“What have I done wrong?” I asked as soon as Rachel and Rob were out of hearing.
“What makes you think you have done anything wrong?” he asked in surprise.
“Usually you say you want a word with one of your offspring when they are in trouble.”
“True. But not this time. Ankou paid us a visit after leaving your aunt’s place.”
I tensed. “What did he say? Did he tell you why he left so abruptly?”
“No, but he did mention Rachel and how enamoured you are with her. From what I have seen so far, I think he is right.”
I groaned once more. “Please tell me he did not say anything in front of Katana and Spatha.”
The look on my father’s face gave me his answer. “I need a drink,” I said and was pleased when a cold bottle materialised in my hand.
“I don’t blame you,” he said as he took a quick swig from his own bottle. “Just don’t tell your mother.”
“Don’t tell me what?” mom asked as she walked into the room.
“Nothing,” I said at the same time as dad, both of us hiding the beer bottles behind our backs.
“It’s too early to be drinking,” she said, having seen what we were doing. “But I will let you off this once.” She smiled at me. “Rachel seems quite nice.”
“She is.” My mother gave me a knowing look, but did not make any more comments.
“What do Spatha and Katana have planned?” I asked my parents, hoping they would know if my sisters were up to anything.
“Nothing that I know of,” dad said.
“Other than getting to know Rachel, of course,” mom added.
“That is what I am afraid of. You don’t think they will say anything to her, do you? About my feelings I mean.”
“You mean she doesn’t know?” mom asked in surprise. I shook my head. “But the way you look at her makes it so obvious. How can she not have noticed?”
“She doesn’t know me as well as you do.”
“So what are your plans?” she asked me.
I sighed, relaxed back into my chair and emptied my bottle. “Right now, I have none. Other than keeping her away from Ankou, that is. I supposed he bragged about how she reacted to him as soon as she laid her eyes on him.”
Mom and dad both shook their heads. “Never said a word. All he told us about was you and that we should find out what your intentions are. Well? What are your intentions?”
“I intend to go for a shower and not discuss this any further.” With that I stood up and left the room.
I made my way straight to my room, showered and put on clean clothes. There was no sign of Rachel or my sisters anywhere, which worried me, so I went to the library and tried to find a book which would take my mind off them.
I heard the three young ladies enter the house, but I did not get up. I listened carefully as Spatha took Rachel into her own room for a few minutes before escorting her to the one she had been assigned. Knowing Rachel would probably want to bathe for an hour or so I returned to my book, but I couldn’t concentrate on it. Eventually I gave up and began pacing the room. I was desperate to find out what my sisters had said to her. I thought about going and asking them, but decided that would be a big mistake. Not only could I not trust that they would tell me the truth, but it would also let them know that I didn’t want them talking to her about me and if they knew that then I could almost guarantee that they would do so.
When the frustration became too much for me I went to see Rachel. I stood outside her door and raised my hand, too nervous to knock. I lowered it and began to walk away, but I didn’t get far before I turned around and forced myself to rap my knuckles on the wooden door.
“Enter,” Rachel called out.
“Hi,” I said as I walked in. Rachel was sitting on the bed running a comb through her wet hair, so I sat down on the bed beside her. “I thought I should check that my sister’s didn’t give you a hard time about anything. They can be a little overwhelming sometimes.” I tried my best to sound like I was looking out for her rather than checking up on my sisters.
“They are a bit full on,” she said. “They seemed to want to know everything about me. They certainly asked some very personal questions.” I had been afraid of that, but there was nothing I could do about it now, so I kept my tone light.
“They like to say they are inquisitive. I think they are just plain nosey.”
“They also gave me the third degree about Ankou.”
I tensed. “What do you mean?”
“Apparently he came here at some point after he left Famine’s house so they know I have met him. They wanted to know what I thought of him, what we did while we were with Famine, that sort of thing.”
“Oh. And what did you tell them?”
“The truth,” she said. “When I spoke about Ankou trying to teach me how to use a sword Katana seemed to get very jealous and grumbled that he had never offered to teach her.”
“I bet she did.”
“She wouldn’t shut up about him. If he wasn’t her cousin I’d say she has a huge crush on him.”
“She has.”
“Ewe,” Rachel said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Isn’t that sort of incestuous?”
“Probably. Everyone keeps telling her nothing can ever happen between them, but she still has her heart set on marrying him.”
I stretched out on the bed and placed my hands behind my head. “So did you tell them you think he is, what’s the saying? Drop dead gorgeous?” I asked casually, though I was feeling anything but.
“Well I could hardly say otherwise, could I? They would know I was lying.” Not what I wanted to hear, but as least she was being honest with me. “But I did point out that I need more than just good looks to be attracted to someone.” Now why had she said that? Did she know how I felt about her? Was she trying to not make me feel bad? There was no way of knowing without asking her, so I forced the questions from my mind.
