The Girl with the Violet Eyes Read online

  Chapter 5

  I wake up with a start, I feel as if I had been falling. I had another nightmare, and my body is covered in cold sweat. My bed is drenched in sweat and I roll over and groan in my pillow. How many nights have I had the same dream, the same horrible nightmare? The dream where I am kidnapped and tortured until a knight comes and rescues me only to be killed by my torturers sword. I know it's just a dream, I know this can't happen we live in a modern world not a fairytale land. We don't use swords anymore and knights don't exist, but why does it feel so real?

  I sit up in bed and wonder what the dream could mean. I get up and walk lazily downstairs to the kitchen in search of a nice, hot steaming cup of coffee, but before I reach the kitchen I can already smell incredible scents drifting through the house. It smells delightful, like a mix of chocolate, hazelnut, and vanilla. I have never smelled something so incredibly intoxicating. I hurry towards the kitchen and find Theo standing there in nothing but a pair of gray-striped boxer shorts. They fit snugly around his hips and show off his strong muscular calves, and his abs that gleam in the sunlight with a little bit of sweat dripping down. He has a tattoo on the upper part of his chest, it is a black inky design with two scrolls meeting and connecting in the middle. I look down at my own wardrobe, my robe half falling off showing a bare shoulder and my hair an unbelievable mess. I reach my hand up to comb out my hair and look back up at Theo.

  “Oh. I'm so sorry.” I manage to splutter out before turning back towards the hall to go upstairs.

  “Wait, Princess don't go.” He says rushing out and grabbing my arm gently. “I just thought you would be hungry so I made you breakfast and I would have been dressed but I didn't know when you would be awake.” He looks at me apologetically.

  “I am very hungry, and I could use a cup of coffee but could you please go upstairs and put some clothes on first.” I say looking a little too longingly at his abs, and realizing this, I blush and look down at my feet.

  “You don't seem to be disappointed by the way you look at me, Princess.” He says arrogantly, giving me a flirty grin as he strides off.

  “Boys.”, I sigh.

  I go to the counter to see what the incredible smells are, and come to find that it is homemade crepes with strawberries and whipped cream inside, but the outside is doused in sugar and vanilla with chocolaty syrup. There are two plates set out and on each one Theo has placed two crepes, and chocolate candies. Everything is set out for me to take and the coffee is already placed in a little mug.

  “Do you like it?” Theo asks cautiously.

  “Yes, it is really wonderful Theo.” I say.

  “Great, I am so relieved you like it. Your father wasn't sure what you liked, but he said when you were little you loved anything with sugar and strawberries so I made one of my favorites strawberry crepes with hazelnut syrup” He says grinning proudly.

  “Wait, you mean you and my dad talked about what I liked for breakfast before he died.” I ask curiously.

  “Not exactly.” He says looking sheepishly over at me. “Since I was your dad's protector first I can communicate with him no matter what so even though he isn't alive right now we can still communicate. His spirit can contact me, and so we have been talking since he was poisoned.”

  “Oh. I thought we could all communicate telepathically.” I say.

  “No. The only telepathic communicators are the protectors and the ones they protect because it was an ability given to royalties and their most trusted companions.” He answers.

  “So my father must really like you to allow you to be our protector and his advisor. You must be a very important person in the kingdom. You're almost like a prince or a knight, aren't you?” I ask in awe.

  “Not quite, Princess, I was chosen out of a group of our most talented students to be the King's advisor and protector. Your father trusts me with his life and yours but ever since Mathew deceived him he is a very different man. As for a prince, I can never be a prince because my family is not royalty; our powers are not as strong as your family's. We do have knights but they are often sent on secret missions, they are more like spies then knights. It is not a very highly sought after career by our kind because it is so dangerous.” He says humbly.

  I grab one of the plates and the cup of coffee being so close to such wonderful looking food is so tempting. I sit down at the table and stare ravenously at the breakfast before me. I don't want to be ungrateful so I wait for Theo to sit down across from me. The minute he sits down I grab my fork and eat the food at a much too hasty speed. The food is gone within seconds, I hadn't realized how hungry I was.

  “Is it that good?” He asks.

