“I get it. I will leave you and send a girl to bring you new clothes. Towels are over there on the ledge,” Deravon said as he turned fading into the darkness.
Lyssa waited for a few moments and bent down running her fingers barely over the skin of the water. It was warm and smelled fresh like after a spring rain. She was alone and wondered if all the girls here bathed at once or took turns or maybe there was another bathroom. She shrugged her shoulders not thinking of that but thought of slipping into the pool of water.
She took off all of her clothing and piled it neatly on the floor. She got in and realized she still had on her bandages from Elsa. She thought of Dane. Would she ever see him again?
The warm water surrounded her. Her thoughts scattered like rolling leaves across a cold pavement. She thought of her father, not Orzan who claimed to be her father, but Thomas the only dad she knew. She pictured him in her head, the way he smiled and how he had tried to be a good father. It was a spell to ease his pain that only caused Lyssa pain. She had always admired him from a distance the way he nurtured plants and cared for his shop. Lyssa was never sure how she fit in, but she knows now that he did it all for her in hopes of becoming something better for her.
Lyssa leaned back in the water letting it come up to her chin and then closed her eyes and submerged herself in the warmth. Her muscles eased and her head quit spinning. She almost didn’t want to surface, but her body wanted air.
She explored the pool of water looking at the domes of white light that illuminated the water. The sky began to fill with stars framed in a deep shade of indigo. She let her head rest on the smooth edge and then let the falling water tickle her toes. She glanced over to see her clothes gone and neatly folded on a ledge were new ones. Whoever brought them in was very quiet.
Lyssa looked at her fingers which were wrinkled from being in the water too long—she was pickling. She dried off with one of the towels and unfolded her new clothes. A pair of soft creamy white, very conforming pants paired with a soft pink top with long sleeves flared slightly at her wrist and around her mid-thigh. Brown leather boots that nearly went to her knee fit perfectly. Zoey is the only one that knows her size. Lyssa wanted to talk to her desperately now.
She towel dried her curly hair and ran her fingers through it and turned to pick up the towel when something from the top ledge fell to the ground. It cursed under his breath and flipped back the cape that covered his head. He looked at her through his blonde wavy locks that nearly covered his eyes. Lyssa could only wonder how long the peeping tom had watched her. Irate, she grabbed the towel and snapped it at his legs causing him to curse again.
“Get out of here you pervert!” Lyssa snapped her towel again at his hands this time causing something to fly from them.
He looked at her with as much surprise as she.
“It’s you from the caves. What the hell are you doing watching me?” Lyssa felt her insides boil.
“No!” He yelled. “No, I wasn’t watching you, I…” He toned his voice down. “I was…merely…I was …cleaning…”
Lyssa raised her eyebrows almost amused at his stumbling words. He then took several deep breaths and supported himself on bent knees and then motioned with his hands at her.
“I wasn’t watching you; I was merely walking by and slipped.” Lyssa lifted eyebrows amused and smiled at him.
“No you weren’t.”
“Yes, I think I know what I was doing.”
“You said you were cleaning.”
“I wasn’t cleaning,” he said in a regretful tone.
“Then you were lying.”
“Yes…I mean no.”
Lyssa snapped her towel at him again on his arm. He let out what sounded like a growl and fire filled his eyes.
“Give me that.” He stepped towards her, but she had already turned and went running down the hallway.
She went through the door as his footsteps came closer. Lyssa was in the deserted hallway and only stopped when she came to an intersection. She couldn’t remember what way she had come with Deravon and decided to go right when she heard the door open and close in the distance.
Lyssa followed the hallway until it led her to a spiral staircase that nearly went straight down. Down she thought was good since Deravon said everyone was downstairs. The iron steps and curving rail were cold to her touch. She couldn’t hear the boy’s footsteps anymore and felt relieved.
