Prophecy

My diaphragm contracted sharply.

A strong arm caught me about my waist and pulled me back to the ground. I fell heavily and my elbow scraped against the rough concrete around the pool.

I got up swiftly and was about to jump again but he’d reacted much quicker and planted himself firmly in front of me. “Summer what are you doing?” he huffed. His face was hard and tiny beads of sweat had started forming on his forehead.

“You have to let me do this.” I said struggling to pass him.

“No, no I won’t let you do this.” he said grabbing hold of my flailing wrists.

“Ouch!” I croaked.

“I am sorry,” he said loosening his hold and examining my hand. “Summer what happened to your hand and to your face?” he asked more alarmed, brushing his hand gently down my cheek, which still had a few raw pain nerve endings zapping signals to my brain.

“You have to let me do this Thorn.” I tried pushing pass him again, but that was a bust, as he grabbed me around my waist and lifted me away from the pool side.

He planted me down on a long wooden bench in front of the sports complex. He came and sat beside me, with my hands in his, but he was more careful not to agitate my wrist too much.

“Summer, why in the pale blue moon were you trying kill yourself? What happened to you since the last time I saw you earlier? I mean suppose . . . suppose I couldn’t get out here in time. Suppose you’d drowned?” his face was twisted, like that of a man being tortured.

“I’m sorry.” I stammered.

“Summer, you have to promise me that no matter what happens, you’ll never do anything like that again.” he said placing his hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look at his face.

“I can’t, I said turning my head away.

“Please look at me,” I dropped my head. “Please look at me,” he said more gently and I slowly lifted my eyes to his face. “Summer you have to promise me that you will not try to kill yourself again. Remember, you’re my heartbeat.” he said lifting my unhurt hand and placing it against his chest.

His heart was racing, but not like it was the other night. This time it was uneven, fluttering. Apart from the fact that he would die when I did, I knew that he wasn’t worried about that, but he was genuinely concerned about me.

“I promise,” I couldn’t have it in my conscience to know that I was the reason for his death. I’d already killed my aunt and uncle and caused Caleb to be in a coma. I couldn’t let him die too. “I promise that I will never attempt to do anything like that again.” I sighed.

“Good,” he said softly closing his eyes and rested his forehead on mine.

“I’m sorry that I scared you like that. How did you know where to find me?”

“I could sense your fear while I was in class. I excused myself and I saw you heading here on the gem. I am just happy that I got here in time. What happened?”

“I can give you the whole story in one word. Omayra. She is still alive.”

“She was here?” he said sounding alarmed, but his voice lacked the surprise that I was expecting.

His brows were knitted and his lips pressed tightly together as discomfort masked his face. “You knew that she was alive. Didn’t you?” I whispered.

“We need to talk about this when we get home.” he said trying to be smooth, but his voice had cracked in a few places.

“You fricking knew about it didn’t you? And you didn’t tell me.” I said raising my voice a bit higher.

“Please, can we will talk about this later. Right now, we need to get you to the nurse as your wrist seems to be swelling,” he said pulling me up from the bench.

“Okay fine. But Rain Esor North, you sure as hell have a lot of explaining to do.” I said walking ahead of him.

The whole family was gathered in Seidon’s living room. Alex’s face wore a permanent scowl as she’d been complaining about feeling cold, but I knew it was more than the cold that caused her dour mood. She and Jae had arrived earlier this evening and they sat quietly together in one of the smaller sofas.

Mother, Seidon and Nick were in the kitchen. While Thorn was sitting in another chair playing his guitar, another talent I didn’t know about.

It was five hours now since my last attack, my wrist had healed already as there were no broken bones, just superficial wounds. I still hadn’t gotten an explanation from anyone.

“Now that everybody is here can I please know what is going on? Because I am the only one here who seems not to know what is happening around here.

“I want to know everything. I don’t want any details being left out on account of everybody wondering how it is going to affect me or my feelings. I’m tired of telling every that I am fine. I can handle anything thrown my way. I am not going to crack or try drowning myself again.” I saw Thorn wince when I said this. “The only thing driving me up the wall is not knowing what I am up against. So please, someone, anyone speak!”