“Ankou must have said some good things about you.” I rolled over as I spoke, bending my arm to support my head so I could look at her. “Rob’s room is upstairs in the guest suite where all visitors are usually put up, but this one is in the family part of the house. Ankou is the only one who is ever allowed to stay here.”
“I’m honoured,” she said. There was no trace of sarcasm in her voice and I believe she really meant what she said. Then she smiled at me. “Maybe your family just feel sorry for me having to travel with you and Robert.”
“Ha ha. Very funny.” I pushed myself upward and eased myself off the bed. “Dinner will be ready soon. I’ll come and get you.” I walked to the door, but paused before leaving. “Feel free to wear the red dress, if you want.”
“Spatha has already given me a dress she thought would be suitable,” she said. I tried, but was not able to keep the disappointment I was feeling from showing on my face.
I went straight to the kitchen to see if mom needed any help preparing the dinner, but was informed that everything was under control. Katana was helping her and gave me a wicked grin as I entered the room.
“Rachel’s nice,” she said sweetly once our mother had finished talking. “I can see why you like her so much.”
I froze. “What have you said to her?” I asked in a cold voice.
“Nothing,” she said, smiling at me. “Yet.”
Not in the mood for her games, I didn’t react to her baiting, choosing instead to put some distance between us. I went to my room and looked through my wardrobe for something to change into. For the first time in my life I put a great deal of thought into what I would be wearing and it took me a long time to decide what would be the right combination of smart yet casual.
Once I was dressed I went to Rob’s room and informed him that he would need to dress up for dinner.
“Can you help out?” he asked.
I nodded and made a dark grey suit appear on the bed. Rob looked at it doubtfully. “Can’t I just wear my jeans and a shirt?” he asked, but I
shook my head.
He groaned, but agreed to wear the suit so I left him alone to get changed and made my way to Rachel’s room.
“May I come in?” I asked as I knocked on the door.
“Of course,” Rachel called out. I opened the door and walked into the room, stopping the moment I set eyes on my sister.
“What are you up to?” I asked Spatha in an unfriendly tone.
“I’m just helping Rachel get ready,” she said. “After all, when was the last time we had a female guest? One that wasn’t family that is.”
“That would be never. Come on. Dinner’s ready.”
I looked Rachel up and down as she passed me, unable to keep my eyes off her. She was wearing a blue dress that clung to her body in all the right places. It was low cut, revealing a gold chain with a sapphire and diamond pendant that my sister must have lent her. It matched the dress perfectly. Spatha had also expertly done her hair and makeup, making her look stunning. I made a mental note to thank her later.
Rob was already in the dining room when we got there, looking very uncomfortable in the suit. He was chatting with War and Bo and didn’t even look up when we entered.
Despite everyone being dressed up, dinner was far from formal. It was a nice, relaxed, family meal during which my two sisters took great delight in telling amusing stories about the family, mainly me, and seemed to be competing as to who could embarrass me the most. Initially I was angry with them and kept glaring at them, but they just smirked back at me as though daring me to say anything. I kept my mouth shut, knowing I would regret it if I didn’t. They had me over a barrel and there was nothing I could do about it. While Rachel was around they could get away with anything they wanted to as far as I was concerned and they both knew it.
Rachel laughed a lot and I began to relax, getting my revenge by telling stories about them, which they didn’t seem to mind. Everyone was enjoying the evening so much that it was very late when we finally decided to call it a night. The wine had been flowing all evening and I noticed that Rachel was a little wobbly on her feet when she stood up.
“Maybe I should escort you to your room,” I said, but Spatha grabbed her arm before she could reply. Just for a moment I truly hated my sister. She raised her eyebrows at me, challenging me to protest. I knew better than to do so, so I bid her good night and left the room.
Challenge
I had not been awake long the next morning when I was summoned to a family conference. My mother, father and sisters were already in the sun room when I arrived.
“I thought you might like to know what challenge I will be setting Rob and Rachel,” dad said as soon as I had seated myself. I didn’t like the tone of his voice. He sounded almost unsure of himself, which is completely out of character.
“I wasn’t sure exactly what I planned to do,” he continued, “but having heard from Ankou about how strong Rob’s friendship with Rachel is, as well as how you feel about her, I knew that I wanted to find out just how important she was to him.”
“I truly believe he would die for her,” I said.
“I believe you,” he said. “But will he kill for her?”
“I have absolutely no idea. How are you planning on finding out?”
“That’s down to us,” Spatha said, nodding her head toward Katana. “Last night when Rob told us about your adventures with Fee it started me thinking.”
“There is a first time for everything I suppose,” I muttered, just loud enough to be heard.
“Your father is going to pretend to test Rob’s ingenuity by asking him and Rachel to cross the frozen lake,” mom said, ignoring my comment. “Katana will volunteer to guide them.”
“But when we get there I will send them to sleep,” Katana interrupted enthusiastically.
“Why?” I really didn’t like where this was going.
“Because, brother dearest,” Spatha said, “when they awaken, Katana will pretend to be unconscious and I will make myself look like Fee. I will have Rachel suspended over a hole in the ice.”
