Between the Willow Trees [NaNoWriMo 2013] (Editing)

Chapter 11: The Traveller's Weakness

Chapter 11: The Traveller's Weakness

In the morning of the next day I am awoken by Ellen the maid. She brings breakfast into me and explains that Thorne will busy this morning but he wishes to spend the afternoon with me. As I'm mostly left alone for the morning I try to come up with a plan to get into the dungeons unnoticed. I soon come to the conclusion that I probably won't be able to do it alone though, Levi will need to help me.

After thinking that through I get bored. I slip on some boots and decide to go explore the garden. I take the same path as yesterday and end up on the patio where we had dinner last night. The sky is clear of clouds, and now it's a beautiful light blue with rainbow nebulas scattered here and there. I'm surprised at how warm it is. On earth it is winter but here in Elethoria it's as warm as a summers day.

There is a stone path leading off of the patio which I decide to follow otherwise I might get lost in the gardens. There's some tidy flower beds every now and then full of plants I don't recognise. Over one of the flower beds there's a bunch of glowing orbs that make gentle fluttering noises as they fly around the flowers. I wonder if they're fairies and leave the path to get a closer look. I kneel on the edge of the flower beds and watch the orbs of various different colours.

"Be careful m'lady," comes a voice from behind me which startles me. "Fairies bite if you get too close."

I shuffle away from the fairies and turn to see who's addressing me. It's a man in tatty dungarees with long crazy blonde hair, as light as Luna's. His hands and knees are caked in mud where he's been doing the gardening.

"Thank you for telling me. I'm not very familiar with Elethorian things. Thorne told me a lot about your world when I was younger, but I've since forgotten most of it." I smile at the man.

"No problem m'lady," he replies with a polite nod of the head. He goes to walk away.

"If you're not to busy, will you show me around the gardens please?" I ask. He turns back to look at me and shakes his head.

"I am very busy this morning. Perhaps another day?" he suggests with a shrug. I observe the fact that he can't seem to look me in the eye. Maybe that's a sign of respect in Elethoria? I have no idea though.

"That's fine. I understand that you must be very busy what with the palace gardens being so vast. I'll leave you to your work."

I give the man one last smile and then return to the path and continue my journey of exploration in the gardens. Soon I grow quite bored and decide to take a seat on a nearby bench. I'm gradually beginning to wonder whether I'm going to be able to get closer to Thorne. At the moment he isn't spending much time with me. It's going to be hard to control him if I barely talk to him.

I guess I'll have to spend my time figuring out my own plan because Ember's isn't going very well so far. I could do some research. There are probably some books about Travellers in Elethoria. I don't think there's any computers in Elethoria, so my research will have to be from books. Maybe I'll be able to discover something important about Thorne? Perhaps I'll learn what his weakness is?

For a moment I take the silver pocket watch off. Absentmindedly I wrap and unwrap the chain around my fingers. What could Thorne's weakness be?

Suddenly I hear quick footsteps approaching. The sound startles me and the pocket watch slips through my fingers. It's falling but before it reaches the ground someone catches it.

"You should be more careful with this. It is not just a pocket watch," says Thorne. He was the one who managed to save the pocket watch before it hit the ground.

He sits down on the bench beside me and then carefully puts the chain back around my neck.

"I'm sorry for dropping it. You startled me. I wasn't expecting to see you until the afternoon," I explain.

"It is the afternoon," he says with a chuckle.

"Oh, is it? I didn't know, the only watch I have doesn't even work properly," I joke, holding up the pocket watch. Thorne gives a gentle laugh.

"I will get you a working watch, if that is what you want," he offers. I take hold of his hand nearest to me, entwining our fingers.

"I'd prefer to spend more time with you rather than own a working watch. If I have the watch then I'll only spend the time counting the minutes I'm not with you. It'll make it a lot harder to lose track of the time."

"I am sorry that I cannot spend much time with you. I have responsibilities to attend to now."

I turn a little so that I'm facing Thorne properly. His eyes are still green for the moment.

"It's fine, I understand. You're king of Elethoria now so I can't expect to spend time like this with you. I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself though. Perhaps I could help you out? That is one of the reasons why you wanted me to join you here, isn't it?" I suggest.

Thorne looks as though he's considering it for a moment. His eyes flicker to blue, then back to green and then purple. I'm certain that he's having some form of internal debate. There's probably a part of him that's unsure whether to trust me, which I completely understand. I'll have to earn his trust over time, but I'll only be able to do that if he gives me the opportunity to prove myself to him. If he's just going to ignore me for most of the time then the plan is going to be a complete failure.

"You are right. I did bring you here to help me. There will be time for that, but I have an important job for you. Tomorrow morning I am going to get Levi and bring him back to Elethoria. It will be your job to keep an eye on him. If he does anything odd, you have to tell me. I need to know whether he can be trusted or not."

I nod my head confidently.

"I can do that. I'll watch his every move and inform you of anything suspicious. I promise I won't let you down Thorne," I insist. It's going to be an easy job, isn't it? In fact, it'll give me an excuse to be spending time with Levi working on our plans.

"Thank you Astrid," he says with a smile, his eyes still purple.

It's at this point in our conversation that I begin to wonder how soon is too soon in terms of building this false relationship with Thorne. I know, that in order to convince him, I will have kiss him and perhaps more than that. I will also have to say that I love him even though I loath him. I actually can't stand seeing him anymore. The very touch of his hand on mine makes me feel sick. I'm not sure I can handle kissing him. I'm really not that good at acting and I also have no clue when it comes to dating someone. I have no experience whatsoever with boys. Would it be too soon to kiss him now? Would he suspect that something's wrong if I do that? What if I don't kiss him soon enough and he behind to suspect that I do still hate him? I suppose I can only hope that he will make the first move, and then I'll take control when that time comes.

"I suppose you would like an explanation of the pocket watch? So that you can learn how precious it is to me?" offers Thorne, breaking the silence that had sprung between us.

I shrug my shoulders.

"If you don't mind telling me then go ahead, but don't tell me anything if you don't want to. I understand if you decide to keep secrets from me."

It's probably best not to seem too eager to know more about the dainty silver pocket watch. That might be a little suspicious.

"You are protecting it for me at the moment, so it is probably best for you to know more about it," he begins as he lets go of my hand and takes hold of the pocket watch which is still on the chain around my neck. "This pocket watch was forged in the dark mountains with me and as a result, it is a part of me. The watch and I are bound. This also means that if the watch itself is damaged then it will weaken me and vise versa. I trust you with this though, Astrid. I want you to be the protector of my pocket watch. So please be more careful with it in the future."

"Of course I will. What happened before, we that was a careless accident. From now on I shall ensure that I look after it," I promise him.

"I am sure you will," he says with a smile.

So the pocket watch is his weakness. Damage that and Thorne will be harmed too! Now I know that, should the need arise, I will be able to weaken, capture or kill him.