The Island Pt. 02

"Anything my love?" I asked gently.

Absently she reached and took Arianna placing her in her lap. Arianna was able to sit up now and could roll over. It wouldn't be long before she was pulling herself to a standing position. Babies grew quickly and you had to watch everything lest you miss it.

"There's a passage here about a king who returns with his bride, but it trails off and I can't find the next part," she said. "Could that be you? I know your brother is king but could it have been a mistake or something?"

"Rob has always been king my love. It's probably from the island's past," I replied.

Arianna had become animated sitting in her mother's lap. Her hands were going a mile a minute and her target was the book. Ashley pulled her a little further away. The book was fragile as it was. Having baby drool all over it and little fingers grasping at it wouldn't do it any good. I took Arianna back into my arms so Ashley could keep reading. I walked around the room while bouncing her but her head kept turning back towards her mother. When I moved closer to Ashley I realized that Arianna was actually looking at the book. Pulling up a chair I sat down beside Ashley.

"Babe, Arianna really wants this book," I said.

"It's dirty and dusty. She'll get sick if she touches it. Babies put everything in their mouths," she replied.

With a shriek Arianna leaned towards the book and caught the edge of it. Holding on for dear life she pulled hard. The book slid a little then stopped. Arianna settled back down and I cleaned her hand. Ashley started to turn to take her but stopped suddenly. The book had begun to glow.

A low hum started from nowhere and increased in volume. It wasn't loud or painful, it was just there. Ashley and I stood and backed away from the table. The book snapped shut and a strange lock appeared where none had been before. There was no key hole, just a dent in an odd shape. Ashley and I looked at each other stunned.

"Help me Richard! I can't get it open!" she cried.

Panic was in her voice now. She was desperate to get back to the answers that could save her daughter's life.

"We need the key now babe. We need to find it," I said.

Ashley gave up and lay down on the bed.

"We leave tomorrow Richard. Get it ready. I'm not chancing her life on this."

"What about all of them, my love?" I asked.

She just rolled over and started sobbing. Arianna was content with her mobile again and smiled at me as I leaned down and tickled her. Her laugh warmed my soul and I tried to make her giggle every chance I got.

Laying down beside Ashley I ran my fingers through her hair. She rolled over towards me with tear stained eyes.

"How do we save them all babe? We need that book," she cried softly.

She leaned into me and her necklace fell between us, poking me in the shoulder. When I moved it I glanced down and saw the shape. A huge smile spread across my face.

"Come my love," I said and pulled her to her feet. "You have the key to the book. You've had it all along."

She looked at me questioningly but walked over to the table.

"Here is your key, my love," I said sliding her necklace over her head.

She slid the charm off the chain and hesitated before touching it to the book. Looking at me she closed her eyes and pushed the stone against the hard leather cover where the dent was. It fit perfectly. With an audible click the lock sprang open and the cover flipped open to the first page.

The writings from before had changed. They were no longer the ramblings of a mad man but a story being told. One of the island first coming into being and life as she had known it. Ashley concentrated on it for hours, only stopping to feed Arianna and get a bite for herself.

I had decided to leave her to her reading and took Arianna out for a walk. She coo'd and pointed at everything but never cried. She loved being out and about and with her daddy. She was safe and sound. The bottle of milk in my pocket also helped calm her down when her tummy started telling her to scream.

I walked into my bedroom and put Arianna down in her crib. She was asleep and I made sure not to wake her.

"You weren't telling me the whole truth Richard," Ashley said, "you were supposed to be king."

My back to her as I pulled Arianna's sheet over her I closed my eyes. I had dreaded this moment and had hoped it would never come.

"Yes my love. I was chosen to lead. But those weren't my plans. I wanted a life away from here. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to do something other than be pampered by villagers all my life. And I did. I never wanted to lead and tell others how to live," I said.

"But you did Richard. You came to this island and you helped design it. You built this place. You created the rules that made me marry you. You and that council!"

She was screaming at me now and tears were falling down her cheeks.

"You took two years from me when you had the power to just let us go the whole time! You made me fall in love with you and this island."

