Soul Catcher (21 page)

Eventually, Accacia wanted to practice her new craft on Aleco, but he rejected her request. “Aleco, if I want to be proficient, it’s essential I engage with a real opponent.”

“Absolutely not,” he said.

“How else am I supposed to learn?”

“Practice with someone else,” he said. “I will not be the one who harms you.”

Accacia sheathed her black sword and gazed at Aleco. She understood him well enough to know he wouldn’t budge in his decision. She witnessed his expertise in battle and marveled at his unparalleled skill. She wondered how Aleco had become so accomplished in his abilities. “How did you train, Aleco?”

Aleco told her the tale of the excruciating experience. He had been thrown into a locked chamber, unable to flee, as other members of the guild attacked him and bloodied him into unconsciousness. He had received no formal instruction and was forced to learn to survive on his own. Months later, he finally blocked their powerful blows and returned them with vicious strikes. The real training commenced when the Chief believed he was worthy.

Accacia stared at him. “Aleco, this is very important to me,” she said. “I need you to do this.”

“No.”

“Please help me defend myself,” she said. “You have no concerns about being pinned to the floor with your legs held apart. You never have to worry about being a man’s slave. You don’t know how it feels.”

Aleco wanted to vomit at the thought. The idea of Accacia being raped made him dizzy with sickness. “I promised I would never hurt you,” he said. “I intend to keep my promise this time.”

She seized his forearms. “I release you from your oath. Please do this for me.”

Aleco watched the desperate plea in her eyes and knew she was serious. She rubbed his arms with her gentle hands, silently begging him to oblige. Aleco knew this would be a brutal experience for her, but she would be prepared for any future assault and be spared of any further pain. This knowledge convinced Aleco of his choice. “Okay.”

Accacia smiled and his heart fluttered at the sight. Aleco knew her happiness would disappear when the training began. She squeezed his arm before releasing her welcomed touch. “Thank you.”

“This is only going to happen on my terms, my way.”

“I understand,” she said.

“No, you don’t,” he snapped. “If at any time, the pain is unbearable, just say the word, and I’ll cease my advance.”

“I understand—”

“My concern is you won’t tell me when it is too much for you. I need you to swear your honesty,” he explained. “I need to trust you to speak the truth. Can I trust you?”

“Yes, of course.”

Aleco stared at her and examined her countenance for dishonesty.

She rolled her eyes. “You can trust me, Aleco.”

“I better,” he said. “Otherwise the arrangement is off.”

Accacia’s lidded eyes sagged in exhaustion, crippled from their intense training that afternoon and the laborious leagues they covered during the day, but Aleco couldn’t let her sleep.

“We have to enter the forest under the cover of darkness,” he said. They approached the border of the immense trees and Aleco looked around for the Aleutian soldiers. He didn’t see any. “Infiltrating the forest under the sun is too dangerous. We mustn’t be seen.” Aleco turned to Accacia. “We can’t make a sound. There are dozens of soldiers searching for you.”

He gazed at her hidden features within the depth of his massive cloak, which cascaded around her in layered folds, hiding her petite frame from view. She looked very warm and comfortable. Aleco felt guilty at his following request. “I need my cloak,” he said with an extended hand. “I can’t risk it.”

He noticed her crestfallen face and his remorse increased. Aleco felt like he was stealing food from a starving a child. He didn’t know which was worse: the soldiers recognizing the supposedly dead twin or spotting the escaped Accacia.

She removed the cherished jacket and returned it to him. She crossed her arms and shivered. The sight was unbearable.
“Come here,” he said.

He outstretched his arm and circled it around her waist, giving her a small respite from the cold. Accacia overcame the unwanted closeness and jumped into his warm embrace to escape the winter chill.

They crept through the dark trees towards Orgoom Forest in silence, stopping at the slightest snap of a twig or rustle of a leaf. Aleco could hear the crunch of snow under Accacia’s clumsy steps and told her to roll her heels. It was an overcast evening, deepening the forest floor into blackness. Aleco could navigate through the woods blindfolded so he steered Accacia to their destination with ease. The nightfall provided them extra cover from Drake’s soldiers and assisted in their passage. They circumvented the forest, approaching Father Giloth’s abode from the backlands of the wilds, the least watched route. Aleco held Accacia close to his heated body as they traversed through the stumps of trees. He wanted to advance at a quicker pace to get Accacia inside but he couldn’t risk the possibility of being captured, so they crept through the forest slowly.

