Chapter Eleven #2
“I know that I am a prince from Terra. I know that I should have a melody, but I am soulless now. I also know that I enjoy being around you; I enjoy touching you.” He caressed my cheek and electricity shot between us as my melody let loose.
It was free, and it settled around us. I was disappointed by his lack of melody, but I liked to think that my melody was loud enough for the both of us.
His one single note pinged inside of me, and I pushed it out to him.
His eyes grew wide, and he dropped his head for a moment.
When he looked back up, there was a small golden speck in his eyes.
I wondered if the lights in the dark hallway were playing tricks on me.
“Darling?” he whispered, and my heart sped up. I looked at him as a tear fell down my cheek. He wiped it away, then kissed where it had fallen.
“What did you say?” I asked, breathlessly as he kissed me repeatedly on my face, my jaw, neck, and nose—but not my mouth. This can not be real. This can not be happening. He wasn't Shad; he was a soulless.
“Emma, oh, I love you,” he said, holding my face in his hands like I was everything that mattered, everything important in his life.
“Do you remember?” I whispered, not sure if I believed that it could be real.
“Yes, but I cannot kiss you, or my corruption will darken your soul; don’t let me.”
“Shad, I miss you; I don’t care about the corruption.”
“I do, and I will not have that beautiful soul of yours darkened.”
I was crying with near full sobs.
“Emma, I want you to know that I love you, and I will always—” He was cut off and his head dropped again. My melody pulled back as he raised his head once more, looking at me, the gold gone from his eyes.
“Sorry, my head hurts sometimes—on and off.”
I heard someone clearing their throat, and I turned to see Ryker in the hallway.
“Keil is ready to leave, Shad,” he said, folding his arms. Shad moved away from me with a smile in my direction.
“I will see you later, Emma,” he said with a nod as he walked past Ryker.
“Em, you really cannot help yourself, can you? What were you going to do? Kiss him?” He looked horrified.
“It's not like we haven’t kissed before.” I was still stunned by what had just happened. Was that really my Shad there for just that moment? What does this mean?
“Yes, but Emma, he is a soulless. You cannot kiss him; I forbid it.”
How dare he, I thought as I let the anger sizzle and rise up inside of me, not just because of Ryker, but because of everything, and especially because of the frustration at having Shad back for just a moment and then having him gone once again.
It was too much for my heart, and then, there was Ryker, telling me what I could and couldn’t do?
No, heck no.
“Heck, no, is right; don't let him boss you around,” a voice agreed with me somewhere within my soul, and it lit a fire in me.
“Forbid it? Excuse me, but who do you think you are to forbid me from anything?” I walked up to him, furious.
“I am your guardian knight, Emma, and whether or not you realize it, losing Shad is not the worst thing that can happen to you.”
“I completely disagree,” I said, folding my arms.
“Emma, there are plenty of people you could be with. Shad is a lost cause, and you can’t just go around kissing people–least of all, him.”
What a jerk. What a total and complete—
My thoughts were interrupted by that voice again: “Let it out; let him have it,” the voice continued.
I paused for just a moment, wondering if I was going crazy, or if the monster of corruption inside of me had somehow developed the ability to talk with me. I was too angry at that moment to care.
“Shut up,” I snarled.
“No. Do you want your soul to be even more corrupt than it already is?”
“Of course not, but I am not giving up on Shad. Stop being so horrible!”
“Then don’t kiss him. If you do, some of his corruption will meld into you.”
I turned on my heel and decided that I didn’t want to speak with him anymore. He was my best friend, and sure, my guardian knight, too, but I was so tired of him always telling me what I could and couldn’t do.
“Em, I am just trying to help you!” he called after me, and I turned around on the stairs toward him, and I let the monster rise up for a moment.
“Don’t! I—I Hate you–this–everything, Ryker!” I shouted; then I turned my back to him, walking away.
I lay on my bed fully clothed, feeling horrible for everything.
I hated him? No, that wasn’t right; I didn’t hate him; I hated how he was behaving, hated what he was saying to me.
I knew that I needed to apologize in the morning because I was too frustrated to do it at that moment.
I curled up into a ball, closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion of the day take me to the sleep I so desperately needed.
