The Guardian (The Gifted Book 1) (22 page)

"It's nothing."

Rhea wasn't going to be put off. She was tired of secrets. "Daen? New rule. No more secrets. I've been kept in the dark about too many things for too long."

Daen pasted on a smile. "You did very well."

"And that's a problem?"

Daen shrugged. "I don't know." He hesitated at first but decided to just say what was on his mind. "You created an energy ball on your first try. It usually takes months, if not years
, of practice and discipline to do what you just did in minutes." Daen flicked a concerned look at Randell and forced a smile for Rhea.

Randell
had sensed Daen's concern even before he'd sent him the look. He'd watched Rhea's aura go from light blue to a deep bright blue for an instant and then fade just as fast. "Do you think it could be because she's older than most when they learn?"

"That's an interesting thought but I'm not sure. Rhea, how much effort did it take to make the energy ball?"

Rhea considered the question and couldn't imagine how to go about measuring such a thing. "Well ... I suppose it was easier than learning to speak Aduraun. I don't know how to answer your question. I just imagined what I assumed should be happening and it happened."

Randell asked, "Daen?"

"I don't know. When I first arrived here, I tried to create an energy ball to shed some light on the porch. To make the ball, I had to concentrate as if I were just learning again. My gift had become second nature and suddenly it was foreign to me. It eventually came back with practice, but it still takes a conscious effort."

Rhea wasn't sure what to do with this information. "You
're concerned, aren't you? What? Is it like I'm going to explode or burn up?"

Daen stifled a laugh. "No. It's not like that. It's just very unusual. I've never seen anything like it."

Rhea glanced at the clock. There were just fifteen minutes before visiting hours were up. "I don't mean to change the subject, but given the time, you two should make a trip down the hall. You won't be able to go after hours."

Daen looked confused. "What are
you talking about?"

"We're on a girl's hall. Men are not allowed after visiting hours. So I suggest you use the restroom now or you'll have to hold it until morning."

"Ah. Good thinking." Daen and Randell left the room.

While they were gone, Rhea grabbed a slice of the cooled pizza and bit into
it, devouring it in seconds.

35
Decision

Rhea was standing at her window, looking out at the shadows cast by the street lamps, when Randell and Daen returned. "I wish Lanne had been here to see me create my first energy ball." Rhea turned to face them. "What do you think the king will do?"

"He'll either tell you to stay here or tell you to return."

"Can he do that? Can he order me around? It's not like I'm one of his subjects, am I?" Or maybe she was, if she was his daughter. Rhea cringed at the thought. She knew the king was married and had a daughter. She shook her head, not wanting to think about being someone's illegitimate love child.

"You're one of his subjects
, but we believe in free will. You always have a choice. I chose to be a guardian; Gaibel chose to be a warrior of the king. So, technically, you could decline his request, whatever it may be."

Rhea's thoughts about the king's orders were distracted momentarily by what Daen
had just said. "Gaibel's a warrior?"

"Last I heard she was patrolling the borders and providing escort for the royal courier."

Rhea's face conveyed understanding. "That's what Lanne meant by her leaving her duties."

"If she
had stayed in service, she might be a commander by now."

Rhea tried to imagine a female warrior. Images of Xena
the warrior princess popped into her head and she couldn't help but laugh.

Daen's brow bunched over his nose. "What's so funny?"

"An image of a television character came to mind when I tried to picture a woman as a warrior. Never mind; back to the king. What happens if I decline his orders, be they stay or go?"

Daen cringed slightly. "It's usually not a good idea to go against the king's wishes. Since you're in this world, I don't know if he'd send someone for you or let you fend for yourself. It's going to depend on how important you are to his realm or to Luxatra."

Rhea considered Daen's words. She had always felt she could do whatever she wanted, within the law. Did she want to go to Luxatra? Did she want to leave her parents and friends and the life she'd made here? No. She didn't want to go.

But, was this the life she was meant to lead? Did she belong here? Probably not. She couldn't ignore what was happening to her and how that was affecting those around her.

