So here it is! The first chapter in a new co-story by me and KaAaArL :D who did an AMAZING job with this :D it wouldn't be this good with out you! :) She created the names for his brothers. They're used in her brilliant story Unraveling Worlds, so check that out if you haven't already :D
It's based on Charles Dickens tale, "A Christmas Carol." but we thought we'd spice it up and change it slightly so they will be plently of twists and turns to keep you interested :D
Please let us know what you think, we really appreciate every review!
Thanks,
Harlequin & KaAarl
P.S. Merry Christmas! We hope you have a great time and don't encounter the three ghosts of christmas like poor Valek does! ;)
As I entered the Castle after another short trip down to Sitia, I walked straight to my suite. I was back early, so I wouldn't need to report to Ambrose for another two days.
Collapsing into bed, I was drained of energy from my one day trek back from Sitia. I didn't stop to rest so it took less time than usual. But no matter how exhausted I was, and how much my muscles ached with fatigue, I still couldn't stop thinking of the last few days.
Yelena and I had another fight, resulting in me leaving for Ixia early again. We've been arguing a lot recently, usually over a number of things. Our busy schedules meant that we didn't get to spend much time together, something which we both detested but couldn't do anything about.
Times were getting tough. It had been nearly a year before my most recent visit, and since we couldn't send letters to each other for fear of them getting into the wrong hands, there was no means of communication in our long times apart.
Ambrose would only let me have a few days off each year, and most of my visits to Yelena were when I was supposed to be working in Sitia anyway. And on the rare times that Yelena is sent to the castle on business, she's too busy to spend much time with me. We do see each other in the meetings, but that just makes it worse – being able to see each other but not touch and talk. Being in the same room as her, often sitting opposite her, yet unable to wrap her in my arms and show her how much I love her.
Another reason why I hated to be so far away from her is her unusual ability to attract trouble like a magnet, and I hated the possibility of not being able to save her. There's only so much I can do for her from by connecting telepathically, although my immunity to magic has thankfully saved her many of times.
Ambrose doesn't allow Ixia to celebrate Christmas, saying it's unprofessional for military, but they still celebrate the holiday in Sitia. That's the reason I was visiting Yelena actually. I was invited to spend Christmas with her parents. I've never met them before and I was nervous about how they would react knowing their beautiful daughter was in a relationship with the master assassin of Ixia. But I guess I don't have to worry about that now since our fight made me leave the day before.
I couldn't help wondering what I would have being doing had we not got into an argument, what would her parents be like? Would they approve of me? Probably not.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes and tried to drift to sleep, but no matter how hard I tried, Yelena's face kept popping into my mind. Her dazzling green eyes, her beautiful smile. The memories of our time together – before and after we declared our love for each other. All the trouble she got into and how I helped her out of it.
Everything just passing memories. Is that what it's going to be like now? Just passing memories, with out the anticipation and excitement of seeing her again? No looking forward to her next visit? Just a numb, empty feeling.
I opened my eyes to the darkness and sighed in defeat. I knew that despite how exhausted I was, I wasn't getting any sleep tonight. I was about to get up to go to my carving studio, when I noticed a shimmer in the corner of my room. Instinctively I reached under my pillow and pulled out a knife. Aiming it at the intruder, I threatened to throw it. I pulled my arm back and let go of the blade, but it passed right through. And then I recognized who it was. Someone who I hadn't seen in years. Lucian. My oldest brother.
My first thought was, 'Holy shit, it's a ghost!' And then, 'I wonder how Yelena deals with seeing things that aren't really there?'
He looked exactly the same as before he was killed. Except he was slightly transparent and was glowing. Normally I would have teased him about that, but I was still too shocked to form words. All I could do is gawk at him, with my mouth slightly open. I didn't even try to hide my shocked expression. There's no point. My brother could always read me like an open book.
"Well, at least you recognized me. I've seen worse. You didn't run away screaming like a little girl either, that's a start," Lucian said.
That quickly removed any thoughts about running – I was not going to prove him right. "No, I guess not," I said quietly. His eyebrows rose when he heard my voice. Obviously that had changed since the last time he saw me at the age of thirteen.
"My God, you actually grew up. And here I was thinking I'd see my baby brother again." He shook his head in disbelief. "So, are you really an assassin?"
"Yes." I answered him. I was nervous as to what he would think of my career. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of. But he's dead. Why should I care what he thinks? But dead or not, he's still my brother.
"Can you speak in more than one-word sentences?" he asked. I hated the fact that he seemed so amused.
"Yes – I mean, of course I can." I corrected myself.
"That's good. Then answer this question for me. Since you are the spitting image of moa, then obviously you have the prettiest girl around. Am I right?"
Great, this was just great. My guilt was causing me to hallucinate. Now I was going to confess everything to my hallucination, and then I would go back to Yelena and beg her for forgiveness. Then she would ask me what made me change my mind, and I would tell her about Lucian. She would think I was crazy and leave me. Great. Just Perfect.