The room fell silent at the end of my tirade and everyone’s attention was drawn towards me. Alex face was temporarily rearranged in shock and her lips were slightly parted. She broke her stare away from me and looked at Jae who was equally surprised by my outburst.

The others in the kitchen had walked into the room and settled in different chairs. Thorn put down his guitar and settled beside me. Deafening silence remained. It was going to be bad. Maybe I didn’t want to know after all. I shuddered.

“There was always the possibility of Omayra being alive, even after we’d thrown her into the furnace.” started Thorn. “It is a rare gift, which few people in each clan possess. The control required to do it is immense. If you haven’t mastered the skill, it can prove extremely dangerous, not just for you but to others around you.”

I slightly frowned and he continued.

“We call it reformation. It involves us changing to our representational elements of the old order.”

“Fire and water?” I asked.

He nodded. “Fire and water in their purest forms. Extremely dangerous to self. In these raw forms of energy, it is hard to contain yourself, if you lose just one drop or a single spark, you can never reconstitute back into your humanoid form and would have to remain like that until the day you are supposed to die. As I said, it is a rare gift and usually only members of the royal family of each clan who are able to reform.”

“So she reformed as water in its gaseous state and escaped through the furnace chimney?” I asked to see if I had all the facts strait. As this was not only went against all that I’d learned in my science classes, but the natural order of life itself.

“Yes, that is how we think it happened.” he said answering.

“You said that it is usually members of the royal family who possess this gift. So that means she is related to you?”

“She is Ay’s daughter.” he frowned.

“Reformation was always a possibility, but not a certainty. So when were you sure that she was alive?” I pressed.

“The last day we spent at Tir na n-Óg. She was the one who killed Ay, Omayra is now the Grand Lune.”

“That won’t be for long, according to the prophecy.” said Seidon from across the room.

“Prophecy? What prophecy?” asked Thorn turning sharply to face his father.

“Mond’s prophecy.” I said softly.

“You know about it?” said my mother surprised.

“No not really.” everyone’s attention was once again turned towards me. “Omayra had mentioned it today, but she didn’t really go on to explain. She only said that it wouldn’t work. Right after she called me by my real name. I have no idea how she found out, because we didn’t use it around her.”

“She called you Aurora?”

“No, my last name, Laeyx. She also referred to the North family.”

“She knows about us. That means that she isn’t as clueless as we thought. This could spell trouble.” said my mother turning to Seidon.

“Yes this will make things more difficult. We might have lost the element of surprise but it can still work.” he said reassuringly.

“What can still work?” asked Thorn impatiently. Ignorance was not something he bore well.

“Before Mond died, it was said that he made some sort of a prophecy. He worded it in a way that it was more like a . . . promised warning to Ay and his followers. It is one of the main reasons that we are still hiding.

“I can’t remember the exact wording my father used, but I think that it went something like:

’I promise that from the sons of my seed,

And the daughter of Corona flesh,

One day both clans, through pain, these two shall mesh.

Adversity ,and tribulation will face them all,

And at the hand of thy offspring thou shalt fall.

The ascent to power comes with a cost,

For the lives of loved ones will be lost.

Despair will be only for a while, as peace and joy will come forth,

As the great and mighty Lunes shall be ruled by Laeyx and Esor North.’

The whole room once again fell silent as each of us seemed to have slipped off into our own thoughts at the significance of the words just spoken to us.

I turned to Thorn and I gently took his hand. This seemed to have broken the spell, which was cast by Seidon. He smiled weakly but didn’t say anything. He simply turned away and seemed to slip back into his thoughts.

“I know that this could get some getting used to but it will all work out.” said my mother breaking the silence. “We know that the prophecy is true as the first part has already been fulfilled. The two of you are engaged, the pain was experienced at the making of the truce. Omayra has betrayed her father and now sits at the helm of leadership of the Lunes, tragedy has befallen our family, and it is only a matter of time before the rest of it comes true.”

“So all this is because of some prophecy made long ago?”

“Not just a prophecy, a promise.” said Seidon.

