That’s all it was really. A stupid damn rock. I mean, you’d think an all powerful wishing stone would at least look pretty. But no. It was just a stupid freaking rock that looked like any other stupid freaking rock. I sighed quietly as I plopped down into a sitting position at the base of a young tree, splashing my face with the small amount of water I had left in my canteen. My jeans were ripped to shreds, but I couldn’t stop to get new ones, nor did I have the money to even if I could.
I had to keep moving. No matter what, I had to keep moving. I had a pounding in my head that had been relentless for two days straight, and I was in desperate need of a shower. But the small town I’d stopped in before had literally tossed me out when I started asking around about the stone. My mother was its caretaker, and I was trying to figure out where she’d put the thing, because I’d looked under the tree and it hadn’t been there. Apparently, she hadn’t seen the box in years. Although, the sendoff in that town had been a ton better than the one I’d gotten at home. Apparently the townspeople had a difficulty with grasping the concept of a human falling in love with a werewolf. It didn’t matter now though. Shayne had left, and I was left with a deal that I could never back out of.
I sighed quietly, and then put my face in my hands. “I’m such an idiot.” I groaned quietly.
“I can honestly say that I whole-heartedly agree, Baby.”
I froze on the spot, then slowly turned, swallowing hard. The man in black again. Crap. Of course, I knew that he didn’t call me baby to be lewd, he just called me that as a demonstration of how innocent and naive I was. The perfect reminder of my greatest mistake.
“Go away.” I said, desperately trying to make my voice more forceful than I felt it could be right at that moment. I needed to think, and Nicolai never let that happen. He was too annoying for that.
“What are you doing so far from home?” he asked me, gliding closer, as if his feet weren’t touching the ground and he was merely floating. Although, considering the fact that his feet never made a sound on the gravel of the road, that thought wasn’t entirely impractical. “What could you be up to? Hm?” he asked, squatting down in front of me and brushing a strand of hair from my eyes. “Little Kristin…all alone in the middle of the woods…no friends…no family…no love…”
My teeth gritted. I could hear the smirk in his voice, though I couldn’t see it behind the mask he always wore over his features. Part of me liked to believe he covered up because he was ugly, but he probably just liked being anonymous. It was really only by lucky accident that I discovered his name.
Finally, my calm broke, and I jumped up. “Go away!!” I screamed at him. I grabbed a fallen branch next to me and swung it at him. What I really wished would happen at that moment, was that Nicolai would be felled by the blow and that he’d just curl up on the ground and die. But instead, the branch went right through him like he was just air. I staggered slightly, the weight of the branch with the force of my swing making my shoulder hurt. I dropped the branch and rubbed my shoulder slightly, glaring at him.
I could hear Nicolai chuckle as he clicked his tongue in disapproval. “You should know better than to try and hurt me by now Baby.”
“Leave me alone…” I whispered, sinking back down to a sitting position and covering my eyes with my hands, as if by not being able to see him he’d magically vanish. Of course, that never happened, but a girl could dream right?
“But you’re too much fun to play with.” He laughed at me as he walked a few paces away from the tree I sat by, looking down at the dirt road I’d been walking down for so many miles. “This is very interesting you know. I take it that someone is trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps?” he asked me, turning his head to look in my general direction.
I said nothing, though I could feel the fear rising like bile in my body, making my stomach clench. At the same time, I was angry. Angry that I’d been betrayed. Angry that I was stuck trying to save myself because I’d been stupid. Angry that I had taken everything in my life for granted. I said nothing, but I knew he’d be able to feel my emotions exactly as I was putting them out.
“What could be the reason for that I wonder?” he asked me as he stood straight once more and turned fully to face me. “Do you wish to find the stone? To use it to kill me? Or perhaps even to attempt to hide from me?”
