Whispers of a Legend, Part One-Shadows of the Past (11 page)

“Gunilda, she is safe. We killed them all.
Johannes shields from the Minions' magic. She is strong herself.
She needs only to be taught to defend herself. She is at an age
where she should learn. She has the power within her.”

“Ah, she is not you, Kela,” Gunilda saddened.
“You without question could. Sareta is Witheleghean. It is hard at
times to defend oneself.”

“But she has Falco, Gunilda, and me,” I
answered. I sat beside her. I, too, felt the overwhelming
helplessness. “King Edulf would never allow her to be put into
danger, Gunilda. I have been told she is the darling of the
court.”

I wondered myself after I comforted Gunilda.
How could I see the Minions when Johannes couldn’t? What happened
to cause Johannes' shield to weaken?

I walked. Then sat for hours at the
Shimmering Pool waiting for a sign all was right, sitting, staring
at the still water.

“Kela.”

I turned to the familiar voice. Johannes had
returned. I rose to greet him, but behind him another walked. His
face I had seen a million times in the Pool. Falco! He smiled
broadly. I froze in disbelief.

Falco stood tall…a proud Sordarin warrior.
It was one thing to have seen him within the Pool, but another to
see him in his glory in person. His face I would have always known,
but he had grown. He towered over me now. He swept me in his arms
and hugged me tightly. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I cared
not if it wasn’t seemingly for a warrior to cry. He kissed my cheek
and hugged me again.

“I knew it was you! I told Grandfather there
was no one else who would ever have such power,” he exclaimed. “He
told me I must be mistaken, but I knew I wasn’t. I told Johannes he
had to take me to you, but it wasn’t until Cono went to
Turstan…”

Breaking from my brother’s embrace, I saw
Cono standing smiling at me. I glanced back at my brother. “We are
here, Kela,” Falco said soundly. “Sareta is also. She is with
Gunilda.”

“I don’t understand, Falco,” I struggled to
find my voice. “Did you not know I was here?”

“Kela, we were told you were dead,” he said
simply.

Chapter Eight

The Bond

Falco stood beside me as we walked back to
the cottage. He struggled with what he faced before him. His temper
rose.

“This makes no sense, Kela! At one time I
thought I kept hearing your call, but reasoned it couldn’t be.
I don’t understand the need for all of this. We will, of course,
bring you back. You can’t stay here.”

He walked through the door of the quaint
cottage that had been my home. He glanced over at the small pad in
the corner. “What is this?”

I hesitated, embarrassed for I had to admit
all in front of Cono.

"It’s where I sleep, but come, Gunilda will
want to see you,” I said, trying for at least a moment to change
the subject. They had come. It would be enough to leave this
place.

“No, wait, Kela, I want to know all. Why are
you here? What did you do?” Falco demanded. He grabbed my arm,
giving me pause.

“I don’t know, Falco,” I whispered. “Except
Twiten told me I had to train to become the Euchoun they hoped. It
is all I know. It is all I have clung to. Poor Gunilda has been
dealt with harshly by being torn from Sareta, Falco. I’ve had no
dealings with the King. I haven’t seen him since that night in his
chambers when the Arachnid attacked.”

“You know nothing since? It has well been
over four years,” Cono asked. He kicked the bed I slept in. He bent
down, disgusted with such. “Have you not even a blanket?”

“Gunilda is cold,” I said.

Falco, visibly shaken with the scene before
him, thought for a moment. “I blame myself, Kela. I should have
better listened. When Grandfather told me of your death, I should
have known for I had seen his feelings.”

“His feelings?”

He swallowed hard and shook his head. “I’m
not quite certain, but I picked up upon he believes you are weak,
your Witheleghean half. He wanted you strong, unflinching. He does
not know you as I. But how does this? Unless….”

“Brother, I don’t understand,” I
answered.

Falco eyed his sister. He shook his head.
“Nothing. I’m trying to make sense where there isn’t any. Why keep
you from me? I have grown to know Grandfather well. He has his
reasons which I’m certain he feels are for the best.”

“Best?” I pressed my lips together in manner
to contain myself. All these years apart. How could they been for
the best?

“I will find out. Now though, we celebrate!
For we are together again, never to be parted.” Falco declared.