“When do you expect the rest of the rest of this promise will come true? Can we get a time line?” I asked reflectively.

“We are not quite sure, but at the rate at which things are progressing, it could be within the next year or two. Maybe in a few months, we really do not know.” said my mother apologetically.

“Months!” said Thorn breaking out of his reverie. “That is too soon. There is no way that we can be ready in that short space to face Omayra. She is over three hundred years old and has decades of experience. The chances of us winning or even hoping to win are very few and far apart. If we even succeeded in our endeavours, what do we even know about ruling a clan especially one, which is so war torn? We are but children to most of whom we are supposed to govern.”

Yet again Thorn’s train of thought were far more advanced than mine, as I hadn’t even began thinking about the political implications of the prophecy as I was still enraptured by the foretelling itself. We were not sorcerers, but Mond had structured it in a way that he knew that it would come true, through a promise.

We couldn’t break our promises, they were like tight strings that are bound to us until they were fulfilled, or over ridden by some loophole which maybe present if not worded precisely. I faintly recalled mother making me promise that I couldn’t date, but it didn’t stop me from doing the extras that came along with dating, such as falling in love with Thorn before I discovered the truth about my true nature.

I’d never ever thought about myself governing anyone before. I could hardly govern my own feelings much less be responsible for ruling a singular, not to mention highly complex society, which even had its own army. Thorn was right. This was utterly impossible.

“I know the task seems . . . daunting, but that is why we are here.” rang Alex’s clear voice from across the room. “Mom has centuries of experience in governance and Seidon has a library full of knowledge trapped in his brain, between the two of them, Omayra is really no match for you.”

“Yes, I agree with you, as there is little doubt of the knowledge and experience that our parents possess, the real problem arises from the fact that there isn’t enough time for them to impart their wisdom on us.” argued Thorn.

“I am getting a headache,” I muttered.

“You said you wanted to know everything.” said Alex.

“Yes I wanted to know all the facts, not all the gory implications and opinions that came along with them. This is just too much for one night. I’m going outside to get some air.” I said getting up from the chair.

“I’ll come with you.” said Thorn standing as well.

“Okay,” I said walking off into the kitchen and up into the garage. I meandered around the Viper and Integra, until I stood in front of the door, which led to the garden wonderland Seidon, had added to his home.

The fairy tale appeal of this room was further enriched by the deep colours of the night, giving it a numinous allure. I silently brushed my hands along the hanging the hanging plants as I walked towards the small silver lake sitting silently in the middle of the room.

I kicked off my shoes and rolled my socks down, and placed them on a rock laying close to the water side. I then slowly walked out into the lake. The smooth, moss-covered pebbles lining the bottom of the pond massaged my soles as I swished my legs back and forth.

I swiftly unbuttoned my blouse and lifted my skirt over my head and then threw them on the rock, which held my shoes. I then waded further out in the water.

“Summer, what are you doing?” asked Thorn nervously from shore.

“I’m taking a midnight swim. I seem to be finding cold water very soothing as of late.” I said turning to face him.

“But you can’t swim.” he said still sounding very nervous.

“No, I can’t. But I could learn, that is if you are willing to teach me.” I said turning around and lowering myself in the water.

My lung were screaming out for oxygen, so I finally decided to surface. I closed my eyes as I slowly squeezed the excess water from my hair. I opened my eyes as I felt another pair of hands combing through my hair.

“Ready for your first lesson?” his voice was husky and my skin tingled a bit as he placed his hands on my shoulder.

“Yeah, sure.” I said turning to face him. My stomach kicked and my throat tightened as I slowly traced my eyes up from the muscular lines of his chest up to his angular jaw line, to the taut lips and finally to his scintillating grey eyes, where my gaze rested.

“Then we will need to be in deeper water then.” he said softly, while his hand meandered slowly from my shoulder, down my arm and finally he twisted his fingers into mine. I followed slowly as he led me deeper into the dark water.

“What’s next?” I asked as I stood in the shoulder deep water.

