Beckoning Light (13 page)

“And you know this because of the cat?”

“That is no ordinary cat Kevin; she has human eyes. I’ll explain it all later.” He rushed upstairs.

I followed and asked, “Okay, so then what do we do?” I watched him search my grandfather’s old study on the third floor. Liam, probably still trying to figure out if Monty had completely lost his mind, had followed us. The more time that passed, the more upset Monty looked. Without warning, Monty ran into Charlotte’s room. He rummaged through her desk drawers until he pulled out an old jewelry box. He emptied the contents on her bed and let out a few curse words. I got the chills looking at her empty room; I didn’t leave the hallway.

“She found the key. She must have gone in.”

We followed Monty back downstairs to his own study, where he reached under his desk and pulled out a small crystal key. “In case she locked it behind her,” he said, holding up the key.

“What are we going to do, Monty?” I repeated. I had no idea what he was talking about.

“First we pack, then we go after her,” Monty said firmly.

In the kitchen, Liam and I watched as he packed a knapsack with food, water, and flashlights. Nothing about it surprised me until he went to his study and returned with an unsheathed sword. He turned it around to look at it from every angle. The blade looked like it was made of the same material as the key.

“Dude, Monty, where did you get a sword like that?” I asked, amazed by the blade.

“You wouldn’t believe me.” Monty placed it back in the sheath.

Monty picked up his cell phone and left a message at the school telling them we would be out of town and he would need some personal days. He told Liam that if he planned to join us, he needed to call his mom. Liam calmly left his mom a voicemail telling her that Monty was taking us all skiing.

“Skiing?” Monty asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Liam asked. “It’s plausible.”

I still didn’t know where we were going when we left through the back door without bothering to lock it behind us. We passed the fountain at the back of the garden and saw the gray cat waiting. Monty continued to the old gate at the back of the garden, but what was weird was that the gate was ajar. I had no idea that the gate could even be opened. Monty easily pushed the gate open the rest of the way, and I followed him in, with Liam behind me. I shielded my eyes reflexively as we walked into bright sunlight.

“Okay, this is seriously weird.” I suddenly realized that Monty might have been telling the truth. Up until that point, I had been worried that he was having some sort of mental breakdown. I only followed him because I had no other ideas for how to find Charlotte. I was desperate enough to go along with anything.

“What is this place?” Liam asked, as we moved forward. We were in some sort of exotic garden that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. I didn’t know much about flowers and trees, but these made the ones in the Amazon rainforest look plain.  I was leery of some hidden man-eating plant just waiting to make its move.

“Energo,” Monty said seriously.

“Okay. And why would someone want to take Charlotte here?” I still didn’t understand what anyone wanted with my sister. I forced myself to ignore the weird surroundings and focus on the more important matter—finding Charlotte.

“Most likely, someone thinks that Charlotte is the next Essence,” Monty said stoically.

“Essence?” Liam and I both asked. 

“A human vessel for all powers of nature and the elements,” Monty responded quietly.

“Oh, is that all?” Liam clearly still had his sense of humor. I wanted to shake Monty and make him start talking normally again. 

“And please tell me, why would anyone think that Charlotte was one of these
Essences
?” I asked.

“Your mother was one,” Monty said simply, as though no other explanation was needed.

“So, not to state the obvious, but if you knew this, why did you let us come back here?” I was starting to feel somewhat responsible for Charlotte’s disappearance, since it had been my idea to move back to Charleston.

“I don’t think Charlotte really is an Essence. It usually takes generations, and Charlotte has never showed any signs. She has had nothing to do with Energo,” Monty replied, as though trying to convince himself of the truth in his words. Then he continued slowly, likely sensing why I really asked, “It isn’t your fault either, Kevin. You had no idea.”

“But someone else thought differently?” Liam asked, trying to make sense of the impossible things Monty was telling us.

“Yes, and I think I know who.” Monty pulled a circular stone from his pocket. The stone had a large letter ‘M’ engraved on one side. “I found this at James’s house,” Monty said absently. “It’s the Mendel crest. James must be Blake’s son. I can’t believe I didn’t see him for what he was. I was so busy trying to make Charlotte happy that I failed to keep her safe.”