I couldn’t help it. My eyes snapped open wide and I stared up at him in shock. Could he really read my mind after all? I’d always put it off to lucky guesses with him, because he never had the whole truth of my actions in his questions. But maybe he’d just been toying with me. He seemed to enjoy that above all else.
“I can tell you right now that such a thing would be useless. I can find you. No matter where you run, or where you hide. I always know where you are.” He told me. “You do know that right?”
I stared at him for a moment longer, then smiled weakly. “Thank you.” I said, my voice just a touch on the scathing side. “At least now I know that I can use the stone. Because everything you spin out is a lie.” I spat.
“You are a fool Kristin.” He growled to me.
At once, I jumped to my feet again. “You tricked me!!” I screamed at him. “I believed you would help me but you’ve caused me nothing but grief since the day we met! I hate you!”
“Strong words for such a small girl.” He taunted.
“Shut up!!” I threw a rock at him, and as before, it simply passed straight through him and hit the tree behind him with a thump. “You promised me that Shayne and I would be together forever! You lied to me! You broke our deal and I want my soul back!” I shouted.
He sighed a bit and floated closer, pinning my body back against a tree as he stroked my hair against the side of my face once more. I nearly gagged at the stench of his putrid breath as it invaded my nose and made me want to vomit. “Deals do not take into account the pettiness of human emotions.” He told me. “I said that you could be together forever. I gave you everything you wanted. I brought him back for you. Gave you both immortal life. It isn’t my fault that you squandered your chance.” He said simply. “Oh! And don’t forget, I also healed your ankle.” He added as an afterthought.
“But he left me!” I cried hoarsely, my voice cracking as I tried to control the sobs just dying to come up my throat. “He promised that he’d be with me forever! And…and then…then he left…” I said, my voice dying down to a whisper.
Nicolai tipped his head and put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “Poor child…not yet equipped to dealing with the cruelties of the real world are we?” he asked.
“I’m dealing with you aren’t I?” I snapped, jerking my shoulder out from under his hand and grunting as my shoulder blade hit the tree and gave a lovely throb. That could very well be a bruise later.
“Apparently Shayne is a being who values his own existence above all others. Including that of the love of his life.” He said with a dark chuckle.
I sniffed quietly, unsure of what I could say to combat that statement without making myself sound like an idiot.
“What was it again?” he mused, sounding intensely thoughtful as he paced in front of me. “Another werewolf that caught his eye? Someone a bit older than you maybe?” he smirked.
I snorted at that. “I wish it had been that. I might even feel better if it had been that.” I told him, laying my cheek against my knees that were bent up against my chest. “But I guess…” I hesitated, then sighed and continued. “I guess he finds the prospect of going out and fighting a war with the leopards more interesting than staying with me.” I finished, staring up at him.
“Ah. A man of action then.” He chuckled. “I suppose it was the disease that was keeping him with you then?” he asked as he came closer. “Then again, who wouldn’t want to stick around with a sweet innocent little girl like you catering to his every need?” he asked. At my look of utter disgust, he chuckled and continued. “He left to fight a war with the leopards on the island? How…interesting.” He mused, smirking a bit more.
“He said ‘thanks for the second chance at life Kris, but I gotta go fight the kittens on the island. See you around in the next life!’” I sniffed a bit. “Complete and total jerk!”
“Is that what he said?” Nicolai laughed.
“Majorly edited…but in a nutshell? Yeah.” I sighed as I wiped sweat off my forehead with a cloth from my pocket. I looked up to see him walking away from me.
“I’d love to stay and chat all day and give my condolences, but I am a busy spirit. I have business to attend to.” He called back to me. “You can carry on your journey Kristin, but be warned, you can’t escape me. You belong to me.”
I waved at him.
“And next time you wave use more than one finger please.” He shouted back.
I took that advice to heart and used two fingers. One on each hand.
“Oh, and do wait up for me would you? I have a few things that I need to get done.”
“I am not your advocate!” I snapped at him.