"I love you Ashley, I always have," I whispered.

"Of course. It's what you wanted. Did you stop to consider what I might have wanted? Did you ever ask if I wanted to be married to an old man? Dragged away from my life at eighteen to do as you and your made up rules dictated? I was right when I said you won that day. It was you. Only you. I'm taking Arianna to Hawaii and flying home. You can have your island. My two years are up and I'm free of you. Get out!" She yelled.

When I didn't moved fast enough she screamed at me.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

With tears streaming down my face I left my rooms. The door slammed behind me. I could hear my daughter crying as hard as her mother was.

Erica was in the hall with Henry. She came to me and hugged me tight whispering that I was a son-of-bitch if this all turned out to be true.

"I love her Erica," was all I could manage to get out.

As I turned to walk away Henry made a move as if to join me. I shook my head slowly and he stopped.

"Take care of them," I said, "that's your job now. Keep them safe."

I walked the corridors in a daze. Rob caught me and pulled me into his room. I explained what was happening and told him she knew everything from that book. Tears streamed from my face and he stood and hugged me. I knew what I had to do now and for the first time in my life I was afraid.

"Go Richard, before it's too late. I'll go talk with her," he said before slipping out the door.

I took a sword from the wall behind Rob's bed. Mine was in my room and I didn't want to be out without one. The sun was just setting and it would be a long walk. At least she couldn't leave before sunrise I thought. Fresh tears sprang from me at the thought of Arianna going. I loved them both so much.

I walked for hours, the moon watching me from her perch in the sky. With her movement I was able to track time a little and knew I was getting close. When rocks appeared I knew I was there. Entering the old palace I felt him before I heard him. I continued out onto the balcony and sat down with my back to the railing.

"You didn't read the book again Richard. Otherwise you'd know what you were supposed to be doing," he said.

"Why must it always be riddles with you? You were a muttering old fool when alive and now you won't just tell me straight as a specter. Why do you keep coming to me?" I cried.

"You came to me. Again, I might add. The truth is in the book Richard. You have the key. Read it. Just like Ashley needs your history to accept the present, you need the island's history to accept your path," he said as he sat down beside me and opened a pouch hidden beneath his robe.

"Here. You didn't bring water and I don't want you dying of thirst," he said as he handed me a glass jar.

"Thanks," I muttered and drank deeply.

"Wait. You're real?" I asked.

"Been here since the start, Richard. The island's energy has kept me going. I questioned for a time but then just enjoyed it. You and your ships brought a bug that made me crazy for a bit until I figured out how to deal with it. Something you call lice. Nasty little buggers dug into my head. Burying me saved me from losing the last of my marbles."

"So how old are you?" I asked.

"Debatable," he replied. "I would guess at five hundred of your years but time doesn't work the same on the island. At least it didn't until the accident."

"Meaning?" I prompted.

"Haven't you felt it Richard? Time moves forward but the island stays the same. These ruins were my home when my people first got here. How do you think this palace is still standing? The island and everything on it ages slower. Except for the people here."

"What happened," I asked.

"We once aged the same as the island. Slowly. Hundreds of years could pass and we were still here. The magic of this island watched over us and sheltered us. We grew arrogant towards any who came to the island. Our princess at the time sought to keep outsiders away but they came anyway. Several groups arrived all at once. They wanted to learn our secret to long life. We couldn't explain how it worked and they didn't believe us."

He stood and looked out over the jungle and I joined him. The sun was just peeking up over the horizon and the jungle tree tops looked on fire.

"They grew angry when the island didn't accept them and grant them long life as well. They became enraged. They started destroying the town. When all that was left was this palace they gathered below this balcony in what used to be a courtyard. Several men forced their way inside and chased the princess out here to the balcony. She stood tall and proud and faced them down, her last guard and her father at her side. The outsiders screamed at her but she took it all and explained again that she didn't have the power to grant them long life. A child walked up at one point as if to say something and threw a large stone striking her in the head. Her father and guard reached for her as she fell against the railing and went over."