"Something happened between you two, and you don't want to tell me about it. Whatever, I'm here for a reason. I have to show you something. I am going to show you your life – the past part of it. And I'm going to help you figure out who you are exactly and what you're after. Also, I get to watch and invade your private life and thoughts without you being able to do anything about it." He finished off his long speech with a smirk.
As if my life couldn't get any worse. Now I had to go back to the past that I had spent all my life trying to block out.
Then – despite my protests – the world melted into a jumble of colours and my room disappeared. The replacement was northern Ixia. I could see a younger me playing with my brothers in the snow. It was getting dark outside and I heard our mother's voice call us from the house.
The other versions of my family walked down the path. I couldn't stop myself from screaming out to them to stop. I knew that the path was leading them to death. But they couldn't hear me.
I felt Lucian's hand come down on my arm and he held me back. I turned see him wearing a sad smile. "It's the past, Valek. There's nothing you can do to change it. Let it go."
"I can't," I finally admitted. "It caused everything in my life to spiral downwards. I became a killer because of those bastards who killed you. I wanted to avenge you, but all I got was a moment of satisfaction. Then I was caught in an unbreakable web and I couldn't find a way out. And now my life is all wrong."
I watched in horror as the two soldiers walked to our door. The loud thumping on the wood echoed through my heart as I knew what was about to happen. All I can do now is watch the horror of my past replay itself. Knowing that there is nothing I can do to stop it.
I watched helplessly as my father argued with the soldiers. I wanted to scream and shout at him not to say the words which caused my brothers deaths. But I knew it was no use. He couldn't hear me, and even if he could. I couldn't change the past. No matter how much it killed me to admit it.
"If I pay the full tax money, then I won't have enough money left to feed my family. Is that what the King wants? His people to starve for the sake of some taxes?"
Without hesitating, the two guards unsheathed the swords and killed my three brothers. No remorse spared. And I felt red hot fury bubble inside me as they laughed to each other.
"Problem solved. Now you have three less mouths to feed." Without thinking, I pulled two knives from my forearms – hidden underneath my nightshirt, and hurled them towards the two guards. The blades went straight through them and disappeared into the wall of the house.
That only made my anger worse. My hands balled into fists and I wanted to kill both of them. I suddenly regretted now killing them before. Even though I knew it was stupid to kill the messengers. Seeing the murder again reignited my fury.
Luckily Lucian wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and my anger started to extinguish.
I don't know what was worse. Actually experiencing the incident first hand, or watching it back like I am now. Watching the painful scene like an onlooker, but at the same time remembering what it felt like. Watching my expression as the worst pain in my life filled through my body. Seeing my parents lose three of their four children in one moment. My mothers' heartbreaking screams and wails pierced my heart as her three sons lie in pools of their own blood, unconscious and empty of life. Dead.
My younger self shied away in the corner – my hands over my face as my body shook with endless sobs. But now, I dared to look down at my brother's bodies. I couldn't look for long though, seeing their pained faces, their lifeless eyes and their blood contrasting against the white snow.
I looked back at myself crying in the corner, long after the soldiers had left. I watched in amazement as a bright white light came down from above and shone straight down on my younger self, it was so bright that me and my brother had to shield our eyes behind our hands. When it dimmed down to a pale blue colour, I looked at my parents. But they were too busy grieving to notice what had happened.
"M...Mother! F...F..Father! D..Did you j..just s..s..see th..that! A b..bright light!" my younger self shouted at them through the tears still streaming down my face. The light had hurt. It had shocked my body violently, and it went numb for a moment.
"Valek!" My Father screamed at me! "How dare you say that? How could you be so disrespectful? Your brothers just died, and all you care about is some damn bloody light! Your mother here is heartbroken, we all are. The least you could do is show some respect!"
"S...sorry F...Father"
"Stop crying!" he smacked me around my face. I even reached out to rub my cheek now, remembering how much it hurt. Both physically and emotionally.
"Well I'll tell you something boy. You are no son of mine! I wish it was you instead of them!"
The scene kept playing over and over in my head. The sounds of the soldiers unsheathing their sharp swords, the piercing of skin and my brothers' screams, echoed in my mind, making my head throb in pain. The brothers I had loved so much, who I had spent all my childhood playing with. Gone. And there's nothing I can do about it. Even though one of my brothers stands next to me now, I know he won't be around for long. Soon I will have to say goodbye to him all over again.
I wanted to run away, not caring what Lucian would think. But his hand on my shoulder stopped me. I knew I needed to stop running away from my past. No matter how much it pains me, I need to be strong.
After that, I was left shaking. Lucian was supporting my weight almost completely. He sat me down on a snow bank. "Are you all right?" he questioned me. My eyes couldn't focus. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. Suddenly, I turned and retched onto the snow. Clearly, I was not all right. Lucian's eyes widened. "Oh God, what's wrong? Where does it hurt? Do you need help? Are you all right? Do you want me to help you up? Should I go get help? Oh God, this is entirely my fault…"
I smiled at his stream of questions. He was having a small panic attack. Just like when I was a child and he was supposed to be watching me, but I fell and bloodied my hands and knees. But right now, he was looking at me as if I was a lunatic – I was still sitting there, smiling like an idiot.
