Playing With Fire (24 page)

 The
baby boy grew incredibly fast, and at the time of one year he was already the
size and capability of a five year old. Then one night, the child took a dagger
from the boy who had watched over his mother, and tried to kill her. Knowing
her baby was evil, she went against her instincts as a mother and tried to kill
it after it failed to kill her. But before she could, the demon boy stole the
child away, leaving the mother to never see her baby again. She was happy and
thought she was free, and lived for seven more years thinking the child was
dead. She joined the castle guard of Moraj and fought happily, thinking she was
atoning for her sins. But she was wrong.

At
the end of the seven years the war began, and a man with grey eyes came to her
during one of the battles. She was the only one left alive in her squad, yet
she was still fighting for her life. She tried to kill him, but he revealed to
her that he was her son, and she could not. Satisfied, her son left her to be
tormented with the knowledge that the country was suffering because of her. She
prayed to the Healer for nights on end for forgiveness, and a chance to make
things right. Then one night, her prayers were answered. Her Guardian, a man
with golden hair clad in silver armor and with angelic white wings came to her,
and vowed to fight against her son. He was the first of many Guardians who took
physical form in the war, and together, they struck down the body of her son
and ended the war.”

For
a moment, I was struck silent. Then I finally found the perfect words. “That
was a nice bed time story.”

“You
don’t realize it do you?” Alastair was dead serious. “That child was Velkire.
That was how he was brought into the world. Do you remember how Velkire said
you both had the same mother? He wasn’t lying. One hundred years ago, your
mother gave birth to Velkire, and started this country’s bloodiest war.”

“That’s
not true!” I couldn’t accept that, no matter how much the facts added up. I would
not accept being related to that monster. “It has to be a coincidence!”
Alastair laid a hand on my shoulder in sympathy.

“It’s
the truth, Scarlet,” he said softly.

“It
can’t be!” I pushed his hand away. “My mother wasn’t human, she was a
Guardian.”

“I
told you, the Healer made the girl into a Guardian when she died, and she lived
another life as your father’s Guardian one hundred years after her human body
died.” Alastair steadied me and looked me dead in the eyes. “This is the truth
Scarlet, and you need to trust me.” I shook him off and turned away. Clutching
my sides, I wished I had Al or Jake or Seth or even Darren around to comfort
me. I needed the touch only a loving family member could give, but I knew I
wouldn’t get it.

“Just
give me some space for now alright?” I said, and Alastair left me. Trying to
clear my head, I wandered into the darker corner of the library. Not wanting to
be alone in the inky black darkness of the castle, I set my fingers on fire and
held out their little flames like a torch. Cobwebs cast creepy long shadows in
the corners of the book shelves. I began to notice the farther I went into the
corners, the more barren they were. Eventually I made it to the end of the library
in a corner underneath the balcony that was completely choked out from light
except for my flames. The bookshelf wall was completely bare all except for
thick cobwebs and layers of dust. I was about to turn back when something
caught my eye on the far corner at the top of the bookshelf.

I
flicked the fire off my fingers, and it obediently hung in the air beside me at
eye level as I pushed a cobweb covered ladder over to the corner where a small
black object had caught my eye. The wheels creaked and groaned as it rolled,
but I ignored it. Hanging on tightly to the rungs of the ladder, I climbed up
to the top shelf, and was greeted by a small dust covered book.

Normally,
I wouldn’t think much of it, but the fact that it was on this shelf all alone
intrigued me. I picked it up hesitantly, and blew the dust off the cover. A
cloud blew up all around me, and I sneezed loudly. Losing my balance for only a
moment, I slipped off the ladder and hit the ground hard, cradling the book as
if it were a helpless infant. My back ached where the impact was taken, but I
was alive. Resting for a minute on the ground, I looked at the cover of the
book I had taken sudden interest in. The letters were gold and cracked, as was
the stitched binding and spine. The letters were nonsense to me, but I was
intrigued to find out what they said.

