Chapter 12
What the Heart Wants
Serenity tried to be as talkative with the family as she had been when she arrived.
“The hospital is only about another 45 minutes away,” the old man explained from the back seat.
“Actually, I think it will be alright to just go home. I forgot that my mother gave me a knee brace a while back when I hurt my knee during a dance competition. That should take care of the problem.”
“Are you sure?” The husband was driving beside her.
“I think it might be best just to get checked out.” The woman leaned forward from the back seat. The old man voiced his agreement, too.
“Thank you all for caring so much, but I’m really fine. I wasn’t lost very long and I was able to find decent shelter for the one night. It’s nothing that a long sleep and a couple of good meals won’t fix. Besides, I need to contact a lot of people, like my professors.”
“Oh, are you a student?” Suddenly the family was asking her questions about her degree, her experience, and a host of other things that helped to get her mind off of the problems that she didn’t want to think about. The rest of the trip went relatively quickly, and they had Serenity back at her place. She thanked them profusely and promised to keep in touch before saying goodbye. Getting the spare key from its hiding spot, she entered the home and began getting ready.
Once inside, she went and found her knee brace. She collected some clean clothing, put her outfit in the washer, and headed to take another shower. Within an hour, Serenity was cleaned up and sitting at her computer. None of her friends would have heard about her disappearance and no one from Deep Water would bother emailing her. At some point she would need to get her bag, but at the moment she had no way of getting in touch with anyone who may have it.
“Oh, wait, Alaric should be able to help,” she muttered to no one in particular. Quickly she sent him an email that she and Ryland were alright and that she would need her bag returned. She asked if he could set up a way of getting the bag back since she didn’t have class again for a few days.
She had no more than stood up when she got a ping. Turning around, Serenity saw that Alaric had already replied.
You should be at the hospital.
It was the entire email. Serenity frowned, “What kind of an answer is that?” With a deep sigh, she tried to figure out another way to get her stuff. Without a phone, she couldn't contact Silas or Cora. “Only one way to fix this problem.”
Pushing herself up, she picked up her wallet, which she had left at home since she hadn’t needed it for the rafting trip, then headed out the door. Her walk took her to one of the nearby stores. There were several cheap phones that would do for now, so she bought one and began to head home. The smell of food lured her into a restaurant, and she decided to eat in and learn about the phone.
More than an hour had passed when she finally left and headed home to rest. Feeling exhausted, Serenity lay down, figuring she would trying to contact Silas or Cora after she rested.
When she woke, it was already dark outside. Groaning, Serenity rose and decided to just get ready for bed. She would start packing up the easy things that evening.
She was working on her second box of books when there was a knock on her door. Serenity frowned, turning to look at the clock. “Who on earth would stop by after 10?” Standing up too quickly, she twisted her knee. “Oh, damn it,” she muttered before heading to the door.
Looking through the peep hole, she saw Ryland standing on her step. For a moment she felt panic. How was she supposed to treat him now? There was no way she could possibly keep his interest, and the idea of losing him hurt.
“I know you are standing on the other side of the door.”
Serenity froze. “Why did you stop by?”
“First, I have your bag because Alaric said you asked to get it back.”
“What’s second?”
“I’ll tell you after you open the door.”
Serenity bit her lip and shut her eyes. “Alright, hold on a second.” She unlocked the door and peeked out.
“May I come inside?” He was looking at her with the familiar smile that looked hollow now that she knew more about him.
“As long as you promise not to drag me off to the hospital.”
“I promise that I won’t drag you off anywhere you don't want to go.”
Her heart was beating wildly, but her head was telling her it was a bad idea. Serenity paused for a second before pulling the door open. “Of course, sorry, come in. I’m still a bit drowsy.”
Ryland stepped into her place and slipped off his shoes. “That’s why you should be in the hospital.”
Serenity was immediately defensive. “You promised.”
“I did, but nothing was said about trying to persuade you to go.”
“Please don’t start right now, Ryland.” He gave her a strange look, then his eyes started moving around her place. “How are things going? Were they able to get the poachers?”
His face snapped back to her. “No, they had already moved on. The dogs brought back… they knew there were people around, so they slipped off. We’ll find them, it’s just going to take a while longer. Why are you packing?” Ryland’s blue eyes bore into her, as the question caught her completely off guard.
“Um, I just…” Serenity sighed. “Would you like something to drink? Have you eaten anything yet?”
“Water, please. And I am fine.”
Serenity gave him a knowing look before directing him to the couch in the living room. “Please sit down. I’ll be right back with your water.”
He nodded, then moved away wordlessly.
