Across Time: Book Two

A/N: I was thinking about what someone said to me in a review (I'm sorry that I don't remember who, exactly.) about this being a fanfic inside of a fanfic. In a way, that's true. I was thinking of it this way: you know how they go back in time with flashbacks in a movie? That's how I think of Sen and Kilan's story. You're sort of immersed in it even though it's only a handwritten account by someone else.

Chapter 8

Sen thought Iliza's friends were pretty nice overall. Marci was forever asking him questions about Kilan, seemingly truly interested in him. When he told the small woman about how he was saved in Crenix Capital, she clasped her hands to her chest and sighed. "That's so romantic! In a horrible kind of way, I mean."

"You two should get some sleep," Yori called quietly to them across the campfire. Iliza was already unconscious and the mysterious Kelen was staring into the dancing flames. He motioned to the spread bedrolls. "Kelen will keep watch."

Reluctantly they turned in for the night. It had been a long day, though. The trio from the fourth outpost had kept the pace rapid and he was very unused to working his body so hard. His legs ached something fierce and he knew that it was nothing compared to the way they would feel in the morning.

He wondered how Kilan was doing. The young man was more active than his semi-slothful mate and was more than able to walk all day without much rest. On the first leg of the trip, Sen had been kept distracted from his fatigue by games, songs, stories... anything and everything Kilan could come up with.

'I hope you're okay,' he said to himself as he looked up at the few stars visible between the leafy boughs of the treetops. Sen laughed at himself after a brief moment's thought. 'Of course you're okay! I would know instantly if you weren't.'

Sleeping alone again was something he never thought would happen. It reminded him of his small bed in his former room and, as a result, that made him think of his old home and his evil older sister. He was surrounded by people on both sides yet he was completely alone.

'Ki,' he broadcasted as hard as he could. They'd never tried to talk over long distances before and there had never been any need to. 'Love, can you hear me?'

For a moment he felt nothing and the fear stabbed painfully into his heart. If he hadn't been still able to feel the connection between them in his soul, he would have run blindly into the night in an attempt to track down his Bondmate. Sen's breath came in fast pants as he lay tense for one long moment. Then...

'Ki-ki'chin?' It was faint and slow, but he could hear him.

'Thank god! I thought I couldn't reach you and I miss you so much.'

'I miss you, too. With all of my heart.' There was a brief pause. 'I'd just fallen asleep, I think. That's why it took a long time for me to answer.'

He felt bad for waking him. 'I'm sorry. It's just that I can't really sleep without you here beside me. You make the best pillow.' Sen laughed in absolute relief. 'Okay, sorry to bother you. I'll see you soon.'

'Never a bother. I love you, ki'chin.'

'And I love you.'

It wasn't as good as him being right there, but the warmth left behind was more than enough to push him over the edge of slumber.

***

Kelen's voice was definitely bladder-weakening at worst. It emerged from deep within the cowl of the cape over his head and from behind the scarf wrapped around his neck and over his mouth. He wore black leather and steel armor of high quality over his torso, covering a black one-piece suit beneath that had shortened sleeves and long pants. Worn but comfortable black boots ended at mid-calf. No one had ever seen him in anything else, though on occasion the undersuit varied in color. He'd been at the outpost for as long as any of his companions had (perhaps longer!) but no one, not even Wilch, knew where he'd originally come from. Eventually Kelen had become sort of a joke amongst his fellow guards. He dressed, spoke, and acted the way he did for attention, nothing more.

But now, his body radiated the dangerous energy all secretly knew him capable of possessing. His long-sword was drawn, the blade at the throat of the intruder he'd discovered trying to infiltrate the campsite under his protection.

"I'm telling you that you're making a mistake!" Kilan stared up at the three-foot length of dully gleaming blade at the frightening made wielding it. "Iliza and Sen know me."

Without taking his eyes from him, Kelen used the toe of his boot to nudge Sen to wakefulness. "We have company, boy."

When his beloved simply mumbled something and tried to return to sleep, Kilan used every fiber of his being to cry out to him. 'Sen, if you don't want me to die, please wake up now!'

That was the call needed in order to rectify this potentially horrible situation. The teenager sat up abruptly and rubbed at his eyes. By the faint light of pre-dawn, he saw the murder waiting to happen just a few feet away.

"Don't kill him, Kelen! He's my mate!"

