Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (51 page)

He stepped to the side and for the hundredth time my eyes saw beauty I had never dreamed possible.

We were in the very top of the tree, well above the canopy that sheltered the world below. A few branches of the tree grew out to touch the leaves of neighboring trees. Others grew inward, intertwining together to create a sheltered little nook in the top of tree. It was our own tree house, high in the air where no one could see.

I walked to the edge of the branches, holding onto the sturdy arm of one as I peered out onto an endless horizon. The sky was painted with sunset hues of hot pink, bright purple, brilliant orange and dusky blue. As far as my eyes could see, the tops of trees, similar to ours, rolled into the horizon like mountaintops, every treetop painted a different color by the canvas of clouds in the sunset-colored sky.

Dayne appeared beside me. I let go of the branch and held on to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and snuggling my head against his chest when his arm curved over my shoulder.

“And what is this magical place?” I sighed and didn’t take my eyes off the beauty before me.

“This is where we come when we need some privacy.” His chin bobbed on the top of my head as he spoke.

“That’s why you knocked?”

He nodded his head. “It’s kinda like a ‘do not disturb’ sign. The tree won’t open if someone is already here.”

“So, this is normally where Sidhe come to…” My voice trailed off when I thought about why Sidhe would need to be alone.

“Something like that,” he said easily as he tried to keep the smile from his face. My cheeks blushed hot pink like the sky in front of us. That night on his kitchen table he had said he wouldn’t take my innocence until it was officially his. Feeling the bracelet clutching my wrist, I was pretty sure I was officially his as far as Sidhe were concerned.

“Is that why you brought me here?” I asked, suddenly very flustered by the situation.

“Is that why you want me to have brought you here?” He said as he turned me to him. The smile he was trying to keep away now spread widely across his face.

“I…” My eyes went wide and I frantically looked all around us, stalling as I thought about his question. I didn’t really know what I wanted. Of course, I wanted Dayne. I had wanted him ever since I knew I could have him, but now that it could actually be a reality, the fear of it froze me in my tracks.

I hadn’t noticed before, but lush, lamb-ear leaves bowed low and formed a bed in the middle of two huge branches where a soft drape of woven vines covered it like a blanket. I guess this place was much better for such things than a kitchen table, but I had suddenly lost my nerve.

I gulped loudly and shied away from him like a scared bunny.

“I’m just kidding, Faye,” he said from where he still stood. “This isn’t the place for that either. Even if it was, you aren’t ready, and I respect that.”

Relief washed over me when I heard his words. I turned back to him.

“Dayne, I’m sorry…I do want to.” I picked nervously at my fingers afraid he might be angry at me for refusing him now when I had been so insistent about things happening before. “It’s just that...” he interrupted me before I could finish my thought.

“Don’t ever apologize to me for that.” His finger was over my lips, silencing my useless apology. “You forget who I am. Nothing is more beautiful to me than your innocence. Sex is a pleasure of the flesh, it can be as inconsequential as a handshake. True love is a haven for the heart, and not something everyone is lucky enough to find.” I took a deep breath and offered him a weak smile, oddly embarrassed that he so obviously loved and respected my innocence more than I did. He shook his head in an easy way, and twirled a golden curl through his fingers.

“I….” Words failed me, because what is a girl supposed to say to something like that? I was struck to dumb staring once again, focusing in a trace-like way on his pillow soft lips. His hand flexed in the small of my back, pulling me closer to him, and his velvety pink lips closed over mine.

The kiss was so soft, so warm, so soothing it melted my body over his, and I felt as if I could have fallen asleep right there.

“You should rest. I don’t know what time will bring.” He pulled away and scooped my exhausted body up in his strong arms.

“Is it still that uncertain, Dayne?” I yawned, and curled into his chest.

“Nothing is certain here except for us. We’ll get through this one way or the other together, I promise.” He carried me over to the bed of leaves. I removed the ribbons from my hair and the key to our cottage from around my neck and hung them on a branch nearby.

I spread my hair out beneath me to form a pillow and lay back against the leaves. To my surprise, they were softer than my bed back home. When Dayne snuggled around my body—just as he always had in my dreams— I drifted easily off to sleep, no longer needing my fantasies of him...I had the real thing.

I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke I found Dayne had already retrieved all-fruit and leaves full of delicious water from the tree of life.

“How did you sleep?” He asked when he heard me stir.

“Great,” I said as I stretched and gave him a sleepy little smile.

“The bells have sounded. We will learn our fate soon.”

“Bells?” Dread sucker punched my stomach.

“Yes, Mother sounds the bells to summon the people of LisTirna, but we have a while, people will be traveling in from all over for this. I am sure the news of our arrival has spread far and wide by now.” It was much too early to be dealing with issues as heavy as one’s eternal fate. My heart sank at the thought of what my life might become in a few short hours. “Don’t worry.” He shook his head and waved a hand in the air. “It’s going to be fine.”

I believed him. It was a lot more pleasant than listening to the fear echoing around my insides.

We ate breakfast and made our way down the tree trunk to the world below. We had just climbed out of the roots when I realized my key wasn’t around my neck.

“I’ll get it,” Dayne volunteered when I remembered I had hung it on a branch beside our bed. “Stay here.”

In an instant he was gone, and I was alone in his world. My eyes never failed to wonder at the beauty around me. Flowering vines hung down from the low branches of the massive trees, winding around each other as they made their way to the forest floor, over flowing with orchid like blooms in every color of Crayola pink.

