Bound (The Guardians) Read online

  To my left is the second tallest pillar and to my right, the shortest. They are both connected to the centre tower by large doors. I wonder what’s behind them. I prepare to find out as I’m veered left towards the second pillar.

  We pass through the bulky wooden doors, one of which is pinned open, and I quickly face an extensive hallway. The hall has rooms on each side, all the doors made of opaque tower crystal. The roof in this tower doesn’t rise to a peak, like the main pillar. It’s flat like a normal room. I notice a gold sign with the word library and an arrow pointing upstairs. That must be why. I really want a quick peek, it must be amazing. But the guard shoots a look back at me when I pause and I rush to keep up. That’s obviously not where we are going now.

  I unashamedly stare into some of the other rooms with open doors. Some have people in them, but they don’t turn their heads from their meetings. Most of the rooms appear to be for conferences. They have large desks, plenty of chairs and screens. But one unmistakably larger open entrance makes me stop. It leads down to an underground lecture theatre. Two golden chairs at the bottom of the room shine majestically, even in the dim lights. Now that is what I expect a Guardian’s meeting room to look like.

  I abruptly notice there’s a figure standing before one of the chairs. It’s a woman, I can tell by the shape. The shadow turns towards me. Slowly she raises her hand in a wave.

  ‘How many times do I have to tell you to keep moving?’ the guard yells, his hand on a nearby door. I quickly scramble away from the shadow figure. He waits for me to stand near him before he takes off my handcuffs and lets me into a small meeting room.

  My heart leaps into my throat. My parents are here. Our eyes meet. The room falls silent.

  CHAPTER eight

  ‘Momma! Da!’ I shout. I run forward and fall into their arms. We hug each other and it’s all I can do not to cry.

  Momma says, ‘Someone came to the house to tell us what happened. We’ve been so worried about you!’

  ‘Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you or anything, did they?’ Da asks.

  I shake my head.

  ‘Of course not, she is a bride now. We take care of our own here,’ a voice comments behind us.

  We all turn our heads to the door. A tall man casually slides towards us. My eyes widen.

  This man, I know him. He’s Lord Guardian Neros.

  I’ve seen his picture on the news before. For some reason, meeting him in person triggers my brain to remember the picture I found a year ago. He is definitely the man in the pictures with my Da, almost twenty years ago, back when he was a water miner. Da has an angry look frozen on his face. It must be true; they do know each other.

  I glance back at Lord Neros. He’s dressed rather formally, a white suit with a red tie. The way he looks in that picture, back when he was younger, is almost a carbon copy of Leo now. I feel so stupid for not seeing it.

  The tall, elegant man says, ‘Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Neros, Lord Guardian of Selestia.’

  My father frowns. ‘I remember. Do you think that because I’m a commoner I forget things easily?’

  Neros stares back strongly. ‘Now, now… this is neither the time nor the place for old matters to be…brought back to life, so to speak. We are here to discuss your daughter.’

  Lord Neros walks to a nearby chair and sits down. He offers his hand out and slowly the three of us sit on the opposite side of the table. ‘I have called you here to discuss Mellea. She is to become the bride of a Successor. As you know Successors must be united if they want a chance at becoming Lord or Lady Guardian. They must have a bride. That is the law.’

  ‘It’s your idiotic family’s “law” not ours,’ my father yells back. ‘I will never allow Mellea to be used so your family can live on. You’re all a bunch of backstabbing murderers.’

  ‘Watch your mouth,’ Lord Neros says with a frown. ‘I do not understand your anger. You should be rejoicing. Mellea is uniting with my son, Leo. He is nineteen, strong and a well-rounded young man. A young lady from a social and financial background such as Mellea’s is nothing short of blessed to be chosen by the likes of him.’

  Father frowns. ‘If he’s such a wonderful kid then why didn’t he come here and meet me? Too scared to face up to what he did?’

  Da makes a good point, where is Leo? Coward.

  Neros replies, ‘Leo is a Successor. He has extensive duties to fulfil on a daily basis. He does not have time to sit around and wait for a group of country folk to come waltzing into our home for a casual confab.’

