Finding Eden (12 page)

“
What’s going
on?” I ask but Sahariel won’t stay still and won’t
listen to me.

“
Sahariel,” I
say his name hoping to infuse it with enough authority that he pays
attention to me. He checks the front door and then locks it.

“
We’re
leaving tonight,” he puts his hands on my shoulders and looks
me straight in the eye.

“
What!”

Leave now? Did I just
hear him right?

“
What’s going
on?” My dad comes out of his office and into the entryway.

“
He says we have to
leave now,” I say.

“
Right now?”

“
That’s what
he said.”

I’m in disbelief.

“
Why?”

“
Because there is
someone out there,” Sahariel nods toward the front of the
house, “and they’re not friendly either.”

Sahariel looks at me with
a serious expression, “You’re not safe, and as your guard
it is my duty to keep you safe. We are leaving. Tonight.”

“
What’s out
there?” I can’t imagine who or what could make Sahariel
so tense.

“
Nobody of
importance,” he says and tries to walk away and pull me with
him.

“
No,” I yank
back with strength that surprises us both, “it is someone
important. So tell me who.”

“
I don't know who
exactly, but I can feel they're not too keen on your heart beating.”

“
Oh my god,”
I’m frozen.

“
You’re the
one who wanted to know.” He yanks my hand, “now come on,
we have to go.”

He tries to pull me
toward the door, but I pull back again, wanting to go pack some
clothes.

“
I can’t go
yet,” I say, “I don’t have any clothes packed. I
need to grab my pills.”

I stumble up the stairs
and he wordlessly follows me, but as soon as we enter my room he
grabs my backpack, empties is and begins to shove random articles of
clothing in it.

“
I can pack myself,
thank you.” I take the bag from him and pack it myself. I
repack the clothes and go to grab my mp3 player, but he stops me.

“
You won’t
need that,” he shakes his head, “I assure you.”

I give him a confused
look but I don’t ask any questions. I discreetly throw some
underwear in, then my heart pills on top of everything and zip the
bag up. I throw the bag over my shoulders and follow Sahariel down
the stairs to the front door. My dad is waiting there. I suck at
goodbyes.

“
Dad,” I
don’t know what to say.

“
I’m going to
miss you,” my dad takes me into a big hug.

“
I’m going to
miss you too,” I say back and hug him back as hard as I can.

“
Visit me,”
he says.

“
I don’t know
if I can,” I say.

“
I’ll bring
her when she's able to,” Sahariel tells my dad.

“
Thank you,”
my dad looks at Sahariel with gratitude then turns to me and says,
“And Eden.”

“
Yes, dad?”

“
I'm sorry.”

“
What for?” I
ask.

“
For not being a
better father to you.”

I look at him and then it
all makes sense.

“
Dad,” I say.
“I might be leaving, but you're not losing me. I know you don't
act like it, but I know you love me. You always have.”

He smiles at me and then
pulls me into another hug. Sahariel walks up to the door and starts
speaking in an odd language that makes my skin prickle. He lifts his
hand and draws an invisible symbol. I follow Sahariel out into the
abyss, looking back to see the sadness in my dad’s eyes.

“
So,” I try
and shove my heart back down into my chest, “how do we get to
the elf world?”

“
We’re
already there,” he says as he looks straight ahead.

“
What?”

We’re not in the
front yard or the driveway. My car is nowhere to be found, and as I
look around, the house has gone too. It’s now mid-afternoon,
the sun high in the sky, replacing the moon. We’re standing on
a dirt path in a field by a forest, a place I’ve never been.

“
Where are we?”
I ask.

“
We’re in
your kingdom,” he says, “well, not quite. It will be a
day or so before we get there. We’d better start walking.”

And we do. I follow
Sahariel for what seems like forever. I had had a long day and now I
had to wait another before resting. I watch as the sun begins to set
in the distance and the sky turns deep blue to red, orange and
purple.

“
We’re almost
there, a few more hours,” he says, but seeing me yawn, changes
his mind, “but we’re going to stop and make camp. You’re
exhausted. We will finish tomorrow.”

“
Oh, thank god,”
I say

I drop my bag and
practically crumpling to the ground.

Sahariel smiles down at
me and shakes his head, setting up camp for the night. The sun sets
and a cool breeze washes over me, causing me to shiver just as
Sahariel starts the fire.

“
Get over here
before you start to freeze,” he says, poking the fire with a
stick, embers floating up into the sky like fireflies, “or do I
need to come over there and pick you up?”

“
No,” I
groan, making no motion to stand, “maybe? I don’t know.”

I hear him chuckle and he
gets up from his seat and walks over. He kneels down and offers his
hand which I don’t hesitate to take. I use his strength to
stand and his support to get me closer to the fire. He leaves me next
to the fire and retrieves my bag and sets it down next to me.

“
Before I forget,”
he says, “you’re going to need to change into these,”
he pulls out a heap of rough looking cloth and hands them to me, a
belt wrapped around the bundle.

