Chapter 3: Shifting Hearts

Chapter 3: Shifting Hearts

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Taya's POV

I waited in the main tent with the 3 guild leaders while the rest of the guild hurried to pack their supplies so that we could head on our way.

"Is there any way that we could start walking now? Or at least take down this tent so that when the rest are down we can start moving right away?" I asked getting extremely impatient because of the fact they don't want to fight but are making the window between peaceful and chaos smaller with every passing minute.

"Fine. Harlem, Smith, Ernst, and Paul start taking the tent down. As soon as your done we'll start moving." Grand Master Drew quickly demanded.

"Thank you." I say glad that they've finally started to move at least a little. "Is it okay if I walk around and see how the progress of the others is going?" I ask simply curious about the presence of a man among the people that makes me want to just run, hug, and kiss him. Even though I haven't even seen or met him yet.

"Sure but as soon as this tent is down come back over here so that you can show us the path to where you want us to help," Master Harold agreed kindly.

"I'll be back at that time. Thank you again for your help, and we may need to travel quickly because we are really running out of time and if we don't hurry a fight will be inevitable so do please get up and start packing your things instead of sitting there and watching your guild mates do everything for you," I scolded them turning so I wouldn't have to see the surprise on their faces. Then I walked out to see if the rest of the guild had better brains than the 3 of them.

Everyone seemed to be just taking down there tents when I first stepped out but as soon as someone noticed me watching them they would stop their work and just stare at me. After more and more people began to look at me I finally said something. "There is no need to be staring and you should all mind your manners." I said angrily and after no one turned away I turned more authoritative. "You all better hurry and get you tents down, stuff packed, and boots on, because as soon as that main tent is down we are moving. I don't need all of you to help, in truth I only need 5 or 10 of you. So if you continue to be slow and waste my time by getting left behind and staring at me, then be my guest." I was quite proud of myself for saying those things because usually I'm extremely quiet, nervous, and shy around others, especially men. But that one presence among them keeps me calm and in control of my nerves. After my 'short but to the point' speech, everybody finally looked away and busied themselves with the work that still needed to be done. I walked around for a few minutes and after getting bored of still getting stared at continuously I decided that I might as well talk to someone. Just as I was about to choose some random group of people that looked to be ready to go I felt the presence of the man very close to me. After turning in a quick circle I found who I thought to be the man emitting the beguiling power over me. I walked up to the man and someone else that were sitting on the ground chatting purposefully avoiding my eyes when they saw me approach.

I smirked glad that they had taken my speech to heart and were respecting my wishes. "Hi there, I'm Taya. May I know your names?" They looked into my eyes and smiled both reaching to shake my hand.

The man to the right that emitted no power spoke first, "Hey there Ms. Taya, I'm Charlie, it's wonderful to meet a woman as beautiful as you," Charlie said while taking my hand and planting a light kiss on the back. It sent a uncomfortable shiver through me and I pulled my hand back right away forcing when I hoped looked like a genuine smile.

"Wonderful to meet you to Charlie. Oh, and you can just call me Taya no need for the formalities," I said trying to act like his face alone didn't disgust me. Especially with the way his eyes kept gliding up and down my body.

Standing up, the beguiling man to the left took my hand sending sparks up through my arm making me gasp and suck a breath in. He hesitantly leaned down and placed a kiss on the back of my hand just like Charlie except the shiver that went through me was extremely pleasurable. "I'm Thomas its very nice to meet you Taya. Also, um..." He started looking at the ground a light blush coming into his cheeks making me grin a little. "Your-eyes, hair, body-everything-about-you is absolutely, gorgeous-I-hope-you-don't-take-my-comment-the-wrong-way," it sounding like he was rushing to say all of it and did it in one breath. But the effect of him being so nervous made me start to giggle uncontrollably.

"Does it scare you that much to compliment me?" I said grinning, "Is it that my presence makes you extremely nervous?" I take a step closer with only a few inches between our faces, "Or is it that you feel what I'm feeling?" I said quietly while sounding slightly breathless. The groan that comes from Thomas' throat reminds me that I've stepped into his personal space so I take a quick step back and unlatch my hand from his.

After catching his breath and thinking for a second Thomas looks me straight in the eye and answers my questions with answers that only somebody that's been wooing girls for years should say. "The only thing scary about complimenting you, is not giving enough credit to the amount of beauty you have. Your presence does make me a little nervous because I don't know how to react when someone as beautiful and graceful as you is in my vicinity. As for the last question," he says grinning, "You'll have to figure it out yourself," after all the words are out, Thomas seems suprised but pleased with everything that he said.

I was about to respond when Smith, one of the grandmasters main helpers, waved me over, indicating that the main tent is down and everything is packed. "Guess I'll have to figure the answer to my last question out another time," I said grinning at Thomas, "it was nice talking to the two of you and I hope that we can talk again in the future," before they could respond I turned on my toes and skipped back to the grandmasters.

Thomas' POV

"What the hell Thomas?" Charlie says as soon as Taya is out of ear shot.

It snaps me out of the haze that my brain went into as soon as she walked up to us. I was honestly still surprised at how easy it was for me to speak my mind to a girl that I've never even actually met. "What do you mean? All I did was talk to her and answer her questions," I answered Charlie honestly because I really didn't understand what had happened with my confidence myself.

"Dude we both know how much of a smooth talker you can be but it Never happens like that. You completely charmed her. Plus you get extremely tongue tied when you meet someone that's pretty. How'd you manage to speak coherent sentences and still stun her with your compliments?" Charlie says accusingly.

"Char, do you Really think that I talked like that on purpose? If it was any other girl that looked like her I probably wouldn't have been able to say one full word, no way a full sentence. The only thing that kept me from getting tongue tied was the aura that she carries around her and her enchanting amethyst eyes. Just looking into her eyes allowed me to speak my mind without filter or even a stutter." I said speaking without filter again, as if the thought of her aura and eyes put a spell over me again.

"That's absolute bull! There's no way that she has such a strong aura that even your stutter and nervousness went away in like, 2 seconds flat," Charlie stated angrily, "She must've put a spell on you. There's no other explanation for the way she treated me in such disregard and stopped your stupid stutter."

I was stunned by the violent way that Charlie was reacting to the meeting, which only lasted about 2 minutes, with Taya. "Charlie what's with you?" Usually if a girl takes even a little interest in me he'll give up and let me have her, but in this case I see no chance of him giving up.

After looking at the ground for a bit he finally answers, "Taya's the first girl I actually like. So could you just back off and let me have her? We both know that no matter how much you stutter the beautiful girls like Taya all flock to you. So could you just give me this one?" Charlie says this sounding sincere and heart broken, but we both know that the only reason he's acting like this is out of jealousy. "You know what, lets just help her with this mission and sever all ties. Once this is over we can just completely forget this trip ever happened." Charlie says and instead of waiting for me to respond, picks his sack up and jogs to join the rest of the guild.

Might as well go along with it. But I already know that forgetting Taya, is just inconceivable. I'd fight with Charlie if it meant that I'd be able to stay with her. I just hope that it doesn't come down to that. I hope that the relationship between the three of us will at least be friends.

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