Dabria

Chapter Seven

Malakai

I look at Dabria sleeping so peacefully. She's been asleep for most of the night only briefly waking to check that I'm still here. She tries to hide it, but I know she's scared that Zak will show up. Honestly, I am nervous too. I dared not sleep until morning when he's least likely to attack.

I sit on the couch across the room. It's still surreal that I’m here with her after watching over her all this time from a distance, not being able to talk to her, touch her, or even be near her. I knew what would happen if I broke the rules. I knew Zak would find her but I risked it. I couldn’t keep my distance any more. I knew he had been watching me and yet I was still careless, selfish. Sooner or later I will have to take her back to Irredesia. She will be safer there now that the war is over, even if it means me being exiled or even executed. I didn't exactly leave on the best terms. I can't think about that now, I just have to enjoy this time I have with her. She doesn’t need to be burdened by the past just yet.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, causing me to jump up. No one calls me. Ever. I fumble to get it out and answer it. "Hello?" I keep my voice low so that I don't wake up Dabria.

"It’s a nice home you found for her." The voice on the other line says. I recognize it immediately. “Much better than the last one.”

"Zak." I growl. Anger swells in my chest, but I keep my voice low. He must have traced her back here after our meeting yesterday, but I don't know how. Of course he has an army at his disposal while I just have myself.

"Lovely drawings also. Funny that you made her remember Irredesia from so long ago." Amusement coats his voice.

"What do you want Zak? Why call if you know where she is?" My stomach churns with the thought of him being so close to her and I never even realized. I’ve been more careless than I thought.

"So, what are you going to do now that you have her back?" He completely ignores my question.

This sounds like a trick, but I take the bait anyway. "Take her back to Irredesia, where she belongs. Where she will be safe from you." He had to have known that was the plan.

I hear a small chuckle through the phone. "You may want to rethink that."

I clutch the phone tighter. "What do you mean?"

“How do you plan to get her there? There are only so many portals. And what about the war? You really think she will go back home knowing it will restart a war?”

My blood boils at his words. I had a plan, but it was really the only plan I could think of and not a very good one at that. “You don’t-”

“Relax, brother. I would never hurt her. This can all end peacefully.”

“What’s the end game here Zak?” I growl. Dabria sighs in her sleep and I realize I may have been too loud. I move to the far side of the room.

“You know the end game, Kai. Father wants me to marry her. He wants to unite the lands under his name.”

It was as I had suspected but hearing it out loud and visualizing him with her, touching her. I grip the phone even harder, trying to contain my anger. I had to get through to Zak and make him see clearly. “This was never supposed to be the plan. Why are you still supporting him, after the way he treated you? I remember you making plans to run away when we were younger. What changed?”

“You. When you changed your mind about the mission, everything else changed. Since you have been out of the picture, Father announced me as his new heir, he treats me how he used to treat you. I’m his new prodigy. I will be the King of Kings and rule both lands. Irredesia and Valensia will be united as one. You cannot stop it.” His voice sounds off and I wonder if there was more to the story. I knew Zak was stronger, his ability was too strong for me to handle on my own. I would need back up if I was to get Dabria back to King Elrik.

“You won’t get her. Not as long as I’m alive.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Zak mumbles and the line goes dead.

“Malakai?” A sleepy voice says behind me. I quickly put my phone back in my pocket. “Is everything alright? You sounded angry.” She sits up and wipes the crust from the corners of her eyes. Then her hand cradles her head.

“Everything's fine.” I sit on the chair next to her bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” She says then gives me a look. Not just any look, the look she always gives me when she knows I’m keeping something from her. “You are such a bad liar.”

I put a hand over my chest and act surprised by the accusation. “I am offended! I am an excellent liar!” Just not to you. She smiles and my heart thumps hard against my chest. That smile is the reason I live and breathe.

“I’m not stupid. I heard you talking on the phone.” She crosses her arms across her chest.

“What did you hear?” I ask, hoping I could maybe change the truth a bit. I really don't want to worry her more than I already have.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear very well.”

I give her a smile, trying to show that nothing was wrong. “You don’t need to worry about it. You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

“I am going to worry regardless, so you might as well just tell me.” She points out.

I give in.

“It was Zak.” Panic spreads across her face and I can tell she tries to act brave. “He was just trying to intimidate me with empty threats.” I say quickly, attempting to calm her, but telling her this just does the opposite.

“What kind of threats?”

“None that will ever happen. He’s just trying to scare us.”

“What kind of threats, Malakai.” She repeats again more impatiently. I hate how weak I am against her.

“He’s making it almost impossible to take you back to Irredesia.”

“How?” She asks, confused. “What is he planning to do?”

I sigh and look away from her eyes. Zak was right about one thing, if she knew about the war there would be no way she would go back. "Malakai.” She says softly. I meet her gaze and know I’m done for.

“There are only so many portals to get back, and I’m sure he has a foot hold in all of them. And if, somehow we do make it to Irredesia, he plans to start up a war that’s been dormant since you left.”

Again, panic spreads across her face. “A war?” I nod. “Because of me?”

“No, not because of you. It’s because of power. This is all because of power. It is not because of you.” I try to reassure her.

Her lips twist into a disappointed frown. “We can’t go back.” She fiddles with her fingers. “I can’t put other people in danger for my own happiness.”

“Not for your happiness, for your safety. If you stay here, Zak can…” I stop myself from saying more. There is still so much I haven't told her.

“Zak can what?” I turn and walk away running my fingers through my hair. “If I were to go with Zak-”

“Not an option.” I state, hating the thought of her going willingly.

“Okay but what if he is able to take me. Do you know what his plan is? You said he didn’t want to kill me.” She slowly stands and I can tell she is still weak. I walk closer to her in case she falls.

