Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) (9 page)

“Red,” Selena answered, shivering as she remembered the unnerving glow.

“Exactly.
He is possessed by Eranna and therefore one of her servants. He is not to be trusted.”

“Then why warn me?” Selena asked, shooting to her feet. “The first day he saw me in the woods he could have killed me
,
but he didn’t. Titus had several opportunities after that first day to take me out and he didn’t! Why would he do that if he were possessed?”

“I do not know, Princess. You should consider yourself fortunate. Titus will not be the last of Eranna’s servants to come for you.”

“Why? What do they want with me?”

“You are different, are you not? You have abilities that are inhuman?”

Selena nodded, casting a nervous glance at Zoe, who knew nothing of her hidden talent. Zoe frowned.

“You do? Cool! Ooh, are you super strong like Wonder Woman?”

Selena sighed. “The Flash would have been a closer guess.”

Zoe’s mouth fell open.
“Super speed?
Are you kidding me?”

Wil smiled. “Yes. You possess the same power as your
parents
then.
The speed of the centaurs of Damu.”

“Centaurs?”
Selena groaned, picturing the half-human, half-horse creature in her mind. She remembered them from Greek mythology.
“One crazy thing at a time, please.
Back to what you were saying about Eranna’s hit men coming after me.”

“Each of the lost princesses is vital to the power of Fallada. There is a prophecy that Eranna fears more than anything. She had hoped to avoid it by sending you all away, but now she knows that Adrah has sent us after you
. She will stop at nothing to secure her throne and to do
w
hat she must keep you from claiming yours.”

“Prophecy?
What does it say?”

Wil stood and paced behind the desk. His voice took on a haunting lilt as he recited the words that had obviously been ingrained into his memory.

“When th
e sun turns red over desert sky, when the
earth begins to shake
,
w
hen the tides of the sea rise,
when the clouds roll and thunder,
when
the phoenix rises high,
when the water creatures cry,
when the dreams o
f the white dove prophes
y,
then will come the sacred time.
Seven souls united,
seated upon thrones royal,
will bring about the winds of change,
and fertility to the soil.
And when the great army marches,
all will hear their battle cry.
All will know
and see
the proof of their victory in the sky.”

Wil stopped, his eyes fixed on Selena. “You, my dear, are the beginning of that prophecy’s coming to pass. ‘When the sun turns red
over the desert sky’…
it refers to the return of the eldest princess of Damu and the coming Red Dawn.
Eranna fears this, for it will signal the beginning of the war. She means to bring the fight to Damu first. You will lead the army that stops her.”

“No! No way! You’ve got the wrong girl.”

Selena jumped up from her chair and backed away from Wil and his crazy ideas. Zoe’s eyes were
as round as saucers.

“Sorry
,
man, but Selena isn’t exactly a general,” Zoe said. “What is she supposed to know about leading an army?”

Wil squared his shoulders and cast Zoe an exasperated glance. “
Princess Eladria
is the descendant of royalty, many of whom were great warriors. She is the daughter of King Eldalwen of Damu, one of the greatest of his time. It is already in her, young Zoe
,
and she will learn.”

Selena felt as if a fist had closed around her
lungs,
it was so hard to breathe. She pressed a hand to her throat and inhaled deep gulps of air, hoping to calm her racing pulse and frazzled nerves. It was entirely to
o much for one set of teenaged
shoulders to bear.

“No,” she said softly, her eyes lowered to the cluttered table between her and the eldest Grimm brother. “I can’t.”

“You must.”

Jacob Grimm spoke for the first time since bringing them into the room. He was standing as well, his hands resting on his desk’s scratched surface.

“Don’t you see, Selena? This is your destiny. Your entire life, you have felt as if you didn’t belong. I understand that feeling and so does Wil. It’s why we left Earth for Fallada. Something in us just
knew
it was
where we belonged. You will see, Selena. Once we arrive in Damu, you will understand. It is your home and those who dwell there are your people and you are responsible for them.”

“I don’t want to be responsible for them,” Selena countered, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “Do I look like the kind of girl who’s ready to throw on a cape and go around saving the universe? I’m seventeen years old! The biggest things that are supposed to be happening in my life right now are prom and gradu
ation, not wars and evil plots!”

She turned for the door, pulling Zoe along with her.

“I will go with you to Goldun so that the
Fae
ries can heal my grandmother, but then you are going to take me home.”

Jacob sighed and lowered his head. Wil remained silent as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared through a porthole out into the dark night.

“Very well,” Jake said, his shoulders sagging. “It will be as you wish, Selena.”

~*~

“Are you ready to talk about it now?”

“No.”

Zoe frowned and went back to staring out through the porthole over her cot. After leaving Jake and Wil’s cluttered room, the girls had retreated to their cabin for the night. They’d been there for hours and soon the sun would be rising, but Selena hadn’t been able to sleep a
wink. She had thought that Zoe was asleep, but her friend’s question shattered the silence in the room and reminded Selena that she wasn’t the only one who’d had a bombshell dropped on her today.

