Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (34 page)

I knelt beside the bed and gently held Skye’s wrist to check her pulse again.  It was steady, strong and true. Thankfully.  

Worry clawed at me as I thought about head injuries and how serious they could be.  Medically speaking, there was nothing in Tyalbrook like what we’d had in the other dimension.

“You care for her,” Emeline observed.

She’d just finished wringing out a piece of cloth and had wiped the last smudge of dirt from Skye’s cheek.  I had almost forgotten she was there as I stared at Skye laying helpless on the bed.

“I’m her Guardian,” I rationalized.

“No, you care for her.”  She smiled, a charming bright smile in my direction.  “It’s alright, you know.  I won’t mention it to her.”

“To her?”

Emeline stood to take the cloth from Skye’s neck and dipped it in the water again.  Once she’d wrung it out, she placed it back on Skye’s neck.  

“The Princess.  I won’t reveal your feelings for her.  I think it’s romantic that you would care for her so.”

Emeline’s voice sounded dreamy and wistful - she was definitely a romantic.

“Emeline!” scolded Cillian mildly, coming back into the room.  “Don’t speak of such nonsense.”

Emeline snorted at Cillian.

“Romance is not nonsense, brother.”  She flicked her gaze at me and added, “He’s just sore because he’s old and hasn’t found love yet.”

“Emmie!”

Laughter spilled from Emeline’s lips while she stacked the dirty clothes into a pile.  “Well you are, Cillian!  This village is so boring.  No prospects here for either of us.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her as she spoke.  I could tell that she had a naturally cheerful disposition.  She had spunk!  She didn’t seem to shy away from speaking her mind, as evidenced by her observant questions about my feelings.

“Why don’t you go back to the house and put together some soup and bread for lunch?” Cillian ordered.  “And bring back some tea for Skye.”

“Yes brother, right away brother,” she teased, and executed a mock curtsy towards Cillian.

Chuckling at his sister, Cillian waited until he heard the door close before he turned to me.

“Sorry about her,” Cillian sighed from the doorway.  “She’s very…oh hell, I don’t know, a pain.”

I chuckled at that.  She had actually reminded me of Skye, during the times when she was happy.

“She was helpful, don’t worry about it.  Any news?”

“Some men returned back from the village earlier and said they spotted Selene there.”

Relief, then anger swept through me.  “The village?  What was she doing?  Is she coming back?”

“They didn’t know she was missing so they didn’t question her.  I sent them back to find her and bring her back.”  He walked closer to the bed where Skye lay and added, “They seemed to think that she was just shopping.”

He stood next to the bed and looked down at Skye.  I calmly watched him while his eyes drank her in from the top of her head, to the tips of the brown boots that peeked out from under her dress.  It was all I could do to not inch closer and cover her up.

“Was Emeline right?  Do you love our Princess?”

‘My
Princess
!’ my mind screamed out.  Swallowing it back, I decided to be honest…or at least somewhat honest.

“I do.  Yes.”  Well damn! So much for being
somewhat
honest.  I might as well put it all out there for everyone.  Wasn’t I the one who said it needed to be kept secret?  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The look he gave me told me that he hadn’t expected me to be so candid.  Crap!

“Look, Cillian - it’s not what you think.  My situation isn’t like a normal Guardian’s would be.  We were raised together for 5 years, and I’ve been her Guardian since I was four.  It’s hard to remain impartial to her when you’ve known and loved her all of your life.”

“You were raised as brother and sister though, right?” Cillian asked.  

I tried to stuff my hands into pockets that didn’t actually exist in the clothing I was wearing.  Instead, I crossed my arms and nodded for him to take a seat in the chair in the corner.  I sat in Emeline’s chair by the bed and waited while Cillian pulled his up to the other side.

“My parents passed us off to others as siblings, but with each other no, they didn’t raise us as brother and sister. My earliest memory is of my parents telling me to protect her first.  I worshipped her.”

“Rioden explained to me what happened with your parents, and that Skye was somehow separated from you guys.”

“Yeah.  She was raised in group homes, and I just happened to find her two years ago, completely by chance.  Rioden wouldn’t let me contact her, but I still kept watch over her.  She’s had a rough life.”

“For a Princess,” Cillian quipped.

“No.  For anyone,” I clarified, agitated that he would think she was a snob. “She’s suffered, Cillian.  She’s really fragile, yet she is way stronger than she gives herself credit for.”

“I hope you’re right, Xander, because everyone is going to be looking up to her once they find out who she is.  She’s a legend here.” Stretching as he stood, Cillian added, “We need the people to see her.  We have to start an army.”

“Will they fight?”

“For her?  They will.  They’re also going to want her for themselves.  We’re going to need more protection, and you won’t be able to leave her alone.  The prophecy makes her very valuable to anyone who wants to rule.”

The weight of the task ahead crushed down upon me.  I had been preparing for that all my life, yet I had never been prepared for how I would come to feel about her.  It made the pressure that much stronger.  I would protect her, even if it sent me to my own death.  Of that I was sure.  

It was in those quiet moments by myself that I heard the doubt creep in and ask me the one question I didn’t want to answer.  
If saving her sends me to heaven, what would happen to her?  Who would protect her if I wasn’t here anymore?

“I’ll go see about your lunch.  Try to relax, Xander.  At least until Rioden arrives, we’ll maintain our position here.”  He ducked out of the bedroom and left me to my thoughts of inadequacy.
 

