The Knight (The Heir #1.5)

11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“ A shlyn says that she is going to Emma’s house,” Glasson said.

“Yes, you don’t have to worry. I will be there,” I said as I closed my computer and rubbed my face.

The first day of school went well. I was worried for Emma, but she seemed to handle it fine. I disliked the way she looked at Shad, but I figured anyone would be drawn to someone dressed in a suit at a high school. What I didn't understand was how everyone was swooning over him. It seemed like it didn't matter if he tried or not, the Prince would have no trouble fitting in and being beloved wherever he went. I, on the other hand, had worked for years to become well-liked at that school. Again, I hated him so very much.

I decided before the day was over that I needed to quit the football team. I didn't have the time for it, and it wasn't really important. It never had been. The idea that I wouldn’t play again did something to me, though. But how could I keep playing a game that was useless? I mean, it was useless; in all the realms, football didn’t matter, really. It had mattered to me, though, and that was the problem; I wasn't fully focused. A Torren Knight served selflessly. I had become selfish.

When I told Mary about it, she tried to tell me that I didn’t need to do it. I didn’t need to quit the team out of guilt. But, that wasn’t it; I couldn’t look at a football, or at a jersey, or at the field without feeling that emptiness of being without Lamont’s melody in the world. The gushings and feelings of horror that endlessly flowed from Emma were what really mattered. Well—I paused, as I listened to her melody right across the street. The notes from her melody played loud, and I did my best to help tone them down. As a knight, I could manipulate Emma’s melody some, but not enough to do much but drown it out or to confuse Terrans who would normally be able to hear her melody from miles away.

Her soul was happy. She was excited to see Shad. I knew what she felt for him. It made me sick. I pushed her melody away for a moment to listen to Glasson. He had been talking to me on the phone, and I was sure he would catch on that I wasn't listening if I continued to ponder. I didn't need a lecture.

“Sure, and how is that supposed to help me not to worry? She isn’t safe with the people here.”

He meant people without melodies. To be fair to him in our realm, if you did not have a melody, you were a soulless, and evil. So I could understand the negative reaction the people of Earth received from my kind. Was it true, though? No, people here were good even without a melody.

Ana–she was good without a melody–

No.

Go back in the box.

“What is different about a party than school on a daily basis?” I asked, trying to get my thoughts back on track.

He sighed, and it felt different than the hard prince he had always been. I wondered—not for the first time—more about him, more about what he was doing here in the first place, and why he was a knight for Ashlyn. I knew she was Terran. I could hear her melody, but I never communicated with her through it before. I rarely let my melody out any more. I wasn’t supposed to. I couldn’t let Lamont down again. He wanted me to shield my melody, and I would. I wouldn’t fail him—at least, in that way.

“Please, Ryker. Please make sure she is safe.”

I felt, for the first time, the desperation in his voice. He seemed tired and worried.

“Are you well, Highness?” I asked, turning to face my bedroom. I looked out the window to the tree outside and watched as the wind made each green leaf move back and forth. The phone I held to my face felt hot in my hand, as if the battery was overheating from overuse. I quickly looked at the screen to see my battery slowly depleting. In Earth’s realm, the magic, or technology, was brilliant, but had some flaws.

“As well as one can be while away from home, Ryker.”

“I see,” I said, nodding to myself. I understood the longing in his voice. I felt that, too. I missed Terra. I didn't say it out loud. There really was no point; he would know I felt it, too. It was safe to assume that all Terrans stranded on Earth missed Terra.

“Do you ever—” he paused, and then cleared his throat. “Okay, thank you for your help, knight.” Then he hung up. After knowing him all these years, I would never get used to his changing moods.

I headed over to the pool party after football practice. I kept up appearances as best I could.

“So why doesn’t Emma know?” Ashlyn, or Ash, as she had asked to be called, questioned me as she tossed a beach ball at me once I was in Emma’s backyard.