  “It was so delicious. It tastes like nothing I have ever had before, why does everything taste so fresh and natural? These strawberries taste like you just picked them from the garden.” I say.

  “I may have used an incantation or two.” He says looking down at his food, holding up a piece of crepe and staring hungrily at it.

  “You can do that to our food? I mean you can put spells on the food to make it taste better?” I ask. “That is so cool. It could solve world hunger, you know.”

  “Yes, well we aren't allowed to use incantations around humans because it is risky. Humans that come into contact with our spells have often been killed by the spell.” He says looking down shamefully. “We are not here to solve all of the human’s problems besides we have enough problems of our own.”

  “You mean if we did an incantation on a human it could kill them? What about Mathew though, he has to put them in his control somehow with incantations without killing them.” I ask.

  “Mathew doesn't need incantations because his ability allows him to implant memories in the humans. Our abilities cannot harm them, but the magic in our incantations is far to powerful for a human to ever be able to overcome.” He says finishing the last bite of his crepe and looking longingly for more. “Incantations died out in our world. Most of our kind uses abilities only now.”

  “Why are our incantations more powerful than our abilities are? That doesn't make very much sense, aren't they both magical?”, I ask.

  “Yes. They both contain magic to some degree, but our abilities are blessed with magic that cannot harm humans. Since abilities take little to no magic, and they are just part of us they are not harmful. Incantations contain black magic, which becomes dangerous to use unless you have been trained thoroughly. Incantations require a higher degree of magic and sometimes it can drain its user for days leaving them hindered. If it can do that to our race imagine what it can do to humans.” He says.

  “Can incantations ever kill us?” I ask.

  “I guess it could be possible, although I have never heard of such a case where someone dies from their own magic.” He answers. “But enough questions. We need to leave very soon we must rescue your father before Mathew realizes we are here.”

  “Okay, well his funeral begins at noon just let me go change and get everything ready.” I say standing up and leaving the kitchen.

  I feel sad. I know my father isn't really dead but going to funerals can make someone feel unhappy and a little gloomy. I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at the mirror across from me, my eyes are red and the tears gleam off of my cheeks. I hold the crumpled piece of paper tightly and think about all the years I missed out on being with my father. I never got to hug him again, or tell him how much I love him. I know he left me for a good reason, but I can't find out the reason until he is alive again. I look down at the paper I wrote for his funeral. All of my deepest feelings and thoughts are on here and I was going to put it in his casket after the funeral but now I want to give it to him. I fold up the paper neatly and put it in my pocket.

  I go to my backpack and pull out the outfit I packed for today. A simple black dress, it goes to my knees and the dress has cap sleeves that fit snugly to my arms. I zip up the back and slip into a pair of black flats, I don't ever wear heels. I don't like to f
eel so far away from the ground, and my lack of grace could make wearing heels a hindrance for me. I hold the black veil in my hand and walk over to the mirror. I put it on adjusting it perfectly, I'm glad it covers my tear stained wet cheeks and my red puffy eyes. I find my little clutch packed with my essentials: cherry Chap Stick, cell phone, a handwritten note for my father and a small pack of Kleenexes. I close it with a snap and tip-toe down the stairs to find Theo cleaning in the kitchen. He is standing next to the sink rinsing off the dishes and humming a song that I have never heard.

  “What song are you humming?” I ask.

  “Just something my mother used to sing to me when I was little. Do you want to hear it? Of course it was written by our ancestors so you probably can't understand the language but I will sing it for you.” He says, clearing his throat and then his voice carries to me the most beautiful language I have ever heard. The sound is airy but deep and strong because of Theo's enchanting voice.

  “Tihr a' Lahn, Unasae, lye dagore Fuin. I' dome Athan. Gurth Nuin, ar' kalina hinter lye e' dagora Adel.”

  “That was amazing. The language is so fantastical, it doesn't even sound real. When you sang that song just now it made all my sadness disappear and it gave me hope. What does the song mean?” I ask.

