-5-
“Your father is going to be very disappointed in you. Taking off like that was reckless,” Lady Nemea scolded. “You are seventeen, almost eighteen, too old to be pulling childish pranks.”
“Or to be lectured because I went to enjoy a few rides,” I said, wishing I had the power to make people shut up. “I was on the island, Lady Nemea. Hardly a reason to panic.”
Her eyes narrowed. “We had every reason to panic. We lost you before and I refuse to let it happen again. On Monday, you will start working with a tutor here in the castle. You will not leave the castle without him or a guard, and when you do, you are not to go beyond the castle grounds.” She stopped and frowned as though thinking up more crap to pile on my head. “Oh, and you are not allowed to associate with those two girls.”
My jaw dropped. “You can’t dictate who I see or can’t see.”
“Oh, I most definitely can. Your father put me in charge of your welfare. Your safety means everything to him. You are not to mingle with minions, either. They have healers to tend to their wounded. It is not your job to heal them.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“I’ll tell you what is ridiculous—Guardians kidnapping you under our very nose.”
“Enough!” Lord Valafar’s voice thundered and I jumped. I hadn’t seen him teleport into the room. “Leave us.”
Lady Nemea bowed and then disappeared. I was so pissed I couldn’t think straight. He moved closer. I glared. “Let me guess,” I said. “You are furious, too.”
“No, daughter. This is your home.” He stopped in the middle of my bedroom and gripped his hands behind him. “You can come and go as you please now that the people have met you.”
I laughed with relief. “Maybe you need to send Lady Nemea a memo.”
“I’ll ping her with instructions.”
“Good.”
“On the other hand—”
I groaned.
“You scared her,” he said firmly. “She helped your mother take care of you when you were a baby and was devastated when we couldn’t find you. She blamed herself for a long time. When you disappeared tonight, she panicked.”
That explained her behavior, but it didn’t excuse it. “Can you tell her to ease up on me a little? I’m going to have a tutor and bodyguards twenty-four-seven, and I can’t see Katia and Lottie.”
He shook his head, a frown flattening his eyebrows. “Of course, you can see your friends. Invite them here any time. You are fairly safe here on the island.”
I frowned. “Fairly?”
“We do have the occasional breach in security. Guardians attempting to infiltrate us, humans lost in their boats. Promise me one thing.”
“Sure.”
“Take a guard with you whenever you want to explore or visit anywhere. It will ease my worries.”
That seemed reasonable. “Can I have guards close to my age? Most of them are old and serious and they never smile.”
His frown deepened. “I’ll order them to smile more.”
Was he serious? He couldn’t possibly order… I saw a twinkle flash in his eyes and grinned. He was joking. I played along. “Please do.”
He inclined his head. “Anything for you, daughter. I heard you healed some of our people.”
I nodded. “That’s okay, right? I mean, everyone acted like it was a big deal, but they were just children.”
“You are their princess. Feel free to spend time with them. Get to know them and let them get to know you.”
I was confused. “So it’s okay to heal them?”
“Yes. Heal them. Bond with them. Let them see you as one of them, but…” He peered into my eyes. “Be careful not to overuse your powers. Psi energy is not limitless, and you’ve been in a coma for months and need to replenish yours.” He angled his arm and I put mine around his. “Come on. The fireworks are about to start. You don’t want to miss it. Sir Malax promised it would be spectacular.”
I still had the crystal from Lord Gavyn. Pretending to straighten the pillow, I slipped it under one of my pillows and left with my father. I’d find a better hiding place later.
The guests were waiting by the doors to the terrace when we arrived on the second floor. The crowd parted for us as someone opened the doors. The guests fell behind us as Father and I led the way.
I didn’t see Katia or Lottius. Since I couldn’t detect people’s energies, I couldn’t tell whether they were back in the castle or they’d been sent home. My eyes connected with Solange. She winked. Beside her, Gavyn Llyr stared straight ahead. Below, a crowd had gathered and I found myself searching for Green Eyes.
I didn’t see him.
The fireworks show was spectacular, but I was eager to go back to my room and see the message from Gavyn. I kept glancing at him to see if he was looking my way. He didn’t until after Solange disappeared. His expression was hard to read, but the feeling that he didn’t like me persisted. Then why would he give me a CC when he didn’t like me?
As soon as I could, I faked fatigue and excused myself. Back in my bedroom, the first thing I noticed was my bed. The covers were turned down. I ran to check under the pillow.
The CC was gone.
I flung the pillows aside, yanked the covers back. Nothing. My heart pounding, I searched under the bed.
