DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) (8 page)

-16-

“W
ell good, I’m glad you like it. The washroom is across the hall, and there are washcloths next to the tub for you. After you freshen up, please come downstairs and join me for some dinner.” He smiled at her one last time before he turned to leave.

The room looked like it had come straight out of a Shakespearean novel. A double bed, ornate with a brass head and footboard, was pushed against the back wall. It had white crocheted linens covering the mattress, and moss green pillows served as accents. The walls were painted with ivy vines. In the window sat a little flowerpot holding purple and red tulips. She walked over to the window and opened it for Kai.

He promptly flew to the bed and nestled on one of the pillows. “I’m going downstairs for some food; do you want me to bring you something?” she asked. He didn't make any effort to respond, so she figured she would sneak a piece of bread up for him.

When she was confident he would be all right on his own, she proceeded across the corridor to the washroom. Her body felt sticky and dirty, and she wanted to get cleaned up for dinner. As she splashed cold water across her face, she was surprised at how muddy the rinse water was. She was dirtier than she had thought. It wouldn’t do for her very first dinner date, so she quickly ran a bath.

In the Deep Kingdom, they didn't have all the amenities as the Surface world, such as electricity, but they did have plumbing. It had taken years for Mari and Sugoi to have workers drill wells and plumbers direct water to all the necessary places. At the end of their hard work, Mari and Sugoi had them all put to death. She shuddered at the thought; she did not miss it there.

The warm water felt heavenly on her tired skin, and she didn’t want the enjoyment to end. But the notion of the handsome gentleman waiting to have dinner with her pushed her to hurry. She towel dried her hair and twisted it up into a bun, put on a red silk dress and white leather shoes, and headed downstairs.

When she reached the bottom stair, she noticed the handsome gentleman sitting in the corner playing the piano. And, as soon as he saw Sollara, he rose and started towards her.

“Your playing was beautiful; you didn’t need to stop,” she said in broken Spanish.

He blushed and took her hand, spinning her around, while his eyes glanced over her body. “Speaking of beautiful,” he teased.

It was her turn to blush.

With a gentle touch on her back he escorted Sollara to a window seat. She took her place and watched the moonlight reflect off the sheep in a field beyond the window. She loved the moon; it felt so maternal, like it was always providing the right amount of comfort when times were the darkest.

“Your eyes are distant, what are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just thinking how beautiful the moon is.” She continued, “I’m fascinated with the sky. In fact I am named after the sun.” She realized they had not formally met so she extended her hand
to him. “I am Sollara
.”

A smile spread across his
face as he took her hand. “It’
s nice to meet you Sollara, I’m Elian.”

“It is nice to meet you, too, Elian.” She once again blushed and lowered her face.

He was the first man she had talked to si
nce being in the Deep Kingdom a
nd she did not know how to properly act. She felt foolish and diverted her eyes at his every word or touch.

The waiter came to the table with a bottle of red wine. She hadn’t noticed until he went to put the bottle down that Elian had been holding her hand during their entire conversation. If at all possible, her cheeks turned a darker shade of red as she pulled her hand from his grasp.

He had already ordered, and shortly after the wine had been poured, their first course arrived. Elian introduced it as esparrago blancos en aceite y vinagre. It was delicious. She tried to eat like a lady but was hungrier than she had thought. He smiled while watching her eat and signaled the server to bring the next course.

E
stofados de res. It looked like a stew. The meat was tender and salty and unfamiliar. They spent the evening talking, drinking, and eating. Elian told her how his father had left half of the inn to him and the other half to his drunken uncle, whom she had met earlier. He said his goal was to buy his uncle’s shares so that he could have control of the business, as they always argued over what to do. Sollara agreed that that would be difficult and wished him the best.

When she was finished, Elian extended his hand and asked her to dance with him. Gracefully she pushed back her chair and stood, taking his hand. Her cheeks blushed when she realized that there were other people in the room. It excited her to see others, to watch how they interacted with each other. But right now, she was with Elian and had to focus on him. He signaled the piano player to play a soft melody and took her out on the veranda that over-looked the courtyard.