Serenity joined him a minute later with a small tray of food and the water. “Eat before you get too hungry.”
Ryland cocked an eyebrow at her, but there was no smile on his face. “What has happened? Why did you decide not to go to the hospital? And why are you packing?”
Serenity ran a hand over her forehead. “I'm not hurt enough to need the hospital. And I’m going to go back to the east coast.”
Ryland clenched his teeth, making his jaw even more defined than normal. “Are you too afraid here now?”
“Not afraid, just…”
He moved close to her and took her hand. “I am so sorry for failing to protect you, but please don’t leave.” His eyes begged her.
Serenity pulled her hand away. “I just don’t know…”
“What’s wrong? What can I do to convince you to stay? The idea of you leaving is…”
Serenity looked at him. “Ryland, what do you do for a living?”
“Oh.” There was an immediate change in his expression as Ryland closed his eyes. “I'm an actor. A fairly successful actor. A job that I did not choose and one I do not enjoy.”
“Then why do you do it?”
“Because what else can I do that will give me the tools to take care of everyone? My parents chose this career, and now it is too late to change paths.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“So you are going to leave just because of what I do?” His expression was slowly shifting into one of anger.
“I'm leaving because–”
His voice was like a low growl, “You promised not to get possessive.”
“I do not want to own you!” She moved away from him. “I wouldn’t even mind sharing you, but I can’t stand the idea of losing you. You are everything that I didn’t think I would find, and a few things that I didn’t want, but there is no way I can possibly keep your interest. How could I?” She stood up too fast, and immediately stumbled.
Ryland quickly stood and caught her. “I don’t understand what you are saying. If you leave you will lose me. If you stay, I… I don’t want to lose you. I have already lost so many people, I don’t want to lose you, too.” His hands were gripping her shoulders, but Ryland’s eyes seemed to be focused on something else. He moved his head and looked at her. “Please, don’t leave me.”
Serenity looked into the clear blue eyes. “I don’t want to be hurt any more. Men who can get someone else always do.”
“I don’t want anyone else. I don’t want to say goodbye. And I want to protect you, not hurt you.”
“But you will get bored of me. I know you will.”
Ryland put his hand under her chin and looked into her eyes. “A woman who can accept that I am a shifter, and prefers the outdoors to stores. A woman who puts more emphasis on her mind because it is more important than her looks, even though she is stunning. The man who thinks he will get better than that is a complete fool.”
Serenity began to fight back tears. “I want to believe you, but experience tells me that isn’t the way life works.”
Ryland let go of her and took a deep breath. “If it is a matter of your heart versus your head, all I can do is tell you that I am not like the men who hurt you before. I cannot force you to believe me. If you choose to leave, I will not stop you, but is that something you can live with? For the rest of your life? Is this something you can throw away without trying?”
“I…” A tear rolled down her face. “I–” The tears began to fall faster.
Ryland looked at her, waiting for her to collect her thoughts. When the tears started flowing, he reached out and pulled her to him. “It’s okay. I promise that it will be okay. Whatever you decide, life will go on. It will just be colorless without you.” The last sentence was said in a hush that she almost couldn’t believe he had said.
Slowly she wrapped her arms around him. The tension in his body was released and he kissed her on the top of the head. “I promise to take care of you. I promise.”
Serenity clung to his shirt. “Ryland, I'm scared.”
She could feel his voice through his chest. “Me too. But I’m also excited in a way I haven’t been in so long.” He stroked her head. “You are worth the risk of getting hurt.”
Serenity pushed into him. “I don’t think I am. I’m so–”
The hand moved from the back of her head to under her chin. Carefully he turned her face toward his. “Human. But I won’t hold that against you if you won’t hold my heritage against me.”
Serenity couldn’t help but giggle. Quickly trying to hide it, she looked away. “The only thing I hold against you is how little you have told me about yourself. If I would have known what you did earlier….”
“Last night never would have happened, and you would have dug further into yourself. My world would have remained nearly colorless and bland. I do not like my job and the rest of the time I am responsible for so many other people. You were the first thing in my life in forever that was not a chore or obligation. You didn’t want me because of a preconceived idea of who you thought I was – you were interested in me for me, and that is nearly impossible.”
“You are quite charming.”
“You don’t need to lie to me. I know I can be difficult and–”
“Stubborn.” She gave him a slight smile. “Nearly as stubborn as me.”
“Yes, very nearly.” His eyes moved down to her mouth as he brushed away a tear.
Serenity leaned her face into his hand. “Okay. I’ll stay. But don’t hide anything else from me. Please.”
“I wasn’t hiding it. I honestly do not like what I do. Would you want to talk about most of your classes when you didn’t have to?”
