Life by Patricia Silva (types of ebook readers .txt) 📖

Not Ready Yet

 

It was almost nine o'clock when I decided to get out of bed. I hadn't slept in a week and I knew that wasn't good, especially after training every single day. I didn't want to sleep because I knew the nightmares would come, and since I hadn't slept in a while, there was probably a lot of aweful dreams waiting to deluge my subconscience mind, and still haunt me while I was awake.

I made my bed and pulled on a maroon long-sleeve v-neck shirt and zipped a black and gray hoodie over it, then I pulled on some skinny jeans and vans and opened the door. As I passed Tomas' room I could hear him snoring.

Tomas had been up all night talking to Lisa, then someone else, who I imagined was probably Queen Isabelle or some other official. I eventually grew tired of listening to his conversations and went up to my room. I couldn't remember what time I heard him go to bed, though it was well past three in the morning.

I headed downstairs and went straight out the front door, I wasn't hungry or anything, I just wanted to get out for a while. I walked around the side of the house and began walking straight into the forest, past the clearing I had trained in the day before, and past another clearing, all without thinking. Then, I looked up and remembered I was suppost to stay within sight of the nearby neighborhoods.

Sometimes the lack of sleep deprives you of little things you need to remember.

I turned around and could see nothing but trees. I sighed, my body ached slightly all over. My eyes felt heavy, and though I hadn't looked in the mirror before I left the house, I knew there were bags under my eyes. I began to head back to the first clearing I had passed and when I reached it I leaned against a tree and slid down until I was sitting on the ground.

I looked around the clearing and saw that the flowers were beginning to bloom. I picked up a small, dead flower and twirled it around in my fingers. Then, I began to stare at it, my tired eyes glowing. I tried to remember everything I had read about the gift of life and attempted to preform it. In my hand I conjured up as much magic as I could at the moment and and aimed it towards the flower. I thought hard for a while, then I felt something happening. I got excited and continued doing whatever it was I was doing until the flower disintegrated into dust and blew away in the wind.

I stared at my barely glowing hand. I didn't preform my gift, I preformed exactly the opposite of it. I felt daunted and inane. I really wished that there was someone else like me, so that they could teach me how to work my gift. However, that could not happen if I was the only being in the whole universe with this gift, except for Sophia, though she wouldn't be much help.

I sat there, staring at nothing until I felt so fatigued that I thought I could fall asleep and never wake up. I stood up and wearily walked back to my mentor's house. When I got there I laid on the couch and rested my head on a pillow. I laid there for what seemed like hours, though in reality was probably only ten minutes, yet sleep did not come. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but I didn't move. Tomas wandered into the living room in boxers and a t-shirt, there was stubble on his face and his hair was messed up. He yawned and stopped in front of the sofa.

"I thought I heard someone come in," he said in a weary voice. I yawned.

"You're dressed already?"

I sat up and stretched then looked at him.

"Damn, you look terrible," he muttered.

"Gee, thanks," I mumbled sarcastically.

"Did you sleep last night?"

"What do you think?"

He sighed "Why not?"

"I don't like to..."

 "Nightmares?" he asked.

I nodded, then looked away.  Tomas sighed again and went into the kitchen. I got up and followed him. He opened a cabinet above the sink and was about to reach inside.

"I'm not gonna take it," I commented from behind him.

Tomas turned around. "What?" he asked.

"I'm not going to take that medicine," I said in a quieter voice.

"Why not?"

" 'Cause, it makes me feel wierd... and I can't use my powers after I take it."

"But, it'll make your nightmares go away, so you can sleep."

"You were gonna teach me magic today, that's not gonna happen if I take that medicine."

Tomas sighed, closed the cabinet and sat at the table. I took a seat next to him.

"I'm sorry..." I said.

"For what?"

I shrugged. "For being so complicated."

"That's not your fault. You're just special, that's all."

"Hmph," I grunted. Niether of us spoke for a while.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Tomas said, breaking the silence.

"I know," I replied.

"We better start getting ready... tonight you're gonna take the pills, you need to be well-rested for tomorrow."

"Fine..."

We both stood up and went upstairs to our rooms. I grabbed my backpack and emptied it of the books that were inside. I wasn't going to school for the next week, so I wasn't going to need them anyway. I got out everything I was going to neeed for the next week (clothes, shoes, underwear, deoderant, etc.) and put it all on my bed. I began half-heartedly puting clothes in my backpack, then looked up at all of the other items I still had left and realized it wouldn't all fit. I took everything out of my backpack and waved a glowing hand over it. I reached my whole arm into it and still couldn't feel the bottom, yet it still looked the same on the outside. I began filling it again, and this time it all fit.

