Page 61 of Shattered Heir
“Now, I feel hopeful?”
“Emma, you are doing it!” He smiled and stood in front of me, a large grin on his lips. “You are reading my soul.”
Eyes wide, I looked at him, and it was almost as if there was a small white stream of smoke coming from him, and into me, and with that, I could feel his feelings. It was different than with Shad, or now, with Cade. There were just feelings, no words, in my mind.
“What now?” I asked, frozen in place, watching the white smoke. Keil wasted no time moving about the room.
“Okay, so first off, you need to stop feeding the corruption inside of you. If you don’t, it will only grow larger, and eventually, it will overcome you until you become soulless. I am serious about that. If you are feeling hate, envy, even sadness, it can affect your melody.”
“I know this. You have told me before, and I only hate Cade. We all hate him.”
“Remember, that while I can easily say that I hate him, I do not let that hate consume me, and I do not dwell on that hate. Hate isn’t even really what I feel; I am upset, and I am horrified.”
“Well, you are better than me, I guess—”
He looked at me, worried.
“I am trying, Keil, really. It's just difficult, okay? But that is not why I'm here.”
“Emma, listen. You can dislike Cade; you can even hate him, sure, but you cannot, and I repeat,cannotlet it consume you. It will tear you apart and strip your melody note by note. You cannot let that happen. Not only because Shad needs you; we need you. Terra needs you.”
“Okay, I’m trying, but it's not easy. The monster is already raging a war inside of me, Keil. I am afraid of her.”
“Most things that are of the utmost importance do not come easy, Emma.” Keil motioned to the kitchen as he pulled out two cups. Then he smiled.
“Would you like some hot chocolate? I was just going to make some.”
I looked at him, a big, powerful warrior, wearing a suit and glasses, and I wondered how long he had lived on Earth? How long had he pretended to be an earthling?
“Yes, thank you,” I answered as I sat at the little kitchen island, watching him heat up water on the stove in a teapot.
“Emma, why have you come? Isn't school still in session. I should have asked you that before.”
“Yes, it is. I uh—I needed to get out of there.”
“Why?” He asked as the pot started screaming that the water was ready. I watched for a moment as he filled the mugs with water. The steam swirled as it rose from the cup. I Watched as the clear, hot liquid just stewed there, waiting for the chocolate mix. He tore open two packages of hot chocolate mix and handed one to me. I spilled the powder inside and watched as the powder and water became one. I tried desperately hard not to cry, but the tears came anyway, and I placed my head on the counter.
“Emma, what happened?”
“Shad,” I said through sobs. I couldn’t help it. Shad is supposed to be mine; we are supposed to be together. Our melodies are supposed to sing together, and someday we were going to be married, and now, everything is a disaster, and I don’t know if I can live without him. But, of course, I wasn't going to tell Keil all of that; that would just be weird.
“What did he do, Emma?” I sat up and wiped the remaining tears from my cheeks and looked at Keil. I had never reallylooked at Keil before like I did then. I mean, I noticed him the first time I met him, and I had been around him for countless hours, but there was such a softness to his features. He was kind and gentle, even though being so powerful, and I could see why Shad had chosen to live with him; I could see why Shad had kept him close. I would have, too.
“Why are you friends with Shad?” I asked him to avoid the hard question he had just asked me. Keil stirred his hot chocolate with a spoon, and I watched his large fingers bend around it, stirring ever so softly.
“Shad is the Prince of Embra, Emma, and I am an ancient warrior,” he stated as if I was well aware what that meant.
“But he told people that you were his guardian, and I don’t mean like a knight; I mean in the Earthly way; he considers you a parent,” I said, feeling the cup with my fingertips to gauge the temperature. It was still too hot to drink.
Keil let out a little grunt. “Emma, you have to understand that Shad never took a knight.”
“Why does that matter so much?”
“He refused his parents' wish that he choose an ancient knight to protect him.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked, blowing into my mug, remembering one of the memories about Del, and how Del had helped Shad, but Shad refused to have an official guardian knight.
“He didn’t like the idea of someone pretending to be his friend. He was eventually going to have one, just when he was older.”