Serenity shook her head. “I get your point. It came as such a shock and I just…”
“It’s okay. I should have realized that something like that would be difficult, it’s just that it doesn’t seem that way to me.”
“I understand. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve decided to stay, so it’s okay. Just promise you won’t freak out again. Be more like the brave woman who had no problem dealing with me shifting into a bear.”
Serenity frowned, “Yeah, that’s a good point.” Her cheeks flushed and she began to feel embarrassed. “There was something far more unusual about you than you being a very successful actor.”
Ryland nodded.
“How can I make it up to you?” Serenity looked up at him. “I’ll do anything because I was being incredibly stupid.”
“Go to the hospital.” He didn’t even wait to respond.
“Oh, seriously. You promised not to drag me away.”
“You said anything.”
Serenity groaned, “It’s too late to go tonight.”
Ryland looked over at a clock. “I guess you are right.” He leaned over and picked her up, catching her completely off guard. “If you are really against going to the hospital, I guess I will need to stay here for a week or so to take care of you.” Before she could answer, he kissed her. “But I think that I want to spend that time in your bed. With you.”
Serenity nodded. “I’ll still owe you then because I want that, too.”
Ryland laughed as he carried her into her bedroom.
The End
Mordred
Night Wolves – Book 1
By Lisa Daniels
Chapter One
Kiara dangled from the branch of a tree. She cursed silently as she swung in a haphazard way. The rope tightened around her right leather boot, and she kicked aimlessly with the other. The basket full of herbs tumbled to the ground and blood rushed to her face. It turned to bright embarrassment when the royal huntsman stepped out from the softly glowing undergrowth, barely concealing the laughter upon his face.
Lightweavings swirled about his face, conjured up by the enchanted necklace and gloves he wore. Kiara's own light necklace currently lay upon the ground, dulled from lack of contact with skin. The grass beneath had a reddish blue glow, a result of the ultra-violet enchanting to help it thrive. Same with the tree.
“Hello, Princess,” he said. “How's it hanging?”
“Dark take you,” Kiara spat. She attempted to reach for her leg again. She fumbled for the knot and failed miserably.
“Do you want me to help or not? Otherwise I can stand here and watch until dusknight.”
She scrabbled uselessly at the knot. “This is one of yours, isn't it, Mandorin?”
“Yup.” Mandorin seemed rather proud of this fact. “You're going to need a knife for that little baby. One I conveniently happen to have.” He produced a knife from his belt, which glimmered with a strange blue sheen. A softer kind of lightweaving compared to the necklaces, which they needed to see throughout the endless dark.
Eventually, Princess Kiara conceded, allowing Mandorin to help cut her down. “You know,” he said, “I was told by your father to come and find you. Again. You do like running out, right before those important meetings, don't you?” He helped her down, and she picked up the glow-necklace, which instantly started radiating that familiar, comforting white light. Some people preferred softer hues, like yellow or orange. Others preferred garish colors, such as green or blood red. She favored the simple, clean white pulsing, since it didn't distort her view of the objects she saw, or of the clothes she wore, since she liked to walk around with a little color.
Most people opted for blacks and browns. She retrieved her basket, and placed some of the mushrooms back in it. “Of course. I hate sitting in for all that dreary political mumbling. Save it for my two older sisters. They seem to enjoy it a lot more than me.” Kiara's mouth scrunched up slightly, thinking of Bethany and Violet. Both took to all those boring throne meetings and discussions with tithe-lords with relish. Violet with her husband from the upper reaches of the city—a wealthy merchant with connections all across the world. And Bethany, still searching for an appropriate husband, all to make a better deal for their kingdom.
To help them survive against those which lingered in the absolute black of endless night.
Areas not yet enchanted by lightweavings. Places where the plants died or took on wasted, corrupted forms, fed by alien magic, leaving hostile wastelands. Places where former human cities crumbled, with nothing remaining but dust and worn-down buildings. She paced behind Mandorin now, leaving the Forest of Light and moving instead through the royal gardens, with each plant enchanted to show its true color in the darkness.
Her tutors told her that without the lightweavers, almost all life would have become extinct. Without the sun, which they described as a big ball in the sky, capable of turning the entire land bright, there was no food for the plants, vitamins for the humans and other races, and certainly no way for them to cope otherwise.
Thankfully, the weavers had managed to harness a little of the sun's power for themselves. Enough to give the plants what they needed. Enough for humans to cope.
She barely could imagine such a thing. Enough light to turn back the dark? Impossible. Even their talk of a sun sounded like some long ago dream. Something best consigned to the myths of eras past.
