Chapter 13
Nikolas had been a busy boy. The smell of cooking meat roused me from my sleep the next morning. I opened my eyes and peered at him as he rotated a small carcass above the blue flame. Getting into a more upright position, I stretched my arms above my head.
“Good morning, Princess.” He said with a subdued smile. “I thought you might enjoy a warm meal.”
I really heard what he’d called me this time. I mean, I had been aware of it before, its just that in the light of everything else that was happening, it didn’t catch. Now, it did. Apparently, I’d been wrong before about the whole I’m no princess thing. But, this was not shaping up to be a fairytale thus far. I was thinking princess in the sense that I wore pretty dresses and a crown on my head and I looked out of the castle window with not a care in the world. And maybe prince charming would save me from some mean parenting figure or from a deep sleep.
But this story was not for little children. After the battle yesterday, I realized I was in very real danger and worse yet, others were in danger owing to my very existence. Even now, I could almost smell the blood in the air.
I looked over at Nikolas again and his expression was concerned and pained as he read the worry on my face. “It will get better. I promise. I will not allow anyone to harm you, ever.”
My eyes were wet as I stared back at him. Good Lord I had become such a cry baby. I breathed in deep, getting the tears under control. “Yes, but you’ll allow them harm you.” I turned my gaze to the ground. “And, how many other people will be hurt or die because of me. Maybe it would be best if I turned myself in.”
Nikolas was on his feet and in front of me in the blink of an eye. Taking my face in his hands, he titled my head up, and not particularly kindly. My eyes were still glued to the ground. “Look at me.” He said almost roughly. When I did, I could see the determination in his eyes, pain and anger warring inside them. “Do not ever speak of such things again. Many people have moved heaven and earth to keep you safe, at great personal sacrifice to themselves as well as you. To give yourself over would make all of they have done a vain effort. The Kingdom would fall into ruin and suffering and sadness would become all that anyone knew.” He softened now, and I could swear his eyes were wet as well. “And even if none of that were true, your life is important…you are important. You cannot know the effect your absence has had for those of…for those you left behind.”
The tears had formed in my eyes again as he spoke and were spilling over. I felt awful and selfish and guilty and a thousand other painful things. “I’m s-s-s-sorry…I just…I…” My words trailed off.
Like he had the night before, he gathered me in his arms, pulling me tightly to him. My shoulder to his chest and my face buried in his tunic, he clutched me to him, rocking me slightly back and forth. “I know.” He murmured into the top of my hair. His chest rose and fell shakily. “I know…just, please…do not ever…don’t go away again.”
I nodded, unable to speak as I sat crying in his arms, for the men I didn’t know, for my father and the mother I hadn’t really met, and…for Liam. For every man, known or unknown, whose light may no longer burn. And the guilt clawed through me again. I let it all out and allowed myself to confront the emotions I’d been running from since this whole ordeal began.
And he just sat there and let me fall to pieces. He didn’t speak again, he just held me, he was just there…for me. Nikolas provided that unobtrusive comfort that most people are incapable of. It was exactly what I needed.
He was becoming oddly familiar to me, he felt like sanctuary. I wasn’t sure if that was a product of his story the night before or something else entirely, but I took it either way, and my heart twisted in a strange, almost pleasant way inside my chest.
When I’d cried myself out of tears, I leaned away from him to look into his eyes. He smiled at me, though his eyes looked sad. I noticed now the dark circles that hung beneath his eyes. I reached up and traced a circle beneath one. “You haven’t slept. How long since you rested?”
Instead of answering, he cursed under his breath. I jerked my hand away, afraid he was rejecting my touch. His reaction confused me until the smell of burning meat assaulted my nose.
He looked at me apologetically and grabbed the same hand that had just touched his face. “So much for a warm meal. My apologies, Princess.”
And I realized I didn’t care for that formal term coming from him any more than I had when Liam addressed me as ‘Milady.’ I didn’t care about the food, so I gave him a smile and just said, “Please, Dani.”
His answering smile was like the sun drawing the dawn from the darkness of night. “As you wish it, so shall it be.” He squeezed my hand before releasing it and went to discard the charred carcass. After he finished that task, he got more water for his horse. And the horse, go figure, was white I realized now.
Of course he would have a white horse.
I wasn’t a particularly observant person to begin with and in light of all that had happened, my mind hadn’t had time to really process his horse. But, sure enough, there it stood in all its white horse glory.
Next, he provided the horse with grain and then retrieved a small brush and proceeded to run it over the pure, white coat.
My eyes stalked him where he went, taking note of the way he moved. He was all grace and strength and…swagger.
It was a heady thing, sometimes, just to be in his presence. Like a siren song, something about him called to you, demanded your attention. And you gave it, reluctant or not, you gave it to him. He had that x-factor. Every woman knows it. Like an undertow, its sneaks up and grabs you, dragging you away from safety until you’re in nothing but trouble.
The women were probably lined up around the castle, or wherever it was that he lived. Much to my dismay, I did not care for that thought. What was it with this place? Hot guys running around being all chivalrous and dangerous and speaking with British accents like they grew on trees here.
