Five
We started as soon as we were back in Julian's home and didn't stop for hours.
The training started out small. It was mostly concentrating and meditating.
We sat on the grass in the back of the estate and listened to the birds and noises of the nearby forest. It was to learn control.
Control over my new power and my own worst thoughts.
My parents were safe, I told myself. I didn't have to worry about them. But Damien did need my help.
The training wasn't physical but it was mentally exhausting.
But necessary, Julian said. I had to learn to control what I had within me. It could go rampant or help me. While my light magic on its own could protect me to a degree from many dark faeries, it wasn't guaranteed. Especially with Robyn who was using Damien's powerful magic.
Training stopped at sundown but it wasn't because he wanted to, it was because I couldn't stop staring at the sunset.
The sun painted gold across the skyline. While it was perfectly normal and looked familiar to the sunsets back home, here, it made the green of the trees of the mountainside dance. Colors began to peak in the trees and sprites started to rise along with the night.
Just like the Royal Gardens in Blackdown Keep, the night came alive with them. Unlike the Keep, the sprites were everywhere, not just contained in a small garden of a small courtyard but all over the back of Julian's estate.
Slowly, I could see their glow in the trees in the mountains and then as the sun finally set behind the lake, more appeared. They appeared at the gates, in the hedges, in the trees, in the flowers.
I couldn't hide the awe in my voice. "This is breathtaking."
He approached next to me. "An advantage of being a Lord is being able to live in this home.
It's the closest one to the mountains and the lake.
" He looked at me as I turned to him. "It has the best view at night.
You're watching it with your fae eyes. You see more now than you did with your human ones. "
I couldn't look away as they called out, a sweet melody soft against the evening sky. "How do you get used to it? I can watch them all night."
He scratched his chin. "Well, you do see it quite differently from everyone else.
Not only do you watch the magic of the day and the night, you also see the life within it.
" He turned to me again. "You'll feel more in tuned to everything around you as your magic starts to fully restore, as you get stronger. "
I frowned. "Should I be scared?"
"No. Embrace it, don't fight it." He looked at his phone then cursed. "I have to get going, something's come up. We'll leave it here for today. We'll start again in the morning."
He hesitated as he watched the door then me.
"What?"
He placed his hands on my shoulders. He was warm to the touch.
I watched his grey eyes as he struggled to start his sentence.
"Just do me a favor and don't leave the house."
I frowned about to open my mouth to ask where he would get the idea of me leaving when he interrupted.
"I know, I know. Just promise me you won't ever leave the house without me. Keeping you a secret is of the utmost importance."
I almost sighed. Another cage. Instead, I nodded. "I understand."
He let me go and stepped back, watching me expectedly.
When I wouldn't move, he said, "Well? Go on, inside."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I started to gather the fruit bowl that we'd left out for snacks throughout the day.
"And lock the door behind you."
Just as he said the words I heard repeated slamming and clicking. When I looked at the windows around me, they were closing then locking on their own.
I turned to him slowly. "Is that really necessary?"
He placed his hands in his pockets. "Please lock the door behind you?"
"Fine." I turned back to the back door that led to the kitchen, mumbling to myself, "I'm starting to feel like a dirty little secret."
He laughed and when I looked back once inside, he disappeared in front of me, spectering who knew where.
I closed and locked the door behind me and after setting the bowl of fruit on the table in the kitchen, I turned off all the lights and made my way upstairs.
I was tired and achy by the time I was back in my room. I searched the dresser for something to sleep in and after a hot shower, crashed on the bed.
The bed was like heaven relieving the tension on my back almost immediately. I stared at the ceiling of the room with the chandelier throwing lights all over the space.
And now that I was finally alone for the first time in what felt like days, I let my thoughts drift.
To my parents, to Kymra and finally to Damien. I hoped against hope I wouldn't let them down.
I fell asleep soon after.
"My poor, poor girl, don't you understand? I know you'll do what I want I just enjoy watching you scream too much."
I cried on my knees in front of my parents. "Please, just please let them go. They're innocent. They don't know anything-"
Robyn smiled. "They know you, my dear. That's good enough for me."
He pulled in a lever and as he did I heard my mothers screams around me. It broke through me, broke my heart, my soul. The tears started again as my father joined her.
"Please stop!"
Robyn clicked his tongue. "And you thought you were just going to have a leisurely stroll on a Sunday afternoon." The pretentiousness in his tone disgusted me.
We were just taking a walk like we'd sometimes do when somehow Robyn had captured them, strapped them to wooden slabs and tied their limbs to cuffs that would pull them as he turned the lever.
Another pull.
More screams.
I put my hands on my head. "STOP IT!"
Robyn breathed deeply. "Human fear. Such a drug."
Another pull and ...
Crunch.
Pop.
... Crunch.
I couldn't even look at them. I'd failed them. I'd failed them so miserably.
I couldn't hear anything else over my own screams.
Someone started to shake me, pull me ...
I could hear the person's voice as he shook me. "Wake up, Emylin!"
I started to rock back and forth. Wake up, wake up, wake up. It's only a dream.
He spoke again. "Gods above, wake up!"
I did. Gasping, screaming, crying clinging to the arms that belonged to the man that had shaken me awake.
When I met the eyes of the person that I clung to I burst into tears.
Julian held me at arm's length watching my features carefully. "Shh, it's all right." When I wouldn't stop, he pulled me closer in a massive hug and held me.
"I'm sorry," I gasped. "He had my parents-" I let out a long breath trying to even my breathing, even my heart rate. "I'm sorry if I woke you."
I felt a reassuring hand on the back of my head. "Don't worry about that."
I swallowed. "D-did I ever thank you for rescuing me?"
I felt him shake his head. "I barely did that, I only made a bargain with Damien for information on your location. A very good bargain actually -"
I shook my head. "That night-the night of Robyn's meeting with the other lords.
" I pulled away and met his eyes. "It was the first time someone actually had a conversation with me.
You saw me - both you and your sister.
Not as a thing but as an actual person - for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. " I choked out the last word.
He didn't say a word as I continued.
"He broke me but that was the only thing that kept me going."
He shook his head. "He didn't break you."
I sniffled. "How do you know?"
He smiled. "Because when I saw you - I could still see the fire burning in your eyes.
You were tired, you were hungry but no, you were not broken.
You believed you were but you were still there.
" He shrugged. "Bored but there. Determined more than anyone I know to do whatever it took to keep your parents and Damien safe. "
An easiness settled over me as I watched him. The way he spoke to me, I wasn't a broken, fragile thing.
And deep inside, I needed that reassurance. "I don't know how I can repay you."
"I do." A cruel smile spread across his handsome features. "When the time comes, give him Hell."