Bound (The Guardians) (13 page)

Lord Neros tells me to ‘keep up’ and I quickly scurry behind. We pass through another set of doors into a large entertainment area. It has a bar with a cover over it, lounges, a fountain and fancy rugs on the floor. It’s amazing. I have never seen a place so posh.

But this isn’t the room we’re heading for. We pass through another, slightly smaller lounge area and over to a set of crystal doors. Lord Neros pushes them open and asks me to enter.

When I step into the room, I’m surprised to see it’s full of exotic plants. The crystal at the very peak of the highest pillar isn’t thick like the other parts of the Tower. It is cut open in sections, allowing fresh air and small birds to enter at will. In the middle of the room I see the back of a slender woman. She sits up straight on a rounded arm chair. There’s a spare chair next to her.

Lord Neros gently places his hand on her shoulder. The woman turns her head slightly; her long white blonde hair delicately hanging down her shoulder in a braid.

‘My treasure,’ Lord Neros says softly, ‘I have brought Mellea to you, as you wished.’

The woman slowly places her hand on his. She replies, ‘Thank you my dear.’

Lord Neros glances at me and points to the chair with his arm. I make my way over to him and sit gently. Neros leaves us without another word. The woman waits until he is completely gone before she speaks.

‘Mellea, it is so nice to meet you at last.’

Her glance turns my way. I look into her eyes and my mouth falls slightly. They’re white and cloudy, she’s completely blind. But her face, it’s still caring and gentle. Her skin is soft but pale. Even her dress is beautiful and white, fitting her well around the torso before flowing all the way to the floor. Everything about her is almost angelic.

Around her neck hangs a necklace similar to Leo’s. The only thing that different is the stone. It’s light blue and carved into the shape of a tear drop.

‘I should introduce myself properly. My name is Lethia, Lady Guardian of Selestia.’

‘N-nice to meet you,’ I stutter. It’s her. I can’t believe I’m finally meeting Lady Lethia, the last piece of the Guardian’s puzzle.

Lady Lethia says, ‘I apologise for our meeting being so delayed. Unfortunately I have been rather ill. I have been bedridden for almost two weeks.’

No one had mentioned a single word about her being sick. Obviously it’s something that they don’t want getting out.

I don’t notice how long I have been sitting silently until Lethia says, ‘You must say something Mellea, or I shall be worried you are no longer there.’ She reaches out with stiff arms, flapping hands and making light of her blindness. Her smile is almost cheeky; it reminds me of Leo’s.

I say quickly, ‘Oh, I’m sorry! I still get nervous meeting important people.’

‘We all feel that way in the beginning, but it passes.’ Lethia becomes serious as she continues, ‘There are a couple of things I want to say, if that would be all right?’

‘Of course,’ I reply softly. Even though she’s blind, I still feel a need to straighten out my posture. I shift in my seat and place my hands in my lap.

‘My illness extends back further than these last two weeks. It has been kept a secret by the Guardians for almost a year. I was diagnosed with a genetic disease, so rare it does not have a proper name. It can be carried through generations of people, not affecting a single one. It causes blindness and then overpowering exhaustion, inevitably it will lead to an early passing.’

S-she’s dying?

‘Neros constantly remains by my side,’ she continues. ‘I am grateful. And yet I know I have distracted him from his duties as Lord Guardian. That is why this new enemy have been able to slip through our fingertips, unnoticed.’

I don’t know what else to say but, ‘I’m sorry.’

With a grin she replies, ‘Do not feel sorry, little lovely.’ My body tingles when she issues me a new pet name. ‘I should be the one apologising to you. My illness has also taken Leo from you quite a bit. He and Arin have been searching for a medicine or treatment that might help me. However they have been unsuccessful. But I am not sad. I am content with my fate.’

Lady Lethia moves in her chair. With a new, upbeat tone she asks, ‘
So
tell me, are you and Leo getting along well?’

A dying woman sits before me. She asks me a hard question. She wants to know so she can leave this world content that her son is in good hands. The other two Successors appear secure and somewhat happy with their new brides. She wants that for Leo too.

I want so badly to lie, to tell her that Leo and I are getting along famously and that we’re so madly in love my head is spinning and my knees are weak. But I can’t…I physically can’t.