“What are you doing?” Solange asked from behind me.
I glanced at her over my shoulder. “What do you think? Looking for something.” I went back to searching under the bed.
“You do know we have minions to find missing things and do that kind of stuff.”
I got to my feet. “Who turned down our beds?”
“Probably Lady Nemea, since she decided to be your personal maid.” Solange’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”
“No. I left a crystal one of the kids gave me under my pillow, and now it’s gone.”
Solange shrugged, walked to my dresser, and carefully touched a petal of one of the flowers the minion kids had given me.
“Probably a non-clairvoyant crystal she picked up from the gutter. Totally useless and crawling with bugs like these.” She grabbed the flowers I’d left on my dresser, which someone had put in a vase, and dumped them in the garbage can. “Which reminds me—you shouldn’t have taken off without guards like you did or treated minions. Some of them have weird diseases.”
“You’re a snob.” I fished the flowers from the can and put them back in the vase. “Are you telling you’ve never broken rules? Taken off without a guard?”
She laughed. “All the time, but I’m older and wiser, and my guards are also my two best friends. Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little pale. Was Father furious? He can be scary when he’s angry.”
“He wasn’t. Not really.” I sat, still ticked off that I’d lost the crystal. “He seemed nicer tonight.”
A look I couldn’t define flashed in Solange’s eyes. She was so hard to read sometimes. “Don’t try to be too friendly with minions, little sis,” she said. “It can be seen as a sign of weakness. When I rule, I will do it with an iron hand. I’d rather be feared than liked.”
“Then it’s a good thing I have no intention of being a ruler.” I glanced at her. “Look, I’m tired. I just want to go to bed.”
“Good idea.” She blew me a kiss and started out of the room. “See you in the morning. We’re going to a club. We might even leave the island and go to a human one.”
“Why?” I asked, even though I didn’t really care where she went, and humans didn’t interest me.
“Because it’s fun to mess with them. Sleep tight, little sis. Be good.” What mischief could I possibly get into now? “Could you do me a favor?”
“As long as it’s not sneaking you out of the castle or taking you with us.”
I rolled my eyes. “Very funny. I have no interest in clubbing or hanging out with humans. Could you send Lady Nemea upstairs?”
“Sure.”
I went back to searching for the crystal after she left. I completely stripped down the bed. A knock rattled my door. I waved my hand and it flew open. Lady Nemea stood in the opening with a cup of hot cocoa, my nighttime drink.
“Did you turn down my bed?” I asked.
She frowned, her eyes going to the messed-up bed. “Princess?”
“My bed. Who turned down the covers?”
“I did.” She continued to stand in the doorway. “Is everything okay?”
She was still angry. “No. Did you see a crystal under my pillow?”
She shook her head. “No. What type of crystal?”
I couldn’t tell her the truth, either. “One of the children gave it to me, along with these.” I indicated the flowers. “With my memories gone, I want to remember everything that’s happened since I woke up, and that includes mementos from the fair.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see it.”
“Are you coming in?” I asked when she continued to stand by the door.
“May I?”
I sighed. “Of course, you may. I, uh, want to apologize for what happened earlier. I shouldn’t have left the way I did.”
She smiled, entering the room. “Oh, sweetheart. I understand that living under strict supervision can be taxing, but your father wants what’s best for you.”
“I know.”
“Then you will listen to him?”
“I’ll try.” I sat on the stood and reached for the hairbrush. Where did my crystal go? Why would someone take it? What message was in it?
Lady Nemea put the drink on my dresser and took the brush from my hand. Slowly and carefully, she brushed the knots from my hair.
“Father said Katia and Lottie can visit me any time.”
She sighed. “I told him it wasn’t a good idea.”
“Why? Because of the ride?”
“Yes and no. You should ease into relationships. You are the princess, and people could easily befriend you to use you. Even young people are ambitious. Your father is just learning how to raise a teenager and doesn’t know how important it is to set boundaries.”
That didn’t make sense. “Solange was once a teenager, wasn’t she?”
Lady Nemea chuckled. “Surprisingly, yes. But your father didn’t raise her. Her mother did. You were the first baby he rocked to sleep, sang and read to. I remember when he first learned you were still alive. He was beside himself with excitement, but he worried that you might not remember him. He spent hours watching CCs of you and your mother when you were a baby. He wondered what you knew about him, whether the Guardians had taught you to hate him.”
I frowned. “He didn’t know I was alive?”
