The Drifting (11 page)

“
Lily…
Lucas is dead.”

~ * ~

Chapter Six

~ Lily ~

I found myself
standing
outside of the tree’s shelter.  I don’t know how long I’ve looking out at a world full of beautiful
giant
trees
.  T
he dark green canopy above
shelters me from the rain, but doesn’t completely cut the sound of the downpour out. 
I like
the feel of the chilled air as it
cool
s
the
searing pain
within me
.

Lucas is dead, but Sema didn’t stop there.  She told me that Lucas and I are not even blood related. 
M
y mother
did give birth to a son, but
the
baby
died during the delivery. 
On the same night, a young Sidhe mother delivered a
child
but
died giving birth to him
.  The child’s human father
passed away only months prior.  With no other relative to adopt
him
, the exchange was made
secretively,
and Lucas was
introduced as Senestra’s first
born.  Only a few were privy to the event
:
my
parents
, the midwife who delivered both babies and the midwife’s husband.  That midwife was Sema.

I start
walking
away from the main landing following another giant branch,
looking around me in wonder.  I reach a point where the branch split
s and
I
decide to
take the one on my left.  I follow it
until I come
to
a giant
leaf
big enough to hold a full-size car.  Above it are
more
giant
leaves
,
and the rain slips from one to the other missing my solitary perch
. 
I move onto it and sit
near the edge
. 

I sink into despair and wait for the tears, but none come. 
Memories of my brother assault me and I can’t seem to push them back from where t
hey came.  It’s as if the flood
gates have been release
d
and everything, every moment, every second I shared with Lucas has been set free.  Why have I kept them in for so long?  Why did I pack them away like old clothes
that
no longer fit?  The pain in my chest
reminds me why. 

I turn to find my brother sitting next to me looking off in the distan
ce
.  He is as I remembered him.  His dark brown hair is cut short and spiked at the top.  His broad shoulders are hidden beneath the
dark
blue
hoodie
he always wore.  His brown eyes are clear, under dark brows and his mouth is slightly tilted up at the ends as if remembering a
fond
memory.  His handsome face turns to me and I see the sorrow in
his
eyes.  I reach for him, but my hand goes through him. 

“
Hello,
Midget,” he
greets using his
pet name
for me as he’s
done many times before.

“Go away, you’re not real,
” I
answer, turning
my back to him.

When he touches my shoulder, I nearly jump,
causing
me
to place my hands on my leafy
perch
.  I turn to him, eyes wide and terrified
that I’ve finally
lost my mind. 

With that familiar quirky smile of his, he shakes his head saying, “No, Midget, you’re not going
crazy
.  I
really
am here.”

“
What the…but how
?” I stutter in disbelief.

He laughs and looks outward. 
“Look around you, Lily.  You’re in Velesi.  I know you haven’t had a chance to take in the world around you, but this place is full of magic and wonder.  Here, in this realm, everything and anything is possible.”

He turns to me, “You have no idea how fortunate you are, my Midget.  This realm belongs to you. 
All of it
belongs to you,” he hesitates before finishing, “and Tharin.”

Momentarily forgetting my brother’s state,
“Lucas,
you can’t let Tharin find you
. 
He and Tolan
think
s
you killed their sister.”

Lucas places his hand on mine and I can almost feel the warmth from it.  Almost. “Lily, two things
:
one, I’m already dead.  There is nothing anyone, including Tharin, can do to me now.  And two
–
I did kill E’leiana.”

I pull away from him and the sadness that comes over him confirms the truth.
  My shock turns to disbelief. 
“Why?  Why would you do that?  She was just a
kid
.” 

“Lily, just listen
…please
.”

I
don’t
want to hear what he
has
to say, but where
am
I going to run to?  He would haunt me until I gave him what he obviously came for
–
forgiveness. 

We sit in silence, the rain the only sound around us.  Finally
, sighing deeply
,
he starts off slowly, “
I’m so sorry, Lily.  God, I’ve messed up so bad.” 

He shakes his head and I see the tears well up in his eyes.  Trying to control himself, he continues, “Harlu
came to me the night of our birthday.  He told me
who
we
were
and I was the only one that could save our clan.  Without me
,
the Oak Clan would seize our land,
imprison our people and banish
the name and memory of our parents from the realm forever.  He said it was my duty to return with him and take the throne of the Willow Clan as its true King.  But you already know how that turned out.  The throne refused me. 

“
I
truly
believed everything
he
told me and I really wanted to save our people.  It wasn’t until much later that
I realize it was all a bunch of
lies.  I found out that Harlu was the leader of the Ange
, once protectors of Velesi’s
royal families. 
S
omewhere along the way an ambitious prince of the
Alerce
Clan use
d
the Ange to assassinate heirs
who
stood in his way to his clan’s throne. 
After the murders they were disbanded by the king’s elite guards. 
Those who were caught were banished from the realm
and the
most evil of them were sent to the UnderRealm. 
Sub
rosa
groups such as theirs were outlawed and the Ange went into hiding.  They’re now hired assassins to the highest bidder
.”

I interrupt him,
“So, it was Harlu who brought you here and then betrayed you?”
Although he already said so,
I
wanted him to confirm it again
.

Lucas nods
, “Yeah
, it was Harlu
.  He and a demon name Falsad.” 

“A demon
?
”  I think of the Demlok and the thought of him sends terror through me. 
Sema mentioned this earlier, but I didn’t really grasp it then…trying to defend Lucas, I really wasn’t paying attention.  But Lucas has my attention now.

“Yes, but by the time I found out, I was
consumed
with the idea of being king
.  Falsad
told
me I had every right to the throne
.  He convinced me
Tharin
had
you and
together you would take the throne from me
.”

“But, Lucas, I didn’t even meet Tharin until two days after
our
birthday,” I
point out
.

“I know that now.  I was so full of greed and hate that it was too late by the time I figured out how I was being manipulated.  For years I believe
d
Tharin and Tolan
were my
enemies. 

“W
hen Harlu brought me E’leiana, I
knew I was way over my head.  Despite wanting to be king, I couldn’t fathom how anyone would hurt a child.  I mean, I wanted to take Tharin and Tolan down, but not by taking their sister. 
That’s when Falsad made his move. 
I was completely possessed
. 
But f
rom somewhere within me
,
I watched
him take a cane to E’leiana
.  I screamed and beg
ged
for him to stop, but he wouldn’t.  He just kept
beating
her until I blacked out.  When I awoke I was standing over her, the cane still in my hand.”
  Lucas shakes his head as I watch the tears fall.

“Oh my God, Lucas,” I whisper. 
For a
moment we remain quiet, both
of us
appalled by his telling of E’leiana’s beating.

Sniffling, he wipes at his eyes
, continuing
, “I carried her to a path that I knew would lead back to the
Oak
Tower
.  I knew it would only be a matter of time before she would be found. 
Soon a
fter that, I would black out for hours, even days at a time.  Each time I came to, Harlu was
right there…right there
to tell me every little evil deed I did in detail, knowing it
was
Falsad.  He delighted in my anguish
, in my horror
.  He tortured me with the
demonic deeds
I had committed but couldn’t remember. 
It wasn’t long before our own people started calling me the ‘Black Prince.’  They hated me, feared me. 
Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer and I took my own life.”