Getting right to it

I don't have anything before this, so it's going to start abruptly and sort of in the middle of nowhere. Eventually I'll figure out what's supposed to go before it. Read on to jump into this first chapter.



“Jasper, we’re home!” Lydia called, putting her quiver down and removing her cloak. Charlotte also removed her cloak, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. Charlotte followed close behind Lydia as they made their way to the kitchen in the heart of the house.
   “We’ve got something interesting to tell you,” Lydia was saying as they moved through the house. The aroma of that night’s stew was wafting through the air, making Charlotte’s stomach rumble with anticipation.
   “Jasper?” Lydia repeated, poking her head into the kitchen. Jasper was there at the table, but she wasn’t alone.
   “Who—?” Lydia started to ask.
   Charlotte stepped out from behind Lydia and into the kitchen to see what Lydia’s inquiry was about, and as she did her eyes connected with another pair of eyes she had not expected to see ever again.
   “James?” Charlotte whispered. He stood from the table as she uttered his name, a smile breaking out on his handsome face.
   Jasper also stood and circled around to meet the girls. Something was being clutched in her hand. It looked like a parchment.
   “Well, have a seat,” Jasper instructed. “I still have to finish dinner, so you can catch up.”
   Jasper moved over to the other wall of the kitchen, away from the table, where she began chopping carrots for the stew. She made sure her back was facing them.
   Charlotte was ogling James, unable to believe that he was really here. It had been five years since she had last seen him back home. He looked almost the same, but maybe a couple inches taller. His dark brown hair was swept back away from his face and styled neatly, as always, but his eyes were vibrant and maybe even a little wild, perhaps as ecstatic as she was at seeing him.
   “Charlotte.” He said her name softly, and she felt her knees getting weaker.
   Lydia just stood in the background, mouth hanging open, apparently speechless. Charlotte had spoken of James to Lydia before, of course, but she always referred to him as a simple crush, and left it at that. Since she thought she’d never see him again, Charlotte didn’t bother telling Lydia how she really felt about James and how, in her eyes, he was much more than just a silly crush.
   “I – I’ll help Jasper with dinner,” Lydia said awkwardly, but Charlotte panicked and grabbed Lydia’s arm before she could leave.
   “Don’t you want to meet him first, at least?” Charlotte said, her voice a tad shaky from nerves.
   You should be alone, Lydia said to Charlotte in her head.
   No, stay, I need you. Charlotte’s voice was much softer since her gift was not as strong, plus she needed to also mouth her words to give them more inflection.
   Lydia eyed Charlotte for a moment, but decided to take Charlotte’s word for it, and followed her over to the table to get a closer look at this man.
   “James, this is Lydia,” Charlotte introduced, and the two grasped hands briefly and muttered greetings.
   “And of course, you must have met Jasper,” Charlotte indicated to her left, and at the sound of her name, Jasper turned and nodded politely.
   After the niceties, the trio sat down at the table, silence overtaking them.
   “That stew smells delicious. I’m eternally grateful for your hospitality,” James said in Jasper’s direction. Jasper nodded again.
   “I apologize for coming here unannounced, but I only just learned of your location a few days ago, and there wasn’t time to send word,” he explained, ever the gentleman.
   “I hope your journey wasn’t too long,” Charlotte said.
   “I’ve journeyed farther before, but I would have gone to the ends of the earth to find you again,” he said, his eyes trained on Charlotte. She felt herself melting at his words, becoming lost in his aquamarine eyes.
   “Ahem,” Lydia cleared her throat, and the two of them broke eye contact. “You say you only found out her location a few days ago?”
   “That’s right,” James answered Lydia. “A friend of mine found out for me.”
   “Are you still living in Southbard?” Lydia asked, her voice casual, but Charlotte stared at her.
   “Yes, I am,” he said slowly.
   “Isn't that a five day's ride? Couldn't have made it here in that time if you only found out, what two or three days ago?” Lydia said. Even Jasper turned around now to look at Lydia. Tension had built out of nowhere with Lydia's words.
  “Yes, it usually is. As it happens, however, I was closer to Bronzemuir when I learned of Charlotte's new home. And as I said, there was no time to send a letter,” James said, his words steady.
