Jacklyn

Chapter 2

Her Kingdom

All is silent in the Quartz Palace surrounding the portal to Earth. The blood and death of Grandelites keep the Darkness from its food. Queen Cecelia foresaw a prophecy about a young man with golden hair and blue eyes. She said this young man will defeat the Darkness and bring peace to Grandel Isle. The people of Grandel Isle feel their new queen and her Protector are fulfilling this prophecy.

Standing on the balcony outside her room is the Queen of Grandel Isle. She is looking over her kingdom. After only a year of taking over the kingdom, Jacklyn and Brandon received a blessing  — a child. As the prophecy stated, the newborn was a boy. This is the first time in Grandel Isle’s history a queen has birthed a son. All the queens before gave birth to girls to take over the kingdom. The unique soul energy the Queens and their daughters possess is the only thing that can power the barrier around Grandel Isle. The fathers must transport all the queens’ daughters to Earth. If they do not, the barrier will drain them of their soul energy in a few short months.

Jacklyn still has trouble grasping the idea that she is the Queen. It seems like only a short time ago, when she lived on Earth, she’d thought Grandel Isle was a fairytale. That was until Brandon started invading her dreams. She smiles, thinking of the boy she’d met then. He’d thought of himself as only a farmer’s son. She knew from the first time she saw him, he was much more than that.

Jacklyn looks at her arms and touches one of the small smooth scars there. How many women have a husband who can heal them with the touch of their breath? During the Outer-lands battle, Brandon received the ability to repair everyone on the island. He discovered a short while later he could no longer restore people he could not connect with.

Jacklyn can hear Brandon faintly rustling around in her head. She loves having him there. Brandon gets more from their connection than she does. He can listen to and feel her thoughts, her heartbeat, and her breathing. Brandon is sleeping now and dreaming of their child, who will arrive soon. Jacklyn touches her swollen belly. This baby lets Brandon in so he can see and hear what it does. Jacklyn observes the images in Brandon’s mind, but it is not the same.

Marcus has always been more guarded. He will send Brandon impressions but will not let him in. Brandon thinks Marcus has a shield like Jacklyn’s, but stronger. Marcus also has some of his father in him. He can send thoughts and images. Unlike his father, he can send these to anyone. Brandon’s limited to the people closest to him. Marcus can also link with dragons.

Jacklyn looks up at the sound of successful feathered wings and sees a Winged Dragon flying overhead. She knows if she looks around the dark palace grounds, she will find an Earth Dragon. Just like Jacklyn knows, a Water Dragon sits at the portal hovering over the Red Sea. She looks at the iron gates in front of the palace. There, like every night since Marcus’s birth, is a small, fiercely hot fire, and beside it standing guard is a Fire Dragon.

Brandon lets out a soft groan behind her, and dark images start coming from him. He is dreaming about when he rescued her from the Darkness. He would soon reach the part where she let the Darkness enter her, and he had driven it out.

Something awakens deep inside her at the thought of the invading Darkness.

Before Brandon reaches that part of the dream, Jacklyn closes her eyes and caresses the part of him that is always with her. She wraps her love and their warmth around him. From the first time they touched, this warmness, created by their energy and passion, has always been there. As it seeps into him, she feels him slip into another dream. Jacklyn feels their warmth grow into their heat that is forever waiting to be set free. She pulls back slowly so as not to wake him.

Deep inside her, something prickles.

Jacklyn hears feather wings again, but knows it is not the Winged Dragon. Soft padded feet land on the balcony. She looks at the Royal Lion that has been watching over her since birth. On the day that a future queen leaves for Earth, a young Winged Lion is transformed into a house cat. From that day forward, Snow has always been at her side.

Jacklyn strokes his long body hair and his mane. His mane is longer, but not by much. His coat is black and white, from head to tail to peppered feathered wings. He spends most of his time with Jacklyn, but he has formed a bond with Brandon as well. She thinks he has picked up on Brandon’s restless sleep.

“It’s okay. He was having a nightmare. You can go back to Missy.” Missy is his mate. She is not as large as Snow and has no mane. Her colors are white and a rich brown. The lions live in a barn in the meadow outside the palace. Each family has individual open stalls.

Instead of leaving, Snow goes into the room and lies down on a bed that many Royal Lions have used before him.