  Da frowns. ‘Neros, why are you so determined to make this work? You’re the Lord Guardian for spirit’s sake; you could put a stop to this right now. Why bother letting this go any further? You know Mellea doesn’t belong in this world. I don’t understand why you don’t make your son pick someone else. Surely he has thousands of other girls at his fingertips.’

  Lord Neros takes a breath in. ‘I would like nothing more than to do just that. But I have been trying to get my son to secure a bride for nearly two years. There have been extensive matches with young women, each from different backgrounds and situations. But not one of them has been acceptable to him. Finally, he comes to me with someone he has chosen himself, Mellea. He is very strong in his resolve to have her. I would be a fool to deny him this considering his track record. Moreover, my son does not make whim choices. I trust his judgement.’

  I step in and shout, ‘Well… I don’t care about what you think or…he wants! I’ve already told Leo that I’m not going through with this! It is plain wrong! If I unite with someone, I want it to be because I love them. Not because someone tells me I have to. I haven’t said “yes” to him and I refuse to.’

  ‘Good girl.’ My father nods.

  Lord Neros smiles and then laughs lightly. ‘Oh innocent child, you do not need to agree to the uniting. A Successor can choose whomever they want without an agreement from the other party. This turn of fate has already been set in motion. You are bound to the Guardians now.’

  My eyes widen and my throat aches. I thought Leo was lying. I’m really stuck here? No! I refuse to unite with him! He’s a monster and I will never forgive him for this, even if he does let me go.

  ‘Do not make that heartbreaking face,’ Lord Neros says softly. ‘It is not as tragic as you are making out. Clearly you do not realise how opulent your life will be from now on. You are a lucky girl.’

  Obviously he isn’t getting the message, but I have another idea. I’ll try and appeal his humanity. ‘Please, Lord Guardian, we all know I’m not suitable for Leo. I never will be. I’ll only end up making him miserable. I can understand you have expectations and Leo has his duties. But surely he can find someone better? Someone who will do your family proud, not a clumsy country girl…’

  Lord Neros smirks and abruptly stands from his seat. ‘I will leave you to say your goodbyes.’

  Did he seriously not hear anything I just said? He has no humanity! Like father like son.

  ‘Wait!’ Da yells. ‘Don’t you walk away from me again!’

  But Lord Neros doesn’t stop, heading straight out of the room. The door is shut by the guard behind him.

  I slowly turn to my parents. The room falls dead silent. With pain in my voice I utter, ‘I’m…really, really sorry.’

  My mother reaches forward, holds my face in her hands. ‘Oh my sweet darling, this wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘I can’t believe this,’ my father says rubbing his forehead. I glance away with a sharp pain in my stomach. My whole life Da has told me that the Guardians were not to be trusted. And yet somehow, I got mixed up with them anyway. This must be his worst nightmare.

  Da turns to me. His face is deep in thought. ‘Mellea, I think you should stay here.’

  I stare intently at him. I can feel my eyes are stretched open as wide as they can go. I reply, ‘What? But you… you’ve always said…’

  Da responds, ‘I know, I know. But I think you should stay. You
can stand up to them, fight against them from within. No matter what, keep saying “no”. Eventually they will get sick of your uncooperative behaviour and let you go. I’m sure of it. And in the meantime you can learn all their secrets and we can expose them for what they are.’

  ‘Noran, now? Seriously!’ my mother hisses.

  ‘You can’t be sure they’ll release me,’ I say scrunching my face. ‘I can’t do this.’

  Da replies with confidence, ‘Yes, you can. I trust you Mellea.’

  I look into his eyes and then back at the table. I’m not sure about trying to uncover their secrets. But if staying is truly the only way gain unconditional freedom, then I have no choice. It isn’t like they’re going to let me stroll out of here without consequences. They’re the most powerful family in the world. This is my only shot.

  I say, ‘I’ll try, but please do me a favour…call work and tell them I won’t be in for a few days. I missed my shift today. I’m sure Blade is worried.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will explain everything,’ my mother says. She reaches forward and gently brushes the side of my face. She then holds me tightly around the head and my father quickly wraps his arms around me too.

