Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

 

 

 

                Like a sympathetic friend, heaven knows when to cry.  When sorrow fills the hearts of the faithful, the sky shows her sympathy by shedding tears of her own.  To the foolish hearts, her tears mingle with theirs and can only be omens to dark futures full of mourning.  To the wise heart, her tears fall like diamonds; washing all sadness away and promising sunshine when a new day finally begins.

                The rain falls heavy upon Epsilia.  But a ray of light escapes from the gray-black clouds above the castle, as if inviting the soul of Ancantha’s beloved prince into the heavens above.

 

                Basque was made head of the court in Sebastian’s stead.  Jasper was made second-in-command, and lieutenant of the Ancanthian army (a position traditionally held by the prince).  The castle had kept the discovery of Risten’s relation to Sebastian a secret.  She wasn’t ready to accept the crown.  She needed a clear path laid out in front of her and a suitable husband to be king.  She had a perfectly suitable boyfriend, but last night’s incident had only increased uncertainty.  The path was certainly not clear.  Not yet, at least�"or so Risten hoped.

 

                At Sebastian’s request, there would be no funeral.  “Let them not cry for me,”  the prince had whispered to his fiancée, only minutes before he died, “Instead, let my sister write a song to my name, and let my memory give all Ancanthians great joy.”

 

                Felicity tearfully passed the message to Risten.  Sebastian was very fond of music, and often invited Ancantha’s finest musicians to the castle to perform at balls and council meetings.  The prince himself played various flutes, and the harp.  Risten could sing, but she had never written song lyrics before.

 

                She sat in her room, at the desk in the corner.  Clean sheets of bleached parchment lay before her, with a pearl inkpot and a few of Sebastian’s own songs.  Risten cried as she read them.  Most of them were about her.  Unlike her, Sebastian always knew he had a sister, he just thought her to be dead.  So he wrote about her.  How wonderful it would’ve been to grow up with her, to laugh with her, to dance and sing with her.  To embrace her.  To comfort her.  To love her.

 

                Risten’s tears dripped onto her favorite of her twin brother’s songs.  It was called Brunette.

 

My sister, my lost friend

Has hair that shines brown like no other

Like coffee with a touch of cream

And a swirl of dark chocolate dream

In the glow of fancy firelight

And a hint of mystical midnight

I would give anything I could, I swear

To once more run my fingers through her hair

Because though we stand on two sides of a mirror

My own is not quite as beautiful

As my sister’s;

My lost friend.

 

                Risten closed her eyes, her breaths catching in her throat.  If she listened hard enough, she could hear Sebastian’s deep voice singing to her like a lullaby.  She could also hear her heart cracking into pieces again.  She had just found her lost friend.  She had to let him go.

 

                She burst out sobbing again, every one like a dam breaking; echoing in her dark, lonely room.  A pair of hands grasped her shoulders, and massaged her gently.  At first Risten thought it was Felicity, but surely she was attending her fiancé’s burial.  A voice came to her ear.

 

                “I love you, Rose.”  said Derek, his voice quavering.  “I’m sorry about your brother…”  Risten stood up immediately and fell into his arms, crying into his chest.  She didn’t want to think about what happened to him last night.  Right now, she didn’t care.  Derek smelt good.  His clothes were clean and soft, his body unusually warm and inviting.  Risten wanted to crawl under his jacket and shirt and hide there next to his heart forever.  Maybe then she would feel safe.

 

                She made a sound as if she was going to say something, but she was cut off by a breath that caught in her throat.  Derek squeezed her tighter.   Hush, my Rose.  You don’t need to say anything.  I understand.  I love you.

 

                Risten sobbed, but did not cry.  She wiped her face on Derek’s shirt, and closed her eyes.  For now, just for this moment, she would consent to melting away.

 

                Every one of her disoriented senses, followed by every one of her dismembered body parts, dissolved into the nothingness and became one enraptured in the warmth of Derek’s arms.

 

                He squirmed a bit when she held him tighter.  He made a quick, pained noise that made Risten release him instantaneously.