Reigning myself in and chalking the workings of my mind up to stress, I shook my head to clear it and went to rolling up the pallets that lay beneath our lean-to.
Returning with dried meat and grapes I assumed were from the orchard, Nikolas sat down on the damp earth. “Come and eat, Dani. You must be starved.”
I abandoned my efforts and joined him on the ground, realizing I was hungry, very hungry. We shoveled the food in, neither having completed our last meal, then finished cleaning up our campsite.
My mind wandered back to our earlier conversation when I had brought up turning myself over. “So, I guess you know about the prophecy?” I said glancing over at him as he took out a small, black flask.
He squatted by the fire and opened the flask and the fire, as if obeying a silent command, slithered into the mouth of the glass bottle. Nikolas corked and pocketed it and I stood staring in awe, momentarily forgetting my question.
“I do.” He said a little warily and I blinked myself back to the conversation, remembering I had started it. My eyes found his and I could almost actually see it when the light bulb flicked on above his head. “Wh—how do you know of the prophecy?”
I would’ve thought this question would’ve come up earlier, but I guess it took a back seat to my suicide mission. “Liam. Well, and some ladies I overheard in a village, but they didn’t know that.” I said matter-of-factly.
He stared at me, but by the unfocused look in his eyes, he wasn’t seeing me. After a moment, they focused back in and he turned to secure some straps on his saddle. “Oh.” He said.
I felt uneasy because he did. It rolled off him in waves. I’d always been strangely in tune to other’s emotions. At times, I felt them so strongly, it was like they were my own.
I continued. “Yeah, he said he knew it was me because of my birthmark.”
This stopped him in his tracks. “How—how did he—wh
at did he say, exactly?” His unease had grown with this revelation and anger sparked in his eyes.
“He said, ‘you will know her by the sun upon her skin.’ Yeah, I think that’s how he put it.” I told him, my fingers finding the mark to draw circles around it.
Nikolas’ eyes widened and his mouth fell open.
I was effectively confused. I knew this specific portion of the prophecy was not known to everyone, but by the look on Nikolas’ face, it was a state secret. “What?” I asked, shrugging.
His body unlocked and he walked quickly to where I stood. “Only a handful of people know that part of the prophecy. Your mother and father, Soleil, myself, my parents, and…the other no longer lives.”
“Okay…um…but, how did you think he identified me?” I didn’t understand why this hadn’t come up before either, why it hadn’t dawned on him or anyone else for that matter.
“He did not mention your mark in the letter. For all we knew, it was a false report.” he looked at me for a moment. “When we saw you, there was no denying who you were…you really do favor your mother.” He stopped to take a slow breath. “And it was almost as if we could feel it in the air, that this time it was different. And of course, your father knew what you looked like.”
Oh, of course he did…what?
“How?” I asked.
“He has seen you.” He said, evidently forgetting I was unaware of so much.
What?
“How?” I asked again.
He looked at me and nodded. “Right, you would not know that.” He ran both hands through his tangled waves. “I’m sorry, I do not know the specifics. Your father, he told me on our way to you yesterday that Soleil was able to watch over you somehow, where ever you were. She could show your parents visions of you, but I do not know how.”
Oh, this Soleil character again.
I was beginning to wonder what was not possible here. “Okay…so, what does it mean that Liam knows who I am, that he knows about my mark and why are you freaking out over it?”
Brow furrowed, he stared into the dirt for a moment before responding. “I do not know and I am sure I am not freaking out, though I do not know what that is.” He had suspicions, I was positive about that. But he wouldn’t share them with me when that was all they were. “We should go. It would not have been safe to travel the road to the castle, so our journey will be longer, but if we hurry we may be there before the darkness returns.”
My heart sped up. I would meet my mother, and see my father and Liam again…I hoped. I nodded quickly in response.
Once we were done packing up, I decided to try and be brave and climb on the horse all by my lonesome. I placed my foot in the stirrup and grabbed onto the saddle for leverage, pushing up. I tried a few times unsuccessfully, and on my fourth try, strong hands grasped my hips and lifted me easily the rest of the way.
When he touched me, I felt that same strange and pleasant twisting inside my chest and my stomach did a tiny flip as the sparks danced upon my skin once more. I turned to look at him once I was seated safely in the saddle. My eyes met his and I was instantly trapped, sinking into their depths. He pulled himself up onto the saddle behind me, his gaze never leaving my eyes.
I followed suit, even turning my head to look over my shoulder at him once he was in the saddle. I realized I’d been holding my breath and when I exhaled, he blinked in rapid succession and then looked out into the trees toward our intended path. “Are you ready?” he asked, a hint of unsteadiness coloring his tone.
Turning my head toward the front I exhaled heavily again. “Yes.”
He leaned up, and I reluctantly turned to meet his gaze. That mischievous grin was spread across his face again, and all traces of unsteadiness gone. “You should hold on.” With that, he snapped the reigns and the horse lurched forward, effectively throwing me back against him. And his golden laugh rang through the forest as we sped away.