His voice lowered here and I could see tears streaming down his face.

"I had her hand, Richard, but couldn't hold on."

I flinched as if slapped and realization washed over me. Before me was the very first king of the island. His daughter had been the first princess. He had watched as his daughter died and blamed himself for her death.

"The island energy erupted when she hit the ground. She died instantly from a broken neck. The jungle you see before you is the punishment the island put upon the outsiders. It sprang up and trapped them in there transforming them into the creatures we have now. Slowly the island magic faded back until only pockets of it were left. This palace, the jungle and your small part of the island are all that contain any trace of the slowness of aging," he continued.

He needed to get the story out. Having held onto it for so long hurt him badly. I could see it in his teary eyes.

"Most of my people died that day. Only the few you found when you arrived were still alive. We kept our secret and let you and your brother lead hoping that one day we'd have a new princess to please the island. When you left and Rob didn't take a wife the island gave up. She went to sleep releasing her control of the magic. We started aging again and the hold on the jungle weakened. The only thing that held was the mirage hiding her from outsiders. But now that you've married and had a daughter she is waking up again. You were supposed to be king, the island chose you long ago but you left. Now you're back and our former glory can be restored."

I stood in stunned silence for a long moment. Looking at him I leveled with him and broke the news. Ashley was leaving the island and taking Arianna; and there had been an incident with Erica a little while back that could cost me both of them. He just smiled at me.

"You really need to read that book," was all he said.

"Get out of here Rob. I'm done with this island. You and Richard tricked me into all this and it's over," Ashley screamed.

"Not so fast little lady," he replied. "You're going to hear what I have to say, and you're going to finish that book."

"Like hell I am. First light I'm gone. You are as much responsible for all this as he is and I can't stand to look at either of you right now." She screamed.

"Too fucking bad," Rob roared. "You have no idea what he went through to find you. You have no idea what he gave up. You have no idea the loss we've all had to endure just so that you could find this island. You don't want to listen to me, fine. But you're damn well going to finish this book."

Rob was furious and his tone made Ashley afraid. She'd never seen this side of him and the things he said had her mind racing. What the hell was he talking about?

"Where do I start?" she asked.

Rob came over and flipped a couple of pages.

"Here. It explains all," he said and stormed out of the room.

Ashley wept uncontrollably as she finished. She had never known. Richard had never said anything. That he lost his first wife on their wedding day when the wall was breached. That he had given up being king to go out in the world as instructed by an ancient text he never believed in. He had trusted fate would guide him. He only knew he had to get as far away from the memory of this place, from the memory of his dead wife, as he could. That he had given up being ageless to find his true love. Her. She cried even harder and rocked back and forth. Arianna rocked in her arms, softly pulling at her necklace.

"We came here to get away from the outside world and ended up in a magical place fulfilling some sort of weird prophecy. We didn't ask for it. We were born to it. Just as you were, Ashley. Just as Arianna is. You are always free to leave; I would never force you to stay against your will. You know that. But you need to work this out with Richard before you do. Please. You may hate me all you want but please don't leave Richard like this. His choices, mine, the ones we made together for the island were not done randomly or for fun. It's what the island needed and still needs. The power of a princess is needed to guide the magic in some way that we haven't figured out. But we know we're losing the magic fast. The wall failing is a symptom of that. Those creatures will be roaming the island soon. He loves you with all his heart. He didn't trick you into marrying him. He followed rules that we established because it was required by the island. If anything you should blame her for what's happened. In every sense of the word, she used us all."

Rob had been in the doorway for a few minutes and only spoke when she had calmed down a little. Her teary face looked at him as he finished.

"I don't know the whole story yet and I have a thousand questions," she started, "but I need to find Richard. I'm wrong. I see that."

"No Ashley, not wrong. Feelings are never wrong, just misguided by lack of knowledge at times."

"Why didn't he just tell me? Why didn't you?" she asked.

"Because you had to choose for yourself. It's why there was a two year point created in the marriage terms. You had to be free to learn, and to choose afterwards."

