The Knight (The Heir #1.5)

12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

T he Prince made an irritatingly great effort to be in Emma’s life. I wasn’t surprised. I was angry. I knew anger led to corruption, but I was sure my melody could never be fully released again anyways, so what did it matter? However, because Shad was helping Emma, I felt a gratitude for him, that left a horrid taste in my mouth. No matter how much I brushed my teeth, it would not go away.

It was bitter, and it tasted like metal on my tongue.

“How are things coming along then?” Prince Glasson asked as we sat at my kitchen table going over updates. Prince Shad’s friend, Keil, who was a warrior from the Kingdom of Reoll, had given me some information with the promise of even more. He confirmed, however, that soulless were being created. I was pretty sure they were being created by the same person who killed Emma’s parents. There couldn't be two soulless Terrans walking about reeking havoc on innocents. Could there be? Shad and Keil had found many soulless people in the eastern part of the country. Their information was mostly the result of the monitoring they had done of the soulless Terrans they had both discovered and cared for before their untimely deaths. They both had record after record, as well as notes, documenting the measures they went to in order to try to keep them alive. They were trying to figure out a way to help soulless people live, even without having melodies, or to come to understand what it actually was about their melodies that made Terrans unable to live without them—seeing as humans on Earth went about their lives just fine without melodies at all, and for a time our people did not have melodies until they were restored after the Great War. I understood the reasons for their research, especially if such a large number of Terrans had been discovered, stripped of their souls.

“There are an increasingly growing number of soulless in all the kingdom colonies, and everywhere else, it appears—across the board,” I noted.

“That isn’t good,” Glasson remarked, typing on his computer.

“No, it’s not.” I tried not to show through my facial expression the horror that came over me. I knew how bad it really was. It was horrible. My people, all those Terrans, did not deserve such a fate, banished from their homes and then stripped of their melodies—as if they were mere animals, being turned soulless in order to be used and then slaughtered. At least my soul was shielded, and Glasson couldn't know the true horror and worry that I held inside of me.

“So what is the move then?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I am not sure why someone would want an army of soulless. Soulless die after a few months.” It was true; to a Terran, a melody was essential for life. Once stripped of it, we would slowly and very painfully die. Removing a Terran’s soul had only been imposed on the worst of the worst criminals before being banished to King Falcon's realm, under the mountain within the Dungeons of the Mist.

“They’re getting desperate.”

“Maybe,” I wondered out loud, still thinking it over. Things just didn't add up. What could someone gain from this? I asked myself.

“Ashlyn told me about the party.” Glasson’s face was as frozen as ice as he spoke. I tried not to feel intimidated by him, but it was no use. As much as I disliked it, the royal heirs always intimidated me.

“Yes, she and Emma became fast friends.”

“Did you speak with her?” he asked, picking up a piece of paper and examining it.

“Of course.” Wasn’t that the reason Glasson had helped me? Because I would help him with Ashlyn in return?

“What about?” he asked while playing with the hem of his sleeve.

Was he nervous? It was a completely new side to him, one I had rarely seen before anywhere.

“Why do you ask?” My curiosity was getting the better of me.

“Ashlyn talks too much—says too much,” he added.

“Really? She barely told me anything I wanted to know. For instance: what your favorite color is, what your favorite thing to drink is, your favorite song—She did tell me that you liked some all girl band, and I told her that that had to be a lie—because I mean look at you. You probably don’t even listen to your own melody, let alone songs,” I teased.

“Are you done yet?” he interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Darn, I really wanted to get more out of him. He was a stone, a rock: emotionless. Glasson stared at me and crossed his arms across his chest.

“She wouldn't know any of that. I, unlike you, know my boundaries and my place with my charge.”

Low blow, but I did expect it. He did not know that I knew Ash was a seeker. I would keep that to myself for now.

“All I told her was that Emma doesn’t know who she is, and that she needs to keep it that way. She was also wondering about Prince Shad.”

“I need to speak with him,” Glasson sighed. “He is my cousin after all. I do not want him to think I have betrayed him. Had I known Emma had a melody before now, I would have informed him–”

“You would have told him to come here?”

“It is no secret he has been searching for her. You are a fool to think you could keep her secret.”

“Possibly, but it was requested by the Heirs I served.”

“Regardless, he is helping us now, and I would like to make sure he knows I am with him.”

“Yes, having Embra behind us could be invaluable, although I despise him.”

“It is foolish to despise someone. Your melody–”

“My melody is fine.”

He set the paper down and leaned back in his chair. “I see that Prince Shad is spending a lot of time with Emma these days.”

“Not anything above average. They see each other at school; they have a few classes together,” I responded, convincing myself that nothing else could happen.

“So is that the reason he is walking Emma across the street and fighting the urge to kiss her—to kiss your royal heir?” I wanted to ignore Glasson. He knew that I had feelings for Emma, which I wasn't supposed to have—because I was her guardian knight. But I could not sit by after such a thing had been said. Kiss her? Kiss her? How dare he even consider–think such a thing.

I shot up from my seat, causing the chair that I was sitting in to slam to the floor. I heard Glasson laugh as he followed me out the front door. Ah, so he could laugh. I logged that away. I stood on the edge of the lawn and watched as Prince Shad said his goodbyes and walked down the steps of Emma’s house. Emma shut the door, and I wanted to tune out her melody, which was screaming her feelings for Shad—that she liked him—feelings that were loud and very disturbing to me. I worked hard to keep my dinner down.

