Page 22 of Shattered Heir
Pulling on a pair of slacks, as they called them on Earth, and a collared shirt and tie, I quickly got ready for the day.
“Prince Shadrict,” I heard Keil from the doorway, and I turned to look at him as I finished the knot in my tie. Formal wear was different on Earth, but wearing it made me feel like myself. All my life, I had worn the formal wear of the princes of Embra, and I knew that Earthlings didn’t care about who I was; however, I did. I was a prince of the Kingdom of Embra, and as such, I wanted to portray my kingdom well. I knew Ididn’t need to, but the simple act of wearing those clothes made me feel like I was more myself than anything else I had done on Earth. So—I would continue.
“You know, Highness, kids your age don’t wear these kinds of clothes. You may want to tone it down when school starts, unless you have changed your mind?”
“No, I will attend her school, and thank you, Keil, but I am okay where my clothes are concerned.”
“As you see it, Highness.” He smiled as I walked to him with a little head bow. I didn’t know how I got so lucky to have stumbled upon Keil. Being an ancient warrior brought so much honor to his entire person. I knew that I could count on him, and that was incredibly rare, especially there.
“You are to be my guardian.”
“Guardian, Highness?”
“That does not mean a knight here—merely, a parental figure. I need one, it would seem, for all of those documents Courtney filled out for me, for school attendance.”
“Are you sure, Highness?”
“Of course–You are more family than anything, Keil.” I touched his shoulder and the look that crossed his eyes was overwhelming. He unshielded his soul, and I felt it slip around me, telling me how honored he was, and how he wouldn’t let me down. I reassured him with my melody that I knew he wouldn’t.
I walked down the stairs, slowly, sensing her melody as I went. She was outside. It was my chance. I opened my front door and saw her carrying a bag in her hand as she closed her front door. I moved quickly from my house, crossed the street further down from my house and started walking up the street, as if I were taking a brief stroll, only moments before coming upon her. I shielded my melody and took a breath. It was incredibly hard to shield my soul from her. Still, my melodyand I were strong, and I had full control. Years of mastery wouldn’t steer me wrong; however, as I drew closer to her, I knew that all the training in the world wouldn’t stop her from melting me. She reached down to pick something from the lawn as I approached her. I leaned next to her to say something, she stood abruptly and fell onto the grass after hitting my chin with her head. Her eyes locked onto mine in an instant, and her melody leapt toward mine. I unshielded my soul, and our melodies danced around each other. It felt like I had been cooped up inside a small box and had never been released until that moment. Her melody, melding with mine, was all I ever needed in all the worlds Terra or Earth.
“Um, hello,” I said, unable to move away from her. Restraining myself from the need to hold her—touch her to be sure that she was real.
‘Flecks of gold, beautiful,’ her melody spoke to mine, and I tried not to smile.
She liked my eyes.
“Hey,” she voiced as she held her head. I wondered if she was hurt. Embarrassment radiated through her melody.
“Are you alright?” I asked as I stood straight and reached a hand down to her to help her up.
I felt her melody asking a thousand questions: Who I was? What was I doing there? and Why did I make her feel things? I tried to push the emotions she was feeling away. She had no idea how to control her feelings within her melody, it seemed.
As she took my hand, an electric current flowed from me to her and then back again, and I wanted to never let her go. She made me feel whole, complete. I stared into her face; I knew that she was ‘the one’ from the moment I felt her melody, but it all still baffled me—still amazed me, that I had found her, that I had actually found her. I had a soul song. Her emotions, again, came at me rather strongly, and I tried to block them, awarethat she didn’t understand what she was doing. It was hard, however, because my melody wanted everything that she was sharing. I noticed then the small plant she had bent down to pick from the lawn. I was expecting some beautiful flower, but it was a puff of a thing. My melody swarmed; then it became louder and stronger as I thought about the years that I had waited for that moment, about the roses, about the prophecy, and about her.
“I—I Can’t believe it,” I said, unable to control myself.
“Believe what?” she asked.
You—are—” I shook my head; it was not how I wanted it, our first conversation, to go. I touched her hair and tried to fight the urge to pull her into my arms and bond with her right there. That was the worst idea, and it would have scared her away for good; she wasn’t mine, and although I wanted to be hers and I wanted her to be mine, it wasn’t so. Not yet.
‘He’s mine,’ so clearly, I heard the words from her melody within my soul. I tried to control my surprise, but she jumped away from me as if that thought had frightened her.
‘I found you—’ I said through my melody, trying to regain my focus and control over my melody, but failing.
‘I am not who he thinks I am,’ her thoughts, again, crystal clear inside my soul.
They made me want to fall at her knees and beg her to let me be hers, to let me follow her forever. I pushed that thought away. I wished that I could explain, that I could make her understand that I had been searching for her for decades before she was even ever born. I had been waiting for her. I would always wait for her.
Shad’s memory faded, but I didn’t want to leave it with all of the feelings and memories it brought to me about how wonderful Shad was. I did leave it, however, and I awoke to sobs that were my own.
Ryker was there beside me on my bed, and I wanted to hit him for not being Shad, but that would have just made me more of a jerk.
“Emma, you okay?” Ryker’s sleepy voice asked me as I sat up and turned to look out the window.
“I had another memory.”
“That is good, isn’t it?” he asked, sitting up, too. I turned to look at him.
