Valley Of Glamorgan (17 page)

Standing in silence for a few more moments,
both of us were lost in our own thoughts of what could have been.
Finally, Willow cleared her throat, and began apologizing endlessly
to me for having been so brutally honest. “It was just,” she
explained, “that when it came to matters of the heart she preferred
to leave hers out of the equation.”

After I had reassured Willow over and over
again that it was okay, and that even though it had hurt, there was
indeed some truth in her words, I made my way out of the little
cottage with her in tow. Before I left I had agreed to go to the
dinner party for Declan’s birthday; not only because I was aching
to see him but also because I wanted to ask him what had happened.
Had he discovered that I was supposed to be his soul mate? Surely
being raised here he would know how to recognize if someone was
your one and only, and that was when my stomach fell to my feet, or
at least it felt like it had. Stopping in my tracks I twirled and
looking at a startled Willow asked, “What if he doesn’t want me to
be his soul mate?”

Willow chuckled, and all the signs of pain
and despair that had taken her over moments before were now washed
away. In their stead was a happy grin and there was joy in her
voice. It warmed my heart to see her happy again. “Mina, you worry
too much. Of course he wants you as his soul mate. There is no-one
on this earth that will complete him the way you will, or might
already have. We are just built that way,” she said with another
beaming smile.

I swallowed the large lump starting in my
throat; it sounded so intense and so new to me. However, somehow I
felt she was right. When I looked at Declan, I saw and felt things
I never knew were possible; and when I pictured never seeing him
again, I felt ill. I knew it sounded ridiculous because we hadn’t
spent much time together, and I also knew I couldn’t bear to not be
around him, yet some part of me, no matter what Willow might say,
still questioned the reasoning of ‘what if he didn’t feel the same
way.’

Willow and I walked back to the castle that
I was finding myself growing rather fond of. The castle that housed
my true family; the people who I had hurt and treated poorly since
first arriving. I knew I had to make it up to them, so decided I
would come up with something to show them how I really felt.
Suddenly Willow cut my thoughts off. “Mina,” she said three times,
clearly annoyed when I didn’t respond as she had to snap her
fingers in front of my face until she finally caught my attention,
which caused me to smile.

As we reached the gate-way she stopped and
said, “I will see you tonight at the party. And don’t worry, you
and I will find more time to talk.” Then turning away she left me,
calling over her shoulders, “Sorry that I am in such a rush but I
have to meet Maggie.”

Dismissing her apology with a wave of my
hand I walked through the gate and finally made my way back to the
castle. As I entered the living room I was shocked to see Taya
sitting, waiting for me. She looked as if she was bored out of her
mind.

“Hey,” I called out, making my way over to
where she sat, taking a seat across from her.

“Hey,” she said in a shy voice. “I hope you
don’t mind but Knoll and Maggie let me in on their way out. I was
hoping that maybe we could hang out today? That is, if you’re not
busy,” she finished quietly.

“I don’t mind at all,” I replied quickly,
suddenly finding that I really didn’t mind. In fact, I welcomed the
company, and thought how odd it was that things were actually
changing for me. Ever since I had arrived here I had tended to
‘blow off’ as many invitations as I could; preferring to be alone.
But now, thanks to Willow, I realized it was time for me to start
making some changes, and so I decided that beginning today I was
going to make a new friend. “I would love to hangout!” I said,
hoping that I hadn’t sounded too excited when I appeared to screech
the words out in a higher pitch than I had intended. If it had
sounded odd Taya either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because she
just smiled at my outburst.

“Well, I have to go to this birthday party
tonight, and I was hoping that we could go shopping together. You
see I really need some help in finding something nice to wear.
Besides, I am sure that you are dying to see the town outside of
our village,” she declared, smiling a brilliant smile.

Surprised and knowing that it was obviously
an odd question I couldn’t help asking, “Are we allowed to
leave?”

