The Drifting

  “She’s been sent for, Lily. She’ll be here soon,” offers Ka.

  Suddenly I’m antsy, becoming anxious to see my friend. I realize just how much I’ve missed her. I don’t have to wait long.

  The double doors open and Tolan and Julia walk in. I’m up off the chair, standing and waiting for Julia to acknowledge me. It’s then that I notice what Tharin meant by “distance” between her and Tolan. It’s as if they’re complete strangers. I look at Julia, checking out what looks like a uniform. Her pants are dark brown and hug her nicely and outline her body’s shape. The top is also snug, dark brown and looks seamless from the waist up. She wears a belt that loosely hangs on her hips and her boots come up just below her knees. Her hair has gotten longer, and she wears it with the front pulled into a topknot like Mellis’ while the back hangs at her shoulders.

  It takes Julia a second to scan the room, look over the sisters at the table who also rose when I did, the wall with the map and finally over to the seating area. When her eyes fall upon me, the hard look she came in with goes through a variety of emotions. One of shock, then disbelief, then joy and then sorrow, back to disbelief all wrapped into one. No longer able to hold back, we rush over and catch each other in a hard embrace. I hold on to her feeling her body tremble as she cries against my shoulder. I rub her back, trying to calm her down. How did I make it through these past weeks without her by my side? I finally move back, but Julia doesn’t move. I put my hands on her face as she continues to cry, unable to look at me. I kiss her cheek, then the other, then her forehead and pretty much the rest of her face, I’m so happy to see her. She hugs me to her again, afraid to let me go.

  I squeeze her tightly before releasing her again softly saying, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

  Julia is unable to speak, shaking her head at me, looking down at our hands which she grasps tightly. “I’m sorry, Julia…I’m so sorry.” Still unable to talk, she looks at me, reaching up to touch my face, my hair and finally dropping her forehead forward to touch mine.

  And then she stops. She straightens, stepping back, anger quickly overtaking her emotions. She turns to Tolan who remains at the doors and before I know what she is doing she purposely walks over to him. He remains still watching Julia approach him. His face is hard and without thinking he lifts his chin ready for whatever’s coming. She comes to a sudden stop when she finds Tharin standing before her, blocking her from his brother.

  “I gave him the command not to tell you. It was me, if you remember, who told you Lily was dead. I did it to protect her, to keep the bounty hunters and assassins from tracking her down. If you’re going to lash out at anyone, it will be me.” His words were quietly spoken, but firmly.

  I make my way to stand next to Tharin and Julia looks over at me, confusion and anger conflicting on her face. “I’m sorry,” I say gently, “I didn’t know until just recently that you didn’t know. I would never do anything to hurt you, you know that. And, you also know Tolan and Tharin would never hurt you intentionally.”

  “But they did,” Julia quietly chokes, trying to hold back the tears.

  “Well, that isn’t true, exactly,” says Ka from behind us. Julia turns toward the old man as we all do. “I was the one who made that decision to keep you in the dark, Julia. I am sorry for that, but if you’re going to blame anyone, it should be me.” He gives Julia the saddest old man look I’ve ever seen. Julia looks back at me and I take her hand. Silently, she casts her eyes downward and nods, looking betrayed.

  I turn to Tharin, “I want to stay with Julia tonight.”

  “Of course, but remember,” he says to the both of us, “you’re supposed to be dead and have to remain that way until the Seating.” He says it more for Julia’s sake than mine. “We have a private suite where the servants are not allowed to enter. Sema is here and she will take care of all your meals and preparations. I’ll let her know that Julia will be moving in with you.”

  I give him a quizzical look, “What suite is that?”

  “My mother’s.”

  I smile gratefully and turn to look at Julia, also grateful to have her with me. For the first time, I see a small smile appear on Julia’s face and she puts her arm around me as I hug her by the waist. She seems slimmer if that’s even possible, but she’s definitely lost weight.

