Courting Tragedy

chapter 20

                                                     Chapter 20

           His father continued to stare at us, obviously stunned, but not possibly more so than I was. There was complete silence for a few seconds, and I spent that time trying to control my thoughts.

            I couldn’t deny that I was utterly ecstatic at the revelation he’d just made. In fact, I was having a hard time not jumping up and down in excitement, but I didn’t care. I was his soul mate. Soul mate. There really wasn’t anything that would surprise me at this point.

            “Well, that does change things.” His father said slowly, obviously trying not to seem as overwhelmed as he’d been when Gage first made his stand.

            “Oh, yeah, I’d expect it would.” Gage said, his voice low and calm.

            I knew him well enough to know that he was nowhere near calm, but instead quite unhappy and annoyed. He was still holding tight to me, making sure that I wouldn’t be going anywhere until he decided I could. Before, it might have seemed controlling, but now it felt protective, and I was glad of it.

            His father was a mystery to me. I had a hard time trying to figure out what he was going to do, and it made me nervous. I like having a little bit of time to understand what was happening before it happened; I didn’t like acting on instinct, but I guess I was decent at it.

            “I assume that you will not let her out of your sight, then?” His father sighed as Gage nodded.

            “Then it has been decided; she won’t be going with Logan. Instead, you and her shall make your way to the castle, preferably within the next day or two. I would like you where I can see you.” His father pulled on the jacket he’d been holding and turned to leave.

            “And if we decide not to go?” Gage asked, his hands tightening on me.

            “You will be brought by force.” His father replied nonchalantly. “I will not accept any sort of disobedience from you at this point, Gage; that was always Logan’s doing, and I’d prefer that it stayed that way.”

            Gage nodded, his face hard. I could tell that he wasn’t happy, but he preferred to stay in his father’s good graces, so he would go along with it.

            “We will be there, but not willingly. Let it be known that my loyalty lies stronger elsewhere now, than it does with you. Any sort of insult will not be taken lightly, whether from you or from anyone in your employ.” Gage said evenly.

            His father nodded. “It has been noted.” He put his hand on the knob. “Goodbye, son. Goodbye, Emory.”

            Neither of us made any sort of reaction to his farewell, and he left with a shake of his head.

            As soon as the door shut behind him, I turned to Gage and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest. He pulled me close, resting his chin on the top of my head, and sighed. When I looked up, I could tell that he was still worried; his face was lined and his eyes were hard.

            “It’s okay, Gage,” I whispered quietly as I hugged myself to him more tightly.

            “That’s what you think, Emory, but you don’t know what it’s like at my home, inside the castle. Things don’t work in there like they do here.” He sighed once more.

            “Going there is like walking into a pack of wolves unarmed.”