"I'm fine. That was just… really something."
From then on, the flashes from the past were simpler. Here you could see me training. There I was going around earning money from the royal upper class. And again training, gaining information. Until we stopped again. I hid in a dark hallway. My eyes widened – I knew this place. This was where the rebellion was starting. I had just received my first payment and was taking my shot at Ambrose. I had an inside panic attack as my young-self advanced towards the main room through the shadows.
I managed to sneak into his room without being noticed, I didn't waste anytime before I jumped him, my knife aimed I didn't waste any time before I jumped him, my knife aimed at his heart. What I didn't expect was for him to block the blow with his own knife. I quickly found myself battling for my life against the man that I was hired to kill. Unfortunately for me, he was more skilled with a knife than I was, and since I had expected an easy kill, I hadn't taken a sword with me. I was constantly cursing myself for that. If I hadn't been so cocky and brought more weapons, then maybe I wouldn't have been tied to Ambrose for all these years.
I watched as I closed my eyes, clearly waiting to receive the same death I had brought among many others. But it never came. Instead he carved a C on my chest with my own blade.
"What is your name?" he asked me.
"Valek" my younger self whispered.
"Valek, I am now your Commander and you will work for me and no one else. Understand?"
"Yes, Sir." I whispered. I was scared beyond anything I had ever experienced before. "But there is one man that I want to kill the most. If you can get me to the King, then I will be loyal to you forever."
"No." I whispered as my younger self pledged loyalty to Ambrose. If only I knew how foolish it was. Granted I was able to kill the King and his family and was able to finally let go of my past with the knowledge that I had avenged my brothers.
But I was stupid when I was younger. I was cocky and too caught up in the feeling of killing people, and creating fear to think about my future after killing the King. I had no idea the full extent of my oath to Ambrose.
Lucian stared at me in disbelief. I couldn't help fidgeting under his intense blue gaze – that was where I had gotten my blue eyes. "You pledged your eternal loyalty to a man who almost killed you?" he asked. His voice was emotionless, but I knew there was about to be an explosion.
"Yes, I still work for him now. He's the Commander of Ixia."
"The, what?" he shouted. "You helped him take over? You killed the King? How? How could you do that? The King was a powerful magician, how the hell did you manage to kill him without being vaporized."
"Well, remember that flash that you saw in the first vision you showed me?" He nodded. "See, that's my immunity."
He asked in disbelief, "Immunity? You have immunity to magic?"
"Yes, that's how I killed the Royals, and all of their magicians."
Once again, flashes of my life. We were getting closer and closer to the present.
Yelena's time as food taster flashed by quickly. Then the fight in Brazell's manor; up until we were thrown into the dungeons. Our escape and me pulling Yelena into the empty cell – where we hid. Then the image stayed.
No! This was pure torture. No way, Lucian was not going to witness my first night with Yelena.
"... And there's been no one in this world that I care for more. Until now." I heard myself say. "Yelena, you've driven me crazy. You've caused me considerable trouble and I've contemplated ending your life twice since I've known you. But you've slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart."
In the silence that followed I heard my brother snort in amusement. Only he would find my love life amusing. In found this even more awkward watching with my brother than their own deaths. At least he knew what happened then, this was supposed to be private. Only between Yelena and I. Or so I thought.
"Oh, shut up."I huffed in annoyance.
"That sounds more like a poison than a person." Yelena said in response.
"Exactly. You have poisoned me." Even though we couldn't see anything, I can remember it just like it had happened yesterday. I can remember the softness of her lips against mine. How her sweet lavender scent overwhelmed me. And how good her warm soft body felt pressed up against mine. Even though we had been locked in a dark and dirty dungeon, we had become one. We had shared blissful moments and revealed our love for one another.
And the sounds were blocked out by Lucian laughing his ass off. I swear I wanted to punch him.
It was finally over. Thank you, dear Lord. Lucian was still chortling, although he had seen nothing, he had heard everything. And that was what was amusing to him. His little brother spending a night with the woman he loved. It probably wouldn't be so funny if it was the other way around, I grumped.
Then the world faded into splashes of colours again, and we were back in my room. Lucian was still laughing, until I launched myself at him. That, he wasn't expecting. We toppled to the floor and – although it would do him no harm – I brought I knife to his throat. Well, at least now my skills were evident.
"You're really something, Valek. You're certainly not the baby brother I remember. But that's good. You are a man now, and something tells me, that that girl was the one. She's gorgeous, let me tell you that, and you probably regret whatever wedged between you. You need to fix it. Compare the past, to the present and to what might happen in the future if you don't fix this. You'll find an answer." With a final mysterious smile, he was gone.
The present and future? I hadn't seen those. And then… Oh no! That means I would see Alexis and Ruben. No. that means they would see me. And that means… I had no time to finish that thought.
A dark shape was sitting on my windowsill. Ruben.
We hoped you enjoyed it, and we'll try and update the next chapter as soon as we can :D
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That's the only present we wish for this christmas ;)