Keeper of the Veil

Adjusting.

~~~Jamie.~~~

“This isn’t real,” I whispered for the hundredth time. The woman measuring the length of my arm just rolled her eyes like she had been for the last two hours. Grumbling loudly my tailor measured me again. I sighed and dropped my shoulders earning me a quick smack to my lower back.

As I yelped and straightened my posture I could hear Denali snickering from the corner of the room. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. This was all his fault. He brought me into this fantasy world just because he could. Out of all the people suitable for competing in these god forsaken Trials, he just had to choose me.

Turning to face Denali the woman addressed him, “I'll have the rest of her wardrobe finished by the end of the day.” With that she quickly vanished into a back room, leaving Denali and I alone in the fitting room.

Quickly he stood and circled me like a hawk, muttering to himself. I could tell he was assessing the body suit that the weaver had just made me. It looked like something that a professional athlete would wear, skin tight and black. The suit made me uncomfortable for it left nothing to the imagination; every contour of my body was highlighted.

This was unlike anything I would ever wear.

However it had been fascinating to watch the woman make it. He fingers danced with the needle and thread as she spun the fabric around my body. Where normal seamstresses would take longer to make such a high quality of clothing, it seemed as if this woman could have done it in her sleep. Wherever her hands were weaving, I could feel my hair stand on ends. The feeling that flew off at her fingertips was almost like standing too close enough to an electric fence, without touching it.

Standing before me he shrugged, “It doesn’t look awful on you.” Shocked at his basic insult, my jaw dropped. Shrugging again he continued, “By the time the Trials are here we are going to have to get you fitted again.”

Motioning for me to follow him I quickly jumped off the pedestal and jogged to catch up to him. “What do you mean by that?” I questioned him, the annoyance in my voice quite evident.

Together we exited the room of the weaver and began walking back down the hallway. “You have a lot of weight to lose,” he flashed me a smile like everything was okay with what he just said.

Turning down a corridor I shouted, “Excuse me? I'm perfectly happy with how I am right now!” I didn’t see a reason for any sort of change. I wasn’t the healthiest, but I was far from unhealthy.

“Well I'm not,” he scoffed, “You're overweight and have no muscle. You'll never survive that way.” He flicked the side of my waist and shook my upper arm, as if to prove a point.

Stopping dead in my tracks I raised my voice louder, “I'm not here to please you!”

“On the contrary,” he gripped my entire shoulder in his large hand. Struggling against the bruises I tried to get out of his grasp but I was forced against the wall. Fear held me to my place while he continued to speak, “You are here to please me.”

I opened my mouth to contradict him but his thumb quickly covered my lips. “I told you. If your effort does not satisfy me, you will stay here. If I tell you to lose weight you ask how much. If I tell you to run you ask how long. If you listen to every word I say, I promise you'll make it.”

Bite him, my inner voice whispered.

Seemingly sensing my movement before I could follow through, he seized my entire jaw. Smirking he roughly pressed his forehead against mine with electricity flying at the contact, “Ah, ah, ah, I'm in your mind too.” And as he said this it felt like a second consciousness was being squeezed into my skull. For the first few moments it was utterly painful, but as the seconds passed, the pain grew into comfort.

This seemed almost happy, like this was how I was supposed to feel all along. Everything before now felt lonely.

Removing all physical contact Denali pulled away from me, but his presence stayed within my mind. “This way, you'll never avoid me.”  The words projected right into my mind, but his mouth never moved.

“This isn’t real,” I spoke and shook my head, trying to feel that emptiness once more. He couldn’t stay in my head mind readers don't exist.

Walking away he replied, “Yes Jamie, it is real. Dragons and all those scary bump-in-the-night creatures exist, you’ve just been ignorant to them. I am one with your mind, and I'm never going to leave.”

“Why? How is this possible?” I shouted as I ran to catch up with him. A group of people passed us in the hallway, and their conversation instantly quieted. They all bowed low to Denali, who ignored them, and glared at me.

Reaching back to grab my arm again he pulled me to his side as we walked out of their sights. “It’s just something that happens here, because of the magic of the Veil. You can create Bonds with certain people or animals.” Quickly he snuck a glance down at me, almost as if he was embarrassed.

I snorted, “Why the hell would I have one of these things with you?”

He stopped walking when we reached the room I had woken up in. Looking down at me with a hurt look in his eyes, the voice that drifted out of his mouth was cold as ice, “Probably because I brought you here.”

Liar! Every ounce of my being screamed the word causing my head to pound and my ears to ring. I knew for a fact that Denali could hear it, instantly all of his features softened, and a small smile teased the corners of his lips.

“Come on,” his electric hand was suddenly at the small of my back, urging me forward, “we need to get you settled in.”