Sahara Ashdell: The Son of Evil (Book 2)
Chapter 8 - Moving Forward

“Close your eyes and take a deep breath.” Verdiwild says in a calming voice to Sahara as they stand in the field out behind the academy. “What is your happy thought?” Sahara thinks about her once happy thought of how Brystol made her feel, but she suddenly envisions him poisoning all her friends. She feels her anger flare up as she begins to shake. “I said happy thought.” Verdiwild says scoldingly.

“I don’t have any happy thoughts!” Sahara says thinking back over all her years with the Craig’s.

“You do.” Verdiwild tells her.

“I don’t!” She says with a roar of sadness more than anger. She feels the ground beneath her start to move.

“Calm yourself.” Verdiwild says. Sahara continues to search her memories and remembers being hit by her Charles Craig on multiple occasions, Trina making fun of her, and being so hungry sometimes while the Craig’s forced her to sit there and watch them eat. “Sahara.” Verdiwild says in a calming voice. “Focus on now. Your friends. You must have happy thoughts with your friends.”

Sahara thinks about all the friends she has made while at Malorsty. She had been treated so well here. She feels the ground still as she thinks about her roommates. Then, Brystol again flashes in her mind and she suddenly realizes she can’t bear the thought of him. She opens her eyes and shakes her head at Verdiwild. “I can’t do this.”

“You just did it.” He says sounding proud. “You were getting angry and stopped it.” She sits down feeling the weight of the broken heart she has been trying to hide for weeks. She fights the tears as she buries her face in her hands. “Do you want to talk about it?” She hears Verdiwild ask as he sits down next to her on the ground.

She sucks in a deep breath and lifts her chin up toward him, tucking the emotions back inside her. “What do you mean?”

“With all due respect Aranel, you know what I mean. And you can’t keep bottling up your emotions if we are ever going to get you to control them.” Verdiwild says kindly. She is about to deny his accusation but he stops her with his words. “Don’t try to deny it.” She sighs knowing she could never talk to anyone else about what she was feeling because it would give away what evil Brystol had done. “Might this be about the cundu?” Verdiwild asks surprising Sahara.

“No.” She denies the accusation.

“Hmm.” He hums in disbelief before saying, “I think we have practiced enough for a while. How about you take the week off?”

Sahara feels excited at having a week off from emotional control lessons. “Really?”

“As long as you promise to come back next week with a clear mind.” Verdiwild says patting her knee as he stands back up.

Sahara is not sure she can promise such a thing, so she decides to be honest, “I can try.”

“That is all I ask.” Verdiwild says extending his hand to help her up. She takes his helping hand before excitedly making her way back to the academy to spend the evening with her friends.

“Hey.” Brystol surprises her as she enters the academy. She avoids eye contact with him as she attempts to move around him. “Please talk to me?” He whispers his plea.

“I have nothing to say to you.” She says moving around him and toward the stairs.

The past few weeks Sahara has kept her interactions with Brystol brief and unfriendly. She just could not find it in her heart to forgive him for the evil things he had done. She does not see how she could ever trust him again, so the last thing she wants is to talk to him. During their plorksol game the following day, she avoids passing the ball to Brystol. He had a perfect opening to make a shot, but she passed it to Phylan instead, which caused them to lose the game.

“What was that?” Phylan asks in agitation toward her as she is getting off her plorboard.

“What do you mean?” She tries to sound innocent.

“Brystol was wide open and you know it. We could have won.” He says pulling back on her arm as she tries to walk away. “Why did you make such a stupid move?”

“I thought you had a better shot.” She lies glancing around at all her angry teammates.

She sees Phylan shake his head in disbelief. “No. You didn’t.” Sahara feels awkward at Phylan calling her out, so she keeps her silence as he walks off angry.

“Maybe you should work out your issues with Brystol before our next game.” Helarina says as she walks past Sahara.

Sahara briefly notices Brystol looking at her as all their teammates walk past her in anger. He is the only one that doesn’t seem mad. He silently walks past her toward the ellon’s locker room and she sighs in annoyance before going to the elleth’s locker room. The elleths in the locker room don’t talk to her as they all change in silence. She hopes to find some relief from scrutiny in her own room but she has no luck.

“Why did you not pass…” before Marol gets the rest of her sentence out Sahara interrupts her.