 

                “Derek?  What is it?”  she whispered, looking up at him with her swollen eyes and red nose.  He forced himself to smile at her.

 

                “I’m just sore.  It’s all right.”  He pulled her close, and she nestled into his arms again.

 

                No, it’s not all right.  Everything is wrong.  Wrong wrong wrong.

 

                Derek sighed.  Yes…I’m sorry.

 

                She didn’t want to ask, but Risten had to know.  She looked up at him again.  Derek…what happened last night?  To you?  Why…the blood…you looked terrible…

 

                He shook his head despairingly, and swallowed a sob that rose in his throat.  Oh Risten, I’m so sorry I put you through that.  I’m sorry you had to see me like that…

 

                She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it.  Yes, but I don’t understand…was it your scar?

 

                He hesitated for a moment.  Then he nodded.  Yes.

 

                Yes?

                It’s complicated.  I don’t quite understand it either.  I don’t really…remember anything from last night.  Despite being in your arms for a split second…then the rest escapes me.  He shook his head and sighed again.  I don’t know how to feel right now…I’m so confused…

 

                Derek…before you passed out, you said ‘I killed’.

 

                His blue eyes looked straight at her, searching her face.  I…I…  He shut his eyes and furrowed his brow, apparently trying to remember something.  I can’t remember.  Did I say that?

 

                Yes.

 

                Derek glanced out the window at the gray day.  He looked sincerely...sad?  Anxious?  Angry?  Risten couldn’t tell which.  Risten…my scar is starting to mess with me somehow.  I’m not myself when this happens.  This may be when you’ll have to trust me.  He paused, both he and Risten unsure of what he was saying.  I’m sorry, my love, but I must ask another promise.  Please?  He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips.

 

                Risten kissed him back.  Of course.  I’d promise you anything.

 

                Derek made a face as if he didn’t believe her.  Promise that what I tell you, you will believe me.  And if I tell you to leave me, you will listen.

 

                “Ah!”  It escaped her lips; she didn’t want to say it, not verbally or mentally.  She hated that promise.  But she knew it was coming.  She couldn’t�"wouldn’t�"promise him that.  Derek!  No.  I can’t promise you that.  I can’t!

 

                The corner of his mouth turned up into a tiny smirk.  But you just said that you’d promise me anything.  Liar.

 

                Risten didn’t speak.  She wanted to cry again.

 

                Risten…please…

 

                Derek, please don’t make me.

 

                Risten, look beyond the magnitude of what you see in the promise.  Are you saying that you wouldn’t love me if I wasn’t with you?

 

                “No!”  Of course not!

 

                Then why…?  Whether you are with me or not; I will always love you, sincerely, entirely.  With every fiber of my being, with every beat of my heart.  What bothers you?  Isn’t my love enough�"  Maybe she had imagined it, but Risten heard a sob cut off the end of his last word.

 

                I don’t want to leave you…  She choked in her thoughts.  Derek broke away from her and wandered to the window seat.  He sat down heavily and buried his face in his hands.  Derek�"

                Risten, don’t you realize that this is the reason why I was worried about falling in love with you in the first place?   He looked up at her, his eyes full of withheld tears and his now too-long bangs falling in front of his eyes. 

 

She remembered Derek crying and afraid.  Hitting his head against the door frame, bawling like Risten never even knew a boy to be capable of.  No, Risten...I won't let anyone hurt you.  Not even me.  He had said.

 

                I’m asking this of you because I love you, Risten, and I care about you.  I’m doing this for your safety.  Just in case I’m dangerous…I don’t want to hurt you.  Don’t you understand?  Don’t you know why Ancanthians say ‘I love you’ as ‘You are with my heart’?   Derek’s voice sounded calmer now.  I will always be with you, if not physically, spiritually.  Mena cordia non tecura?

 

                Risten nodded soundlessly, and swallowed her pride.  She searched her mind for the Latin she had studied, which she knew the Ancanthian language was based upon.  She sat beside Derek and leaned her cheek against his shoulder as he stroked her hand with his thumb.