‘No, I’m sorry to say we’re not. He kind of tricked me into this whole thing. I wanted to see my parents and I said that if he would let me go, I would unite with him. I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter anyway and it was the only way to convince Leo. But when I got to Pekkin, my father told me the truth about the laws and yelled at me. He thinks I’ve been seduced by this world. Sometimes I feel like my Da is one step away from being a genuine anti-Guardian assassin. So, naturally, his only daughter being engaged to one is a bit of an overload. I guess that’s why he slapped me. My mother…she just went along with it. I think they truly hate me.’

After I finish talking, I realise how much I have accidently spilled. She really didn’t need to know the details. I’m sure she is going to be upset, and she is, but not with me.

‘You poor child, I feel terrible,’ she says with an angry sigh. ‘I cannot say that Neros has never hit my children, but as a mother I have always stepped and shielded them to some extent where possible. Yet I see no valid reason for anyone to do that, especially not to you. You’re a young woman now, not a child.’ She carefully pushes some stray hair from her face with two fingers. ‘However I am more disturbed by the actions of my Leo. What in spirits name am I going to do with that boy? I cannot believe that he manipulated the
one person
he is supposed to be able to trust the most. I thought I had talked him out of that old behaviour.’

Lethia moves in her chair once more. Her eyes are so close to looking straight at me I have to stare back. ‘Mellea, please do not take Leo’s actions too much to heart. He may seem… intentionally hurtful, but deep down, he is not. Leo struggles with new interactions. He has
never
had friends, let alone a special friend he can rely on. He probably tricked you into committing to him because he was afraid you would leave.’ Lethia turns her head away. ‘Once, when Leo was ten, he snuck out of the Tower and ran away. He was gone for hours. I was so worried. When we finally found him, he was in a park outside Poridos, crying. I thought he was scared and I tried to console him. But he pushed me away and yelled at me. The other children were cruel to him. You see, he had accidently told them who he was, a Successor. One child was repeating the words of his family, calling Leo “
monster”
and pushed him down. He scraped his knees and the other kids just stood their laughing. Leo is tall now, but back when he was younger he was very small. I still remember his scared little face when he told me what they had said. It was so horrified. It is something I will carry with me forever.’

Man alive! That word “monster” is
really
coming back to bite me in the ass.

At least now though I can understand why Leo hates it. I unknowingly hit a nerve from his childhood. I probably would have pushed me down too. Not that I’m excusing his behaviour.

‘I guess being a Successor is harder than I thought,’ I say softly. ‘And being picked on is never fun. It’s no wonder he has issues with trust. It’s a shame really.’

Lethia smiles and says, ‘I like that you are honest. I think Leo does too. It is something he respects. His favourite Sentry officers in the Tower are the ones who pull him up and tell him when he is being…well… a bit of a jerk. Not the ones who constantly praise him, he gets enough of that from strangers who have their own romantic perception of us. Can I simply ask that you will remember one thing?’

I sit forward.

‘Regardless of your relationship with Leo, love him or hate him, do not get so caught up in the idea of being united to him that you miss a chance to experience something truly wonderful.’

‘Wonderful?’ I question.

‘Yes. You coming here is not simply to be a bride. It is a career. And whether you remain as Successor bride your entire Tower-life, or become Lady Guardian, being a part of the Guardians is unfathomably rewarding. You get to see things you never dreamed of, help people and protect them against needless wars and battles. You will be in a position to change lives.’

I sit there quietly for a moment. Lethia turns to me. Her blind eyes are still soft and caring. ‘I know it is hard, to suddenly feel like you have to be dedicated to someone. Twenty-eight years ago I was a forced bride too. But I learnt to get along with Neros and then I fell in love with him. It doesn’t happen that way for everyone, which is why I fought for the laws to be changed. I simply ask that you
try
and be Leo’s friend, at the very least. Everyone has told me delightful stories about you. I know you could be a great influence on him. Once you break through that initial wall, things will get easier.’

I’ve been so caught up in fighting this life that I didn’t realise that I now have a career, like Lethia said. But what she wants me to do with Leo… I’m not sure if I can. I don’t know if I have it in me to fake a friendship with someone I hate so much.