Opening up the bundle and
holding them up in front of myself I say, “Why are you giving
these to me? I have clothes already.”

“
About that,”
he says, “I don’t know why I let you pack those. They’re
not going to last much longer.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Things from the
human world don’t work here. Electronics don’t work,
mainly because here, electricity is a highly magical force, one that
cannot be harnessed. In a few days your clothes will unravel
completely. Anything made from industry won’t work. Also, I
figured you’d want to fit in as well.”

“
Oh,” I say,
“what about my pills?”

“
I don't know,”
Sahariel says, “I don't think you'll need them here simply
because we have healers.”

I frown at the tunic and
pants in my lap and question whether I want to change now or risk
completely unraveling later. I sigh and push myself off the ground,
staggering slightly once my feet are under myself.

“
I’m going to
go change now I guess,” I mumble and look around for a place
close by to change, then spot a place about twenty feet away.

“
Are you going to
be alright?” Sahariel asks me as I walk away.

“
I’m sure
you’ll know if anything bad happens,” I walk away, “I
promise to scream really loud right before my heart gives out, just
in case, okay?” Sahariel frowns at me as I disappear behind a
clump of tall bushes.

Changing quickly, I look
at my jeans and notice the threading has begun to come apart. My cell
phone drops from the pocket, dead as can be. I frown at the useless
hunk of plastic and decide to keep it even though it doesn’t
work, and hope that it does once I’m able to visit.

I walk from behind my
changing area and Sahariel looks at me, a smile creeping up on his
lips and he tries to stifle a laugh.

“
What?”

I don’t like being
laughed at. Did I forget a crucial element, like pants? I look down.
Pants are there.

“
I’m sorry.
Excuse me, milady, but your tunic is backward,” he stands up
and walks over to me.

“
Really?” I
say, “How am I supposed to know? I’ve never worn a tunic
before.”

“
I’ll fix it,
hold on,”

Sahariel reaches for the
tunic and I stand completely still.

“
Alright, as long
as I don’t look stupid,” I frown down at myself, “this
is sad.”

“
What is?”
Sahariel stops tugging on the tunic.

“
I can’t even
dress myself anymore.”

Sahariel just chuckles
and shakes his head, “Alright, pull your arms in.”

I do. I watch as he moves
his fingers from the hem to the belt that’s keeping the tunic
where it belongs.

I freeze.

Sahariel’s fingers
begin to undo the belt, and I almost feel as if it’s happening
in slow motion. But before I can react, the belt is off and he
already has the garment facing the right way. He tugs it down and
belts it quickly.

“
There,” he
says, patting down the tunic while I slowly extend my arms, “now
that looks better.”

I look up at him, the
butterflies in my stomach still freaking out, not sure what I should
say.

“
Thanks,” I
say, hoping he doesn’t notices how breathless it sounds.

I look up into his eyes
and his fingers play with the belt. He smiles as me and I smile back.
Before I can say or do anything that might embarrass me, I pull away
and smooth out my pants.

“
Alright,” I
say, “now what?”

“
We eat.”

He leads me over to the
fire where he has somehow managed to put together a decent meal. We
sit together in silence and eat. Soon I find myself dozing off.

“
You’re
tired,” Sahariel says.

“
Yep.”

“
Why don’t
you lie down while I keep watch,” Sahariel makes the suggestion
and I take it.

I slide to the ground at
his feet and fall asleep quickly, not caring how hard the ground is.

I stretch and smack my
head.

“
Ow,” I rub
the back of my head as I sit up, my back aching from lying on the
hard ground the whole night.

“
You’ve woken
up,” Sahariel walks over from, I assume, his watch post, “How
did you sleep, milady?”

“
I slept like a
rock,” I say and stretch again, “what’s with this
‘milady’ thing all of the sudden?”

“
It’s what I
have to say.”

“
What? You’re
joking right?”

“
Nope.”

“
Great,” I
frown. I frown a lot lately.

“
I figured you’d
like it more than your highness and my queen,” he says,
“anyway, let’s head out.”

I groan and try not to
think of food. I’m starving, and to prove my point, my stomach
growls. In embarrassment, I cover my stomach with my hands and hope
Sahariel didn’t hear.

“
We will be there
soon,” he says reassuringly, “there will be food and a
hot bath waiting.”

“
Thank god,”
I say. I manage to gather enough strength to stumble along behind
him.

We walk under an arch and
Sahariel's stride lengthens. He walks quicker and I feel like I'm
struggling to keep up.

“
Sahariel,” I
say, “why are you walking so fast?”

“
Because,” he
says. He turns around and walks backward, “Welcome to Sundaria,
Eden. Welcome home.”

We crest the hill and
that's when I see it. Everything. The kingdom, the castle; my
kingdom, my castle. The realization hits me finally and I stop dead
in my tracks.

I have a kingdom. I'm a
queen. What the hell happened?

“
Your highness,”
Sahariel says. I can't speak. I'm having a freak out moment.