Fae
ries, shape-shifting
Werewolves
, evil queens…it was a lot to take in all at once. Selena glanced over to where her grandmother lay sleeping on her cot on the opposite side of the room and envied her. She wished someone had given her a sleeping potion; maybe then she could escape the frenzied thoughts taking up space in her head.

“I think you owe me at least that much,” Zoe said, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She stared at Selena pointedly. “I’m along for the ride here and it sounds like this is going to get dangerous. Plus, I’m your best friend.”

“You only get to play the best friend card once a year,” Selena said with a smile.

“When was the last time I used the friend card?”

“Two words: prom dress.”

“It’s not my fault we have similar taste in gowns. Besides, that dress looked like crap on you. Redheads can’t wear red, Selena.”

“Says who?”

“Says your reflection when you put that gown on.
Trust me girl, I did you a favor.”

“So what you’re saying is
,
I owe you for doing me that favor.”

“Exactly.
I mean, you could at least tell me more about wolf boy.”

Selena felt her cheeks going red and he
r face flushed with heat. She pulled her
blanket further up over her chest and sighed.

“There isn’t much to tell.”

“So a strange
Werewolf
comes into town and you don’t think to tell me?”

“He wasn’t a
Werewolf
when I met him Zoe. I mean, he was one but I didn’t know it. Not until he went mental and chased me down. By then there wasn’t much time to talk.”

“Is he cute?
”

A vision of onyx black hair and icy blue eyes filled Selena’s mind and she smiled. “So pretty I could cry.”

“Zac Efron pretty?”

Selena chuckled. “Prettier.”

With a barely contained squeal, Zoe jumped up from her cot and bounced onto Selena
’s
, taking them both back to their elementary school days of hiding beneath the sheets with a flashlight.

“This is crazy Selena.
You’re a freaking princess! I can’t wait to see your castle. I bet you’ve got some fabulous clothes and
—
”

“Zoe!”

Selena grasped Zoe’s shoulders and shook her, trying not to let her friend’s excitement get to her.

“You’re forgetting the part about the war and the crazy queen that wants my head on a pike. What about the part where I lead an army against her? Or the part where I become ruler of a kingdom? That means I’d never go home again.”

“Why would you
want
to go home again? And what about the part where you get to meet your parents? Jake and Wil mentioned your father in the present tense, Selena, so that means he’s alive. You finally
get to know where you come from and learn where
you get
your freaky powers. I’m still mad at you for not telling me about that, by the way.”

“What was I supposed to say? ‘
H
ey
,
Zoe
.
Nice
to meet you, my name is Selena McKinley and I can outrun a Mustang
’
.”

“The car or the horse?”

“Why does that even matter?”

Zoe shrugged. “Just seems like the car might be faster.”

“Both, okay?”

Zoe whistled. “I can’t wait to see that. Soon as we land this thing I want a full demonstration.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Selena.”

Selena whipped the covers aside and left the bed. “Look, the only reason I haven’t asked them to turn this ship around is because my Gram is going to die unless we let those
Fae
rie people take care of her. We’re staying long enough to get her better, say thank you to the nice winged peop
le
,
and then we’re going home!”

“Where you’ll go back to being a misunderstood nobody,” Zoe said softly.

Selena paused, her hand on the doorknob. She lowered her head as the truth of Zoe’s words sunk in.

“I don’t intend to stay in Twin Oaks forever,” Selena said lamely. “I’ve been saving up to move away, remember?”

“And do what?” Zoe asked from her spot on Selena’s cot. “Work as a waitress somewhere while you struggle to make rent? Moonlight as a stripper named ‘Chandelier’ on the weekends?”

“Zoe
,
that’s not funny.”

“No, but it’s worth thinking about. Everyone knows that I’m not going to do much with my life. If I do go to college, I won’t get much further than Baylor and that’s only if my college fund cove
rs it. I’ll end up growing old in
Twin Oaks married to one of the McClendon boys or something.”

“Hey
,
that oldest one is cute. What’s his name again?”

“Mark is hot, yes, but you’re missing my point,” Zoe said. “I am okay with living
that kind of life, Selena. You
never
have
been. Maybe this is the answer, this destiny Wil told you about. It might be worth it for you to check it out and see where this leads. Who knows, you might actually feel like you belong for a change.”

Selena shrugged as she pulled the door open, desperate to escape Zoe and the truth.

“
I’m not willing to risk my life
or the lives of the people I love over this,” Selena said before leaving the room, “and I don’t intend
to change
my mind.”

~*~

Chapter
Five

Wil Grimm stood alone on the ship’s deck as Selena climbed the stairwell. The wind whipped his gray hair around his weathered face and a gnarled, wooden pipe was clutched between his teeth. White smoke wafted up into a thin trail against the midnight blue sky.
The brightness of the stars astounded her, as did the size and intensity of the moon. Wil shifted and turned to face her as he heard her crossing the deck and frowned, his disapproval clear. Selena ignored him, not
caring
if he was angry with her. How could anyone expect her to take the fate
of an entire world in her hands,
a world she hadn’t even known existed twenty
-four hours ago? It wasn’t fair
and Selena didn’t think it was right for Wil and Jake to try and make her feel guilty about it.