“We will start with something simple, like floating.” One of his hands slipped around my waist and the other at the back of my neck. My muscles tightened at his touch. “Relax,” he said as he lifted me from the floor and placed me on the back.

“Easier said than done.” I replied jauntily, which caused a small smile to play around the corner of his mouth.

“You will be fine, just close your eyes and imagine that you are lying on a soft, comfortable bed.”

“Like the one in your room?”

“Yes like the one in my room.”

“Okay, I’m relaxed now but I must tell you that isn’t anything like your bed, as it doesn’t have water running in and out of my ears when I’m lying on it.” I said closing my eyes and smiled nervously.

“Just a phase, soon you won’t even notice it.” he chuckled.

“Somehow I highly doubt that.” I said as I outstretched my arms and moved them up and down.

“You are getting good at this. Teaching you how to swim is going to be easier than I thought.”

I opened my eyes as I realized that his voice was no longer coming from over me. I saw him standing closer to shore, or maybe I was the one who had floated out further without knowing. “Frick! Thorn,” I stammered as I started to sink.

I saw him dive off and in an instant I felt his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. “You were doing fine until you panicked.” he said with a small smile playing at the edges of his lips.

“You let me go.” I said accusingly and clung tightly around his neck.

“You didn’t need my help anymore.” he said pulling me in until my feet could touch the pond bed. “I take it that this is the end of the swim lesson?” he said jovially.

“You’re sure as hell right about that.” I said, still felling a little pissed as I trudged towards the shore.

Tiredly, I pulled up on the shore and I stretched out on the soft grass. “Am I forgiven?” his head appeared in my peripheral view and I twisted my head to face him.

“Yeah you’re forgiven.” I said turning my head back up to stare at the hanging plants growing down from the ceiling. No matter how pissed I was, I knew that I could never stay mad at him for long.

He sat down beside me and I wormed myself in closer and rested my head on his lap. I closed my eyes as he drew small circles with his fingers up and down my arm, leaving patterns of warmth on my skin. He had absolutely no idea how good that felt and what it was doing to my insides.

“So how are you going to dry off before you go downstairs?” he said still drawing circles on my arm.

I opened my eyes slightly and peeked up at him. His eyes were fully focused on my arm where he was touching. I closed my eyes before he noticed me ogling. “I’m a walking radiator, remember.” I said as a smile spread across my face.

“Sometimes I forget. You fit in so easily wherever you are. It is hard to remember that we are so similar, yet so different in many ways.” I looked up at him. His expression was reflective as he looked out at the calm lake.

I sat up and settled against his shoulder. “You don’t have much faith in the prophecy, do you?”

He sighed heavily before answering. “It is not that I don’t believe in it, it would certainly be insane to ignore it, as it has proven true so far . . . but the tasks it presents to be completed, they will be impossibly difficult to say the least.” he said his eyes dropping to my face.

“I know that it will be hard for us, but I really believe that we can do it. No one is born a leader, despite what other people say. We will just have to wing it for the first couple years. We will make mistakes, but we will also learn from them.

“Gaining the trust of the Lunes will be hard, but if I can learn to trust and love you implicitly and undoubtedly, despite me growing without a father who should have demonstrated that kind of love, if he’d stayed with us, they will too.” I said nestling closer to his neck.

“My voice of reason. Who would have thought that you would be so . . .”

“Rational? Level-headed?” I teased.

“Yes and yes, but that was not where I was going. I was thinking more along the lines of amazing, wonderful.” he said wrapping both arms around me and kissing me on the cheek. Blood rushed to my face in one of my black blushes. “Given all that you’ve gone through lately, I thought that you would have reacted a lot differently. Our earlier conversation didn’t quite go over as smoothly as it could have.”

“That was because there was no conversation, just silence and secrets. And I don’t like being out of the loop, it makes me feel like an outsider.” I whispered. “Will you promise never to keep me out of the loop again, especially on such sensitive topics?”

“I promise not keep secrets from you.”

“Thank you.” That was easy.

“Except when I think it will keep you safe.” he finished.

“Thorn!” I should have known that there would be a condition.

“And in keeping with my new promise, I have something else to tell you.”