“Shad,” I called his name with a sneer as I left Glasson on my porch and walked over to Prince Shad.

“Ah, knight—it has been a while.” Shad stood tall with a smile on his face, and I could not help but feel the urge that raged inside of me to punch that smile off of his face. If my melody had not been shielded, no doubt, he wouldn’t have been standing there in front of me, seeming so confident. I folded my arms across my chest, letting my muscles bulge; it was all I had over him.

“Stay away from her,” I snapped at him.

“Truly? Ryker, we just discussed this. You had your time with her, and now it is my time.” Shad stood so calm, like always. “And do not act as if you can even sense my melody with yours so guarded.”

“She doesn’t like you.” I wished that it was the truth, and hoped beyond anything that it could be true.

“I am sure, even though you are becoming soulless, you can still sense her emotions and are well aware that you are wrong. She cares for me.” There of course was no doubt in my mind that he could hear her melody–and her emotions. She had no control over it. I was grateful then that Emma didn't know who she truly was either, that she didn't know she was a princess of Haleston. If she did know that, she would have been broadcasting it loudly within her melody, along with those horrible feelings she had for the prince.

“She doesn’t know how she feels. She doesn’t know everything about me. If she did, you would not stand a chance,” I said, grateful again that my soul was shielded so that I could hide so much from him. Neither Shad nor Emma knew half of what I was or even half of what Emma was.

“I think how she feels is extremely clear,” Shad said with a smile.

“She is my girlfriend. Ask anyone at school; we are together,” I wondered as I spoke if anyone would miss him if he just suddenly went missing. I was pulling at straws there, but I couldn’t just watch it happen–him pulling Emma further and further away from me.

“You are betrothed?” Shad asked with a raised brow.

“‘Girlfriend’ doesn’t mean a betrothal; it is a courtship of sorts, but she loves me; she may have some feelings for you, but the feelings she has for me are much stronger,” I said. Telling lies was getting easier and easier. Betrothal? Shad had no idea of the half of it. I smiled at him.

“I did not know. You agreed to give me time with her. So I will be her friend.” He fixed his tie and looked at me as if he didn’t believe me.

“That–”

“What do you want from me, guard? I can not stay away.”

“I want you to hold off. I need more time with her, just a little more. If she comes to you, fine—but until then, give her space. If you confuse her anymore, I don’t know what will happen. She has been through a lot in the last few months. She needs her best friend; she needs me.”

“I am an honorable person, Ryker. I will wait, but are you ready for what will happen?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that this connection I have with her is undeniable. It isn’t easily broken; it isn’t something that can ever go away. Even if she has feelings for you, I know how she feels about me.”

“You just met her. I have known her for years. I have watched her throughout her life.” I hoped that me sharing that information did not give away who Emma was. I knew he probably suspected she was from Terra. I just didn’t want him to know who she was connected to, not yet.

“That may be true, but”—He paused and watched me for a moment. “We share a song, Ryker.”

“That isn’t possible. No,” I said, taking a step back from him.

“If you listened at all with your soul exposed, Ryker. She is—”

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“It means to be quiet. You can’t have a song. The Ancients haven’t created one in hundreds of years; it's a fairytale.”

“Maybe, this is what the Ancient One meant. Maybe, this is how Emma will heal Terra—with me at her side. Songs are real, Ryker. I told you that after the dungeons.”

“You by her side? Do you even hear yourself? You don’t even know her.”

“Our bond lets me know and understand her more than I thought anyone could ever know another.”

“Shad, I am—”

“Ryker, it is fine. I am not worried. I will take a break from her so that you can get your house in order. I am honorable after all and am not worried that time will lessen our connection. But, I have waited my entire life for her, and I will not stay patient for long.”

I wanted to groan. He was so annoying. Of course, he would think anyone would be in love with him. All he had to do on Terra was to let his soul sing, and every woman was a goner, but not my Emma. She wasn't his, no matter if she thought that she was, or that she wanted to be.

“I appreciate it,” I said, dumbfounded.

“But do not doubt what the Ancients have blessed; it is clear to me.”

“Did you see all of this?” I knew about the rumors concerning Embra, knew about the whispers.

“What?” Shad said, touching his cufflinks. Oh, gosh; he had cufflinks. I rolled my eyes.

“If this is true about songs, then you were blessed by the Ancients. I know about the powers you would have to have.”

“All of the royal heirs are blessed, Ryker. It is no secret.” He paused, looking right into my eyes. “I can tell you, however, that I have known of Emma’s existence for every single day of my life. Our hearts beat the same.” Then he turned and walked away, crushing what felt like the bones inside of my body into oblivion. I walked back to the house and heard Glasson laughing.

“A song?” he asked in between bouts of laughter.

“You find this funny?” Great, he could laugh, the one time he showed emotion, and he used it to mock me.

“Oh, Ryker. You know you are not supposed to fall in love with your charge. It seems the Ancients are aware of this.” He kept laughing, and my stomach ached.

“I don’t care what I have to do, Glasson, but in the end, I will keep her away from him.” I would, I had to.

“But will she want that?”

As Glasson and I finished discussing the details of our plan, I could not forget those words rolling over and over and over again in my head: But will she want that? If songs were real, who could deny a song?