Never Let You Fall (The Prophecy of Tyalbrook) (35 page)

I opened my eyelids and memory of the attack came flooding back to me, along with fear of the unknown as I remembered the man pressed against my back. His strong hands squeezing my neck.  Fingers digging into my windpipe.  The menacing comments he’d whispered before he cracked my head on the ground and it all went black. Struggling to take a deep breath, I looked around for Xander to calm my senses.

Terror must have been written all over my face, because Xander quietly sat on the bed, pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly.  The other occupant of the room, the one who had given me the tea, stood to the side and looked away as he held me.

I could hear Xander speaking under his breath, murmuring in my ear.  I couldn’t understand what he said, but it was the solid sound of his voice that reassured me as he rocked me back and forth.  I blinked the tears from my eyes and tried to swallow again.

After a moment Xander sat up, and with the girl’s help they propped me up on some pillows.  He remained sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing my arm, and handed me the cup of tea.

“Try to drink some more of this.  I don’t want you to try to talk, but do you have any idea who attacked you?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly.  My neck was obviously bruised because it was tender when I moved it.  My forehead was throbbing where it had struck the ground, and I lifted my hand to it.  I winced when I felt the tender flesh and large bump.

“Nothing?”

I shook my head ‘no’ and tried to take a small sip again.  I finally focused on the girl who stood at his side, wringing her hands.

Noticing my stare, she dropped her hands and offered to take the tea from me.  “My name is Emeline.  I’m Cillian’s younger sister.”  She bowed her head slightly as I handed her my cup, and then she left the room.

“She’s sweet, Skye.  I think we can trust her.  I like her.”  Xander offered after Emeline had left.  “I’m going to have to stop letting you out of my sight, Princess.  Every time I do, something happens.”

He smiled, but behind the jesting I could see the pain in his eyes. He blamed himself for what had happened.  I pulled his hand into mine and brought it up to my chest; hugging it to me.  I nodded to let him know that I agreed with his comment.

“I would be more than happy to stay in your presence!” I declared in a raspy, barely audible, voice.  He leaned in, and I repeated myself so that he could actually hear me.

“Yes ma’am, I think we might be able to arrange that,” he replied with a wink.

Emeline walked back into the room carrying a bowl of steaming liquid and a cloth.

“Let’s put this on your neck again.  It might soothe it for you.  I have some broth for you as well.  Could you try and sip some once it cools off?  Does your head feel alright?  Do you feel sick, dizzy?” she rapped out.

“I’m okay, I just feel a little nauseous.  I really want to know what happened.”

“So do I, Skye, and I can assure you that Cillian and I won’t rest until we find out who attacked you.”

“There was a younger Guardian at the edge of our house…he told me that you and Cillian were in the stable…or, I guess he thought you were. Anyway, maybe you could ask him if he saw anything.”

Xander’s eyes narrowed at my comment.

“Can you describe him?”

As I thought back to the guard, I recalled that he had looked familiar to me from the previous night, but I couldn’t remember anything about his looks.  I shook my head and apologized.

“I’ll check into it, don’t worry.”

I closed my eyes and let a wave of nausea roll through me.  My head pounded, and I could still smell the stench of the barn on my clothing.  I wanted a bath.  I felt exhausted and rasped out one word, “Bath.”

“I can draw you a bath.  Let me get some water warmed up for you,” Emeline offered, and then bolted out of the room.

“She’s eager to be of help to you,” Xander chuckled after she had gone.  “Here, try a sip and see how you feel,” he coaxed, and handed me the cup of broth.

I took a small sip and swallowed it painfully.  The hot liquid warmed a path straight to my stomach, and I pulled in one more sip.  Eyeing Xander’s worried face, I handed him back the cup then held my hand out for him to take again.

“It’s not your fault, Xander.”

He flushed a bit and shook his head in disagreement.  “I should have stayed with you.”

“No, you can’t stay with me 24/7!  I should have known better than to leave the cottage.”

“You’re not a captive, Skye.  Once Rioden gets here I’ll feel better.  Once one of us can protect you at all times, it will be easier.  We just don’t know who to trust yet, and I don’t want to screw up.”

A moment later, Emeline walked into the room with Cillian at her heels.  He carried a large, steaming, cauldron-type pot.  

“Princess!  I’m glad that you’re alright,” he stated clearly, only glancing at me for a moment.  He took the pot straight to the corner tub and poured it in.  He stepped out of the house and returned immediately with another pot.

Having filled the tub for me, he bowed and left the room.  Emeline pulled the bathing screen over to cover the tub and then motioned for Xander to leave the room.

“I can help her, Xander, if you’d like to wait in the other room.”  She winked and smiled, and I gathered that there was an unknown secret shared between them.

He kissed my forehead and reassured me, “I’ll be just outside the room if you need me.”

“Thanks, I’ll be fine.”

Once he left the room I tried to pull myself up from the bed, only to find that my legs were extremely wobbly.  Emeline, true to her word, ended up helping me to the corner and then undressed me while I sat on a stool. She held my arm and averted her gaze as she helped me sink into the hot water.

The water soothed my aching muscles and I groaned with pleasure.  I sank as deep as I could and let the warmth penetrate through all of my fears and hurts.