The flowers reflected in the mirrored bark of the huge trees. Under my feet soft moss mixed with the cool green grass and cushioned my soles as I walked over and took one of the blossoms in my hand. Bowing my head to the blossom, I closed my eyes and lost myself in the delicious fragrance.

When I had filled my lungs with the sweet scent, I pulled away, and a familiar little white face stared back at me through the bushes. It was Cotton, turning his head to the side as he looked at me like he always did.

“What are you doing, Dayne?” I asked the little white dog, wondering why in the world he was pretending to be a dog in this world. The happy little face panted as he gazed up at me. He barked once and pounced at my feet as if trying to play. I bent down to pet him and he scampered away from me, disappearing into the bushes at the base of the tree.

“Hey, wait! You know I can’t run that fast!” I called after him. I didn’t even think twice about following him, assuming this was some new sort of game he was playing with me. I charged into the underbrush after him, following only the sounds of rustling bushes and a path of swaying leaves as he ran before me.

When I popped out into another clearing, I expected to see Dayne. But I didn’t.

Instead I saw him. The same ice cold eyes that had haunted my dreams for weeks now glared at me in real life. A dangerous smile played on his lips and he stared at me with slanted, snake–like eyes, enjoying the fear that crawled up my spine when the recognition sparked in my brain.

Seeing him in the flesh made the entire memory Dayne had washed from my brain flash before my eyes. It played through my mind in fast forward. I saw Dayne defending me as this man tried to take me away, just like he had Christine. Now he was standing before me, and Dayne was nowhere near. I knew that he wouldn’t take no for an answer this time. I knew I was looking death in the face.

I turned to run back to Dayne and quickly realized I didn’t know where that was.

“Not so fast, Faye. I think I have something you want.” His sickening voice reached my ears before I could take the first step.

“Faye? Faye is that you?” I heard the sugary sweet lilt of Christine’s voice, and knew I couldn’t leave her.

Timidly, fearfully, I slowly turned around to find Christine making her way out of the woods toward where I stood, her innocent smile and warm eyes welcoming me as they always had.

“That’s right, you can come closer. I’m not going to hurt you. I told you that day at Ennishlough I could make you just as happy as Christine. Doesn’t she look happy to you?” I looked at Christine. Of course, she looked happy. Her beautiful smile spread over her cheeks and her eyes had the soft focus of a daydream that put the rest of her face and body into a blissfully relaxed posture. But I knew it wasn’t real. “Are you happy, Christine?” He asked her as if she were a lap dog instead of a girl. He held her tightly by the upper arm as he guided her between us.

“I am happy,” she said in a whispered voice as she stepped between us and looked at my eyes without focusing on them. The man grabbed her other arm and pushed her hands out to me. Instinctively, I reached up and clung to them both in a helpless way.

“Christine,” I pleaded as I shook her hands and tried to get her to break out of the spell she was obviously under. She only tilted her head and continued smiling at me, which was starting to get a little creepy.

“You know, you could trade places with her,” the man offered. His head hung over her shoulder as he talked to me. He was no longer the putrid man I remembered from that horrible afternoon. Sapphire blue had returned to his sparkling eyes and the reek of decaying forest no longer clung to him. He was refreshed, revived in some way, and I knew immediately he had breathed the innocent breath of Christine’s pure soul. I looked from her innocent face back to the dangerous smile playing on his lips as he hung over her shoulder. How much more could she take? How much longer before he used her up?

“How do I do that?” My voice cracked as I asked, knowing I had to do something to save Christine from this world since I had failed her in ours. I was stronger than her, and I had magic where she had none. If I took her place, I could probably find a way out of it. Dayne had told me how great my power was. If I could figure out how to use it, I could save us all.

“All you have to do is promise to stay with me forever. Once you give your word, you are bound and Christine will be free.” He made it all sound so easy.

“What will happen to her?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off of Christine. She stood there, still staring at me, but not focused on anything, as if she were as inanimate as the forest around us. She didn’t have a clue I was bargaining for her eternal fate at this moment. That was probably a good thing. She didn’t need that memory.

“She will be put back where she came from and remember nothing. I think your people call it amnesia,” he said as he glanced back to her and ran a finger down her silky white cheek. “It’s a pity I can’t keep you both–she’s so sweet,” he licked his lips at the thought of her. “I should probably thank Dayne for refusing to let me take you that night. I would have passed this tasty little morsel by. She’s been a very good sport.” He reached down and kissed the delicate skin of her neck.

“Stop it!” I screamed as I watched his lips brush across her ear. I knew Christine had never willingly even kissed a boy, and now she was standing before me allowing this man to do who knows what to her body. This wasn’t her, this wasn’t who she was, but under his spell she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t tell him no. My voice echoed around the clearing, startling us both with the anger in my words.

I gritted my jaw and closed my eyes. The warmth of Christine’s hands in my own made my decision easy, and I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t leave her here. I couldn’t let this happen to her. That much, I owed her.

“I will…” I couldn’t say the words. They choked in my throat as my tongue swelled and refuse to release the words that would seal my fate. I cleared my throat. “I…” Again, my throat closed up and nothing but a gasping breath escaped. I looked down at his greedy hand digging into the soft flesh of Christine’s arm. His other hand circled around her waist and began to snake its way up to her breast. I wanted to scream out for her. I knew she would rather never kiss a boy for her entire life than to have this man’s creepy hands roaming over her body. Yet through it all, her sweet face danced before me as if she were the happiest girl in the world.