Chapter 11 Jane
“State your intentions, your will, and draw her power from the soil,” Glade instructed as he stood far behind me in the open field behind the castle.
I felt ridiculous, crouching with my fingertips buried in the dirt, repeating, “Amantius, I wish to harness your power from the Celestial Ornath to protect myself.”
Was I for real right now?
“You have to truly mean it, Jane,” Glade called from ten feet behind me. “Feel her life force flowing through the planet. Call upon it from your heart.”
“What does that even mean?” I grumbled, clenching my eyes painfully shut as I focused all my attention on the live entity beneath me. My teeth ground together, and dribbles of sweat beaded across my brow.
How was I supposed to pray to a Goddess I wasn’t even sure existed?
Other than the few ancient texts I had found in the library, I’d seen no factual evidence of Amantius’ existence.
Earth had the very same problem when it came to their “Gods”.
And as for me being some “chosen one”? Not a shred of proof.
What if Source Light was truly just caused by some unexplainable natural phenomena?
Glade might have been standing a couple meters behind me, but I could still feel his exaggerated eye roll pierce the skin of my back. I think I could have felt it from a million light years away.
“Alright. Get up,” the prince commanded.
My shoulders slightly slumped, though I tried my best to hide my defeat, as I gained my footing and turned to face him. Glade had already bridged the distance between us, and despite being a whole foot shorter, I peered down my nose at him.
Glade startled at the sight, however ignored my callousness and crossed his arms over his chest. “Alright, we’re going to try something different.”
Different? Good. So far, this exercise had felt like a complete waste of time. Glade had said it took the average person years to master the skill of harnessing Source Light, but I’d brushed that off as him being overly cautious and skeptical.
Now, though, I was starting to think he might be right. If last night was any sign of what awaited me on Ornath, I was in serious trouble.
The memory of the attack hit me like a ton of bricks.
My heart pounded in my chest. My breath became shallow and uneven.
An unpleasant shiver ran up my nerves and veins as I tried to shake off the intrusive images.
Before I could fully mask the invisible peril coursing inside me, Glade noticed that something was wrong.
His eyebrows pulled together as his eyes searched every inch of my face. The sound of his soothingly deep voice penetrated the haze swirling within my brain. “Hey, are you alright?”
My gaze, though unfocused, drifted beyond Glade’s solid frame, over his shoulder, and settled on the distant peaks of the silvery mountains.
Far beyond the dense green forest, the snow-crusted summits twinkled like diamonds under the afternoon sun.
The gorgeous caps reminded me of scattered pearls on the horizon—a crisp, serene beauty that lured me away from the haunting memory gripping me.
A pleasant breeze drifted across my face, its coolness calming the bitter prickling beneath my skin.
Breathe, I reminded myself as I deeply inhaled a gust, hoping the wind would settle me from the inside out. The tension in my bones began to fade away.
With absolutely no desire to let Glade in, I feigned a rigid confidence as I lied, “I’m fine,” “What’s this great idea?”
The left side of Glade’s mouth lifted into a grin as he explained, “Sometimes, for some people, it’s easier to harness Source Light through their feet.”
My eyebrow skeptically rose, but the prince chuckled, having already predicted my reaction.
“I know, it sounds ridiculous,” he admitted. “But it works for some. It’s worth a shot. Come here.” He beckoned, motioning me toward him with one hand.
After begrudgingly advancing a few paces, we stood only a foot apart. Glade intently inspected my posture, circling me like a predator sizing up its prey. “Okay, take your boots off.”
I lifted my boots to my face and took a whiff of their scent, faking disgust as I flung them across the field.
“Nice,” he sarcastically muttered under his breath, but I caught just a hint of amusement in his tone. “Place your feet on the ground and dig your toes into the dirt. Open your arms to the sides and take a deep breath in.”
I followed his instructions, though he shook his head at me. His hands found their place at the base of his hips as he tilted his head to the side.
“What? What’s wrong?” My voice wavered as I asked, feeling humiliated and laughable in my current pose.
“You do not look very powerful,” he quipped, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. Then he stepped closer until our chests were mere inches apart. I could feel the heat of his body radiate against my own.
Glade delicately grasped my wrists, lifting my arms higher until they were parallel to the ground. As he did, I gasped and inhaled his luscious scent.
