Alive (The Veiled World Book 1) (11 page)

The girl’s hands froze and hovered over my back. She was listening very carefully and was obviously very interested. Embarrassingly I found my body shifting back to meet with her hands, despite the pain it invited.

“Oh, the usual, a dragon, giant serpent, Minotaur, unicorn…”

“Seriously?” She sighed. “Okay, I’m done.” She dropped the cloth into the bowl of water and stood.

I didn’t blame her for not believing me. For these animals were all myths where she came from. Perhaps I should have used more tact when introducing them, instead of showing off.

I walked to the door and turned around on my way out. “Thank you, Amber.”

She folded her arms beneath her chest and nodded. “It’s okay. Don’t get into any more trouble.” After a few seconds her scowl softened into a half smile. “I guess that’s hard to do around here.”

“It is for me,” I said, then regretted the pathetic words. I had a strange urge to want to look heroic and strong and brave in this girl’s eyes. But managed in that one sentence reduce myself to Ollie’s league.

“Well, okay…” She gripped the door as though meaning to shut it whether I stood in the way of it or not, so I tried to think of something amusing to say, to keep the door opened for longer, but she slammed it in my face before I could do so.

I made my way downstairs to my bedroom. I slept in the servants’ quarters, the stone rooms, not the glass paned ones that allowed the warmth of the golden sun to heat them. But as I wrapped my hand around the doorknob, one of the girls, the dark-haired one with a pretty face, Bella, I thought, stumbled into me. I swore as her sharp nails raked down my back, across my wounds, as she tried to steady herself.

Too much red wine would be the cause. Oh, how my back hurt. No doubt fresh blood would ruin Amber’s careful efforts.

I caught her by the waist and pushed her away before she could rake her other hand down my back.

“Are you all right?”

The girl stared at me dumbly, as though trying to work out who I was.

“I doubt your bedroom is this way. Come with me, I’ll take you upstairs.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around me. “You’re a bit of a hottie, did you know that?”

I ignored her and dragged her up the stairs, sighing with annoyance. I needed sleep. I needed to work on my plan to convince one of the group to decline the challenge.

“I think Amber likes you,” she whispered in my ear, her breath stinking of wine and cheese. She snorted a laugh and dissolved into a fit of giggles, rendering her practically legless. If the weight of her body against me and the arm draped across my back wasn’t so agonisingly painful, I may have been amused and flattered by her words.

“Did she say this?” I asked. The girl was so drunk she most likely wouldn’t remember our conversation in the morning, so what the hell.

“Oh, she didn’t say, but I know. Nobody likes her at home so…she probably…” More giggles broke her words. This was getting annoying. “She probably thinks she’s got a new friend in you.” Peals of giggles followed. “She’s ugly, isn’t she? She’s got not much here…” The girl paused to reach down and squeeze her sizable left breast with her own fingers.

I fixed my eyes on the forthcoming stairs and moved my legs much faster.
Must. Not. Look. At. Breasts.

“Can you remember which room you are in?” I asked when we reached the top floor, Amber’s floor. She balanced herself on two feet and wobbled a bit before staring down both wings and pointing to the right. “Over there. Where the flappy thing on the door is.”

We stopped in front of the room and sure enough a dragon in flight adorned the wooden door, in black ink.

“Here we are. Room of the flappy thing.”

The girl burst out laughing and I shushed her, not wanting to wake Amber and have her see me in another girl’s arms. I didn’t know why I was even concerned about that happening. She leaned against my shoulder and was surprisingly heavy while I opened the door and dragged her in.

I sat her on the bed and she flopped back against the mattress, spreading her arms and legs wide. Her dress had ridden up her thighs and I quickly turned away. Strangely enough, the sight of her bare legs, although very pleasing to look at, didn’t cause my blood to stir as much as the sight of Amber’s legs had done.
Oh, enough about the legs!

“Good night,” I called from the door.

“Wait!”

I sighed and turned around, keeping my eyes on the ground.

“What about this thing. This Choosing Ceremony?”

When I glanced up she was sitting up and seemed suddenly and completely sober.

It occurred to me then that I had my opportunity here, to tell this girl what I wanted them all to know. I only needed one vacancy.

“Can we really all bring back someone we love? Is it true?”

I shook my head. Guilt turned my stomach to stone. But why was I feeling guilty when I wasn’t lying?

