Page 40 of Shattered Heir
I nodded as I let the note float away from me. I pulled on another note, and I saw a similar thing, except I was crying, and my stomach ached.
“I am a baby, and I am crying. My mom picks me up and feeds me.” I watched as I saw myself bracing myself as I prepared to walk, holding onto my mother’s arms. I saw my father in front of me, reaching for me. I took my first steps, and fell into my father’s outstretched arms.
“I am learning to walk. My father is holding my hand.”
“Trust. You trusted your parents. You depended on them, first, and then you trusted them. You knew that because they fed you and cared for you, they would not let you get hurt.”
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling down my cheek.. It was so beautiful to see that memory, something that I never dreamed I would ever remember.
“How is this possible?”
“Once you see them, you won’t see them again. It’s just the growing process. Your melody is young; it has been suppressed. It is learning, just like you are learning. I am not sure how often your parents let your melody out, so you may only have a few memories in your melody that can be easily accessed, and theothers might be buried deep because of the periods when you were without your melody. Someday, with enough practice, you can regain all of your memories, I am sure.”
I reached out for the next note and felt arms on my shoulders.
“No more for tonight, Emma. That was very well done, but now, you need your rest.”
I nodded as I closed my eyes and felt the cold chain from my crystal necklace around my neck again. The crystal itself was warm and comforting. My melody then relaxed against me, curling inside of me.
“I don’t think I can stand,” I said, and then the next moment, I was staring at the ceiling. Keil was propping me up.
“It’s okay. Ryker is here. Mary had to go into the shop. Ryker will be with you until Mary arrives.”
I nodded, and then darkness covered my eyes once more.
I awoke with my head against Ryker’s chest. I knew it was him because of the warmth radiating from him. I swear, he was a human-Magical heating pad or something.
“You awake, there, princess?” he asked as he brushed my cheek.
“You mean, I'm not dead?” I asked with a low voice, barely an echo in the room.
“Not even close.”
“Where are we?” I asked as I realized he was walking.
“I am taking you to your room. You need rest.”
My head moved back slightly, and I noticed the ceiling and the familiar light fixtures of the hallway inside my house. “Am I paralyzed?” Fear splintered through me.How am I going to be able to save Shad if I am paralyzed?
“Of course not,” he chuckled, although I didn’t think that it was very funny. “Melody training isn't easy, Emma. That is why we start out as children and continue for the rest of our lives. Keil said you went through two basic core melody notes today;that's impressive.” He lifted me onto my bed, and I tried to move a little, but exhaustion kept me from being able to do anything.
“Is it going to be like this every single time?”
“No, once you have mastered some basic skills, it will be as easy as breathing.” He paused as if thinking that one over. “Well, sorta like breathing, more like heavy breathing, like after a run.”
I looked at him in my best what-the-heck-is-that-supposed-to-mean—I-do-not-runface.I could barely use the muscles in my face to speak, so I wasn't sure I was pulling off the look until he smiled at me wide and laughed.
“Just know, Em, it will get better.” The humor in his eyes, or more likely, the pity at my lack of movement, frustrated me, but there was little I could do about it in my paralyzed state.
“I highly doubt that, Ry, but I didn't even physically exert myself. I do not understand how I am this weak,” I said as he tucked a fluffy, white pillow under my head and draped my pink blankets over me.
“Our bodies and our souls are connected, Emma. You do not have a full person without both. What is done to one of them affects the other.”
“Like Shad,” I whispered. I watched Ryker as he gave me a sad smile. I knew that he didn't care for the prince that I loved, but he cared about me, and he knew I was heartbroken over the loss of him.
“Yes, like Shad. His melody was taken, and so his body is soulless. He may be alive and walking, but a body cannot survive for long without a soul, Emma.”
“I will help him, Ryker.”