   “Lydia, I need your help,” Jasper called, but Lydia ignored her.
   “May I ask what you were doing so far from home?” Lydia pressed.
   “Lydia,” Charlotte said quietly, her face surely turning red from embarrassment. Lydia also chose not to look at Charlotte, but kept her eyes trained on James sitting across from her.
   “Of course, I'd like to tell you, but it's rather personal,” James said, an apologetic smile on his face now.
   “Ah. I see,” Lydia said before glancing finally at Charlotte.
   Something is wrong with him, she told Charlotte. Charlotte just stared back at Lydia, her eyes bugging from Lydia's audacity.
   “Lydia! Please come here,” Jasper demanded, and Lydia finally rose from her seat to join Jasper, who met her halfway and started to escort Lydia out of the room, all the while Lydia's eyes never left James. James looked mildly amused.
   With the others gone, Charlotte let out a breath.
   “I am so sorry,” she started, but James put his hand on top of hers.
   “Don't worry about it, I understand. It seems suspicious to her that I'm here, I suppose she's just trying to be protective of you,” he said. He smiled at Charlotte, and she felt like her heart was going to burst. Finally she couldn't stand it any longer and had to know more details.
   “How did you find me? And why?” she asked.
   “I told you, a friend of mine gave me the information. I've been trying to find you ever since you left,” he explained.
   “For five years? Why?” Charlotte asked again.
   “Charlotte, I want to tell you, but I have to explain something first,” he said as he inhaled deeply. “I was near Bronzemuir because I was supposed to be shopping for a ring. An engagement ring.”
   He paused and allowed Charlotte to look surprised. But then he continued.
   “You see, my parents are forcing me into an arranged marriage back home. I knew this would always be my fate, especially when you disappeared five years ago, so I'd been putting the word out to try to find where you'd gone. It wasn't easy; no one in the village knew of your fate, except Millie, but she'd up and left as well. So I had to be strategic about who I asked and what to ask, otherwise it could get back to my parents.”
   “But you still haven't told me why,” Charlotte persisted.
   James bowed his head slightly before saying softly, “I think you know why.”
   Charlotte sat back in her chair, unaware that she was even leaning forward. After a moment, she leaned back in again, and gently placed her hand on James’s cheek. He glanced up at her, and she saw tears rimming his eyes, their aqua color standing out even more.
   “Do you love me?” she whispered, tears starting to form in her eyes as well.
   He covered her hand with his.
   “Charlotte—”
   “Okay, sorry to break this up, but we have some things to discuss,” Jasper said as she and Lydia walked back into the room. Charlotte snatched her hand back and tried to look innocent. Lydia was still staring at James, but maybe her eyes had softened just a fraction.
   James was quick to recover, and sure enough when Charlotte glanced at him, the tears were gone. She wondered briefly if they had been real.
   “So, Lydia tells me you saw something in the forest?” Jasper prompted.
   “What? Oh, right,” Charlotte said, adjusting her glasses. She was rather hoping she wouldn't have to discuss this tonight, especially not with company here, but Lydia was looking determined.
   “I think I saw my sister,” Charlotte said uncomfortably. She could see James eying her curiously. She now wished that he wasn't there, or that Jasper and Lydia would go away.
   “Your sister. Did she talk to you?” Jasper asked.
   “Yes, she was trying to warn me about something, but she didn't get the chance,” Charlotte told her.
   Jasper paused and heaved an impressive sigh.
   “Well, I don't know what this is all about with your sister bringing warnings, but I, too, have news, and it seems like more than coincidence that you should have a vision of your sister and this letter has reached me on the same day. And the arrival of this man,” Jasper said, gesturing to James with the letter to which she had referred. “Again, I say this is no accident.”
   The others remained silent, each wondering what Jasper was on about. It sounded rather dire though.
   “I have this letter here, describing a journey of the utmost importance. But before I divulge its contents, we need to be sure of something.” Jasper nodded to Lydia. Lydia walked forward towards James and unexpectedly put her hands on him, one on his forehead, the other over his heart.
   “What are you doing?” Charlotte demanded, anger rising in her chest.
