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Eyes of the Jackal
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© Eyes of the Jackal
by Joni Latham
The two guardians stood silently, hand in hand, staring into the darkness until they felt Dante no more. Arianna immediately dropped Trayjon's hand and stepped a yard or two away from him. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she stared up at the other guardian.
Trayjon afraid she would flee, if he said or did anything wrong stayed very still only turning his head just enough to see her. "How long have you known?" he asked quietly.
She didn't answer immediately. "Not long," she murmured, quietly staring down at the sidewalk. "Only a couple of days."
Strange, she sounds more sad than upset. "Are you angry with me?"
Her head moved slowly back and forth while her eyes remained fixed on the gray cement. "I don't know."
She looked so small, so alone. His arms reached towards her, but he quickly drew them back. The first move had to be hers. "You don't know?"
Her cheeks glistened in the pale light of the street lamps. "No, I have so many things running through my head right now. The only thing that I'm totally sure of is that I've fallen in love with you." Her head moved slowly upwards and her eyes connected with his. "It's the only thing in my life that isn't a lie. I hope."
Surprised at her revelation, Trayjon wasn't sure how to respond. He was thrilled to know that she returned his love, but she made it sound like a death sentence. Finally he spoke, "Sweetheart, everything I've said about loving you is the absolute truth. I've loved you for so long. I didn't mean to deceive you, but I was afraid if you knew who I was, you wouldn't talk to me or give me a chance."
Her hands played absentmindedly with the buttons on her shirt. "Trayjon, I don't know whether I would have talked to you or not, but that's water under the bridge. It's the least of my problems now."
I like the way she says my name. She makes it sound like a pastoral ballade. "Besides Dante, what else has happened?" When she continued to fiddle with her buttons, he demanded, "Arianna, look at me."
Closing the gap between them, he placed his index finger under her chin. He lifted her head and gazed deeply into her eyes. "I hope you know you can trust me. Talk to me please."
The little guardian tried to look away, but his hand prevented her from doing so. "A few days ago, I would have agreed with you whole-heartedly. Now, I just don't know."
Heavens, I can't lose you now. Trayjon's voice took on an intense, almost desperate tone. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll allow you to put a truth spell on me, so I have to tell you the truth."
She stared at him for a moment, as if deep in thought then blurted out, "Kiss me."
What a strange request, but who was he to argue with a lady's request? He gathered her into his arms and held her firmly against him. (Took it out). She still fit perfectly in his arms. Please don't take her away from me. Please.
Cradling the side of her face in his palm, he lowered his head until his lips barely touched hers. "You're sure?"
Her head nodded slowly. The male guardian meant for the kiss to be short and light. The moment his lips covered hers though, she took control of the kiss. Her arms clamped around his neck, virtually holding him prisoner. Her mouth pressed firmly against his as her tongue traced the edge of his lips then slipped inside to continue its exploration. He fought the urges building inside him. To lose it now, under such dubious circumstance would be unforgivable.
He gently pulled away from her and held her at arm's length. "Arianna. Sweetheart, what was that all about?"
Smiling up at him, she explained, "As the song goes, 'It's in his kiss.'"
Trying to understand women, especially a Majerian woman raised among humans, was very difficult. "What?"
Her hand caressed his cheek. "You could have taken full advantage of me. I'm fairly weak at the moment, both physically and emotionally, but you didn't."
"I still don't understand."
A sigh escaped her lips. "The song was written by a human and says that a man can lie to you with his eyes and his voice, but when he kisses you, he can't hide the truth. Your kiss proved to me that you'll tell me the truth without the benefit of a spell and I do need to talk to you. I need some things explained."
He scratched his head. At least Arianna was not shutting him out and was willing to talk to him. It was more than he had expected her to do when she found out his true identity. "As long as you're convinced, I guess that's all that matters. And, I did enjoy the kiss."
He smiled softly and stepped away from her. "Now tell me, besides the obvious, what's happened?"
The clubs had all closed for the night and the street was dark, except for the flickering light of the streetlights. Looking around her, she asked, "Is there some place that we can talk? Some place neutral. I'm getting cold and tired. I want to sit down for a while."
He thought for a moment. "Why not one of those twenty-four hour restaurants where I've seen the humans eating early in the morning?"
Her brow furrowed. "Oh, I know which ones you mean. Where you can always order breakfast foods?"
His face brightened with recognition. "That's it."
"Come on then," she said, taking his hand.