Accacia’s entire composition shook in the freezing temperature. Every part of her body felt like a frozen piece of ice, and Aleco’s concern turned to panic. She stumbled across the snow, and without Aleco’s support, would have fallen to the ground, never to rise again. Accacia’s knees buckled beneath her and she collapsed in Aleco’s arms.

Aleco pressed his hand over her chest and felt her heartbeat, which was dangerously slow. Aleco understood her body was shutting down. Dismissing his own protection, he wrapped her inside the cloak and carried her to Asylinth House, running in haste.

They approached the back of Father Giloth’s humble home without being spotted and Aleco ran to the secret doorway the old man had constructed for him, allowing him to visit the dwelling unnoticed. The entryway was difficult to distinguish even in daylight, and in the darkness it was almost impossible, but the urgency of Accacia’s receding health spurred Aleco to
quicken his pace. Aleco located the passage and they entered the invisible doorway.

Aleco had no time to scout the house and investigate
who was residing within the shelter. He carried Accacia upstairs to the guestroom, his former bedroom, and filled the bathtub with cold water. He returned downstairs to retrieve hot rocks from the roaring hearth and deposited them into the water. When steam floated from the surface of the bathtub, he removed Accacia’s clothes and placed her within the tub. He secured her head above the rim with a pillow.

Aleco succumbed to the weakness of desire and gazed at the alluring curves of her disrobed figure then forced himself to look away, ashamed at his indecent thoughts during her vulnerable state. He placed a blanket over the top of the tub to hide her nudity from view. Now he wouldn’t be tempted to look at her. Aleco pulled a chair next to her and waited.

After an hour, Aleco assessed her heartbeat, which had picked up significantly, and estimated that the temperature of her skin had returned to normal. Aleco sighed in relief.

He dried her body with a clean towel and tucked her into the
four poster bed, pulling the swan feather sheets over her inactive form, enclosing the warmth of the blankets around her.

Debilitated from their chaotic peril, he laid his sore frame on the floor and closed his eyes. Unconsciously, he wrapped his arm across his chest, holding onto something he wished was truly there.

Orgoom Forest

26

Accacia sat up in bed the following morning and looked at her surroundings in confusion, unsure of her location. It took her a moment to realize they were in her childhood home. How they made it there, Accacia couldn’t recall. The last moment she could remember was trekking through the forest towards the house, in the freezing snow, with no protection from winter’s malicious bite.

Accacia stood up and realized she was naked, which bewildered her even further. She searched for her clothes and spotted them laying on the floor with Aleco sleeping alongside them. Anger flooded her body as she contemplated what had transpired the night before. Accacia was angry the first time Aleco had undressed her, but now she was furious. Now that he had violated her trust and physically abused her, she had no tolerance for his obvious disrespect.

The sound of her dressing awoke Aleco. He sat up and rubbed his temples with his fingers, fighting a morning migraine. His voice was raspy. “How are you feeling,
Accacia?” He had no idea Accacia was upset with him; he had done nothing wrong.

The inferno blazed in her emerald eyes. “Why am I
always
naked when I wake up with you?

Aleco looked at her in disbelief. He saved her life again, and had done it so many times that he couldn’t recall the number, and she accused him of some perverted motive? Aleco controlled his anger from escaping into his tone. “You collapsed on me in the woods. You were practically dead,” he said. “I carried you to the house, dropped your ungrateful ass into the tub of warm water, and then tucked you nicely into bed. If I hadn’t done so, you wouldn’t be here to argue something so petty.”

He rose to his feet and stared at her. “I removed your clothes to
save your life
! If I wanted to violate you, I would have done it already. I could have had you as many times as I wanted. I may have hurt you in the past, but I’ve never assaulted you and have given you no reason to suspect I ever would.”

