Bound
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Chapter One
A child's terrified screams echoed through the still night air, sending Tadan Lyons into a minor panic. He slowly looked around the small but opulent bedroom that they had provided for his use; He let out a short laugh, and ran his fingers through his short dark blonde hair. He hadn't been provided with anything - he was nothing but a glorified prisoner, one that almost everyone seemed to be afraid of. He didn't understand any of this fear, this speculation. He just wanted to get through a single night without dreaming.
He stood up and walked over to the window, placing his head against the cool glass and watched as the Guards went about their duties. At one point, he would have been down there with the rest of his kind - The Tiwaz - proud to do his duty. Yet he had to be marked, had to be given the gift of the Gods - a gift that was supposedly only given to the Feoh. This had caused his entire clan to shun him, to treat him like some sort of leper. It had also brought up the story of his birth and the fact that no one was quite positive about his parentage. He looked nothing like the rest of his clan with his dark blonde hair, golden brown eyes, and lanky but muscular build. The old beggar woman had said he was a member of the Feoh Royal clan, but everyone knew that she was crazy.
A small part of him felt that she wasn’t really crazy, that she was just pretending. He knew that it wasn't just looks that made him different from his clan. His entire existence, his outlook, was dependent on his ability to convince others that he wanted the same things that they wanted. Sometimes he felt that he had no choice that he had to live his life this way – isolated from all that he loved, uncertain of what each day will bring.
He growled and stalked over to the lavishly appointed black marble bathroom, turning the hot water on full blast. He stripped off his midnight blue silk trousers, tossing them into the general direction of the bed, not glancing at the scars that crossed his back.
He knew that the scars were intimidating to most people, those that weren’t already intimidated by his somewhat fierce demeanor. He found it weird that his younger sisters, Caedie Rain and Kierlie Skye, weren’t bothered the slightest bit bothered by his tempers or any other mood that came across his mind. They were the main reason that he had agreed to come stay at the University, so that the professors could learn about his gifts and help him learn to control them. He wanted this control more than he had ever wanted anything in his life, almost more than he wanted to find out the truth about his past and the thought that he was missing a part of himself.
He stepped into the steaming hot shower, and watched as his skin turned a pale pink followed by a bright rosy red. He knew that he could practically scald his skin off in the shower, but nothing would make a difference. He only knew of one weapon, one item that caused a significant amount of damage and that was the one that had made the scars on his back. A small part of him realized that this was the main reason that the Government was so interested in what he could do. They wanted to create an army of invincible soldiers – ones that couldn’t be destroyed by modern-day weapons. Or they wanted to destroy his DNA completely so that no other country could do the same thing.
He stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and rubbing a hand across the steam-covered mirror. He stared at this reflection of himself, not seeing it but the creature that haunted his dreams.
He whirled around, quickly bringing himself under control when he heard panicked breathing at the door of his suite. He stalked across the floor, throwing the door open to discover an identical set of girls, that appeared to be about the same age as Caedie Rain and Kierlie Skye. A set of girls that looked remarkably similar to the features that he had been studying in the mirror a scant five minutes ago. They had the same hair color, the same eye color, even the same pattern of freckles across their cheeks. Tadan was sure that they were all related to one another, but he couldn’t begin to understand how.
“Are you Tadan Lyons,” asked the girl dressed in a dusky blue silk tunic.
“What if I am,” replied Tadan, leaning against the door frame.
“Then we are related. I’m Amalia, and this is Aurelia,” she answered, gesturing towards the girl standing next to her.
“We’re what,” said Tadan, stepping backwards toward the bed.
“Brother and sister,” replied Amalia, “that means we have the same parents.”
“I know what it means, but how could this be,” said Tadan, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Well, when a girl and a guy want to show…” began Amalia.
“That’s enough,” said Aurelia softly. “He doesn’t know anything about our family or how to find Jadan.”
“Whoa, wait a minute. What family are you talking about? Is there something the matter with Caedie Rain and Kierlie Skye? Who is Jadan,” wondered Tadan, pushing his fingers through his still-damp hair.
Aurelia studied their older brother, and realized that his apparent amnesia was probably due to the scars on his back than his loss of contact with Jadan. She knew that their Mother would be able to heal the scars completely, and that she had felt the same way when Amalia was in the hospital in a coma. She felt like she was going to die and she had been at home with their parents who knew how to deal with their special gifts.
“Am,” said Aurelia, softly.
Amalia glanced over at her sister, curious about what was bothering her. She could usually tell, but something was keeping her from reading her sisters thoughts completely.
“Do you remember when you were in the hospital,” said Aurelia.
“No, but Mother said that I probably wouldn’t remember anything about those events,” replied Amalia, with a concerned glance at her twin.
“Oh, I was thinking that we should’ve tried to find Jadan first. She would know what had happened,” answered Aurelia, sadly.
“But Malachi said for us to go to Tadan, that we would need his powers to rescue Jadan.”
Aurelia laid her head against the cold glass, and watched as the guards paced around the courtyard. She couldn’t belief that one of her family members could handle being constantly watched, constantly told what to do and say. She could feel Amalia trying to communicate with her, and she felt the pressure of Amalia’s frustrations building up in her own head. She knew that she was going to go into a trance, and be of no help to her twin once again. She laid her palm against the window, and listened as the clock tower chimed the hour.