“Blake?” Liam and I asked together. If we still played ‘Jinx,’ it would have been a world record that night.

“The current ruler of Energo.” Monty continued walking through the garden.

“I guess that explains all of electronics and stuff at James’s house. He must be rich, huh?” I was taking solace in any information I could get.

“Blake has access to a near limitless amount of gems and gold, so it isn’t surprising that James is living extravagantly.”

“Oh, so you’re thinking that the king’s son kidnapped Charlotte,” Liam said, bringing us back from my tangent.

“He’s no king,” Monty corrected.

“Okay, so this leader guy’s son?” Liam ventured again.

“Yes, or maybe not kidnapped. The key is missing, which means that Charlotte went willingly,” Monty said in a voice just above a whisper.

“Why would she have gone with him?” Charlotte never acted recklessly; something wasn’t adding up.

“I wish I knew.”

“So where do they live? Let’s go get her.” I was ready to do anything to get my sister back safely.

“It’s not that simple,” Monty said. “We need equipment, and you will both need training first.”

“Training?” I asked, as we came to the end of an open field and entered a forest. Liam looked as dazed as I felt. Everything was different here. Even the grass was a weird shade of green, and it was throwing me off. 

“Just follow me.” 

The forest was dense and, although I usually have a great sense of direction, I probably would have gotten lost without Monty. Every turn we took looked just like the last.

“So what’s with all the weird-colored plants and stuff?” Liam had stopped to examine a bright purple flowering tree.

“It’s just the way it is here; Energo has different foliage.” Monty continued looking straight ahead and didn’t even glance at the purple plant.

“So, obviously you look like us, but are we going to run into weird creatures, like in
Avatar
or something?” Only Liam would have asked that. Monty laughed lightly, and soon we reached the edge of the forest and were out in the open.

Fatigue set in quickly as we journeyed under the hot sun. The initial adrenalin of having a plan and entering a new place began to dwindle, and real, raw fear for my sister began to sink in. Losing my mom had been hard, but if anything ever happened to Charlotte, I didn’t think I could cope. Charlotte was probably the only person who ever really understood me, and as much as I gave her a hard time sometimes, she was the person I loved most in the world, the only one who kept me grounded.

A flood of memories hit me as we continued through the tough terrain. I remembered playing hide-and–go-seek, helping her as she learned to ride her bike; I could see her playing the cello and smiling up at me with missing teeth. Clearly, I realized that Charlotte was almost sixteen years old, but in some ways, she would always be just a kid to me.

As we walked, Liam and I asked Monty countless questions about what an Essence was. It all seemed like a foreign language to me, but I really got confused when he tried to explain how an Essence had a Guard made up of ten men. The Guardians designated one as the leader, or the Gerard.

I wasn’t surprised that he was using yet another term I had never heard. “What exactly is a
Gerard
?”

“The Gerard is the Guardian who the Essence picks to be her partner; he leads with the Essence,” Monty explained.

“How does she pick one?”

“It’s not really a choice, or not the way you would think of a choice. It just happens. Your mom described it as love at first sight, times a million, an irresistible pull to be with this person. It becomes clear to everyone during a ceremony.”

“How are the Guardians selected?” Liam asked.

“Usually, young men show signs of being Guardians even before the Essence is revealed.  The signs are incredible strength, athleticism, agility, and other traits that only certain elders can see,” Monty said, as though his mind was far away. I was pretty sure he was lost in memories.

“Are you a Guardian?” I sensed that Monty had a personal knowledge of what it meant to be a guardian.

“I was for your mother, but once she died, the status disappeared,” Monty said sadly.

I tried to understand how it all worked. “Will you be a Guardian for the new Essence?”

“No. My time on the Guard is up; I even started aging again once Emma died.”

“Aging?” Liam and I asked together.

“The Guardians age with their Essence. It’s not that you don’t age at all, but you age extremely slowly once you are at your prime age,” he explained.

“Prime age?” I asked, confused.

“Usually somewhere between twenty-five and forty.”

“Wait, so is that why you still look like you’re twenty-five?” Liam asked.

