Page 19 of The Knight
“But do not doubt what the Ancients have blessed; it is clear to me.”
“Did youseeall of this?” I knew about the rumors concerning Embra, knew about the whispers.
“What?” Shad said, touching his cufflinks. Oh, gosh; he had cufflinks. I rolled my eyes.
“If this is true about songs, then you were blessed by the Ancients. I know about the powers you would have to have.”
“All of the royal heirs are blessed, Ryker. It is no secret.” He paused, looking right into my eyes. “I can tell you, however, that I have known of Emma’s existence for every single day ofmylife. Our hearts beat the same.” Then he turned and walked away, crushing what felt like the bones inside of my body into oblivion. I walked back to the house and heard Glasson laughing.
“A song?” he asked in between bouts of laughter.
“You find this funny?” Great, he could laugh, the one time he showed emotion, and he used it to mock me.
“Oh, Ryker. You know you are not supposed to fall in love with your charge. It seems the Ancients are aware of this.” He kept laughing, and my stomach ached.
“I don’t care what I have to do, Glasson, but in the end, I will keep her away from him.” I would, I had to.
“But will she want that?”
As Glasson and I finished discussing the details of our plan, I could not forget those words rolling over and over and over again in my head:But will she want that?If songs were real, who could deny a song?
Chapter 12
“So, we’re still on for today, right?” I asked, sliding next to Emma at the lunch table. I had been spending all of my time with Glasson, piecing the puzzle together about who had destroyed Emma's family. I knew from our connection and from the pull that I had for her that she needed me. I’d texted her earlier that week, making plans with her for that night. I knew that being with her meant that I needed to fight the pull that grew and intensified each day that her soul was exposed, but she did need me, and I couldn't deny it any longer.
I watched as Emma looked up at me and then nodded. I stared into her beautiful, vibrant, green eyes, hearing her feelings pulsating through her melody.
It was hard to hear her feelings exactly, especially with my soul shielded, but I had learned how to let it out just enough in order to sense her. She was thinking something about reading a letter, about seeing my name, and being confused by it. Confusion, that was what radiated strongly from her soul. I shielded my melody entirely once again as Emma responded: “Of course.”
“Awesome,” I smiled, placing my hand on her shoulder, feeling its warmth.
“What’s today?” Sam asked, sitting down at our table. I knew that in order to keep up appearances I needed to act like I was friends with the students here, but it was tiring. They were the least honorable boys I had ever met. The things they spoke about to each other about the females were very disturbing. I assumed that if they had melodies, theirs would have been corrupted long ago.
Sam was soon followed by more football players. I could tell from the way Emma smiled and nodded at my teammates that she wasn’t thrilled to be with them either. But I had a part to play. I wasn’t Rykerian, the guardian knight of the heirs of Haleston at that moment. I was Ryker Dall, the football-playing boy. I put an arm around Emma and breathed in the scent of her coconut shampoo. How badly I wanted to pull her into my arms and bury my face in her hair.
“Oh, Emma has been waiting all week to hang out with yours truly. Sorry about all of my practices getting in the way,” I said, winking at her. As I focused on her eyes. All I saw were emerald pools of confusion.
She seemed uncomfortable with my touch, which was starting to become a new normal. I did not like that.
“My parents are out for the night,” I raised my voice for the sake of the football team. Emma nodded, I assumed, not caring in the slightest if my parents were home or not.
“Dude! Score!” Andrew high-fived me. Kevin and John gave me fist bumps. I smiled and acted like I was proud of the dumb things that I knew my comment had made them think. I didn’t want people to hurt Emma. My main concern was always her protection. If being her boyfriend caused those disturbing boys to stay away from her, then that is what I had to be, at least make it look serious between us. I had already told them and halfof the school that we were together. It had been that way since freshman year. She was mine, not anyone else's.
“So what are you guys going to do?” John asked with a smirk.
Andrew punched his shoulder and said: “Dude!”
“We are just going to hang at his house,” Emma said, irritated. I squeezed Emma’s knee, and her green eyes found mine. I unshielded my melody to push my apologetic feelings towards her. I quickly shielded it again. I was pretty good at it by then. It was something Lamont trained me for, so I wouldn’t become soulless. She smiled with what I knew was her fake, but warm, smile which meant—“you owe me.”
“Hey, guys,” I heard Ash say, and I glanced up at her for just a moment, and then I focused back on Emma. I watched Emma as she looked around the cafeteria. Her coming into her melody was something extraordinary. I felt a pain of guilt that I was able to witness it, but that her parents would never be able to see her as she grew. She looked at me, and our eyes met for a moment, and a funny look crossed over her face. I could only stare back until she glanced away. Then I was pulled into a memory.
“Her melody is so captivating,” I had commented about Emma, as I sat with Lamont one evening, watching the stars.
“It is, isn't it?” he said reverently.
“Indeed.”
“I’m so grateful, so indebted to you, Kerian.” I watched as Lamont looked up at the stars. Prince Lamont had been the one who gave me the nickname Kerian when we had first met, telling me that “Rykerian” was too formal. Once I arrived in this realm, I wanted a better, simpler name, and Ryker seemed to fit just fine. It didn't feel right to have anyone else call me Kerian.