The darkness of the stairwell gave way to a dimly lit room with what looked like tall shelves in front of her. She was in the corner of a large room filled with books. Most covered the wall that had a large window overhead and two tables with the same spherical lights as in the bathroom emitting a dim white light.
Lyssa looked around the room and saw a tall wooden double door. Before she could even come within an arm’s length, from out of nowhere the boy jumped in front of her causing her to slip and fall backwards hitting her head on the stone floor. Stars filled her eyes and anger boiled up in her.
He stood over her and asked if she was alright when something from inside his cape fell onto her stomach. She grabbed it before he could and looked at it. It was a book she held and as she flipped it over, it was no book but her diary. Lyssa felt pins prick all over her as she stared blankly at her name she’d written and colored in surrounding it with tiny flowers. All of her private thought, dreams and the entries regarding Toby—who was here made her feel sick. He had her diary. Lyssa met his eyes just as the door opened behind them.
“How did you get here? Lyssa?” Zoey’s voice came from behind the boy.
“Oh, I see you have met Wes.” Lyssa could only recall all the private entries she had made. They were not to be read by anyone.
Zoey gazed back and forth between them. Lyssa wanted to smack Wes.
“Why do you have my diary?” Lyssa’s words trembled through her clenched teeth.
Wes’s wide eyes and unmoving lips opened with no words.
“Your what?” Zoey asked.
“How did you get my diary?” Lyssa repeated eyes fixed on Wes expecting an answer.
“I found it.” Wes finally stated. “Eli brought it with him and the dimwit thought it was the Everspell.”
Lyssa tightened her mouth not wanting to cry.
“What is going on here?” Elijah voice boomed behind them. “Everyone is need in Merlin’s chambers right away.”
Wes, without a word and a slightly red face left as Zoey looked at Lyssa.
“What happened Lyssa?” Lyssa too embarrassed to say anything shook her head and let the giant of a man lead the way as she protectively held her diary close to her.
Merlin’s chambers had a simple beauty to them. It was a circular room with a glass ceiling open to the dark sky above. A tall basin sat in the middle, and a man with dark, wavy hair stood beside it.
“Lyssa.” A whisper came from behind her.
“Toby.” Lyssa wondered if Wes had said anything to him.
“How are you feeling?” Toby asked with concern.
“I’m fine.” She would be fine if Wes hadn’t read her deepest thought. She caught a glimpse of him through the several people that filled the room.
“I thought I would never see you again,” Toby said wrapping his arm around her.
“I know, a lot has happened,” Lyssa said as Wes lingered in the shadows watching her. She didn’t let his stare bother her.
“I never thought anything like this would ever happen, but something about it feels so right.” Toby surprised her as she looked up at him.
“Really?” She asked dumbfounded.
He smiled down at her. “Yes, since Craig and I have been here, I feel like this was supposed to happen. I mean I have a past here.”
“Craig is here too?” Lyssa asked surprised.
“A creature called a Mog brought us here. He was Eli’s tracking device and he brought us here by mistake…or at least was a mistake at
first.”
“Don’t you miss your parents and brother and everything back home?” Lyssa asked and turned to him.
“I do, but at the same time I need to find things out. Lizzi a girl here took me to an oracle and there I met a Fate. She told me that my mom had a connection here and my father is a Fae.” Toby eyes seemed to twinkle at her. “I care about my family, but I also need to find my real father.”
“Did they help you here?” Lyssa asked.
“They’ve more important things right now; I’m sort of on the back burner or really no burner at all. They haven’t decided what to do with Craig and me yet.”
“Any news on your dad?” Lyssa felt his words prick her skin.
Lyssa didn’t answer right away trying to keep her composure. “No.”
Toby hesitantly smiled at her. “I’m sure we will find him.” Toby squeezed her hand.
“Lyssa come up here,” Zoey said pulling her from Toby’s side. Lyssa looked back at him as he smiled at her.
