Prelude to a Dream (2 page)

When he arrived, he had kept to the outskirts
of the village, avoiding the mad rush of people, but still close
enough to let all the contagious joy soak in. Despite his efforts
to stay unnoticed, Rosetta had spotted him, and quickly stopped his
trek around the courtyard.

Malachi knew he looked older than he actually
was, so it always worked in his favor when it came to the girls of
the village. They always seemed to take a liking to him, but it was
always awkward when he came to see one, and was found by another he
used to bestow his attention onto… like now.

“Ahh, Rosy. I told you that I was going to be
busy for a while.” It wasn’t a lie. He had been busy, but in his
spare time, it hadn’t been her that he was coming to see.

Her bottom lip stuck out farther and he
suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Girls never liked it when he
did that. “I know, but I thought―”

The rest of what she was saying faded to the
background when Malachi heard a burst of female laughter. Swinging
his head around, he scanned the courtyard until he found where it
came from.

Standing off to the side, and surrounded by a
group of young children, a girl stood, smiling wide, and laughing
with the children. It looked as if she was holding a small chunk of
bread out of the children’s reach, and they were tickling her to
get her to drop the tasty morsel.

“Mal! Are you listening to me?”

Through the haze, the irritated voice pushed
through, but he wasn’t ready to stop watching the scene in front of
him. Holding up his index finger in front of Rosetta, he didn’t
take his eyes of the girl. “Hold on.”

As he watched, he saw the small children gain
the advantage, and the girl was brought down to her knees. For a
moment, he felt a small amount of concern, but if her laughter was
any indication, she was having fun. He found himself smiling as the
children finally got her down far enough, and snatched the bread
before they took off running.

He chuckled when she angled herself up, and
yelled a mock threat to feed them to the dragon that hid in the
mountains. Her laughter seemed to brighten up her face. Malachi
started to push away from the wall to see if she needed any help,
when he noticed one of the children, a boy, had not ran off with
the rest of them. Instead, he was holding his hand out to help her
up.

The boy couldn’t have been more than six, but
he knew that look anywhere. The boy utterly adored the girl.

Taking the offered hand, she used the support
and the ground to push herself back up. When she let go of his
hand, she leaned down and kissed the boy on his forehead before
nudging him in the direction the other kids had run.

It was then that Malachi took his eyes from
the girl, and moved them to the boy. The young boy did as he was
told and ran away, albeit it was with a big smile and slightly
redder cheeks. Yep, the boy had it bad, he thought.

With all the children gone, Malachi took
another moment to observe the girl. She was younger than the normal
girl he usually went for, no more than ten and two. Her tousled
blonde hair shone in the sunlight, and it was as if her smile was
permanently in place. He wouldn’t precisely call her pretty, but
she sure was cute.

“Mal!”

The screech was right next to his ear, and he
cringed at the sound. “Liza! I said, ‘hold on!’” It was with a
sinking sensation that he realized what he had just said.

“Liza?” It was a question whispered by a very
offended Rosetta.

Giving her his full attention, he reached up
with both hands and tried to grasp her arms. “Rosy….”

“Don’t ‘Rosy’ me!” She stepped back to avoid
his touch. “Liza? As in, the baker’s daughter, ‘no, she’s not
prettier than you,’ Liza?”

“It’s not what you think?” He could have
kicked himself when the statement came out sounding more like a
question.

“Busy, my left foot!”

Her so called “left foot” came crashing down
on his, and he clenched his teeth at the discomfort her
slipper-clad stomp could cause. The action caused a moment’s
distraction, and the next thing he knew, his cheek was on fire.

She had struck him―hard, but before he could
say anything, she was already stomping across the yard.

Sighing loudly, he took a moment to lean
against the building he had been standing next to. Using the
opportunity, he quietly started to observe the people around him,
which was one of his favorite things to do. Sometimes, it was nice
to watch what he knew he could never have…normalcy.