Fathomless black eyes started at Sen for a moment before the sword was sheathed on his back. "I apologize," he said before retaking his seat on the far side of the fire pit.

Still shaky from his near-death experience, Kilan made sure he was as far away from Kelen as he could get and still be at the same campsite. "He's scary."

"Nah," Sen said as he snuggled up to his soulmate and tried to warm his chilled fresh. "He's actually pretty nice once you get to know him." He didn't see Kilan's skeptical look but could easily imagine it.

The following day, what had happened during the battle fully impacted him. Sen awoke to a trembling in his body that wouldn't cease and steady flashbacks to the scenes of the previous afternoon.

"I killed someone," he whispered aloud. Then he groaned. It was as if Kilan's return was the permission he needed to fall apart.

"Sen," his mate whispered soothingly. Awakened by dark emotions and sporadic flashes, Kilan was terrified that Sen was regressing. After all, it had been violence that had wounded him in the first place.

He spoke low and haltingly. "I was so afraid. They tried to kill us over our property. Iliza had already killed two of them but the men left were better at fighting. They were winning so I did the only thing I could think of--" He swallowed harshly, still able to smell the blood. "--I threw my knife and it got one in the chest. He went down and Iliza was able to finish off the last one."

"You feel bad."

"Of course I do! How is it my right to decide who lives and dies?" A spark ignited within the depths of his eyes. "But that doesn't matter when you're about to kill me or someone I care about."

Kilan nodded in understanding. "You will never be like them, Sen, because you feel. They were cold-blooded bastards to attempt to kill someone over material possessions."

"I- I was a little afraid..."

"Don't be. You are the epitome of goodness and light. No one can truly be something they are not."

Feeling significantly better about what he'd done (thought not good about it), he smiled and thought of something. "Lucky; it's perfect."

"What?"

"My dagger. I'm going to name it 'Lucky' since it was a damn lucky shot that brought me back to you."

Shivering imperceptibly at the thought of luck gone bad, Kilan agreed. "Quite lucky."

***

Just when the enforced serious mood and increased speed was really starting to bear down on Sen, Yori mentioned that they should arrive at the outpost by mid-afternoon. The youngest of the odd group sighed happily and squeezed Kilan's hand gently.

"We'll get a hot bath before dinner," he said. "I believe my memory map of your body may be a little out of date."

"Oh, really? We mustn't let that remain uncorrected." Of the people in front of them on the trail, only Marci thought their words romantic; Iliza and Yori were neutral and Kelen was in a completely different world altogether.

"What has changed?" Iliza asked the large man beside her.

Yori thought back to the day his friend had left. She hadn't really fit in at all with the other women, having become a runner/scout at the age of seventeen when it was plainly obvious that the outpost's only doctor wasn't going to allow a girl to apprentice beneath him. When the pain of not being able to realize her dream had become too much to bear, Iliza had gone searching for apprenticeship at the age of fifty. It would have been advised that she retire in several years from overly strenuous work anyway, but she wasn't going to wait until the day when her age-dulled reflexes refused to respond. Too much sometimes rode on her skill.

"Oh, nothing much," he responded. Then he hit her with news sure to make her day. "Janobi retired a few years back."

Her dark eyes began to twinkle madly. "Oh, really?"

"Yep. A year after that he went out to check on the herd that the neighboring village has in our pasturelands and was trampled to death by a disgruntled cow."

Undignified giggles exploded from behind the hands she'd slapped over her mouth. "A-a disgruntled cow?! How appropriate!" Gales of laughter shook her again.

Kelen regarded her with the very same fathomless stare he regarded everyone with equally. "The dead should be honored always."

"Usually I would agree, but that bastard deserves nothing but bad thoughts. He treated me, and every other female, with the least amount of respect he could get away with. I don't honor a man who very nearly stole my dream."

He would not be swayed. "He is no longer present to defend himself. It is not right."

"Please guys," Marci interjected nervously. "We're almost home. Let's drop this argument, alright?"

Iliza pushed her aside gently, but still pushed nonetheless. "You have no right to censure me! Your favorite hobby is killing people!"

Gulping, Kilan mouthed the words, "I knew it!"

They could see the beginnings of anger in his eyes and that terrified them all except for Iliza who was far too angry to listen to the Voice of Self-Preservation in her head that was urging her to get the hell away from the psycho. She stepped as close as she could get without their bodies touching and poked Kelen hard in the chest with her index finger.

