The Drifting (39 page)

“Who moved my chair?”  Standing before us is an older version of Tharin and Tolan and I can only assume this is their father, the king.  Without missing a beat and not taking his eyes off the king, Mellis throws out his arm pointing a finger…right at me.  Crap.

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* ~

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

~
Tharin
~

I pull Lily to me as we stand outside the doors to my mother’s old suite.  For weeks now, after getting permission from my father to let Lily use the rooms until the wedding, I had Walem handle the cleaning and preparation.  Walem has been with my father since I can remember.  I knew he would be discreet in his selection of staff to handle the task, no questions asked. 

Lily pulls back to look at me and says, “It was fun during dinner.  Is your father really mad about the furniture?” 

“No.  But I have to tell you, I’ve never seen my father sit on the floor before.  I think he enjoyed it as much as we did.”

“I hope we can do that again,” says Lily, resting her head on my chest. 

“You can have whatever you want, my love…anything.”

She laughs, saying, “I’ll have to think about that.  Sorry, still trying to get used to the idea that I have a boyfriend.”

I give her a look, “Lily, princes are not boyfriends.”

She pulls away from me, “Um…you’re not?”

“No, we’re not,” I answer, not sure why it’s a hard concept for her to understand.

“If you’re not my boyfriend, what are you?”

“I’m your betrothed, your future husband and king.  What else would I be?”

“Um, yeah…okay.  Whatever you say, my betrothed, my future husband and king,” she says giving me a raised brow.

“See?  Was that so hard?” I ask sincerely.

She laughs, “No, I guess not, but it sure is a long way to get to the point, though.”  She smiles, asking, “Will I see you in the morning?”

“No, it’ll be too risky.  We still don’t know who this Eathos is.  He could be anyone outside our circle.  Ka’s right, we just can’t take the chance of you being discovered.”

“So, I’m a prisoner?” she asks resignedly.

I shake my head at her, “No.  That’s one thing you’ll never be, Lily.”

“I know and I get it.  I just don’t like the idea of being cooped up in there for the next few days.”  She thinks for a moment, “Tharin, I really can’t speak in front of a crowd.”  A queasy look comes over her.

“Hey, stop worrying.  Everything will be all right,” I rush in afraid she’d get sick on me again.

“You don’t understand.  When I was in the fifth grade my teacher at the time signed me up to run for class president.  Long story short, when it came to give my speech, the other kids were so cruel to me…just ruthless.  Next thing I know I’m on the floor and Ms. Hawkins is holding me, yelling at me to wake up.  It was awful…I just can’t do it.”  She starts to shake.

I take her hands, rubbing the back of them to calm her down.  “You’re not in the fifth grade anymore, Lily.  And I’m going to be there, so will Julia and Tolan, Alorn, Mellis and the sisters.  People who love you will be there and we won’t let you fall, I promise.”

“So, you’ll be up there with me?”

“Uh…no.  Sorry, love, you’re on your own on the dais before taking your throne.  But we’ll be right there.  I don’t want you to think about the fifth-grade incident when you think of giving your oath during the Seating.”

“No?”

“No.”

“It’s hard not to think about it.  I can’t think about anything else,” she says worriedly.

“Then think about this.”  I take her in my arms again and give her a long, slow kiss.  When we part, she keeps her eyes closed, but there’s a soft smile on her face.  Damn…I want to pick her up and take her back to my suites, but I fight the urge.  Instead, I kiss her on her forehead and push her at arm’s length.  She stumbles forward and I steady her by the shoulders.

“Now you have another memory to call up when you think of speaking publicly.  And it will also have to do until the Day of Seating,” I say shrugging at her.

“Are you serious?  I really won’t see you for three days?”

“Of course you will.  I’ll visit in the
drifting
state, but it would be better if you came to me.  Your suites a little crowded.”  The sisters refused to leave Lily, so Julia will move into the master bedroom with Lily.  Milina and Glynnis will share the spare room next to the master bedroom.

Lily gives me a nod and says, “Okay, Tharin.  But you remember it as well.”  To my surprise she gives me saucy look, something I don’t even think she realizes she’s doing.  She opens the double doors throwing me another look before disappearing inside.

Three more days.  Just three more days and I’ll be married to Lily.

“What do you mean I can’t marry Lily?” I reply quietly, my anger fighting its way through my patience.

“I’m not saying you can’t marry her, Tharin,” says Ka, trying to keep his own patience.

“What Ka is saying,” interjects my father, “is that you can, and you will marry Lily, just not on the same day as the Seating.  We need to draw out Eathos.  He needs you to marry Lily to fulfill the prophecy in order to open the doorway.”

I look at my father’s face, studying it carefully.  Finally, I sigh resignedly, “How long?”

“A week, maybe two,” answers Ka.  I shake my head, not believing what they’re asking.

“Patience, Tharin,” soothes my father.  “I wouldn’t ask this of you if recent events hadn’t forced our hand.”

He quickly gets my attention, “What’s happened?”

Ka and Father give each other a look and it’s Ka who responds.  “Kurm and Car’ithi are dead.”  He lets the news sink in.  Two more Ancients are gone.  Suddenly getting married becomes a distant thought.  “We found Kurm sprawled at his desk from an apparent heart attack.  But Sema examined him and confirmed that he was poisoned.  As for Car’ithi, his body washed ashore at the lake’s edge below Gastah Point.  It looks as if he fell over the cliffs.”