The room quieted that was filled with some familiar faces and some she didn’t know. Lyssa glanced around as Zoey brought her in front of Merlin who was tall and broad shoulder, but had a gentle look to him with his rounded features. His dark eyes looked like two dots in the flickering lights of the cylindrical poles that glowed at the top emitting a soft yellowish light.
“Lyssa Cleverthorn we finally meet.” His words were soft and casual, like they were meeting at a party.
She nodded and smiled as Zoey quietly left her side. Merlin then gently lifted her hand that had her mark on it and examined it. He then bent her hand at the wrist so her palm faced him.
“We are going to do a uniting of marks and hopefully rid you of the Everspell.”
Lyssa looked around the room and met Zoey’s eyes. She was frightened at what a uniting was and Zoey’s gentle eyes seemed to comfort her as she looked back at Merlin.
“This isn’t going to hurt is it?” Lyssa whispered.
Merlin slightly chuckled. “No, I am a vessel like you and this way I can open it up without the key.”
Merlin lifted his hand to hers joining the marks. Lyssa felt the pull as a distant dream filled her vision. She had felt this before. Foreign words filled her ears, and faces that she had never seen before flashed before her. Her body was as light as a feather and her thoughts began to mingle with Merlin’s.
Feverfew is used to reduce fevers and peppermint can cure a stomach ache. A woman’s voice said before it flipped back to one of her own memories of her father tending to the garden right before a rainstorm. She had helped him put in his wheelbarrow just as lightning hit the telephone pole across the road shattering it.
Lyssa then felt something being pulled from her. Just like a weed in her dad’s garden that had deep roots with many tendrils wrapped around every particle of dirt and rock it could latch on to. She thought she heard herself scream as she felt something hit her hard on the side.
Lyssa opened her eyes to see several feet around her. Her body was numb and weak.
“Someone has done a uniting with her before.” Merlin yelled out.
Many voices filled in around her, but nothing made sense until she heard Zoey’s voice.
“Lyssa.” She sat Lyssa up and her head spun.
Lyssa closed her eyes and then opened to see Wes in front of her, eyes filled with concern. If she only had enough energy she could kick him square in the chin. But she couldn’t as Zoey lifted her to her dangling feet.
“Help me carry her back to her room, Wes,” Zoey said as Lyssa felt herself move through the crowd and out the door.
She wanted to yell out “No” and say she didn’t want this perverted peeping tom touching her. He had read her deepest thoughts and had seen her naked. Now he was carrying her up to her room. She would’ve struggled if she was only strong enough to move her arms.
Wes held her tight, her ear pressed against his chest so close, she could hear his heartbeat as they went up several short steps. He gently laid her down on a soft bed as Zoey ran a cool cloth over her face.
“Zoey.” Lyssa finally managed to croak out.
“Shh, don’t say anything. I told them you weren’t strong enough yet.”
Lyssa closed her eyes for a little then opened them to see Wes coming in the door with a tray.
“I thought you might like something to eat.” Wes said acknowledging her.
Lyssa glared at him with what strength she had.
“Thanks,” Zoey said as she handed Lyssa a piece of bread with what looked like honey on it.
Wes sat in a chair at the foot of the bed and watched her. Lyssa didn’t realize how hungry she was until she took the first bite, followed by another all the time looking at Wes.
She wanted him to leave at the same time she wanted to beg him not to tell Toby anything about her diary.
“You dropped it in Merlin’s chambers when you passed out. I picked it up. If you don’t want anyone else to read it, I would keep it in a safer place,” Wes said with unblinking eyes and gently laid her precious diary next to her. “I am sorry Lyssa I read your diary, but I really didn’t know what it was at first and by that time I was too far into it.”
Lyssa didn’t say a word only held her diary to her chest as Wes left the room.
“So let me get this straight, you have a diary that Eli somehow got a hold of and now Wes has read it,” Zoey said looking at Lyssa with her wide green eyes.
“Pretty much,” Lyssa said calmly running her fingers along the edge of diary.