“You are.” He said, his voice like a whisper through my mind. And with that lovely cryptic message, he was gone, as if he’d never even been there to torment me in the first place. I sighed and sat down again, letting myself drift off with my thoughts. I needed to find that damn stone. If I found it, I could hide forever. My soul would still technically belong to Nicolai, but as long as I didn’t die, I’d be like a dog without the collar and leash. I could be free. Nicolai had been such an idiot for giving me eternal life. But then again, I’d been such an idiot for taking it, hadn’t I?
PLEASE. Please God, or whoever is up there. Please don’t let him die. Please let me save him.
My only thoughts were on Shayne. If I could have given him my life force, I would have done so in a heartbeat. I could feel the bushes and prickly weeds scraping my legs as I ran, but I didn’t let the minor irritations stop me. I had to get to him. I had to. I couldn’t live without him. My life would cease to exist. I would cease to exist.
My shoulder hit a tree and I cried out softly, though it came out as a choked sob. I was going to be too late. I already knew. I could feel his life force slipping through my fingers.
“No.” I said to myself as I started to run again. “No. Kristin get it together. Shayne hold on. I’m coming.” I whispered, my voice breathless as I felt the stones and other such things cutting into my bare feet as I ran. My jeans were ruined, as were my shoes, which had been left in a clearing a ways back. Not that I really cared what got ruined right then.
I screamed sharply as my ankle suddenly caught on a low outstretching branch across my path. Out of reflex, I threw my arms out before me to catch my fall, but still landed awkwardly, grazing my hands and my chin. I swallowed back another cry as I moved my ankle and pain shot up my leg. It didn't matter. All that mattered was finding the old willow tree. I had to get there. There had been magic in that tree since before I was born. If I could just get there, I could find the stone. I could give him time. I could give myself time.
I slowly started to drag myself up to continue, but saw that I’d already reached my destination, and all but tripped over its roots. It took a few minutes to realize where I was in correlation to my house. I was very far away indeed, and the thought of how far I’d run made another choked sob stick in my throat. I’d never get back in time to save him, even if I did find the stone.
I quickly shook my head. “No Kristina. You can’t think like that. You can do this. You promised.” I told myself as I quickly crawled over to the base of the tree and began to dig. I ripped at the earth with nothing but my hands. It would have been easier if the ground had been wet and muddy, but it hadn't rained in days, and the earth was as dry as bones, and just as hard.
The dirt streaked up my arms, staining the white sleeves of my shirt a dark brown color, but I didn’t care. The box that held my mother’s magic stone was here somewhere. The stones in the ground were cutting my hands and fingers up worse than they already were, but I couldn't find it. Desperately I thumped the earth beside me and scrambled along the roots to another part of the ground and began to dig there, pulling the grassy stumps out of the way in order to get to softer ground beneath.
I must have been at it for an hour, and I was still searching among the roots, crying freely in anguish until my hands were so raw I couldn't dig anymore. I crouched down and pressed my forehead against my knees, angry at my failure, but mostly at myself for giving up. It was no use though. I could spend a week looking around the tree for my mother's box and by then it would be too late. In fact, that very moment I was too late. In my furious digging, I hadn’t felt the moment that Shayne’s life force left mine. I hadn’t felt him slip away. And now? Now I felt nothing. Never would feel anything from him. Never again.
“Shayne…I love you…please forgive me…” I whispered, my eyes flooding with fresh tears as I sobbed softly into my knees, my raw and bloody hands clenching into fists at my sides.
“Forgive you for what?”
I leapt upward, my gun suddenly in my hand, though I couldn’t remember yanking it from the back of my jeans. I hadn’t sensed anyone behind me. Stupid of me, really. I faltered for a split second when I saw the man. He was dressed head to foot in black, sitting on a large rock, with a white mask and silver white colored hair that lay in soft curls just past his shoulders. From what I could see, his eyes were a deep shade of green.