  Taking her hand, I lead her to the sisters and make introductions. “Julia, this Milina and Glynnis, they’re…um…my bodyguards.” I’m still not used to the idea. Julia looks at me with raised brows and then checks out Milina, weighing silently. Even after all this time, I can still read her expressions.

  “Mistress, it is my pleasure to meet you,” says Milina as she gives a slight bow. Glynnis follows suit, showing her respect. Julia keeps quiet taking each greeting with silent observation. She looks over at Milina, “Where have you trained?”

  “With the Molker Guild, mistress.”

  Julia gives me a look, then back at Milina, “The Molker Guild? Isn’t that a criminal organization?”

  “Yes, mistress, there’s a chapter in every city.”

  “Huh,” replies Julia, looking over the sisters one more time before shrugging her shoulders at me. I laugh as I push her toward a large chair that’s obviously a one-seater. We sit in it together holding hands tightly afraid to let each other go. At first we sit quietly, my head on her shoulder as she lays her head on top of mine.

  I lean back, looking at her excitedly, “I’ve missed you so much and I have so much to tell you.”

  She nods eagerly, “Me too. Oh my God, Lily, when I thought you were…that you were…you know…” she stops, her emotions taking over again.

  “I know, I know,” I comfort, hugging her again. Her pain saddens me and I can feel my own emotions coming through, too.

  Sniffing and wiping at her eyes, Julia moves back, continuing, “I just didn’t know what to do. I thought I was all alone here and when I thought of trying to find my way back home, I realized without you and Mom, there was nothing for me to go back to.”

  “I know, Julia. I was going through the same thing. When Sema, Ka’s wife, told me Lucas was dead, I was crushed and didn’t think I could go on.”

  Julia looks at me shocked, “Lucas is dead?” She turns to where Tolan is talking softly with Tharin and Ka. Her face becomes hard again as she glares at him. I shake her hands gently to get her attention, “I didn’t know either, Julia. Tharin kept it from me too, but Sema did say that he didn’t know until after he came for me.” Julia snorts, shaking her head in disgust. I lower my head trying to make eye contact. “I don’t like what they did either, but I understand why they did…kind of.” She glances at me still unsatisfied, but she’s less angry than she was a second ago.

  The doors open once again and Alorn, Ziri and Mellis walk in carrying platters of food and drinks. They make their way to the large table, placing the food before Milina and Glynnis. The sisters quickly go about making sandwiches from the breads and meats platter. One large platter has nothing on it but fruit, tons of it. My stomach grumbles at the sight of the food and my mouth waters, but I don’t want to move from our seat in the large chair. I stare at the platters hungrily, but Julia only gives it a cursory glance.

  “Aren’t you hungry?” I ask. She shakes her head as she looks around the room again. “Is this your first time in here?” I ask distractedly as I continue to stare at the feast on the conference table. Thankfully, I watch as Glynnis and Milina carry plates full of food toward us.

  They make their way over and place the plates on the long, wide coffee table in the middle of the small area. Once they place the dishes down, they turn to leave. I stop them, offering, “Milina, why don’t you and Glynnis join us?” She starts to shake her head, but I stop her, “No, I really want you to, please.” After looking at her sister, they turn to us both nodding and smiling.

  “Here,” says Julia getting up and pulling me up with her. “Let’s move these chairs back and we can sit on the floor around the table.”

>   “Great idea,” I add, happy to see Julia becoming more relaxed since she walked in the room. Glynnis and I move the chairs aside while Julia and Milina work together to push the big chair farther back.

  “What are you doing?” We turn to see Tharin and the others watching us as we prepare to sit and eat.

  “Yeah,” pipes in Mellis copying Tharin’s stance giving us an exaggerated scowl. “You can’t move the furniture around. This is the king’s seating area.”

  After pushing one of the chairs back, I turn saying, “It’s too big at that table. This is more intimate. Come join us.”

  It only takes the guys a second to think about it before they’re sitting on the floor. Glynnis returns to the large table for more food. Ziri and Tolan follow, helping with the large platters.

