Dark Moon [ON HOLD]

Chapter Four

here's chapter four. sorry it took so long but i do have a life, you know, school and friends and all that. :) sorry for keeping you hanging! thanks for all the votes and please comment, let me know what u think!

Chapter Four

            Lady Elizabeth is angry with me when I return but I can tell her anger is partially from anxiety for my safety. I know she means well and I am sorry to cause such worry, but my head is in such a whirl from my incident in theForest I quickly forget her and her lecture.

            Late at night, I still have not forgotten the ice blue eyes of the wolf.

            Nor have I forgotten the electric green power of Caleb’s eyes.

            This morning I awake, feeling the same illogical sense of terror that continues to irk me. I sit bolt upright with a jolt, breathing hard and staring around me. It takes a while for me to calm enough to go downstairs and then I am not hungry. I wander away from the Great Hall, meandering my way though multiple corridors and such before stopping outside my brother’s room. Unlike me, he is not in a tower room and therefore has no dark and creepy corridors to walk through to get to his room. His way is bright and sunny, with large glass windows.

            I peer around the doorway cautiously, unsure whether he is in here or not. I hear no movements from inside and so I step in. I take in the messy bed, clothes throw on the floor, window open carelessly… I shudder slightly. My brother and I may have the same parents but we are polar opposites. I have dark hair and blue eyes; he has sandy hair and brown eyes. I was born an obsessively neat person who simply has to have everything in its place; he was born the messiest person ever to walk this earth. He is young and immature, isn’t smart, asks unnecessary questions and forgets everything told to him; I am more mature, I am more intelligent even if I do not enjoy studying, I observe for myself what I do not know since Mother believes it is improper for young ladies to ask questions, and I have a photographic memory, which means I forget nothing. He is loud and obnoxious but has a mild temper; I am quieter but quick-thinking and I have a very explosive temper.

            With our differences, I do not know how we get along, but we manage all right.

            Now I turn out of the room, deciding the place I shall find him is the courtyard or the stables. Sure enough, when I reach the stables, Jehan, our stable hand, tells me that Peter has taken out his horse to ride to the orchards. I thank Jehan with a smile, and saddle up my own horse, a chestnut named Sonador, and ride slowly to the orchards. As it is early autumn, the fruit is ripe and I exactly where my brother will be. I urge my horse on, feeling her muscles rippling softly underneath me. She is beautiful, and seems to read my mind and thoughts, which is why I named her Sonador, which is Dreamer in another language.

            I find Peter exactly where I knew he would be: at the top of the highest apple tree in the orchard. I pause at the bottom, dismounting and looking around for his horse, Luis. It is nowhere to be seen. I sigh, and stand back to look up the tree. “Peter?” I call.

            My horse neighs suddenly, and a voice answers my call, but from behind me. “Looking for someone?”

            I spin around to see Caleb standing there, mocking smile playing on his face. How he has come up to me without my hearing I do not know but I try to compose myself as he continues. “Not another bee, I hope?”

            I flush. “No,” I say hurriedly. “No, my brother.”

            I sense more than see the change in his attitude. He becomes more serious, looking up the tree. “Your brother?” he says slowly. “As in… the heir to the throne?”

            I frown. “Yes,” I answer, “but what does that have to do with you?”

            He looks at me and once again I am drawn in by the intensity of his gaze. “Never mind,” he says softly, and I feel my sudden suspicion fading under his look. “You can worry about it later.”

            I tear my eyes away from him, wondering at the fast beating of my heart, and focus on Sonador. She is panting wildly, eyes rolling as she stares at Caleb. I reach out a hand. “It’s all right, girl,” I soothe, “it’s fine.”

            She refuses to be tamed – instead, she turns tail and flees deeper into the orchard. I turn to look at Caleb. “Now look what you’ve done!” I snap. “And I thought you were a horse trainer!”

            He looks away. “Did I say that?” he says vaguely, running his fingers over the bark of the tree. He avoids my eyes; of this I am glad. I am not sure if I enjoy the intensity of his gaze.

            Suddenly my fear is overwhelming. “I’m sorry, but I don’t even know you and…” I trail off, knowing how childish I sound. But it is true. His story doesn’t make sense, either. What kind of horse trainer cannot be around horses? And yet I am drawn to him like a moth to a lantern. I cannot help it.

            “I understand,” he says, looking at me again. I can feel the power of his green eyes back on me and I resist the urge to step back. “Wait – are you allowed to the village?” he asks.

            I nod.

            “Then come visit me – at the blacksmith’s shop, all right?”

            I frown. “So now you’re a blacksmith?”

            A smile flits over his face, and is gone as quickly as it has come. “Just come, all right?” he says, and suddenly I know that I can trust him. I nod, and then he as gone, just as quickly as the smile that played across his face a moment before.