The moon was starting its decent now and she was starting to panic. Richard had left and he thought she was leaving the island soon. He would be destroyed inside right now and she needed to hold him.

"Rob. We need to find him. Now," she said and hurried from the room. Arianna in her arms bouncing and giggling as Ashley moved as fast as she dared.

Rob and a ring of guards fell in with her and soon they were at the gate.

"Through here?" Ashley asked incredulously.

"Fastest way and somehow I don't think there'll be any danger now," he replied.

They walked through the jungle picking their way carefully around low bushes and hanging vines. Creatures came out of the darkness to look at them and hastily retreated back into the shadows. The guards were walking with swords in hand but only ever had to use them to hack a thick vine or cut a branch that had fallen across the trail. They reached the palace just as the sun lit the tops of the trees.

Erica, holding Arianna, hung back with Rob, Henry and the guards. Ashley walked forward to where the two men stood facing the jungle.

"He's right Richard. You need to read the book," she said as she approached.

I turned and looked at my wife. Sunlight glowed in her white dress and lit her hair as if it was on fire. She walked slowly towards me and hugged tight when I closed the remaining distance almost at a run.

"We need to have a long talk Richard. You've left out a big part of this tale and reading about it still leaves me with a million questions," she said.

"So you're not mad?" I asked.

"Oh yes, very, but I need to direct that anger to where it should go. Not to my husband who has given his world, his life, and his time on this earth just to find me," she replied.

"Very well said," a voice said from the shadows.

"You're going to get this right eventually," the hooded figure said as it stepped out of the shadows.

"Richard, Ashley, may I present my daughter," the old king said. "Princess Brianna."

She drew back her hood and a shockingly full head of blond hair fell across her face. Haunting green eyes looked at them. Her delicate features closely resembled Ashley's and they could have been mistaken for sisters.

"Why?" was the only thing Ashley asked.

"Because you are the true heiress to the island. Hundreds of years ago when tragedy struck a few made it off the island and escaped. They scattered. Among them was my sister. You are a direct descendant of hers. This has been your calling for a very long time Ashley. This is where you were meant to be. I'm sure you felt it looking out at the water. Sometimes staring off into the void not knowing what you were looking for. Just whatever you had wasn't filling that little part of you that longed for something bigger."

"Why trick me into doing it?" Ashley asked.

"Because you needed to find things out for yourself. If we had just come out and told you, you wouldn't have believed. We created a way of life here that would give everyone a chance at love and the choice to keep it. Love is the real magic of this island. Nothing here would work without it. Time in your world passes too fast and even though you do love, it's just a short time compared to what is needed to truly discover each other. The island gives you that chance. You all were chosen at one point. Rob and Richard knew when to buy the island. You Ashley, your boat was forced onto the rocks so you could be brought here. Everyone on this island is a descendant of someone who came before. This is not random. What has been taken from her needs to be restored and the island will do her best to make it that way. We counted on both of you discovering yourselves while you grew to love each other. But you both held back a little. You both had reservations about this union, and you kept secrets from each other. He kept his past from you and you kept your true feelings from him. That is now out in the open. It's taken a long time to get to this point but here we are. Now is the time where you get to face those fears and either push past them or let them destroy you. Now is your time to choose Ashley."

Her voice was regal as she explained and Ashley knew this was a real princess speaking to her. She may be a ghost but her presence was commanding.

I went to one knee in front of my wife.

"I'm sorry Ashley. I should have told you everything from the start. I shouldn't have hidden it. My reasons were foolish. I'm sure somewhere in this thick head of mine I knew that but I just didn't want to take the chance of scaring you away. I caused the very problem I was trying to avoid."

"I was a scared child doing as I was told. I resented you in some way for that. I fell in love with you against my better judgment. I never dealt with my original feelings and they have come back to hurt us. I'm sorry too Richard," she said softly, "but I choose you. Not the island, not being a princess. I choose to be your wife. I want another just like Arianna and boys as well. We can live wherever you wish, but you need to be by my side. We will talk long about everything and get it out of the way so that all we will have left to deal with is what is to come."