  Once the food and drinks are in place, the chatter starts and we’re lost in news, memories and stories from the guys too unbelievable to believe. Although Julia and Tolan sat as far from each other as possible, I didn’t miss the glances they threw at each other when one thought the other wasn’t looking. Still, the lack of communication between them didn’t bring down the mood around the coffee table. We were in the middle of laughing out loud at an incident Mellis was telling involving him, Alorn, Ziri and Tolan, when a booming voice instantly cut the laughter off.

  “Who moved my chair?” Standing before us is an older version of Tharin and Tolan and I can only assume this is their father, the king. Without missing a beat and not taking his eyes off the king, Mellis throws out his arm pointing a finger…right at me. Crap.

  ~ * ~

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ~ Tharin ~

  I pull Lily to me as we stand outside the doors to my mother’s old suite. For weeks now, after getting permission from my father to let Lily use the rooms until the wedding, I had Walem handle the cleaning and preparation. Walem has been with my father since I can remember. I knew he would be discreet in his selection of staff to handle the task, no questions asked.

  Lily pulls back to look at me and says, “It was fun during dinner. Is your father really mad about the furniture?”

  “No. But I have to tell you, I’ve never seen my father sit on the floor before. I think he enjoyed it as much as we did.”

  “I hope we can do that again,” says Lily, resting her head on my chest.

  “You can have whatever you want, my love…anything.”

  She laughs, saying, “I’ll have to think about that. Sorry, still trying to get used to the idea that I have a boyfriend.”

  I give her a look, “Lily, princes are not boyfriends.”

  She pulls away from me, “Um…you’re not?”

  “No, we’re not,” I answer, not sure why it’s a hard concept for her to understand.

  “If you’re not my boyfriend, what are you?”

  “I’m your betrothed, your future husband and king. What else would I be?”

  “Um, yeah…okay. Whatever you say, my betrothed, my future husband and king,” she says giving me a raised brow.

  “See? Was that so hard?” I ask sincerely.

  She laughs, “No, I guess not, but it sure is a long way to get to the point, though.” She smiles, asking, “Will I see you in the morning?”

  “No, it’ll be too risky. We still don’t know who this Eathos is. He could be anyone outside our circle. Ka’s right, we just can’t take the chance of you being discovered.”

  “So, I’m a prisoner?” she asks resignedly.

  I shake my head at her, “No. That’s one thing you’ll never be, Lily.”

  “I know and I get it. I just don’t like the idea of being cooped up in there for the next few days.” She thinks for a moment, “Tharin, I really can’t speak in front of a crowd.” A queasy look comes over her.

  “Hey, stop worrying. Everything will be all right,” I rush in afraid she’d get sick on me again.

  “You don’t understand. When I was in the fifth grade my teacher at the time signed me up to run for class president. Long story short, when it came to give my speech, the other kids were so cruel to me…just ruthless. Next thing I know I’m on the floor and Ms. Hawkins is holding me, yelling at me to wake up. It was awful…I just can’t do it.” She starts to shake.

  I take her hands, rubbing the back of them to calm her down. “You’re not in the fifth grade anymore, Lily. And I’m going to be there, so will Julia and Tolan, Alorn, Mellis and the sisters. People who love you will be there and we won’t let you fall, I promise.”

  “So, you’ll be up there with me?”

  “Uh…no. Sorry, love, you’re on your own on the dais before taking your throne. But we’ll be right there. I don’t want you to think about the fifth-grade incident when you think of giving your oath during the Seating.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “It’s hard not to think about it. I can’t think about anything else,” she says worriedly.

  “Then think about this.” I take her in my arms again and give her a long, slow kiss. When we part, she keeps her eyes closed, but there’s a soft smile on her face. Damn…I want to pick her up and take her back to my suites, but I fight the urge. Instead, I kiss her on her forehead and push her at arm’s length. She stumbles forward and I steady her by the shoulders.

  “Now you have another memory to call up when you think of speaking publicly. And it will also have to do until the Day of Seating,” I say shrugging at her.