“Who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking as badly as the rest of me. My tears hadn’t quite subsided yet, and a few stray ones ran down my cheeks. Both hands, however, were on my gun and I wasn’t about to take them off of it just so I could wipe my face.
“I am not important. What I am, however, is someone who could help you.” He told me.
I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. The one that told me that more tears weren’t far off, no matter how much I was dying to squash them down into the pit of my stomach. “Help me with what exactly?” I asked.
“Why are you crying?”
The question, albeit a simple one, caught me off guard. “I…I…” I stammered, not exactly sure whether I should tell this strange man the truth, or whether I should lie and pretend that I wasn’t crying, when I so obviously was.
“He’ll die, won’t he?”
The next statement had my heart stopping in my chest. “H…how do you know that? I never said anything about-“
“I don’t need you to tell me what I already know.” He said simply, standing and walking slowly toward me.
I quickly pressed myself back against the tree. “Don’t take another step. I’ll shoot.” I said quickly, clicking the safety off my gun.
“Tell me Kristin. How much do you love him?” he asked me.
“With all my heart.” I answered automatically. “But it’s too…” my voice cracked and I cleared my throat. “It’s too late. He-“
“He’s dead. I know.”
“I could…I could bring him back…but I can’t find the box with the stone in it. I’ve been digging for hours…and now it’s going to be too late…unless…” I faltered for a moment, then looked up at him. He seemed to know everything else, so why wouldn’t he know where the box is. “Can you help me find it so I can save him?” I asked, my voice slightly more pleading than I liked to be when asking strangers for help. Not that this happened often, mind you.
“No.”
With that one word, all of my hopes of saving Shayne were gone, and the tears flowed freely down my cheeks. “Then just…just go away. You’re just some creep who knows too much. Get out of here if you’re not going to help.” I whispered. I slowly stood up straight, no longer leaning against the tree for support. I put the safety back on my gun, then stowed it in the back of my jeans again. I slowly started to walk around the trunk of the tree to head home and start planning the funeral, only to bump into creepy man in black and fall backward with a yelp. “Ow!” I groaned as I sat up, rubbing a hand over my hip.
“I told you that I could help.” He said simply. “Just because I am not going to get that box for you doesn’t mean that I can’t help. I can bring him back to you. I can make it so that you can be together. Forever.”
“How could you do that?” I asked quietly, astonishment taking over my brain as I listened to his words. “What are you?”
“A spirit.” He said cryptically.
“I…I don’t understand.” I said slowly, my head swimming with confusion. “How could you bring him back? It was a long shot even with the stone…and you don’t have that.”
The man sighed, and the sound of it made me look up at him again, meeting those beautiful green eyes of his. “I don’t need the stone. I can bring him back without it. But as with most things, happiness has its price.”
“Let me guess.” I said dryly. “I have to give you my soul in exchange for Shayne’s?”
“How did you know that?” he asked, surprise taking his voice for the first time. “Have we met before?”
I went slightly pale. “Oh my god…you’re serious?” I asked, my eyes widening slightly at the thought.
“Yes, well…” he paused for a moment. “I don’t go around offering this deal to every lovesick girl that I come across.”
I tried to stand up, but my ankle protested sharply and I cried out, falling sideways against the tree, my eyes squeezed shut as I waited for the throbbing to subside.
“And as a bonus, I can heal that for you too.” He told her with a nod to her ankle.
“Go away.” I said through gritted teeth, my breathing coming out in ragged gasps as the throbbing pain got to me.
“You’re not thinking this through, are you?” he asked, stepping closer to me so I could catch the faint whiff of his cologne as he put his hand on my shoulder. “Shayne is dead Kristin.”
I froze at his words, and a wave of complete and utter pain came over me. He was dead. I knew he was. A small whimper came from my mouth, and I could feel the sting of more tears coming at the corners of my eyes.
