The Book of Time

Chapter 1

Thomas hadn't left the room for almost four days. He hadn't left the chair for almost eight hours. He tapped the communication button on his bracelet for maybe the hundredth time. No answer. He pressed the find button. Nothing. Four days and Shay hadn't come back yet. He was still confined to the castle.

Lewis opened the door. He was still dressed in the absurd purple uniform of the Massuran army complete with all the markings of a General.

"No sign of her yet?" he asked.

"She hasn't returned," Thomas said. There was no sign of her and she had left no message, not to him, not to Nina and not to her brother. That had never happened before. Something had gone wrong.

Lewis paced the floor with the stiff march of a soldier. It grated on Thomas' nerves.

"You should go look for her," he said.

"She hasn't allowed me off my leash yet," he said. Only she knew the password to turn off the bracelet. He wouldn't just be sitting there if he could go look for her. He would have been gone when the time she'd said she would return had passed. He would have found her and brought her back. What if she was hurt? What if she was captured? Or killed? Or worse? Junaid had done terrible things to people when he'd been alive so he knew the possibilities.

Thomas closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. There was no use in getting worried. Shay could take care of herself. She'd said she'd meet him back here in her room when she was done. All he had to do was wait until she returned.

"It should've worked. The bracelet should've brought her back once the time was up," Lewis said. Shay controlled Thomas' bracelet but Samuel, her half-brother and the King, controlled hers. She'd been given a two hours to complete the assignment and four days had passed.

"Maybe it stopped working," Thomas said.

"It was designed to be indestructible." Lewis sat on one of the chairs then stood up almost immediately but he wasn't able to resume his pacing. A ball of colorful light appeared in the center of the room and grew bigger then it disappeared leaving Shay where it had been. She was kneeling on the floor.

"Shailene. Where have you been?" Lewis asked.

Thomas fixed his hair and tried to erase all worry and relief from his face. He adjusted his tie and waistcoat that he'd loosened after the first few hours.

"I'm not exactly sure for the most part," Shay said. "Where's Thomas?"

"I'm here," he said.

He walked towards her and reached down, forcing himself not to hug her from relief. That would be inappropriate as her servant. Shay took his hand and slowly got to her feet. Her hair was dusty, her black hair looked almost brown, and there was dirt on her face. There was a bulge around her waist, her scarf was missing and the jacket she was wearing wasn't hers. She looked paler than usual which worried him. She almost never left the castle so her skin rarely ever came into contact with the sun but this was a different kind of pale. She was injured. He had to get rid of this guy and tend to her.

Thomas didn't let go of her hand. She may look steady now but that didn't mean she wasn't just pretending.

"He hasn't left this room for the past four days," Lewis said.

"Four days?" Shay asked. Her brows furrowed.

"That's how long you've been gone," Thomas said. Shay looked away. She didn't seem to have realized how much time had passed.

"Samuel and Clarissa have been worried sick," Lewis said. Clarissa was the Queen.

Thomas noticed that Lewis was keeping his distance. Shay had an odor. Dried blood and forest greenery. Junaid could tell instantly. It shouldn't matter to Lewis if he'd really been concerned about her.