"Do you regret bringing me here?" she asked softly with so much fear etched in her voice that if I hadn't already made up my mind to hate her, I might have felt sorry for Bella.
She returned the boy I made run away. How do I deal with the fact I made him leave and she brought him back?
"Never Bella. I will never regret bringing my sister home."
There is that word again, 'sister' he used it when he first introduced her and now, he uses it again when he thinks it's just them. Is it possible? Could he really only think of her as a sister? What happened to the boy whose type consisted of semi-pretty, breathing, females? Could he really have changed?
Looking at him now, he looks the same, two years older, but the same. But there are little things that don't quite add up like the way his eyes track her like he is worried she will disappear, or the personality shifts I witnessed earlier when he put Bella to bed. None of that matches the Brady I once knew.
I take a sharp breath as I hear Brady begin to play his guitar, it is beautiful and haunting. The melody begins soft, lilting, playing solely the soft strains of the minor keys. I want to leave, runaway from the sadness of the song but I am enraptured and cannot leave... then Brady begins to sing.
I have no words to explain it. I become so ensnared by the sound of his voice of the language he is singing I don't even notice I am sliding down the wall until I hit the floor. Even though I can't understand the words Brady sings somehow, somehow the words, his voice, his guitar, and the cold seeping into my body from the floor enchants me. Before I even realize it Brady's lullaby for Bella puts me in the deepest sleep of my life.
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Saturday morning, I awake checking the time on my phone to find that it is just after Seven thirty am. I am in the same chair I originally fell asleep in, why is that surprising to me? I slept here the whole night. I found myself questioning if something happened last night. I feel like I am forgetting something. I think back to yesterday. Me, Brady, and Bella in the courtyard and then dinner with Daddy, the kings, and Bella. Brady took Bella to bed; weird I can't remember what we talked about while he was gone... Eh they were probably just prattling on about stupid things, and I tuned them out. Then we played games and caught up... Did I get up last night... I don't remember getting up but still I feel like I did.
I feel even more confused when I looked over at the couch Brady fell asleep on only to find he was still there! Snoring away as if he never left! But wait why is that surprising? I don't remember him leaving... Do I? I shake my head trying to clear the fog I feel clouding my memory but can't get it clear. I almost wake Brady but then I remember that he's still one of the kings that sleep till noon and get very grumpy without enough sleep.
We were up pretty late last night, I think. I don't really remember what time we fell asleep. Again, I shake my head feeling like I have forgotten something. As long as I am awake, I might as well get ready for the day. I am heading towards my room I keep here for nights I babysit the kings when I overhear other guards whispering.
"Should we tell Mason?" Jack asks. I hear Muhumma grunt in response but whatever his answer it is too late for them not to tell me. I walk closer.
"What if she falls or jumps and gets hurt though? King Brady could blame us for having seen her and not done anything about it" Jack paces nervously
Now that I am closer, I can see them around the corner and watch Muhumma shake his head 'No' to go along with his nondescript grunt.
"What aren't we reporting to my father?" I ask stepping out from around the corner.
For such big men these two sure startle easily. They look at me as though they have seen a ghost.
"Well?" I press, "I'm waiting... what aren't we reporting to my father?" I feel frustrated, these guys always look down on me as a guard because I am young and a girl, it doesn't matter I've beat most of them on multiple occasions in training.
"It's the new girl that returned with King Brady," Jack starts before Muhumma interrupts him
"Bella," Muhumma supplies then allows Jack to continue. That's strange Muhumma is usually pretty quiet so to hear him interrupt someone else's report catches me a bit off guard.
"Right, Bella," Jack continues, "She is up in the Kings' tower sitting on the railing wall..."
"What?" I am surprised. As much as I don't like her, I have to admit I thought she had more common sense than the kings at least, "Has anyone done anything?"
Shaking his head 'no' Muhumma lowers his head not meeting my eyes.
"You guys go set up the safety net we used to use for the kings," I sigh upset that I have to handle something for Bella, "I'll go up and talk to her."
Muhumma looks relieved as he grabs Jack and pulls him away. I hope they are going to set up that net otherwise this could go very wrong.
I climb the stairs that carry me to the kings' room slowly, I really don't want to do this, but I have a weird feeling that if Bella gets hurt Brady might leave again. As I climb, I once again idly wonder how the lazy kings climb these daily, sometimes multiple times a day in fact. No matter how in shape I get or how many flights of stairs I can climb the stairs always seem to knock the wind out of me. I barely keep from visibly gasping for breath by the time I reach the top while I have watched the kings get winded walking across a room for a snack then turn around and run up these stairs just a few moments later. It has always confused me.
I take deep breaths on the landing outside the kings' bedroom door forcing myself to breath normally before entering. Entering the bedroom, I can just make out the bottom of Bella's leg stretched out across the top of the balcony railing wall, the rest of her is tucked against the exterior of the bedroom wall hidden from my view.
I find myself hesitating, wondering, how best to announce myself without startling her. I don't want her to fall over the balcony because I scared her. That would be even worse than if she fell off on her own if I did nothing and left her here. While I am still debating, I hear her voice
"You gonna stand there all-day guard girl?" Her voice comes heavier than it sounded yesterday, reminding me less of Candis's voice and more of an old woman's.
"Where'd you come up with that clever nickname?" I snap walking out onto the balcony expecting her to hit back with something clever for some reason. I shake my head unsure where that came from.
"Brady mentioned someone used to call you that..." Bella responds on a sigh keeping her gaze out to the ocean, "Why are you here Mykayla?" It's a hostile question but somehow Bella just sounds tired.
"Some of the other guards said they saw you up here, I came to bring you back inside it isn't safe to sit there," I feel awkward trying to explain this to a girl my own age.
She sits staring at the ocean for just a beat too long and for a moment I feel annoyed I thinking she is going to just ignore my warning...
"AWWWE!" She squeals finally turning to look at me a huge grin crossing her face, "I knew you liked me!" she pushes off from her sitting place on the railing landing much too close to me. I take a step back disoriented by her quick change of attitude.