Rhea locked eyes with Daen as he watched her process everything that was happening to her. "What does it mean that you were sent here to help me?"

Daen raised a brow. "That's a question I've asked myself almost every day since being sent here. We'll just have to wait and see. I've waited
more than twenty years for you. I'm sure the answer will come."

How could he be so calm? The uncertainty, the questions, the unknowns were starting to become overwhelming to her. "This is all so new to me. Whether I stay or go, my life will never be the same." She looked towards the window and thought about the world in which she lived, the world in the shadows, and the secrets she'd kept all these years.

She looked at her hands and thought of the energy ball she'd formed and how that would always have to be a secret as well. And then there were her dreams and the electric shocks. Could that be all there was, not that that wasn't enough? She wondered what other surprises lay in store.

Rhea glanced up and saw Daen and Randell watching her. Someone wanted her
; dead or alive she didn't know, but they were willing to kidnap her in broad daylight in front of a witness. To what lengths would her would-be kidnappers go to accomplish their task? Would they hurt someone to get to her? She couldn't let that happen.

"Randell, I think it's safe to assume that, if I return, Daen will be going with me. I can't ask you to go. Someone is hunting me and I can't ask you put yourself in danger any more than you already have."

Randell glanced at Daen and raised a brow. "You say Luxatrans believe in free will. Well, my will is to finish this adventure, no matter the end." Randell wondered if Daen would push back, tell him he couldn't go.

Daen's jaw cl
enched as he fought the urge to tell Randell no, knowing that he couldn't. Randell was a grown man and was allowed to make his own decisions. Daen pushed his fears for Randell's safety aside. "I understand. I won't stop you." But he knew someone who would. "It won't be me, though, who tells your mother."

Randell flinched. "Understood." He turned to Rhea. "So, are you staying or going?"

Rhea thought about the people in this world who could be used as leverage to make her do as they wished. Her parents, her friends, her neighbors—they were all in the line of fire if this got ugly. No. She couldn't risk them getting hurt.

She took a deep breath and committed. "The fastest way to me is through the people I care about. I can't let that happen. I'll be returning."

Returning. It felt strange to say it. She was returning to a place she didn't remember ever having been.

Randell nodded, his look said he agreed with her decision.

Daen bowed slightly. "A wise choice."

~~~

Rhea pulled a framed backpack from the back of her closet and laid it on her bed before asking, "What should I pack?"

Daen looked between Rhea and the pack and shook his head. "We need to pack light. We'll likely be traveling on foot or horseback
, and a heavy pack isn't going to work well." Daen glanced at Rhea's smaller backpack on the floor, the one she used to carry her things for class. "I suggest using that backpack," he said, pointing to the empty pack. "Randell, you have something that size as well, I believe."

Randell confirmed. "I have Raisal's old shoulder bag. I thought I would
use that. It should blend in with the environment."

Daen nodded. "Good idea." 

Rhea put the framed backpack in the closet and retrieved the small one from the floor. "Will it be cold?"

Daen answered, "You should be okay with that leather jacket
," and pointed to the old bomber jacket she had swiped from her dad years before. "And you'll want your hiking boots."

Rhea started to lay things out on her bed, assessing how much she could fit into her backpack. Of course her pile grew quickly and far exceeded what would fit in the pack.

Daen looked at what she'd laid out. "You need only enough to last a day or so. We'll get you what you need once we're there; especially clothes, you'll want to blend in. Maybe focus on the basics."

She made a pile of the things she'd wear when they left her room for the last time and another that included a t-shirt, sweater, and a change of personal items. She added gloves, hat, scarf, toothbrush, hairbrush, and hair bands. She also put her journal and Raisal's on the pile. "There, I think that should do it. Th
at's the lightest packing job I've ever done." She stood with her hands on her hips, staring at her piles, trying to think of anything else she might need.

Daen looked at the piles. "That looks like enough. You'll need to carry food as well. See how much space you'll have left after you put all that in your backpack."

She stuffed everything in and it looked like she still had room for a water bottle and a box of snack bars.

Rhea glanced around the room. "I need to finish boxing up the rest of my things to ship home." She picked up a box and started to assemble it, taping the bottom and positioning it in front of her desk. Within minutes, she'd packed the last two boxes and the remaining contents of her room.

Before taping the last box closed, she grabbed her shower gear and the clothes she'd set out. She needed a shower and this might be the last time she got one for a while.

When she returned, Daen suggested that they get some sleep. Randell jumped up on the
top bunk while Rhea set her alarm for 3:30 a.m. and curled up on the other end of her bed from Daen, who had closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall once again.

