Elementals

Chapter Five

CHAPTER 5

I tried to call after her but she was already down the hall.  I literally flew after her and was able to grab her before she entered the sitting room to disturb the group.  I said,” Rhiannon, don’t.”

“But I’m bored,” she whined. 

“That doesn’t mean you can bother other people.” Before I could stop her, though, she had walked into the room.  Over her shoulder she gave me a completely innocent angelic smile.  If I didn’t know the truth behind it, I might have believed she was as innocent as me. 

As she turned away she said, "Who said I would bother them?  I merely want to introduce myself to those lovely women who we will have to become aquatinted with.  I mean, if they are our Holders and those are their fiancés, then we are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

She winked at me her wink that would make any man go weak-kneed, which she’s done before.  That’s how she managed to get us in to the French palace without alerting a single guard.  She made them all faint just because she can bat her eyelashes and wink.  She’s told me that if I tried I could do the same thing but I’m too shy.  I could never look someone in the eye and lead them on like she does.

Anyway, my mental rambling aside, Rhiannon was standing behind the princesses and giving off such a horrid aura that the room behind her was black and her aura was literally tangible.  The guys were petrified.  Seeing this reaction, the women turned around only to see a version of Rhi who was completely normal and happy.  She actually sounded polite as if she had paid attention during our etiquette lessons (which I know for a fact she hadn’t considering she showed up to maybe one of them).

Anyway, she spoke in this manner.  "Good evening.  I’m afraid our hosts here,” she said, gesturing to the guys, "were rather rude.  They told me of your existence yet not of your name.  Might I ask to whom you are betrothed and your names?  My name is Rhiannon, but I would prefer Rhi.  My friend hiding in the hallway is Mercedes.  I’m afraid she is rather shy and will most likely not be joining our conversation for now."

One woman was a petite blonde and her sister was almost identical except for a little shorter and her hair was a strawberry blonde--more emphasis on the strawberry. 

The blonde spoke. "My name is Violette.  I am betrothed to King Orion and this is my sister, Ashleen.  She is betrothed to Mr. Alexander." During this conversation, I was able to slide into the room undetected until Alex turned slightly and whispered "Shyness hiding over there in the corner, I thought she couldn’t lie?"

I responded with," Technically, she hasn’t lied yet.  She has merely changed her tone.  If you’ve listened to what she’s said, she hasn’t lied at all." He huffed then went back to watching the girls.

I started listening again just in time to hear Violette ask, "So might I inquire as to your reasons for being here, Miss Rhiannon?"

I forgot to mention, the Covenants we make and the reasons behind them we cannot reveal except with the permission of our holder, and seeing how Rhi can’t lie, this puts her in a very difficult position. She looked straight at Alex, which he wasn’t expecting and he sure had no clue how to respond due to the ferocity in her gaze.

I nudged him and whispered, "Tell her she’s allowed to state the reason as to her being here."

This seemed to make sense so he said, "You may tell them; we have nothing to hide."

She nodded, then in her most dramatic voice said, "We are here... merely as tools of war.  For you see, I am the Spirit of Water and my friend is the Celestial Spirit.  In this war of great uncertainty, one of our Sisters, the Spirit of Fire, turned against the sacred ways and joined forces with the enemies of our beloved King Orion.  We were called here to aid and assist.  So you see we are no cause for you to worry about losing your beloveds."

All four of them looked at Rhi like she was psycho, then the younger sister started to laugh and said, "You are very funny…and very unaware of the truth behind this marriage."  She then explained what Orion had told me earlier while the other two had been asleep.

Now, as you could probably tell, Rhi speaks her mind, so she didn’t hesitate in saying,” so they don’t really love you at all?  And you don’t love them?”

I held my breath as an angry look passed over Violette’s face but quickly disappeared as she said,” It’s not as though you could understand love, Spirit.”

“Spirits can probably love more than you humans can.  And we don’t confuse it with lust.”

“You’re one to talk.  You’ve probably had a trillion “contracts” with countless men.  It’s not like you’re very pure.”

I wasn’t sure why, but I fell into a sort of trance and started talking.  “As the Celestial Spirit, I take offense to that.  Along with magic, I have control over the Heart and Love.  If only one being in the world could understand love, it’d be me.  Your intentions are so impure I cannot speak of them and it pains me to think of them.”

“What are you talking about?” The blonde started acting innocent.  “Maybe it was an arranged marriage at first, but what if our feelings of love have grown?”

I looked at her with my glazed eyes.  “They haven’t.”

“You little…you can’t know everything.  Now, run along and go play somewhere else.”

I wasn’t sure what happened next but I felt cold all of a sudden and fell unconscious.