Finding Eden (24 page)

“
Sahariel,” I
say.

He drags a chair up next
to the bed and pulls my hand into his as he sits down. He leans down
closer to my face and my heart beats faster. My breath hitches and my
hand tingles in his. His forehead touches mine. My heart feels like
it's going to jump from my chest.

“
I'm never going to
leave you again,” he says softly, “no matter what's
happening, I will never leave you. I will always be there for you. I
will always wait for you.”

I'm speechless. I don't
know what to say. I don't know if I can say anything. It's like I'm
in the cafeteria again seeing him for the first time. He's just so
amazing. The seeds of hope spring to life, spiraling up, blooming and
attracting all those damn butterflies. And all I can do is look at
him.

“
Now get some
sleep,” he says, “you need to rest.”

Sahariel gets up, slowly
letting go of my hand and he walks away.

“
Wait,” I sit
back up in bed, “how's Tobi? How is everyone else?”

Sahariel chuckles.

“
Surprisingly,
everyone is fine. The boy is fine,” he says, “in fact
he's been in here every say to check on you. He's young, but he
really cares about you. Now, get to sleep”

He gives me a small smile
as he walks out of the hospital room. I smile and my eyes close and I
drift off to a comfortable sleep.

I wake the next morning
to a hand squeezing mine. I recognize that hand. It's Sahariel's. I
open my eyes and smile up at him.

“
Hey,” he
says, “how are you?”

“
I'm alright,”
I say, “a little tired, but better than yesterday.”

“
That's good,”
Sahariel smiles down at me, but his eyes are sad.

“
You're not
planning on replacing yourself again, are you?”

Sahariel looks away from
me and glares at the man leaning against the wall. Kal flinches. If
looks could kill then he'd be dead on the ground.

“
No,” he
turns back to me, “I don't think I can do that. It seems that
whenever I'm away from you bad things happen. It's like you're a
magnet for bad things.”

“
Well, I'm glad
you're going to stay.”

I smile up at him and his
smile widens and it finally reaches his eyes.

“
Anyway,”
Sahariel says, “I have some news. You've been out of it for a
little while and during that time I've put together a team to try and
find out who did this to you.”

“
So you knew it was
Illidan Sornova?”

“
Well, no,”
he says, “but it's good to know his name. We were able to find
trace evidence of him and my team is in the process of tracking him
down. The only thing I can't really figure out is why he would attack
you.”

“
I think he told
me, but I can't figure it out even with what he told me.”

“
What did he say?”

“
He said his family
was once noble, but that my grandfather took that away from them.”

“
Well,”
Sahariel says, “that sounds about right. If your father did
happen to do that then no one would know him. I know a lot of names,
both young and old, and I've never heard of that name. Though we
might be able to find some clues in the records room. It holds family
records and family trees.”

“
Then that's where
we will go,” I say.

“
No. There won't be
a 'we' going anywhere for a while. Bed rest for you, doctors’
orders.”

“
Fine, but you're
not allowed to go without me. My orders.”

He sighs.

“
Fine,” he
says, “just promise me you'll wait until you're back to
one-hundred per cent, alright?”

“
Alright,” I
say, “but I'm really bored. Isn't there something I can do
other than lay here and sleep?”

“
Well, you
have
missed some of your
lessons.”

I look at him, confused
for a moment, but then it dawns on me and a disgusted look crosses my
face.

“
Yep,” he
says, “bed rest equals perfect time for studying.”

“
Being poisoned
would have been better,” I say under my breath.

“
What was that?”

“
Nothing.”

“
You know I'm not
good with foreign languages, right?” I say to Sahariel after
shooing Tobi from the room. He had come every day to check up on him,
and although I do enjoy him being around, I don't want the
distraction when I'm trying to study.

“
Is that so?”
Sahariel asks me.

“
Yep,” I say,
“couldn't even grasp Spanish when I took it at school a few
years ago.”

“
Well, this is a
little different than Spanish I think.”

Even though we were apart
for over a month, it only took a week for us to get back onto the
same old, bickering page.

“
Have you ever
learned Spanish?” I ask.

“
Yes.”

“
Really?”

“
Yep.”

“
Something tells me
you know more than just Spanish.”

Sahariel laughs.

“
Yeah,” he
says, “I know French, Italian, German, Greek and Latin in
addition to English, Spanish and Elfish.”

I stare at him and
realize my mouth is hanging open. I close it and feel my teeth snap
together. Sahariel chuckles.

“
Surprised?”

“
A little, yeah,”
I say, “How did you manager to learn so many?”

“
When you've lived
as long as I have, you find things to do in your spare time.”