The little guardian rose into the air pulling him up behind her. In just a few a minutes the guardians stood in front of the restaurant. There were only two couples inside and they were both sitting at the front. Soon the guardians were sitting opposite each other in a booth at the back away from the other couples. The waitress placed two glasses and a pitcher of water in front of them, then took their order.
After the waitress left them alone, Arianna leaned back in the booth pulling her legs up under her. "Okay, now. Haven't you wondered how I figured out who you guys were?"
Trayjon's long frame stretched itself across the bench of the booth. He had been surprised that she knew, but he hadn't really thought about how she discovered the information. "I thought that you recognized me from my visits when you were little."
Her hands played with the water glass sitting in front of her. The water droplets running down the outside of the glass sparkled on her fingertips. "Well in a way, but until a few days ago I had no memories of you what so ever. I only knew what I had been told about you."
His curiosity was piqued. Just what had the others told her about him. "What had you been told?"
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. "Oh, just a short sentence about how Dante tricked you into giving him your talisman, ultimately, causing the death of my parents. Other than that, you were never mentioned. No one even told me that you were the other guardian and they certainly never mentioned our betrothal. I sort of guessed that you were the other guardian, because your father was a guardian. Everything else about you was left to my imagination."
He could not believe what she was telling him. No wonder the poor thing was so confused. "Then, how did you find out?"
They were interrupted for a moment when the waitress returned with their food. After asking if they needed anything else, she laid the check on the table in front of Trayjon and took her leave.
Arianna had ordered eggs, ham, hash browns, and toast. She took a couple of bites of her hash browns and washed them down with water then she stabbed a piece of ham with her fork.
Before putting it in her mouth, she said, "My grandfather's diary told me everything."
Trayjon hadn't realized how hungry he was until the waitress put the plate of eggs benedict in front him. He had just placed a spoonful of food in his mouth when Arianna made her revelation. Sitting up straight, he hurriedly swallowed his food. "Old Arian had a diary?"
"Yes." She sighed, playing with the moisture on the outside of her glass. "He gave it to me the other night."
His fork stopped in mid-air. "Ah, I thought Arian was in the other realm."
"If you know my grandfather very well then you know that he doesn't believe in boundaries. He comes and goes when and where he pleases."
Trayjon chuckled. He knew full well how stubborn the old Majerian was. His granddaughter was no less stubborn and if he were lucky enough to spend the rest of his life with her, it definitely would not be dull. "Well, what was in the diary that has you so upset?"
Dropping her fork on her plate, she pushed it to the side. "Everything, except where my grandfather said he loved me."
A smile lit up his face. "Everyone knows that. You were the light of Arian's eyes." And mine. "Now what else did he say?"
"Well, no offense, but I was promised to someone without my consent. My grandfather tampered with my memories without my consent. And, this stupid talisman was dumped on me without informing me of the full ramifications of what it meant. To top all this off, I was lied to and abandoned by those of my own race."
"I would say 'no offense taken,' but I thought you loved me."
"I do love you now, but I don't like being told that I had to join with you. What if I didn't love you and never would?"
He reached across for her hand, which she placed gently in his. Her warm skin sent tingles through his body. Tightening his hand around hers, he explained, "Arianna, even with the promissory ceremony, I wouldn't have forced you to join with me. We've been together through many lifetimes and I'd hoped that we would be together through this one too, but only if you loved me as well."
She tapped the top of his hand with her finger. "You know, most humans gave up that promissory thing a long time ago. They allow free choice in the selection of mates."
Lifting her hand along with his, he gestured in the air. "But Sweetheart, we aren't humans. We have our own customs and traditions which are centuries old."
"Well, maybe it's about time they were updated."
"Maybe" The Majerian traditions were something special to him, and he didn't want to see them changed, but maybe they should be. Since this was the least of his worries at the moment, it was best to change the subject. "What about your memories? What did your grandfather do?"
She pulled her hand out of his and returned to sitting on her legs at the back of the booth. "Would you believe that he decided that I would be better off without any memories of you? So he wiped them clean. That's why I didn't recognize you. There was a spell on the diary that restored them after I read it."
"Maybe you were better off not remembering I used to come to visit you everyday after the promissory rite."
Her eyes softened and water shimmered near the edges. "I don't think so, Trayjon. If I had possessed those memories, I don't think I could have ever really hated you for what you did. Everyone makes mistakes that they later regret, and you definitely do regret that one. If I had remembered how gentle and kind you were to a little girl who had to be a pest at the time, I might have realized and accepted that you didn't do it on purpose. But, I wasn't given that choice."
