Valley Of Glamorgan (21 page)

“Maggie, you know that your mother and I
love you dearly,” Liam started to say. “In the beginning it was
chaos, and to be honest we barely noticed the daughter we still had
here, mainly because we were so caught up in getting Mina back.”
Pausing Liam cleared his throat, then he continued, “Even though
you were safe and sound here, you are right, we neglected your
needs at that time. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t
look at you and see what a wonderful woman you have grown up to be.
It makes me wonder what I was thinking of by not putting you first,
as we did your sister.”

His comments had made Maggie start to cry,
and not long afterwards Eleanor began to wipe away the tears that
had come into her eyes. “It’s okay,” Maggie said, trying to
reassure us all. “I understood Mina was missing and that you had to
find her. I just always wondered why you couldn’t have made me
princess instead.”

Everyone sat silent for a moment. And I felt
my heart sink as I felt I was about to hear the truth that I was
afraid of hearing. Maggie wanted to be the princess; not a healer.
It seemed she had to be a healer; because of me. Surprisingly Knoll
was the first to speak, “You were born to be a healer. The way you
handle magic and the way you wield it, takes my breath away.” And
he looked at her with a warm smile.

Looking at him in return she smiled before
turning towards her parents and saying, “I know I wanted to be a
healer at first and I do remember begging you to let me do it, but
you always made me feel as if I wasn’t good enough! Afterwards,
when I didn’t want to be one, you made me be one. I was so mixed
up.” Taking a breath she looked to see how they had reacted before
continuing. “Now I’m grown up, I see that I am meant to be a
healer, and I honestly love it. It’s just that it wasn’t always
like this. Maybe I just feel I should have had a choice,” she
concluded as she started to get angry. Liam tensed his muscles and
I realized I was stuck in the middle of my first family feud,
hating every minute of it.

“Maggie,” Eleanor began to say gently,
“Please understand that we can never take away the pain we caused
you, and that we know our wrong doings and willingly accept
responsibility for them. But we are truly sorry as we love you;
dearly.”

Maggie nodded her head before replying, “I
know, and I love you.” Then looking directly at me she said warmly,
“I don’t want you to think that I am not grateful to have you
back.”

“I know,” I quickly interjected feeling in a
hurry to get this over with. I really needed to go to my room soon
as I needed to get some sleep; or, at the very least, to be alone
with my thoughts.

Finally Knoll stood up declaring, “As you
all know Maggie has been through a lot of stress in preparing for
tonight and of course, the magic takes such a toll on her. She is
just a bit grumpy and worn out. Can we not continue this some other
time please? That is if you don’t mind? She really needs to get
some sleep.” For some reason he not only sounded a little peeved
but looked it as well. Secretly I was thankful that my guardian had
saved us once more and I watched him lead Maggie out of the
room.

After they had gone I suddenly had an idea,
and hoped that my parents would agree to it. Taking a deep breath I
started to put my plan in front of them. “I was wondering,” I
began, “If it would do Maggie some good to have another actual
animal ceremony. I know she can’t go through the changing process
but we could give her a proper party and I can give her a gift that
I know she would love dearly.” As I paused my parents looked to
each other but allowed me to continue, “Maggie loves Knoll deeply
and she shouldn’t have to share him with me. I have taken so much
of his time and because of that it has caused her to lose attention
from the people she cares the most about. With that in mind I would
like to declare someone else as my guardian. That way, Maggie can
have Knoll. And, if the time should ever come where I would have to
take a guardian away with me, it wouldn’t be Knoll.”

Liam sat for a moment, carefully pondering
the idea. “I don’t know Mina,” he declared, “We have never had
anyone do such a thing in all our history.”

“Well I think it’s a noble and selfless
gesture,” said Eleanor with a smile.

Liam stood up. “Well, if that is what you
want and it will help give Maggie some closure, then so be it. We
will announce Maggie’s party in a few days. You can announce your
gift to her, if you will then.” Just as I thought the topic was
settled Liam asked, “Who do you have in mind for your new
guardian?”

