Valley Of Glamorgan (28 page)

As I listened suddenly everyone gasped. Then
Declan screamed out in pain, although it was nothing like the cries
I had heard on the night of his animal choosing ceremony. Moments
later there were soft cries from those around me, and I sensed that
he was now being joined in the night sky by others. I wish I could
witness it as I had no clue who else in the town was also a bird.
The sound of flapping wings and the loving praise of all the people
around me was more than even I anticipated.

Once everything had quietened down those
people left made their way back to their homes, I asked Eirnan to
stay behind with me. I hadn’t had much of a chance to speak with
him, but really I just wanted to stay and wait for Declan to
return. It took some convincing but my entourage finally agreed to
allow me to wait with Eirnan. After all starting tomorrow he would
be my new guardian and, regardless of what my father thought, I
wanted to be the first to tell him. If I was honest I would regret
letting Knoll go because he wasn’t just one of my truest friends
here he was also a good guardian, yet I knew in my heart that my
decision was right. Maggie deserved to have Knoll by her side but
if he was always worrying about protecting me he would have to put
me first instead of her; I couldn’t imagine Declan having to put
another person, especially my own sister, above me.

Sitting on the grass for so long that my
legs began to ache and fall asleep so I took the opportunity to
stretch and wake them up. Eirnan sat across from me and I could
feel that he was nervous about something. “Is everything ok?” he
asked me abruptly.

“I wanted to talk to you about Maggie’s
party tomorrow,” I said. Clearing my voice I suddenly realized
there was a possibility that he would say no; that he didn’t want
to be my guardian so I decided to just throw the question out in an
awkward rush of words, “Will you be my guardian?”

Eirnan didn’t speak, causing me to start
feeling freaked out, being met by only silence. Finally he spoke,
“But you have a guardian princess.” He sounded so formal and I felt
as if maybe I had imagined our friendship.

Carefully I explained, “I am relieving Knoll
of his duties. In a short time he is going to promise himself to
Maggie and she deserves his full attention. She has always been so
selfless when it comes to me, so I want to return the favor.”

“I would love to be your guardian princess
but, Thora has already been so gracious as to allow me to be Taya’s
guardian. I know it seems kind of fast,” he went on to say, “But I
all can say is that I love her.”

I almost choked. It was such a sweet gesture
and now I knew why Taya had been avoiding me; she had probably felt
bad because she knew what Thora had done and that she had only done
it to spite me! I couldn’t believe that bitch! Oh, I was happy for
Eirnan and Taya but Thora didn’t care about their happiness. She
had done this to me for one reason only and that was to be the
vindictive bitch I knew she was. Sitting there full of anger I now
questioned myself as to who would now be my guardian?

Taking it that I was angry with him Eirnan
began to apologize. “I am so sorry Princess. I didn’t mean to upset
you, it’s just Thora told me that if I told you before Maggie’s
party then she wouldn’t sign the release papers and I wouldn’t be
free of her. She is such a mean women I couldn’t stand another
minute of her yelling and hitting me.” The poor man sounded so
defeated.

Sighing I replied, “It’s ok Eirnan. Let’s
pretend that you haven’t told me. If it takes me being humiliated
in front of everyone for you to be free, I will gladly do it. Thora
just wants a show, so that is exactly what she’ll get.”

“I can’t believe you would do that for me.”
I was surprised to hear Taya’s voice this time from behind me. I
had no idea how long she had been standing there or how much she
had heard but I was thankful I didn’t have to repeat myself
again.

“No one hears about this!” I ordered them.
“This will only work if Thora is convinced that she has got the
upper hand on me.

“I don’t know what to say,” Eirnan said,
“besides how truly sorry we are that she has played you like this.
Or that we weren’t supposed tell you.”

