21Chapter 11: The Banished Prince
I was tired, groggy, had a pounding headache, and was filled with so much energy my finger kept twitching. Which made my eyebrow twitch. With annoyance.
Alacki and Lenmar were sat opposite me, Lenmar with an ear to ear grin and Alacki looking everywhere but at me.
This morning I had woken up to hear Lenmar roaring with laughter as Alacki spluttered and yelled at him, it would've been funny if my head hadn't hurt so much. Lenmar had then given me a breakfast of some kind of roasted meat and root, then told me to sit down.
So, here we were, sitting down facing each other, with me wondering what they wanted to tell me.
"Since it appears that Alacki isn't going to start talking any time soon, I'll have to tell you what happened last night."
"Something happened last night? What do you mean? When?"
Lenmar chuckled, "When you and Alacki were storm chasing last night, you absorbed a gold lightening rod, yes?"
"Um, yes?" I'm guessing that was the last one we went through.
Another chuckle. "That was no ordinary lightening bolt. It was a kind of magical energy that forges a bond between people. A mind link of a kind. When you two absorbed it, your minds connected and now you can talk to each other through your minds. The link extends as far as you two are from each other, which comes in very handy if you lose each other." A cheeky smile lit up his face as he winked at me.
"It also means you can feel each others stronger emotions, and hear their thoughts in moments of vunerability. The bolt you swallowed should last you about 100 years unless you somehow find a way to channel its energy elsewhere. But that kind of thing is very rare."
I stared at Alacki, speechless. We had a mind link? He could hear my thoughts? Oh my gosh, he can hear my thoughts! And feel my emotions. Oh chez.
Alacki was still avoiding my eyes, sitting gloomily by the river. I guess he isn't too happy about the mind link. Maybe he doesn't want to be connected to me. I blushed and looked away. Maybe I'd gotten things wrong, maybe he didn't like me in that way at all. I shouldn't've got my hopes up...
I guess with Zaya saying those things in the Inn, and the way he held me at the witches disillusioned me a bit. He probably doesn't think of me that way at all, at most I'm probably like a little sister to him...
Lenmar stood up and stretched, his bones cracking in a disjointed rhythm.
"Anyway, we best be getting back to Nowhere to meet up with the pride. I'm sure they'll be worrying by now." He chuckled then hunched in front of me, "Your probably still wondering what's going on, aren't you?"
"Yes." Is he finally going to tell me what's happening?
"Well, as you already know, you possess the great power of controlling fire, which makes you very attractive to people seeking power - like Terhil for example. Our job is to protect you and keep you away from said baddies, so that you can someday fufill your destiny of saving our race and many more."
Ugh, I think my headache just got ten times worse. "What do you mean, save your race? How could I possibly save your race? And what do you mean many more?! I can't do that!"
Lenmar chuckled, "All in due time child. But all you need to worry about for now is keeping your pretty little self safe ok? Might make our job a little bit easier." He winked and walked off towards the fire.
I sighed and rubbed my temples, praying that things would magically be fine and that my headache would disappear.
"Drink this, it will help with the pain." I jumped and looked at Alacki in front of me, I hadn't heard him approach. His hair was tousled and bags were under his eyes, showing he hadn't had much sleep. He was looking away from me but holding out a pretty white cup shaped flower filled with water.
I gently took it from him and sniffed it. It smelt a bit like a vanilla blossom. "It's a Kakaya flower. They're known for their healing properties and grow along rivers." He muttered, then walked away, leaving me sat there alone.
Well, it smelt nice and he said it healed things. I'm ready to try anything to get rid of this headache. I tipped my head back and swallowed the water in one gulp, spitting and choking as a sour rotten taste filled my mouth.
I leaped up and wiped my tounge furiously, that was so foul! Ugh, I can't get the taste out of my mouth. Alacki and Lenmar shot me amused looks before carrying on with whatever they were doing before.
