Savior (14 page)

              With sudden realization, she was brutally knocked to her senses. Alyssa had not meant to dream so far in the future. At any moment Marcus could decide that she had overstayed her welcome and send her on her way, to be alone in the world. The thought of that terrified her. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Marcus. He was all she had. She was growing to love him. She realized that now. After Sage, she thought that would be the end; she would live with Ruben forever and never experience love again. Alyssa thought that she should tell Marcus how much she cared for him, but she didn’t know how.

              She hadn’t even been able to tell Sage, although he had told her often. She wondered if telling Marcus that she loved him would convince him to let her stay.

              Blackberry nudged her again with his nose, harder this time. He had been trying to get her attention for a few minutes. Alyssa blinked and met his gaze. “If I do decide to come with you, will this

              Marcus of yours be riding me?” Alyssa shook her head no. “Will I be kept in a stall?” She shook her head again. “Then where will I live?”

              “All of the horses are wild so you would live outside,” she said with a shrug.

              “And if I decide to go with you and I do decide to let you ride me, where will we go?”

              Alyssa was pleased that he was still considering her offer, “To town and back and through the property.”

              “No long, hard rides or work?”

              She shook her head no. “I don’t travel and I don’t transport anything. I was just set free less than a week ago.”

              Blackberry’s ears twitched forward. “How did you get away?”

              Alyssa went silent. That was still something she was unsure of how to answer. “I was living with someone that was not very nice. Then Marcus came and bought me, sort of,” she replied. It was the simplest explanation, but it was the one she liked the least. Alyssa only hoped that he would understand.

              “So you are his slave?” Blackberry asked. He was only slightly interested in the conversation.

              Most of his attention was focused back on the people moving through town.

              Alyssa bit her lip. “No, not exactly. He owns me like I own you. I’m free to go wherever I want, whenever I want to. Just like you. He bought me because the man that I was with wouldn’t have let me go any other way.”

              He turned a keen eye on her. “I can leave if I wish to?”

              Alyssa nodded, “Of course you can. I’d like it if you came to live with me. But in the end, it is your life and your decision to make.”

              “Could I stay for a while, then leave, and then come back?” he asked as he was beginning to fully consider her offer.

              Alyssa smiled warmly at him. “Of course you can.” He tenderly touched her bare shoulder. It was a sign of his appreciation for giving him a choice he had never been given before.

              Blackberry nickered softly to her and whispered, “Thank you,” in her ear. Alyssa blushed and gave him a delicate pat on his neck. He didn’t shy away from her so she let her fingers wind into the thick mass of hair that was his mane. Blackberry watched her with apprehension, but she could tell he was starting to soften. She removed her hand and leaned back, letting the sunshine wash over her.

              “It’s so beautiful out here,” she said as she kept her eyes closed.

              Blackberry nodded and continued munching on the grass. To him, the field looked like any other he had been in. But her presence did add some beauty to it. “Will this other stallion accept me if I go back with you?”

              She smiled peacefully and shook her hair, allowing her long blonde curls to fall down her back.

              “He’s good. You’ll be okay if you come back with me. I won’t let anything happen to you there.”

              Blackberry snorted. “I wasn’t asking if you would protect me. I have done my fair share of fighting through the years. I only asked if he would accept me.”

              Alyssa shrugged and opened her eyes so that she could look at him. “I honestly don’t know. He’s a good stallion of course, but he is still a stallion.”

              Marcus wandered through the crisp, green grass of the field, recalling his recent travels. The sun was midway in the blue sky and wispy clouds tried to hold their form despite the intense, golden rays. A small faun scampered though the field, without fear of the tall figure traversing closely to it. The animal need not learn of fear in this garden, much to Marcus’s intentions. All creatures were provided with sufficient food, water and shelter so they never had thought of quarrel over these necessities. The entire garden was a lush and magnificent place, but this, Marcus could not enjoy at the moment.

              Unpleasant thoughts scrambled though his head but soon all that was changed when his eyes befell the sight in front of him. Upon a small hilltop, Alyssa sat with her angelic wings draped over her lap.

              Apparently, she was conducting a conversation with a horse that was resting beside her. Marcus could not recall seeing this horse with the rest of the herd that lived in the garden so he wondered what mischief she had been up to. She had not noticed him yet so Marcus considered sneaking up and goosing her, but thought better of it since it might scare the horse. He approached from a distance and greeted them.

              Alyssa returned Marcus’s hail in kind and the horse immediately sprang to its feet. The stallion reared slightly and flared its large nostrils at the stranger. Marcus figured the horse was young and fairly inexperienced with humans since he was so startled by him when most animals weren’t.

              “So who is your handsome friend Alyssa?”

              She quickly ran into his arms, happy to finally see him after almost an entire day of missing his company. Her wings wrapped tightly around his broad shoulders for a quick embrace before she went back to her stallion’s side. Blackberry nuzzled her open palm, all the while keeping a cautious eye on

              Marcus. The stallion didn’t trust humans, especially men. Alyssa rested a calming hand on his trembling shoulder. “Marcus, this is Blackberry,” she said. The angel could scarcely believe how much seeing him made her heart flutter. She finally had to force herself to look away from him as she felt her cheeks flush.

              Blackberry snorted angrily and pawed the ground as he continued to stare at Marcus. Even Alyssa’s gentle reassurances were not enough to calm his temper. She whispered to him, hoping to ease his discomfort. He slowly relented and lowered his head. Blackberry pressed his forehead to her shoulder before returning to the patch of grass at his feet. He kept a watchful eye on Marcus, but continued to graze. Blackberry’s eyes caught on Marcus’s sword as it hung on his waist. The stallion’s eyes went wide and his neck arched. He screamed loudly and pawed the air as Marcus’s hand went to its hilt. Blackberry took a few steps toward the man, his ears flat back against his long neck.

