Chapter 16 - Updated

Chapter 16- Dresden

The change in her is staggering. Walking into the common room, back straight, eyes dead of emotion, she stands before me and looks directly into my eyes. She grips my gaze with a glacial stare that is clearly haunted. Panicking, I try to pull my eyes from hers but she will not release me. This is it. This is where she makes the connection. “Jael don’t do this,” I try projecting into her mind. I cannot reach her, it’s like my thought hit a brick wall.

“It’s time to go. Is the ship ready?” She asks. Her voice sends a shiver up my spine. I'm suddenly terrified. Where is the beautiful, shy, gentle girl I thought I knew? She seems unconcerned with holding my gaze so intently. Her newfound control is hard to believe.

“Uh…yes. The ship is ready when we are. Are you ok Jael?” I ask hesitant.

Her eyes narrow dangerously. “I am fine, Prince. We leave in an hour, notify the captain,” she snaps. She turns to go just as Jayden enters the common room. He stops and stares at her as if surprised to see her. She doesn’t even register his presence. She just keeps walking and soon disappears up the stairs to her room.

Jayden turns to me still stunned. His face is puzzled for a few seconds and then his expression changes to one of disbelief. He sits down heavily in a nearby chair. “What is it Jayden? What is wrong with her?” I ask confused by this stranger who looks like Jael.

“She is blocking me,” he says absently. His brow furrows, then his face crumbles into near agony. He suddenly turns into the boy he was the night his grandfather died just three days ago. He looks to me, his body slightly trembling, “She has never shut me out before. I cannot even get a sense of where she is or what she is feeling.” He wraps his arms around himself as if trying to hold himself together and stares into space.

Apparently being shut off from a connection is painful. Not the same as the connection being broken but still unpleasant. I don’t understand why she would shut herself off from those who love her. This behavior is so unlike her. She seems so attuned to people’s feelings. Why would she do this knowing the damage she is causing to her connections? I always thought her obsession for the wellbeing of her connected was a weakness, but seeing what she is without it is…ugly.

Then it hits me. She’s scared of her connections. I wonder how long it will take her to realize her connections are her biggest asset not her greatest weakness. Perhaps the bigger question is how long will it take her friends and family to see past her icy mask. Looking at Jayden fighting the urge not to cry, I know he will wallow in the seeming emptiness she left him in and never realize that she is just hiding. She would never break the connection she truly depends on for survival.

Gently squeezing his shoulder I drop to his level, “Jayden she just needs time. This is her coping with the situation. We need to give her a chance to settle into it. It’s not just you. She is different with me too. All we can do is support her until she lets us in again.”

Putting his face in his hands he says, “I hope you are right.” He struggles to pull himself back together, not quite succeeding. “You must think I am terribly fragile.”

“I do not understand fully what it must feel like to have one of your connections broken, but I know it must be more pain then I have ever felt. You need to give yourself time to heal. I do not judge you Jayden. I am sure in your place I would be just as ‘fragile’”, I reply honestly. Standing up I suddenly feel exhausted, “Well like your sister said, it’s time to go. Lets round everyone up and get moving.”