  We sit there for a good few minutes before Elentia opens the door. She tells me it’s time to leave and has me pulled from my parents. As I trudge back to my room, I keep my tears locked up inside.

  I told my parents I would hold on until the Guardians let me go, but I’m not sure if I can.

  CHAPTER NINE

  After the meeting with Momma and Da, the hours trickle by. One after the other, slowly and yet somehow fast. I can’t eat my lunch. I can’t eat my dinner. I feel too sick. The two trays remain on my table, plates filled with now cold food. I feel like a prisoner. The only books on a nearby shelf are on social etiquette and political negotiations. I can’t go outside. There’s no electronic entertainment and the Tower is eerily silent.

  I’m so lonely.

  Falling into a blurry half sleep, I jolt when my door handle abruptly rattles. The knob twists and two people burst in. They then start laughing and breathing heavy, as if they’ve been racing.

  I observe the two strangers.

  The person standing to left is a young woman. She seems to be in her early twenties with dyed flame red hair. She’s wearing a white top and pink pyjama pants. The other person is a male teenager, sixteen I would guess. He has short black hair and a fairly thin frame. He’s wearing a dark purple shirt and black pyjama pants to his knees. They are both, in their own ways, completely beautiful.

  ‘There she is,’ the young woman cries. They both make their way over with a movement somewhere in-between a walk and run. They leap onto my bed and sit facing me.

  ‘Um, who are you?’ I ask nervously.

  The two then hold their wrists up. The girl has a gold bracelet and the boy a silver bracelet, both on their left wrists. The girl flicks her red hair over her shoulder and smiles. ‘I can’t believe you’re here, the final addition to our generation’s collection!’

  I stare at the gold bracelet. I got it wrong last time, but maybe… I ask, ‘Are you the one who united with Successor Arin a week ago, the one from the newspaper?’

  She nods. ‘Yes! Well, we actually united three weeks ago. But we kept it a secret. I didn’t want anyone to ruin my actual uniting day; you know terrorists or worse, paparazzi. In case you’re out of the loop, which I assume you might be, I’m Anrella Montarus.’

  ‘You’ll always be Anrella Baxton to me,’ the guy says. ‘Oh and I’m Demmi Hopps. Before you ask – yes, I am aware I have a feminine name. I’m the youngest of eight. All my siblings are girls, and I think my parents just expected me to be a girl too. So they named me Demmi anyway.’

  ‘To make it worse…he’s Demmi Hopps the…’ Anrella starts giggling.

  Demmi frowns and sighs. He says to me, ‘I’m Demmi Hopps, the “male bride” with a girl’s name. Life hates me, okay? The public already taunt me enough, not to mention my old high school friends who… I now no longer speak to because they won’t let me.’

  ‘Yeah the Guardians do that,’ Anrella says with a nod. ‘And I didn’t mean to laugh, I’m sorry.’ She gives him a quick, almost fake hug. I can see they’re quite close, despite their ages.

  I smile and laugh gently. The two turn their attention towards me. I say, ‘It’s nice, and strange, to finally meet some normal people. I was starting to think everyone in this place is warped.’

  ‘They are,’ says Anrella. ‘Members of the Tower live in their own little worlds.’ The pretty young woman slides closer on the bed, placing her hands under her chin. ‘So…Leo finally picked himself a bride. I want to hear all the details! You two have only recently met, right? How did you convince him so easily? He’s a tough nut to crack.’

  ‘I didn’t convince him. He decided this on his own,’ I reply strongly.

  ‘That’s so strange,’ Demmi says, turning his head towards Anrella. ‘After all those meetings and dates...’

  Anrella rolls her eyes. ‘Honestly, it’s no wonder he didn’t pick any of them. All the girls that he’s been “matched” with were self-centred rich bitches. I can see why none of them appealed to him. They all fawn over his status as a Successor, kissing his butt. But I don’t think any of them really gave two shits about the person Leo.’

  The two imitate the actions of what happens when fans clamber around them. It’s funny, but it makes me think maybe that’s why Leo did this. Not that it changes my mind in any way.

  Anrella turns to me once more, asking for details about our meeting. The two sit staring at me as I begin recounting the story. They listen quietly and seem genuinely interested. I guess they know better than anyone that the Guardians always get their way, no matter what.

