Stefan's Journey

Chapter 4

Thalia Callahan stood at her bedroom window looking south to where the Gordon castle stood in the far distance. She was unable to see it because of the trees that stood in the way, but it had at one time been visible from her family keep. That had been years ago during the time of her ancestors.

Thalia's family had just heard that a descendent of Nikolas Gordon had come forward to claim his lands. Thalia's family had believed that the Gordon family was extinct. The castle had sat vacant for almost 200 years, ever since her great great great uncle had killed the last surviving member of the Gordon clan.

Thalia wondered what this meant for her family. Her father was talking about continuing the feud. The feud had started 500 years ago when some family jewels went missing after the Gordon clan had come to visit. Thalia wondered if the jewels were still in the Gordon castle.

Thalia turned and looked at her twin brother who was sprawled across her bed flipping through a medieval armory magazine. "Do you think father will restart the feud Hector?"

Hector shrugged without taking his gaze off his magazine. "Father's been looking for a reason to gain the Gordon land. I'll be surprised if he does nothing."

Thalia moved away from the window and crawled onto the bed next to Hector. Hector looked up at her with dark eyes that matched her own. Thalia rested her chin on her arm as she reached up to fiddle with his long black hair.

Hector put his magazine down and shifted onto his back so that he could look at Thalia. He propped his head on arm and gazed at Thalia with deep dark eyes.

Thalia sighed. "You think father will send both of us over there?"

Hector brushed a stray lock of hair out of his sister's face. "Most likely. We are the eldest."

"We'll have to be extra careful if we go over there."

Hector grinned up at her. "The risk of exposure always makes things more exciting."

Thalia snorted as she rolled off the bend and climbed to her feet. "Mother and Father would kill us if they ever found out."

Hector laughed as he went back to his magazine. "That's why we are so good at sneaking about and hiding."

"Well I'm going to go take a shower. You can sit there and plot of news ways to sneak and hide."

Thalia disappeared into the bathroom. Hector listened to the shower turn on. Hector stood up and walked over to the dresser where Thalia kept her stereo. Hector marked his page in the magazine before he turned on the stereo and chose a hard metal CD from the CD deck. As the music began to blast, Hector walked over and locked the door.

Hector paused by the windows and peered through the sheer curtains that blocked prying eyes from view. Thalia's room was the highest room up and the hardest one to sneak or peer into. Hector adjusted the curtains and made sure the windows were sealed before he headed into the bathroom where Thalia was busy singing along to the music as she showered.

***

"Who are those two?"

Kerri looked up from the paper she was reading to see who Stefan was looking at. Kerri looked back down at her paper as she answered Stefan's question. "Thalia and Hector Callahan. I'm surprised their father waited so long to send them here."

Stefan peered down at them from his perch on the battlements. "What can you tell me of them?"

Kerri shrugged without taking her eyes off of her paper. "They are the eldest of the Callahan children at 21. Both are exceptionally bright. There's a rumor amongst the Gods that they love each other like a husband loves his wife."