He smelled like a grove of trees, like firewood, deliciously warm. It somehow reminded me of home.
I studied his face as he scanned my stance again, checking for flaws. When I first saw Glade, I thought he was incredibly handsome and unlike any man I had ever met. That was, until he spoke.
Still, I couldn’t deny that his features were nothing short of remarkable. The men back home would have killed for his high cheekbones and strong jaw. And the women on Earth would have fallen in love at first sight with his ocean-blue eyes, flecked with gold as if stars themselves lived inside.
But I refused to let myself be swayed by such superficialities. Yet, despite my best efforts to dismiss it, I found myself wholly enamoured by the thousands of freckles sweeping across his cheeks and nose, as if dusted with cinnamon.
A chill vibrated throughout my entire frame. I shifted my eyes away, determined to concentrate on my training and ignore the flutter in my chest that betrayed each one of my thoughts.
“There,” he remarked proudly as he finalized my position. “Perfect.” Stepping back a few paces, he added, “Okay, start again.”
You can do this, I encouraged myself. You can do this. Please, Amantius, bless me with your Light.
But no matter how many times I recited the phrase, each repetition felt increasingly futile. The words echoed ineffectively in the air. Disappointment swelled in my gut like a heavy stone.
After an hour of attempting and failing to harness any Light, we finally settled beside each other in the heart of the thick field. The vibrant purple and pink flowers grew sporadically throughout the plain, their delicate petals swaying in the spring breeze.
I plucked one in my hand, turning it over to observe its intricate details. The lovely petals were so similar to the flowers we had on Earth.
“Careful,” Glade warned with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Picking those flowers is a punishable offence.”
“Bah!” I shrieked, hurling the flower into the air as if it were a grenade ready to burst and rubbing my hands together in a poor attempt to hide the residue.
Glade fell onto his back, hysterical laughter spilling from him as he clutched his abdomen.
My cheeks ignited with a fiery heat. “What is wrong with you?” I hissed, the urge to deck him in the jaw was overwhelming.
“Oh my Goddess,” he wheezed, tears of laughter glimmering in his eyes. “You should have seen your face! Bah!” he mimicked between attempts at catching his breath.
This man was the most arrogant and aggravating creature I had ever met. Just when I thought we were making progress, he would say or do something extremely annoying that sent us spiralling back into hostility.
At the sight of my tight scowl, Glade urged, “Oh, come on, Jane!” His hand grasped my wrist with surprising tenderness. “Loosen up! You’re so serious all the time.”
Though I knew he was right—he was only trying to have a little fun—the fear of being mocked completely took over.
My voice cut daggers across the space between us as I asserted, “I’m stranded on a foreign planet, engaged to some prince I don’t know, and waiting for a brutal death at the hands of alien monsters.
Quite sure I’m validated.” A scoff escaped me as I pulled my knees towards my chest and hugged them tightly
“Ah, well. There’s not much we can really do about that now,” Glade stated as he observed me cradling myself. Though, the tiniest hint of compassion flickered in his eyes. “Might as well relax a little. Come on.” He patted the spot in the flowers beside him, an invitation to lie down.
I pulled my eyebrows together, but he waved me over, grinning ear to ear.
“Come on, I don’t bite, Princess. I’m just watching the clouds. Look! That one looks like a little piggy!” His enthusiasm was genuine as he pointed toward the sky, snorting like a swine.
“You’re a child,” I muttered under my breath, my voice monotone, though my nostrils flared as I struggled to suppress a smile.
“I am fun,” he shot back, tugging at my arm with a frisky insistence. “Come on.”
His face morphed into a comically pleading frown, and I cursed under my breath, unable to resist. I moved closer and lay down in the grass beside him, the flowers tickling as they brushed against my skin.
The sky stretched out before us, a brilliant blue canvas dotted with fluffy, white clouds that drifted lazily by.
They reminded me of Earth: giant pom-poms, like cotton candy floating in the sky.
For a moment, the gravity of my circumstances slipped away, and I felt a sense of peace wash over me, but that serenity faded as the reality of who lay beside me crept back in.
“I don’t see anything,” I snickered at Glade.
The prince turned his head to peek at me. He stretched his arms above his head, casually resting it in his hands. “Just be patient, Jane. Use your imagination.”