  Anrella frowns. ‘It’s sad to hear that you and Leo have been forced together on such harsh terms. Plus the fact that your father hates them makes it worse.’

  I nod. ‘If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come to meet a Successor? You both seem pretty normal. I mean you’re not really from rich families, are you?’ I ask.

  Anrella smiles and says, ‘Well not rich per say. My family has always had connections. My father is a successful business man who owns a lot of buildings in Poridos. A year ago we got invited to a posh event here in the Tower. It was honouring a Sentry officer who had been a member of the team for over 40 years, in some way or another. The event was lovely, lots of food and drinks, but I was so bored! There was no one my age and everyone was talking about their own importance. So I took stroll out into the gardens for some air. It was night and everything was gorgeous, lights in the trees and really peaceful. That’s when I found Arin. He was sitting by the large centrepiece fountain. I scooted over and sat near him, I didn’t want to miss a chance to talk to an actual Successor. But he was clearly depressed and totally drunk. When I started talking to him, he admitted to me that his life wasn’t as good as everyone thinks. I sat by him for hours and we swapped stories. I made a joke that he wouldn’t hold up well under torture if a few beverages were to blame for his sudden lecture. And well…’

  I stare intently, focused on her romantic story.

  She laughs loudly. ‘The next thing I know, I’m waking up in his bedroom and he’s all “unite with me!”’

  My jaw drops. Demmi turns to her, ‘You told me he asked you over dinner!’

  ‘Yeah I lied, okay?’

  Demmi folds his arms, ‘I can’t believe you sealed the deal with sex…for shame, Anrella.’

  ‘You’re one to talk,’ she shouts. ‘If Lord Neros finds out what you’ve been doing to his daughter you are so dead!’

  Demmi cries innocently, ‘B-but she came on to me! You know how aggressive she is!’

  My door fiercely bursts open. A young woman, no older than fifteen, stands there. She has long blonde hair pulled up into two piggy tails. She’s wearing a short, light pink dress with a grey jacket over the top. She’s so beautiful, but her face
is twisted with anger.

  She cries, ‘Demmi!’

  ‘Soren!’ He jumps and leans backwards into Anrella. ‘Spirits in the night’s sky, tell me she didn’t hear me!’

  Soren marches over, walking right up to the bed, standing over him. She grabs him by the shirt. ‘You were supposed to wait for me before you picked up the new sheet music. To make it worse you practised it already. Do not deny it; I saw it on the piano!’ Soren unexpectedly lets go. She grabs her heart and collapses dramatically to her knees. Facing away from us, she covers her face with her hands.

  The look on my face must be strange and prompts Demmi to explain what I’ve seen. ‘Mellea this is Successor Soren, third child and only daughter of Lord Neros and Lady Lethia. Aka, Leo’s little sister. As for why she is on the floor, she is upset because we take lessons at Bendoc Chamber of Arts together and I picked up the new piano recital music while she was away.’

  I reply, ‘My friend Blade goes there. He’s my age so that’s amazing you two go there. Aren’t you a little young to be taking classes at university?’

  ‘It’s only music lessons. Before this I was a normal student at Absotras Upper. But there was no way they were going to let a future bride go to a highly underfunded public high school. So now I have classes here in the Tower with Soren and a tutor. Twice a week we go and enjoy a bit of musical education. It takes up most of our time here. Soren isn’t really on Successor duties yet. She—’

  Soren cuts him off with a long, high pitched weeping sound. She remains perched in the exact same floor position with her hands over her face. She doesn’t want to talk, she wants to be noticed.

  Demmi rolls his eyes and slides off the bed. He stands behind her, bending over to look at her upside down. Soren moves her hands away from her face when he calls her name.

  He smiles. ‘Listen, I picked up the music and that’s it. I swear these fingers never touched a single key while you were gone.’ He moves in and bumps noses with her, making her smile. Demmi walks around in front and reaches out. ‘Come on, I will play it with you now.’ Soren gets up and puts her hand in his. Demmi says goodbye and waves at us before shutting the door behind them both.