Less than an hour later, Emeline knocked lightly on the door before entering the house.  In her arms she carried a basket full of food.

“No change?” she asked, her face full of worry.  

“Nothing.”

“Well I’m just going to put this soup on the table, and then I’ll get a fire started.”

“Thank you, Emeline.”

“If she’s not awake by tonight, I would be happy to sit with her so that you can get some rest.  I’ll check back with you later.”

“You don’t need to do that…”

“I know.  But she’s my Princess too, and I want to help,” she interrupted me firmly, as she placed her hand on Skye’s forehead; checking her temperature.

“Xander!”  Selene’s worried yell sounded a moment before she dashed into the bedroom.  Her raven black hair was a windblown mass of tangles. “What happened?  Is she alright?”

Emeline was backed up against the wall as Selene rushed past her.  She sat on the bed and began to check Skye’s vitals.

“Where the
hell
have you been?” I barked, sending my chair flying behind me as I jumped up.  “I thought something had happened to you, too!  Why would you sneak out, Selene?”

Her eyes flicked to my face only briefly while she probed the large knot on Skye’s forehead.  “I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to report to you, Xander!  Or anyone else, for that matter!”  She stepped back from the bed and stood.  “She seems alright; just unconscious.  There’s nothing we can do now but wait.  What happened?”

“Selene…”

“Geez, Xander!  I went to town!  I wanted to check out the market, and I wanted to see some small part of the place that I once called home.”  Her anger at having to explain her movements to me was evident, and I reconsidered my anger.

To be honest, I didn’t even care that she’d left.  I just wanted to question her about Skye’s memory and, in truth, I’d been afraid that the reason she had run from me was so she wouldn’t have to answer my questions.   There was also a small part of me that was afraid that Selene couldn’t be trusted.  That perhaps Skye’s attack had been related to Selene and her disappearance.

Guilt nagged at me because I hadn’t particularly cared about Selene’s safety.  The safety of the woman my uncle loved didn’t matter to me near as much as the safety of the woman I loved.  
That’s
love for you, right there.

I gave Emeline a look that clearly said ‘Please watch over her,’ and I stepped around the bed.  I took Selene by the arm and lead her into the living room so that we could speak in private.

“Selene, I’m sorry.  You’re absolutely right, and we didn’t discuss you not being able to leave.  I was worried when you disappeared, and honestly, I just didn’t know what to think.”

“Oh, I know damn well what you thought!  You don’t trust me, Xander.  That’s been crystal clear since the time you held a dagger to my throat.”

“I can’t afford to trust anyone, Selene.  I am Guardian to the Princess of Tyalbrook.”

A slow grin spread across her face at that.  “Spoken like a true Guardian, Xander.  You are right, of course.  You can’t trust anyone.  I should have let someone know where I was going.  That’s my mistake.  Tell me what you know about what happened to Skye.”

I filled her in on the little I did know, and listened to her describe the village and the people.  According to Selene’s intel, Cillian’s opinion of the peoples’ hatred for McClintock seemed to be accurate.

“We can rally these people against him, Xander.  We can create an uprising here easily.”

Her voice was full of hope and it sparked a small flare of hope in me as well.  Once Rioden got here, maybe we could figure out a way to flush McClintock out of Montibello.  

“You
need
to tell me about Skye’s memory.  What did you do, Selene?”

Selene plopped down on the chair closest to her and sighed.  “I had really hoped that Rioden would’ve told you everything about the past.  I never expected to be the one who had to explain all of his reasoning to you two.”

I believed her at once.  It was amazing that I could finally tell she was telling the truth just by looking at her, noting her resigned tone, and seeing her defeated posture.  She’d done what Rioden had told her to do simply because either she had agreed with him that it seemed best, or it was because she was in love with him even then.  Either way, she had followed through with a plan that had caused both Skye and me a lot of pain.

As a matter of fact, it still caused us pain.  For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure if I could truly trust and forgive Rioden.  For the first time, I truly felt that his actions had been unforgivable - and now I had to tell Skye what they had done to her.

TWENTY EIGHT - UNEXPECTED COMPANY

Skye

“Hummm, home is where I go, it’s where I love you so…hmmm mmhhh…”

It was the sound of a soft voice singing and humming that brought me out of the darkness.  One moment I was lost in a dark tunnel, and the next my head was pounding and the inside of my eyelids were covered in stars.

I was instantly reminded of the day I’d met Xander, as I moaned and tried to move my head.  The memory stunned me for a moment and I began to wonder if it had all been a dream, until I heard a soft, overwhelmingly feminine voice call out, ”Xander.”

“Here, Skye - it’s alright, I have some tea for you.”  The voice purred; coaxing me to open my mouth and sip from the cup she placed to my lips. The sound of hurried footsteps scraped the floor and I heard Xander’s voice before I saw him.

“Skye, honey, thank God!  Take a sip, it should help your throat.”

The sound of his resonant voice brought tears to my eyes and I lifted my hand blindly, taking a small sip of the offered liquid.  I felt his hand grip mine and found the courage to drink.

I struggled to swallow.  For some reason my throat felt like it was on fire as the soothing tea made its way down.  A small croak escaped my lips when I tried to speak.  When were the bad guys in my life going to learn other tactics?  I was sick and tired of being strangled.