“I know. Death hurts…and it will continue to hurt for a long time to come. Time heals all wounds, but it’s crippling until it does.” He said. His words struck a nerve, and my tears finally came out as I pressed my head to my knees and just sobbed quietly for a few minutes, unable to think clearly past them.
"Just think of the possibility, if you will." He said slowly, in a deep and trance like tone. "I can revive your lover. Bring him back to you. I can make you both immortals so you can live with each other for the rest of time. You want that don't you?"
Slowly, I gave the very slightest of nods.
"And all you have to do is give me ownership of your soul. And what will I do with it? It's not like I can take it from your body while you live. All I can say is that I own it. But it will still be with you."
I kept quiet, my heart hammering in my chest. Was this real? Could I trust him? The answer was very much a no. But was I thinking clearly? Also a no.
“And I’ll heal your dud foot too.” He added, as if hoping that this bit would swing the deal.
“What’s the catch?” I asked finally, looking up at him.
“There is none. Other than the fact that you cannot legally say that you own your soul. It will always be yours. I cannot use it. Take the deal.” He said, and I shuddered as his foul breath touched the side of my throat. He wasn’t any sprit I’d ever come across before if I could smell him.
“I can’t do that.” I said quietly. “I just…I can’t…”
"Yes you can. Think of Shayne." He said seriously. "If you don’t agree then you will never see him again. You will live the rest of your life wondering about what might be if you had made this deal. He'd be alive and with you, so what more do you want?"
“I…” I hesitated, my hands clenched into fists, my body shaking down to the very core.
“Do it, or Shayne’s soul is lost forever to wherever you bloody werewolves go when you die. I doubt its heaven.” He said seriously.
“I don’t…”
“Make the deal. I will never offer it again.”
I went over the offer several times in my head, then opened my mouth, then closed it. “He and I will live forever?” Even as a werewolf I wasn’t immortal.
“Till the end of time.”
“We’ll be…we’ll be together?” I asked quietly.
“Indeed.” He said, as if he already knew that he had me.
“Then…” I hesitated again, then took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut as if I could make it all just vanish. “I agree. Okay.” I said in a rush. I opened my eyes, then blinked rapidly as I saw his retreating back. “Hey! Wait!” I said quickly. “Where are you going?!”
“Run home little wolf. Your lover awaits you.” Was all he said as the blackness of the forest consumed him and he was gone.
Slowly, I rose to my feet and looked down as my ankle stood strong and didn't scream in pain. There was a bruise, but the sprain was mended. I looked up hurriedly to try and see the man again, but he'd long gone now. After that, Iwasted no time and ran for all I was worth back home. I didn’t care one single bit about my torn and muddy clothing. I just ran for it. I didn’t want to waste time. I had to get to Shayne. I had to find my soul mate again.
I sighed softly as I sat in my throne, trying to block out the voices of my advisors. They were all talking at once in horribly fast voices and I hadn't caught a single word of what they were saying to me. I just gazed demurely at my folded hands in my lap and hoped they would be done soon and just leave me alone. I just couldn’t seem to find any way to really care about what they were saying. My thoughts were focused elsewhere, on places very far away in the vast reaches of my own mind.
"The Wolf clans on the mainland are poised to attack - the sentries say they keep seeing scouts on the shores of the island." One of my advisors said to me.
His voice was high pitched and squeaky and very much reminded me of a chipmunk. It was all I could do to keep my face neutral and to not start laughing at the sound of it. Slowly, I raised my eyes and looked into his. "Has anyone caught a wolf yet?" I asked.
"No..." he said, his voice cautious, as if he expected me to explode with the lack of capture of one of the lesser forest creatures on the mainland.
"Then they're probably just seeing things again." I said simply, sighing quietly as the pounding behind my eyes got worse at the raised voices of the advisors as they tried to talk over themselves.
Another advisor jumped in with another threat. "But his late lordship's eldest son is all but marching on the border as we speak! He's got an entire army at his command - he wants the throne now that his father has passed on!"