I was afraid to say who I was thinking of
but taking the bull by the horns I declared, “I was hoping that you
could perhaps reassign Eirnan to me as I have grown quite fond of
him.” And I sat, my hands fidgeting as I waited for their
response.

Liam smiled slightly before saying, “I see,
but he is Thora’s guardian.”

Sitting up straight I quickly responded,
“Yes, but I am the princess.”

Chuckling Liam responded with, “Yes, and a
good one you will make.”

Sighing in relief I noted that Liam was
still smiling as he and Eleanor excused them. “Oh, and princess,”
announced Eleanor from the doorway, “We still need to talk about
you striking Thora in the face,” and off they went, making their
way up the stairs, laughing together.

I had been hoping that I had gotten away
with that one, but I should have known better. It seemed I would
still have to apologize to Thora but I was glad that my parents had
agreed to my decision to fire Knoll and hire Eirnan in his stead. I
was happy that I would be able to give my sister her partner back
as well as rescuing Eirnan from that evil witch.

Following my parents from the room I quickly
made my way up the stairs, and got into bed. Closing my eyes I was
soon lost in thoughts of the nights events. I was starting to learn
that nothing was impossible in this new world that I was coming to
love. Declan would come back in three days, then he and I could
spend as much time together as possible. I also knew that it
wouldn’t be long before I had to choose my animal. Secretly I
thought I knew which I would choose. For now, however, I was
looking forward to seeing Declan again and to discovering what
might come of our lives. It was just that I hated having to wait
three long grueling days.

Chapter 13

“
I am growing impatient; I have to see
him!” I practically yelled at Willow, who was standing outside her
cottage shaking her head in annoyance.

“Carmina,” she told me sternly, “It has only
been two days since his animal ritual.” Gently placing her hand on
my arm she sighed before continuing more calmly. “Tomorrow he will
be all yours,” she promised. “Anyway,” Willow reminded me as she
leaned against the wooden door frame, “Shouldn’t you be busy
planning Maggie’s party?”

“I know,” I responded desperately, “But I
can’t help worrying about him. How do you know he’s okay?” Despite
myself I couldn’t stop from keeping the pain that Declan had been
in on the night of his animal ceremony from flashing into my mind.
It took everything I had to fight the urge to not give in to the
restlessness of my feet and run to the cabin where he was staying.
Even though I knew that Eirnan was standing watch I still couldn’t
be assured that Declan was alright; I wouldn’t be until I was back
in his arms.

Willow cleared her throat, “Carmina, I am
enjoying your company so much today,” she joked and I thought I
saw, from the corner of mine, her roll her eyes. Then she turned to
me and said, “Now if you will excuse me,” and without so much as
another word she turned, entered her cottage and firmly closed the
door in my face!

Standing there, both surprised and annoyed
at the same time there was little I could do. I had spent a lot of
my time with Willow planning Maggie’s party, whilst trying to keep
my mind from Declan who was sadly still suffering in pain. Ever
since my parents had agreed to me ‘firing’ Knoll and to my taking
Eirnan on as my Guardian, there had been a lot to plan. I was
nervous of Knoll’s reaction, seeing as he wouldn’t know any of
this, at least not until Maggie found out. No-one else knew besides
Willow and my parents who, I am surprised to say, I have now
officially started calling mom and dad.

I knew that all hell would break out when
Thora found out that Eirnan would no longer be hers to push around
and abuse. Whenever she was around I found myself starting to
clench my hands by my side. I couldn’t stand her, and the thoughts
of the way in which she treated Eirnan plus what she had said about
Taya, just made me want to hit her again. ‘Maybe,’ I thought, ‘it
would be a good idea to at least tell Eirnan before the party about
the new arrangement.’ It seemed that no-one else seemed to agree
with me and my father didn’t appear to want to chance anyone
getting wind of it. He had decided he would have to sit down with
Thora the night before so she could select a new guardian which,
for some reason, he seemed un-excited to do. I was apparently
making the way for new rules, certainly as no-one had ever stolen
someone else’s guardian before. However, I just told my father and
mother that some changes needed to be done and beside they would be
good. Finally taking the hint that Willow was sick of me and I
wasn’t going to be allowed back outside I left, making my way back
to the castle. Or at least that is where I intended going. And yet!
Although I knew I wouldn’t be able to see him I still decided to
take the long way home and walk past the cabin where Declan was
staying. I decided I would use the excuse, if asked, that I was
checking on Eirnan.