The cool breeze helped to calm Sollara’s nerves as he spun her around and then pulled her tight against his body. They circled under the moonlight; every spin heightened the sense that their bodies were dangerously close.

Her instincts were telling her to end the dance, but her emotions were telling her to indulge. She had never kissed a man let alone spent the night with one. And feeling Elian’s warm breaths across the nape of her neck made her very aware of how naive she was to the ways of men on the Surface. His hands were on the small of her back, and he ran his finger in little circles. Suddenly he pressed his lips to the soft flesh of her neck and she let out a low moan. Her mind flashed to the memory of the stranger with the blue eyes, and before she knew what she was doing, she pulled away from Elian and ran toward the stairs.

As she passed by the bar she grabbed a piece of bread from a basket. Even though she had lost all her senses, she managed to remember Kai's dinner. When she made it back to her room, she closed the door and ran to the bed, flopped face down, and started to cry. Kai remained where she had left him and did not stir.

A soft knock at the door caused her to tilt her head up and wipe her eyes. She tried to stifle her tears so she could say something, but nothing came out. Instead she lay in bed face down listening to Elian apologize.

After listening to
him for a few minutes
, she finally found the strength to speak.

“Elian, you did nothing wrong. I am sorry I reacted that way. It is just that there is no place in this world for you and me like that. Are we still friends?” She couldn’t stop sniffling.

“Of course, Sollara. Again, I cannot tell you how sorry I am.”

Despite the relief she felt knowing that she could still be Elian’s friend, she was too tired to continue talking. “Goodnight Elian.”

“Goodnight.”

She could barely make out his response as he spoke so quietly. Instead, she concentrated on his soft footsteps as he shuffled down the hall. As soon as she could no longer hear any evidence that he was near, she turned to Kai.

He popped his head up and gave her a look as if to ask what happened.

“Nothing, other than the fact that now I know for sure I am mentally insane. A good-looking man tried to k
iss me a
nd I ran away because I felt like I was betraying a man I only saw once and did not even talk to. To further prove my point, I am telling my story to my best friend who by the way just happens to be a bird.” She mumbled these words to the ceiling.

“Here is some bread if you're hungry,” she said as she set it on the table next to the bed, but Kai did not move. Kicking off her shoes and undoing her bun, she let her
vibrant
curls flow down her back. She crawled under the covers still wearing her dress.

…
That night Sollara dreamed of the boy with the piercing blue eyes. She dreamed that she went to the Surface alone, and when she heard him singing, went to him and sat down beside him on the grass. She put her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as he sang sweet songs in her ears.

In the morning she could feel the sun stream though the window of the inn; its warmth kissed her cheeks. She had slept well throughout the night, better than she had ever slept before. Thoughts of the boy put her heart at ease and made her forget all about the incident with Elian.

She felt a
cool
body pressed against her. Looking down she saw an arm slung across her torso. Sollara rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and rechecked
—
the arm was still there. She rolled over and there in the bed was the boy with the blue eyes fast asleep. Her first thought was to scream. But then she rationalized that she must be dreaming, in the in-between, and she might as well make the best of it. So she lay back down and snuggled tightly against his chest.

The
light chill o
f his body
in the warm room
was intoxicating. Never in her life had she felt so comfortable, so safe, and so whole as she did in his arms.

She was pulled out of her dream by a knock at the door. Because she was still in a half-sleep-half-awake state of consciousness, she had to really focus her thoughts. “Yes?” she managed.

“It's Elian, I just wanted to make sure that you’re all right. It’s almost noon and
I have not seen you…
the truth is, I just want to make sure you’re not hiding in there from me.” She could hear his footsteps as he paced back and forth in front of the door.

“Elian, I am not hiding from you; I was jus
t tired. I will be down in
a moment. Thank you for waking me.” She sat up and pushed the arm from her body.
S
tood and crossed the room before she realized that she had just pushed an arm from her body. Slowly she turned back to the bed where she saw the blue-eyed stranger fast asleep. Stumbling backwards and shifting from one foot to another, she covered her mouth while silently screaming and pointing at him.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness,” she repeated as she tried to make sense of what she saw. She knew without doubt that she was not asleep and definitely not dreaming.