Somehow though, I don’t want to let her down.

‘I’ll try,’ I reply uncomfortably.

‘That is all I ask,’ she says. Quickly she begins to cough a little and places her hand up to her mouth. After a few coughs it becomes harder as she struggles to breathe. A nurse, hearing Lethia choking, enters the room swiftly with a small device. It is mask with a small bottle attached. The nurse places it over Lethia’s mouth and says to me, ‘I think you should leave now. I must attend to Lady Lethia.’

I nod and stand. I want to say goodbye, but I’m not sure if it’s appropriate. I quickly walk out of the glass room. Neros is long gone. I try and remember the exact way out. I finally reach the elevator, push the button and wait. When the doors open, Elentia is inside. I jump back as her dark eyes focus on me. Again, she is somehow where I am, like the time in Leo’s room.

‘Perfect timing Mellea,’ she says. I frown. It feels like more than that. ‘Get in; it is time for the next stage of training to begin.’

CHAPTER TWENTY

I’m unbelievably scratchy. I’m wearing a grey body suit made of a rubber-like material. It’s too tight around everywhere, including my private area when I sit.

Uncomfortably, I gaze around the room. I’m in the third pillar of the Tower, my first time in this place. This pillar is different in design to the other two. When I was escorted through the doors connected to the left side of the foyer in the main tower, I faced a large room with different sections dedicated to training. It takes up almost the entire space.

I sit and wait for Elentia. The grey plastic chair I’m perched on creaks under my bottom.

My seat is on the lowest level of a large grandstand, ascending up the wall, behind me.

The indoor facility is rather large with a ceiling that reaches to the top of the pillar. I can see the sky and clouds drifting above me. The floors are padded with dark red safety mats. I sit wondering if they’re red because so much blood gets spilt during training, it was easier and cheaper to colour match. I hope not.

Elentia walks over and stands before me. She’s dressed in a training outfit, t-shirt and calf length sweat pants, but still manages to wear a pair of short heeled boots to complete her sporty look. I can’t believe
she
is the one doing the training. I can’t figure out if her job actually means being highly versatile or she’s super nosey and pushes to be involved in everything.

Elentia moves her electronic clipboard before me. She’s never without it, even when in training. She once again uses it to project a hologram into the air above me. But this time it’s not a schedule. It’s a perfect, and slowly turning, hologram of Leo’s necklace. I recognise it instantly.

‘By now I am sure you have seen this necklace,’ Elentia says. ‘I am also positive you have read the Livolism books I gave you concerning the very first Guardian. He set free a deity who was waiting in the Tower for “the pure one”. That person was bestowed with great powers. Most people know that story. What they may not know is that the power the text speaks of is real. It comes from everlasting elemental powers that emanate from the
Guardian’s Stones
.’ Elentia flicks up another picture. It’s of several different shaped chunky and brightly coloured gems.

‘This is what they looked like originally, or so we assume from dated records. Over time, each chunky stone was carved down to make a collection of simplistic and easy-to-use jewellery items for the continuing generations of Guardians. There are currently twenty stone items in existence. They are stored safely below the Tower in the world’s securest safe. When a Successor child turns ten, he or she is given an item suited to their personality. When they die, they are returned to the vault. The same privilege is extended to brides, for as long as they are in service to the Tower. But, before I get to that, let me elaborate using Leo as an example.’

Elentia brushes another image into the air. I scrunch my face. It’s a perfect hologram of Leo, standing tall and straight, with his arms folded tightly. ‘Leo’s personality is strong and sharp; his moves are fast and deadly.’ When she says that, the hologram moves. The Leo imitation thrusts his arms forward, his index and middle finger pointed straight. It’s the attack he was using in Pekkin. Lightning shoots from the tips of his fingers and I flinch, even though it’s not real and goes right through me.

Elentia says, ‘As you can see, the Guardians granted him a gem with the element
lightning
. He is quite skilled with his gem. Actually, Leo is currently the
most
skilled out of the Successors with his power and does not use any other weapons. Because of this, Leo is classified by the Guardians as a “clean fighter”.’