Funnily enough I understood their reaction
for I too would have kept the secret for Declan and me, if
necessary. Moving to ease my cramped legs I tried to pretend that I
wasn’t hurt but it wasn’t easy. Pulling my legs up to my chest I
tried to tune the world out. I been lied to by my best friends and,
even though I understood why, it didn’t make the sting hurt any the
less. All of a sudden I wanted nothing more than to be by myself
but knew that just wasn’t possible at this moment in time. Hearing
two people talking as they walked up the path I realized I was
getting better at recognizing people by their voices alone. It was
Knoll and Willow.

“Hey,” they both called out, making me feel
thankful to them for breaking the awkward silence that existed
between us three. Their arrival also gave Eirnan and Taya the
perfect chance to excuse themselves and leave.

“You look like you are having a bad night,”
stated Knoll as he placed his hand on my knee before sitting down
with a thud next to me.

‘You have no idea,’ I wanted to tell him but
I knew that once I did he would know there was a reason why I was
trying to recruit a new guardian. It seemed that not only was I to
be humiliated tomorrow but I also had to hurt someone I cared
deeply for, just so they could all be happy. It felt as if I just
kept giving and giving but the universe just kept taking and taking
more from me.

Willow sat down on the other side of me,
only making her presence known by letting out a small cough.
Wanting so much to confide in her I knew I couldn’t as Willow was
the type to interfere, and if she did that then Thora would know
that Eirnan and Taya had told me what they shouldn’t. It was
hopeless as I couldn’t confide in anyone. The thought left me
feeling so alone at that moment. Suddenly I wished I was like
Declan and could just spread my wings and fly away from all my
problems; at least just for a little while.

“Looks like you’re not going to tell me what
is going on,” said Knoll, “So I will tell you the good news.” He
sounded nervous which was unusual for him. Continuing he said, “I
am going to propose to Maggie tomorrow. I am not sure now what this
life is going to bring us so I want to give her everything she
wants, just in case something ever happens to me.”

Willow suddenly giggled, saying, “It’s about
time, and such a perfect day to do it, at her party tomorrow
night.” I laughed along with her because it was perfect timing.
Tomorrow he would ask my sister to be his forever and they would
truly belong to each other, because he would also become her
guardian as well.

Laying down I let the dew from the cool
grass seep into my shirt. I didn’t mind as it was actually kind of
comforting. Then Knoll spoke again, “I wanted you to be the first
person to know. I am now going to ask your father for his
permission.” I smiled and nodded telling him that he was already
family to me. And so a few moments later I could no longer hear his
shoes crunching along the ground, knowing he was probably halfway
to the castle by now.

Which left me alone with Willow; it was hard
not to confide in her. She was like a grandmother to me. Someone
who always understood, but it was just too risky so I tried to
change the subject from me to her, hoping she wouldn’t sense that I
was avoiding whatever was bothering me. “So have you come up with
anything for Sal?” I asked, really hoping he would find
someone.

When she replied Willow’s voice held a
strange undertone that I hadn’t heard from her before, “Actually I
have.”

“Well,” I asked, once I decided she wasn’t
going to answer me.

“He’s actually been dating Declan’s mother.
It seems they are a pretty good match,” she responded.

Yet again I was surprised by all the
information that was being kept from me so I asked, “Does Declan
know?”

“Yes,” stated Willow simply, “He isn’t
exactly fond of the idea. But that’s because no-one can, or ever
will replace his father, but he knows she deserves happiness.”

As I sat there absorbing the information I
had a strange feeling, recalling when I had first experienced that
strange pull towards Declan. Everyone had told me that the Pacu
only have one mate for life and if one of them dies then the other
will spend their days alone. ‘Maybe it was just true for some
people,’ I thought, trying to reassure myself that what Declan and
I felt for each other was real and not some match-making ruse.
Finally I asked, “How can she love again if her soul mate is dead?”
Perhaps I stated the question more bluntly than I had intended
to.

“Declan’s father was her soul mate Mina.
It’s just that sometimes the loneliness leaves such a burden on our
lives that we accept any kind of love or happiness that life offers
us. Sometimes the spirits bring together two lost and hurting souls
so they don’t have to suffer anymore,” declared Willow, “It doesn’t
mean that you and Declan aren’t soul mates; it simply means that if
one of you should pass away before the other then the universe may
bring someone else to either of you to help soothe the pain.”