Catching
my breath, I held the book close to my chest and closed my eyes. I didn’t know
what it was, but this little book made me feel happy. It was misplaced, just
like me and found by someone without meaning to be found, just like me. I had a
feeling that no matter what the story, I’d like it.

 I
opened my eyes again, and screamed in surprise. Alastair was standing above me,
looking at me as if I were an idiot. I got up to my feet and brushed the dust
off my gown.

“Next
time I let you wander off, please don’t hurt yourself,” Alastair lectured as if
he were talking to a child, even though we were around the same age. “What is
that you’ve got?” I handed Alastair the small book, and for a moment, surprise
flashed across his face.

“What
is it?” I asked curiously.

“
Tales
Not Meant to Be Told
,” Alastair said. “It’s a collection of legends in
Castellia that were, in the eyes of most, horrific. It was meant to scare the
reader, and give nightmares to children. Why would you pick this book out of
all of the books in the library?”

“It
was just alone on that shelf,” I replied. “Will you read it to me?”  Alastair
looked taken aback when I asked this.

“It’s
horrific fairy tales,” he said in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“My
life is a horrific fairy tale,” I responded, and then realized the sad truth in
that statement. “I can’t read it myself, so can you read it to me?”

“Sure,”
Alastair replied. “But later, alright? Velkire wants to talk to you now. I’ll
read it before bed tonight, okay?”

“Alright,”
I replied. I had never been read to before, mostly because I wouldn’t listen when
Seth tried to read me stories while I was little. I didn’t mind that my first
bedtime story would be out of a horror novel. Alastair handed the book back to
me and I held it close to my body as I followed him out of the library. I was
excited to hear its stories, and it made me wish I could read myself.

I
was so giddy with excitement, I didn’t even think about what Velkire might have
wanted to talk to me about. It wasn’t until we were outside the huge looming
throne room doors that I realized I might be in danger. I knew what Velkire was
like, but I still didn’t know how unpredictable he might be. Taking a sudden
cautious mood, I followed Alastair through the doors into the throne room.

It
looked the same as before, but a little lighter since the sun was out, even if
it was behind the stormy clouds. Across the room, sitting casually with his
feet propped up on one of the arms of the throne was Velkire. He smiled when
our grey eyes met. As I stared at him, I could see a resemblance between us. We
both had the same eyes, and the cocky disposition he was emanating at that
moment was identical to mine. It made me wonder if our mother was cocky like
us, or if it was just a trait passed down by a distant relative.

“You
sure did take your time,” he said. “Find anything you liked?”

“You
could say that,” I said partially to myself. “What did you want to talk about?”
Velkire got up from the throne that was not rightfully his and sighed as he
walked over to me. His eyes were full of compassion, but I could tell something
wasn’t right.

“Well,
you see Scarlet,” he began and paused, as if looking for the right words. “I’ve
been keeping an eye on your little beloved camp of misfits, expecting them to
at least send a small party to look for you.”

“Did
they?” I asked a little too eagerly, regretting it as soon as it came out. But
instead of giving me a look of mockery, Velkire gazed at me in pity.

“I’m
afraid not,” he said. My heart felt as if it broke into a million pieces.
“Everyone in the camp knows that you’re gone now, and it seems that they are…
happy.
Even your brothers are relieved you’re gone. Apparently they all thought of you
as a nuisance. I was contemplating letting you go earlier because you were so
sad, but I wasn’t sure how happy you’d be living a lie. I didn’t want those
false thoughts in your head, so even if it breaks my heart to tell you. No one
wants you there.” I didn’t reply to. I wanted to believe it wasn’t true, but it
confirmed everything I had been feeling these past days. Velkire put an arm
around me comfortingly.

