Who Is My Husband
Scene 35

“Dio is that up yet?”

“I had it up as soon as we got here. Relax, Pyro.”

“Are you telling me what to do again?” Pyro snapped.

“Seriously? Are you two going to start your bickering even now?”

“Shut up, Grant!”

“Shut up, Grant!”

The dark room lit up and Kailee was finally able to see again. A couple candles were flickering and lighting up the room. She looked around at her surroundings. She was in a small stone room. There was a bed, dresser, and a small couch that she was sitting on. It looked like they were still inside of the manor. In fact the room seemed similar to the one she imaged her and Trey were in before. Only it was dark so she couldn’t see. She looked down at one of the little men who was smiling up at her.

“There that’s better, isn’t it?” A man with a yellow shirt said.

“Umm… I’m a bit confused here.” Kailee said as the four of them gathered together.

“We are gnomes. I am Granite, but you can call me Grant.” The man in the yellow shirt said. He then pointed to the red shirt, “That is Pyroxenite, but please call him Pyro.” Then he pointed to the blue shirt. “This is Diorite, Dio for short and lastly…” He nodded over to the green shirted gnome. “This is Komatiite or just Koma. We are your new stewards. Similar to your keeper, Sparks.”

Kailee looked at the four tiny gnomes. She felt relaxed and shifted herself onto the couch more. “Is this still in the manor?”

“It is, but they won’t be able to sense you here. At least not yet. Dio and I put up a masking barrier. It is how we haven’t been detected by those brutes yet.” Grant said with obvious distaste.

“And why am I here?” Kailee asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“Because those pushy giants are always around, and we wanted some time to get to know you.” Dio said as he hopped up to the ledge of the couch.

“Hey! Dio you are getting too close to her. I already talked to you about this.” Pyro yelled and hopped up next to his brother.

“Do you feel like I am too close?” Dio asked, looking at Kailee.

“No, you are fine.”

“See? You mud headed dog snout.” Dio smirked at Pyro as he watched his face grow red.

“Why you petal pushing trout sniffer…” Pyro growled.

“A what?!” Dio turned as the two little men squared off.

“Ugh, Grant do something…” Koma said as he rubbed his head.

“Stop it! We don’t have time for your squabbling. You can continue this later. We can’t keep this large-scale masking up for long.” Grant looked at the two men who immediately settled down.

Kailee started giggling and the men blushed in embarrassment. “You all must be really close.” She smiled and they nodded with a crooked smile. “So if you are my stewards then you know all about me and who I am?” She watched as their faces turned serious and once again, they all nodded. “So, will you enlighten me?”

“Sorry. We can’t. We aren’t permitted to yet. Alistair will be speaking with you soon.” Grant said with a kind soft voice.

“Besides, once you know you are going to tell the oafs around you, aren’t you?” Pyro said and folded his arms over his chest.

“Why wouldn’t I tell them?” Kailee tilted her head to the side and smiled. “I am married to one of those… oafs.”

“If they know who you are, those possessive bullies will keep you as their trophy prize. And you can’t stay with them.” Dio said with a gruff tone.

“Excuse me? I can’t stay with them?” Kailee quirked her eyebrow and looked at him with annoyance.

“Well you can… but it has to be your choice.” Koma said with a small smile.

“I can tell you right now no matter what I won’t leave Trey… unless he asks me to leave him.” Kailee said with a small frown as she thought about how his family did not want him to be with her.

“He would never ask you to leave once he knows who you are. Power hungry…” Pyro stopped and then cleared his throat. “Besides, you may change your mind.”

Kailee shook her head no. “Trey is someone important to me. He isn’t just my husband. He is…” She bit her inner l*p and then decided they should know. “He is my mate. He is important to me.”

“He is your mate?” Grant sighed and then nodded his head to the other three men.

“Man, that means we have to protect him too now.” Pyro grumbled out and sat on the edge of the top part of the couch. He slammed his elbows into his legs and laid his chin there.

Kailee smiled. “He really isn’t that bad, is he?”

The four gnomes looked up at her quietly. Grant smiled and shrugged. “We don’t know much about your mate. But we do know if he is your mate then we will protect him. After all… he will be the father of your future children.”

It was Kailee’s turn to blush now. “So, was there something you wanted to talk to me about?” She asked, trying to change the subject.

Pyro grinned at her mischievously. “Not really. We wanted to introduce ourselves and if we are all being honest…” He said that last part as he looked at Grant. “We wanted to show your smug protector that we can take you. Unfortunately, we are not strong enough to transport you a far distance. So, we took you to the inner room at the manor.”

Kailee laughed. “So, you guys did this to pick on Grum?”

“And the others. I am sure right about now they are rampaging.” Dio said with smug satisfaction.

“Well, I don’t think your personalities are much different from theirs then.” Kailee giggled and smiled widely, she winced a bit from the pain as she laughed.

“Sorry we can’t help heal you up. Soon you’ll be able to heal yourself much faster. But between your exertion of using your magic and then taking on magic damage it is just too much for us and you as of now.” Koma said with a small frown.

“It’s okay. It isn’t too bad.” Kailee smiled. These little gnomes were comforting to have around. And it was nice talking with them. She wondered if her mother also had stewards. “Did my mother also have stewards?”

“Yes, she did.” Dio answered quietly.

“Are they still around?” Kailee asked and watched their faces grow solemn.