Green light swirled about her boots as she stepped through the grass. Her own personal light danced around her, illuminating her dark strands of hair, and the red, warm and long-sleeved dress that protected her from the worst of the cold. Along with the cloak, of course. She grinned to herself, hands running through some of the wispy colors of the flowers, before they reached the castle entrance. Inside, more light covered the walls, imitating torches, giving off real heat.
“Does Father want me to sit in one of those awful meetings again?” Kiara cracked her knuckles, basket tilting in her arm. She wanted instead to do something more exciting. Hijack a horse-drawn carriage, maybe. Fashion lightweavings into little ghost rats to scare the kitchen staff, or go on a trip with one of the royal huntsmen. Maybe she could ask Mandorin about it. He always had a soft spot for her.
If she'd bothered to sit through the lessons of heat transference, she might know how to combine heat with her lightweavings, and pretend to set people on fire. I should really get around to that at some point.
“I'm not sure, Princess,” Mandorin admitted, growly voice carrying across the short distance, over the sound of clumping boots. “But you can guess he was rather irritated at having to rein you in again.”
“He and Mother are always like that,” Kiara said. “I don't know how they can stand such boring things.”
“You don't seem to stand much for anything at all, if you don't mind me saying. Your parents are lucky to see you in a lesson past an hour.”
“They're boring.” Kiara's eyes traced a painting, before she took one of the mushrooms, examining it, and popping it into her mouth.
“You're easily distracted, it seems.”
“Wouldn't you be? Who wants to sit around and listen to people explain things when you don't care about it? Who wants to sit down and be forced to do nothing?” A small surge of envy went through Kiara. Her sisters were always so patient. She didn't know how they managed staying so perfectly still in a chair. She needed to move something, anything, when she sat down. A leg. A finger. The pencil in her hand. To fidget with her necklace. She loathed being confined to a spot not of her choosing for too long.
Why can't you just be normal? She heard that a lot. Ladies were supposed to be patient and calm. Keep their emotions under wraps. Pay attention to people around them and never bother a man unless he spoke to them first. Etiquette that only worked for higher society, since she saw people in the taverns speaking to each other just fine.
It was true she got distracted a lot. She needed to grit her teeth and focus hard to make sure her wandering brain didn't flit off with yet another random object of interest. Though sometimes, certain subjects were so interesting, she could sit and listen to them all daynight. And that was an impressive achievement on her part.
“I can't really find fault in that,” Mandorin said. “I've always argued that you can't force everyone to do the same thing. People have different kinds of learning, you see.”
Kiara nodded impatiently, already feeling that itch in her feet to go off somewhere. Anywhere but the throne room, and having to face her disapproving parents yet again. They paced along the red-lit carpet, through another set of glowing doors, ending up in the throne room. High up in the ceiling of the throne room, they had enchanted it to give an impression of light blue and white clouds. What people said resembled closely enough a normal “day” that the sun once gave. Impressive, though fanciful. Kiara always found her attention wandering to it when sitting through more war reports or trade issues.
“Finally,” King Alren said. Her dear and rather delightful father, who always seemed perpetually baffled by her. “We need to chain this daughter of ours down, before she ends up wandering off to the bottom of the ocean.”
“You won't be chaining anyone,” Queen Enna said. Princesses Bethany and Violet were there as well, along with Violet's insipid husband, Richmund. Other faces were there, too. People Kiara didn't recognize, but assumed they were here for some kind of trade deal. Her wandering eyes screeched to a halt when they settled upon one of the guests. A man with bright yellow eyes. What?
“What kind of human has yellow eyes?” Kiara blurted.
Her father began rubbing his face, clearly irritated. “We're trying to negotiate with this man, Kiara. Please.”
“But I thought yellow eyes belonged to creatures of the night horde. Why is he here?”
The yellow-eyed man stared at her, one eyebrow raised. She noticed that he wore a glow-necklace.
Bethany made a slicing motion across her neck. The universal sign of shut up or I'll kill you.
Kiara was confused, however, and began anxiously chewing on one of her long, brown strands of hair. Everyone knew that the monsters of the Endless Dark had glowing eyes, like embers in the darkness, which enabled them to see when there was no light. Yet this bearer of yellow eyes was a human and wore a glow-necklace. Perhaps a lightweaving on his eyes? No. Definitely yellow. Lightweavings always had that luminescence about them.
“Is your daughter always this feisty?” the man asked, and Kiara sighed inwardly. Fine. I'll stay quiet.
“Unfortunately,” the king said. Bethany headed over to Kiara to explain quietly what was going on, as the king continued his negotiations. Scribes wrote up what was said as a living record.