  “Are you serious? I really won’t see you for three days?”

  “Of course you will. I’ll visit in the drifting state, but it would be better if you came to me. Your suites a little crowded.” The sisters refused to leave Lily, so Julia will move into the master bedroom with Lily. Milina and Glynnis will share the spare room next to the master bedroom.

  Lily gives me a nod and says, “Okay, Tharin. But you remember it as well.” To my surprise she gives me saucy look, something I don’t even think she realizes she’s doing. She opens the double doors throwing me another look before disappearing inside.

  Three more days. Just three more days and I’ll be married to Lily.

  “What do you mean I can’t marry Lily?” I reply quietly, my anger fighting its way through my patience.

  “I’m not saying you can’t marry her, Tharin,” says Ka, trying to keep his own patience.

  “What Ka is saying,” interjects my father, “is that you can, and you will marry Lily, just not on the same day as the Seating. We need to draw out Eathos. He needs you to marry Lily to fulfill the prophecy in order to open the doorway.”

  I look at my father’s face, studying it carefully. Finally, I sigh resignedly, “How long?”

  “A week, maybe two,” answers Ka. I shake my head, not believing what they’re asking.

  “Patience, Tharin,” soothes my father. “I wouldn’t ask this of you if recent events hadn’t forced our hand.”

  He quickly gets my attention, “What’s happened?”

  Ka and Father give each other a look and it’s Ka who responds. “Kurm and Car’ithi are dead.” He lets the news sink in. Two more Ancients are gone. Suddenly getting married becomes a distant thought. “We found Kurm sprawled at his desk from an apparent heart attack. But Sema examined him and confirmed that he was poisoned. As for Car’ithi, his body washed ashore at the lake’s edge below Gastah Point. It looks as if he fell over the cliffs.”

  “More likely he was pushed,” adds Father.

  “There’s more,” says Ka, eyeing me steadily. “We believe that Kabba is here in Oak Tower. Whatever Eathos is using to disguise himself, he’s using on Kabba.”

  Instantly, my thoughts are of Lily. I am sure Milina and Glynnis can handle themselves and there are extra shields on the royal floor, but I would be more comfortable having Ziri and Mellis in the suite with them.

  I know that Milina and Glynnis would give their lives for Lily. Julia will fight to her last breath for her friend and vice versa. And, of course, Lily has Cessa with her. I would prefe
r that Kalis and five of her best men were stationed outside the suites, but Kalis still believes Lily to be dead.

  I look at the two old elves and for a moment their features seem to blend together before my eyes. I shake my head and blink, then rub at my eyes when they seem to blur. When I look back at them, their faces are once again distinct from each other. I must be tired, I tell myself as I get up to leave.

  “Oh, Tharin, one more thing,” calls out Father. He takes a small box from the inside of his coat, placing it on the table and slides it over to me. He keeps his fingers on it momentarily, locking eyes with me. He removes his hand and gruffly says, “It’s for your Lily.”

  I pick up the box and open it. I choke back the emotion threatening to overcome me at seeing my mother’s wedding ring. It sits on pure gold silk, polished and cleaned. It has been sitting on my father’s dresser where he left it the day my mother returned to Mother Earth. The purest emerald from the mines of Eirrell vies with the darkest forest green of Mother Earth herself. There it sat for years on his dresser…dusty, unmoved and untouched. And here it is now, sparkling at me as if happy that it will be worn by the queen of the Oak Clan once again.

  I close the box slowly and look at my father who seems to suddenly find a small scratch on the table very interesting. I know that his emotions are still raw from yesterday’s anniversary, so I quietly thank him and leave the room.

  As I close the door behind me, I slip the box into my coat along with my emotions and memories. To distract myself from heading down a lane full of memories, I decide that I should speak with Alorn and prepare him with what’s to come. I reach out for him but can’t find him nearby, so I call for Ziri.

  “I’m here, Tharin,” he answers immediately. There seems to be an edge to his voice.