I had never been to a feast before but
Sareta called for a generous supper laid upon a large table within
the Forbidden Castle. The hall lit brightly with candles and a fire
mended. Smiling broadly, I ate happier than I had been since I
could remember. Sareta sat next to me, holding my hand afraid I
would disappear. Completing all that I had never stopped loving,
Turstan sat across from me. Johannes and Cono sat at the far end
next to Twiten who had appeared allowing for the celebration to the
fullest.

My heart warmed as the fire that burned
brightly. Gunilda glowed sitting on the other side of Sareta. Her
eyes brimmed with merriment for she had her child next to her once
more evident also that the small one had missed her nurse.

“I’ll talk with Grandfather, Kela. I’m
certain he didn’t mean this to happen. If he’s worried about such,
I can cover all. I will tell him,” Sareta gave her sister a glowing
smile. “He must not know how it is for you. He has given me all. I
will…”

“You have done plenty, my little sister. If
you ever attempt such an action again,” Falco interrupted. “It was
Sareta herself that weakened Johannes’s shield around her. She
wanted Amicia to see her sheen.”

“I wanted only for her to see it for a
moment!” Sareta exclaimed.

“A moment was all it took,” Falco reprimanded
his youngest sister. “All know that you are Witheleghean. You have
to expect the Hallow Minions to be in wait for an opportunity.”

“Can she not protect herself from the
Minions?” I asked in earnest.

“Most definitely. She has put it off too long
as it is. Grandfather is setting aside time for Twiten to show
her,” Falco offered, glancing over at Gunilda. “And of course our
dear Gunilda.”

“I’m to return?” Gunilda’s old tired face
beamed with the prospect.

“It is what seems the best course of action
at the moment. At least for a time,” Twiten said. “My attention has
been redirected by King Edulf which includes ensuring Princess
Sareta’s safety. King Edulf feels it could mean that Asmeodai
making a move.”

Sareta turned to me, her irritation of the
dark conversation clearly seen in her face. “Sister, I have been
wondering of what you’re wearing. I can’t sit by and let you sit at
the table in such.”

Before I could blink my eyes, I sat in a
magnificent bejeweled gown, rose colored, soft against my skin. My
hands reached to my hair, twisted upward in fashion. I could feel
slippers, comfortable against my toes. I glanced over and found
Cono smiling at me, obvious he liked what he saw, but the moment
dissipated quickly for Twiten interceded.

“Princess Sareta, I must protest. In all I
realize your happiness in finding your sister, but we aren’t at
court. She isn’t a lady in waiting. She is a Euchoun. She needs not
the luxury which surrounds you. To face the dangers that awaits
her, she can’t…”

Immediately I saw the fear in my sister’s
eyes for me, I tightened my hold on her hand and lied, “I’m fine,
little sister. I have all I need. Truly, my happiness lies in
fulfilling my destiny so designed. I’m touched, thank you, but I
have no use for such a gown. Not here.”

She waved her tiny hand over me and frowned.
“I don’t see the harm.”

Neither did I, but in Twiten he had allowed
me to see the family kept from me. I pressed not.

“Would it harm her to have slippers for her
feet?”

I glanced up. Johannes spoke under his
breath. I had never heard Johannes speak to Twiten in that manner.
Twiten nodded and Sareta smiled brightly, lighting up the whole of
the room. A moment later I had slippers upon my feet.

In that moment, though, a sensation swept
through me. I was not like my siblings. In an action of kindness,
pity, I had been humiliated. I had never remembered ever being as
embarrassed by my appearance. The joy surrounding me edged way to a
sudden feeling of self-pity I had never encompassed before.

I looked up to find Cono’s eyes on me. Those
eyes didn’t seem to leave me all night. Did I disgust him, I
wondered. Was he telling himself if I had listened to him none of
this would have happened? I didn’t know. I sat back the rest of the
evening and listened, exchanging looks with Johannes. He held
within him the same questions as I. The talk had been to bring
Gunilda back for Sareta. Yet I stayed within my rags.

That night, I lay in my room at the castle at
the far end away from everyone else. I could find no sleep. I rose
from my bed. I needed air. I left the castle without a word to
anyone.