“Pass the ball to Brystol. I know. I know. I made a stupid choice.” Sahara says falling down on her bed with her wet, freshly washed hair.

“You seem more hateful towards him than you use to be.” Bularia says and Sahara finds herself beginning to feel angry.

“Did something happen between you two?” Marol asks curiously.

“He seems sad if you ask me, so he must be sorry.” Carol says.

“Whatever it is should not have kept you from passing him the ball to win.” Bularia says.

“Just stop.” Sahara says covering her ears. “I made a mistake. Get over it.” The room falls silent and Sahara realizes she needs to get out of their room to be alone. She stands up and quickly moves toward the door to exit. She sighs in relief that none of her roommates protest her leaving, even though the lights are about to go out. She walks through the silent halls of the academy as she replays the game in her head. She knows she should have passed it to Brystol but every time she looks at him all she can think about is how he betray her and everyone else.

“Aranel?” She jumps in surprise at the sudden sound of her name.

“Verdiwild.” She says with a sigh of relief.

“What are you doing up at this hour? Lights have been out for some time.” He says.

“I needed to be alone.” She says sitting down on the stairs of the fourth floor.

“Ah.” He says knowingly. “The game.” He sits down next to her on the stairs. “It is just that Aranel. A game.”

“It isn’t that.” She says debating on what she should say.

“No. I think we all noticed your deliberate avoidance of the cundu.” Verdiwild confirms what she already knows. “Your obvious dislike of him is beginning to be hard to ignore.”

Sahara says trying to control the anger she feels inside. “I cannot forgive him.”

“Is this still about the betrothal?” Verdiwild asks kindly.

“No. Well, partially yes. But it is bigger than that.” Sahara answers.

“He is a good elf.” Verdiwild defends Brystol and she feels her emotions begin to tangle up as anger and hurt spiral inside her.

“You don’t know him.” Sahara shakes her head with a scuff of disgust.

“I have known him since he was born.” Verdiwild laughs. “Some elves often make mistakes but it is usually forgivable. What has he done?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sahara says trying to remember the techniques Verdiwild had been teaching her about controlling her feelings.

“I lied to her.” Sahara jumps to her feet as she turns toward Brystol’s words. “I lied to everyone. And it isn’t fair for Sahara to carry the burden of hiding my actions.”

“Actions?” Verdiwild asks standing up to face Brystol.

“Could you arrange for me to travel to Holestroy to meet with the Aran?” Brystol asks.

“I can make the arrangements tomorrow.” Verdiwild replies. “A telicall would be satisfactory I am sure.”

“It will not. And I would like to go now, not tomorrow.” Brystol says glancing toward Sahara.

“Is it that serious?” Verdiwild asks.

“Yes.” Brystol says and Sahara moves quietly up the stairs away from them.

Her roommates are sleeping by the time she arrives back to her room and she notices a carriage leaving the protective dome of the academy. She is not sure what to feel about what Brystol is doing. A part of her is relieved that he is going to confess, but the other part of her is afraid of what his punishment will be. She wonders what King Rayterbay will do to his son for treasonous acts of helping Patreek. She tries to calm her heart as she crawls into bed but she can’t stop her concern for Brystol. She throws the blanket off of her in agitation as she teleports to Brystol in the carriage. Brystol doesn’t even look surprised by her sudden appearance. “Hey.” He says with a small smile.

“Sahara, what are you doing here?” Verdiwild asks scoldingly.

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“I need to talk to Brystol.” She says, knowing she can’t talk to Brystol with Verdiwild there, she teleports Verdiwild to Holestroy.

“You will be in trouble for that later.” Brystol says after they are alone in the carriage.

“What are you doing?” She asks.

“The right thing.” He says.

“Why now?” She asks feeling her frustration with him grow. “Isn’t it a little late?”

“I hope not.” He says giving her an odd look. “I know, I should have done it sooner.”

“Or not helped them at all.” She adds.

“And let them hurt you.” He says shaking his head. “I made the right choice.”

She shakes her head as her emotions swirl. “You doing this is not going to make me forgive you.”

“No, but it will make you not be alone on being mad at me.” He says. She rolls her eyes at him before he continues. “Why are you here Sahara? Did you come to try and stop me or you going with me to be moral support?”

“I don’t know.” She replies realizing she really was not sure if she wanted to stop him or not.