Both his hands gripped the edge of the table as he realized what she was saying. "You mean that I wouldn't have had to stay away from you for so long. We might have been together a long time ago had you remembered playing games with me?"
"It's possible, which brings me to my next point. What sort of race do we come from anyway?"
"What do you mean? An ancient one. A majestic one. A proud one."
Her tone became very condescending. "Not a very compassionate one I gather. Grandfather took me away for fear that someone would try to harm me because of a talisman I didn't ask for in the first place. After he left me and the council transferred the talisman to me, no one came to see me. I didn't know anyone or where to find them. Was I poison or something?"
"I wanted to come to you. I tried several times, but the fear that you hated me and would reject me always stopped me."
"You could've tried harder."
"You're absolutely right. I was a coward."
"Well, that explains you but what about the other Majerians? What kept them away? Oh, I saw one from time to time when they wanted help, but then they left without so much as a 'thank you.' Ungrateful lot they are."
He'd never thought about that aspect of being a guardian. Signs of gratitude were never expected when he was asked to help, because he felt as if he were still atoning for what happened to Arianna's parents. She was right though, even if being a guardian was considered a duty, the recipients should acknowledge the deed done in their behalf.
"No, you weren't poison. I think it had a lot to do with the controversy over the talisman and you being the first woman to possess it. I think also that embarrassment over your parents' death kept them away. They just didn't know what to say to you. They aren't good excuses I know, but emotions aren't rational." His voice softened almost to a whisper. "Arianna, I'm sorry you've had such a tough time of it. I'll shoulder a good part of the blame, if it'll help any. If your father were still alive, you wouldn't have gone through any of this."
"Trayjon, if I blame anyone, it's the Majerian race as a whole. The first chance I get, I'm going to council and ask them to take back this talisman and the powers and duties that go with it."
Trayjon's mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide. "Y-y-you can't! You have to fulfill your destiny."
She leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "No, I don't. I'm not a Majerian. I never was. For all intents and purposes I'm human. I don't belong in the Majerian world."
This train of thought scared the life out of him. No one had ever asked the council to take back a guardianship before. What would it do to the way future guardians were chosen and would they ever take a chance on an "emotional" woman again? There had to be someway to convince her to keep the talisman and accept the station in life for which she was born. He had to prevent her from returning the talisman.
"Arianna, you are a Majerian. Majerians are born not trained. You come from one of the oldest and strongest lines of Majerians. Every inch of you is Majerian."
"I don't belong in the Majerian world." She sighed then suddenly pounded the table with her fist and cried, "It never gives! It only takes." Reaching across the table, she laid her hand on top of his. "You're the only thing that it ever gave me. I do want to be with you." After a moment's hesitation, she continued, "Trayjon. Darling. I love you. Couldn't you come live with me in my world?"
The color drained from the male guardian's face as she crossed the boundary and asked him the unthinkable. "My God, Arianna! I can't do that! Please don't ask this of me. I have a responsibility to our people. I failed once. I must never fail them again."
"But, you said you loved me."
"Sweetheart, ask anything of me but that. Please don't ask me to choose between my love for you and my duty to our people."
Arianna's lower lip began to quiver and she lowered her head. She was not quick enough, however, to hide her tears from Trayjon. The male guardian's heart was breaking and from the way she bit her lower lip, he knew that he was not alone in his feelings. He wished he could stop her tears and put the smile that he so enjoyed back on her face, but he could not. He could not break his vows to (I think so?)Counsel again.
"Well, I guess that's the end of it then," she said, standing up. "I can't live in your world, and you won't live in mine. It seems that you weren't given to me at all. You came with a price. One I can't pay."
Trayjon started to rise from his seat.
"No. Just leave me alone. Humans have been the only ones I could depend on and it looks as if that's still true." She took a few steps away from the table then turned. "I guess this is good-bye." She took a deep breath. "And, for my sake, please don't try to see me, not even through your orb."
"Arianna," he whispered. "You can run, but you can't hide from the centuries old tie that binds us. Even without the orb, I'll know when you're in trouble, when you need me."
She turned before he finished talking and ran from the restaurant, stopping just long enough at the door to wipe her eyes. The male guardian watched his lady exit his life maybe this time forever. She was very stubborn and angry now. That combination would make her do just the opposite of what was expected of her. It would take a miracle to bring her back to him, or a tragedy
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