“About what?” I said being suddenly distracted from my earlier irritation.

“It is about your dad.”

“My father? What about him?” I said turning sharply to face him.

“I don’t think that he deserted you and your family. I think he left to protect you.”

“Why would you say that? How would you know?”

“We met while I was at Tir na n-Óg. Remember that Royal Guard who I was telling you about?” he said raising an eyebrow.

“The one who came to your room the first night?”

“Yes. He was also the one who gave me the robe allowing us to escape.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Don’t you have to be a Lune to be in the Guard? And how do you know that it was even him?” I asked still unbelieving and confused by what I was being told.

“I think he was undercover as Ay’s advisor. I think that was why Omayra was looking for him after the coup. He knew about our union. He was the one who explained why I was getting stronger as everyone else was weakened by the eclipse. He had your eyes.”

“So my dad didn’t desert me?” I said after an extended pause. “Does mom or Seidon know any of this?”

“I think they know about him working in the Guard, but they don’t know that I met him, well, found out about who he really was. He’d asked me to keep my silence, and I did, until now.” his eyes settled on my face as he seemed to be gauging my expression. “Summer, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yes, I am more than ok. This is the best news I’d heard in a long time.” I smiled. “This changes everything. My dad didn’t leave us. Thank you so much for telling me.” All those years of hate I harboured towards my dad, after thinking he’d abandoned us, had suddenly been diminished. I was surprised how fast those feeling went, but as I was now learning with Thorn, that it was much easier to love than to hate. I ran my fingers down his cheekbone. “Thank you.” I climbed up into his lap.

I brushed my lips softly against his. He looked at me briefly and kissed me softly on the cheek, before pushing me away. I looked at him confused.

“You overestimate my self-control. Especially with you dressed, or rather not dressed like this.” he smiled and he ran his hand along my neck.

“Suppose, I don’t want you to stop.” I whispered huskily and kissed him again.

“Summer, you are not making this any easier.” he moaned.

“Good,” I slowly wound my fingers across his chest and down his abs.

He stopped my hand dead in its track. “They will be looking for us soon and our present... attire will probably give them a heart attack to say the least.” he said as he gently lifted me from his lap and placed me on the ground before getting up. He walked over to where he’d left his clothes and started tugging on his trousers.

“True," I agreed grudgingly and got dressed. I took up my socks and shoes and swung them in one hand while he took my other hand. I playfully pushed against his waist as we silently strode out the room. He smiled and then he slipped his arm around my shoulders.

“I was just about to come up. Is everything alright?” said my mother meeting us in the kitchen.

We looked at each other and smiled, before looking back at my mother.

“We were just talking. We had a lot to discuss.” answered Thorn.

“Summer, you took off your shoes?”

“Yeah, I put my feet in the lake a little. I didn’t bother putting them back on as my feet was still wet at the time.” I said looking at her and wriggling my toes.

“Oh,” her expression was confused and suspicious.

“Well it has been a long day, I’m going to bed now. Goodnight mom.” I said hugging her and walking out of the kitchen.

“I think I am going to go in too. Goodnight Mrs. Laeyx.” said Thorn joining me at the base of the stairs.

“Goodnight, Summer, Thorn.” she said still sounding unsure.

I couldn’t contain the laughter anymore and I covered my mouth to muffle the laughter. “Did you see her expression?” I choked as I leaned on my room door.

“Yes, it was something. Do you think she suspected anything?” he said still smiling.

“Yes, probably. But it is better that she speculates than have her have seen, because that would have been awkward.” I smiled.

“Awkward to say the least. It would be nothing less than embarrassing.” he smiled. “Well goodnight love.” he said kissing me on the forehead.

“Goodnight Thorn.” I said opening my door and stepping inside. I smiled as I closed the door behind me.

I changed into an old T-shirt and slid under the covers. I closed my eyes as I reflected on my day and on the ghosts from my past that had suddenly reappeared in my life. One which I wished, would stay buried in the deepest part of hell, and the other I couldn't wait to meet,

I’d learned so much more about who I was and what was expected of me. Most of it scared the hell out of me.