She sees him smile before he speaks, “Or did you finally realize you can’t live another second without me?”

She shakes her head in annoyance. “If you don’t shut up I will change my mind and make you go alone.” She sees his smile again before she turns her attention out of the window so that she can see the soft glow of Holestroy approaching.

She notices how nervous Brystol seems as they arrive to the front door of Holestroy Castle. He seems reluctant to open the door. “If you are having second thoughts, I could teleport us back to Malorsty.”

“Nope.” He says pushing the door open.

The enter meeting the annoyed glare of Verdiwild. “Sorry.” Sahara says to him hoping it would settle his annoyance with her.

“They are waiting for you in the library. Since you have a way back, I will make my way back to Malorsty and to bed.” Verdiwild says moving past them to exit the castle as he sternly looks at Sahara. “Teleport somewhere you two will not be noticed.” Sahara nods to him in response.

“That wasn’t too bad.” Sahara says in relief as Verdiwild closes the door behind him.

“I doubt I will be able to say the same.” Brystol says looking cautiously at the library door.

Sahara slides her hand into his hoping it will give him some comfort. He turns his head toward her in surprise as he laces his fingers with hers and she smiles at him. He holds her hand until he opens the library door and steps aside to allow her entry first. “Sahara?” Tari Nathila says in surprise. “We didn’t expect you.”

“I know, sorry.” She says accepting the hug the Tari was offering.

“What was so urgent that it required a visit at this hour?” The Aran sounds tired and unhappy. Brystol shuts the door before casting a sound barrier around the room. He looks over toward Sahara briefly before he hears the Aran again, “Well?”

“I was the one who poisoned everyone last year at Malorsty and I am the one that helped Raglen into Sahara’s dreams.” Brystol says as the Aran’s aggravation of being up late turns to shock. Sahara can feel her heart pounding in wonder of what is going to happen next as she watches Brystol keep his eyes to the floor.

“Why would you lay claim to have done such things?” The Tari asks in confusion and disbelief.

“Because I did them mother.” Brystol says glancing up apologetically toward his parents. Brystol proceeds to explain about Raglen’s threats and how he was trying to protect Sahara but his father seems frozen in silence.

After he finishes his explanation and the room remains silent for a few moments, Sahara decides she should confess to what she did. “I sent him to the human world on our way back to Malorsty and left him there for a day and a half, where he almost froze to death.”

“You should have left him there for a week.” The Aran finally speaks.

“I know you may not see that it was the right thing to do but Raglen..” Brystol tries to defend himself but the Aran stops him.

“I will hear no more!” The Aran says standing from his chair. “Until I can decide your punishment, you will spend the night in the dungeon.”

“Now, that is far from necessary. He was only protecting her.” The Tari says in Brystol’s defense.

“I didn’t ask your opinion.” The Aran snaps at her angrily. He moves his eyes toward Sahara, “And how long have you known this?”

Sahara feels nervous now wondering if she is about to be in trouble. “I um. I found out the day we encountered Raglen.”

“Failing to report treason, makes you commit treason also.” The Aran says sternly. “Perhaps you should also stay in the dungeon.”

“What? That is ridiculous father. She did nothing wrong.” Brystol says in protest.

“Really?” The Aran scuffs in what Sahara thinks is anger. “You two fail to see that what you have done is not just treason. You have shown your enemies what weak leaders you will actually be. That makes me question if you deserve to be left the crown at all. Perhaps Trylla will be a better leader. You bargained to help our sworn enemy, the most evil elf to exist to date to maybe save her. And you,” He throws his finger toward Sahara, “you helped hide the fact. What does that say about the two of you leading the elven world? Will you sell everyone else out to protect each other? It is your job to protect all elves. Not just each other. You should have come to me and told me about Raglen after your first encounter. What if he had broken his word on killing her? Were you even thinking? These are not the most honest and trustworthy elves.” He shakes his head toward the two of them in disappointment and Sahara moves her eyes down to the ground in shame.

“I am sorry.” Brystol says but it does not seem to faze the Aran as he removes the rooms shield.

“As I do not trust you to just teleport out of the dungeon, you may stay in your usual room.” The aran says to Sahara before calling over a guard. “Take the cundu to the dungeon for the night.”

“Sir?” The guard looks overly confused at his instructions.

“Brystol is to spend the night in the dungeon.” The Aran says.