“No. Only one can do that. Usually only one, or none, survives. So you have a very slim chance of returning at all. But even if all nine of you made it to the Land of Resting Souls, only one would be allowed to bring someone back. Two souls, in fact. One of them being the king’s dead wife. Everyone else would miss out.”

And with that, I closed the door behind me, wincing in pain, my back throbbing all over again. My wounds seemed to sting even more when the girl’s gentle sobs reached my ears.

They grew louder, even as I retreated from her room, chasing me down the stairs and all the way to my cold, bare room.

Chapter 11

Amber

The metal clang of a bell ringing woke me up from a deep sleep.

After taking forever to fall asleep last night, and spending most of my time tossing and turning in and out of dreams where I was inside the plane, with Sam, and it was crashing and I couldn’t do anything to save us, I finally drifted off just as the gentle blush of morning light illuminated the distant horizon.

There were no curtains here, and if I hadn’t been so tired, I most likely would have woken up with the sun. It was what my dad and mum liked to do. They kept their curtains open throughout the night so the morning sun rising in the east would wake them early to tend to the farm animals.

I stretched my legs against the luxury of silk sheets. My eyes felt dry and gritty. Every muscle on my body ached. But as soon as I remembered why I was here, my brain sprang to heightened alertness. I was here, in this glass tower.

This was all really happening.

I was going to bring Sam back to life and fly home with him. My parents were going to be so happy. Our lives would change forever. No. Our lives would return to normal. Gone would be the depressing days where the only sounds were of the coffee machine drip, the television, and chair legs scraping against the floor. God, I felt depressed just recalling it. At least with Sam home again there’d be laughter and happiness filling the silence.

I leapt out of bed, knowing it seemed crazy to believe I’d see my brother again soon, but believing it anyway. I just knew I was going to get through all nine heavens, dangerous or not. Just knew it. I had to or die trying. My life was over without my brother anyway. Without him, everyone hated me. So I wasn’t going to return home empty handed. I’d rather stay here and rot than do that now I knew there was a possibility I could bring him back.

As I dressed in the provided black tights that were too short and came just below my knees and a black silk shirt, I pictured Sam smiling down at me. Even though there were no stars above us here, I could feel him watching me. This was the gateway to the afterlife, to the Land of Resting Souls. I was closer to him now than I ever would be.

Stepping out of my room, I caught sight of Claire banging on Bella’s door.

“Wake up, Bella. You’re going to be late for the Choosing Ceremony.”

I was tempted to ask if everything was okay, but decided against it. Still, my steps were slow and hesitant as I headed towards the stairs. What was wrong with Bella? Was she backing out?

“Go away, Claire. I’m not coming,” shouted Bella. “Tell the king I’m staying right here until you all get back.”

I descended the stairs, not waiting to hear Claire’s response. Jacob and Noah stood at the base of the staircase, looking up at me. Noah’s black tights were bunched up around his ankles and Jacob’s were short like mine

“Looks like one of you guys got my tights,” Noah said, and I laughed. Jacob’s eyes widened, as though shocked at the sound of me being happy, but I couldn’t keep it contained. I was on the road to getting my brother back. This was the happiest day of my life in over six months.

Jacob rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles.

“I wonder why they’re making us wear this stuff.” He was deliberately facing away so that I couldn’t see just how tight his tights were in the front. But all that did was give me a perfect view of his very toned and muscled butt. His legs looked amazing too. I hadn’t realised how ripped he was. I knew the guy had killer biceps, but those thighs. Wow.

Noah waved a hand across my face and I cleared my throat and looked away.

Reece and Reuben weren’t as bashful as Jacob. They strolled towards us with their chests puffed out, proudly displaying
everything.
Gross. I deliberately turned my head.

“Where’s Claire?” Reece said, his voice laced with irritation.

“She’s up there, trying to get Bella up,” I said.

Reece frowned. “What the hell’s happening to you, Firestarter?” He narrowed his gaze. “You talk now?”

Reuben started up the stairs. “Let’s go get them.” He rolled his eyes. “They’re probably doing their hair.”

Reece shook his head. “Bloody women,” he spat before scaling the stairs two at a time. His comment was almost laughable, seeing as Reece normally came to school with about half a jar of hair wax in his fringe each day.

“Let’s go get something to eat; I’m starved,” I said.

Noah raised a brow this time. “You seem pretty enthusiastic,” he said before swallowing thickly. “Didn’t you hear all that stuff the king was saying? You know, land of nightmares and all that stuff?”

