Within You

Prologue.

"If however your feelings have changed, I will tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love... I love... I love you." The mans breathless voice holds meaning to his words as he reads the delicate pages of the brittle novel, Pride and Prejudice, to the little beauty who sleeps soundlessly beside him.

His gaze glanced down at the tiny child snuggled up to his side, wrapped tightly in her blanket, her wild mud blonde hair spreads around her soft face that's been touched by sleep.

"For I never wish to be parted from you from this day on."

A silk like voice hovers over the cozy little room. The fathers gaze lifts off the child and follows the voice, seeing the woman who spoke leaning against the door frame of the child's room.

The dark haired man lifted himself off the child's bed with grace, placing the fragile book on the side table and switching the child's pink night light on, making his way to the woman.

The woman smiles sweetly at the man as she switches the main light off, wrapping her arms around her husbands waist being surprised by a single demanding kiss, as they exited the room, closing the door softly behind them.

"Gorgeous, I'm worried about Nola. She should be here by now, it's already turned pitch black outside," her silk voice creases as she runs her hands down her husband strong chest.

Her husband leans into her touch lovingly. "You worry too much, my love. She'll be here soon."

"I'm afraid that the Zolas have found her, Gorgeous." She harshly whispers in a language so foreign it was not known to man. They look deeply into each other's lustful brown eyes, slowly leaning into one another, as the man shakes his head. The tall man placed a simple kiss upon his wife's rich dark hair and guides her down the stairs.

"They won't ever find her. You know that we will find them and finish this battle between the Salitans and Zolas, once and for all."

"That we will, my King." She says with a sharp nod at her husbands commanding tone.

A swift silence drifts through there home as the woman turns her gaze to her husband and sweetly smiles. "I have some exciting news to share with you, Gorgeous. Alani has been practicing her Salantie gift today."

Her voice shines with pride as both of them smile widely at each other. "She is so powerful, yet peaceful, when using it. It's quite startling."

"We both knew she would be powerful, just like her Mama." His tone deepens with lust as the woman lets out a soft laugh.

"And her father." She adds.

His lips twitch into a light smile when his eyes droop down as he lets out a sigh.

"I just wish that Nola will remember how to use her-" The man stopped speaking, alerted, as a loud sound cuts him off.

They reach the bottom of the stairs, seeing the wooden front door open. A young dirty blonde haired girl walks through the doorway with a gloomy expression, she closes the door with her right foot and lets a sigh escape. The couples happy expressions differ as they see their eldest daughter in distress.

"Oh, Nola, where have you been? Alani is already tucked up in bed." The girls mother's voice rings with worry, her foreign language faded into English, at the late time her daughter had arrived home.

Though all was forgotten as a single tear slipped down her daughters red cheeks.

Strong thin arms wrap themselves around the girl, as she took deep breaths into her mothers arms. "Oh Gorgeous, what happened?"

"I was with Noah, and I thought that he... that Noah had changed..." Sighing sadly into her mother's shoulder, as she sniffs at the tears that fell down her cheeks due to a boy. "Things between us just didn't go to plan, today."

Releasing herself from her mothers hold, Nola lets her bag fall to the ground with a thud and slowly wonders into their spacious kitchen. Her parents exchange a look with one another as they follow her, seeing her sit at their four chaired wooden table, hands in her hair as stress and defeat clearly lingers on her.

Her mother instantly goes to the kettle switching it on. Her father goes to the cupboard grabbing a sky blue biscuit jar, laying it onto the counter next to three pure white identical tea cups.

"Killian, place them sweet things on a plate. We don't need crumbs all over the place." The girls mother said as she placed a singular teabag into each cup, to busy to hear her husband grumble.

The girl's father did as he was told, while her mother grabbed the boiled whistling kettle, filling the cups up with gasping hot water and stirs each cup while adding milk and taking out the teabags.

Placing the plate of biscuits in the middle of the wooden table, adding a lump of sugar into his tea, her father sat down on her left as her mother placed her cup of tea in front of her, taking the seat on her right, sipping lightly on her own piping hot brew.

"Just right, Lyra, thank you." The man says while slurping another hot swallow from his cup.

Looking down at her own cup of dark brown tea, knowing her mother made it super dark just how she likes it, she takes a chocolate coated biscuit and dunks it into the tea.

Her father sighs and speaks firmly in the same foreign language, that he and his wife used, to both women. The mother looks at her daughter for an explanation, but Nola shakes her head in response, her features falling into sadness.

"I don't understand what you're say, Dad. I most likely never will." Nola explains as she sinks her teeth into her biscuit, disappointment seeping threw her skin and into her heart.

Her father lays his large hand on top of her small one, as she gulps down the last bite of her biscuit, slowly smoothing her soft skin with his thumb.

"You'll understand soon, Gorgeous." Her mother softly says as she moves her chair closer to Nola's. "Every Salitan knows how to speak their own language, for they were born to speak it not learn it."

Her father cleared his throat as he gets Nola's attention from her tea. "It's in your blood, just like it's in ours."

Nola let's her gaze fall down to the table once again, a sad frown placed upon her lips. "Are you sure I wasn't adopted?"

He father tightened his hold on her hand, speaking rationally was he looks into his daughters glazed eyes. "Very. Nola, you will understand everything. You just need to wait and give it some time, first. Trust me, you will truly find your place and yourself from deep within."