Jacklyn turns back to her kingdom and her thoughts.

When the Darkness entered her mind, the part it touched became damaged. That charred piece of her mind stirs, making her attention come back to it. She built a barrier around the infected area of her psyche to keep it from spreading.

Something inside the walls move.

It stretches, pushing against the walls, trying to get free.

It relaxes, and a soft scratching starts.

A sound comes from it.

A pleading sound.

She tells herself to leave it alone.

Instead, Jacklyn searches her mind and finds where the Darkness touched her. She dislikes it here and usually stays away. Tonight, she has felt pulled toward it. Jacklyn leaves her shield wrapped around it.

What would it do if unleashed?

Would the Darkness be able to use me like it can when the melted flesh of an Enchained gets inside someone?

Jacklyn thinks of the things her father involuntarily did to her when a Contagin, a smoke-like creature, entered him. The Darkness and the three witches created the Contagins. She uses them to spy on Earth. They also can infect people and use their bodies to do her bidding. It also can transport the Enchained to Earth. One of these creatures took her to the Darkness.

Would this do that to me? Would it make me hurt the ones I love?

She again pushes herself from it.

 The pleading grows louder and more urgent.

Would only a crack hurt?

How could it hurt?

Jacklyn reaches out and is only inches from it when she feels the baby shiver as if it knows what she is doing. The baby let its fear flow to her. Snow’s growl reaches her ears, and just at that exact moment, Brandon is there.

“Jacklyn, what are you doing?” she can hear the anger in his voice and pulls back. Their child moves restlessly in her body. He can feel their tension.

“Nothing,” she says as his dark, large, strong arms wrap around her slight frame from behind. Their warmth spreads around them. “I’m watching our kingdom.”

Brandon buries his face in her long auburn hair.

“I know what you were doing,” he whispers in her ear. The anger in his voice has vanished. His icy breath washes over her neck. A shiver runs down her spine, and their baby settles down. Jacklyn also feels the dark part of her grow muted.

“Leave it alone, please?”

Jacklyn nods her head yes and opens her eyes. Brandon moves in front of her and looks into her deep blue eyes. She reaches out and pushes his long, wild, wavy, golden blonde hair out of his dark eyes. Jacklyn knows that most people feel intimidated by Brandon’s looks. His six-foot-two-inch height alone was enough to frighten some people. Then the mixture of his sturdy, tan features and dark, rich brown, almost black eyes would make a few more back away. That is fine with Jacklyn, the more for her.

Brandon smiles his little smile, and she knows he heard it all.

“I don’t care if you heard me.” They are far past that. I do not know how they feel about me, stage. With each other always roaming around one another’s mind, you cannot hide anything.

Seafer’s panicked cries for help rush past them and to their son.

Jacklyn tilts to one side of Brandon. Something feels wrong in their beautiful kingdom.

“What feels wrong?” Brandon asks, turning around to follow her gaze.

The palace sits on top of an enormous grassy mountain in the center of Grandel Isle. As you travel down the peak, you come to one of two leveled sections. The first is where the Highlanders, Grandel’s army, live and train.

More trees live here than before she first came to Grandel Isle, a project Brandon works on almost daily. He loves growing things.

Jacklyn thinks with a smile. It’s the Lowlander in him. Brandon puts his arm around her, leans down, and kisses her gently on top of the head.

Training equipment crowds the High-lands. Scattered around the gear, trees, and two small gardens are tents. The Highlanders remain mobile and battle-ready.

Jacklyn continues to look down the mountain. She thinks of the grass that covers it. It is light green and soft as feathers. Soon her eyes travel to the Mid-lands. The homes here are stone. Jacklyn made a change here. The women with children stay home and take care of their families. The three mystics tried to stop this, saying they’re needed, but Jacklyn put her foot down. A child needs its mother. Besides, she didn’t need everything done for her. Unlike the queens before her, she shows no signs the barrier is draining her. As this thought flows through her mind, she feels Brandon’s healing breath wash over her.

Jacklyn pushes him lightly.

“Yes, everyone knows you’re the reason.” 