“Because her parents didn’t want her to know. They wanted her to be raised like the people here.” Almost as soon as I arrived at the party, Ash pulled me aside and started bombarding me with question after question. I couldn't blame her. I doubted Glasson ever gave her any solid information. He was Glasson, after all—and, in being Glasson, he was extremely difficult to talk to, let alone be around. I took pity on her for a few moments. He sure was rough around the edges. If he did not have a powerfully strong melody, although not as strong as Shad’s one would think he were a rock.

“Yeah, but she should know—I mean, I would be pissed at Glasson if he never told me who I was.”

“Who exactly are you?” I asked. My interest in her peeked. She shrugged her shoulders, her straight, red hair hung wet around her face.

“I am a Terran, same as you.”

“Yes, but what kingdom? What loyalties do you have?”

“How should I know? That dude doesn’t communicate well. I mean, he talks when he has to, but other than that, I don’t get much out of him,” she tried to explain—but I could sense a lie. People with melodies rarely lied. It was so easy to spot them, unless of course they shield their soul for the telling of the lie, and then let it out again after. It isn't something easily done, or often trained for as it leads to corruption. Ash moved her hair from around her face, and I saw a flash of light which caught my attention. I moved closer to her and saw a gold chain around her neck with a tiny stone at the bottom. I reached for it, and she didn't stop me as I held a clear seeker’s crystal in my hand. The power within it hummed warm against my skin.

“Glasson? Did he give it to you?”

“My parents gave it to me.”

“Why?”

“How am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen them since I was a child.” She looked into my eyes. So much sorrow was there, and I could feel her melody hum within the sorrow. Crystals were interesting. Some could guard or shield a soul completely, and some just dulled the melody. It seemed that the crystal that she wore was one that only dulled her melody.

“I am sure you know how to shield your soul?” I asked, letting the crystal drop from my hand resting against her collar bone.

“Don't we all learn as children?”

“Yes, so why don’t we give this crystal to Emma, who has no idea how.”

She grabbed the crystal. “I like Emma; I do, but Ryker, this was the only thing I still have from Terra, from my family. I have to believe they gave it to me for a purpose, and anyways, Glasson said never take it off. I know you are looking for one. I’m sorry that the crystals here are all useless now.” She paused and looked away from me. “He really likes her.” She motioned to Shad who sat by the side of the pool with Emma. The way her soul was blaring to life, I was surprised that I had not been distracted by it. She was so enraptured by him.

“I really dislike that prince,” I groaned.

“So he is truly the Embran Prince? I’ve heard rumors about him.” Ash looked at Shad with interest in her purple eyes—her very purple eyes, which I had seen somewhere before.

“Yes—“ I paused. It was so obvious. How had I not noticed before?

“Seeker?” I whispered. Ash snapped her head back to look at me. Terror flooded her face.

“No, I’m not.”

Clearly, it was a lie her melody sung the lie loudly between us.

“You have seeker blood. How else would your eyes be purple? Are you from Thorn or from Sorra?”

“My mother had these eyes,” she said, whispering. “Please, will you be quiet about it?”

“Is this why Glasson is guarding you? Because you are a seeker?”

“He is worried about what Terrans would do with someone like me.”

“Yeah, I would worry, too. He should have told me that I was keeping watch over a seeker!”

“Are you serious right now?” she snapped and splashed water in my face.

“What? You know what the seekers did,” I said with anger in my voice.

“Yes, but I am not one of those seekers. I have never had the ancient gift.” It was odd that a child born with purple eyes did not have the ancient gift of the seeker. I wondered if she was lying to me, but her melody never changed as it had before when she certainly had lied. Perhaps, she really did not know. Perhaps, she thought that she was telling the truth—because she didn't understand.

I said goodbye to Emma that night and told Ash that she better keep quiet about Terra when she was around Emma. I realized that things had become way more complicated than I had ever expected. What on earth is a Seeker doing here? I knew a few things for sure—I needed to figure out who killed Lamont and Ara, figure out how to get a crystal, and then, if it became necessary, take Emma back home, because Earth wasn't looking very safe.