I could hear Emeline shuffling around the bedroom as I soaked.  She commented that she had changed the bedding and was getting me fresh clothing.  At some point she must have walked into the other room, because I heard Xander speaking quietly with her.

I rested in the water and allowed the jasmine-scented oil that Emeline had added to calm my nerves.  Something continued to elude me as I lay there, and I tried to remember what I had dreamt about while I was passed out.  

When the water finally turned cool, Emeline pulled me out and helped me dress in a simple blue dress.  She offered to help me into the other room, but I only wanted to sleep.  Sitting beside me on the bed, she brushed and played with my hair.  The soothing feeling of being pampered allowed me to close my eyes.  

I awoke in a darkened room some time later, and felt the bed shift next to me; pulling me from sleep.  Evidently I had fallen asleep while Emeline was doing my hair.  There was a soft glow from a single candle on the bedside table opposite mine, and I could see and feel Xander getting comfortable on the bed next to me.

He’d kicked off his shoes but was still otherwise fully dressed and on top of the covers.  I watched as he blew out the candle.  Without speaking, he situated himself on the bed; causing it to shake.  I wanted to shift closer to him but couldn’t find the energy to move.  Just as my eyes were drifting closed again, I felt his hand slide over my body.  He found my hand and covered it with his own.  

The strength of his silent touch ushered me into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Xander

Day one in the village had not gone as expected, with Skye being attacked.  

Day two had been uneventful, as I watched her sleep on and off throughout the day and cooled my heels waiting for Rioden to show up.  

Day three dawned sunny and warm and brought a restless Skye enough energy to go outside.  My self-imposed confinement of keeping Skye company in the cottage had made me feel as if I had been drugged.  I was ready to get some fresh air.

We decided to head out for a small picnic and were going to set up at the boundary of the village, close to a small stream and the forest’s edge. On our way past the other huts in our block, Selene stepped out of her cottage and threw a wary glance our way. At first Skye ignored her, but after we passed the doorway she stopped and stood still as if in turmoil over something. I started to urge her on when her face became focused and she spun on her heal.

Skye marched right up to Selene and startled her when she all but shouted, “What did you and Rioden do to me the night Xander’s parents died? What happened to my memory?”

I paled. I had not yet had the time to explain the conversation Selene and I had the other night while Skye lay unconscious.

Selene’s eyes held Skye’s as she spoke clearly, and without shame, “I did what we thought was best, Princess.”

The surprise on Skye’s face was evident. She had not expected Selene to so willingly admit to tampering with her memory.

“What did you do?” She hissed, eyes narrowed and fists clenched at her sides.

“As I explained to you when we first met, the night Xander’s parents died I showed up after you were already gone. When I got to the house Rioden was struggling to explain things to the local authorities, so I used compulsion to convince them that we were nobody and the house had simply exploded.”

“Yes, I remember you telling us that. But what did you do to
me
?”

Selene held her hand up and continued, “Please just let me explain this. Once we were free to go, we placed Xander in my car and we drove to the park where we found you…”

“You found me? That night?” Skye’s head whipped towards me, and the look of horror on her face made me want to punch something.

“Yes,” Selene said. “We decided then and there that the only way to truly keep you safe was to put you into hiding. Rioden called 911 to report a lost child and I…I cleared your memories. The cops that showed up were very nice and again, using compulsion, I convinced them that your parents had died tragically and you were lost. I got them to reiterate to you that you would someday soon have a better life but that for now you needed to go into state custody.”

Selene sighed.

“There is much more to it than that, but that is the short story. I checked in with the state every so often to be sure you were still in custody. Everyone once in a while I had to pull some strings to make sure you were kept in custody and not placed for adoption. I’m sorry - but we had to keep track of you and just weren’t able to keep you with us.”

I stood about ten steps away from Skye while she listened to Selene’s explanation. The other night when I’d heard the story, I had been mad enough to punch Rioden. I stood there waiting to see what Skye would do with this new truth.

“You’re sorry?” she growled; her body language saying all I needed to hear. “YOU! You thought it was best to take my only family away from me? To leave me alone with nothing?!”

Skye kicked a rock and then whirled around and paced a few steps.

“Do you know what I thought Selene? I was seven and thought that nobody loved me…that there was something wrong with me and that was why every other kid that came into the group homes got to leave. I cried myself to sleep every night for years. Years!!” she screamed and stalked back to Selene. She stood right in her face and yelled some more.

“You took my memory! Why??”

Selene stood her ground and attempted to calm Skye down. “I told you that we thought it would be for best. We didn’t want to you remember things and start asking questions. I placed a protection spell on you to help keep you hidden. It should have lasted until you were 18…Skye, maybe we were mistaken, but the fact of the matter is that you were safe for almost ten years, so I can’t say that what we needed to have happen didn’t happen.”

“Really?” Skye purred silkily, anger emitting from every pore of her body. She moved so quickly that Selene was caught off guard when Skye’s hand reared back and slapped her right across the face.

Skye cursed under her breath as she shook the sting from her hand out. Selene’s head had snapped to the left and she stood there with her hands over her cheek. I grabbed Skye and pulled her back from Selene before either one of the them could do any more damage to the other.

“Xander, they did this to me… to us, they made me forget!” Skye fumed; her voice starting to waver between anger and tears.