I meet her gaze so that she understands the weight of the words I'm about to say. “There are many things that I haven’t told you yet. Things that I have done, who I am, that might make you look at me differently. And for selfish reasons, I’m just not ready to tell you. But I will. I promise you I will.” I look at her and try to compel her with my eyes to let this go. “Please, trust me. I will explain everything. Just not yet.”

After a brief pause, an amused smile appears on her lips. “Another time?” She repeats my words but I know that I’ve won this battle. For now. I smile back at her and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Can I make you breakfast?” I ask.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Is it morning already?” She says, slightly shocked by the gesture and looks at the window.

"Yeah, Marilyn and John have already left." I assure her.

“Okay, I’m just going to wash up and change.” She says pointing to the bathroom.

I head upstairs to prepare her favorite, Pancakes with peanut butter and grape jelly. I knew this would cheer her up. I rummage through the fridge, thankful it’s stocked and begin cooking.

When she walks in, she takes a deep breath. A smile forms on her face as I slide the plate to her. "Mmm..." She sighs. "This is my favorite."

I smile as I pour her a glass of milk. "I know. It was your favorite before too."

She takes a bite and moans. "Thank you." She says taking another bite and I do the same with the pancake I made myself. As she chews her face contorts into confusion. "You said there are portals? Where exactly is Irredesia?"

I'm relieved it's an easy question. "Irredesia is basically in an alternate reality than Earth. The portals allow us to come and go." I see more confusion on her face. "I know it's kind of complicated to grasp. Earth and Irredesia are essentially one and the same, just different events occurred that made our version of the human race different."

Her brows are pulled in as she thinks about this. "That makes sense… I guess." She says slowly. She pauses as she's deep in thought. "So, how can Zak start the war back up? Does he have that kind of power?"

My heart quickens. I knew I should have planned my story out better. She's starting to figure things out and ask the hard questions. "Zak and Cerberus work closely together." I take a drink of my milk. It’s not lying if it’s just really vague, right?

"But why was the war started in the first place?"

"Because your father refused to do what Cerberus asked of him. So he became angry and attempted to overthrow Irredesia, but your father has strong armies."

"What did Cerberus want?"

I know she's not going to like the answer. "He wanted..." I hesitate, wondering how much to tell her. "He wanted you to marry you to one of his sons so that he could have legal control over both lands; Irredesia, and his own land, Valensia."

Her face twists in disgust. I can't help but laugh at what must be going through her mind. "It's not funny!" She says. "I could have been married off to some ugly, disgusting, spawn of Satan!" I laugh even harder. If only she knew...

"Spawn of Satan, yes. Ugly and disgusting, not so much." I know my joke would put more questions in her mind and I regret saying it.

"So you knew-"

"Your pancakes are getting cold. You should hurry up and eat." She eyes me, looking as if she's contemplating something, but then starts to nibble at the food again. I sigh, grateful she dropped the subject. It's amazing that she hasn't figured this all out yet. I have a feeling it would be soon.

"How old was I when you... when I was..." She fumbled over her words. These types of questions I could answer.

"You had just turned Eighteen when they sent you away."

“What? I’m eighteen now.” I didn’t realize her age got misconstrued through the altered memories. Then again, I’ve never changed so much of a person's memories before her.

“You’re actually nineteen. Soon to be twenty. You’ve only been gone a little more than a year.” I explain.

"And you changed my memories to make me think I lived in foster homes most of my life?" I nod, wondering where she was going with this. "But, why was I sent away if it’s not actually safer here."

I run a hand through my hair, a nervous habit. "It's complicated." She waits for me to go on. "Your Father was throwing you a ball, in honor of your coming of age on your eighteenth birthday. He was going to pick a husband for you that you would marry. Everything was going fine, but before your father could make the announcement, Cerberus came with his army and demanded you marry his son. Your father refused so Cerberus attempted to overthrow the castle. The only option your father could see was to hide you until it was safe for you to come back. He couldn’t risk anything happening to you. That night I was ordered to erase your memories, then your father sent you away. You were only with Marilyn and Thomas for two months before I found you. At that time, the war was still in full swing, and I knew that if I let you remember me, that it was only a matter of time before someone found out. That's why I changed your memories again. So, I just kept my distance until I was sure the war was over and I could take you back to Irredesia." There, that didn't sound too vague. She doesn't need the details yet.

She finishes the pancake. "So my father thought I would be safer here? Didn’t he know about Marilyn and Thomas?"

“He thought he could trust them. No one realized they worked for Cerberus.” I explain.

She thinks for a moment before dropping her fork on her plate and resting her head on her hands, clearly frustrated. "It still doesn't make sense. Why wouldn’t he come back for me?" She says. I sigh and run a hand through my hair, hopeless. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Nope. Nothing." I say. Her eyes narrow and pierce into me. I can't look at her anymore, afraid I would give in and tell her everything.

"You are hiding something. Aren't you?" She says slowly, realizing I'm lying. I have to distract her.

"No, I'm not!" Like she's going to believe me. I can't help but smile at her.

"Malakai." She warns, but smiles too. She stands and starts to walk to me, but I step back and hold my hands up. "You better not be lying to me."

"I never lie." I say with a laugh.

"You lie all the time!" This feels so much like how we used to be. It has been so long since I've held her, touched her. I realized when she's almost in front of me that I had backed up against a counter. "Tell me?" She smiles the smile that makes my heart beat too fast.

I smile knowing my answer, "Another time."

She groans, "Oh, come on!" She giggles and doesn't notice when I close the gap between us. She doesn't seem to notice the closeness and impulsively, without hesitation, I lean in and kiss her.