Sahara Ashdell: Rebirth of Patreek (Book 3)

The next couple of months at Malorsty are uneventful. Sahara has come accustomed to the new way of doing things there without Brystol or Bularia around. She had gotten to where she was actually enjoying spending so much time with Savanah. The halls are a buzz with mail being delivered for the annual Holestroy Ball tomorrow. Tomorrow was also their first Plorksol game and Sahara felt more nervous about seeing Brystol than she did about the first game. Sahara smiles as a student from the mail room hands her the package from Tari Nathila. “Thank you.” She noticed it seemed heavier than usual and looked thicker also.

“Are you not going to open it?” Savanah asks looking excited.

“You can.” Sahara says realizing Savannah didn’t receive a package from anyone.

Savanah pulls the string on the package and Tari Nathila’s voice rings from the package. “I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Elfie. I sent a dress to Savanah that is identical to yours. Make sure to do as Verdiwild says tomorrow.” Savanah looks more excited now that she knows she has a dress in the package too. She pulls out two dresses that are identical in every way. They are both gold elegant looking gowns with long sleeves and a bell-shaped hem.

“Oh, isn’t it lovely?” Savanah sounds amazed by the beauty of the fabric, and it makes Sahara laugh for only a moment until she remembers that Savanah is her decoy and will most likely not even get to attend the ball. They will more than likely have her hidden until it is time for the carriages to head back to Malorsty. The idea makes her feel sad for a moment until she gets an idea.

“What if we tricked everyone into thinking that you were me?” Sahara asks wondering if Savanah would like her idea. “Maybe you could pretend to be me the entire ball and we could cast a spell so that everyone close to me, like the Tari and Brystol, actually thinks you are me?”

“I don’t know.” Savanah doesn’t sound convinced it is a good idea.

“Otherwise, since you are my decoy, they may send you somewhere else, and you wouldn’t even get to attend the ball at all.”

“True.” Savanah says thoughtfully.

“And this way I could have some time to investigate another matter at the Holestroy that has been bothering me.” Sahara says remembering how she had caught Brystol with Waizlynn after his crowning ceremony and how coldly he treated her had bothered her since. She knew there had to be more to what happened and more to why he was ignoring her all these months.

“Are you sure it is a good idea?” Savanah asks looking in the mirror as she holds the dress up to her.

“I don’t see how anyone would notice.” Sahara says confidently because she had been reading up on how to cast a look-a-like spell and she knew it would work.

The following day after they win their first Plorksol game, Sahara tells Marol and Carol to go on ahead and that she and Savanah would be down in a few minutes. Noticing Savanah looking nervous, Sahara tries to calm her. “How about we just test it out first? I will cast the spell on each of us to look like each other and we will go down to Marol and Carol. If they notice, then we will reverse the spell and forget the whole thing. Deal?”

“That sounds good.” Savanah agrees and Sahara smiles in success as she takes hold of Savanah’s hand.

“Revertfacto.” She says and feels a sudden pain in her nose and cheeks. “Ouch!” she says grabbing her face at the same time as Savanah. After a moment, the pain stops and she looks at Savanah, whose face now looks exactly like her own. Sahara feels her face before looking in the mirror and laughing excitedly. “It worked!” She says looking back at Savanah. Savanah looks in the mirror with a smile also and looks relieved. “Let’s go test it out.” Sahara says holding out her arm toward Savanah.

As they arrive downstairs and approach Marol and Carol, Sahara reminds Savanah, “You have to act like me too.”

“I know.” Savanah says looking confident. “Have your dates not come down yet?” She asks Marol and Carol and Sahara tries to hide her smile as the perfect execution Savanah had managed at acting like her.

“There they are.” Marol says hugging Savanah, thinking she is Sahara. “See you there!” She says before she and Carol move toward their dates.

“Well?” Sahara asked confidently.

“Alright. Let’s do it.” Savanah says clasping her hands with Sahara.

Sahara sees Verdiwild coming, and he nods to Savanah. Sahara had met with him earlier and he had instructed her to teleport herself to his carriage after they left the protective walls and she had told Savanah of the plan so that she could teleport Savanah to Verdiwild. “Here we go.” Sahara says letting go of Savanah’s hand. “The spell should last about five hours.”

“Aranel.” Verdiwild says holding his hand out for Savanah to take. “Savanah, you will ride in the fourth carriage.”

Sahara keeps quiet as she dutifully does as she is told. She teleports Savanah from the carriage she was placed in to Verdiwild’s carriage as soon as she crosses out of the barrier wall. She sighs hoping that Savanah doesn’t talk too much to Verdiwild and blow their cover. Sahara soon feels the carriage land and comes to a stop. She was not able to see out of the windows so she really had no idea where they were taking her. As the door opens, she sees a guard standing just outside the door. “Your other carriage awaits.” He says as Sahara steps down from the carriage she was just inside and sees another carriage waiting for her. She does as she is asked and enters the other carriage after realizing that she is in Kinderton.

