I had a lot of questions, and it took me a minute to decide where to start. “But how could Monty have talked about it over the summer? We didn’t decide to move back until a few weeks ago.”
“It looks like they kept it from you,” James said lightly. I tried to put my annoyance and questions about the move aside so I could address the more pressing matters.
“But why would you have to convince me to come in? Couldn’t you have sent in people to kidnap me or something if you needed me here so bad?” I had having trouble even saying the word kidnap.
He readjusted his position in the chair. “We needed you to come willingly. You were no good to us if you did not consent to be here.”
James locked his hands together before continuing. “I asked around about you and found out that Liam was still friends with your family. I tried to become friendly with him so that I could get close to you when you returned. I had it all planned out, but it turned out to be pointless planning.” James smiled. “Imagine my surprise when you walked into my English class. It was perfect; I could get to know you on my own terms. I wondered if you would recognize me, and I thought that you did at first, but you really did not connect me to that dream, did you?” He paused, waiting for me to respond.
“I knew you seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it, and then you made me feel silly about asking, so I let it go,” I admitted.
“Do you always ignore your instincts?”
“No, but for once, I should have. I followed my instincts, and look where it got me.”
“I can assure you, Charlotte, it was not a mistake to come here.” He tried to calm me before continuing with his story. “I got confident and tried to test my cover, even talking to your uncle directly to see if he would realize who I was. I could not believe it when he consented to let me drive you to the library. I also realized that it was paramount that you come with me; the Essence needed to be better protected than that. I must say your brother impressed me, though, following up on our time together. He has already showed signs of a good Guardian, and hopefully he will take up his position here in time.”
I had many more questions, but my eyes were so heavy, I couldn’t keep them open. Before I could even say goodnight, I was asleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Charlotte
It felt like only minutes later when I woke up, hungry. I realized that I hadn’t eaten any dinner the night before; it must have been scheduled for after the meeting. Just thinking about the previous night made my stomach ache, but it also made my heart flutter as I thought about how close I was to Calvin. I had just finished brushing my teeth when Tara came in. I was once again grateful to James for the toothbrush and toothpaste. My stomach growled, and Tara told me that I would be having breakfast downstairs.
“With who?”
“Mr. Blake and Mr. James.”
I groaned. I knew that James would never let me off the hook for passing out like that. He had seemed so nice last night, but he also really made me nervous. It felt strange to know that he had been in Charleston only to get to me. I changed out of my wrinkled dress from the night before and put on a new one before reluctantly leaving my room.
Downstairs, just as I expected, James smirked as I walked into the dining room. Clearly, he was back to his old self. Blake was nowhere to be seen. “So, did you find out what happened after I left last night?” I asked, as I put some food on a plate. I looked at James and couldn’t help but notice how much his appearance had changed since we had arrived at Bellgard. For one thing, he was wearing the same clothes as the rest of the Guard, a black cotton uniform. It also looked like he had stopped shaving.
“Well, it’s hard to do much when the guest of honor passes out.” James tried to hold in his laughter. “But really, it was fine. The other Guardians were still talking about how excited they were when I got back downstairs.”
“I still can’t believe I passed out,” I admitted.
“It is perfectly understandable, Charlotte,” Blake said, as he walked into the room. “You have been experiencing so many new things in the last day or so, and I am sure you are starting to feel the effects of your power. From what I understand, the onset of abilities can cause an Essence to have lapses of consciousness. There is no reason to feel embarrassed.” I didn’t know whether Blake was just saying it to be nice, but it made me feel a little less like a damsel in distress.
“Nope, no need to be embarrassed.” James laughed.
“James,” Blake said sternly.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” James grinned. It was weird to hear James reprimanded. Undoubtedly, he really cared about his father’s opinion of him and, from our conversation last night, I knew that he wanted to impress him.
“So now what?” I asked, trying to get an understanding of what the day held in store.
“We have arranged to have one of your Guardians show you around Bellgard.”
“Oh,” I replied, trying to act disinterested. I found myself excited, but also surprisingly nervous about the possibility that it would be Calvin. I couldn’t help but wonder what Calvin was thinking. I wondered why he wasn’t the one with me in my room last night. Had he gotten the wrong impression about us since James had carried me upstairs? Had Calvin told anyone he knew me?
I was just finishing my tea when the young, blond-haired guard I had noticed the night before entered the room.
Blake gestured to me. “Are you ready?”
“Sure.” I stood and smoothed out my dress.
“This is Henry, one of your Guards.” Blake gestured to the boy. He looked nervous as he glanced at me.
“Hi, Henry. I’m Charlotte.” I gave him a small smile.
“Should we begin the tour?”
“Sure, why not.” Wondering what a tour would entail, I followed Henry out of the room.
“So, your name is Charlotte? That is a pretty name. They never even mentioned it last night.”
“I guess I’m pretty much the Essence here, huh?” I tried to make it sound like a joke, even though it didn’t seem very funny to me.
“I guess so, but there are worse titles.” He smiled and handed me the same cloak I had worn on my way in. I took it wordlessly.
Henry led me out of the large castle doors, nodding at the two armed men on either side as we passed. Walking out into the sunlight, I realized it was the first time I had seen the outdoors since riding in with James. Now as I looked around, I was moved by the colors and faces I saw. A few people looked at me with interest, like they were trying to figure out who I was, as the dark cloak hid most of my features.