Alone
I spent the rest of the day with Lysander close to me. The others avoided me like the plague and I was glad I had him. Something inside me knew that I had no real affections for this man and he just made me feel wanted. Hiding secrets from others, like the ones I hid from my family, separates you from people but with Lysander I felt at ease.
Tophia was a very small settlement; more of a camp then a village. It was near a huge forest that seemed to never end. But beyond the forest I knew was Roin and then the sea. The people of Tophia were friendly enough but weary of strangers. Later that evening Lysander and the rest of our group sat around a campfire. He was discussing the plans for the following day. I was not paying attention and walked away from the fire.
"Asha, Asha." Someone whispered to me. I turned around and a figure walked towards me coming from behind a cabin.
"Mother Eugenia," I said with a sigh, once I saw her face in the light. The old woman had startled me. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you my child." She answered with a smile. I glanced at her curiously, Mother had been gone the whole day and the villagers that I questioned had no idea where I could find her. "You must come with me." She said hurriedly grabbing my hand.
"Why?" I asked pulling it back.
"Come, come with me now. We must go." She babbled her voice rough and hurried. I looked back at the group huddled close together and turned away from Mother Eugenia. "No." She grabbed my shoulder. "All your questions, don't you want them answered." I turned at looked at her once again. Then Mother, realizing that I would go with her, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the forest.
*_*
"Can the women be trusted?" Dmitri barked.
"Yes, my lord, I believe so." Eli replied he had never seen him so shaken; Dmitri's jittery movements were making him nervous. They were seated in the parlor, where Mother Eugenia had been hours before.
Dmitri sat down on a moth eaten chair. Everything was going well; Eli had actually found the girl. So why was he so nervous? He had still not seen his foolish brother who was probably still trying to bring his dead wife back. It was so easy to lie to him and tell him that she was still alive. Silly Jai, as a child he always worked so hard, never giving up. And when their mother died the only thing that kept him sane was finding Opal the love of his life. The girl was too headstrong in Dmitri's opinion. Women must be kept in certain boundaries, but Jai disagreed. It didn't matter though, Jai was taken care of.
*_*
We had been walking for hours. The night was dark, the forest's tall trees blocking the moon's glow. The air was cold and it made me shiver. I desperately wanted to turn back realizing how foolish it had been to go with Mother. She had hold of my hand, dragging me through the trees with purpose. I would have escaped from her grip hours ago but I was afraid of being alone in the thick vegetation.
"Continue on child." Mother Eugenia said pulling me closer to her. "We are almost there." She whispered reassuringly. Mother had told me little about our destination. Whenever I asked she said all your questions will be answered which in the beginging seemed reassuring enough but now all I wanted was to turn back.
We continued walking in silence. I let Mother Eugenia lead me. I walked as in a trance and was only pulled when Mother Eugenia stopped abruptly.
"There, there it is." She said excitedly, almost giggling. "I thought we were lost for a moment but no, Mother has a good sense." It was this giddiness hat woke me, and I looked up to see an immense estate. It was big and defiantly bold, with menacing gargoyles on its roof. It was made of stone that was crumbling in some places. Although it was certainly a site it gave off a disturbing aurora.
Mother looked at me smiling and dragged me to the manor's door. Bang, Bang, Bang. The brass knocker sent shivers down my spine. A servant opened the door.
"Hello, master has been expecting you." She said opening the door wider. The inside of the house was in ruins, but it had a presence that made it known that it was once quite magnificent. The servant led us through the foyer into a parlor that held two gentlemen. The first I recognized from my vision but the second I did not know.
"Hello" The second one said standing. "Thank you Mother Eugenia for bringing Asha here." He said nodding at me. "Will you leave us now, so that I might properly entertain my guest." Mother Eugenia backed away from me quickly, who ever this man was he held great power. "Eli escort her out." He told the man from my vision, they both left hurriedly. I kept my eyes down even though I felt his on me. He walked towards me taking my hand. His were dreadfully cold and I shivered. "Do you know who I am?" He whispered very softly.
"No." I said looking at him for the first time. He was a strong man, with a square jaw and a pronounced face. His nose was off angle slightly and his eyes were a golden honey brown. His dark brown hair fell to his shoulders. He had proud shoulders and underneath his tunic was a strong chest. His big cold hands still held mine and I felt him studying me as I studied him.
"My name's Dmitri." He said finally breaking the silence. My heart quickened. "I knew your parents." He said. "Would you like me to tell you about them?" He asked. "About us?" That caused me to look up into his eyes.
"Yes tell me about them." I said ignoring the "us" part of the question. Being with him calmed me. There was an odd connection between us, a bond. It was like a spark of electricity running through my body, alive one second and then gone the next.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything." I'm not sure for how long I sat there listing to his voice tell me all I had never known. He told me that my father was Aaron, a powerful Ashlyn who had been killed many years ago by rioters. My mother was a woman named Lady Stella, who had died during childbirth. After her death, Dmitri explained, my father had become depressed. He became paranoid and wanted to protect me so gave me to my adoptive mother, who had been one of his childhood friends.
Before my father had given me up he had made a pact with Dmitri's father, his best friend, and bonded me to his oldest son Dmitri. "What does that mean?" I asked Dmitri interrupting him for the first time.
"It means that we will always be connected to each other. It is a very ancient ceremony. You see the magic works best when we are bonded to someone; the ancients discovered it when they realized that when they were with their soul mates they were much more powerful. So they invented a ceremony that insured that the rulers would hold the most power." I looked at him not fully understanding. He touched my check, "It is hard to explain." He muttered. "You must be tired, we can talk more in the morning." He said getting up and pulling me with him. "I'll have Lydia show you to your room."
Just then the maid appeared. "Come with me." She said. I looked at Dmitri and he nodded. The maid led me through a series of corridors. The house was enormous. We finally reached a room near the end of the house. A fire place was blazing and white crisp sheets were on the bed. There was also a dresser and vanity but the room was so huge it looked like there was no furniture at all. Although the room was warm it had a musky smell and felt damp. "Shall you need anything Lady Asha please call." Lydia told me interrupting my inspection of the room. I nodded and she left, closing the door behind her. In the door I could hear a key being turned and realized that I was locked in.
I looked at the door and a shudder passed through me. Without Dmitri close to me this place was threaten and new. I sat down at the bed and closed my eyes, my head screaming for me to get up and explore, to find a way out of here. I shut all my anxious feelings away and feel asleep.
*_*
Pain. So much pain. Flashes of light and then totally darkness. Aaron from my vision in the meadow. Aaron my father. He was speaking to someone. Screaming. Darkness. Beautiful Jai from my vision. Screaming. Screaming in his sleep. Trembling. Dmitri. Screaming. Screaming. Screaming. "Kill Him!"A voice called. "Kill Him" a mad chorus of screams and chanting.
"Kill HIM."
"Kill Him."
"KILL HIM!"
More spasmodic flashes of light, and then darkness.
Hey everyone, i just wanted to say thank you to those who have been reading this story. I havn't gotten a review in a long time, tear. Lol. So anyway, this story is almost over I'm thinkin two or three more chapters. What do you think is going to happen? How do you think it is going to end? Please review. ~Lily