The lowlands rest at the bottom of the grand mountain. The Lowlanders have more help. A more significant number of Earth Dragons live on Grandel now, and they assist in any way possible. They still help with the fields, but now they help haul the water from the Rose Crystal Cascades to the crops that supply all the food for everyone living on the island. They also assist in the mines by hauling large loads. Some have even learned how to herd the livestock without causing a stampede.

The mournful song of a Water Dragon breaks through the night sky when Marcus’s alert reaches Waterlily. Jacklyn looks toward the Outer-lands. They both hear the palace doors open and see a dark figure on horseback racing across the flower-filled meadow between the palace and the iron gates. Jacklyn and Brandon both know who it is  — Steven the Protector’s Advisor. He has a special relationship with the Water Dragons, and he knows their songs. For him to leave the palace at this time of night, it must be important.

Jacklyn feels Brandon slip from her mind, and she knows he is reaching for Steven. She waits for him to return. When he does, he fills her head with what he felt coming from Steven. Unlike Jacklyn and their child, Brandon can’t enter the minds of others, but sometimes he can feel what they are feeling.

Steven is anxious, and before Brandon says a word, Jacklyn says, “Go to him. He may need your help.”

Brandon places his large hand on the side of her slender face, and his thumb traces her delicate pink lips. She feels their warmth grow dangerously close to their consuming heat at his touch.

“As you wish, my Queen.” A smile plays around his mouth just before their lips meet. Jacklyn feels their warmth grow as their minds and souls intertwine.

I’ve changed my mind, she thinks and feels Brandon chuckle in his chest.

Their kiss breaks, and Brandon leans toward her tiny ear.

“I will be back soon, and we can pick up where we left off.”

Curling her legs under her, Jacklyn sits on their bed and watches Brandon get ready to depart. Again, the feeling that something is terribly wrong in Grandel washes over her. The thought of losing him showers over her and Brandon. Her need for him hits Brandon as he reaches for the door. With sword in hand, Brandon stops mid-reach and turns to her.

Jacklyn gets up from their large, white-curtained bed and rushes across the light wood floor. They meet in front of the enormous quartz fireplace that is crackling with fresh logs. One of his muscular arms slides around her petite waist, and he pulls her tightly to him. Jacklyn’s arms clinch around his solid neck, and she looks into his dark eyes.

“My Queen,” he whispers, his voice is thick with emotion.

“My Protector,” Jacklyn says, feeling both of their passions and their fears of never feeling this again. As he leans down to her, she finds it hard to breathe, and she thinks the same two questions which always come to her in these moments.

What did I ever do to deserve to have him love me so much? What would I do without him?

“I will be back soon.” Brandon’s voice is steady and sure.

Brandon floods Jacklyn’s mind with images and feelings, so intense her legs go weak. His muscular arm takes her weight and pulls her closer. Jacklyn’s eyes close as their lips meet again. Their desire is strong, and for a while, everything’s forgotten in the smoldering heat that consumes all thoughts. They hear, see and feel each other’s needs, which only adds to their own. Jacklyn’s hands move from Brandon’s neck down to his chest, her nails scraping his sun-darkened skin. His fingers dig into the small of her back. A loud clank of metal hitting wood sounds out as Brandon’s sword hits the floor, forgotten. Jacklyn feels Brandon’s now free hand bury itself into her thick auburn hair, and it pulls slightly. Their kisses break only for a moment to gasp for air.

The small part of her mind not swept away by their heat knows Brandon must go. Something awful waits in the Outer-lands, and Steven will need him. She pulls and tugs at this thought, trying to make it break through the veil of desire.

Then the one thing that will always be able to cut through happens. Marcus cries out. It is not a cry of hunger or discomfort. The cry is of loss and heartbreak.

They both rush to their son. Behind them, Snow rises to his feet, alert. A second pair of doors opens, and Tyler also steps into the nursery.

“He is not telling me why, but he is letting me know I need to get to the Outer-lands,” Brandon says as he kisses his wife and son one last time and runs out the door.

With Marcus in her arms, Jacklyn looks around their large room. The overwhelming heat that is a part of them dies down. Soon she feels cold and alone. The feeling of dread takes hold of her again. With Snow at her side, she pushes the glass doors to the balcony open and runs to the edge. With a heavy heart, she and Marcus watch as Brandon fades into the darkness on his black horse Glacier. The mournful song fills her mind, and she decides to wait for Brandon in Marcus’s room.