   “Charlotte, wait,” Jasper said, putting her hand on Charlotte's shoulder to calm her. Charlotte watched as James sat patiently, if a little uncomfortable with having a stranger's hands on him, but she didn't know what Lydia was waiting for.
   Charlotte glimpsed Jasper’s face, which remained impassive.
   After a minute in silence where nothing was happening, Lydia finally removed her hands. Charlotte couldn't read Lydia's face – her expression was part relief, part disappointment.
   Without a word to James, Lydia turned to face Jasper again.
   “Nothing,” she said simply.
   “Curious,” Jasper replied. “But I suppose I'm not surprised.”
   “Are you going to explain what that was all about?” Charlotte almost yelled.
   “We had to check to see if James had a spell put on him,” Jasper said, but it meant nothing to Charlotte.
   “What are you talking about?”
   “I felt there was something wrong with him, like he had been touched by some dark power,” Lydia said. “Jasper had the same feeling, so we needed to test him to find out if he was under the influence of a spell.”
   “But you said you found nothing. I don't understand!” Charlotte felt herself getting a bit hysterical. She couldn't understand what they were trying to achieve.
   “Perhaps I can shed some light on their suspicions,” James finally interjected. The trio all landed their eyes on him simultaneously.
   “That would be a lot of help,” Lydia was saying, but Charlotte interrupted her.
   “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to James,” Charlotte said. Lydia gave her a wary look.
   “It’s okay, Charlotte, I know what they’re talking about,” James said, giving her a reassuring smile.
   “You do?” asked Charlotte, feeling rather dumbfounded.
   “Yes. On my way here, I was met in the forest by a young woman. She asked if she could walk with me for a while. She said she had been traveling on this route for a few days but always felt like someone was following her. She said she didn’t feel safe alone, and that she would feel better if she could accompany me through the forest until we were through and she felt safe again. So I let her, feeling it was the least I could do, since I’m no fighter. We walked through the forest mostly in silence. I never got the impression that anything was following us, but I didn’t want to discredit her feelings. She was definitely strange herself, but I chalked that up to her paranoia. Eventually when we were coming closer to the next village, I expected us to part ways soon, but when I turned to say this to her, I was knocked out. When I was revived, I was still on the path, the girl was gone, and some villagers from nearby were splashing water on my face to help me. No one could tell me what she did or where she went; they weren’t there when it happened. They thought I had just fainted or something.”
   “So she attacked you? Why?” Charlotte whispered.
   “To put the spell on you,” Jasper answered for James.
   “But it didn’t work,” Lydia said, her brow furrowed, studying James. “Why didn’t it work?”
   Lydia turned to Jasper expectantly, her source for most answers.
   “I could be wrong, but I think the reason the spell didn’t take to young James here is because he possess one of the strongest and oldest powers against dark magic and curses – love,” Jasper explained. Lydia’s eyes softened and she gazed over to Charlotte.
   Charlotte could feel her face becoming hot and she fidgeted with her glasses to have something to do. James, on the other hand, didn’t appear surprised or embarrassed. He was also looking toward Charlotte, his aqua eyes full of meaning.
   “Uh, so what does that mean? He’s immune to magic?” Charlotte asked quickly.
   “Oh not at all,” Jasper said with a little chuckle. “Only when the magic is concerning his feelings for a certain someone, especially if it’s born out of dark magic and malice, it’s less likely to work at full strength, if at all if it’s being cast by a novice.”
   “But why was someone trying to curse James?” Charlotte asked aloud. This time Jasper had no answer.
   “This young woman, did you get her name?” Jasper asked James instead.
   “No, although I asked. She was reluctant to tell me anything about herself. Once I realized she was asking me all the personal questions but rebuffing when I asked her something, I stopped talking to her. She didn’t like that much.”
   “Well it certainly is concerning that this had to happen,” Jasper said with a kind of finality to her voice. “But it seems there's not much more for us to discern from this attack, at least not yet. I'd like to shift gears now and explain what this is.”
   Jasper held up the parchment still secured in her fist. Her eyes landed on Lydia, and they actually softened.
   “But first, we should eat. The stew should be acceptable even without the carrots.”




*Everything is written BY ME. I own this work, the characters, everything. Don't be getting any cheeky ideas.