Shay kissed her boyfriend Josh goodnight and watched him walk back to his car. He started the engine and was soon out of sight. Shay opened the door and stepped inside the house. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
In a moment she would go upstairs to bed, but for now she just wanted to be still in the world and wanted the world to be still too. There were so many thoughts in her mind and she desperately longed for her mother. She had always been able to talk freely with her mother who had always been there for her. Shay sat down on the stairs and sighed, deep in thought.
Shay’s mother, Rhian, had always seemed to know the answers to her problems. She had always had time to listen and seemed to have an unfathomable depth of knowledge when it came to her questions and perceived problems.
She glanced to her
On impulse, Shay stood and crossed to the study. She did not knock but tried the door. It was unlocked. She opened it. Andy was seated at his desk in front of his computer. The screen reflected off his glasses and for a moment he looked like he had two silver coins over his eyes.He did not look up from his computer. After all, who else would be in the house this time of night other than Shay?“Hi Dad,” Shay greeted trying to sound cheerful.“Hi Princess.” Andy replied still looking at his computer screen.“I didn’t hear any hurricane warnings tonight,” Shay said as she eyed he papers scattered around the room.“I’ll pick that up just now. I lost a manuscript and got carried away searchin
They fell into an intense cold. They seemed to fall a long time during which Shay never stopped screaming. The sense of falling terrified her. She was sure they were falling to their death as the wind rushed past them.Then, suddenly, they landed heavily on the ground. Shay’s scream ceased abruptly as her breath was knocked from her. She sucked in air again as soon as the pain of her collision with the ground passed. Andy was quiet and her first thought was of him as soon as she could breathe again.“Dad!” Shay sat up and looked down at her father. He was unconscious. She placed her hand on his chest and felt for his heartbeat while she listened for his breath. He was breathing. Alive. She sighed with relief. Then she searched for his wound. Her hand found the sticky wetness by his side. He was losing blood.She
Prince Fiere poured himself a flagon of wine and opened the doors which led out onto the balcony of his chambers. He breathed in the fresh night air and took in the peace and solitude of the cool evening.The day had passed mostly uneventfully following their arrival early in the morning. He had decided to leave Shay alone for the day but had regular reports sent to him and Meerde reported on Andy’s progress. Andy was in a stable condition but his wound would take longer to heal than Meerde had originally thought the day before.Fiere had met his father, King Mayle, briefly during the day. Fiere had given a full account to his father regarding the discovery of Shay and her father in the forest. He informed his father that Meerde was attending to the girl’s father who was wounded and that they would be staying at the keep until her father recovered.
The next day passed uneventfully for Shay. Fiere did not return but Meerde had checked in on Andy three times and assured her everything was fine.Shay had passed the time reading Andy’s book or sitting next to him and talking to him in his unconscious state.After dinner in their chambers and a bath the evening before, Shay had continued reading and had fallen asleep, more from exhaustion as opposed to choice.She woke confused and anxious before she recalled where she was. The book lay open on her lap and she quickly recalled where she had read up to. Prince Fiere was in the book but he was making his journey from the province of Eldrom after dealing with a border skirmish between tribes in the small village of Arstor.Shay was technically behind the curve in the story since it
Shay was tired but sleep eluded her. Her mind spun from her meeting with her mother. Try as she might she could not understand how her mother might change so much. There was no telling when Andy would wake. And now, more than ever, she needed him to wake up so she could tell him about this. She did not wish to stress him with the truth of their situation but she doubted she had any choice. There was no time to waste. Until then she had only one option. She fetched the book from the chair where she had fallen asleep the night before. There might be something in the book which could give her insight into her mother’s change. After all her mother was now, she believed, a character in the book.Shay tried to flip forward from where she had read up to the night before but found herself reading every word for fear of missing anything. She found mention of Lady Maica and the marriage with Fiere’s father. There wa
Josh was stunned when he received Shay’s text message the last evening he saw her. Feelings rushed through him one after another so quickly he could not separate them and then it felt as if they all collided creating an emotional holocaust. It felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach and he struggled to recover his breath while someone cut his heart from his chest as he watched. He felt sick and thought he would vomit while he wished the earth would swallow him up there and then if it wasn’t already doing so. It was as if he was on a long stretch of road in the dark and the road had suddenly ended. There was nothing ahead except a bottomless chasm. No way forward. Nothing. Just pitch black blackness.Josh read the message over and over trying to understand what had happened. Shay had been herself and there had been nothing to suggest there was anything wrong between them.
At the bottom of the stairs he turned right and walked over to the study. He paused a moment before entering. Then he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The door swung open silently revealing more of the room as it opened on its arc. Josh froze.The room was in the biggest mess of all. There was paper everywhere. Cupboard doors and cabinets had been opened and their contents swept onto the floor. Andy’s computer and screen lay on the floor. Both smashed. Josh entered the room in stunned silence. As he rounded the desk he saw stains on the carpet. He knelt down and looked closer. He almost touched the stains to check if it was what he had imagined then stopped himself. He grabbed a tissue from a box on the floor and dabbed it on a stain. It came away red. Blood. Without a doubt. But who’s blood was it?A chill ran down his spine as he realized that the
Maica closed her chamber doors and waited for Algwad who arrived shortly after she sent for him. Her long black hair flowed down her back, straight and free and she ran her hands through it as she pondered what to do.She was troubled by the arrival of the girl and her father. She did not believe in coincidences and knew she had to act fast. She could not have the girl and her father killed or even thrown in the dungeon without news getting to Mayle. He would most likely delay the wedding if it came to his attention. Anything which might suggest that the wedding could be disrupted or was not secure, would make him delay the wedding. Royalty from surrounding kingdoms would attend the wedding and Mayle needed to be able to assure them of their safety. If anything happened which placed the guests in danger the kingdom would possibly be faced with war and Mayle would do all he could to avoid such a situation from occurrin