The Eternal Guardians: Book 1: The Missing Heir

Chapter 24

At that moment, Damian looked up and grimaced as he saw the look on Ashta’s face as she and Lashanna were approaching. He nudged Xavier’s arm and he looked up. They both exchanged looks, and then they hung their heads because they knew that they had been caught. Ashta looked at both of them suspiciously as she approached them. She didn’t understand what Damian’s problem was, but she was going to find out.

“Are you spying on us?” Ashta demanded with an angry glare.

Seemingly, Lashanna also glared at them. She wanted answers too. Immediately, Damian threw his hands up in defense.

“Your uncle asked us to keep an eye on you two, that is all,” he stated, as he nervously swallowed and looked at Xavier.

Ashta crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to glare at Damian.

“And you agreed to it?” Lashanna snapped heatedly.

Xavier looked at Lashanna as he walked over to her and took her hand.

“Of course. It is our duty and orders to keep you and the princess safe,” he said, softly, as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

Damian swallowed hard and looked at Ashta apologetically as he cleared his throat.

“I am sorry if we have offended you, but it is our sworn duty to obey the king’s orders, for we are his guards,” explained Damian.

Thoughtfully, Astha looked at him for a moment, and then she couldn’t help but laugh. She thought that it was kind of cute how he spoke like he lived in the eighteen hundreds, and that he wasn’t aware of the entire changed world outside of the kingdoms.

“Listen, we adore the fact that you two want to protect us, but you have to give us a little room to explore, make mistakes, and not have to worry if someone is watching us or not. It is no fun when you are an adult and you need a constant babysitter,” Lashanna said gently.

“But the princess does need protection. That commoner she danced with is new, and I have never seen him before,” said Xavier, and Ashta rolled her eyes.

She didn’t like the fact that they were attacking Roman, and she knew that they didn’t recognize him, which she was grateful for. Heavily, Ashta sighed as she looked at the two men.

“Look, he is my friend, and he is someone I met long before I met you. He is harmless,” Ashta stated defensively, and Damian looked at her with care.

He thought that Ashta was the one who was naive.

“He is a commoner, nonetheless, and the princess should not associate with common folk,” he said with a chuckle.

Suddenly, Ashta glared at him angrily, and then she scoffed. Damian and Xavier looked at her in alarm.

“The princess will associate with whom she sees fit!” She snapped at the two guards, and both of them looked at her with wide eyes..

Defeated, Damian hung his head. He didn’t want to make her angry, he wanted to put a smile on that beautiful girl's face, but now he had seemed to do the total opposite, and he had pissed her off. Also, he wasn’t used to being sassed at by a woman, and he didn’t know how to react.

Heavily, Ashta sighed as she thought for a moment. She felt as though she couldn’t blame them for doing what they were told or ordered to do. However, she did blame her uncle, and she planned on having a talk with him as soon as she could.

“Well, I am ready to turn in for the night, how about you?” Ashta asked, as she turned to Lashanna.

She nodded to Ashta, and then Ashta turned her attention back to Damian and Xavier.

“If you gentlemen would excuse us,” Ashta said, as she bowed her head.

Then, she and Lashanna turned away from them, and they headed toward the castle.

“What just happened?” Xavier asked, as he and Damian watched the girls walk away.

“I am not sure. These women are different from the women that live here in Nemiph. They actually have the guts to talk back to us men,” Said Damian in disbelief.

Xavier could see the confusion and the defeat on Damian’s face. He believed that his friend was trying too hard, and that he was going to end up pushing Ashta away.

“Okay. Tomorrow is another day,” Xavier said, as he clapped Damian on the back.

Damian nodded, still confused, and then he and Xavier headed back to the castle.

****************************

The next morning, Ashta woke up, and threw on a pair of black leggings, and a black tank top. Quietly, she left the castle and headed over to Chantelle’s cottage. She kept her head on a swivel as she walked, just to make sure that no one was following her. Evidently, she reached the cottage.

Suddenly, before she could knock, the door flew open and Ashta was face to face with a brown-haired girl. The girl glared at Ashta angrily, and Ashta didn’t know why.

“See, I told you!” Ashta heard Roman say, and she curiously peered around the girl.

“I can come back later, if I am interrupting something,” she said to him with a grin.

Noticeably, his hair was wet and it hung down past his shoulders as he stood at the kitchen counter, shirtless. Eagerly, Ashta watched as the water dripped from his hair and slid down his chiseled chest. Ashta blinked a few times, and then she looked back up at Roman’s face.

“No, come on in. She was just leaving,” said Roman with a smirk, and then he took a bite of a juicy red apple.

At that moment, the girl that was standing in front of Ashta scowled, and then she aggressively pushed past Ashta.

“The only good-looking guy in this entire kingdom, and then she had to come along!” grumbled the girl, as she walked away.

Ashta laughed as she looked at Roman.

“Wow!” she said in amazement.

He looked at her and chuckled.

“I know,” he said with a grin.

“Already a heartbreaker with the ladies. I’m impressed,” Ashta teased, as she tilted her head, and he looked at her as he almost spit out his apple..

“No. Come on. That girl just has a crush on me,” he said with a sheepish grin.

“Hence the heartbreaking!” she exclaimed, as she waved her arm at the door.

Seemingly, Roman shook his head in disbelief, as she smiled a charming smile at him, and a smile formed across his lips.

“So, are you ready?” she asked, as she leaned on the table with her hands, as Roman smiled at her and then he tossed her an apple.

“After we eat,” he said with a charming smile.

Quickly, Ashta caught the apple and nodded.

