Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (10 page)

“I’ve been explaining to Skye how she came here and who she is,” I groaned, throwing myself into a side chair. “And very badly, I might add.”

Rioden met my eyes and lifted his brows in a silent question. I nodded my head in answer to let him know, without words, that Skye was now aware that she was the Princess of Tyalbrook.

Stepping further into the room, Rioden removed his hat and bowed slightly in front of Skye.

“Princess,” he said reverently in a deep voice.

As I groaned at his gesture, Skye looked up at him in confusion, wringing her hands. After a few moments of tense silence she finally spoke in a hushed tone.

“Can you please explain this Rioden? I am so confused.”

I watched as Ri stood straight again and then stared down into Skye’s face as if he were looking for something. Then he nodded.

“Of course.”

Skye

A freaking princess? Seriously, me? As soon as I connected the dots to what he was saying, I was even more confused than ever. I was in shock, and then Rioden walked in, bowed to me, and called me princess; thus confirming what Xander had not yet confirmed.

After a moment, Rioden sat in the other chair in the room and began to tell me basically the same story that Xander had: the tale of a princess who was prophesized to bring a long reign to all of those in her bloodline, along with much prosperity and peace, and who was apparently quite a catch.

Greedy people from all over the kingdom had begun to crave the power I would be able to provide them once the news had leaked out.

The King and Queen, my parents, were so fearful of what might happen to me that they asked a sorceress (
yes, a sorceress!)
to find a way to send me somewhere I would be safe, if a time ever came when they could not protect me.

“Skye,” his thick voice continued. “You must know that your parents loved you very, very much, and they were only trying to save you from those who would use you for their own personal gain. They were wonderful people Skye; fair and gentle and friendly to all. Everyone loved your father and trusted his rule over Tyalbrook.”

“Apparently not everyone,” I mumbled, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.

Rioden looked at me with a smirk on his face, and confirmed my whispered comments.

“You are correct. Obviously if everyone had loved them as much as we thought, you wouldn’t be here right now, would you?”

Turning my head to face Rioden and Xander, I tried to fill in some gaps in the story. “So I was what – two? - when we came here,” I reasoned, as I calculated in my head.

“That means we lived here almost seven years before they were murdered. What did we do here? What happened back in Tyalbrook, and how did they end up getting killed?”

I spit out question after question, wanting to hear about everything I had missed. Now that I had heard the story, I felt like there was this small part of me that was tingling…like I was finally awake.

“I can’t tell you what your family did here for those first five years,” Xander stated. “I would assume that you lived just like normal people would: got a job, bought a house, went to school.”

“But, weren’t you here? Is there no one else here that could tell me about my life with them?” I asked, sitting back up.

I wanted so badly to remember my past, just so I could know something about my parents.

Xander started to speak, but Rioden quickly stopped him. “No - you came alone, and obviously the less people who knew where you were, the better.”

Small warning bells went off in my head as I saw Rioden give Xander a sharp look. They seemed to be keeping something from me…or maybe it was just my imagination, due to hunger or stress or the fact that Rioden still seemed so foreboding to me.

When Rioden started to talk again, I decided to shrug off their shared glances for the moment and just focus on what he was saying.

“What happened in Tyalbrook when you left isn’t important right now. I promise we’ll get to all of that, but first I want you to know about some of the things that have happened here, that you’ve been blissfully unaware of.”

“About five years after you arrived here, someone was finally able to create a new portal and the Semvon were sent here to find you. At the time, I had infiltrated the enemy’s army and was keeping an ear out for any news about their search for you. Early one morning, I overheard some soldiers talking about how they had located you and had been able to create the portal. Grabbing as many weapons as I could, I stormed the room and jumped through the portal as it was closing; chasing those Semvon like a bat out of Hell to keep them from getting to you.”

Rioden leaned down and put his head in his hands as if the memories were too hard to remember. “The portal actually put us right in your back yard, so by the time I came through, there was already a fight going on in the house. There were probably thirty Semvon as well as a sorcerer there. When I stepped out of the portal I was jumped by at least ten Semvon, and it took me a while to fight them off, and….” His voice faltered for a moment, and I felt a tear slip down my cheek at the thought of this huge warrior who had come to save my life, and who was now in pain over a battle only half won.

After a moment Rioden sat up, straightened and then looked over at Xander, whose own eyes were bright with unshed tears.

“I couldn’t save them. By the time I’d fought off my attackers, the house was on fire and the Semvon were turning over everything in their search for you. I spotted a robe-clad sorcerer standing off to the side, working on a spell and chanting in a trance. I assumed that they had brought him there to help create a portal that would get them back to Tyalbrook. So, I did the only thing I could do at that moment…I killed him. I knew that it would at least keep you safe, because they couldn’t get back without a portal. I then slowly slaughtered them all, one by one, and searched for you through the wreckage to make sure that you hadn’t been killed.”

“But you didn’t find me because…” I remembered, filling in some blanks for him. “I arrived home right as the fighting started and I ran. Something told me to, I…” Frustrated by the holes in my memory, I filled him in on the dream I’d had that morning.

“Skye,” Xander spoke up for the first time since Rioden had gotten there. “You must have felt the danger that was present and knew that you had to run. It saved your life that day.”

I let his answer hang in the air, but I knew that he was wrong. Something else had happened that day - I could feel it, and someday I would figure it out.