-17-

I
t was more than a dream now. It was a fulfillment of a dream. She would finally get to meet the man who had captivated her thoughts
—
including the ones she could not control.

Feelings of anxiety mixed with puzzlement overwhelmed her as she tried to figure how he got in her bed. She started making a mental list of everything she had had to drink the night before but concluded it was not enough to make her forget how the captor of her mind ended up next to her.

She turned to examine the window. It was a pointless task, as there was no way he could have climbed up a three-story building. But putting her mind to finding an answer helped her stay calm. “Just breathe Sollara, just breathe,” she reminded herself.

“Hey Sollara, are yo
u all right?” a groggy voice
directed at her.

Her heart leapt into high gear; his voice was every bit as attractive as she had imagined it to be.

She turned to face him, replaying his words over and over in her mind so she could memorize every tone, every inflection. Rationalizing that he was still tired, she figured he would sound differently when he was fully awake. But she did not care; it was a part of him, a part she now knew.

When she finally allowed herself to concentrate on his question, she realized that he had known her name. She tripped while moving toward him. Wanting to ask him about it, she tried but was barely able to move her mouth enough to speak. “How… how do you know my name?”

“Are you serious? I’
m too tired for this
,” he sighed, grumbling into the pillow. “
I don’t know, maybe
the fact that we’
ve been friends for a while
—
that may have made me privileged to knowing your name,” he sarcastically replied.

“This can’t be real…this isn’t happening.” She stumbled backwards to the wall, pushing tightly against it for support.

“What are you talking about?” he asked as he rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself off the bed. He paused mid motion to look down at his arms.

She watched as his eyes worked over his torso and then down his body to his legs. The confusion displayed on his face only acted to heighten her sense of panic. “Crap,” he groaned.

“Crap? Why are you the one saying crap? I should be saying that. Where is Kai? What have you done with him? How did you get here? Why are you here?” she ranted, and impulsively she found a vase to point at him as if to warn him to answer.

“Sollara, please calm down and let me explain,” he said as he pulled the blanket around his waist and held his hands up in defense.

“Fine…answer!” It was all she could manage to say. Sollara kicked herself for the whole conversation. She had finally been given the chance to talk to him and was making a fool out of herself. But fool or no fool, she was startled and needed answers.

He shifted over to the edge of the bed and rested his head on the palms of his hands while he stared at the floor. She focused on listening to him while her eyes studied his perfectly formed shoulders.

“I’m Kai.”

“What did you just say?” She could barely force the words from her lips. She paused to process these two words. If what he said was true, then the whole time
—
the whole time
—
he had been Lark. “No, it can’t be, you can’t be,” she stammered.

“It’s the truth. Please Sollara, I should have told you, I know, but I just couldn’t.” He stood and held out his hand to her, the other one clinging tightly to the
blanket around his waist. T
his time, he was looking right at her, his blue eyes cutting into her soul.

She was so furious, and so excited and so mad at herself for feeling these conflicting emotions. Still and mute she stood
—
startled by his intensely captivating eyes. She focused her growing frustration into memorizing his face and his perfectly sculptured form. It worked as a wonderful distraction. His perfection almost convinced her that she was wrong to feel the way she did. Or perhaps she really was still dreaming. A knock on the door snapped Sollara out of her trance.

“Yes?” she backed up towards the door to hear the reply, all the while keeping her eyes glued on Kai.

“It’s Elian. I just wanted to check on you again. It’s almost one o’clock. Can you please come down? I want to talk about last night.” When she did not respond, she heard a slight thump, and could only assume he had rested his head on the door. “Please Sollara, I’m so sorry
—
it’s just that your beauty caught me off guard. I shouldn’t have made an advance on you like that,” he pleaded.

She turned to Kai and watched what appeared to be a flash of anger dance across his features. He snapped his attention to the door and clenched his fists as he took a step forward. She blocked his advance and put her hand on his chest to stop him. At his touch her eyes fluttered and she was temporarily rendered weak-willed. Immediately she pulled her hand away, trying to regain composure.