“I see, well, that is very embarrassing.” Zoey turned her head slightly.
“To say the least,” Lyssa said as Zoey continued to look away. “Are you—laughing?”
“Yes. But not at Wes reading your most personal thoughts, but for you nearly whopping him with a towel. He told me what happened earlier and even though he doesn’t appear to be a gentlefae, he is.” Zoey ran her fingers through Lyssa’s hair. “You know he is our best sentry and you got him with a harmless bath towel.”
Lyssa looked away and couldn’t help but to laugh. “He did look surprised when I got him especially after the third time.”
Together they giggled like two girls with hardly a care in the world. Lyssa wished she could hang on to this moment and wished all of her problems would simply dissolve and she would close her eyes and be home again with her father, Zoey and herself.
“I wouldn’t worry about Wes reading your diary. Maybe it will give him a little insight that girls are more than just boobs and made for kissing,” Zoey said standing up.
“You mean he really is a jerk?” Lyssa asked sliding her legs over the bed.
Zoey took a deep breath. “I care about Wes almost like I would care for another child, but he has no respect for girls as far as a relationship. I don’t think anyone has showed him differently.”
Lyssa looked down at her violated diary. It was like her thoughts and dreams had been raped by some idiot boy. She drew in a deep breath shifting her thoughts. She had so much she wanted to ask Zoey.
“Orzan told me that I was his daughter. Is that true?” Lyssa suddenly asked. “My father, Thomas…” Lyssa felt a lump in her throat.
“Orzan is not your father. This I know. He is manipulating you, and he is a liar.” Zoey eyes twinkled. “Especially now they want the Everspell and will say and do anything to get it.”
Zoey as always, made Lyssa see the light at the end of any tunnel. She still though felt a thorn had been placed in her, a doubt that she wanted to be solved. She made herself believe Zoey’s words—Thomas was her dad no matter what.
Lyssa felt the edges of her diary. “How do you think Eli got a hold of my diary? He would’ve had to been in my room…know where to look and wait until I was gone.”
Zoey stood up with a serious look on her face. “Then I will find out.”
Toby
Toby couldn’t sleep. Craig had s
tarted snoring and the sound began to wear on him. Pale moonlight illuminated the open areas of the ground below his window. Two dark silhouettes paced back and forth a distance from the castle. They were the night sentries guarding this fragile and small group of Faes.
Toby thought of his mother and why she never said anything to him. Did she know or were the visions just a dream, something he made up to answer his questions and settle the thoughts in his head. He looked down at his fragmented mark and then tightly clenched his fist.
Toby pulled himself from the window and decided that it wouldn’t hurt anything to wander the building. Craig didn’t even hear him put on his boots and get dressed or even accidentally bump into the corner of his bed.
The hallway was dimly lit with orillions. Lizzi had explained many things to him such as how the orillions light up with a simple touch from a mark. It was pure energy she said and even with Toby’s partial mark, he could make one light up.
Many doors lined the hallway. They were other Fae’s rooms and he hoped he didn’t disturb anyone as he went down the staircase to the dining room below. The fire there was barely embers glowing in the opened dragon’s mouth. Toby stopped to look at it. Even in the monotone of swirling grey marble the creature had a fierce look to it. He ran his finger over the pointed teeth. They were of course cold to
the touch. He then could see another hallway dimly lit and decided to explore it.
It was a short hallway that led to two double wood doors richly engraved with swirling designs. He opened the doors and hoped they didn’t squeak disturbing anyone. A large window with moonlight beaming through it greeted him. Books filled every inch of the room.
“This must be the library.” Toby’s soft whisper seemed to echo in the silence.
He was about ready to leave when a darkened figure came from the shadows between the tall shelves. Startled at first, Toby stepped back.
“Toby?” A voice questioned him.
In the pale light he could see it was Lyssa.
“Couldn’t sleep either.” She smiled up at him.