“How can we convince him that we’re telling the truth,” Aurelia said quietly, as her sister put her arm around her, leaning her head on her shoulder.
“I have no idea,” said Amalia.
A voice spoke up behind them, causing them to jump.
“Don’t you know that it’s rude to talk about someone behind their back,” said Tadan, as he tugged on a slate grey tunic.
“It’s rude to talk about people behind their back,” answered Amalia, as she spun around to face their brother. “You heard what we were saying.”
“Um, yeah...you were talking out loud,” Tadan answered with a weird look on his handsome face.
Amalia looked over at Aurelia to see what she thought about this latest piece of information, and discovered that she was in one of her trances. She knew that she alone had to convince Tadan to come back to Laurunius with them quickly. Aurelia could only remain in a trance for five days before they were both comatose. She tugged on her braid and studied their older brother. She did not know how much he could be trusted, or how much that he truly knew about himself and his powers. Amalia was the one that could view the true essence of a person, while she was the one that protected the both of them. She closed her eyes, and tried to think of how Amalia would react in this situation. She chuckled when she realized that Amalia would have never been in this situation, Amalia would have noticed that her twin was slipping into the Other Land and done something to keep it from happening.
“Hey, are you okay,” said Tadan, studying the girl by the window.
He knew that people didn’t stand in one place, barely breathing, if there wasn’t something the matter. He just didn’t know what he was expected to do, or why he had surprised them…himself when he entered into their conversation. He could have sworn that they were speaking out loud, but they had acted as if they were speaking a language that he couldn’t have understood. He raked his fingers through his hair, and glanced over at the other girl.
“Right now, she is fine,” replied Aurelia, with an anxious glance at her sister.
“Right now? What about 20 minutes from now, or even 2 weeks from now,” said Tadan, as he paced around the room and put on warmer clothing.
“Well, I am not exactly sure about 2 weeks, but she should technically be okay in 20 minutes. I mean, she'll still be in a trance state but she won't be much closer to dying," replied Aurelia, quietly.
“Did you just say much closer to dying,” said Tadan, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the suite’s door.
“Well yes,” answered Aurelia, “You see I need to get her home to our mother. She is a healer, and then she should be fine. But…”
“But you do not have the strength to carry her, is that correct,” asked Tadan, slipping on a pair of sturdy leather boots.
“That is correct,” said Aurelia, “and I cannot ask you to carry her for me. It is a long journey, and they will notice that you are gone, eventually.”
“The two of you made the journey, did you not? As for them noticing that I am gone, well, I guess that it will give the guards something to do beyond standing around doing nothing,” Tadan said with a shrug.
“Yes, the two of us made the journey but we did not have to walk the entire way. We will have to walk, as my powers are diminished when Amelia is sick and I imagine that you are unaware of your particular gifts,” answered Aurelia.
“My gifts,” said Tadan, “are nothing more than a curse, and I would gladly get rid of them.”
“A curse,” said Aurelia in disbelief, “surely you don’t really believe that.”
“Does it truly matter what I believe about them,” asked Tadan. “We need to get going before they turn out the lights.”
“Darkness does not matter. It will help us in our journey,” replied Aurelia, as she sat on the end of the bed.
“Do we not need to gather supplies, and other things for our journey,” said Tadan.
“We do not need to do anything. I need to stay here and try to contact my family, letting them know what is going on. I suppose that if you feel the need, you can gather some extra clothing for all of us, a bit of food, and maybe some gold for bribes.”
Tadan glared at Aurelia, and stomped out of the room. He decided to head towards the kitchens, and visit Johiel. She was always willing to give him a bit extra to eat, and she would be willing to help him with this journey that he was about to begin.
Aurelia stood on the other side of the door, and listened as Tadan stomped down the hall. She still wasn’t sure that she was able to trust him, and she desperately needed to talk to Amelia. She walked over to the room’s fireplace, and set about making a fire. She hoped that she had the strength to communicate with her family, or someone in the community, and tell them that they had found Tadan but Amelia was sick. She also had to tell them that they would be traveling on foot, and that the return journey would be much more difficult.
She breathed a sigh of relief, when the fire caught and the image of her Mom in her apothecary appeared. She was busy preparing a mixture for Gabrielle, who was expecting her first child. The whole community was anxious to see what gifts the child would have, if it would have the same gifts as most in the community or if the child would have the gift needed to rescue the country from the Naudiz.
“Mom,” said Aurelia, quietly.
“Oh,” replied Serpha, as she turned around. “Where is Amalia?”
“She is catatonic, and Tadan does not seem to believe what we have told him. However, he has agreed to help me get Amalia home.”
“I see, and have you discovered what his gifts are. Are they the ones that will help us to fight for our freedom?”
“He says that his gifts are a curse, and that he is unwilling to use them. I do not know how I am going to convince him otherwise.”
“He says that his gifts are a curse, and that he is unwilling to use them. I do not know how I am going to convince him otherwise.”
“I know that you will do your best, Aurelia, and that you know what is at stake. He will want to bring a Jera with him. She will be beneficial on your journey, despite the fact that her kind has anger toward our people for not rescuing them. She will not hold this against you, and she has not held it against Tadan. You will need to make a salve of mullein, scarlet geranium, dragon’s egg, and lavender within three days. Apply it to Amalia’s pulse points, to keep her heart beating, on a daily basis until you reach the Verchiel River
posted by Jessica Mezo # 2:47 PM 
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