We
entered a castle. It was cold, dark and creepy. Hey, it's a typical castle.
Except that it looked a bit deserted. You almost wonder if no one's
here...almost. The nameless guy from the podium never talked since we left
Throm angry with us, so I haven't a clue what's going on. We walked up the
stairs, my heels pounding loudly on the cold stone floor. In front of us was a
huge brown door.
The guy
who took me walked to the door then turned around and spoke softly,
"Before you enter these doors, there is something you must know. Do not be
afraid of what may meet your eyes. There's nothing to be afraid of." I
frowned at that. Afraid? I thought The Council couldn't kill another council
member? At least that's what my father told me. Great, and just when I thought
I knew everything.
The man
turned around, waited, and then slowly opened the doors. You wouldn't be able
to imagine what I saw. Not even close. It was magnificent. Everything sparkled
or glowed. The windows were framed with pure gold and with the sun flowing
through it looked beautiful. There was a huge marble table with throne-like
chairs, thirteen to be exact. The weird thing, was, all thirteen chairs were
filed...
"James?"
He turned to face me. I looked at him from head to toe. He wasn't looking so
good. James stilled looked as gorgeous as ever. Even with a cut on his cheek
and a broken arm. Shit, he looked like he'd been through Hell and back.
My eyes
met his. He spoke first, "Helen". My name. He spoke my name. A single
tear fell from my eyes. I smiled at the thought. Only he would be brave enough
or crazy enough, whichever that would be, to even use my formal name. I would
have a 'talk' with anyone else who would even whisper it. A sigh came from my
mouth and I straighten up.
"What
happened?" I asked to James making my face blank with no emotion. I
couldn't let him know I still had feelings for him.
"You
might as well sit down. It's a long story," he paused and I took the
nearest seat to James. I stared at him and he continued, "I was leaving
the town of Michtal with my partner, Juliana." He sighed. Partner?
Juliana? Wait a minute. Juliana is a girl's name. I really don't like where
this is going.
"Juliana
and I were stopped be a group of soldiers a mile from the village. They
recognized me. There were about a dozen of Throm's soldiers, with orders to
kill us. I took Juliana by the hand and we ran through the woods. She decided
we should split up so we could try to lose the soldiers. It sounded like a good
idea at the time. I took left, and she took right.
"As
predicted, half of them followed me and half followed her. When I reached a
cliff I took into hiding. When the first two soldiers appeared from the corner
I attacked and killed both. There were
five more around the corner. Before I could get a good shot at them, I heard
her. I heard her scream."