I slept.
‘I can’t last a day longer,’ the thought came as I sat up in bed, looking across the street. Only it wasn’t Shad’s house I saw from the window; it was mine.
‘The urgency to see her is so strong,’ another thought came from inside me, and as I looked down at myself, I realized that the thought must have been from one of Shad’s memories because as I looked at myself, I was looking at a shirt-clad male—a rather attractive male.
His urgency was palpable, and I let the memory take me away to view what Shad wanted me to see, although I was lingering on him and his rather snug shirt, for far too long.
Was it my fault that he had ample muscles?
I walked into the small bathroom across the hall from my bedroom.
I would never get used to how homes were on Earth.
The walls seemed to be made of paper, rather than a proper and strong stone construction.
It baffled me. My melody swarmed around me, and I controlled it as it sought her and reached for her.
I knew that I needed to control my melody because it was wild and crazy for her melody—her soul.
I brushed my teeth in the small sink and got into the shower.
The heat from the water calmed me down a little as I stuck my head under the flow.
That day was the day. It was the day that I would meet her.
I had to—because I was dying inside from staying away from her.
As that realization fell over me, my melody sped up for joy, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Pulling on a pair of slacks, as they called them on Earth, and a collared shirt and tie, I quickly got ready for the day.
“Prince Shadrict,” I heard Keil from the doorway, and I turned to look at him as I finished the knot in my tie.
Formal wear was different on Earth, but wearing it made me feel like myself.
All my life, I had worn the formal wear of the princes of Embra, and I knew that Earthlings didn’t care about who I was; however, I did.
I was a prince of the Kingdom of Embra, and as such, I wanted to portray my kingdom well.
I knew I didn’t need to, but the simple act of wearing those clothes made me feel like I was more myself than anything else I had done on Earth. So—I would continue.
“You know, Highness, kids your age don’t wear these kinds of clothes. You may want to tone it down when school starts, unless you have changed your mind?”
“No, I will attend her school, and thank you, Keil, but I am okay where my clothes are concerned.”
“As you see it, Highness.” He smiled as I walked to him with a little head bow. I didn’t know how I got so lucky to have stumbled upon Keil. Being an ancient warrior brought so much honor to his entire person. I knew that I could count on him, and that was incredibly rare, especially there.
“You are to be my guardian.”
“Guardian, Highness?”
“That does not mean a knight here—merely, a parental figure. I need one, it would seem, for all of those documents Courtney filled out for me, for school attendance.”
“Are you sure, Highness?”
“Of course–You are more family than anything, Keil.” I touched his shoulder and the look that crossed his eyes was overwhelming.
He unshielded his soul, and I felt it slip around me, telling me how honored he was, and how he wouldn’t let me down.
I reassured him with my melody that I knew he wouldn’t.
I walked down the stairs, slowly, sensing her melody as I went.
She was outside. It was my chance. I opened my front door and saw her carrying a bag in her hand as she closed her front door.
I moved quickly from my house, crossed the street further down from my house and started walking up the street, as if I were taking a brief stroll, only moments before coming upon her.
I shielded my melody and took a breath. It was incredibly hard to shield my soul from her.
Still, my melody and I were strong, and I had full control.
Years of mastery wouldn’t steer me wrong; however, as I drew closer to her, I knew that all the training in the world wouldn’t stop her from melting me.
She reached down to pick something from the lawn as I approached her.
I leaned next to her to say something, she stood abruptly and fell onto the grass after hitting my chin with her head.
Her eyes locked onto mine in an instant, and her melody leapt toward mine.
I unshielded my soul, and our melodies danced around each other.
It felt like I had been cooped up inside a small box and had never been released until that moment.
Her melody, melding with mine, was all I ever needed in all the worlds Terra or Earth.
“Um, hello,” I said, unable to move away from her. Restraining myself from the need to hold her—touch her to be sure that she was real.
‘Flecks of gold, beautiful,’ her melody spoke to mine, and I tried not to smile.
She liked my eyes.
“Hey,” she voiced as she held her head. I wondered if she was hurt. Embarrassment radiated through her melody.
“Are you alright?” I asked as I stood straight and reached a hand down to her to help her up.