"Keep the fuck out of my business," she hissed.

Fathomless pools of onyx gazed down at her, the expression of anger changed to one of very faint amusement. "You stupid woman," he said downright pleasantly. It was as if he had inquired about her family instead of making an insult. "What I feel defies description as does what I am. My eyes see everything tinted in the brilliant red color of fresh blood. The throbbing, fluttering pulse just below the skin of your throat draws me yet I resist. Every day the urge to kill something or someone wells within me, threatening to burst my body wide open if not satiated. The sound of death cries, the feel of warm skin gone cold, of scalding blood pouring over my body like the rain of war inspires feelings like none other." Kelen's head was thrown back, his eyes closed and his hands flexing convulsively as he remembered sweet pleasure. "Death is not a hobby to me," he said slowly and distinctly so that she, and the others would understand. "Death is my entire reason for being. It is my life."

"What does this mean?" Iliza asked. "How can Wilch accept your oath if you would kill him without care?"

"Because I wouldn't," he said in his usual quiet way. "Because some people mean more to me than a moment's pleasure." He spun on one booted heel without another word and marched off to the only place he'd ever really called home.

Iliza stared after him, partially understanding... and hating the cold knot of fear in the pit of her stomach caused by a realization.

Maybe someday Kelen's dread state would be hers.

***

The town of Mi'ihen retained a village feel. Centuries ago it had been built around the fourth outpost so that refugees from the outlands could gain protection from it's soldiers. Both existed within a forest some say was raised by the magic of wood nymphs. Only the people dwelling in the trees of the town knew the truth and no one was giving away any information to outsiders.

A gigantic tree with a trunk as wide as the neighboring Lynx River and branches full of leaves that never died marked the center of the village and was the main section of the outpost. A castle had been built around it by a previous lord and was kept in good repair by all subsequent ones. The smaller, younger trees, thick vines, and the very earth itself had been shaped by careful hands using magic long lost.

"Hail, Marci. Hail, Yori. The Dark One mentioned that you weren't far behind." The smiling man on the battlements turned slightly and motioned to unseen people behind the outpost gates. Heavy wood slowly creaked open, sliding into slots that partially hollowed the thick stone walls. "Wilch respectfully requests your presence in his chambers."

"Thank you," the formerly cheerful runner said. She turned to the guests. "We will speak to him first. You can wander for a little while before coming to the Chamber of Life."

Iliza caught her arm as Marci turned to leave. "Where is Kelen?"

"His rooms are in the Tower -- the east wing." She searched the older woman's eyes for her level of sincerity. "I don't know if it'll mean much. He's worked so hard at shutting people out."

"I must try. It was hardly fair of me to judge him." Marci nodded and, with one final uncertain look, left with Yori to see their lord.

No one spoke for a long moment. Mi'ihen's energetic citizenry maneuvered around them intent on daily tasks. It definitely did not look like a town struck by a plague. When the uncomfortable silence had stretched long enough, Sen said quietly, "Do you need us?"

"No, but thank you," she said with an expression of resignation. "There is a nice inn called Quicksilver at the end of this street. The innkeeper there is known as Linus and he will give you a good room once he knows that you're with me."

"What do we say? I doubt he'll believe us if we only mention that we know you," Kilan said rationally.

" 'The moon up high shines full on you / Illuminating your beauty and hiding nothing from adoring eyes.' This is from his favorite poem called, 'A Rose For My Love'." Iliza smiled briefly. "Only I know he likes it."

"Oh, really? Well my favorite is 'Ode to Kilandreau'," Sen grinned as his mate blushed slightly. "We'll see you later, then. I'm going to give you an hour before tracking you down."

"I thought you said that Kelen was nice," Kilan said.

The teenager grinned again. "He's in a lot more danger from her than she is from him, Ki." Sen easily dodged Iliza's halfhearted swat. "Ya see? She's a violent tendency!"

"Oh, I'm going to show you 'violent', all right," she muttered but there was no venom behind it. "Go. I'll see you later."

The pair watched her walk away until she turned up a side street. For a moment Sen appeared thoughtful, then the expression became mischievous. "Ki, let's-"

"-follow her." Kilan tried valiantly not to look smug.

"No fair! We're bonded!"

"When it comes to things like this, ki'chin, I don't need a bond."