  “The song is an incantation, it was used by our ancestors before they would go out to battle and it's still used by our kind to soothe children. It's like a lullaby that human parents sing to their children at night. Translated into the English language it would be:

  Dance in light, Don't give in, we battle darkness. The night beyond. Death beneath us and light behind.” he says. “I thought you could use the song's magic before we begin our mission. It is going to be very hard to do this without being caught so we must plan everything out in exact detail. Our first priority is to rescue your father so we will attend the funeral, and then we will sneak back into the cemetery at around midnight. We will recover your fathers body, and then flee. You will take your own teleportation device back to Newhollow, and your father and I will have to go to a closer destination. I rented a car for the occasion because the nearest place to teleport to Deepwood forest is still a four hour drive. So I will take your father's body and come to the car that will be waiting here, we will drive to the ending point of the Mississippi River and there we will be in close enough proximity to enter the forest with my device.” He finishes.

  “The plan sounds very well-thought out and everything except I don't have a teleportation device and how am I supposed to teleport to a place I have never been to. You can't come with me? I think I'll be to scared to go there alone.” I say clearly sounding frightened.

  “Your teleportation device is that little elephant your father gave you as a gift. Don't you have it with you? He gave it to you in case of an emergency. Where is it?” He asks frantically.

  “No, I know where that is but I thought it was my dad's. It's on top of the bookshelf I noticed it when we teleported here yesterday.” I say going over to the bookshelf and plucking the elephant off of it, making dust particles fly everywhere. I turn the elephant over in my hands and notice something happening; the amethyst eyes light up and the familiar dark haze surrounds me. I'm falling and I feel like my stomach could leave me at any moment. It's in my throat, I feel so nauseous please let me get there soon. We stop and I fall in a pile to the ground. I stand up with the elephant in my left hand clenching it angrily. After my eyes adjust to the brightness of the sun I realize where I am. I'm standing in the cemetery of our town, and I'm looking at a small gathering of people. I readjust my dress and brush the dirt and grass off my legs, I try to comb out the leaves from my hair and I run to the funeral session. It has already started, but when I picked up the elephant it was only 10 am I think to myself. I still had two hours to get here on time. I race to the crowd of people and by the time I reach them I am out of breath and heaving. Everyone turns to me their eyes looking apologetic. The odd thing I notice is all of the people gathered here are our neighbors and people from town, not one of the people is someone unknown to me. My father would have had coworkers or friends I didn't know, wouldn't he? This leads me to the realization that everything Theo has said must be true; my father really is the king and I am the princess. My mother, giving me a disgusted look, is sitting in a chair across from me with guards on either side of her.

  “Hey, it's about time you showed up.” Theo whispers in my ear, tucking a strand behind it. It makes me shiver but it's at least 80 degrees outside so it's not because I'm cold that I shiver.

  “Yeah well this stupid elephant...” I begin to explain.

  “Shh. be quiet.” Someone hisses in my general direction, but when they realize it's me they add an apology with concerned eyes.

  The Priest begins the eulogy, and I can hear sobs in all directions. I look down at my feet afraid to look anywhere else, especially at the body in the casket. Hot tears race down my cheeks as the Priest compliments my father and tells the gathered crowd about how amazing he was in life and how helpful he was to our community. He blesses the body and shuts the coffin; it begins to sink into the ground due to the levy. People toss white roses into the grave and I put my hands over my face and sob.

  When the last bit of dirt is patted down, I run to the front of the waning crowd and drop to my knees. I curl up and sob until my heart feels like it's going to explode and my throat aches from holding back all the tears. I hear a noise that sounds like a grunt and I look up. My mother is protruding light from her entire body, hurriedly she is whispering something under her breath. I stop sobbing as the guards fall limp and lifeless and she races forward towards me. She grabs me by the neckline of my dress and I choke and sputter and try to kick her. She looks frail and weak but she is still very strong. Her gray hair falls into her eyes and I hadn't noticed earlier how much she has aged. Her eyes are swollen and red and her hair is a disheveled mess.

  “Please take me with you, Alison.” She manages to choke out before falling to the ground.

  “What? It can't be, has she been poisoned?” Theo asks from my side.

  “I don't know. What the hell were you doing? You couldn't help me when she was trying to kill me a second ago?” I ask.

  “No, she was communicating telepathically with me. We need to take her back to the house quickly. You may get to go with me after all if we have two bodies to revive now.” He says looking over at me confused.

  A Maternal Bond