As I looked at Taya I hoped she didn’t think
that I was being ignorant by asking such a question. But she simply
said, “Of course we can; but only for a short while and, we are not
to mingle with the towns people longer than we have to. That is
other than for normal things such as greetings and asking
directions. Oh, and of course, a guardian must be present,” she
added, apparently annoyed with the fact as she rolled her eyes and
let out an exasperated sigh. I laughed with her but must admit I
also felt annoyed that someone would have to go with us. “Plus I
have to get a present for Declan,” she went on and as she looked at
me I noted her rosy checks had turned a bright red. I could tell
that she wanted to say something else and with a raised eyebrow I
asked what she was thinking. “Nothing,” she responded. Then burst
out with, “It’s just the whole you and Declan thing,” she squealed,
“You two make the cutest couple!”

Coughing, I nearly choked and through a
raspy voice managed to tell her that Declan and I weren’t a couple,
which seemed to change the tone of the mood by a landslide. Sitting
back against the couch, the only thing she said was, “Oh! I am so
sorry. I thought that you were; my mistake.”

It seemed that somehow I had offended her
yet had no clue why. I realized that if I wanted a lasting
friendship with Taya then I would have to be honest with her; as I
had been with Katelyn. Not that I was trying to find a replacement
for my best friend as there would never be another one like her,
but I did long for the companionship of someone else my age.

“Why did you go all quiet?” I eventually
asked her.

“It was just that I was so excited for both
of you. Now I feel like an idiot that I jumped to the wrong
conclusion,” she said, “I don’t have very many friends, and I was
afraid that I had made you mad.”

Sitting silently for a minute I felt a tug
at my heart. I also felt for Taya as not having friends really took
a toll on someone, which only made me want to be her friend that
much more. “It’s not a big deal, I promise you,” I laughed
playfully and standing up I changed the subject by asking her which
guardian we were taking with us on our shopping spree.

With relief in her eyes she also stood and
shrugging her shoulders replied, ‘I have no clue; I guess it’s
whoever is willing to go with us,” and we laughed together at the
thought that a guardian would be eager to go girlie shopping.

“Well, let’s go down to the guard station,
and see who will volunteer; shall we?” I asked, and with a nod of
her head we made our way down to the gate.

Chapter
10

As we arrived at the gate we discovered
Declan standing on duty with Eirnan. As soon as I saw him the
butterflies started fluttering, and I could feel my palms begin to
sweat; which is undoubtedly gross.

“Hello, ladies.” Eirnan was the first to
speak as he gave us a respectful bow. Taya giggled, and replied
with a simple ‘Hi,’ whilst Declan stood frigidly for a moment
before finally turning to me and smiling. I was almost knocked off
my feet and straight onto my butt. For some reason I hated that he
had this effect on me.

“Are you not supposed to be getting ready
for your party tonight?” Taya asked Declan, thankfully filling the
silence that was beginning to become awkward.

Although Declan didn’t take his stormy eyes
from mine he managed to shake his head and shrugging his shoulders
said, “Yeah I suppose, but there really isn’t much to get ready. I
am only turning a year older.”

I couldn’t take his weird behavior any
longer; it was eating me alive and so, before I could change my
mind I blurted out, “Can I please speak to you for a moment?”
Surprised he nodded his head then followed me part way along the
path back towards the castle, stopping midway when I did. As soon
as we were out of ear shot I screeched, louder than I had wanted
to, “What is your problem?” He just stood there for what felt like
centuries, and when he finally spoke he just told me that nothing
was wrong, that he had just been too busy.

Shaking my head I could feel the anger
burning through me. “Oh no! Don’t do that, don’t lie to my face!” I
commanded; my face burning hot with annoyance. I liked him and had
thought that we had really had a shot at some sort of a
relationship, but if he was going to act this way then maybe I was
wrong; maybe everyone was wrong about us being soul mates.

“I have been busy.” He finally countered;
surprising me by saying, “It’s just I can’t shake off this odd
feeling I get when I’m around you. I’m scared, okay! I am not even
eighteen; I haven’t even chosen my animal that I will be
transforming into tomorrow night! And!” He stopped mid-sentence as
he now seemed to be screaming, throwing his arms up and about in an
effort to convey his emotions. Continuing in a rant, he declared,
“I have people telling me that we have the shine, that we are soul
mates. But it’s just that….,” and his voice trailed off before he
continued in a lower tone of voice, “It’s just that I don’t know if
I am ready to have the responsibility of being your soul mate, on
my shoulders.”

