Lost Lighte

Chapter 9 (part 1)

By the time Tilya woke up the next morning, Reese had gone off to school and Lukas was nowhere to be found. Standing in front of the sink and washing dishes, she couldn’t help but wonder where he had been running off to these days.

She glanced over to the dining table to admire the roses that sat in the vase she had bought last night. The corners of her mouth quirked up in a smile. She was so excited for the ball that was to come in a few nights that her skin buzzed. Drying her hands on a linen cloth situated over her shoulder, Tilya fashioned her hair in a loose ponytail and slipped on her boots to go tend to her farm. The tomatoes and lettuce were coming in nicely this spring and it was almost time to harvest and sell them.

Tilya crouched in front of a vine of tomatoes and admired their brilliant red color and how they shone in the sun. At that moment, a crunch of leaves sounded on the forest path that led to the village. She turned her head to see who it was.

A man who Tilya had never seen before was slowly approaching their cabin. He was dressed in expensive clothing, though it wasn’t elaborate enough to signify him as a noble.

Immediately, Tilya stood, dropping the tomato and its vine on the ground with a thud. “Can I help you?” Tilya called, starting toward the man. The stranger looked at her and brought a hand up to cup his mouth. “Are you Tilya Woodrow?”

As Tilya neared the man, she noticed his choppy red hair did nothing to hide the large discolored scar that ran down the right side of his face, from his temple to his chin. She slowed and put her hands on her hips. “Who wants to know?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

The man halted a few feet away from her and crossed

his muscular arms, scanning the area as he spoke. “Any idea where your father might be right now?” His eyes finally fixated on her, narrowing. Tilya noticed how tense his shoulders seemed.

A chill ran over her, but she kept her chin up in front of him so as not to look troubled. “Who wants to know?”

The stranger pursed his lips. He didn’t look like the type of man to take any crap, and Tilya figured whoever had sent this man did it specifically because of his intimidating appearance. He didn’t answer her question, only glowered at her unblinkingly.

“And who might you be?” Tilya asked after a moment of his silence, tilting her head inquisitively. She nonchalantly loosed her hair from its ponytail, the hip-length tresses cascading down around her, the sunlight streaming down catching the subtle blue and purple hues of it.

The man continued to stare, expressionless. “That’s not important. I’m here to see your father, and that’s all you need to know.” Another scan around the area.

Tilya huffed and removed the gardening gloves she had slipped on earlier. “Well, I’m sorry to inform you that he isn’t here right now, but I can take a message.” She glared up at him with the same intensity he offered her.

One of the man’s eyebrows arched, and he let his arms fall to his sides, and before Tilya could move, he quickly stepped up to her, nearly knocking his chest against hers. He leaned down toward her, his face mere inches away.“If I were you, little girl, I would cut the crap and tell me where your father is.” Tilya could hear the leather of his gloves squeak under his curling fists. “You are an insignificant bug to society, and no one would bat an eye if anything were to happen to you.”

Tilya didn’t know whether to be terrified or furious. If this was the way she would be treated by this man, she didn’t dare to think about what he would do to her father if they were face to face. Despite the rift between her and Samuel, she admittedly needed his money to help her take care of Reese. Her mouth ran dry, and her eyes widened in dismay.

“Tilya?” a male voice spoke from behind her. Tilya jumped away from the stranger and looked to her right as Lukas approached, that black satchel from the night before in his hand. “Is everything okay?” he asked her, staring down at the man in front of them with a cold expression.

The stranger straightened, tilting his head up slightly to look at Lukas. “Who are you?” he demanded, his face unreadable.

Tilya’s blood ran cold, and she was thankful that Lukas was wearing his hat. She didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if anyone knew there was a fae man around. She quickly tried to come up with an answer to give him, but Lukas beat her to the punch.

“I’m her betrothed.” he answered, as easily as breathing.

Tilya felt her whole body flush, and she turned to look away from the men, pretending to be busy brushing off a stray piece of grass from the back of her leg. What the hell was he thinking? This man needed to leave, and she needed to go take a cold bath.

“Where is Samuel?” The stranger demanded again, once again crossing his arms. He ran his gaze up and down Lukas, as if he were a lion in the presence of a mouse. Lukas, though, didn’t seem fazed by him at all.

“Samuel is away on business. He’ll be back in two days’ time.”

Tilya shot her head to look at her friend, her eyes wide with incredulity. From the corner of her vision, she could see the stranger smirk.

He stepped away from the pair, lowering his arms once more. “I see,” he hummed. “Let him know, then, that we’ll be coming to speak with him the day after he arrives. You don’t have to tell him who. He’ll already know.” And with that, the stranger made his exit.

Tilya watched as the man followed the trail back into the woods and towards the village, and when she knew he was out of earshot, she flung her hand out to slap Lukas in the arm. “Ow! What was that for?” He complained, rubbing the area.

“Why did you tell them my father would be here soon?” Tilya asked, putting her hands on her hips. She was too annoyed to notice a piece of dandelion fluff that had gotten stuck in her hair. Lukas brought a hand up to gently remove it.

“He looked like he was going to hurt you.” he spoke tenderly. “To be honest, I’m not exactly in the mood to kick anyone’s ass, so I said whatever was necessary to get him to leave.”

“But we don’t know when he’ll show back up.” Tilya retorted. She crossed her arms and looked away from him, trying her best to get her heart rate down. “And the betrothed thing?” she questioned, still not looking at him.

“I assumed that humans don’t typically enter casual relationships, so I figured telling him we were engaged would be the least suspicious answer.” Lukas leaned over to try and meet her eyes, but she avoided him. “You seem upset about it.”

Tilya huffed dramatically. “Well, it’s a lie.”

All she heard in response was Lukas’s laughing, and she turned to look at him now, but only to punch him in the arm. She started for the cabin, gripping the gardening gloves in her hand tightly. “I’m going for a bath, don’t interrupt me.”

“Oh I would never dream of it, my intended!” Lukas called as Tilya stormed off.

She could hear his laughter all the way to the bathing room.