              Before he could reach him though, Alyssa was between them, the point of her dagger pressed firmly against the stallion’s heaving chest. His nostrils flared as he watched her. Alyssa held his eyes as she twisted tip against him. Blackberry took a step away from her, submissively lowering his head as a small red drop of blood formed on her blade. “Move,” he snorted at her.

              She held her ground. “I don’t want to hurt you Blackberry, but I will gladly kill you before you can harm Marcus,” she replied coldly. The stallion nodded and took another step away from her.

“I will not hurt your human,” he said under his breath.

              Marcus released his grip on the hilt of his sword, knowing the horse posed no threat to him, but was worried about it charging the little angel. His eyes flared white-hot as he gazed at the stallion in pulsing anger. If the horse had in some way harmed her, he knew that he could heal the wounds, but death, not even he could heal. The horse retreated from him a few paces in fear as Marcus approached.

              “Alyssa, your friend appears quite wild, it is lucky he had not imposed any harm unto you.” While he was speaking he glared at the horse and it realized that what the warrior really meant was that it was lucky for him that she was not harmed. Silence spread across the field like a wave and not even the birds sang their melodies.

              She turned to him and rested a hand on his broad shoulder. “Please Marcus, he didn’t mean anything by it,” she said, her blue eyes wide as she looked up at him. Alyssa rose up on her toes and brought her lips to his cheek. “Thank you for being worried though,” she whispered to him as she moved away.

              Marcus smiled at Alyssa and returned her kiss. “I am happy to see you have a new friend, just please be careful around him.” He took her delicate hand into his and stroked her palm gently. His fingers glided over her silky skin easily and he witnessed goose bumps beginning to form on her body.

              She found herself looking into Marcus’s perfect blue eyes. “Marcus…” she started, unsure of what she wanted to say to him. She felt as if her heart would explode with everything that she wanted to tell him; everything that she wanted to share. Alyssa wanted to scream how much she cared for him, but found herself unable to breathe past the lump in her throat.

              A twig snapped as Blackberry moved through the grass, grazing as he went. Alyssa hooked a piece of hair behind her ear and turned her attention back to Blackberry. She kept one hand on the tight muscles of Marcus’s back and looked her big black stallion over.

              “Can he come back with us and stay for a little while?” she asked softly as she tried to mask how afraid she was of her new horse. Never before had she been so worried about someone she cared for. Part of her wanted to tell the big stallion to go away, but she wanted to give him another chance. She had reacted in a similar manner when Ruben had introduced her to his friends for the first time. Just as they posed a threat to her, Marcus was a threat to Blackberry, at least in the stallion’s mind. Alyssa understood what the stallion was going through, and part of her wanted to be there for him like no one was for her.

              Marcus turned his gaze toward the horse and watched him chew a mouthful of grass. He pondered the question for a moment and finally nodded his head. “You may keep him here as long as he can live in peace with the other animals. I understand that he is young and some aggression I can tolerate, but actions such as today’s cannot be overlooked forever. No creature in the garden need live in fear, and it shall remain so.”

              “Thank you, he’ll be good,” Alyssa promised. “If you’re done here, we can go back now. I have some things I’d like to talk to you about Marcus. One of which is where you were today.” She had missed him. But she had also been worried.

              Of course she didn’t know if him leaving in the middle of the morning without any word was normal. Luca had said that Marcus hadn’t had company in many years. The people in town seemed to say the same thing. Marcus himself had told her that it had been a long time. Maybe he wasn’t used to having someone else there with him. Perhaps he had forgotten what was appropriate. Although Ruben was cruel, he always told her where he was or where he was going. She had gotten accustomed to knowing where everyone was at all times. Not having any idea where Marcus had gone to had been unnerving.

              “There are some other things I’d like to discuss,” she told him quietly. Alyssa wouldn’t meet his eyes. There was so much she wanted to say. It was time. She needed to let him know everything about her.

              Marcus was somewhat taken aback by her sudden shift in demeanor. Her eyes were serious and yet somewhat sad. Her full lips were pressed tightly together, forming a thin line across her pale face.

              He had expected her questions, but not so soon and dark thoughts still swam within his mind. Finally he nodded at her and turned away towards the cabin.

              The walk was in utter silence though tension burned in the air. It seemed a lifetime before he reached the oaken door, though a hundred lifetimes would not be enough. The cabin was dark, gloomy even though the touches were lit. Their light was being forced back upon them by quivering shadow, or it seemed as such this day. Marcus walked toward the center of the living area and suddenly turned to face

              Alyssa. His tone was hollow, yet echoed though out the house, like the sound of thunder in the depths of a chasm.

              “Alyssa that which I tell you now will be hard to hear, I do not blame you if desire forces you to leave me. My name is Marcus Atalicus Lakyle, though this name I was not born with. That name you need not be concerned with, though what you must understand is my nature then.” He tugged on a corner of his cape and laid the material in her delicate hand, “As this velvet is black, so too, was my heart. For a time not a thousand Ruben’s could cast a shadow upon me, for I was the very embodiment of evil. Not evil as in stealing from elderly women or breaking proud kings, my simple desire was the elimination of all that was good. From this I took no pleasure, it was simply a cold path I traveled without feeling.