She sighs annoyed realizing that she might be stuck in carriages all evening instead of at Holestroy, where she wanted to be investigating things. An hour passes and Sahara feels the carriage land and comes to a stop. She exits the carriage and realizes that she is at the rear of Holestroy. “You will wait inside until it’s time to leave.” The guard that opens the carriage door explains to her as he points toward the back entrance. She only nodded in reply before doing as instructed.

As soon as the door to the room she is placed in closes, she quickly moves toward the door that leads to the main hallway. She knows her way around the castle well and has no issues finding her way to the Aran’s office. She jumps behind an open door when she sees a group of students walking through the hall from one room to another. She then hears the music begin to play and smiles knowing that is the song she and Brystol usually dance to. She looks down the hall seeing it is empty, before stepping back out and moving quickly toward the office. She stops noticing she can see Brystol and Savanah dancing through the crack in a door that leads into the ballroom. She smiles noticing how smoothly Savanah dances. She even thinks she might dance better than herself. She shakes her head reminding herself of her mission and darts down the remainder of the hall to the office. As she enters, she notices it looks the exact same as when Aran Rayterbay had occupied it. She moves over to the desk and shuffles through some of the papers on it, noticing nothing unusual. She then notices a picture on the desk of herself and Brystol. She smiles as she runs her fingers over the frame. It was a picture of them from the Holestroy ball last year. She then sees another picture of Brystol when he was younger sitting next to a young elleth. Sahara snarls at the picture when she realizes it is Waizlynn with him and they look to be flirting. She lays the picture face down so she can’t see it before she begins to look through the drawers of his desk. She begins to feel discouraged after looking through the first two drawers, finding nothing of interest. She suddenly stops as she opens the third drawer and notices a folded piece of paper with a blue wax seal on it that is broken open. She pulls out the paper and unfolds it to display a map and a deed for land and a castle that appears to be in Waizlynn’s name. Sahara reads through the large paper and feels angry as she realizes the property is a gift from Brystol to Waizlynn. It angers her as she sits down in the chair at the desk as she wonders why he would do such a thing. After a moment, she hears the doorknob to the room begin to turn and she quickly places the paper back in the drawer and closes it. She crawls down under the desk making sure she can’t be seen as voices enter the room.

“Let me grab this first.” Brystol says, moving towards the desk. Sahara gasps quietly as she pulls her knees back up to her chest hoping that he will not see her as the drawer she was just in opens. She sees him take out the paper she was just looking at before he closes the drawer. “Can you send this to them?”

“Yes, your majesty.” The other ellon in the room replied to Brystol’s request.

“I believe the elleth you are looking for is in the back sitting room.” A new voice enters the room and Sahara realizes that is the room she is supposed to currently be in. “Should we have her ready for transport?”

“No. I need to speak with her.” Brystol says and Sahara notices his voice is leaving the room.

She panics as she realizes that he is on his way to see Savanah…well her. She wonders if they have noticed her missing yet because if they had she certainly could not teleport there and risk someone seeing her. She thinks quickly as she runs over toward the door to the office and peeks out down the hallway. She sees Brystol and the other two ellon’s as they move away from her toward the back of the castle. She tries to think of what to do as she looks at the closest exit trying to determine if she could run around the outside of the castle fast enough to make it to the room before Brystol. She knows that would not be possible. She smiles, realizing she could teleport to the room next to it and perhaps make it to the room before Brystol. She teleports to the room next door and peeks out into the hallway. She quickly moves out into the hallway and runs to the door of the room. She enters the room and squeals in surprise as she notices Brystol sitting in a chair staring at her.

“Oh, hi.” She says, feeling slightly out of breath from her short sprint down the hall. It must have taken longer than she thought to think about how to get into the room she realizes.

Brystol looks amused by her as he greets her, “Hello, Savanah.”

Sahara straightens her dress and then remembers he is the Aran, and she is not actually Sahara, so she quickly curtsies to him hoping he wouldn’t notice the delay. She tries to avoid eye contact with him as she asks, “Is there anything I can do for his majesty?” She tries to sound like Savanah, but the word majesty feels weird coming out of her mouth.

She hears him clear his throat and sounds as if he is holding back a laugh as he answers her, “No. Not at all. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were still comfortable with the arrangement my father made with you.”

“Of course.” She says glancing up at him. “I have no complaints.”

“Excellent.” Brystol says, standing up from his chair. “Should we retire to my bedchamber for the evening then?”

