Finding Home - The Light

Chapter Twenty Six - I Belong To No One

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

I Belong To No One

Sara stumbled backward when the force of the spell hit her in the chest. She saw the look of horror on the Prince’s face just when the windowsill hit the back of her legs. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she fell backward through the window. She had a moment to marvel there was no pain from the spell before the realization that she was rushing toward the open courtyard below hit her. Her heart pounded fiercely against her chest as she clenched her eyes shut. She wondered what it would feel like to hit the unyielding stones.

A fluttery light tingle ran up her spine and spread out across her back. She embraced the feeling, letting it flow through her body, calming her. When it reached the tips of her fingers and toes, she felt as light as air. Her heartbeat slowed and a peaceful sensation seemed to engulf her.

After an eternity of falling she opened her eyes, expecting to see the ground rushing at her. Instead she saw a group of soldiers surrounding her, with the Prince standing in front. She looked down to see that she was hovering just above the ground in a cocoon of wind. No one seemed willing to approach her.

The Prince said something to the soldiers, but she couldn’t hear over the roar of the wind. Everyone dispersed, leaving her alone in the courtyard with him. She suddenly felt tired as the weight of the situation came crashing down on her and fell the remaining foot to the ground as the winds died.

He scooped her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. She reached up to touch her cheek when she felt dampness on it. She was crying.

“I thought…” He started. He relaxed his grip and leaned back to look at her. “Are you alright?”

Sara looked around in shock. She was alive. Somehow, in her panic, she had called on the wind to save her. Sara looked up with wide eyes at the prince.

“I’m alive,” she said in disbelief.

He smiled a breath-taking smile that transformed his entire face. He crushed her to his chest again before walking at a swift pace back into the castle. She could hear his heart pounding furiously against his chest.

Sara was trying to fight the exhaustion that was quickly overtaking her. She knew she was going through shock after almost dying. Confusing emotions were swirling through her as she took comfort in the only thing available, the Prince.

Sara had almost dozed off in his arms when they finally reached the bedroom at the top of the tower. He laid her gently on his bed and pulled the covers over her. Sara felt the bed dip down as he sat next to her.

“What was that?” he asked softly.

“The wind.”

He reached forward and cupped her face. Sara felt her skin burn against his touch. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from his as he searched her face. He smiled his dazzling smile again as he released her.

“You are an elemental.”

Sara didn’t reply to his statement. She was finding it increasingly hard to fight her heavy eyelids. She spoke the one thought that wasn’t cloudy with sleep.

“Alexander…”

She watched in fascination as his face transformed to one filled with rage while her eyelids grew heavier.

“Alexander is gone.”

“I don’t even know you’re name,” she whispered in the growing morning light.

His expression softened again, a small smile tilting the corners of his mouth up.

“Vladimir,” he whispered softly, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.