“Elian, it’s really all right, you’re forgiven. I am just packing my things. I will be leaving today,” she replied, all the while keeping her eyes on Kai and motioning him to remain quiet.

“Oh?
You’re leaving? I will see you downstairs shortly then?”  He was asking more as a statement than a question.

She turned to Kai. “Please go back into the bird form. I don’t want Elian to see you like this and think I took advantage of his hospitality.”

“Like he took advantage of you?” Kai replied. “It seems he only gave you a free room as an attempt to get into your bed,” he growled between closed teeth.

“That is enough
—
I mean it! I will meet you down the road in an hour.” She pushed him towards the window to show him how serious she was. She couldn’t believe that she had just asked him to leave after finally getting to meet him. But she didn’t want to chance a fight between Kai and Elian either.

As soon as she turned from the window, she set to work shoving her belongings into her carry bag, making sure not to bend her precious book. Knowing that Kai waited for her fueled her need to hurry. She got ready so quickly that she didn't even bother washing her face and left her hair hanging down.

Pulling out some paper and a pen from the drawer, she wrote Elian a note.

“
Elian, thank you for your generosity. I will not forget you. This is to help you fulfill your dreams.”

She gently placed the two silver
reales and the note on the bed
and headed downstairs.

Elian was sitting behind the front desk and jumped up when he saw Sollara coming. He started to apologize again, but she cut him off to tell him that she had le
ft something for him on the bed
in the room. He seemed to brighten up at the thought of what it might be. They said their goodbyes with a brief hug, and she went out the door eager to rejoin Kai.

The walk to Kai helped clear her mind and separate her frustratingly uncontrollable infatuation for him with the fact that he had lied. It took her about twenty minutes to catch up. And every moment the realization of how much he had lied sunk deeper into her heart. When she was close enough to make out his form, she saw that he was pacing back and forth on the side of the cob
blestone road.

He had somehow found a pair of shorts and some shoes to wear. And when he saw her coming, he rushed to her side and grabbed the carry bag from her arms.

“What are you doing? I can carry my own bag! I don't need your
aid
; I’ve managed by myself this far haven't I?”

“I just wanted to help
, Sollara.”

“Help me? That is a sick joke! How were you helping me when you deceived me by not telling me who you are? Instead, you just sat there like a foolish little bird and listened to me go on and on about you
—
this handsome stranger with the blue eyes. Did you not once think that was inappropriate?  Why did you let me embarrass myself like that? Why didn't you tell me who you really are? When I saw you in that field, I would never have guessed that you would prove false!”

“Sollara, please stop this. Shouting at me isn’t going to change that. You haven’t even let me explain.” Something in his demeanor changed, and the last ounce of softness left his eyes.

She didn't respond
—
instead she motioned with her hand for him to go on, crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him.

“You know what Sollara, forget it! If anyone has the right to be angry it’s me. You took everything from me!” He threw her carry bag on the ground, turned, and started stomping down the road. The look of disgust on his face left her gasping in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” she called out as she struggled to catch up to him.

He stopped and looked at her. His face seemed confused and beset with pain. She could tell he was searching for the right words to say. Though she was provoked, all she wanted was for him to pull her into his arms and hold her. He studied Sollara’s face for a while, and the pain in his eyes turned back into anger.

“You wouldn't understand,” he snapped
—
turning his back and continuing down the road at a brisk pace. She had to practically jog to keep up with him.

“Where did you get those clothes?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.

“I took them. Are you happy now
that you know
I’m a thief, too?” The way he talked to her, belittling her, only acted to heighten her frustration. How could they have gone from friend to foe so quickly?

When he sensed her hesitation to follow him he turned to explain.
“I was told to take you to the airport. Once we get there, I will leave then. You won’t have to deal with me any longer.”

“But I…”

“It’s in Vitoria-Gasteiz, so it is at most a two-day walk.” He finished and then continued
on
in front of her.

Sollara tried to distract herself with the beauty around her, but it was no use.
His anger infuriated her. I
n her muddle of thoughts, she flipped between how frustrating and how attractive he was
—
more than anything she wanted to wrap her arms around him and then slap herself for thinking like that.