Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (31 page)

“Who’s Griffin?” I asked, surprising myself.

It was relatively dark, with only torches to light the courtyard area we stood in, yet I could see the discomfort in her face.

“Who?”

“Griffin. You’ve mentioned him twice now while you were sleeping,” I reminded her. Both times she’d called out for him, she had sounded distressed. I wondered if he was some guy from her past.

“Oh. Well, I don’t know anyone named Griffin. I don’t remember calling that name.”

She pulled away, ostensibly looking for which way to head off to, but I could tell she was evading me. She headed towards the larger home in front of us and pointed before asking, “This one?”

I nodded and followed behind her. I decided to let the subject of Griffin die, for the time being. I needed to attend to an even more important conversation right now. Selene had some explaining to do.

As we entered the home - or hut, depending on your definition – we spied Selene sitting in a chair by the fireplace, already in some clean, dry clothing. Cillian pulled a large black pot off of the fire, and then disappeared into another room.

I heard him pouring water, and then he returned to grab another pot sitting by the fire. “If you would follow me, I’ll show you where you can bathe, Princess.”

Skye looked around, noticing that it was just the four of us in the home, and spoke directly to Cillian. “Would it be alright if you were to address me as Skye?”

“No, milady. That would be improper to the other men. We want them to see you as their future Queen, to be willing to lay down their lives for you. I can’t have them thinking of you as just another beautiful lady.”

Beautiful lady? I saw Skye’s cheeks turn pink at his flattery, and for some reason I wanted to punch him.

“Fair enough. Perhaps you would consider it when we’re in private, as we are now. However, I won’t ask you to do it again if you don’t feel comfortable with it.” Skye held her head high and smiled like a Queen bestowing a favor onto a lowly serf. She played the role perfectly, she just didn’t know it.

“This way,” Cillian prodded, as he entered the adjacent room.

The room we entered contained a large bed in the center and a dressing screen in the corner. The screen was pushed aside at the moment, to reveal a large wooden tub in which Cillian poured the hot water. An audible sigh escaped Skye’s lips as she saw the hot water filling the tub.

She was already peeling off her cape and untying the overdress that she wore. Cillian coughed and lowered his eyes as he stepped by.

“Did I do something wrong?” She kicked off her black boots and then pulled off her wet stockings as I stood there and watched.

“This is a different time, Skye,” I reminded her, before walking the perimeter of the room to check it out. “A lady would never undress in front of a man who was not her husband here.”

She looked down at herself, taking in her dirty dress and equally dirty underdress. I could see that she seemed oblivious to the fact that taking off the overdress she’d worn would be considered undressing. She shrugged at me and then began to untie her dress while I stood there.

“That bath looks too heavenly, Xander, so I suggest you either leave the room or I’m going to be undressing in front of you.” Her voice was playful but her face was serious, as she pulled the dress off of her shoulders and shimmied out of it. That left only her very dirty and damp beige underdress.

Wet as it was, the flimsy material clung to her chest and hips, leaving very little to the imagination.

“As much as I’m enjoying the show, milady, I should leave the room in order to help you maintain your virtue.”

“Oh?” she drawled, giving me a haughty look. “How is my
virtue
in any trouble? I thought this was strictly a business relationship,
Guardian
.”

I held her look for a moment before turning and swiftly walking away. I called back over my shoulder coldly, “I will be right outside the doorway Princess, if you should need anything. Pull that screen to cover your bath, milady.”

TWENTY FIVE - VIRTUE

Skye

That was
the
most heavenly bath I thought I’d ever taken in my entire life. I sighed as I stood next to the tub and used a soft cloth to dry myself. I wrapped the cloth around my body and turned around, looking for clothing to put on.

On a chair in the corner, another long dress was laid out. As I walked over, I took the measure of the new outfit and determined that it was actually a nightgown. I slipped the white, cottony material over my head and pulled on a robe, securing a tie at my waist.

The room was small but cozy, with a bed and two wooden side tables beside it. Each table held an unlit candle. The light in the room actually came from a set of large lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Across the room by the doorway was a wardrobe, and a washstand stood in the corner. The bed looked rather lumpy, but it called to me, nonetheless.

I heard male voices in the other room, and decided to lie down. I simply couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer. Loud noises outside the house startled me as I was settling myself into the bed. The sound of a few men laughing carried through the thin walls.

I had to remind myself again that this wasn’t like the modern convenience of a home in the 2013’s. This was like living in a third world country. I had to admit, it was quite a culture shock.

I knew that I should probably blow out the lanterns to save the candles, but I had no idea how to do that. I laughed at myself as I thought about the fact that even when you didn’t have electricity, you still worried about being wasteful. I laid my head down on the pillow and sighed at the sheer comfort of a bed after the two days I’d had.

My thoughts turned to the dreams I had experienced with Griffin. When Xander had awakened me, Griffin had just told me that ‘things weren’t what they seemed’. Riddles. Since I’d been pulled into the story of Tyalbrook, I felt like all I ever got were riddles. No one ever gave you a straight answer! Griffin had pushed me to reconsider my memory loss, and had questioned why I’d never been found by Rioden or Selene.