“Yes, sir.” The guard bows before awkwardly taking Brystol by the arm.

“And you are not to teleport him out, he stays were he is going.” The Aran says to Sahara before calling one of the other guards over to escort Sahara to her room and stand guard all night. She remembers what the dungeon looked like from when she had teleported Fazor there last year. She knew Brystol was not going to be sleeping in comfort. She tosses and turns for some time before she realizes she could teleport herself to Brystol so that she could take him a pillow and blanket at least. She grabs a pillow and blanket before teleporting to the dungeon.

Brystol shakes his head at her with his words, “I was wrong. That did go better than I expected.”

Sahara laughs at him as she walks over closer to him. He is leaned against the wall sitting on the hard metal bed holding his legs. She notices how childlike he seems sitting like that. She holds out the pillow and blanket. “I thought these might help.”

He takes them from her with a smile. “Thanks, but I doubt I will be getting any sleep tonight.” He says over the loud roar of a beast from down the hall.

“I have strict instructions to not teleport you out of here, but I could stay if you want company?” Sahara offers hugging herself from the chill that is spiraling around the room.

He slides over to give her space to sit down. “Thank you. For coming with me to tell them.”

“I would never have done it had I realized I would be in trouble too.” Sahara says sitting down next to him and bumping her shoulder teasingly against his.

“I have seen him angrier.” Brystol says spreading the blanket over the two of them. “He is just doing this to make a point. He will forgive us in the morning, tell us to be more thoughtful in the future or something like that, and then all will be well.”

They cover their ears as the roar of a beast sounds through the wall behind them. It is so loud it causes the room to shake. “I hope you’re right. Because if you have to stay in here another night, I won’t be joining you.” Sahara says after the beast quiets and they uncover their ears. They laugh together for a moment and she finds comfort in his smile. She feels her heart quicken as he moves toward her as if he is going to kiss her. Suddenly, The small light that was glowing in the room disappears and she can no longer see Brystol because it is so dark. The door to the room flings open with a small gust of wind and a dark figure fills the doorway. Sahara feels Brystol pull her up against him as if he is trying to protect her.

“What happened to the light?” Tari Nathila’s voice comes from the dark figure and Sahara feels Brystol release his protective arms from her.

“Mother?” Brystol says in confusion as he stands up.

Sahara also stands and snaps her fingers making the light in the room reignite. “Sahara!” The Tari says in surprise. “What are you doing here? And in the dark together.”

“No. Nothing!” Sahara says.

“The light just flickered off before you came in. She brought me a pillow and blanket, but your scary entrance right after the light went out startled us.” Brystol says.

“Yes, I could see how that was scary. The wind caught the door. Sorry about that.” The Tari snickers with her response. She holds up a pillow and blanket she is holding. “I also brought you a pillow and blanket.” She moves over and sits it down on the metal bed. “This is a ghastly place to put an elf.”

“He is right though. I deserve to be in here.” Brystol says before his mother moves over and hugs him.

“It will be alright. I am proud of you for confessing. Though I hope no one else knows besides the two of you?” She says fixing his hair.

“I told no one.” Brystol shakes his head as he pushes her hand away from his hair.

“Let’s keep it that way. Now, come along Sahara. You should already be in bed.” The Tari holds out her hand for Sahara to join her.

“I teleported here because their was a guard outside my door.” Sahara replies.

“Ah. Well, then could you teleport me as well because I had a hard time sneaking out. The Aran would be angered with me had he known I brought you anything.” The Tari says.

“Of course.” Sahara says avoiding looking at Byrstol, she realizes the Tari just saved her from being kissed.

“Good night, son.” Tari Nathila says squeezing his hand before nodding to Sahara.

“Where do you need to go? I can’t put you in your room because I have never been inside it and don’t know what it looks like.” Sahara says.

“Just in the library will be fine. I can make excuses about being in there if needs be.” She replies.

“Alright.” Sahara says. “Well, have a good night.”

“You too, elfie.” The Tari smiles at her before Sahara teleports her to the library.

“I guess I should get back.” Sahara says to Brystol avoiding his gaze. “She might come check my room.”

“Knowing her she is probably already halfway up to your room.” Brystol replies and she can hear the smile in his words.

“Good night.” She says glancing over at him.

“Good night.” He says and Sahara teleports back to her room at Holestroy.

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