Walking along I found myself enjoying the
sight of the rolling green hills and the beautiful bright sky, as
the sun shone down on my pale skin. It was an unusually warm day
and I loved every minute of it. Also, I was starting to feel at
home more and more here in the valley, even though the nightmares
were increasing. I kept picturing Jacks decaying body coming to
life and shouting things at me. It was frightening and every night
the dreams grew more and more intense. It felt as if something bad
was coming, and no matter how much I tried to push the feeling
away, it grew harder and harder to ignore.

Shrugging off the cold chills that had over
taken my body I cleared my mind as I saw Eirnan siting on a stump
just a few feet in front of the cabin. He showed signs of fatigue,
and I felt bad for having asked him to stay and watch over Declan.
But, even with the feelings I had, and no matter how much I
disliked it, I had still had to ask those I cared about to make
sacrifices to protect Declan because of the vulnerable state he was
in. As I approached I cleared my throat in order not to startle
Eirnan. Quickly standing to his feet smiling a tired smile at me,
even though I quickly reassured him he need not get up on my
account. Having stood for several more minutes he finally agreed I
was right and quickly sat back down as I sat across from him, being
careful to tuck my sun dress carefully around me.

“I can’t let you see him,” Eirnan said
simply.

“I know,” I agreed, “Actually, I was coming
to keep you company.”

He raised an eyebrow, shrugging his
shoulders as if he didn’t completely believe me. “Well,” he said,
“How you have been?”

I was surprised by the simplistic question.
“I am doing okay,” I replied, pointing my hand towards the cabin as
if asking without having to say anything how the patient was.

Eirnan knew I was worried about Declan so he
just smiled and said, “He will be okay Carmina.” He looked at me
for a few more seconds as if he wanted to ask me something else but
didn’t know how. Finally he asked, “How is Taya doing?”

I tried to fight the smile that was
spreading across my face. Eirnan and Taya had been trying to spend
some time together ever since Declan’s birthday party. “I haven’t
really seen much of her, but I am sure she is doing well,” I told
him as he rubbed his hand across the back of his head.

“Will you tell her I asked about her?” he
asked, once he was sure I wasn’t going to say anything else.

Nodding my head I suddenly jumped to my
feet, directing my attention to the figure standing at the window
of the cabin. My heart began to race; I hated that he was so close
and yet I couldn’t see him. He was standing right there, what could
it hurt if I gave him a quick hug? As if he could hear my thoughts
Eirnan stood up, much slower than I had and made his way to where I
stood. He placed his hand on my shoulder breaking my eye contact
with the figure in the cabin. Reluctantly I looked away from
Declan’s shadow and gave my attention to Eirnan. “I don’t know why
you do this to yourself,” he said, “You know that you can’t see
him.” I shook my head sadly, knowing that he was right; I knew that
I was just making it harder on myself, but it was so hard to be
away from him. Eirnan then told me it would be best if I left and
as hard as it was to do so I reluctantly agreed with him.

As I continued on my way to the castle an
ominous feeling settled over me; one I couldn’t shake off. I was
beginning to wonder if I should tell someone about them and the bad
dreams, but I quickly shook the thought off. The last thing I
wanted to do was to take the attention away from Maggie once
again.

Arriving at the gate I saw Keenan so I waved
to him, wondering how he was going to feel about my decision to let
Knoll go as my guardian. I was tempted to ask him as I knew that
the guardians had sworn an oath that they wouldn’t break; something
similar to doctors, they couldn’t tell anyone anything that a royal
had told them confidentially.