Traveler by Ashley Bourgeois Read Free Book Online Page B

Dorain took the crying child from him, murmuring soothingly to Bri who was reaching for Rahim. “Nooo...my dragon...” She whimpered softly, tears falling down her chubby cheeks.  Gesturing for his wife to take the child into their bedroom, Baneor turned his attention to the prince, frowning slightly.  “My prince, where are you going to go?  You’re hurt and you need protection.”
                    Rahim shook his head vehemently, blood from his wound flying off his face, his eyes latched on the door Bri had gone through.  “It’s best if you don’t know,” he insisted softly.  “I need to disappear entirely...you need to keep her safe.  The Dragon is no longer safe, here...it needs to look like I have died, Baneor.  Do you understand me?”
                    “Of course, my prince...but if you should have need of me, my lands are always open to you.  Just because your parents are gone, that changes nothing between our families.”  The man replied solemnly, handing the boy a pouch of gold coins.  “Go...there are several ships in the harbor.  You should be able to get away on one of those.”
                    “Keep yourself alive, Baneor,” Rahim said solemnly, putting the pouch into his pocket, another tear running down his face. “And keep her safe, please...if you never see me again, just make sure she’s happy.  Please....And thank you.  So much.  Try to get her to forget about me...”  
                    He sighed softly.  “I will do what I can...but do not expect her to forget so easily...I can hear her calling for you from here.  Try to send me some message to let me know you’re safe...now, go child...go before they come here...”
                    Rahim nodded and ran from the rooms, the pouch of coins clutched in his pocket.  He was still numb.  His parents gone...murdered.  His hands began to tremble before he could stop them.  There would be time to grieve when he was safely away.  A frown crossed his features as he felt something stuck in his belt.  Pulling it out, Rahim smiled a little.  It was Bird’s little rabbit.  Somehow it had gotten caught in his clothing when they ran. He clutched it close to his heart, making a beeline out of the palace, using the secret tunnels he knew so well to escape.  The docks weren’t far.  There would be a ship.  He knew it.
    ***
    Aislin heard someone coming into the locker room.  God, she’d been reading too long.  Panicking, Aislin shoved the book back into her bag, wiping hurried tears from her eyes at what had happened within the novel.  She’d have to read it later.  She needed to know more about what happened to the young prince.  The poor boy, all alone...and having to leave behind his little Bird.  She almost couldn’t concentrate as she walked onto the pool deck.
    Luckily for Aislin, the people on the swim team were more pleasant than the girls she had class with.  All the women on the team were ones that Aislin had swam with since she was in seventh grade, and they had become very close.  Even with their closeness, though, Aislin could feel the strange looks that they gave her, the looks that said she wasn’t all there, not all normal.  It hurt to realize, but she had accepted that.  
    The pool, when Aislin stepped onto the deck wrapped in her purple bath towel, hadn’t changed.  The tile was well-worn with the traffic of many feet, and the smell of chlorine and water was a welcoming combination.  It was a pool that was 25 yards long, standard for high school racing, with six lanes, and a diving board in between lanes 3 and 4.  Here, Aislin felt comfortable.  She felt natural in her own skin, here, and the way the water surrounded her when she dove in made her forget everything else but the water around her.  
    As the girls talked to each other, socializing and laughing, Aislin merely put her hair up into a swim cap and stood