There were children running and laughing, a
man was pushing a cart full of bags of flour into the bakery, the
blacksmith was pounding on metal while his small son played next to
him, and there was a man climbing through the window of the
building across the ally from him…. Wait! There was a man climbing
out a window?

In shock, Malachi watched as a large figure
threw his legs over the side and hopped down to the ground. As he
turned, Malachi caught his breath on a gasp when he saw who it was.
What was Gemariah doing here in the village, where anybody could
see him?

Still staring, Malachi watched as Gemariah
approached him, but walked around him at the last moment with
nothing more than a nod and a, “Hey, kid.”

Now, Malachi was glaring. How dare he? “The
name’s Malachi and I am no kid,” Malachi yelled at his back. When
Gemariah turned around, Malachi continued. “I also know who and
what you are, so I’m only gonna ask this once. What are you doing
climbing out of that window, in
my
village?”

Gemariah had a contemplative look on his face
before obvious realization dawned. “Malachi? You must be the
exalted one that everyone up the mountain is raving about.”

Malachi pushed out his chest, and tried to
stand taller than he actually was. “And what if I am?”

Gemariah put his hands up, palms out in a
placating manner. “Easy. I was just stating a fact, nothing
more.”

Malachi’s body had just started to relax,
when Gemariah continued.

“I could ask you the same question, you
know.” Cocking his head to the side, Gemariah smirked. “But I’m
assuming from the mark on your cheek that it was for the same
reason… a lady friend. Except, I think, mine ended a lot better.”
He finished the sentence by looking back at the window he had just
come out of, and nodded.

Malachi looked at the window as well, and saw
a buxom woman closing the shutters of the window, with a smile on
her face. It was then that realization dawned, and Malachi felt
color flood his cheeks. “Alright, but why leave out the
window?”

Gemariah slid his arm around Malachi’s
shoulders and guided him in the opposite direction. “It’s the best
way, when the husband is coming through the front door.”

After a few moments of just talking with
Gemariah, Malachi realized that Gerard was both right and wrong
about the man. Yes, he never missed an opportunity to have fun,
even to the point of risking exposure, but he took his fighting and
battles very seriously. In fact, he was headed out the next day to
reach Narva, inside the Swedish Empire. If the rumors were true,
and the Russians were indeed planning a full scale attack, he,
along with a larger group of nephilims were leaving to join in the
relief to help Charles XII.

What Malachi wouldn’t give to go with him,
but even Gemariah had said it was too soon, but promised that there
would be many more battles after he had gained his immortality.

After close to half of an hour talking about
random things, Gemariah stood from where he had been sitting on the
edge of a well. “Listen, I’ve got to be going, but take care of
yourself, Malachi.”

“Yeah, you too.” Malachi stuck his hand out,
and Gemariah didn’t hesitate to grasp it.

“See ya around, kid.”

“I already told you… I’m not a kid.” Malachi
couldn’t keep the laughter from his voice, or the smile off his
face.

With a matching expression, Gemariah held up
his hands in surrender while backing away. “My mistake.”

Malachi watched as Gemariah walked away, and
thought that he didn’t know if they
would
actually see each
other again, but he was glad that he had at least got to meet
someone like him.

Looking around, he realized that the
festivities were starting, and people were becoming more energized.
A dance had started in the courtyard, vendors had gathered around
to sell their wares, and the young children had started up a game
of hide and seek. Overall, everyone was having a good time.

Standing next to the dance floor were three
young girls. Their focus was on the groups of people swinging each
other around, and he could hear their laughter from where he was
standing. His attention was pulled to the one in the middle when
the fire from the lit touches gleamed off her hair and made it
glow. She was the same girl that he had seen before, the one with
the children.

Seeing her standing there brought an idea to
his head, and he swiftly moved to a vendor selling baked products.
After tossing the elderly lady a coin, he grabbed a fresh biscuit
from her collection.

Bread in hand, he made his way in her
direction, and didn’t stop till he was standing directly next to
the group of girls. When he cleared his throat, the noise brought
all three of their gazes to him. Mid giggle, all three stopped and
he watched as their eyes grew slightly wider. Focusing his gaze on
the girl in the middle, he was blown away by what he saw.

