The
Masters arrived at the castle. King
Bartholomew was so excited they had finally arrived. He pushed his sons, Philip and Kevin to constantly be in
attendance with The Masters. They did everything
they could think of to show The Masters how intelligent they were, in hopes of
The Masters picking one of them to be their apprentice. Stephen kept a very low profile. He did not like these Masters because they
had made his Andy to go away, he did not like that at all.
Each night Stephen would sit on his bed and he would call his sister. Stephen and Andrea had the special gift, of being able to communicate with each other telepathically. Stephen would call Andrea every night to see how she was doing. Just to make sure that she was okay because he was after all, in his mind, her protector and he did not like being so far away from her.
She
would tell him what she had done during the day and he would tell her what he
had done. They would wish each other a
good night and they would talk again the next day.
After
three days The Masters announced that it was time for them to move on to
continue their quest. Stephen was so
excited. They were finally going to
leave! Stephen could hardly contain
himself; he went running up to the walk on the roof of the castle.
"Andy,
Andy they are leaving you can come home now."
"I
know Dot, I'm on my way I'll be there as soon as they are gone."
Stephen
was so excited. Andy was coming home.
"Hello
Stephen."
Stephen
panicked. Who did that? No one but Andy ever talked to him like
that. Stephen turned around but no one
was there. He became very afraid.
Telepathically
he screamed for Andy, "Andy, I need you!
Help me!"
The
voice came again, "Stephen, I'm not gong to hurt you."
Stephen
became more panicked and hysterical, "Save me Andy! Andy I need you!"
CHAPTER
20
The
Masters showed up on the walk, as did King Bartholomew, Queen Levinia, Philip and
Kevin when suddenly, before their eyes, Stephen disappeared.
King
Bartholomew got very angry, "Andrea!" he turned around and went
downstairs.
The
Masters looked at each other in surprise.
Starchild
looked at Celestial, "Do you know where he went?"
"I
can't follow him"
The
Masters looked at Queen Levinia then they looked out across the meadow. What they saw surprised them. It was a rider on horseback carrying a pack
coming up the road. Queen Levinia knew
exactly who that rider was and she knew what that pack was. Queen Levinia followed her husband
downstairs.
Philip
and Kevin did not know exactly what to do.
They knew their father was angry with Andrea but they knew that Andrea
would also be angry. It was not going
to be pretty.
The
closer the rider came they could see that it was indeed Andrea and in her arms
was Stephen fast asleep. By the look on
her face they boys knew Andrea had been trying to comfort a scared little boy. They watched as she wiped his tears away in
his sleep. The boys went down to wait
for Andrea hoping she was not angry with them too.
Andrea
got to the castle and she climbed down off of the horse. She did not use any kind of bench or ladder;
she just climbed down using invisible steps.
She was no longer concerned about hiding her magic from her father.
King Bartholomew was just sputtering. "Andrea how could you do such a
thing? I've told you not to do
that!"
Andrea
looked at him in disgust and in anger "I don't care what you told
me!"
King
Bartholomew continued to growl and yell at Andrea, "How could you
embarrass me like this? How could you
do such a thing in front of The Masters?"
Andrea
merely turned and walked away from him.
King
Bartholomew tried to follow and Queen Levinia held his arm “Let her go. This won't solve anything.”
Kevin
followed Andrea to her room where she laid Stephen on her bed and then charged
Kevin with staying there to watch over him.
Andrea
knew her father was angry but she did not really care. It was The Masters that concerned her.
She
went up to the walk and looked out over the land. She knew in her heart this would be the last time she would have
the opportunity to view her homeland and she was trying to drink it all in.
"You
tried to talk to him didn't you?"
Starchild
was surprised. He did not realize she knew he was there. He had been so quiet when he had followed
her up the stairs.
"Yes,
I did."
"You
frightened him. I am the only one who
talks to him like that. He was screaming
for help."
"I
meant no harm"
"I
know. He was afraid you were going to
take him away. He just could not stop
screaming. I had to teleport him to me
to calm him down.” Nervously Andrea looked at her hands and continued, “But
it's not him you are after, is it? It
is me you want."
She
knew. She was the one that The Masters
were looking for.
Starchild
looked at her as she turned around and their eyes met. Brown eyes looking into violet colored
eyes. Eyes he had only seen once
before.
Celestial
teleported the other three Masters on to the roof.
“It
is time for us to go.” Demon
growled. “You must come with us now.”
"I
cannot go yet."
Demon
was getting impatient. “It is time to
go. You must come with us
now."
Andrea
stood her ground, "No, there is something I must do first."
Demon,
now on the verge of yelling, "It is time to go now!"
With
that Andrea closed her eyes bowed her head and she disappeared.
Demon
looked quite surprised.
Celestial
just shrugged his shoulders "I don't know where she went".
Starchild
said, "I know where she went."
They
went down the stairs to Andrea's room where they found Andrea sitting on the
bed holding Stephen.
"I
have to go away Dot. Philip and Kevin
will look after you while I am gone."
Stephen
was trying to hold back tears, "I don't want you to go Andy. I need you."
“I
know Dot.”
The
Masters stood in the room and watched the scene between brother and
sister.
Starchild
quietly said, "Andrea, it's time to go now."
Tears
streaming down his face, Stephen looked at Starchild, "I don't like
you. I want you to go away. Andrea is mine, she is gunna stay
here."
Andrea
looked at Stephen and she gently caressed his cheek and talked to her five year
old little brother. "Dot, I have
to go. You can still talk to me.” Andrea looked suspiciously at Starchild, “I
will fix it so no one can talk to you unless you want them to."
Knowing
he was on delicate ground, Starchild gently asked, "Stephen, would it be
all right if I talked to you? That way
I can tell you how well your sister is doing in her studies?"
Stephen
looked at him curiously. "Her
studies? Andy has to go to
school?"
"Well,
there are many things that we can teach her."
“No
you can't. Andy knows everything. Andy is the best." They all just smiled at the obvious hero
worship of a little brother, that is, all but Demon.
"Well,
I guess you can talk to me."
Stephen looked at Andrea, "It will be okay if he talks to me Andy,
but nobody else."
"Okay
Dot." she put her hands on either side of his head and they both closed
their eyes. There seemed to be an
electricity that flowed between them.
She opened her eyes, "Okay Dot, it is time for me to go."
She
go up off of the bed and she looked at her brothers. “Kevin, Philip, you look out for him and you keep him safe
otherwise I will come back for you."
They
both knew that she meant it and they agreed they would watch out over their
little brother.
Andrea
hugged her mother, gave her a kiss and told her good bye. Her father she just ignored. She stood in front of The Masters, “I am
ready to go.”
Demon
put a bracelet on her arm, which she questioned with a puzzled look and
Celestial teleported them all back to the manor house.