“More likely he was pushed,” adds Father.

“There’s more,” says Ka, eyeing me steadily.  “We believe that Kabba is here in
Oak
Tower
.  Whatever Eathos is using to disguise himself, he’s using on Kabba.”

Instantly, my thoughts are of Lily.  I am sure Milina and Glynnis can handle themselves and there are extra shields on the royal floor, but I would be more comfortable having Ziri and Mellis in the suite with them. 

I know that Milina and Glynnis would give their lives for Lily.  Julia will fight to her last breath for her friend and vice versa.  And, of course, Lily has Cessa with her.  I would prefer that Kalis and five of her best men were stationed outside the suites, but Kalis still believes Lily to be dead.

I look at the two old elves and for a moment their features seem to blend together before my eyes.  I shake my head and blink, then rub at my eyes when they seem to blur.  When I look back at them, their faces are once again distinct from each other.  I must be tired, I tell myself as I get up to leave.

“Oh, Tharin, one more thing,” calls out Father.  He takes a small box from the inside of his coat, placing it on the table and slides it over to me.  He keeps his fingers on it momentarily, locking eyes with me.  He removes his hand and gruffly says, “It’s for your Lily.”

I pick up the box and open it.  I choke back the emotion threatening to overcome me at seeing my mother’s wedding ring.  It sits on pure gold silk, polished and cleaned.  It has been sitting on my father’s dresser where he left it the day my mother returned to Mother Earth.  The purest emerald from the mines of Eirrell vies with the darkest forest green of Mother Earth herself.  There it sat for years on his dresser…dusty, unmoved and untouched.  And here it is now, sparkling at me as if happy that it will be worn by the queen of the Oak Clan once again.

I close the box slowly and look at my father who seems to suddenly find a small scratch on the table very interesting.  I know that his emotions are still raw from yesterday’s anniversary, so I quietly thank him and leave the room.

As I close the door behind me, I slip the box into my coat along with my emotions and memories.  To distract myself from heading down a lane full of memories, I decide that I should speak with Alorn and prepare him with what’s to come.  I reach out for him but can’t find him nearby, so I call for Ziri.

“I’m here, Tharin,”
he answers immediately.  There seems to be an edge to his voice.

“Is everything all right?
  I ask concerned.

“Yes, everything is fine.  What’d you need?”
he replies a bit irritated. 

Whatever is going on with him, he obviously doesn’t want to talk about it. 
“There’s been some new development concerning Lily.  I need you, Alorn and Mellis to meet with me in an hour.”

His attitude changes immediately,
“Is she all right?”

“Yes…for now.  Let’s meet in about an hour in the war room.”

“Okay.  Alorn is at the stables with the viliskas.  I’ll let him know,”
he offers.

“Good.  What about Mellis, have you seen him?”

“No, but I’m sure he’s where Milina is,”
he says with a chuckle.

I let him go but I can’t help thinking about the
change between Ziri and me, knowing that it only happened because of Lily.  She bridged the gap between us that spanned over years in a matter of days of knowing him.  I knew that my life would change the night I left Velesi to bring her here.  What I didn’t know was how much good the change would be.

Lost in thoughts of Lily, I didn’t see Kalis until I literally bumped into her.  She gives me a warm smile while laughing at our abrupt meeting.  I step back but she moves in quickly hugging me tightly.  “And where are you going in such a hurry?” she asks playfully.

Feeling awkward, I pull her arms from around my waist and stand back, holding on to her hands.  “I’m looking for Tolan.  You haven’t seen him, by any chance, have you?”  It’s an obvious brush off and the fleeting look of hurt crosses her face. 

She smiles up at me, head tilt to one side, “You’ve been ignoring me, Tharin…since your return.  I thought maybe you would have at least attempted to seek me out to talk.”

I nod slowly, “You’re right.  And we do need to talk, Kalis.  With the Seating coming up and knowing that Lucas will be here during the ceremonies has kept us busy.”

“Us?”

“Tolan and me
…
and father, of course.  I mean, you know, everyone should be preparing for the gathering of the clans.  I’m sure you’ve been busy with the king’s guards.”

She nods
uncertainty in her green eyes.  “What’s wrong, Tharin?  In the short time that you knew her, did she completely steal you from me?”

Her question irritates me as she refers to Lily as a thief, but I swallow my irritation and bring her hands to my lips.  “I won’t lie to you, Kalis.  She did, as you must have known when I contacted you from Pathen.  I know it was a mistake to tell you in that way and I wanted to come home and speak to you about it personally.  And yes, in a short time I did develop feelings for Lily.”

She’s quiet for moment watching me carefully and I find myself guiltily looking away.  “But,” she starts slowly, “that’s no longer the case, right?  I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but she’s no longer in our lives.  Why is it hard for you to look beyond that and come back to me?”  Her words are sincere and I can see the emotions in her eyes. 

I let go of her hands and step back.  “I’m sorry, Kalis, it’s a difficult time for me.  I can’t turn off my feelings for her as if she meant nothing to me, because as I told you…she did.”