The trail back to the cottage was well worn,
but a long walk. I cared not. I needed the time. The sounds of the
Forest surrounded me. Sounds that now I found comfort in. Suddenly
over head a shadow appeared silhouette the ground beneath me from
the moonlight. I looked up when I climbed over a small rocky hill.
I glanced upward wondering who was leaving the castle.

In the moonlight, his wings spread wide over
the cloudless sky. He circled over head. My eyes lay mesmerized
upon the Sordarin who within moments landed before me. He did not
say a word at first. He just stood there, too close, too tall, too
dark. He smiled at me.

“Are you heading somewhere?” Cono smiled a
wide arrogant grin.

“Should you not be back at the castle with
everyone?” I said. “My destination is not your concern. Now, please
go along with your flight. I have no intentions of detaining
you.”

“You’re not,” he reached out and touched my
face. I recoiled. I have never been touched in that manner for any
reason. “I have waited for this opportunity to talk with you
without everyone’s ears.” He paused for a moment, glancing down at
my bare feet. “The slippers weren’t comfortable?”

My eyes flamed. To be ridiculed! I stepped
around him. His arm halted my progression.

"You walk unprotected in the dead of
night?”

“You don’t know me well,” I answered blandly.
“I’m not afraid. Of what? There is no one here to do me harm. And
even if there were why would someone try to harm me?”

“I can think of a few reasons,” his eyes
glanced over me in a way that made color rush to my cheeks. Happy
at least the night’s dim light hid my embarrassment.

I faced him in the night. “I can well take
care of myself. I have been trained well.”

“In that I don’t question,” His head tilted
to hold to my eyes I had tried to divert. He looked upward. “It is
a grand night for a flight. Do you not think?”

“In that I wouldn’t know.”

“Then it is time to find out.”

Without another utterance, his arms rounded
me and upward he soared. My arms instinctually clutched his neck.
He laughed heartily. “It is better than blasting at me. Much
better.”

At first I dug my head into his chest. I
closed my eyes and faced the wind. Oh, the taste of what freedom!
Slowly I opened my eyes. I drank in the feeling, the sight and the
remembrance of once before flying high in the sky with the one that
held me. I wanted it to go on forever for the Sordarin warrior who
held me to bring me out of Forbidden Forest. Instead he lit upon
the cliffs high above the Forest.

His arms released me and I stood along the
edge. So tiny all beneath my gaze seemed. Oh, the beauty. I turned
to find his eyes dancing upon me. The anger igniting within me only
moments before dissipated.

“Thank you,” I uttered. “This is so
beautiful.”

“It is,” he agreed. He stepped closer to me,
so close I could feel his breath upon my neck.

His arms rounded me, pressing my face to his.
My lips pulsed beneath his touch. My whole body did from his
proximity and gaze. I gritted my teeth. What was I doing acting
like a fool! His dark eyes considered me. They lured me. Their
color deepened. He smiled vaguely.

He looked handsome with the moonlit
highlighting him in the darkness. I had no time to consider my
situation when he lowered his head. His lips touched mine
delicately and kissed me softly. His lips lingered a moment, rested
only an extra instant. He cupped the nape of my neck with his
strong hand and kissed me again. This time, I responded back.

My body trembled with his touch. The kiss,
his closeness. His kiss provoked something inside of me that caused
me to forget for a moment all around me. When he broke from me, I
stared up at him in shock. I would have stepped back further but
his arms held me tightly.

“I don’t want you to fall.”

My eyes widened with fascination of the depth
of feeling he evoked within me. Finally, however, I realized he was
playing with me.

“Let go,” I said. “You may do this often. But
I will not be treated such. I may look as though…”

He shook his head. Then he kissed me again.
“I have never done this before, nor wanted to with anyone else. I
told you I wanted to talk with you. I want to understand all that
you have been through for the last four years. It may well have
been four years, but I remember well the power surging through you.
And in all it may show conceit, but I believe well that you are
stronger with me by your side.”

“I don’t understand what you are saying.”

"I’m saying I witnessed a Euchoun almost
destroy the entire Royal Unit with one blast when I touched her. I
fought along side of her when she helped destroy an Arachnidean
leader. I have dreamed of a girl in a mist for years. I have felt a
pull toward something I couldn't explain until I saw you when you
saved your sister. Did you not hear me when I called to you? I did
not speak a word, but you heard me. Didn’t you?”