I finally closed my mouth when I felt a relieving sensation flow through my head. It washed away the pain like a refreshing wash in a waterfall on a hot day. I sighed in bliss, my head felt so much better now. Suddenly the sour taste faded from my mouth and was replaced by a soft, sweet taste. Like vanilla and some kind of fruit I've never had before.
Smiling, I went over to a private part of the river not too far from camp to wash. As I rinsed my face with water, I thought about the mind link that Alacki and I now supposedly shared.
I thought back to the night before, when I had heard Alacki talking worriedly about me. Was he actually talking? Or were those his thoughts?
My thoughts were interrupted by a rustle in the bushes behind me. A twig snapped before it became silent. My heart started beating faster as I called out. "Alacki? Lenmar? Is that you?"
No reply came and I calmed. It must've just been a small animal. Turning back to the river, I started washing again then stopped when I heard another snap. Spinning around, my eyes darted everywhere.
"Hello?" My voice was quiet and shaky as my heart started pounding even more furiously. I stood up as the leaves of the bush directly in front of me started to rustle."Wh-who's there?"
A dark cloaked figure stepped out of the bushes and towards me. I shrieked and tried to run, but they darted out and grabbed me around my waist, covering my mouth with their hand. I squirmed and kicked but they wouldn't let go.
"Shh! Chez, I'm sorry! Shh, ack! I didn't mean to frighten you, just stop, please." I stopped squirming and looked up at him fearfully. "Chez, ok, if I let go, do you promise not to run off screaming?"
I nodded and he let go. I jumped out of his arms and turned to face him, ready to call Alacki for help. He lifted his hand and I tensed, but he kept on lifting it to throw back his hood.
I couldn't help staring. He was gorgeous. A different kind of gorgeous, but gorgeous all the same. He had long, incredibly light blonde hair hanging down to about his hips. His skin was a fair creamy colour, and his features were all narrow and sharp, with piercing green eyes which stared at me from under blonde lashes. But his oddest feature was definately his ears. Two long, pointed and sharp looking ears decorated each side of his head.
"Are you ok? I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you." His voice was soothing and gentle, with a strange accent I'd never heard before.
"Uh-h, um, yes? Who are you?"
He tensed and his eyes darted about warily. "Just another passing traveller my lady. Who are you may I ask? And what's a young lady like yourself doing out here on your own?"
"Um, I'm not on my own, I'm with two friends, they're just around the corner..."
"Ah, so your travelling with the two men on the river bank?"
"Yes, I was just cleaning myself up."
His cheeks tinged a very light pink as his eyes darted up and down me. "Ah, um, sorry for intruding upon your privacy... I'll uh, go now." He pointed to the bushes and started to leave but I reached out and stopped him. With a hand on his shoulder, I only just realised how tall he was. I had to stretch to reach him.
"It's fine. My name's Lissaria. Are you hungry? I think we have some food left over. You can join us if you want." I smiled up at him. Now that I could see him and I'd spoken to him, he seemed a lot less threatening.
"Uh, I wouldn't want to intrude and -" I laughed and grabbed a hold of his hand.
"It's fine. Come with me." I led him through the bushes to the bank where Alacki and Lenmar waited. They both looked up when I arrived and Alacki shot up from his seat when he saw I was with somebody. Lenmar however merely raised his eyebrow with an amused glint in his eye.
"Lissaria! What are you doing? Who's this?" His eyes shot from me to the man alertly, checking me then watching him suspiciously.
Lenmar stood up and walked over. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the banished prince. It's good to see you again Kayan."
Banished prince? The man Lenmar called Kayan's eyes widened in shock. "Lenmar? Is that you?"
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Hiya!
Sorry this one took so long to come out, it didn't want to be written haha. It's short but hopefully I'll update again soon. :) Thank you for being so supportive of this story! It means a lot :)
SoMe . x . DaY (it keeps deleting half of my penname :| lol )
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