“No, Craig snores,” Toby said smiling back. “So what are you doing here so late or I guess by now so early.”
“I was just looking at some of the books. They have a lot on history and horticulture. I was hoping to find something out that could help me find my dad. I don’t know why it would be here, but I feel that I have to do something.”
Toby looked at her as she cradled a book in her arms. “Here.” He took the book from her. “I want to show you something.”
She shook her head with widened eyes. “What do you want to show me?”
“Just come on, you’ll like it.”
Toby led her to the orchard where Lizzi picked apples. The long rows of fruit trees seemed magical here, even though they looked the same in the Etherworld.
“This is an orchard.” Lyssa stated and looked at him baffled.
“Yeah, but I thought it was kind of a neat place.” Toby went under one of the umbrella like apple trees.
The ground was littered with fallen apples that were either half rotting or bug eaten. The air around it still smelled sweet with the remaining apples on them.
Toby pulled Lyssa closer to him so they were both under the tree.
“Did you ever think anything like this existed?” Toby asked.
“Not in a million years.” Lyssa replied with a sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Toby could sense the tension in her voice.
“Everything,” she replied as Toby placed his arm around her and she nestled her head in the crook of his arm. Toby smiled down at her. “When I was with the Muses’ they told me I was Orzan’s daughter that my dad wasn’t my dad. He said that someone doesn’t get a mark from only being half Fae. It makes sense to me even though I don’t want to believe it.”
“He could be lying too.” Toby tried to reassure her.
“That’s what Zoey said. But it explains so much. My dad isn’t a Fae, so how did I get my mark? He is an Etherling that fell in love with my mom who escaped there from the Muses’. What if she said I belonged to my dad when really she was lying and covering up something?”
Toby looked down at her and wished he could make all of her problems disappear. “You can’t jump to the conclusion Orzan is your father by that. Where’s his proof? This is all new to me and to you, so we don’t know for sure.”
Lyssa’s face softened and he could see the tension release from her shoulders. Gently, he turned her around, ran his fingers through her wavy auburn hair and then cradled his hand at the nape of her neck. He bent over slightly barely brushing his nose against her when something whooshed just behind his head and made a vibrating metallic sound. Both Lyssa and Toby jumped apart and looked back at the circular disk half stuck into the tree.
Footsteps came running down the row of trees and Toby pushed Lyssa behind him.
“Oh, it’s just you,” Wes said as he ran closer to them. “What are you doing out here?”
Lyssa stepped out from behind Toby and glared at Wes.
“Oh, I see.” He looked amused with raised eyebrows.
“You just about hit Toby with your disk.” Lyssa stepped closer to Wes like an angered cat taking a swat at something much larger than itself.
“Well, if you two weren’t out here at night when I’m on duty to kill anything that looks suspicious, that might not have happened.” Wes replied in a matter-of- fact tone.
“Well, then, maybe you need to be a little more careful at what you are throwing things at.” Lyssa retorted.
“I am,” Wes said bending closer to her face.
Lyssa gave a huff as Toby looked at Wes. “Look, sorry for coming out here and we will go back inside.”
“Don’t apologize to him. He is just a jerk and probably was aiming for your head anyhow.” Lyssa continued her glare at Wes who only looked amused at her.
“Listen to your Etherling boyfriend little Fae girl.” Wes smiled at her raising his eyebrows in amusement as he walked backwards a few steps before being swallowed into the darkness whistling.
“I am not a little Fae girl!” Lyssa yelled into the darkness as Wes continued to whistle a happy tune. “God, he is a jerk.” Lyssa turned as Toby placed his hand in hers and kissed her hand gently.
“I know he just about got me, but what did he do to you?” Toby looked at Lyssa who stood with gaping mouth as she shook her head.
“He…he is just rude and I hate rude people.” Lyssa stammered her words. “Let’s go in and get something to eat.” Lyssa said lacing her fingers with his.