Remembered (8 page)

She prayed for sudden death.

He was in front of her instantly; the beautiful one. He bent
down and picked up her package and book, then began walking up the hill away
from the others. She realized that he did not intend to hand her stuff back,
but was walking her to her front door. He didn’t smirk like the rest. Instead,
he gave her a reassuring smile.

When she was safely in front of her house, he handed back
her things. With a smile and a bow, he turned and ran to join his group. She
stared after him and was caught, again, when he turned around to give her one
final smile.

She was smitten.

“What happened to you?” Cora asked as Annie put the fish in
the freezer. “Why is your face so flushed?”

“Nothing happened. I ran up the hill.” She didn’t look in
her sister’s direction. Cora would spot the lie in a heartbeat.

At only seventeen-years-old, Cora was wise beyond her years,
and extremely intuitive. She was outspoken, sarcastic, stubborn, but also
intensely loyal and extremely loving, and she had a brilliant sense of humor.

Max was her opposite in personality. He was quiet and
thoughtful, courteous and sensitive. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he
sat in the same room, so seldom did he speak. But he shared Cora’s loyalty and
loving nature.

If they were opposites in personality, they made up for it
in looks. Both had dark brown hair like Annie’s. Max had curly ringlets like
his eldest sister, which he kept almost shoulder length and sometimes tied back
with a piece of string. Cora had straighter hair than her siblings, flowing all
the way down her back. They both had beautiful big brown eyes with long eyelashes,
coming second only to their blinding white teeth that seemed to glow against
blood-red lips.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Cora asked. “Your hand is
shaking.”

“I think it’s from lack of food,” Annie lied, still avoiding
her sister’s gaze. “I’m absolutely famished.”

Unfortunately, her embarrassing encounter with the
apprentices would not be the only one that week.

Two days later, she found herself, once again, at the center
of unwanted attention while shopping in town. 

She had bought something for dinner and was filling a bag
with apples at a fruit stand when she glanced over to the Citadom.

There, standing on the bottom step, was the beautiful
apprentice. His right foot was pressed against the wall beside the steps,
pointing his knee forward. His arms were folded over his chest, and he was
staring directly at Annie.

Once again, she dropped her package and bent to pick it up,
her long hair falling around her face and arms. She placed the package on the
table of the stall next to the bag of apples. She ran her hands through the top
of her hair, scooping it out of her face, and chanced a glance at the
apprentice from the corner of her eye.

His gaze was fixed on her, his body leaning forward. His
cheeks were puffed out with air that he slowly let escape through pursed lips.
She felt a flutter in her stomach. It was evident that she’d gotten his
attention and that he liked what he saw.

Grabbing her packages, she began to move away when she
realized that the apprentice was not the only man whose attention she had
captured. Leaning against a stall table, not fifteen feet away, a man with a
beard and mustache was leering in her direction. She ascertained from his
clothes and dark suntan that he was a sea merchant, one of the many sailors
that visited town from the far north. He had probably anchored at the harbor
and was selling his goods at the market.

He started towards her, his unsavory look causing her to
turn and walk in the opposite direction.

“Hello, pretty lady,” a rough voice said into her left ear.
The smell of stale beer coming off his breath turned her stomach.

She kept her head down and ignored him, walking towards the
Bank Building, the last building in the town center. He kept up a string of
comments all the way, walking much too close.

As they approached the bank, the man seemed to grow
frustrated with her lack of cooperation and grabbed her around the waist. She
felt a jolt of panic, but before she could scream, he was ripped from her and
slammed into the wall of the shop next to the steps.

The beautiful apprentice pressed the sailor against the wall
with his left forearm, his right hand holding a dagger under the sailor’s chin.
“Leave this town now or I will run you through,” the apprentice demanded between
clenched teeth.

“I only wanted to say hello to the girl,” the man replied in
a panicked voice.

Three more apprentices ran in their direction. One reached
them, grabbed the beautiful apprentice and pulled him back.