I didn’t need to hear any more. “No.” I didn’t get angry or upset, I just said the word loudly and clearly. I was not going to let this happen.
“Hear them out,” dad said in a placating tone.
“I will ask Rob to run away with me, or should I say ‘Fee’, instead of rescuing Tammara, which of course he will refuse to do. I will then give him the option of killing Katana or allowing Rachel to be dropped into the ice.”
“No,” I said again.
“She will be perfectly safe,” Katana said. “We will have a force field in place so she will never enter the water.”
“I don’t care. Something could still go wrong. I will not let you risk Rachel’s life like this.”
“And how exactly are you planning on stopping us?” Spatha asked.
“Spatha,” dad said sternly and my sister dropped her head, embarrassed by the rebuke.
I turned toward my father. “I can’t believe you are going along with this.”
“I must admit, I did have my reservations, but your sisters have managed to persuade me and your mother that they are more than capable of doing this. Rachel will never be in any danger.”
“Of course she will,” I said in exasperation.
Spatha walked over to me and placed a hand on my arm. “Trust us,” she said. “We know how much she means to you. We would never let anything happen to her.”
She was telling the truth, but something could still go wrong. Then again, something could have gone wrong when I took her through the fire. Something did go wrong when we rode the turtles.
“Why are you even telling me this? Why not leave me in the dark until after it is over. After all, it’s not as if you need my permission.”
“No,” dad said. “But we do need your help.”
“We don’t know what Fee looks like,” Katana said.
I smiled. “Then this conversation is over. Think of another challenge.”
Pushing Spatha away from me, I stood up and made to leave the room, but my mother called me back.
“Please,” she said. “Have faith in your sisters. Do you really trust them so little?”
I paused. If I left now it would hurt my sisters deeply, but was I really prepared to allow them to risk Rachel’s life?
I slowly turned around to face my family. “If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you.”
“It won’t,” my father said.
With a sense of foreboding that I could not shake, I returned to my seat and allowed Spatha to put her hands on my head. Then I thought about Fee, not only what she looked like, but how she moved, the sound of her voice and the way she talked. I relived many conversations, giving my sister all she needed to make a perfect imitation.
“I had better not regret this,” I said when it was over. Nobody replied as I left the room and went in search of Rob and Rachel.
I went to the dining room. Breakfast had already been laid out and was keeping warm and a short while later Rob appeared. After saying good morning and helping himself to some of the food he asked the question I had been dreading.
“So, do you know what test your father has planned?”
I contemplated lying, but I had been doing way too much of that recently. Instead I nodded my head. “I have just been informed.”
“And?” Rob prompted when I didn’t elaborate.
“And you will have to ask my father about the details.”
Rob then surprised me by dropping the matter. I changed topic and the two of us spent the next hour idly chatting while eating and drinking coffee.
“Where the hell is Rachel?” Rob finally asked. He had been doing his best to hide his impatience for the last half an hour or so, but could not take it any longer. He wanted to find out what the next challenge was and get it over with.
He hadn’t even noticed that he had said ‘hell’ and I decided to ignore it. “I know a good way to get her up.” I grinned mischievously.
&nbs
p; Rob threw me a questioning glance. I whistled sharply and soon the two wolf cubs came racing into the room.
“We have someone who needs to be dragged out of bed,” I said. I stood up and left the room, the two wolves chasing each other around my legs. Rob’s laugh followed me down the corridor.
I went straight to Rachel’s room, stopping outside the closed door. Instead of knocking I knelt down and asked the two energetic cubs if they wanted to see her. I then stepped aside and allowed them to scratch at the door, whining to be let in. As soon as the door was opened from the inside they raced into the room and jumped onto the bed.
“Great,” I heard Rachel grumble as she closed the door.
I waited outside, assuming she was getting washed and dressed instead of going back to bed. A short while later she emerged and I grinned at her.
“I thought that would get you up. Half the morning has gone and Rob is eager to find out what War’s test is going to be.”
Rachel ate a hurried breakfast while Rob paced impatiently around the room. Once she was finished I led them back to the sun room where the rest of my family were waiting.
“So far you have had your courage, your intelligence and your compassion tested,” dad said as soon as they were seated. “I will be testing your ingenuity. Katana has volunteered to lead you to one of our nearby lakes which is frozen solid. Though the temperature is much colder than anything you would encounter on Earth, except for at the poles perhaps, the ice is still very thin and will not hold your weight. All you have to do is cross it.”
“You mean you want us to walk on water,” Rob said with a smile on his face.
“Something like that,” dad said, returning his smile.
“Time to go,” Katana said before they had chance to ask any questions. “It’s not far, so you won’t need to bring anything with you. If you haven’t figured it out by lunchtime I will provide refreshments. If you are still stuck by the time it gets dark you have failed.”
As they walked out of the room I turned to Spatha. “I hope you know what you are doing.”
Kris's Story Page 19