The Book of Days: Reign of Darkness

XIX: Love Hurts

  Kristen stared at her own reflection in the mirror. Her eyeliner had run down with her tears, leaving black streaks behind, and her hair was a mess. She didn't know how long she'd cried.

  What a cruel joke, she thought bitterly. I finally meet my only sibling, and the boy I love chooses her over me. It's not fair. This one thought spiraled around and around her mind until she was mad with it, until she slammed her fists down on her dresser and screamed, "It's not FAIR!"

  Her eyes looked wild, she realized. Feral. Like a predator. For a moment, she actually frightened herself. Then the moment passed, and she was herself again, disheveled and ruined, the picture of misery.

  She could not allow her sister to take him away from her. She wouldn't. She would do anything she had to do to make sure that Garret was with her in the end. She'd even kill for it.

  "You just watch your step, little miss lost-and-found," she growled, imagining that Thalia could hear her. "He's mine. No one is going to take him from me."

  Her hand found the handle of a letter opener, and she grabbed it, stabbing it hard into the wood of the dresser.

                      ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

  Dylan stood staring at the unconscious form of his father, clutching the good-bye letter he had written and summoning the courage to leave. He'd made up his mind. There was nothing for him here without her.

  He laid the letter on his dad's end table under a bottle of liquor, knowing the old man would want another drink and find it there.

  Without even a glance behind him, he headed over to Mr. Thatcher's and knocked on the door. When Mr. Thatcher answered, he flinched. "Oh! It's you, Seer. Now, that little lady's gone away with her mother, so you're not welcome here anymore. Begone!"

  "Please, sir. I've only come to ask you for a horse so I can go after her."

  "Go after her? All the way to Elvenland? You're out of your mind, boy. Do you have any idea how far it is from here? You're talking more than two hundred miles. How will you eat? Do you have money to stay in an inn? Boy, it's just unthinkable."

  "I'll find a way. I have nothing if not her." Mr. Thatcher considered for a few minutes, then said, "Well, if you're bent on an early grave, then I suppose I can't stop you. Let's cut you a horse, then."

  Dylan wound up taking the horse that had come in last in the race. "It may be dangerous, Mr. Thatcher," he said, "and I might even die. But there's no future for me here. Goodbye."

  "Goodbye then, Seer. I hope you find young Thalia alive and well. And take care of yourself while you're at it."

  Dylan was already riding east, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

                      ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

  It hadn't been long before Thalia had reminded me that we had agreed to go on a proper date if we ever met in the flesh, so we went out to Rita's pie shop that evening. Rita's pies were the best, and most people in town would simply buy one of her pies before they would make one themselves. They were that good.

  "Well, if it isn't young Master Garret," Rita smiled. "How's your father?"

  "He's well, thank you." Rita seemed abruptly to register Thalia's presence, and a sly smile crept over her beautiful features. "Well, now. This is a new face. I don't believe we've met before...." she trailed off, waiting for Thalia to introduce herself.

  "Thalia. I... I came here from Ereth Farna. My mother is the queen." Rita's mouth opened in an 'o'. "Another princess? Isn't that something? My, you sure are playing the field, aren't you, Garret? Why, I was beginning to think you and Princess Kristen were a sure thing!"