“He attacked me for no reason. I merely said hello to the
lovely lady, and this one attacked, unprovoked,” the sailor told the two
apprentices who stood in front of him.

“What happened here, Kellus?” the apprentice holding her
defender asked.

“This vile piece of crap harassed the young lady. I feared
for her safety,” Kellus told his colleague. The apprentice pulled Kellus back
further. The other two apprentices grabbed the sailor by the arms and frog-marched
him towards the outskirts of town.

“Careful, Kellus, your approach could be misconstrued as
unnecessary force. The man claims he merely wanted to say hello to the girl,”
the other apprentice scolded.

“She was frightened, I could tell. It was definitely
harassment, Loc,” Kellus argued.

Loc nodded. “Danus and Borm will escort him from town. You
can go about your business.”

“I’ll escort the girl home,” Kellus said.

Annie felt her stomach flutter.

“If you think it’s necessary. However, as I’ve said, the
others are escorting him back to the docks. They will not allow him back in
town. She has no reason to fear him further,” Loc replied.

“Her hands are shaking,” Kellus said. “I think she would
feel safer if I walked her home.” He looked at Annie questioningly.

She nodded.

They walked through the market and up the hill in awkward
silence for some time.

“My name is Kellus Kir,” he said finally. “We were not
properly introduced.”

“I’m Annella,” she replied.

“Yes, I know,” he said confidently, “Annella Derlyn. Is that
correct?”

She was about to ask him how he knew her name, but settled
for a simple, “Yes, but I prefer to be called Annie.”

He smiled and nodded. “Okay, Annie,” he said.

“That horrible man did mean to harass me, I’m sure of it.
Thank you for coming to my aid,” she stated.

“You’re most welcome,” he answered. “Men of that caliber
disgust me.”

“Your friend Loc felt bad for him. He seems a little uptight
for a man of the Citadom,” she remarked.

“Loc is not my friend,” Kellus replied. “He’s an idiot, a
fool that takes himself much too seriously. He is the only apprentice that
spends his time trying to win the approval of our elders. And he’s appointed
himself our leader, somehow. Not that we pay him any mind.”

“I live up—”

Kellus cut her off. “I know where you live. I haven’t
forgotten so soon.” Judging by the amused look on his face, he was remembering
her blundering performance from two days ago.

She blushed.

“Do you live there with your husband?” Kellus questioned,
glancing sideways at her.

“No,” she chuckled. “I live with my brother and sister.”

“No husband,” he mumbled. “But you have a sweetheart, of
course.”

“No, no sweetheart either,” she answered, smiling shyly.

“Is that so?” he replied. “It must be a full time job
rejecting all of your many suitors.”

“There are no suitors,” she confessed.

“Give me credit, Annie, I’m no fool. A beautiful girl like
you must have dozens of men competing for your attention. Surely, you’re too
modest.”

“I’m sure you’re no fool, but I really don’t have any
suitors. I don’t meet many people. I don’t go out much,” she confessed.

“Why not?” Kellus pushed.

“I don’t have many friends,” she answered, feeling a twinge
of self-pity.

“Well, you have one now,” he replied, putting his hand on
her shoulder briefly.

They reached her front door far too soon.

“Thank you again for your help today,” she said in a low,
timid voice, tucking her wind-blown hair behind her ears.

“It was my pleasure, Annella Derlyn,” he answered, flashing
a beautiful smile. “That’s what friends are for.” He walked back down the hill,
leaving her gazing after him.

The following morning, she stood on the steps in front of
her house, kissing both Cora and Max on the forehead, and then watched as they
walked down the hill towards their school.

When they were out of sight, she turned to enter the house,
but stopped when she spotted a blue uniform from the corner of her eye. Kellus
was walking up the little path to the right of her house that led to the ocean.
He smiled and waved to her.

“What brings you to my neighborhood this early in the
morning?” she called to him.

“Community service,” he answered. He walked up to the front
of her house and tapped the little gate with his hand. “I noticed that your
gate was broken when I escorted you home yesterday. So I’ve come to fix it.” He
patted a small leather bag that he carried over his shoulder. “I brought tools.”