“I was an extremely young Guardian when Emma had her ceremony. I was only fifteen.”

I had so many other questions, but sensed that Monty didn’t want to talk anymore. Luckily, Liam picked up on that, too. We walked along silently, Liam and I giving each other nervous glances every once in a while. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary that Liam was with us; somehow, it only seemed appropriate that Liam would risk his life to find Charlotte, too.

We passed several villages, and with each one, Monty tensed. Monty had explained that our clothes would instantly give us away as outsiders. I asked him what he meant, and he told me to think twelfth century Robin Hood. I thought he had to be joking, but the one time we saw other people walking, I realized he was right. They weren’t wearing tights or anything, but everything was so old fashioned. Later, as we neared a village, we saw two men on horseback dressed more formally, wearing something resembling a uniform. It was clear that they had spotted us, and we all got nervous. I felt sick to my stomach, afraid that we had failed before we really even got started. Monty reached for his sword, but the two men continued past us without a second look.  

“I’m sure they saw us. If they are not apprehending us, it only means their orders were to report back to Bellgard, the capital, where Charlotte is likely being held,” Monty whispered. “We need to hurry. We need to get to Percy before dark.”

“Percy?” Liam and I asked simultaneously.

“Yes, the only hope we have of saving Charlotte,” Monty said somberly.

Chapter Fifteen

Charlotte

I woke out of a deep sleep when I heard the heavy door opening. “Hello, Charlotte. Did you sleep soundly?” Tara asked, walking into the room.

“Yes, thank you.” I slowly sat up on the edge of the bed. Surprisingly, I remembered where I was.

“How would you like to wear your hair?” Tara inquired, after opening the curtains and lighting a sconce. Only the faintest amount of sunlight streamed in through the window, and I realized I must have slept for several hours.

“My hair?” I ran my fingers through the still-damp strands. 

“Do you prefer to wear it up?”

“Yes,” I said automatically, and glanced around for my hair band.

“Oh, we have some better material.” Tara managed to transform my wet hair into a beautiful updo as I sat in front of the mirror. I wasn’t sure what I was getting ready for. I remembered Blake saying I was going to meet my Guard, but I had no idea what to expect, or even worse, what was expected of me. I had never before wanted a set of instructions so badly.

“Wow.” I was shocked by what I saw when I peered at my reflection. With the dress and the hair, I looked so different; I wondered if my family would even recognize me. I also wondered what Calvin would think.

“You look wonderful, and you are due in the Great Hall in a few moments,” Tara said, putting a pair of delicate pink slippers in front of me. I slipped them on slowly. They weren’t sneakers, but they were comfortable enough.

“Will you be coming?” I asked hopefully. I liked Tara, and I was getting really comfortable around her.

“No, but of course if you need anything, you can have me sent for,” she said gently, as she opened the door. I almost told her that I wanted her with me as a friend, not a servant, but I decided to keep that thought to myself in case it upset her. At least she was calling me Charlotte.

I followed Tara out of the room and felt the panic set in, much worse than the panic I had felt on the way back to Charleston. The familiar tightening in my chest returned with the dizziness, and I had to steady myself against the stone wall.

“Charlotte, are you well?” Tara asked, alarmed.

“Yes, I’m just nervous.” I tried to sound reassuring because I knew I was probably frightening her.

“Do you need to lie down again?”

“No, we might as well get this over with.” I tried to get a hold of myself.

I took a deep breath, and we descended the stairs. I noticed nothing of my surroundings as I followed Tara. I only paid attention to the steps I was taking, trying to forget where I was. She suddenly stopped in front of an imposing set of heavy wooden doors.

“This is the Great Hall. Are you ready?” I nodded, a pit in my stomach painfully churning as she opened the door.

Taking a step into the room, I was taken aback. A large screen obscured my view, and I couldn’t tell what was beyond it. Tara had called this room the Great Hall, so I could only assume there was much more to it. I must have entered through a back doorway. A man dressed in a black uniform hurried around the screen and came back with Blake. Blake took my hand and walked me over to a seat still behind the screen before disappearing back into the other part of the room.