The fire in her eyes dimmed as he spoke. He hoped she felt guilty about her unfounded accusation. It was obvious he wanted her but he would only take her if the feeling
was mutual.

“This may come as a surprise to you,” he said, “but I like my women both willing and awake.”

Accacia crossed her arms over her chest and looked down, unsure how to react to his declaration. He looked at her and waited for her to say something, anything. When she remained mute, he dismissed himself.

“I’ll let myself out,” he said.

Aleco stepped towards the bedroom door and she grabbed his arm. “I apologize, Aleco,” she said. “I am grateful for what you did. Thank you.”

Aleco smiled. “You’re very welcome,” he mimicked Father Giloth.

Accacia chuckled at his impersonation.

“But you don’t need to thank me. I will always take care of you, Accacia,” he said. “You can trust me.”

Accacia dropped her smile and looked away, uncomfortable with his choice of words. “You should go,” she said.

“Please, Accacia.” He sighed. “Can we return to the way we were? Not as lovers, but as friends?”

“No,” she said. “When a stone grinds into sand, it can never become a rock again. The process is irreversible. I never want to speak of this again, Aleco. So please drop it.”

Aleco’s heart fell from his chest and dropped into his stomach. Accacia looked around the room, gazing at anything but him. She tightened her arms across her chest, cutting him off from any possible contact with her. Accacia turned her back to his forlorn expression and sat at the edge of the bed, waiting for him to leave the guestroom. Aleco had been tortured, physically bashed into unconsciousness, and broken beyond repair by the horrifying experiences he’d witnessed, but this rejection hurt
more than all of them—combined. “I know you’ve been through a lot with Drake. I understand what a corrupt fiend he is. I know what he put you through was inexplicable, but you can’t let it consume you like this,” he said. “You need to let it go and move on—”

“You’re one to talk about moving on,” she said.

“It’s not the same thing,” he snapped. “You have a chance to be happy. I never will.”

Aleco stared at her. “I realize it hasn’t been much time to process your pain, but stop assuming every man
is like him. Stop assuming
I’m
like him simply because I look like him. You’re punishing me for deeds I did not commit. I have done so many great things for you, but you don’t see any of that. You just see the momentary sliver of anger that shined through.”

Accacia sighed. “You don’t understand,” she said. “It’s not just what you did, Aleco. If you want, I can tell you, or better yet, I can show you, if it will help explain it.”

“What do you mean?”

“To show you why I can’t be with you; why I can’t let you in.”

“You want to show me a memory?”

“If it will help,” she said.

“Tell me what it is first.”

“Very well,” she said. “The first night I was captured by the duke he raped me, a transgression that may have no meaning to you, but was scarring nonetheless.” Of course it had meaning to him. Just the image in his mind made him insane with rage. “Anyway, when it was—happening, he squeezed my arms by my side, bruising them with his strength as he overpowered me, just as you did, and the look in his eye—it’s just too similar. When I look at you, I see him. It’s unfair, yes I know it is, but it’s the truth. How can I be with someone I am terrified of?”

“I don’t want to see the memory,” he said as he dropped his gaze. “Accacia, I understand your feelings, but they will go away eventually. You can’t ignore your feelings for me because of what some maniac did to you.”

“Yes, I can, Aleco, because I have
no
feelings for you,” she said. “I was simply caught in the moment when I thought you would meet your end. I wanted to return your affection as a last comfort.” Accacia wanted to destroy any hope he had for something happening between them. She knew she could never look past his identical features. She didn’t know how she felt for Aleco, but she knew she would never release her hate for Drake.

He saw the light of her eyes dim in despair. He recognized that look along with the sound of her voice. “I don’t know why you even bother,” he said. “Say whatever you want to make this easier, Accacia, but I recognize this for what it is: a lie.”

Aleco left her room and shut the door behind him. He entered the study and helped himself to a filled canter of brandy, despite the early morning light, downing it like water. It was hidden in the herb cabinet for some reason. Father Giloth entered the study in his night robe and was not surprised by Aleco’s unexpected appearance. He spotted the decanter he thought he had hidden so well.

Father Giloth sat behind his wooden desk. “Isn’t it a little early for such a beverage?” he asked with disapproval.