“Community service?” Annie questioned.

“Our training has been canceled today. Several peacemen have
fallen ill. It seems that some sort of virus has broken out at the Citadom,” he
replied.

“Is it serious?” she asked.

“Not at all, just a twenty-four hour illness. However, it’s
serious enough to cancel our usual activities, so the Master ordered us to go
out and make ourselves useful to the townsfolk. So I’m here to make myself
useful.” He suddenly looked worried. “I hope I haven’t come at an inconvenient
time.  I would be happy to return later if you wish.”

“Right now is fine. I have no plans for today.” She was sure
that he noticed the ridiculous grin on her face and thought her a fool.

He spread the contents of the bag of tools on the ground in
front of the garden and studied the gate.

“Can I help you?” she called down the steps.

“Yes,” he answered, “you could sit on the wall down here and
keep me company. That would be an enormous help.”

She walked down the steps and sat on the edge of the grass,
not six feet from where he knelt.

“How are you today, Annie?” he asked as he unscrewed the
gate.

“Very well, thank you. And you?” she replied.

“Never better. It’s a pleasure to be out of the building on
such a nice day,” he answered, unfastening the hinge from the fence entirely.

“Yes, it’s lovely,” she said absentmindedly, watching him
run his strong, large hand down the side of the gate.  Abruptly, she had a
flash, a quick mental image of that very hand roaming over her body. She
swallowed hard and shook her head to dispel the blast of unfamiliar sensations
that coursed through her.

He pulled a similar hinge from the leather bag and attached
both to the gate. “Would you be able to hold this in place while I screw it to
the fence?” he asked.

She stood up, walked to the fence, and steadied the gate in
place with both hands. Kellus began to screw the first hinge. His hand lightly
brushed against her knee, causing a tingle to surge through her entire body. He
briefly looked up into her eyes before looking back down again. She could tell
that he registered the blush on her cheeks by his odd expression. He finished
fastening the rest of the gate in awkward silence.

He stood up and swung the gate back and forth a few times
until he was satisfied that it would stay in place. “Is there anything else
that needs repaired?” he asked. “I am in no hurry to return to the Citadom.”

“No, I don’t believe that I have any more gates about to
fall off their hinges,” she replied, “but you could allow me to cook breakfast
for you as a thank you token.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It was my pleasure,” he
answered, “and also my duty. As an apprentice, I am duty bound to keep a
beautiful young woman as secure in her home as possible.”

“Thank you,” she laughed, delighting in the compliment.
“That’s rather noble of you.”

Another brief, awkward moment of silence followed. They both
looked at the ground, and then Kellus tightened his jaw as though he had made a
rash decision. “But breakfast would be really nice,” he said, “if it’s not too
much bother for you.”

She smiled up at him. “You can use my bathroom to wash your
hands while I cook.”

They walked into the house together.  Annie showed him to
the bathroom before walking into the kitchen and pulling a large pan from the
cupboard.

“Can I help you?” he said as she pulled apart frozen bacon.

She turned to see him leaning up against the doorframe and
came very close to dropping the large bundle of bacon that she held in her hand.
She was so overcome by the sight of him. He was beautiful. The sunlight shone
in a tiny streak through the window, resting on the side of his face.

“Yes,” she said, recalling his words from before, “you could
sit on this chair here and keep me company. That would be an enormous help.”

He chuckled and sat down obediently.

They talked casually while she fried eggs and bacon, and
made a pot of tea.

When breakfast was finished, they shared another moment of
uncomfortable silence.

Annie thought that Kellus was purposely stalling, but
couldn’t be sure. “I should head back,” he said thoughtfully.

“Thank you for fixing my gate,” she replied, walking him to
the front door.

“It was a pleasure. Thank
you
for a wonderful
breakfast,” he answered. “I’m sure I’ll see you around town. I’ll be ready with
my handy dagger the next time you need rescuing from loathsome villains.”