 

                “I promise.”  she said, in a small, weak voice.  “You are with my heart.”

 

                “And you are with mine.”

 

~*~

 

What was a simple lock to a lightning-bearer?  Nothing.  Not a hindrance whatsoever.  Halie broke free quite easily, when she finally felt like she had a reason to do so. 

 

                She had tried to forget.  After she sent her beloved away and stopped crying over her parent’s death, Marayna locked Arias’ ring within a tiny box, on her vanity table in her small apartment in Epsilia.  She hid the key inside her pillowcase.  She was determined to begin a new life, one without Arias.  She convinced herself that he wasn’t right for her, and she needed to move on.  So she went out into the city to find a job, and decided to use her middle name:  Halie.  Pretty and cheerful as she was, she knew she could easily find a suitable place to keep busy.  Within a day, she became a waitress for the most popular restaurant in the city, Amatheia.  The guests at the busy café kept her busy, and happy, and hopeful.

 

                A week after she landed her job, news came to Epsilia that Arias had been recruited by Clemenstra, the dark witch and leader of the lost Fledgling race.  Halie was absolutely heartbroken.  She couldn’t believe that Arias would do such a thing.  And who exactly was this Clemenstra?  Halie went to the old library in the back alleys of Epsilia to search for answers.  What she discovered shocked her.

 

                Clemenstra was the single worst evil that had ever plagued Ancantha.  She was the cause of many deaths and countless torments, including the bewitchment of the White Forest, Rellasmir.  The witch was known by her peculiar magic: a combination of the elements Dark and Fire.  The dark purple flames that engulfed Halie’s parents’ house.  And killed them.  And caused Halie to yell at Arias.

 

                Halie spent nights crying over it all.  After far too many dark days, she vowed to save Arias from Clemenstra’s control.  He couldn’t have gone to her of his own accord.  So she trained.  She trained so hard she became the most skilled lightning-bearer in Ancantha.  But was even that enough to defeat the dark witch?

 

                Her chance to try out her powers came when he walked into Amatheia.  Halie hadn’t seen her cousin in quite some time.  She knew Derek’s secrets.  She knew his painful past.  She knew his connections with Clemenstra and the Fledglings.  After meeting Derek’s Otherkind girlfriend and being attacked by Clemenstra’s experiments, Halie knew that her power was great.  She set out to the witch’s lair…

 

                She couldn’t forget him.  She wouldn’t abandon him now.

 

                Halie is alone, in a dark, damp cell.  Her shackles are gone.  She can hear voices coming from down the hall, and she recognizes them instantly.

 

                Aidan and Kaela.

 

~*~

 

Derek took Risten on a walk-and-talk through the city and then Amatheia for a cup of hot chocolate.  Maybe an afternoon out would help her get the inspiration she needed for Sebastian’s song.  The café had already been repaired from the damages of their last visit.  Halie’s magic left burnt black smudges on the ceiling paintings that still remained, but otherwise, the café was back to its picturesque beauty.  Still, Risten and Derek were the only guests in the restaurant.

 

                Risten was quiet and introspective as she sipped her hot chocolate.  It was so delicious that made her feel warm and bubbly, similar to the sensations she got from Derek.  But she had other things to contemplate for the time being.  To her surprise, she had already gotten over crying about her brother’s death and feeling sorry for herself and him.  It was a selfish way to think.  Let them not cry for me.  That’s what he wanted.  Certainly Risten would honor his death wish.

 

                But she wasn’t ready to get over Derek’s scar and the horrible promise she had to make.  Sebastian was dead.  That was over.  Derek’s problems kept coming, and Risten knew better to expect that they would only get worse.  She was careful to shield her mind from Derek.

 

                “Risten.”  he said, breaking her thoughts.  She looked at him.  “Okay?”

 

                She nodded.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”  She forced herself to smile, then she turned her attention to a portly man behind the bar, who was talking to a younger man with spiked blue hair and wiping the inside of a clean glass simultaneously.