“So, I am happy to see that you are starting to make some friends,” Ashta teased again, as she raised her eyebrows, and then took a bite out of her apple.

Roman looked at her for a moment, and then he shook his head, as he then laughed and he finished his apple.

“Hello, dear,” said Chantelle, as she walked into the room.

Ashta noticed and couldn’t believe how much Roman looked like his mother, especially since her hair was pulled back in a bun that day. Chantelle looked at her son with a serious look on her face.

“I see that you got rid of that girl,” she said to him, and he only nodded.

“That girl is trouble,” she mumbled, and Roman looked at her.

“Mom, that is the first time she has come over besides, I have no interest in her,” he explained softly, and Chantelle smiled at him.

“Good boy.”

Evidently, Roman shook his head at his mother as Ashta noticed that his cheek flushed a little in embarrassment, and she couldn’t help but suppress a giggle. Roman looked at her, and then he shyly smiled.

“Well, you two have fun today,” said Chantelle, as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Yeah, if I don’t have to worry about some spy on my tail,” Ashta said, annoyed, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Chantelle looked at her in question, and then she dismissed her thoughts.

“Why don’t you guys go to the falls? Just take the pathway behind the garden, and it will lead you there. I am sure if you guys get going soon, then no one will have enough time to track you down,” she suggested, and Ashta nodded.

“Sounds like a great plan.”

Curiously, Roman looked at Ashta as he finished another apple.

“Can we train in a different place other than the garden?”

Ashta smiled and nodded.

“Yes, now that you have the elemental markings, we can train anywhere. With these markings, we are now connected with the gods. The power now lives in you,” Ashta explained with sparkling eyes.

“Markings?” asked Chantelle, as she grabbed her bag off of a rack in the kitchen.

“Look at his shoulders,” said Ashta, as she threw her apple core in the trash, and Roman turned his back to his mother.

Chantelle looked in amazement as she saw the elemental symbols on her son’s back.

“She’s right! You have all five symbols on your back, but they are very light,” she said, and then Roman looked at Ashta with a confused look on his face.

Ashta smiled politely, and then she set her half-eaten apple on the table.

“Look,” she said, as she turned her back to them, and then she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

Shocked, Roman and his mother exchanged looks, and then Roman walked over to Ashta. His fingers felt warm against her skin as he began to softly paw at her back, and Ashta smiled as he examined her tattoos.

“Well, I guess you two are one in the same. No Selvempt or Slayer has ever wielded the markings in all of our history,” Chantelle finally said.

Quickly, Roman took his fingers off of her back and he turned to his mother with wide eyes.

“Why not?” he asked.

At that moment, he felt as though he was more of a freak than someone who was meant for great things. Chantelle looked at him softly and she patted his back.

“Because we are not pure. The gods have chosen you two to carry on their vision,” she said with a smile.

Ashta thought for a moment, why would the gods choose us? Quickly, she dismissed her thoughts, and she only nodded. Without a word, Roman turned from his mother and Ashta, and he walked into the other room. A few moments later, he had returned as he pulled a sleeveless shirt over his head as he looked at Ashta.

“Shall we?” he asked, as he gestured to the door, and Ashta nodded.

They said their goodbyes to Chantelle, and then they left the little house.

**********************

“What do you mean, she is not here?” Gale asked, angrily.

Liam, Damian, Xavier, and Lashanna were all in the throne room that morning, and Gale wasn’t happy that Ashta had left the castle without telling anyone.

“I went into her room after I had woken up, and she wasn’t there,” Lashanna stated worried, as she nervously looked at Xavier.

“Do you know where she might have gone?” asked Liam, as he looked out of the window.

“Maybe she went to the garden. She seems to like it there,” suggested Damian, and Lashanna shot him a look of disgust.

Why would he just come out and say that out loud? she wondered.

“Well, we will give her some time before we go and get her. As the princess, she needs to make an appearance at the festival tonight,” said Liam in a calm voice, and Lashanna looked at him oddly.

“Appearance?”

“Yes, she must remind our kingdom that the missing princess has come home,” stated Gale matter-of-factly, and Lashanna rolled her eyes.

“You might want to lose the attitude, because you, my dear, must make an appearance as well,” he added, as he peered over his glasses at her.

“Why?” she asked, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Because you are the human that has entered our kingdom and has been granted immunity to live in our world,” he said, and Liam turned his head and nodded.

At that moment, Lashanna scoffed, and she left the room. Damian and Xavier looked at each other, and Xavier shrugged his shoulders.

“Please tell me that you two have a better understanding of those two girls,” stated Gale, as he rubbed his temples, annoyed.

“We have started to get a better understanding, sir, but those two are very headstrong like a man would be. They make their own decisions, and they do not like to be followed,” Damian explained.

“That’s for sure. They are very stubborn,” Xavier added, as he scoffed.

He wasn’t used to a woman being so headstrong and stubborn. Gale and Liam looked at the two guards, and then Gale sighed a heavy sigh. He didn’t know if he would ever understand his niece and her human pet.

“This is absurd. What kind of kingdom just lets their women do whatever they want? There has to be some kind of order in the human world,” exclaimed Gale, and his brother looked at him gently.

“Now, now. Just calm down, brother. We need to talk with them more. No wonder why the girl leaves without saying anything. We haven’t spent any time with her, not since she has been here,” Liam said, and Gale looked at him with sad eyes.

He was right, they didn’t spend any time with her, and they had practically ignored the girl since she had come home.

“You are right. We will arrange a family dinner, where we can all sit and talk,” suggested Gale.

Liam nodded, and then he left the throne room and headed for the kitchen.