“I’m
so sorry that you had to go through that, little sister,” Velkire cooed. I
couldn’t find it in me to push him away. “To be rejected and victimized by
false love in such a short period of time must have been terrible. Yes, I know
of how Vaze pronounced his love for you. He had always been the type to get
caught up in the moment, and I’m sorry I let you be around him long enough for
that to happen. I promise I won’t let them hurt you again, little sister.”
Velkire tried to hug me, but I pushed away.

“I’m
going to my room now,” I said quietly and left without saying another word. As
I left, Alastair looked at Velkire in disbelief. He didn’t want to say it to
Velkire’s face, but that was low, even for him. Manipulating a girl’s feelings
by telling her lies was one thing, but using shadows of doubt to torment her
was worse. Turning away from Velkire, Alastair struggled to catch up to me.

Alastair
didn’t say anything as we walked. That was fine. I felt as if I had to talk
again I’d start to choke up, so I avoided speaking. When we reached my room, I
threw the door open and collapsed onto my bed, trying my best to not to think
about what Velkire said. I waited for the door to close so that I could start
crying, but when it finally did I did not hear Alastair’s footsteps retreating. 

Sniffling
slightly, I sat up and looked at the door. Alastair was standing by it still
with a look of worry mixed with sympathy on his face. Hesitantly, he came and
sat down on my bed next to me, looking uncomfortable.

“Are
you alright?” He asked finally, but failing to hold eye contact.

“I’m
fine,” my voice quivered.

“You
don’t look fine,” Alastair replied. He scooted closer and took my hand. His
skin was soft and warm. “You look hurt.”

“How
would you react to news like that?” I replied, and for some reason didn’t take
my hand away.

“I
don’t know,” he responded. “I’ve never had a bond with anyone long enough to
care much. Can you tell me about them?”

I
hesitated for a moment. Alastair was supposed to be my enemy, but he treated me
like a friend. Before I knew it, I started to tell him about my family, and
then about how I started my adventure and everything that happened leading up
to this point. Alastair listened and didn’t ask questions, but nodded occasionally
to tell me he understood. His deep brown eyes were full of compassion and
understanding, and for the first time since I had arrived, I felt safe. I
waited for a reaction from him when I was finished, and only then realized he
had been holding my hand, though in a comforting way.

“The
first word that comes to mind is: wow,” he sighed. “Whenever I overheard demons
talking or Velkire told me about you, you sound like you had it easy. I
despised you because you were part Guardian like me, yet you have so much and I
have so little.  But now I see, you’ve gone through just as much pain as I
have. I’m sorry you have to go through the torture of this castle as well.”

“It’s
alright, I made this choice myself,” I said softly. “It doesn’t come as a
surprise that no one would send a search party. I’m just one street rat
anyway.”

“Don’t
say that,” Alastair interjected. “Where you grew up or who you were raised by
doesn’t define you. Just look at me, I was practically raised by Enzio and I
hate him. I don’t want to serve Velkire as I was brought up to. What I want
most is to see what is outside this castle, but not on a battle field. I want
to see the sun again, and to feel lush grass, just once more.” I smiled at him.
He wasn’t the jerk I thought he was after all, his life was just hard.

“So
why are you here?” I asked curiously. Alastair sighed and closed his eyes for a
moment, squeezing my hand gently.

“When
I was very young, Enzio attacked my parents because they were a nuiscance,”
Alastair held tighter. Not knowing what else to do, I stroked his hand with my
thumb, and his grip softened slightly. “After he killed them, Enzio tried to
attack me with the soul sucking sword, Alma Ladron. My Guardian took a physical
form in an attempt to save me, but he failed. My Guardian gave me his power in
his last seconds of life, thinking that I could stand a sliver of a chance even
if it was to run away. But instead of killing me, Enzio took me here, to this
castle and taught me to be his dog. He trained me to slaughter whatever I was
told and I obeyed. I despised it. I didn’t want to kill. I knew I had to
though, or he’d kill me. The only time I am out of this castle is when I’m on
the battle field. It’s not a very cheery life, but I’ve managed.”