I looked at my desk. No matter how much I didn't want to, I knew I probably should've took the envelope, too. I grabbed it and shoved it as deep down into my backpack as I could reach. I looked at my bed and saw, about to fall off at the very end, the stuffed-wolf that Blake had given me years ago.

I picked it up and looked at it for a while. Warm memories overwhelmed my mind for a bit, making me smile. 

A small girl and a small wolf who were chasing eachother around. They hid from eachother behind trees. They sat on boulders at the river bank. They talked. They laughed and laughed and luaghed. These events repeated as they got older, not a thing changed.

I put the wolf in my backpack, zipped it up and set it on the floor next to my bed. I looked at the clock, it was 1:35. I felt as ready to go to the castle as I would ever be. I sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, peeking out the window. I yearned to be in the forest, though I felt too tired to do anything but sit there.

Actually, it wasn't the forest that I wanted to be around. It was the stupid wolf boy with the bright eyes that the thought of the forest provoked.

 

The Castle

   

I gazed out the window as the car drove through the towns to get to Main, the capital of the planet Tyren. Tomas was driving, Lisa in the passenger seat, mom and I on the sides of the back seat with Sophia in between us. Everyone seemed in a pleasant mood, except for Tomas and I, who were trying to hide our worry and anxiety behind neutral expressions and ocassional grins. Since we were the only ones who knew about the letter, we planned to keep it that way for a while. Though Tomas had spent hours speaking to Lisa the night I told him about it, he somehow managed to keep the topic vague and anonymous. After about two hours of driving, we finally came within sightable distance of the Main castle.

The Main castle was an incredible height, about twenty or so stories. It was a sandy shade of beige with light blue roof tops and windowpanes the color of the clear sky. It had a large garden behind it, and behind that began the Main forest, which surrounded the castle from behind and the right, other buildings from the city of Main were in front, and not too far to the left began the Carnaba Sea.

After some of the castle officials showed our group to the rooms we'd be staying in, the officials led us to the throne room where Queen Isabelle awaited. As we approached the large, light gray double-doors where two guards stood, the guards opened the doors to reveal a huge room that was a bit longer than it was wide. Starting at the door, there was a long, white carpet covering the floor like a fresh layer of snow. The carpet led to two large, silver chairs, incrested with colorful jewels. Behind the elegant thrones were giant windows, with silky, white curtains that were drawn back, letting in a great amount of light. Leading up to the thrones were about five small steps that were, like the rest of the floor surrounding the carpet, a shiney white marble, streaked with swirls of grey.

The walls were a pale grey. Against the left and right walls were long, skinny, silver counters with a few books and papers scattered here and there. Standing in front of the left counter, reading from a large book, stood a tall woman with long blonde hair. A simple silver crown sat on her head.

"Queen?" one of the officials asked as she stepped to the front of the group.

She looked up and when she noticed our small group standing just in front of the doorway she closed her book and set it on the counter, then walked over to us with a smile on her face.

"Why, hello, everyone. I'm Qeen Isabelle," she said in a kind, slightly accented voice and bowed shortly. We all bowed back.

"Mr. Carter," she said, turning to Tomas, "it's so nice to see you again."

Tomas smiled and nodded respectfully. "It's been a while hasn't it, Queen?" he said.

Tomas and Queen Isabelle looked very close in age. Both appeared to be in their early twenties, though Tomas was 324 years-old, and Isabelle was 323 years-old. What incredible things magic can do.

"Well," Tomas continued, "you've met Ms. Hunt before."

My mom and the queen exchanged respectful nods. "Indeed I have," Isabelle said.

"Well, these are her daughters, my apprentice, Siena," Tomas said, motioning towards me, "and my coleague, Ms. West's apprentice, Sophia."

The Queen smiled. "Siena, Sophia, it is a significant pleasure to meet you." She reached her hand out to me and I gently shook it. Then she leaned down a bit to shake Sophia's hand.

When no one else spoke for a few seconds, I said, "It's quite an honor meeting you too, Queen Isabelle." I smiled politely.

"Hah? Why, thank you, dear," Isabelle spoke in a cheerful voice.

I had only met the queen of Tyren a minute or so before I decided that I liked her.

Queen Isabelle had fair skin and big gray eyes with shards of blue mixed in. She wore black eyeliner and mascara, making her bright eyes pop even more. For a queen, she wasn't dressed too fancily. She wore a pale blue, lacey top with a dark grey cardigan