Standing up abruptly, Rioden stretched his long legs and spoke; his deep voice booming after having used our hushed tones to relive the past.

“Well, that’s pretty much the history of how you got here, as I know it. There’s so much more that we still need to discuss, of course. How about we discuss it over lunch? You both look like you could use some energy.”

I looked over at Xander and then at the clock on the bedside table, and was shocked to see that it was after lunch time and I was definitely starving.

Getting up off the bed I walked over to Rioden and took his large hand in mine, which caused a slight look of unease to cross his face. “Thank you for trying to save my parents’ lives, and for saving mine. I am forever grateful to you,” I admitted, as I grasped his hand in mine tightly and swallowed a lump in my throat.

Then he surprised me, as he lifted his other hand and patted my head before pulling me into his large chest for a hug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner, Princess.”

I laughed through the wave of emotion his hug brought me, and pulled back; looking up at Rioden. He was so tall, that my head was bent all the way back as I admonished him, “Please don’t call me that. I don’t feel like a princess, and I’m certainly not one here in this dimension.”

Rioden released me, saying, “I am required by duty and law to call you by your true title, for you
are
my Princess. But I’ll make a deal with you and refrain - at least in public, since it would draw unwanted attention to us - until we get back to Tyalbrook. Deal?”

Shocked at being told that he was bound by both duty and law, and with him calling me “his” princess, I shook my head numbly.

“Deal.”

Rioden bowed his head my way and told us to hurry up as he stepped out of the hotel room. Xander came up from behind me and smiled his beautiful smile of encouragement at me.

“You okay?”

“Um, yeah, I think so. I mean, that’s a lot of information to put on a girl, you know?” I teased halfheartedly.

He reached his hand up to my face and touched my cheek briefly, before pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes and gently tucking it behind my ear.

“You’re not a girl - you’re a Princess, remember? You are so much stronger than you know. You’ll see.”

Stepping back, he opened the door for me and his eyes twinkled as he added, “Come on Princess, let’s go eat.”

I started to walk by him stoically, like he hadn’t said anything, and then my fist darted out and knocked him in the gut as I continued on out the door. Grasping his stomach as he shut the door behind me he groaned, “See? I said you were stronger than you knew!”

With that, all three of us burst into laughter.

EIGHT - JEALOUSY

Skye

The walk to find food had temporarily robbed me of my racing nerves and millions of questions. The early November air held a slight chill, but the sun was shining brightly in the sky. It warmed my face while we made our way to a small diner around the corner from the hotel.

Xander made several small remarks about my punching him, which made me laugh as we walked along the street. Even Rioden cracked a smile at his teasing. It almost felt like a normal day out with friends.

The diner was pretty typical for a hole-in-the-wall type of place: booths with cracked leather seats, scuffed up linoleum flooring, menus that were sticky to the touch and questionable wait staff.

We grabbed a small booth in the back corner. Xander tucked me into the corner before sliding into the black leather seat beside me. Rioden pulled himself into the seat across from us and grabbed three menus from the menu stand.

“Lunch is on me,” he reminded us, which caused me to feel slightly guilty about the fact that I had no money to help either him or Xander with the hotel or food costs I would be incurring while I was with them. However long
that
might be.

I scanned over the menu and quickly picked out a sandwich to order. While I waited for the guys to pick something out, I surreptitiously gazed around the diner. Three waitresses wearing jeans and white shirts with black aprons tied around their waists were working their way through the tables.

Although it looked like the major lunch rush was over, most of the tables were still full of people in business attire, working on their meals and chatting animatedly.

The booth behind Rioden was empty and piled high with dirty dishes from its previous occupants, and the table beside us was occupied by two middle-aged women wearing slacks and blouses with tennis shoes. They looked to be finished with their meals, and just waiting to pay the check before they left.

My eyes fell onto the youngest waitress in the room, who was slowly making her way over to our booth. Her apron and skin-tight jeans were slung low on her hips, showing off her fit, tan stomach. Her plain white tee was so tight and stretched over her large chest, that you could clearly see the outline of her lacy bra underneath.

She walked up to the table and drawled in a slightly southern twang, “Hi, I’m April. You guys know what you want today?”

Xander lifted his head from his menu and glanced up at April with a distracted smile, before turning to me to see if I was ready. I nearly missed his glance, because with that slight smile, April had nearly swooned. Her eyes widened and her chest popped out, as she lifted one hand to her poufy blonde curls to straighten them out.

She looked like a peacock preening for its mate, and her eyes were so wide that she reminded me of a cartoon character. I was surprised that I couldn’t see her heart beating out of her chest.

“Skye? You ready to order?” Xander asked for the second time, before I registered his request.

“Oh, sorry! Yes, can I get a BLT without the L or T, and a Coke please?”

“No L or T?” April questioned airily.

“Um, yeah, no lettuce and tomato. Just bacon and mayo please,” I clarified.

April shook her head and scribbled my order down, then turned her attention to Rioden, who just ordered a burger and fries. Then, turning her megawatt smile onto Xander, she winked at him and asked, “And what can I do for you today,
hun
?”

Xander ordered a BLT too, keeping his gaze locked onto mine. I held my smile back as he teased, “I want mine with the L and T though, please, and a Coke as well.”

Her smile slipped a little as she told us she would be right back with our drinks; then off she went, swinging her hips as she left. I had a feeling that her sexy walk had been a show for Xander who, unfortunately for her, was still smiling at me as she left.