Nate
My only thought was keeping Atira alive. It was my instinct. This may sound strange but I am her protector. My bloodline is from guards, protectors of the queen and her lineage. I am mentally attached to her in many ways, but not in the way someone would think.
When I was younger my father told me the whole story, our family’s secret. It was a ceremony, the eerie kind. The kind that made a shiver run up your spine. I remember everything he told me, and everything that happened down to the last chilling line.
It was magic, really.
“Son, can I trust you with a secret?” My father whispered to me as I loaded my bow. I had finally reached the age of ten, which meant I could officially be taught to hunt.
“Of course father, you can trust me with anything!” I replied with anticipation of his next words.
“You must swear to it, swear you will not tell a soul. Can you promise me, son?”
I nodded my headed excitedly.
“I believe you. Now this secret has been passed down through the centuries. Can you promise to pass it on to your children?”
Again, my excitement was uncontrollable as I nodded my head vigorously.
“Just tell me father, you know you can trust me!”
My father seemed to ponder these words before he spoke, “Long ago there was a time of peace and prosperity. The land was fruitful and growing. Then, a curse plagued the land. This curse was caused by the King and Queen’s stupidity and ignorance.”
“The ruler’s right now?” I asked, concerned with his tone. He could be arrested for treason, speaking like this.
“No, but the ruler’s now are not much better or different my son, please know that I
mean no harm to them in any way.
Long ago, the kingdom was bountiful and ignorant, portraying their leaders exactly. The King and Queen were ignorant, and their stupidity led to a rebellion. A certain group of people who called themselves assassins of the night, rose up and made plans to kidnap and murder the queen.
This is how we were born. One man, putting his life on the line, for the sake of the queen. Without her knowledge, he was bound to her by blood, giving him infinite knowledge about her. He saw her thoughts, words and deeds in his head. Even when others were thinking about her, he could see their thoughts and where they were.
It was heroic, but a burden in the same. He was plagued with images his whole life, and bound to her no matter how much he wanted to relieve himself of the bound.
If you agree to do this, you will also never rebel against her and it is completely impossible to do so. You will not even be capable of it, you will have to listen to everything she says, and if it is not for the good of the kingdom, try to convince her out of it.
Can you handle this, Nate?” My father finished his story with a flourish. He rubbed his beard nervously, I could tell he was questioning what my answer might be.
My eyes were open wide in shock of everything he had explained to me. Be forever bound to her? I mean, I love her and all, but she is my best friend! I don’t know if I would be able to handle her crazy notions swimming through my mind all day and night. Though who would protect her if I didn’t? I don’t think I could stand someone else knowing her like that.
“I accept this challenge, and will protect her, even if that means sacrificing my life for her.”
My father nodded his head grimly. He then took the bow from my hands and set it in the grass.
“We will not be hunting today son.”
I then had to run to keep of with my father’s brisk pace. He stalked through the woods, like he was worried we might get attacked. I took a quick look around to see nothing, and hear nothing but the whisper of trees brushing against one another.
“Where are you leading us father?” I asked, genuinely becoming a bit scared by his behaviour. It frightened me all the more when he refused to reply.
Not much later I started see mountains rising in the distance. We were headed straight towards them. I shot a questioning look at father but he did not even turn his head. Finally he led me up the side of the mountain and into the mouth of a dreary cave.
I hesitantly stepped inside, avoiding a dripping substance falling from the damp ceiling. Where were we? When my eyes finally adjusted to the dark cave, I saw drawings. All over the walls, floors, and ceiling. People, monsters, death, life. It made me nervous, and I tried to ignore the one closest to me, which was a drawing of a man getting speared through his head brutally.
“What is this? Why are there drawings on the walls?” I stuttered, my fear getting the best of me.
“Come here, son.” He waved his hand to me, and I saw he was standing by a small table. On the table there was a large assortment of bottles and dusty books. My father took a small vial filled with a red liquid. I took a few doubtful steps towards him and stumbled to a stop.
“This is a vial of princess Atira’s blood. I need to mix it with yours, then you need to drink it. I know this may look scary, but it is necessary for the connection to stay sustainable. Do you trust me?”
I timidly nodded my head and swiped a hand across my sweaty forehead.