Large, expressive eyes stared back at him
before they were quickly lowered to the ground. Even the small
glimpse was like a punch to his gut. Her eyes reminded him of a
plant found around the mountain at certain times of the year. It
was one of his favorites, and Gerard had once called the color
violet. Her eyes had to be close to the most beautiful thing he had
ever seen. She was still looking at the ground, with small glimpses
in his direction, and he suddenly realized that he wanted her full
attention back.

Holding out the biscuit until it was directly
in front of her, he cleared his throat before speaking. “Here. This
is for you.”

Before she could say anything, her friend
spoke up. “That’s an odd gift. Could you not find any flowers?”

Malachi felt heat start to rise up from his
collar, and for the first time he started to second guess his
offering. Clearing his throat once again, he kept his eyes on the
blonde and chuckled, before he said, “Well, after witnessing her
lose something similar in such a vicious manner to those rug rats,
I thought she might like another.”

Just then, her gaze popped back up to meet
his, and she squeaked, “You saw that?”

Smiling down at her, he moved the hand
holding the biscuit closer to her. “Yeah. So how ‘bout it? Would
you like another?”

Tentatively, she reached up and took the
offering. “Thank you.”

There was a loud sigh let out from the friend
that had spoken earlier, and she took hold of the blonde’s arm and
pulled slightly. “Come on, we should probably go check in.”

The girl’s gaze broke from Malachi’s finally,
and looked toward her friend. “Um… yeah. Just give me a minute.
I’ll be right there.”

Her friend didn’t look as if she liked that
plan, and opened her mouth to protest. Before she could get one
word out though, the other girl, the one that had been silent until
now, spoke up. “Oh come on. It’s no big deal. She’ll only be a
minute.”

Right then, he wished he
had
brought
flowers, because he would have given a couple to that girl as a
thank you.

After a few seconds of thought, the girl that
was about to argue shut her mouth and walked away, along with the
girl he now owed flowers to.

“So…” He hadn’t thought it through of what to
say next.

“Are you up to no good again today?”

Her question took him so off guard that he
took a step back. “What?”

“It’s a small village, and word spreads.” She
gestured across the dance floor with her head. “Plus, with the
death looks Rosetta and Liza are sending this way, I’m assuming
they’re towards you. I’m also pretty sure, if rumors are true and
she was out here, Anna Beth would be glaring at you just the
same.”

He laughed out loud at her blunt observation.
“What can I say? Is it my fault that they all want my attention?
I’m just nice to them, is all.”

Something he said must have been funny,
because she let out a burst of laughter. “What’s that saying? Oh
yeah!” She snapped her fingers and pulled herself up to her toes in
excitement. “You’re the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“That’s not very nice, you know?” He tried to
look stern, but failed miserably. There was something about this
girl. It was as if her soothing spirit was catching.

Placing a hand over her mouth, she tried to
stop her laughter, but only succeeded in muffling it. “I’m sorry.”
She smothered another smile and tried to continue. “Really, I am.
You say that you’re just nice to them, but you know… it’s not nice
to show your attentions to a girl if you don’t plan on becoming
more serious”

“You’re one to talk.”

That immediately brought her to attention,
and her eyes widened slightly. “I beg your pardon. What do you mean
by that?”

“I saw you earlier, and the way you kissed
that boy’s head before sending him on his way. He is utterly head
over heels for you, and that small act won’t encourage him to go
elsewhere.” Malachi grinned, and crossed his arms in front of his
chest. Let’s see her explain that one, he thought smugly.

Apparently, he was being extra hilarious
today, because she started to laugh once again. Taking a deep
breath, she calmed herself enough to talk, but her smile never went
away. “Yes, I know that boy loves me, as I do him.”

Malachi’s shoulders tensed. He didn’t want to
dwell too much on the sinking feeling that started to press onto
his chest. Having just met her, his reaction confused him.