 

                “River, what are you doing here?  It’s Thursday, isn’t it?”  the bartender was saying.  He glanced at the calendar.

 

                “The boss called me in for Halie.  Wonder what’s up.  Haven’t seen her around.  I walked past her apartment last night, completely dark.”  answered River.  “But it’s not like she’s really needed here right now; this place’s a graveyard.”  His eyes wandered the room, locked on Risten and Derek for a moment, then went back to the bartender.  Risten noticed his pointed ears and chiseled features.  An elf.

                “I would’ve fired her for the damage she caused.”  remarked the bartender.  He set the glass on the bar.

 

                “Are you kidding?” said River, a little too loud, “She practically beat the sh�"out of those baddies that popped in here!  People�"more people�"could’ve been killed.”  The bartender shrugged.

 

                River strode across the room to Risten and Derek’s table and sat the bill in front of them.  Risten couldn’t help but stare at him, he was so bizarre.  His hair was wild, shoulder length, and bright blue, his eyes a cheery shade of grass green and outlined heavily.  Purple glitter shimmered on his cheeks.  He was wearing a slim, purple-black T-shirt, camo shorts, a white Amatheia apron, and flip flops.  The ends (?) of black tattoos escaped the edges of his sleeves.  Risten’s mind screamed homo! at her  but she quickly forgot about that when she noticed the pendant that hung from his neck.  She recognized that symbol from an Irish folklore book she had read.  Faerie.  Everything made sense now.  But she still wanted to see his wings.  He grinned at her, as if he could see past her mental defenses and had still heard her thoughts.  Risten turned her eyes to the flower vase on the table.

 

“Can I get you anything else?”  River drawled.

 

“No thanks.”  said Derek.  “But what’s this about Halie?  I’m her cousin.  Sorry, we didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything.  It’s just real quiet in here.”

 

“No prob, man.  It’s really strange.  Halie has never missed a day of work since she was hired.  She falls asleep on the job sometimes, but hasn’t missed a check-in.  Haven’t seen her around.”  He shrugged and leaned back on his heels, “And like I said, she didn’t seem to be home last night.  Hope she’s okay; she’s the most popular waiter here.  I know, hard to believe.”  He picked up the bill and payment Derek had counted, plus the ten dollar tip.  “Thanks, dude.”  And with a wink, he was off and disappeared into the kitchen with their empty cups.

               

“Great.  Another thing for me to worry about.”  said Risten, more annoyed than upset.  “What does this mean, Derek?  Is Halie all right?”

 

Now Derek was staring at the flower vase.  “I don’t know.  I hope she’s all right…”  Then he gave a strange, irritated groan.

 

“What’s wrong now?”  said Risten.

 

“Why do I feel like this is somehow my fault?”  said Derek guiltily.   Risten shook her head.

 

“No, it isn’t your fault.”

 

                Derek shook his head.  “Let’s go, Risten, the noon Mass will be starting soon.  We should go.”

                They left Amatheia and walked to the chapel under Rautarra.  Luckily, Derek had brought along a large umbrella to shield himself and Risten from the occasional rain showers.

 

                No sooner had they stepped through the door to the vestibule of the chapel when Derek cried out in surprise.

 

                Derek?

                He clutched at his neck and backed out the door.  Risten stared at him anxiously as he fought to catch his breath.  He looked horrified.

 

                I can’t…I can’t go in.  He panted.  He flawlessly went nonchalant as an old couple entered the church, Risten holding the door open for them.

 

                What do you mean you can’t go in?

 

                He couldn’t answer.  Instead, he turned and ran away.

 

                Derek?  Derek!  Risten shouted.  “Derek!”  But he wouldn’t come back.

 

                Risten suddenly thought of all the evil people in the Bible and in stories of convert saints who were not permitted to enter God’s houses because of their mortal sins.

 

                Pushing those thoughts aside, she ran after him.

Reviews

[ravenjess]

so beautiful.....i cried when reading the poem. amazing.