“Think about her. Think about when she is happy, think about when she is sad. Try to picture her in your head. Picture protecting her.” His words were almost inaudible as I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt the sharp pain of a blade on the palm of my hand, and heard my blood drip into the vial.
“Keep picturing her, and drink this.” My father says harshly and shoves the vial into my hand that wasn’t cut. I gulped it down and gagged. Not because it tasted bad, but because it tasted sweet. A mixture of lilac and mint. It reminded me instantly of Atira.
Then my head exploded with images of her. Her, standing in a meadow playing in the grass. Her mother, thinking of what Atira would wear to the next ball. My father, wondering if her and I’s connection was complete. I pressed my palms to my temples, trying to block out the images.
Suddenly they stopped. I was on the floor of the cave, my face bloodied from my hand and my breathing ragged. My father stood over me, watching my face closely.
“I am proud of you.”
I resurfaced out of the ice cold water again and tried to pull Atira to shore. She was my main focus right now, but I was wary of the other boy and girl. They were wearing strange clothes. The boy was indecent, for he was without a shirt and the girl was wearing an improper dress, being too short to be proper for our land. I tried to avert my eyes from their obscenity.
I finally dragged Atira onto the gravelly sand, my limbs exhausted from hauling her through the water. It wasn’t like she couldn’t swim, she was like a fish in the water. It was her heavy burden of a dress she wore for the ball.
She coughed and spluttered, water spewing from her mouth. Sand stuck to her soaked long brown locks of hair. I knelt beside her and started pulling off her top dress, trying to find the corset in all the fabric. I needed to get that off her before she passed out from lack of breath. I know, this probably looked wrong to the other people’s eyes, but it was a necessary caution.
While trying in vain to locate the corset, something happened that has never happened before. I was snuck up on by the girl. I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I flinched and whipped my head around to see her frightened face looking back at me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but do you need help with that?” The girl asked, concern filling her eyes. They were sea green, but in a way they reminded me of Atira. Why was that?
I grunted and took a step back, putting my hands up in defeat. I watched her carefully, ready to step in at any moment if something went wrong. Finally, I saw her quick fingers snatch the ties for the corset. Nimbly, she loosened them and removed the nuisance.
Atira seemed to come out of a trance, coughing louder than before. She inhaled deeply, breathing like she hadn’t taken a single breath in years. Shock conquered her features, her eyes wide open, unblinking. It was quiet scary actually.
“Atira?” I knelt down again and rested a tentative hand on her shoulder. Smoothing her hair out of her face, I watched her focus her attention on the approaching boy.
I tried to keep my eyes focused on Atira as I watched, out of the corner of my eye, when the boy extended his hands out to the girl next to us. He pulled her up with ease, holding her close.
There was an awkward moment as we all studied each other. The girl was the first to break the silence.
“My name’s Taryn, what’s yours?” She asked, lightly.
“I am Nate Brennin of Mistbrook, and this is Atira Raine, the princess of Mistbrook.” I replied with a certain degree of pride in my voice.
“Whoa.” The boy blurted out.
I studied him, taking notes in case there was ever a need to fight him. He was muscled but not overly so, he had brown hair that flopped over his face just the slightest bit. I couldn’t tell his height from my position on the ground, but I’m pretty sure I’m taller.
He had a possessive arm around the girl. She was shorter than him, by just barely a hands-length.
“I’m Ladon.” He says, emphasizing the “lay” in Ladon. I nod, trying to think of a reply. Atira beats me to it.
“Where are we?. . . It’s Taryn and Ladon, right?” She asks. They both nod.
The boy takes an unsure look down at the girl.
“A forest. Don’t you know?” The girl, Taryn asks with disbelief.
“No, it doesn’t look the same.” Atira replies, examining her surroundings, like she’s seen them before.
Now we all stare at Atira, with confused gazes. “You look so. . .” Atira begins, standing while moving closer to the girl. I try to hold her back a little, but she presses forward.
“How’d you get here?” Ladon asks, quietly. I can’t tell if its sweat or drops of fresh water on his forehead, but he seems nervous.
“We don’t know. But this. . . this beach. . . it’s my hideout. That’s my hut, over there.” Atira nods to the beaten-down hut just down the beach. She then runs past us all, her bare feet plowing through the top of the shining sand.