Doubt was starting to creep into my head like poison that ran slowly through your veins. I felt itchy. I wanted to get to the truth of everything, and I wanted it NOW.

After a few minutes of contemplation, the deep, hushed voices in the other room began to cause my eyes to droop. The warm bath water, the long journey and the pressing questions on my mind all combined to lull me to sleep.

I was awakened by the creaking of the front door as it opened and shut. For a moment, panic entered my mind when I heard the floor creak in the other room, until I recalled my location. Recognizing the sound as someone walking around, I stared at the doorway and debated on calling out, but then decided against it.

After another tense moment of silence, the floor creaked again and then I saw Xander as he opened the door and peered into the room.

“You need anything?” he asked quietly; standing there with one hand running through his hair and the other behind his back.

I leaned up on my elbow and looked at his face across the room. He looked just as exhausted as I felt, and remorse flowed through me for being so rude earlier. I noticed his tense features, and I could see that he was fighting the same feelings I was. It killed me to admit that he was right to fight them. We needed to play this right. He needed to be my Guardian - only my Guardian.

“Could you blow out those lanterns for me?” I asked, as I untangled my legs from the robe I had slipped on. I pulled it off and tossed it to the foot of the bed, as I watched Xander.

He stepped inside the room and walked over to the wall where the lanterns were tied to a hook. His hair looked damp and he was wearing clean clothes. He must have bathed in another home while I had been cleaning up. He unwrapped the rope that held the lanterns in place. He lowered one lantern at a time and blew out the bank of candles in them. When he blew out the second one, we were left in almost complete darkness.

The mellow glow from the fireplace in the other room was the only light around, and he stood in the dark for a moment before turning back to leave the room. When he was but a silhouette in the opening, I called out.

“Xander, I’m sorry about before. It wasn’t necessary.”

“It’s okay, Skye. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

Wishing I could see his beautiful face, I kept talking. I didn’t want him to leave me alone.

“Where are you sleeping? Where are Cillian and Selene?”

I didn’t really care about either of them, but I had to cover the obviousness of my question.

“Selene and Cillian are next door. Apparently this house is Rioden’s. He had it built, knowing that we were going to need it someday. Cillian lives next door, and he offered up his room for Selene.” He tapped the wall and added, “I’ll be on a pallet in there if you need me. Good night.”

Before he could take two steps, I begged for him to return. “No, don’t sleep on the floor. Stay with me, Xander.”

“Skye, that’s really not the best idea. We need to uphold…”

I sat up all the way, interrupting him. “I know! We need to portray me as the virtuous Princess, and you as my loyal Guardian. I’m not talking about sex, Xander! I just want you to sleep beside me. I want to feel the safety of your arms. No one will even know! You can be out of the bed before anyone comes over in the morning. Please?”

I heard my racing heart counting down the seconds as Xander deliberated on my request. How had this man come to mean everything to me? When did breathing without him by my side become so difficult?

Since when did I let others tell me what I was going to do? My heart was yelling at me to just throw myself at him and beg him to stand up with me and refuse to let the others decide our fate. To hell with the prophecy! I could save the Kingdom and have my man too, right?

Somewhere deep inside me, the selfishness of my wants hit me like a cold bucket of water, but I stuffed the guilt deep within me. I deserved a little happiness after the years of torment I’d had to live with.

“Xander, the only time I feel at ease is when you’re by my side. You chase all of my nightmares away. Please stay with me.”

I saw the outline of his shadow as he pulled off his shirt. He walked across the room and I felt the bed give under his weight.

“I just can’t say no to you,” he whispered; his voice hoarse.

He laid down and pulled me into his arms, and then I rested my head on his bare chest. The beating of his heart pulsed on my cheek and I smiled.

Listening to Xander’s breath flow in and out, I allowed the feeling of safety and comfort to flow through me. The heat that radiated off of his bare chest seared through the thin cotton gown I wore. He’d definitely had a bath while I was sleeping. I could smell a fresh, almost woodsy scent on his chest.

My knee brushed his leg and I could tell that he was still wearing pants, but they felt like soft cotton instead of the thicker material that I’d seen the other men wearing. I stretched my arm out and wrapped it around his waist. My fingers skimmed his waistband, and his muscles flexed and leapt at the slight touch.

Xander’s hand grasped mine and he wove our fingers together as he tucked my hand up to his chest.

“Get some sleep, Skye. I have a feeling we’re going to have a lot to plan tomorrow.” His voice was still hoarse.

“Why? What did you and Cillian talk about tonight?”

I could feel his free hand tangling in my hair. His fingers were combing through the still-damp locks and twisting stands around his fingers before untangling them again. The feeling of intimacy slowly relaxed my entire body.

“We’re waiting for Rioden before we make any major plans. He should arrive in a few days, at the most. We’re sending a team up to the mountains tomorrow to keep an eye out for him.”

The thought of the others knowing about the location of the portal back to my dimension crossed my mind. Wouldn’t that be a problem? I asked Xander about it.

“No, I told Cillian where to camp in the general vicinity, but didn’t tell him where the portal was. They just want to be there so they can get Rioden back here as fast as they can, once he makes it through.”

“So, is Rioden considered the leader of the Guardians, then?”