hope as he looked into mine. I tried my best to read all the emotions with my strengthened power and I felt that he was hurting for me. It was clear that there was a lovely story behind our relationship, which I sadly couldn’t remember.
“Hunter and the others have been camped outside the waterfall since we arrived back. But now I don’t know if they are still there,” I told him, change the subject.
“Then we must immediately prepare the horses in order to meet him. I have missed our banter and I’m sure my poor sister has missed him too,” he said as he stood up and politely offered his hand to help me out of bed. “Katrona will help you with something more decent to wear. You can meet us in the courtyard when you’re ready.”
<><><>
It wasn’t long before we reached the waterfall and we were in luck because the whole group was still camped by the fire, just as I had seen them last. I assumed they didn’t want to return to the castle when they had just lost me again. Noah helped me down from a beautiful white horse decorated in Noah’s own royal livery, embroidered with the golden ‘N’. I had never imagined that I would feel this much relief and security from their presence. They had been strangers only four months ago, but they hadn’t abandoned me and I was so pleased to see how their faces lit up on my return.
“Susy you’re all right, where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you!” Hunter exclaimed, the first one to rush up to greet me.
Michael wasn’t far behind with his usual smile stretching from cheek to cheek. Even Kora had stood up to acknowledge my arrival. I really needed to inform Hunter of his bearlike hug though, before it crushed me completely. This time he even lifted me off the ground with a whole spin clockwise.
“Now, I won’t let you out of my sight again until…” he lapsed into silence when he realised who I had with me and went down on one knee.
“Your Majesty, I thought you were…” he murmured quietly before his king.
“Hunter, dear brother, rise. Here we are equals,” Noah responded.
At all the commotion, Tarus peered out from behind the waterfall. I couldn’t bring myself to control my emotions. I immediately threw myself into his arms and hugged him so hard that it burned. Tarus moaned with what had to be pain from the bones in his body that s
till hadn’t quite healed, before he gave his irresistible smile.
“Oh Tarus you are alive!” I exclaimed, with my arms still around him, until I realised everyone had fallen silent.
I saw too that Noah was obviously disconcerted by my affection for Tarus.
I released my grip and stepped back a few steps to avoid making the situation worse. I was now able to sense that Tarus’s feelings mirrored mine. His pleasure in seeing me, transformed into anger at the sight of Noah. He, like everyone else, had thought that Noah was dead and now he understood the odds of losing me.
“Noah,” he greeted politely, but not in a friendly way.
His respect wasn’t the same as Hunter’s.
“Tarus,” Noah replied.
It all looked civilised, but their words were barbed with hatred.
Noah then turned to Kora.
“I’m sorry to hear about your father’s death.”
Kora’s eyes were shocked as she looked at Noah. It was obvious that she wasn’t aware of his passing. It was the first time I had heard her utter so many words.
“What! My father is dead? What happened? How?”
She gasped slightly, but otherwise her face was as strict as ever with those sharp eyes.
“I heard that he had been murdered by someone from Sabi as he tried to save the unicorn, that’s all I know.”
Noah spoke shortly, as if he knew Kora would not want details of her father’s death announced publicly. Kora gave a sharp look over at Samuel, her eyes full of disgust.
“Before we begin our search for the missing stones, I need to pass by Angi to give him a proper burial, and I want to make sure that my mother is all right,” was all she said before sitting quietly down again.
We all sat gathered by the fireplace to start forging plans to regain the kingdom and find the missing power stones. As usual they weren’t in agreement and sarcastic comments were thrown around in a competition for power. I sighed and went inside the cave behind the waterfall and sat on a ledge. I felt I had to get away from them all for a while.