Sahara straightens her back in shock at his suggestion hoping she misunderstood. “What?”

“We could stay in here if you prefer,” he says looking over at the couch, “but my bed might be more comfortable.”

She is appalled at what is happening. Was he really suggesting she, or Savanah, sleep with him? “I did not!” She sees him walking toward her and it makes her uncomfortable. “I never agreed to... to…sleep with you!” She says stepping back away from him as he draws closer to her and has a smoldering look about him.

“Didn’t you?” He asks, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up against his body.

“Stop!” She protests as she pushes against him, trying to get him off her. He doesn’t stop but instead pulls her lips to his and she bites his lip in anger.

He lets go of her as he yelps in pain holding his lip, “Sahara that hurt!” It only takes her a second to realize he called her Sahara, and she feels speechless. “Am I bleeding?” He asks, moving his hand so she can look at his lips.

“No,” she says pushing him away from her. She wants to ask how he knew she wasn’t really Savanah, but she doesn’t have to.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice the two of you swapping places?” He rubs his lip and moves over to look in a mirror as he continues to speak. “I mean all she did was act all bubbly the entire time we danced. She didn’t even act mad at me. You could have at least made her act mad at me.”

“And why would I be mad at you?” Sahara asks, crossing her arms knowing the answer.

He turns toward her and gives her a disappointed look with his answer, “Because you think I cheated on you with Waizlynn and you think I have been ignoring you for the past few months.”

“Let me guess, you are here to deny them both?”

“I am. If you had not thrown away the letter I sent you, you would already have known the truth.” He says walking back towards her. “Verdiwild.” Brystol calls out and the door to the hallway opens. She sees herself walking into the room before Verdiwild closes the door leaving her, Savanah, and Brystol alone. “Change back please?”

Sahara feels annoyed that he noticed it so quickly and easily. “Unrevertfacto.” She sees Savanah’s face change back to normal and feels her own face twist back into place.

“You may go Savanah.” Brystol says kindly.

“I am sorry your majesty.” Savanah says with a quick curtsy.

“Don’t be mad at her, I forced her to do it.” Sahara says after the door closes and Savanah disappears.

“Oh, I never thought it was her idea.” Brystol says with an annoyed laugh. The room grows silent, and Sahara feels somewhat awkward as she glances around the room. She hears him sit down in a leather chair before he finally speaks again, “I was upset after.” He pauses, and it causes Sahara to look at him and notice he is thinking about his father’s death. “I just didn’t know where or who to turn to. I pushed you away, because I didn’t want you to see me like that. I am sorry.”

“And Waizlynn?” Sahara asks, feeling wounded by the image of her kissing him that day in his office.

“She was in my office waiting for me after the crowning ceremony. I didn’t know she was in there and she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me without my consent but of course you saw it all. But I swear that is all that happened aside for that and the hug I gave her, and I made her leave right after you.”

“Why did you hug her?” Sahara asks feeling jealous.

“Because my father died and I was sad.”

“Then you should have hugged me! Not Waizlynn.” Her words drip with jealousy.

“I know. I am sorry. She was just the first one to try and I didn’t know I needed a hug.” He sounds remorseful.

“And the castle?” She asked, wondering why he would give her such an extravagant gift if there was nothing between them.

“What castle?” He asks, looking unsure of what she is talking about.

“I saw the paperwork in your office. You are giving her Jewel’s castle.”

“Ah.” He says with a smirk on his face, “that is what you were up to. You were snooping around looking for something to incriminate me.”

“So why are you giving her a mistress castle?” Sahara asks feeling as though she has the upper hand.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I denied her father’s offer for her to be my mistress and his demand for the castle.” He says in an annoyed tone.

“Her father’s demand?” Sahara says feeling her accusations begin to unravel.

“Yes. What you apparently missed on the proposal he sent to me was the part about me having to sign to accept the offer.” Brystol stares at her without blinking and she finds it intimidating. “I did not sign it nor agree to such a request.”

“Oh.” Sahara says looking down at her feet before she thinks of her next accusation which she is about to say but he beats her to the punch.

“And I have not been ignoring you. I have simply been busy being an Aran, which is a full-time job and quite possibly the most stressful thing I have ever been forced to do. And I am doing my course work in the little spare time I have.” He says and she can tell he sounds exhausted.

She notices he has his head down rubbing his temples and she suddenly feels stupid and bad for him. “Sorry.” She watches him for a moment and realizes she hasn’t helped his stress level at all. She moves over to him and sits on his lap causing him to look up at her. “I am sorry.” She says again as she looks him in the eye. “I didn’t realize what you were going through.”

He pulls her up next to him in an embrace and they sit there silently for a few minutes. She listens to his heartbeat and finds it comforting.