I nodded and realised I’d have to tone down my excitement. Jacob looked up, waiting for my answer.

“I did. I just thought I may as well go into this believing I can get Sam back or else…you know, thoughts become things and all that.”

Jacob nodded and stared ahead, his brow furrowed and his eyes on the ballroom doors.

The guards, not the same ones from last night, opened the dining room doors and we stepped through, greeted by the delicious smells of bacon, eggs, and freshly baked bread. My mouth watered and my stomach rumbled like thunder.

Coffee. They had coffee too. The tiny vague headache that had lingered since our arrival at this place reminded me that I needed coffee on a regular basis.

“I like the way you think,” said Noah after a while. “Thoughts become things. That’s cool.”

“I read it in one of my mum’s self-help books.” I shrugged. “After Sam died…” Wait. I was talking about Sam. Out loud. With Noah and Jacob. I hadn’t done this before with anyone from school.

Noah nodded, his face pale as he stared at the king and Bruce, who were deep in conversation.

“This is all real. It’s actually all real.” Noah stopped walking and stood, open mouthed, his cheeks trembling.

“Don’t worry. We’ll look out for each other. You’ll both be safe with me,” Jacob blurted out suddenly, nodding to us both before he stormed off and sat down at the end of the table, his cheeks pink.

I followed him and sat down next to him. Noah, after some encouraging waves from me, sat to my right.

“Jacob’s right. If we have each other’s back, then we’ll be safe.”

Anya piled Jacob’s plate with crispy bacon and fluffy eggs first, then she did the same to mine and Noah’s plates.

“The old girl’s sweet on you, Jacob,” whispered Noah.

“Elbow him for me, will you?” said Jacob, leaning so close I felt his breath against my ear. I did as he asked and was rewarded with a cute smile.

“Hey, that’s not fair, no alliances allowed!” Noah elbowed me back and I don’t know if it was a case of false bravado or just plain nerves, but the three of us dissolved into fits of laughter.

The others piled in noisily, glaring at us and frowning at our smiles. They were without Bella and within seconds Bruce was demanding that somebody go up and “drag her down here or else.”

Prince Ollie chose that time to enter. Today he wore a golden robe, complete with sparkly tassels. Jacob and Noah elbowed me at the same time and I nearly spat out a mouthful of bacon and eggs.

“What is the problem with your friend, Miss Claire?” he asked. Obviously he’d been watching us carefully last night as he seemed to know that Claire and Bella were best friends. Observant.

Claire told him about Bella, her voice low, her eyes shiny with tears.

“I will see to her. Don’t bother the king with this. Not a word.” He pointed a skinny white finger at all of us through a gap in his robe; it seemed to rest in Jacob’s direction. “Not a single word or I’ll cut out your tongue and have Hattie the cook grill it up for you.”

Jacob spat out a mouthful of bread. Noah covered it up with his napkin and of course this set us off again, but we did our best at hiding our amusement by covering our faces with our hands and staring down at our plates.

“We’ve got to stop, guys,” I whispered. “This is serious stuff.”

My words caused Noah to laugh even more and when I glanced at him sideways I saw that there were tears sliding down his face and my heart twisted beneath my ribs. His amusement, our amusement, was masking our fears. Our fears of facing death—not just our death, but the death of our loved ones, all over again.

The maid, who was piling extra pieces of crispy bacon onto Jacob’s plate, mumbled something under her breath that sounded like, “I’ll cook your tongue, little brat,” meaning Ollie of course, but when I smiled at her, she shifted her eyes away and started to hum a tune.

“Thanks,” I said when she added another three strips of bacon to my plate.

She nodded and continued to pile our already loaded plates with grilled tomatoes decorated with basil leaves and baked potatoes smothered in parsley butter. My mouth watered all over again.

I took a sip of coffee from the cup to my right and added sugar from a small crystal bowl. Now it was perfect. Wow. Even better than Mum’s.

But I nearly spat coffee all over my food when Prince Ollie returned to the room and shouted, “Stop!”

“What is the meaning of this, Ollie?” the king spat, his brows deeply furrowed with concentration. He’d been head to head with Bruce since I’d entered the ballroom.

“Bella will not be attending the Choosing Ceremony as a challenger.” He paused for effect. “She has decided to stay here, at the palace, with me. Father, you have lost yourself a challenger.”

At that moment Axel entered the room, bearing a basket of fresh bread rolls.

“Boy!” Ollie said with glee. “I may be finally getting rid of you after all.”