“No, they aren’t. A keeper can continue to exist when something happens to the person they are guarding. And keepers are usually around from the time of your birth. But not stewards. Steward’s lives are connected… our lives are connected to yours. If something happens to us nothing happens to you but if you die… we will also die.” Grant said quietly.

“Wait, WHAT?!” Kailee asked horrified.

“We choose this. It is an honor. And each one of us made this decision once you came of age. Stewards are picked after you start to gain your magic. Besides, it isn’t a problem. You don’t plan on dying on us anytime soon do you?” Dio said with a small chuckle.

Kailee looked at them and sighed. “What about if I have to face Bane? That is my job… isn’t it? Will it claim my life just like my grandmothers? And what is Bane?”

“Wow things just got really heavy…” Pyro said and rubbed his forehead.

“It is your duty if Bane comes back into existence because only you can do something about him. But as far as him claiming your life… that will depend on the choice you would make then. Your grandmother chose to seal Bane and entomb him. Instead of vanquishing him. This took up all of her strength. While killing him wouldn’t have.” Grant looked at Kailee and walked closer towards her.

“Why would she do that? What or who is Bane?” Kailee asked and looked at the four gnomes.

“That is something Alistair will talk to you about.” Dio said quietly.

“Is Alistair like my uncle? I had a dream of a small boy named Alistair and my mother Meera was his new sister.”

Koma nodded his head. “And before you wonder why he never came for you, trust us that wasn’t his doing. He wanted to shred Fredrick apart and take you back with him. But he couldn’t. The b***d vow that your mother made was not something that could easily be broken. So, he counted down the days until you turned twenty. But you were taken before then. And much to his chagrin, it was by those that were stronger than him. Coming here and simply taking you isn’t an option, not without a plan.” He smiled over at the other gnomes.

“And a plan is in the works.” Pyro said with a smug grin. “You’ll be meeting with Alistair soon. And he will tell you everything.”

“For now though, I think it is best to keep the stuff about Bane and you a secret.” Grant looked up at Kailee’s eyes and watched her nod her head.

“I already planned on it. Trey keeps secrets from me. And it’s okay since he doesn’t want me to worry.” She said with an irritated eye roll. “I figure it is fine for me to do the same. I just don’t want him worrying about it.” Kailee said with a shrug.

Pyro chuckled. “Yes, I like you a lot.”

Kailee looked at the door to the room. She wondered if Trey was even looking for her or if he was too busy dealing with family matters. Grum said Trey would never not choose her. But she wasn’t sure if that was really true.

“You are sad.” Koma said and placed his hand on Kailee’s hand. His small hand was like having a crumb on her hand but there was a gentle warmth that flowed from it.

“How can you tell?” She asked and looked down at him.

“I’m a strong empath. Why are you sad? Don’t worry about Bane if you are.” Koma said and patted her hand.

She shook her head. “I’m not. I guess… well there are some family members here of Trey’s and I don’t think they approve of me being with him because I am not like him. I wonder if I am going to end up losing my new family already.”

“No, he has no intentions of parting with you.” Koma said with a smile.

“How do you know that?” Kailee asked.

“Because I was listening to their conversation before, I came to your room to meet up with the others. And I can sense his feelings.” Koma said simply.

Kailee’s eyes widened. “Really? What was being said? Please tell me.”

“I can but I don’t think you will like it. Isn’t it enough to just know he won’t leave you?” Koma asked as he removed his hand from her hand.

“I’d like to know, please.” Kailee bit her bottom l*p as she waited almost holding her breath.

“I was passing through, so I didn’t get to hear much. But the people there told Trey that they wanted him to take a chosen mate. She was there as well; her name was Jane. But Trey adamantly refused. He even threatened to break apart from the family over it. I could sense his resolve. It was resolute.” Koma looked over at Grant. “I even told the others the same thing.”

“We didn’t know at the time he was your mate though. At the time we hoped he’d give you up so we could easily take you. Now though…” Pyro said with a quiet tone. “Knowing that he is your mate we know how badly that would hurt you. We are sorry for thinking that way.”

“Do you want to know what your mate is?” Pyro said with a mischievous smile.

Kailee shook her head no. “I mean I do, but not from anyone else but Trey. It will mean more coming from him.” She sighed and a small frown rested over her face.

“They brought him someone else that they want him to be with.” Kailee felt her chest hurt just thinking about it. And what hurt even more was the idea that maybe this Jane was a better fit for him. “Maybe they wouldn’t object to me if they knew what I was.” She trailed off quietly.

“They would keep you if they knew who you were. But they wouldn’t deserve you. In a way isn’t it better this way? Wouldn’t you rather know you are accepted for just being Kailee and not because of the power inside of you?” Grant was always the calmer and more collected one of the four. He was also an optimistic soul.

Kailee understood what he was saying, and he was right. She had a mixture of emotions about the other girl who was brought here for Trey. Was this Jane forced into this as well? Is it what she wants? What if Jane was after Trey… Kailee felt her b***d begin to boil. The idea of someone thinking of claiming what was hers made her livid. She felt herself set her jaw and her fingers tightened making small fists. This was not just Trey’s decision. This was also hers since he was her mate. Her fear and uncertainty over the situation were fading. Inside of her a fierceness was growing. If someone tries to take what is hers, she will make them pay.