Bound (The Guardians) by M.J. Stevens Page A

not a clumsy country girl…’
    Lord Neros smirks and abruptly stands from his seat. ‘I will leave you to say your goodbyes.’
    Did he seriously not hear anything I just said? He has no humanity! Like father like son.
    ‘Wait!’ Da yells. ‘Don’t you walk away from me again!’ 
    But Lord Neros doesn’t stop, heading straight out of the room. The door is shut by the guard behind him.
    I slowly turn to my parents. The room falls dead silent. With pain in my voice I utter, ‘I’m…really, really sorry.’
    My mother reaches forward, holds my face in her hands. ‘Oh my sweet darling, this wasn’t your fault.’
    ‘I can’t believe this,’ my father says rubbing his forehead. I glance away with a sharp pain in my stomach. My whole life Da has told me that the Guardians were not to be trusted. And yet somehow, I got mixed up with them anyway. This must be his worst nightmare.
    Da turns to me. His face is deep in thought. ‘Mellea, I think you should stay here.’
    I stare intently at him. I can feel my eyes are stretched open as wide as they can go. I reply, ‘What? But you… you’ve always said…’
    Da responds, ‘I know, I know. But I think you should stay. You can stand up to them, fight against them from within. No matter what, keep saying “no”. Eventually they will get sick of your uncooperative behaviour and let you go. I’m sure of it. And in the meantime you can learn all their secrets and we can expose them for what they are.’
    ‘Noran, now? Seriously!’ my mother hisses.
    ‘You can’t be sure they’ll release me,’ I say scrunching my face. ‘I can’t do this.’
    Da replies with confidence, ‘Yes, you can. I trust you Mellea.’
    I look into his eyes and then back at the table. I’m not sure about trying to uncover their secrets. But if staying is truly the only way gain unconditional freedom, then I have no choice. It isn’t like they’re going to let me stroll out of here without consequences. They’re the most powerful family in the world. This is my only shot.
    I say, ‘I’ll try, but please do me a favour…call work and tell them I won’t be in for a few days. I missed my shift today. I’m sure Blade is worried.’
    ‘Don’t worry, I will explain everything,’ my mother says. She reaches forward and gently brushes the side of my face. She then holds me tightly around the head and my father quickly wraps his arms around me too. 
    We sit there for a good few minutes before Elentia opens the door. She tells me it’s time to leave and has me pulled from my parents. As I trudge back to my room, I keep my tears locked up inside.
    I told my parents I would hold on until the Guardians let me go, but I’m not sure if I can.

CHAPTER NINE
    After the meeting with Momma and Da, the hours trickle by. One after the other, slowly and yet somehow fast. I can’t eat my lunch. I can’t eat my dinner. I feel too sick. The two trays remain on my table, plates filled with now cold food. I feel like a prisoner. The only books on a nearby shelf are on social etiquette and political negotiations. I can’t go outside. There’s no electronic entertainment and the Tower is eerily silent.
    I’m so lonely.
    Falling into a blurry half sleep, I jolt when my door handle abruptly rattles. The knob twists and two people burst in. They then start laughing and breathing heavy, as if they’ve been racing.
    I observe the two strangers.
    The person standing to left is a young woman. She seems to be in her early twenties with dyed flame red hair. She’s wearing a white top and pink pyjama pants. The other person is a male teenager, sixteen I would guess. He has short black hair and a fairly thin frame. He’s wearing a dark purple shirt and black pyjama pants to his knees. They are both, in their own ways, completely beautiful.
    ‘There she is,’ the young woman cries. They both make their way over with a movement somewhere in-between a walk and run. They leap onto my bed and sit facing