"He won't dare step foot on these lands while Seth is here." I snapped in a rather motherly voice. "If he knows what's best for him he will be happy with what land he has." My blood started to boil as I began to think of my stepson, and the fact that he was a spoiled brat who never seemed to be happy with what he was given.
"Christopher demands the Southern Kingdom - he claims that he is the heir!" the advisor rushed on. "If we don't surrender the land he will take it by force and join it with his Northern Kingdom."
"And like I said - Seth is the heir - Christopher cannot take what does not belong to him." I said evenly, my hands clenching together in my lap as I fought not to reach out and break something.
"But we keep telling you, my lady..." the advisor bowed humbly. "If Lord Seth does not take the throne then he has no claim to the Kingdom."
"Hm." Was all I said. "What else should be brought to my attention?" Please let there not be anything else. I thought to myself.
The advisors looked nervously to one another. “The young Lord Seth my lady...he’s…"
I sighed deeply, knowing what was coming my way the second those words rolled off the man’s tongue. "What's the matter with him now?" I asked, leaning back so that my back was pressed against the back of my throne.
"He discovered your attempts to marry him off to Lady Rachael..."
I dropped my head in dread. "And?"
"Sufficed to say... he's not feeling especially delighted towards you."
As the advisor said this, a loud rumbling boom sounded deep within the palace, shaking the drapes and rattling the ornaments on the mantels. I didn't react as the throne beneath me vibrated slightly. When it had faded I shook my head. "He needs to learn how to control his temper..."
"Forgive us...but he has been this way since his lordship's departure..." the advisor speaking to me bowed again, though he looked very eager to run away.
A loud smash sounded even closer now, a sound that made the advisors jump and glance uneasily at the large double doors of the throne room. I darted a glance between them all before sighing. "You can go if you wish... I'd take the back entrance if you value your lives..."
"Will you be alright, milady?" one of the advisors paused hesitantly while the other three scampered off gratefully.
"Best leave now or forever suffer his wrath." I warned lightly, making him bolt for the smaller door behind a drape against one of the walls behind me.
I waited patiently a few moments, inspecting my fingernails and polishing them on my silken gown. I wasn't kept waiting long, as a few moments later both large, incredibly heavy oak doors burst open with the force an ogre might express, but through the doors stomped a much smaller, but no less livid, little were leopard.
"Mother!"
"Hello, Seth!" I called cheerfully, giving him one of my brightest smiles. "How are you feeling today? Ready to take the throne, I hope?"
"Not today." He stopped a few feet below my throne, and from here I could see him clenching his jaw and fists in a massive effort to keep from blowing up. Well, at least he was making an effort this morning, that had to say something, right?
"Goodness... whatever is the matter? You look like you've just eaten Seline's spice surprise." Seline was my’s Lady in Waiting - mostly because I was the only other human woman on the island. She was also widely known for her infamous use of spice in her cooking.
"I don't believe you. You have just sunk to a new low- just when I thought you couldn't sink much lower than the mud!" Seth hissed rather venomously, his hands curled into fists so tightly that I could see blood on his fingertips from where his sharp nails had cut into his flesh.
My light smile was gone in a flash. "I hope you don't kiss Miss Rachael with that mouth." I said with a slight smirk, intending him to catch the mocking tone in my voice. I was of course worried about his injuries, but being a supernatural creature did have its benefits. Speedy healing being one of them. I had to admit I was quite jealous of that ability at times.
At that Seth's rather limited control snapped and he kicked the antique table beside him, shattering it soundly. I looked on with pursed lips, silently glad that I didn't keep the really expensive furniture in the throne room. "You planned to marry me off to that snobby nosed little cow from the mainland!"
"I thought she had a rather nice nose..." I said, not bothering to deny his statement about my trying to marry him off.