I can’t help but notice the same observations Atira had made. Taryn chases after her, followed close by Ladon. I try to catch up, watching as Atira pushes her way through the hut.
I burst through the door, following Ladon. There Atira was, kneeling on the ground, looking at an empty space by the wall. Taryn stood beside her, looking down at her with a confused expression.
“Wha- where is it?” Atira stuttered, her hands in her lap slightly shaking. She looked over her shoulder at me, her face blank.
“Where is what, Atira?” I asked, now worried. I took two long strides and knelt beside her, taking her face in my hands.
“My chest with drawers, my bed, my bow. Its all gone? Where did it go? No, where did we go?” Her voice wavered, I could feel she was on the verge of breaking down. I pulled her onto my lap and rubbed her back soothingly.
“It’s going to be alright. We will get home. Don’t worry, I will make sure we get back home. Away from this strange place. We will get home. We will.” My voice lowered into a whisper as I comforted her, not even caring what the others thought right now. I looked up to see them exchanging a strange look, then returning their attention to Atira and I.
“Is there any way we can help?” The girl Taryn asked quietly, her eyes showing nothing but concern. I lifted my gaze to hers, and nodded slowly.
“Could you prepare a place for us to stay? We could even just stay in this cabin if that is alright with you.” I asked humbly, feeling extremely rude for asking. Atira now looked up at me, and stared right into my eyes. She then reached one hand up and lightly touched her neck, grasping for something that wasn’t there.
My eyebrows pulled together in confusion as I watched her wince when she felt nothing there. Then I realized. The locket, the one she never took off. It was gone. So was the blue one she had been wearing earlier. Atira bit her lip and pulled a brave face.
“You can come stay at my house for now, it’s a lot nicer than this shack and my mom probably wont mind.” Taryn said, instantly feeling like she had intruded in on their moment. I nodded again, not taking my eyes off of Atira’s deep blue ones.
“Thank you so much, your hospitality is greatly appreciated. If you help us get back to our home, we will repay you tenfold.” I gratefully told her and started to stand up. I pulled Atira up by the hand and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her weak figure up.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Just follow me, I live just around the corner.” She replied while walking towards the door. I saw the boy, Ladon, watch her as she left. His eyes never leaving her, having a protective, possessive look in them. Now that I thought about it, I probably looked the same way at Atira.
I quickly gave her an assuring smile and helped her follow Taryn out onto the beach. She really did live close. We had only walked a mile when she cut through some trees and walked out onto a strange looking path.
It was black, and rough. It stretched out as far as I could see through the trees. There were little yellow dashes running through the middle of it too. What kind of path was this? The strange black trail lead up to a small cottage type thing. I don’t know how to explain it.
People around here have a strange way of living. That’s all I can say. Taryn led us up to the front door and leaned down to get something beneath a little carpet reading ‘hi I’m mat’. She retrieved a small gold key and unlocked the door, pushing it open for me and Atira, who was now practically falling asleep standing up.
I walked in, gaping at the strangeness of it all. Flat walls, shining wood floors, and furniture that made my head spin. It was all so weird I stumbled and almost dropped Atira, jolting her awake for a few seconds. She quickly fell back asleep on my shoulder.
“Is there a room I can put her in, she really needs some sleep.”
Taryn nodded quickly and showed me to a room that was colored light blue, and had a large bed with dark blue bedding on it. I gently set Atira down on the bed and pulled a blanket around her. She mumbled something and rolled herself in a ball before deciding to pull the blanket more tightly around her.
I smiled softly and thanked Taryn with a shake of my head. When we were back by the front door, I looked around the place again. How do people live like this?
“It’s very strange, how much you and Atira look alike.” I told Taryn, while pulling my sleeves up. She looked at Ladon and then replied hesitantly.
“Would you happen to know a William and Elizabeth of Mistbrooke?” Taryn replied, her tone questioning.
My shock was hard to cover. My mouth dropped open and my eyes popped.
“How would you know of them? They are Atira’s parents.” I was in wonder. Taryn’s eyes widened even further than mine. She stuttered a reply.
“They seem to be. . . my parents also.”