Strangely I understood what she was saying,
but it still made Declan’s and my love seem less epic. I must
confess I felt relief when I heard the sound of wings, like a
thousand heart beats above me. As one landed directly on me I
winced from the pain of its sharp claws digging into my arm but
quickly settled as I reached over and stroked its soft feathers.
There were many birds that could have landed on me, but I knew this
one was my bird. Then he jumped from my arm and seconds later,
having heard bones shifting, I sensed Declan standing in front of
me.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said in a sultry
voice leaning over and kissing me, making any recent doubts I had
been having disappear completely.

I thought Willow had left to make her way to
her cottage when she suddenly called out several steps from where
she was standing, “If you can’t confide in me or Knoll, then let
someone else help you Mina.”

About to deny what she said, Declan placed
his arm caringly on my arm and asked, “What is wrong?”

Desperately needing to skip the whole ‘pity’
party raging inside of me by asking him what they had found on
search of the country I knew that whilst I could lie to everyone
else I just couldn’t to him. Finally I blurted out, “Thora is using
Eirnan and Taya against me. She gave him permission to be Taya’s
guardian and if I don’t let her humiliate me at Maggie’s party
tomorrow then Eirnan is stuck with her forever.” I hesitated before
continuing, “I can’t believe I was so stupid as to think that she
would just let him go free so easily. I should have known that she
would have something up her sleeve.”

“Why don’t you just have the party for
Maggie without giving her Knoll?” asked Declan.

“I can’t do that because he is going to
propose to her tomorrow. I can’t be the one thing that keeps them
from truly belonging together,” I stated flatly.

“Then why can’t I be your guardian,” he
asked shyly, as he gently pulled me towards him before wrapping me
in his strong, safe arms.

Kissing him on the chin I rested my head on
his chest and hesitantly replied, “I would love nothing more than
that but you’re not a guardian yet.” I knew the words had stung but
he hadn’t had his guardian equivalent of training as he had only
just turned 18 years old. Having turned into his animal, the
beautiful white owl, for the first time this evening we both knew
he still had five years to go until he was capable of being a full
guardian. He had to learn to wield his animal as a weapon so, until
then, he was just a guardian in training; still deadly he could
protect people but only fully-fledged guardians could protect and
take the oath for a Royal.

“I know; there are such stupid rules here,”
Declan sounded defeated, “Still, if anyone should protect you and
be close to you every day then it should be me.”

Shaking my head I softly kissed him,
replying with, “I know, and someday you will be the one who is my
guardian, but for now I’m stuck.”

“Yeah, I will,” he stated, a bit more
possessively than I liked, hugging me much too tightly.

Leaving the clearing we walked hand in hand
to the castle door. As we arrived he pulled me towards him for a
long goodnight kiss. I let myself fall into his kiss, only pulling
away when the door swung open and Eleanor cleared her voice. “You
too should come in,” she said in a motherly tone; one I hadn’t
heard her use very often.

By now I was getting to know the layout of
the house quite well so felt I had accomplished something that I
didn’t need to hold on to anything or anyone as we made our way
into the kitchen. Once there I sat on one of the tall bar stools
that were normally tucked underneath the breakfast bar. Eleanor and
Declan slowly followed me, pulling their stools out with a loud
scraping noise against the floor. Once settled Eleanor poured us
all a cup of her famous lavender and honey tea. As I drank it I let
the warm liquid fill my stomach. It was a very soothing drink;
something I would always associate with home as Eleanor and I
shared a cup together every night before we went to bed. I suppose
you could say it was our mother/daughter bonding moment, something
I really enjoyed. But it was also nice to share such a precious
moment with Declan as well.

Eleanor took a breath and began speaking. “I
wanted to talk about Maggie’s party tomorrow. I have given it a lot
of thought and, since Knoll is going to propose to her, your father
and I think it’s time they have a place of their own. Therefore, we
have bought them a home; three houses down from the castle.”