~~~

Torches hanging from the rough stone walls flickered and danced in the breeze that wafted down the narrow hall of barred doors. The cells were dark and dank, the smells stale and foul. Limp bodies lay still and quiet on ratty cots, all except one. He sat tall on the cot, proud, strong. His eyes were open, staring straight ahead.

Screams from behind a heavy wooden door at the end of the hall echoed through the cells, reminding the prisoners of their fate. She moved toward the door, unable to stop, being dragged by two hands that gripped her arms. She didn't want to go. She knew what was waiting for her. She twisted and turned
, but the grip on her arms was unyielding. The door flew inward and a hand reached out to grab her.

"NO!!"

Rhea woke struggling against a pair of arms that were different than those in her dream. "Rhea. You're all right." Daen's voice was calm but firm. "Rhea. Wake up. You're okay."

Rhea looked into Daen's eyes and realized it had happened again. The overhead light clicked on to reveal Randell standing at the head of her bed, hand on the switch.

She scanned her room. Everything seemed intact, including Randell and Daen. "Are you okay?"

Randell chortled, "That was fun."

Rhea glanced between Randell and Daen. "What happened?"

Daen released her and leaned back. "You gave us a little nudge. We're okay. It was your plea that was more disturbing."

"Yeah." Randell shuddered. "It sent chills down my back."

There was a knock on the door. Rhea, panicked and wide-eyed, motioned to Daen and Randell to hide in the closet. Once they were hidden, she opened the door.

Once again, a sleepy Carla stood in front of her. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

"I'm so sorry."

"You're okay?" She leaned forward and peered into Rhea's room. "That guy you got in there didn't hurt you?"

"Guy? No guy. No, just a dream."

Carla raised a brow. "Yeah. Okay." She turned and shuffled back into her room and shut the door.

Rhea locked her door and let Randell and Daen out of the closet. "That was close."

Randell yawned. "She must have seen us earlier."

Rhea looked at the clock, 3:14pm. No way was she going to sleep any more. Besides, Lanne was due back any time now.

"Rhea, what were you dreaming?" Daen looked concerned.

Rhea spun around, looking for her journal. "I have to write it down before I forget." She grabbed her journal from her backpack and started writing and drawing images of what she'd seen. When she was done, she handed the journal to Daen.

He read it and handed it to Randell. This was Randell's first look at her dreams, and he could now understand why she'd been so disturbed. He flipped back to previous dreams, some calm, some horrific. "These don't sound like dreams. I'm no expert, of course, but they sound like visions to me." He glanced up from the journal to Daen.

Daen nodded.

Rhea looked to Randell. "Visions? You mean like psychic visions? Like I'm seeing something real?"

Randell shook his head. "Not necessarily real
, although that is a possibility." He continued to scan the dream pages. "There seems to be a theme to most of them. I admit, some seem unreal, like this one about horses pushing you off a cliff, but the others ...." He looked at Daen, but Daen was quiet.

"Daen? Do you think they're psychic visions?" Rhea
asked. She didn't want to believe that anything she was dreaming could be real, but Randell had a point. She'd never had dreams like this before November of the preceding year.

Daen had wondered the same thing. "They might be visions
," he conceded.

Rhea crawled up on her bed and
pulled her knees up to her chin. "I'm so tired of this."