“
Wow,” I say,
shaking my head and go back to the books in my lap.

“
How are you
feeling today, your Highness?”

I look up and see the now
familiar face of Damien, the court physician.

“
Still bored,”
I say.

He laughs.

“
I meant as far as
your physical state, not your mental one.”

“
I'm feeling a lot
better. Just a little anxious to get out of here is all.”

“
Well,”
Damien says, “today is your lucky day. After looking over your
chart I've deemed you fit to leave.”

“
Oh my god,”
I say, “are you serious?”

“
I could be joking
if you'd really like to stay, but I highly doubt you'd want to.”

Damien leaves after a few
more moments, then he's gone and I'm so giddy I'm almost unable to
wait for my actual clothes before I leave.

“
Excited, huh?”
Sahariel asks.

“
Yep.”

I smile at him and he
mirrors my megawatt smile and my heart flutters. I'm so caught up in
it that I barely notice that someone has brought me a change of
clothes.

“
Do you want to
spend more time in here?” Sahariel asks, “I'm fine with
that. At least I'll know where you are.”

I snort and grab the
clothes that are on the bed next to me. I stand and quickly change,
barely noticing that Sahariel has stepped into the hallway and more
amazed that I'm finally able to stretch and stand.

I step out into the
hallway and Sahariel is leaning against the wall. He's waiting for me
and I feel like I've struck gold. It's how I feel every time I see
him when he's waiting for me. I feel like I've struck gold simply
because
he
is
waiting for
me
.

“
I'm curious,”
I say, “you said you wouldn't mind me being in the hospital
because then you'd always know where I am. Can't you sense me no
matter what?”

“
Most of the time,
yes,” he says, “though it's not something I want everyone
to know.”

“
So,” I
pause, “when can't you?”

He sighs. We've reached
my room and he pulls me in and closes the door quickly.

“
The only place I
cannot sense you is in here.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes,” he
says, “If you're in here and I'm outside, I cannot sense you at
all.”

“
Why's that?”

“
Well, there's a
barrier in the walls that nullifies magic. This is the only room in
the whole castle that is like this.”

“
Why only one
room?”

“
Well,” he
says, “it's your room, and your emotions affect others. I guess
it's for privacy.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well,” he's
embarrassed, “you're the Queen, and most of the time a Queen
will have a King? And when couples are together they do certain
things?”

He looks at me and I can
see a little bit of pink creep up onto his face. After a few moments
it finally dawns on me. My face heats up and my eyes immediately fall
to my feet.

“
Oh.”

“
Yeah,” he
says.

“
Well, that wasn't
embarrassing at all.”

“
You weren't ever
curious as to why I always followed you in here?”

“
Actually,” I
say, “no, I haven't.”

“
Really?”

“
Nope.”

“
How come?”

“
I don't know,”
I say, “it's nice though. I like it. It just feels right I
guess.”

Sahariel looks at me,
smiling, and I smile back. His eyes turning into liquid gold.

“
Okay, time to go
to the records room,” Sahariel says.

“
Right.”

We leave my room together
and I'm just happy that he's the one guarding me again. The other
elves in the castle see me and I can see their relief, their
happiness that I'm alright. We're stopped many times so well wishes
can be said all the while Sahariel keeps a protective stance at my
side. Those who may have thought of doing something to be definitely
won't do it now. Weird how it takes a near death experience to make
you feel accepted, to make you feel like you're not alone.

“
I'm so happy
you're alright,” a woman says to me, stopping me like all the
others had.

“
Thank you.”

“
And now that
you're well again you can protect us now, right?”

I had almost forgotten.
We're at war. Luckily I'm able to cover the slight look of confusion
that comes over my face before she can see it.

“
I will protect
everyone with all that I have.” I say.

The woman seems satisfied
with this answer, bows and quickly walks away from me. As she rounds
the corner, it's just me and Sahariel in the hallway, and I turn my
horrified expression toward him.

“
Sahariel,” I
say, “I almost forgot.”

“
It's okay,”
he says, “There hasn't been any movement since the day you were
attacked. You needn't worry about that sort of thing right now. For
the moment, let's do what we originally set out to do and find this
Illidan Sornova in the record books.”

“
Alright,” I
say.

“
Follow me.”

He walks ahead of me and
I try my best to keep up. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be
proper for Sahariel to walk ahead of me like this, but no one was
around, and it feels more reassuring than anything. His strides are
long and powerful and before I know it we are in front of the library
doors.

“
I thought we were
going to the records room?” I ask.

“
We are,” he
says, “the records room is inside the library. A lot of people
don't know this. All of the records are kept in a special vaulted
room, and only authorized personnel are allowed inside.”