First Kiss (14 page)

Chapter Eleven

The riding
frock itches but I remember not to fidget. I need to remember how to be me, now
that I remember everything. Looking at it all in my brain, I can see how Bastion
had a hard time with everything. I look at us all and smile; we are outfitted
exactly as we had been before we were cursed. Well, apart from Bastion and
Lance. Lance’s clothes are too fine for his status in society. My father’s
pants and jacket are too nice for him. But they are the opposite for Bastion.
He should be decked out better.

I too look a
little different. Baylor’s dress would have been much too old for a ten-year
old. But I am twenty and it suits me perfectly.

Heidi too
looks the same in her clothes. Her dresses and Tim’s clothes were still in the
nanny’s quarters.

Bastion scowls
at me, "I can’t believe you have regular underwear on under that."

I shake my
head, "I can’t wear the other kind. I'm used to boy shorts. I can’t go
back, okay?"

He chuckles;
it's not the same one as before. It's stuffy and very controlled, "I too
will miss the freedom of regular clothing. I loved the clothes of the New
World. I think that’s not the only thing I'll miss."

He sighs and
grabs my hand, pulling me down the hallway, "We need to hurry. I need to
see if my brother has survived your sister."  As we round the corner,
it hits. Every painting and sculpture has a memory linked to it. I run my hands
along the head of a horse statue, feeling the smooth metal under my hand. I
remember the coolness of it and the way it caught on my sleeves when I was ten.
It catches the sleeve of my dress, the very same way, making a happy tear roll
down my cheek. I look around, spinning in a circle of disbelief. I am home. I
am home after the world's longest journey, and like Bastion, I cannot describe
where or when we are. Just that we are not from there, Lakeland.

The walls are
the same. Every nick in them is like a nick in my heart. I brush a finger along
the plaster where Baylor pushed me. We were fooling around, and when she shoved
me I stumbled, scratching the plaster with my ring. I look at Heidi and tears
stream my face, "You were angry—you were so angry when we scratched
the wall."

She rushes to
me, sobbing into my hair, "My sweet girl, you have come back to me."
I let her hug me and console me.

A voice that
tugs at a different place in my heart speaks. "Lynnie?"

I turn away
from my nurse to see Sam. He is wild-eyed and confused. "Where are
we?"

I step to him,
"How?"

He shakes his head,
"I don’t know. I got to Mary's just as that huge guy shoved you into the
mirror. I saw it with my own eyes . . . you vanished. I jumped him, but I fell
into the window and fell out here.”

I take his
hands in mine, "You’re okay. We're safe. This is my home."

He frowns,
"You sound weird."

When I open my
mouth, I smile instead of speaking again with the accent I suddenly seem to
have. He pulls me into him, "Where are we?"

Bastion looks
at him with a grin, "Remember that story I told you?"

I feel Sam
swallow hard. "I must have hit my head. This is a dream."

I pull him
back, grabbing his cheeks firmly and press my lips against his cheek. He pulls
back, shaking his head in small twitches. "What are you doing?"

"I am no
Lake or Lachlan. I am Erralynn Joelle Devereaux. I am to be the Duchess of Red
Falls and I am royalty." The tone scares even me. I almost want to hate
him for the memories I still have linked to the poor, sad little Lake girl. But
I know it is not
him
, he was always good.

His blue eyes
are filled with worry, "Lynnie?"

I laugh,
holding a hand to my lips, "I was a sassy little thing."

Bastion starts
to laugh, "You were a brat."

Heidi nods,
"But we loved you. You were precocious and entertaining, always the life
of the party, even at ten."

“But I am not
ten. I am twenty. She has stolen ten years of my life and left me alone in the
dark for all of them.” I drop to my knees, still adjusting, "Why did she
do this to me?" I see Bastion move, but he isn’t as fast as Sam. Sam
kneels in front of me, "You weren’t alone for ten years. I was there.
Trust me. I was. Now we need to go home, Lynnie. This is a dream. We need to
wake up."

I shake my
head, gobsmacked she had been able to do it. She had left me there to rot,
"I need to find Rosie."