“No. He thought you’d died with your mother. When he made contact and you didn’t even remember him, he was devastated.” She put the brush down, pulled my hair away from my face, and separated it. “He struggled with the decision to come after you and bring you home or let you go. He didn’t like uprooting you from a life you’d known for fourteen years, but at the same time he felt like he’d failed you by not giving you a chance to know him.”
I frowned. “Life I’d known? I thought I was the Guardians’ prisoner.”
Lady Nemea shrugged. “We don’t know what kind of life you led. It couldn’t have been good, since you fought beside Lottius and saved the lives of some of our High Council members. I know what the Archangels did was wrong, but in your case I think it is a good thing your memories are gone. Much better to start afresh. There,” she said, patting the single braid. She remade my bed. “Did you brush your teeth?”
I laughed. “I’m not three, Lady Nemea. You don’t have to remind me to brush my teeth or make my bed.” I tugged the covers from her hands and flung them over the bed. “See.”
She chuckled. “I guess I missed tucking you in. I took care of you from the moment you were born. You were such a happy child.”
My eyes flew to the pictures on my dresser. “And my mother?”
“Was an amazing mother,” she said. “She loved you and your father very much.” Lady Nemea picked up the clairvoyant crystal and smiled at the images. “Crystals don’t lie.”
“Thank you for telling me about Father. It’s not easy waking up one morning in a strange world to a father you don’t remember.”
“I know. I’m here to answer all your questions. Now, drink your hot cocoa and go to bed.” She pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Goodnight, my princess.”
“Lilith,” I corrected her.
She smiled. “You’ll always be my little princess. And call me Nemea.”
She teleported and for a moment, I just sat there and sipped my hot chocolate. It was too sweet. I forced myself to finish it, crawled under the covers, and stared at the canopy around my bed.
Who could have taken my clairvoyant crystal? Why? What was in it? Sighing, I turned and waved my hand above the bedside light. It dimmed until the crystal core stopped glowing.
I was halfway asleep when I heard, Are you asleep, Lil?
For a moment, I was disoriented. Who is this?
Who else calls you Lil? Did you get in trouble for the stunt you pulled with your friends?
Green Eyes. What’s your name?
He chuckled, the sound rich and sexy. If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.
I rolled my eyes. I didn’t figure you for someone who talked in clichés.
He laughed. How do you know it’s a cliché? Are your memories coming back?
I read a lot, and no, my memories are gone. So, why can’t you tell me your name?
He might get inside your head and steal it.
Who?
Raphael.
I frowned, trying to remember where I’d heard that name. Raphael?
The archangel you fought. You really don’t remember anything from your past?
Not a thing.
Not even me?
I frowned. Why should I remember you?
Because you and I had something special before you lost your memories.
I was dating a Hermonite while living with the Guardians? How is that possible? You are a minion while I—
Is it hard to believe about us?
I’d hurt his feelings. That’s not it. I was going to say I was a prisoner of the Guardians. How could we have met? Besides, if I’d known you, I would remember.
There was silence and I wondered what he was thinking. Can you promise me one thing, Lil?
That depends.
Don’t let anyone stop you from being yourself.
I smiled. I wasn’t planning to.
Good. But be careful.
Let me guess. My psi energy needs to replenish, so I must take it easy.
He chuckled. No. Your energy is growing stronger fast. I’m not worried about that. Be careful around people who didn’t fight in the Great Battle.
His words reminded me of the conversation between Lady Nemea and Solange. Are they the ones who don’t like me and think I’m a spy for the Guardians?
Who told you that? Now he sounded pissed.
It’s just something I overheard.
Don’t let such nonsense stop you from being yourself. Goodnight.
I frowned. Could he really be from my past? I’d lived with the Guardians before the Great Battle, so did that make him a Guardian? Or was I seeing him, a minion, while living with the Guardians? Or maybe he was just messing with me.
Oh, forget it. I shouldn’t be listening to him or believing anything he’d said.
I fell into a restless sleep and dreamed about flying with Green Eyes. He had massive black wings. His mouth kept opening and closing, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then I fell, strange words echoing around me.
Yours always, mine forever.
I woke up with a start, the words still ringing in my head like a distant memory. It was a crazy dream. A minion wouldn’t have wings. According to the books I’d consumed over the last week, the ability to fly was rare even among upper-level Hermonites.
I turned, punched the pillow, and tried to go back to sleep, but thoughts of my missing CC chased away all thoughts of the dreams from my head. Who could have taken it? Why had Gavyn given it to me instead of just talking to me? And what was on the crystal? It was obvious he didn’t want anyone to know he was communicating with me.