“Okay,” Bethany said, pulling Kiara to the side, “here's the short of it. Our kingdom is in trouble. There's been reports of some of our enemies mustering up forces to try and take over, since we're one of the wealthiest Light kingdoms around.” Her lips twisted as she said this. “We should all be working together, but instead, of what few human civilizations that remain, some have decided that it's better to invade us than it is to cooperate with us. We have some allies, but we need more.
“This man comes from a large kingdom as well. Generally, people avoid them because they think they're monster worshippers—but they are powerful, and have been holding their own against the night hordes for generations.”
“By breeding with them, it looks like,” Kiara said, and her sister swatted her on the head.
“Manners! Try not to insult our guests. We must have this alliance. We won't think like the common rabble think. We'll be above everything. And you absolutely must not mess this up.”
Kiara didn't get the pressure her older sister exerted on her. They might be dark-haired and blue-eyed, but that was about where the similarities ended. Bethany always acted so stern, so full of duty and proper manners. Certainly the kind of person everyone expected to soon see married. Kiara appeared like an urchin next to such contrast. People always saw her as some kind of wild child, but Kiara wasn't wild. She just—she didn't want to sit around all day. She'd be quite happy living like one of those huntsmen in the Forest of Light, weaving through the glowing bushes to find the animals there, or doing outdoorsy stuff. She didn't mind a bit of mud or whatever. And that was the thing, wasn't it? That was what made her stand out from her family.
None of them would be seen doing such improper things. Oh no. They had fine breeding, raised to do the duty of their people, to take care of them in these hard times. To do what they must.
“Is it gonna be a marriage deal?”
“Going to be,” Bethany corrected. “And yes, it looks like that might be the way forward. Usually is when dealing with eccentric nations like this. They want a connection, a legitimacy to our nation, and one of the best ways to do that is by forging a marriage bond.”
Which meant Father had finally arranged somewhere for Bethany to go. A pang of loss ate within. Kiara didn't want to see her big sister go just yet.
“Seems stupid,” Kiara said, folding her arms. “Everyone knows marriages don't always work out. You can't just shove two people in a house and hope they'll like each other.”
“It harkens back to the ancient tradition of treating the tribe where we've sent someone to marry, as family,” Bethany hissed. “So in hard times, that tribe comes to us, or us to them.”
“Yeah, but tribes have, like, three hundred people or whatever for their population. We're in the millions. I don't think it works like that.”
“It's a start.” Now Bethany nudged her little sister, forcing her to attempt to focus on whatever boring discussion went on. The king didn't discuss very loud, however. Seemed he only bothered projecting his voice when being disapproving of Kiara. Like they all did.
If only they just let her slip away. Her sisters did everything better anyway, no point following in their shadows.
Kiara noticed her father's eyes widen. He spluttered something to the ambassador. Mother looked as if she wanted to both laugh and cry at the same time. Bethany narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
So, of course, Kiara opened her big mouth again. “What's happening?”
Was that a flicker of guilt in her father's eyes? After some more rushed conversation, her father announced, “We have... come to an agreement. The people of Kanthus are interested in forming an alliance with us. And one of the conditions is to give the hand of one of my daughters in marriage to one of their Highborn.”
Bethany let out a low hiss. Kiara scrambled to remember her lessons on Kanthus, and why people hated trading with them. Something about some heathen religion, calling monsters Highborn or whatever. Too many rumors about that place, and most of them bad. They practised dark rituals. They were cannibalistic, they sacrificed babies to appease their twisted gods. But father said they needed to strike a deal with this kingdom.
By the way her father, mother and ambassador looked specifically at her, Kiara's stomach knotted uneasily. Oh no.
“You're not sending me, are you?”
Her father wiped his head, now beady with sweat. As if already regretting his decision. “Yes. We are.”
Even Bethany's jaw dropped. Her hand tightened on her sister's shoulder. For all Bethany's criticisms, the thought of sending Kiara away hadn't occurred to her either.
“What?” Kiara was unable to hide the utter shock, perhaps tinged with despair, in her voice. “You can't be serious! Who in their right mind would send me?”
Clearly uncomfortable, her father persisted with the madness anyway. “Don't resist me on this, child. The decision is final.”
And just like that, all of Kiara's dreams about becoming the first female huntswoman, of living a rogue life, swept under the nose of all those who mattered... ended.
The guards closed in on her. They knew her impulsive nature, knew she might try to flee.
Humiliated, she was escorted to her bedroom to wait for the negotiations to finish. To leave her home forever, to marry a stranger.
A monster.