Sam’s eyes are
filled with worry, "This is a dream. Rosie is dead."

I shake my
head, "I am finally awake, Sam. Don’t you see? This is
me
.
This is my home. Rosie is here. I’ll show you. This is my house." I look
around at how nothing has changed. The place has not rotted over, in despair of
the missing daughter. "At least it was."

Heidi wraps
herself around my shoulders, "It will be again, miss. Do you mind if I go
find my husband? Tim would really like to see his father. We don’t look like
it’s been ten years, but it has in my heart."

Bastion takes
her hand, "Tell him you were on a secret mission with me. I will vouch for
you."

She curtseys,
"Thank you, Your Highness." Tim bows and they both leave, running
down the stairs. Lance looks at us both. Bastion takes his hand also, "My
dear friend, go home to your family. I will ensure you and Heidi are both
compensated for this." Lance's eyes fill with tears. His lower lip
trembles, "I cannot believe it, we are home. We are home."

Bastion hugs
him, "Go rest and enjoy your loved ones."

He bows,
"Thank you, Your Highness." He turns and flees.

Sam cocks an
eyebrow, "Is there a red queen and a mad hatter?"

Bastion
laughs, "I almost feel like I should say yes. Where is Alex?"

“He didn’t
come after me. I have no idea. But where are your scars?"

Bastion's eyes
meet
mine,
"Lynnie took them away for me.
Speaking of which, I have to go. Lynnie, you need to go into hiding. My family
will kill every member of your family for this. Hide or go back into the
mirror."

I scowl,
"No. Besides, your scars will be back unless we can find a way to break
the curse. I can’t leave until I do that."

He smiles
softly, "If anyone can, it's you. But you must do it from your aunt’s
house. She is magical too, there are rumors."

I nod and look
at Sam again. He seems stuck in his paralyzing fear that this is not a dream. I
can see him looking, searching for a truth or an answer. I run my hand along
his face, "I am sure I can turn the mirror back into a portal. I can send
you back before I go to my aunt’s."

He nods,
"You have to come with me. This is a dream, a bad one."

I shake my
head, feeling the sadness in my eyes. I don’t want him to go. He is the one
thing that makes me feel safe and sane. "I cannot. I must stay. I must
help him get his throne and remove the curse. I must kill my sister."

His eyes
tense, "What?"

"Baylor.
She has to be stopped. She is evil. Our mother has died; I don’t know Rosie's
fate, but I am scared she isn’t alive. There is a possibility she is truly the
wind in Lakeland. I have always thought it was
her
. I
don’t know where my father is. My sister is the root of all of this." I
take his hand in
mine and look
up at Bastion,
"Maybe my father is downstairs. He can help you see, Sam. We are not in
Lakeland anymore."

Sam groans,
“Oh my God. I’m Toto.”

I laugh, “At
least you still have a sense of humor.”

He gives me a
look, “Lynnie, this can’t be real.”

“But it is.”

Bastion offers
me his hand, “I have to go. Find your father and ask him about the curse. If he
looks guilty, run.”

“I will.” We
descend to the main floor where the huge parlor and foyer are. Nothing has
moved or changed. The world has sat still while we were away.

We walk to the
front door. The butler, James, is there at his post. He smiles and bows,
"Your Grace, Lady Baylor."

Bastion gives me
an odd look. When James opens the door, we walk out into the courtyard. “He
called me Grace. Braden must be the heir now. He never even batted an eyelash
at me being here. Braden and I must look enough alike that he assumed I was the
king.” I can hear the tension and worry in his tone.

The smell of
the wind is the same. It is spring and the snow has just melted. The air is
fresh and clean.

"It is
spring here?"

I nod,
frowning at Bastion. He raises an eyebrow, "And it was spring at the
mansion before we left, but it was fall in Lakeland?"

I nod again.
He bites his lip and walks ahead of me. Sam gives me a look, "What does
that mean?"

I shake my
head, "I do not know."

Bash sighs, “I
must hurry.” He looks at Sam, “Keep her safe, at all costs.”

I laugh, “He will.
Now go.” Bash nods and walks to the stables.