"And you didn’t bother to tell me!" he roared, looking around for another table to smash so he didn't direct his violence on me.
I just watched him stomp off to the side to kick in a large ornate pot that had been made in the thirteenth century. I winced slightly before reminding myself not to get angry. Getting angry just seemed to feed my son more anger, and that wasn't what he needed.
"Seth... it's been six months..." I said in a patient tone as I glared stonily at the tiled floor before me. "Your father has not returned, nor shall he ever return. The throne is up for grabs, and if you don't claim it then your brother will."
"He can't! Because Father is still alive - you can't steal the throne from the King when he still owns it!"
I clenched my fists. "When are you going to get it into your thick skull that your father is dead?!" My usually immaculate control snapped too. "I don't believe you! Six months! We haven't received any word that might indicate that he is alive! The only thing we have received in his absence is his crown and his sword!!"
Both I and Seth knew very well that his father didn't go anywhere without his precious sword.
"That doesn't mean anything...he might have just dropped it..." Seth narrowed his eyes.
"And his crown too?" I slid from my throne and stepped shortly down the steps, stopping before I reached the bottom two so I could still look down on my son, since I was distinctly shorter than he was now. "Maybe he did drop them... but then why hasn't he sent us a letter? A message? Some sign that he is alive?"
"No one's found his body - he could still be out there!" Seth snapped, stomping back over to face me.
"In a ditch!" I yelled back, as proud as ever, but a small glistening of water in the corner of my eye gave me away. Seth saw it at once, and sobered quickly, he hated making me cry. He just felt like an evil monster when he did that, and to be honest I couldn’t exactly blame him. Making a woman cry was quite cruel indeed. Not that I did it on purpose…not often anyway.
I dabbed away the lone tear at once and glared angrily at my son. "The throne is yours...take it...if you don't it will be taken by Christopher by force of war. Do you want to be responsible for hundreds of lives of the leopards on this island?"
Seth looked away.
I set my jaw and stepped down the last two steps from my throne and grabbed his ear to pull his head back around. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
It hurt like hell, obviously, but he wasn't going to give me the satisfaction of yelping like a little baby. I continued anyway. "Take the throne and the people will be loyal to you!"
"They won't follow me - I'm only a half leopard!"
"Is this what it is about?" I released his ear which he rubbed quickly. "Are you scared of taking the throne because they might not accept you?"
"No!"
"That is not a valid concern! They loved your father - they love you to!" I said hotly. "Don't abandon them all now!"
Seth just glared back at me. "He is not dead...he'll be back...you'll see..." he turned and began to stalk out of the throne room.
"Six more months, Seth!" I yelled after him. "Christopher won't wait any more than that! You MUST take the throne by then and master the sword for our protection."
"Six months and I'll find father!" Seth yelled tersely over his shoulder. "I'm leaving now - I'll find him myself!"
My blood ran cold and I took a few steps after him. " No! If Christopher learns of your absence he will attack at once! He only fears you and the sword! Leave now and he'll be merciless to the rest of us!"
"Then don't let him find out!" Seth turned as he reached the doors and clenched a fist at me. "You may have given up on dad - but I haven't! I'll bring him back and then the Kingdom will be safe again! And then I won’t have to be forced into these stupid marriages!"
He whirled and was gone from sight in an eye blink. I released a shaky breath and slumped to my knees. These arguments with my son were taking their toll on me. He was a man now, not a little boy protesting about bath time. He was stronger than I was. Maybe verging on stronger than his own father, but he didn't know it. And it was growing harder and harder to keep it that way. I didn’t want to lose him to a fight.
He was disobeying me, cancelling the marriages I arranged for the kingdom's benefit, and running away at times when his people needed him most. I was losing control because he was growing up. And he was clinging to the ridiculous belief that his father was still alive.
I needed help. There was only so much I could manage on my own. A Kingdom I could handle. But playing single parent to Seth was a whole different kettle of fish.