“Not for me,” Aleco said. He finished the contents of the glass and refilled it.

Father Giloth watched his movements and studied his depressed demeanor. He knew something was different. “You seem more grim than usual, Aleco,” he said.

Aleco ignored his comment. “Tell Natalia to prepare Asylinth Cottage. I’m going to stay there for the time being.”

“May I ask why?”

“No, you may not. Is there anything you need to tell me before I go?”

Father Giloth was quiet for a moment, silently pondering Aleco’s changed behavior. “Actually, I do need to speak with you, but I need to speak with Accacia also. I presume she is here as well?”

Aleco shattered the glass in his hand. “
Yes
,” he said.

Now the old man knew the cause of his behavior. “Well, I will give you a day of rest before we have our discussion. It is comprised of arduous material.”

“Where are the soldiers?” Aleco asked.

“They are patrolling the border. I had the joyous experience of them examining every inch of every shelter within the forest, until they were certain that Accacia was nowhere to be found. Now, they are guarding the border, no one enters or departs without their knowledge.”

Aleco laughed to himself.

“You should be safe in Asylinth Cottage. If they have any reason to speak with me, they will come here and I will keep Accacia out of sight until she leaves.”

“I sincerely hope you’ve found a new escort,” he said.

“What happened between the pair of you?”

Aleco ignored his question. “Tell Accacia that at midday, every day, we will continue our lessons, if she wishes,” he said. “I will meet her behind the cottage.”

Aleco rose from his chair and walked to the hidden door. “Would you like some breakfast before you leave?” Father Giloth asked.

Aleco shut the door behind him. His attitude and behavior had always been dark and forlorn, but Father Giloth had never seen him so wounded. He couldn’t imagine what Accacia had done to destroy Aleco’s already broken spirit. He was certain it wasn’t intentional.

Father Giloth heard sounds in the hallway and recognized Accacia’s beautiful voice. He left his study in search of her. Accacia’s comely face lit with joy at the sight of him and she fell into his warm embrace, welcoming the feeling of home. Father Giloth kissed her on the forehead.

“How are you, my dear?”

“I’m very happy to be back,” she said as she hugged Natalia, who returned the gesture with enthusiasm. Natalia had been in Accacia’s life since she was a small child, and she was as important a figure as Father Giloth. “I’m going to cook up some
breakfast,” she said. “How does maple walnut pancakes sound?”

“It sounds delicious, Natalia.” She smiled. It was her favorite meal.

They sat in the dining room and discussed Accacia’s trip, which she omitted most of due to the content. They refrained from discussing her years of imprisonment with the duke, because Accacia didn’t want to speak about those horrifying experiences, and she was certain Father Giloth couldn’t bear to hear them.

Accacia looked at the vacant chair across from her and noticed Aleco’s absence. Father Giloth observed her gaze and answered her unspoken question. “Aleco requested to stay in Asylinth Cottage. He wanted me to tell you that you can continue your lessons every day, at midday, if you still wish to.”

Accacia looked down at her half-eaten pancakes, her appetite suddenly gone. She poked a lone walnut on her plate with her fork, her eyes downturned to her work.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Accacia didn’t look at him. “There is nothing to say, really.”

Father Giloth watched her in silence for a moment. He never pushed anyone into divulging information they were uncomfortable discussing, so it made his advice more difficult to give. “Accacia, as far as I am concerned, you are my daughter,” he said. “I have loved you like a father from the moment I first saw you, held you. You are one of the most important people in my life.” She smiled at his moving confession. “But I also feel this way about my son, Aleco.”

Accacia looked at him. She already understood their familial relationship and knew Aleco was his nephew, but since Father Giloth hoarded this knowledge, she assumed he didn’t want her to know about it. So she sat there quietly and listened.

“Yes, I consider Aleco as good as a son. I realize that is difficult for you to believe, since you never saw him as you aged, but that doesn’t make it untrue. I love him like my own child, and I will stand by him forever.

“I don’t know what happened between the two of you, Aleco wouldn’t comment on it, but I sincerely hope the two of you can work it out. He is a good man, Accacia. He just has—issues at times.”