Sam gives me
his confident grin—lord, how I have missed it. "Why are you still
talking weird? Talk normal."

"I
am."

He folds his
arms, "No, you aren’t. You sound stuffy, like him. You over say everything
and pronounce every consonant and vowel."

I laugh,
"Do I?"

"That
sounded weird, just those two words." He bats his long dark lashes at me,
"Do I?" mocking me. I shove him, "Shut up."

He laughs
harder, "You can’t even say shut up normally anymore. I think I'm hardly
gonna know you in a few days."

I grab his
hand again, "You will always know me. Even if I sound stuffy."

His eyes
sparkle with mischief and his mouth twitches with the wry grin.

I sigh, lost
in him like I always have been.

Bastion snaps
his fingers in my face, "Look."

I realize he's
back beside us and has been talking, but I was flirting, and missed it. I
realize how ashamed I am, his being royalty is back. He is above me.

Sam doesn’t
get it. He growls, "Don’t snap at her."

Bastion gives
him a glare, "Don’t you dare speak to me like that." And bossy
Bastion is back.

Sam steps
forward, "I'll speak to you however the hell I want. I’ll kick your ass.
I’m in a bad place right now, friend. And I am blaming you for all of it."

"I'll
have you killed by the guards."

Sam laughs in
his face, “Are they made of cards and will you scream ‘OFF WITH THEIR HEADS?’”

Bastion opens
his mouth, but I sigh and chuckle, "What were you trying to show us?"

Bastion gives
me a look. I shake my head, deciding he is still just Bastion and I am still
just Lynnie. "Everything we have been through makes us more than just a
royal and his subject. You know it. I know it. I'll still call you Bastion and
I expect you will call me Lynnie."

His grey eyes
fill with a mood but he nods, "I agree to that. Except when we are with
others, you must address me formally then.
But not until we
break this curse, Lynnie.
My family must not ever know you are you.
Until you reach your aunt’s house, pretend to be Baylor."

I nod. Sam
shakes his head. I laugh, "What did you want to show us?"

He points at a
girl playing in the sand, "Is that Rosie?" She has on a little pink
dress and bows in her blonde hair. She is cute as a button but only about
three. She doesn’t look much different than she did the day she died. All but
the dress—that is very different. Her face is similar, a bit older. I
cannot catch my breath. A nurse comes and grabs her, kissing her cheeks and
making her giggle the way I used to.

My mouth falls
open, “That is Rosie.
But how?
She is still so little.
Shouldn’t she be older?” I look at him, “My mother must have been the wind.”

He shakes his
head, “The wind was specific—it said it was your sister. I was to help
its sister, you.”

I smile,
“Well, thankfully it was wrong. That is my sister, so it must have been my
mother. She was always vain about age; maybe she didn’t want you to think she
was older. I can’t believe Rosie is alive. This is like winning the lottery. Do
you think she will remember me?” My heart is bursting with joy, but before I can
run to her, Tim comes running to us, calling out. "My Lord, My Lord."
I watch the nurse take Rosie inside of the house. My heart pulls me that way
but I stay. Tim looks frightened.

Bastion asks,
"Tim, how is your father?"

Tim looks
worried, "He is unchanged, sire. The world has not moved on without us.
Nothing but a year has gone by."

“But we were
there for ten years.” I look at Bastion, "I am so much older than when I
left, and Rosie is nearly three. Mother was pregnant a year ago, according to
this place."

“But Rosie
stopped aging when she was brought here, and I have not aged beyond eighteen,
not much. Heidi, Tim, and Lance all look similar. A bit aged but more from
exhaustion. We won’t have an issue fitting in, beyond the time we have been
gone. You will, but you look so altered we might be all right. I will bring you
to the castle and call you Sam’s cousin. They will know you and Baylor are
separate, and there is no way you could be an eleven-year-old girl, not with
that figure. Everyone knows you and Baylor are years apart. You will be fine as
Sam’s sister. Baylor will die for her crimes and you will be spared and given a
new name.” Bastion says it like he has won the lottery. I haven’t ever seen him
excited like this before.