Stepping back I felt my stomach knot; it
took all my strength and control not to burst into tears. “You
don’t want me?” I whimpered out, sounding more childlike than I had
in years.

Declan hung his head low. Then running his
hand slowly through his thick black hair he said, “That is not what
I said. Of course I want you.” And he went on to explain, “I want
you so badly that it hurts me; my heart and my mind, hell my whole
existence on this earth yearns to be with you, to have you wrapped
snuggly against me forever.” Pausing to take a breath he continued,
“But what if I can’t make you happy? What if I hurt you or lose
you?” As he said this he looked defeated and was hurting; as much
as I had moments before.

Stepping closer to him I placed my hand
through his. “I don’t know that we will never hurt each other. I
can’t guarantee that we won’t lose each other someday but, we will
never know anything unless we give it a try,” I said as I lightly
squeezed his hand. Smiling at him I felt comforted by the fact that
he felt just as frightened as I did.

Looking down at me Declan bent and kissed my
cheek, before saying something I will never forget. “I do want you,
and I am sorry for being such a jerk,” he said as he ran his hands
along his jeans nervously. Then he continued, “To be honest I just
can’t lose someone again, not like I lost my father. It nearly
ripped me apart and left me with a tough shell exterior as my
family needs to depend on me; but inside I am truly a mess.”

Pulling him into a hug I couldn’t believe
how his pain echoed mine. We were both broken and hurt from losing
people we had loved. Suddenly I realized that Willow was more right
than I had thought; Declan and I were made for each other. We felt
everything alike, even down to the way we handled our pain.

After he had whispered sweet nothings in my
ear, and apologized over and over again we made our way back to
where Eirnan and Taya stood patiently waiting with silly smiles
plastered across their faces. Both their eyes settled on Declan and
my hands wound tightly within each other’s and they grinned. Then
Taya jokingly bumped into my side, and wiggling her perfectly
plucked eyebrows said, “That was quick,” and she smirked, causing
me to smile. “I am so happy you guys have worked it out though,”
she stated with genuine concern in her voice. It was at that point
that I knew I had made a good friend.

It was hard for me to leave Declan behind,
but he had much to do before his party later that night, as had I.
Doing my best to remind myself of the task in hand and to keep my
mind busy, I made my way through the gate with Taya and our guard
for the day, Eirnan. Fortunately I managed to sneak one last peak
at Declan, who was looking after me with a brilliant smile shining
on his face.

Taya wrapped her arm through mine and we
followed Eirnan to an old warehouse not far south of the castle,
the place I was growing more and more accustomed to calling my home
every day. As we approached the warehouse Eirnan stopped us
abruptly in our tracks. He held his hand up, telling us to stay
where we were as he needed to do a perimeter check; “Just a
precaution,” he reassured us. Taya rolled her eyes, and giggling
lightly she elbowed me in the side.

“Protectors,” she said, laughing in a
childlike banter, which was prematurely cut off as we heard a loud
rustling noise, as if someone was in the warehouse. My body grew
rigid, and I saw Eirnan tense his muscles as he took a deep breath,
readying himself for what, or who, was inside the building. Quickly
he instructed us to hide in the nearby trees, and if anything were
to happen we were to run to the castle fast and not look back, no
matter what happened. My chest was in knots, as I felt constricted.
I couldn’t allow someone to lose their life protecting me but, I
also knew that if I didn’t obey Taya would most likely stay beside
me, which could result sadly, in all our deaths.

Quickly I assured him that we would do as
instructed, and satisfied he turned to open the door to the
warehouse. I readied myself to bolt towards the trees with Taya in
tow, when suddenly a white fox came trotting out of the warehouse.
The poor thing appeared frightened and after looking in my
direction for a moment it turned and quickly ran into the woods. It
was by far the most elegant and beautiful creature I had ever seen.
Even as the fox fled from what it must have believed to be some
harm it still held its head high and handled itself gracefully.