16

“Has she ever told you where she came from? Or can you tell me where they went off to?” He asked Portia as he felt as thud trying to suffocate his lungs. He didn’t know what he would do anymore, but just the mere thought of Aranya going to wherever she did with Jaromir, Lorcán wanted to choked someone to death. That’s if he was successful at blocking away the truth he was beginning to unfold about her garden of lies.

Portia shook her head and wondered who this man was that he appeared so agitated over their absence. “She hasn’t, but I alt least know that she’s never coming back to Elara, Master.” He was about to walk off because he saw no reason at all to talk to Portia when she had no goo information when she spoke again, “I think you might get a hint through this. They’re going to get married, you’re a very powerful creature, you can go to different places in only a matter of minutes. Why not check a few places and see where a wedding celebration is taking place?”

He wished he could beat Portia until she lost a wing, but he wasn’t as bad as his angry brain wanted him to be. This was supposed to make him angry, the thought of her getting married to another man but him when the last time he had seen her, she was ensconced in his arms. But today, he was far from being angry, all he thought of was, she was the fairy Dûsan had always spoke about and she was the woman he had spent years looking for.

“I don’t think that’s important. But thanks anyway.” He walked off before she had the chance to make another baseless suggestion that would force him to do what he didn’t intend to do at first.

Walking through the market streets, somewhere in his heart he prayed for a magic to happen. For him to see her like she had seen him when she thought he was never going to come back. But this time, he was certain their feelings wouldn’t be the same, he wouldn’t be so happy like she was when she had seen him. He wouldn’t run toward her and give her the most warmest hug he had ever felt in his life. For him, it would be anger that would resurface in his heart and by all ways possible, he would hurt her as much as she hurt him. He would take the only thing precious to her; her life.

He kept walking through the market without having a possible way to follow, when he got tired, he walked to where he met her that day. With the flower pinned to her hair and he sat down on a stone, a few feet away from the shop she had bought that flower and where he had bought the bunch for her. That night, he decorated her room and kept the bangle she had left with him. If he had known, only if he had known. Her dead body would have been the one that would lay upon that bed.

“What do you need, Master?” An old woman asked, and when Lorcán looked up to meet her eyes, he immediately recognized her to be the woman that sold those flowers. Before he answered her question, she smiled. A knowing smile that gave way to her sharp and undoubtedly strong canine teeth. “I think I know what you’re doing here. Has she gone off already?”

Who was this woman and how the hell did she know what was going on with him? “Who are you?” He asked, but instead of an answer, he watched as black clouds engulfed them and when everything was cleared, he found them in a forest. He couldn’t say they were still Elara but this forest was the darkest he had ever seen.

“I’m a Durush, and you know we know the secrets of everything and everyone in this world. I have the answers to all your questions but that wouldn’t come off free, I also need something from you.” She grinned, and just when Lorcán thought her long and shape canine teeth were the scariest in her, he figured her mouth was filled with blood.

He had known of the Durush, had read numerous times about them but this was the first time he had ever seen one. He knew this wasn’t her real creature, she had disguised herself as an old woman and lived in Elara so no one would know, and he wouldn’t love it if she showed him her real body. The Durush were known for knowing everything. If you don’t want your life secret and that of your entire clan to be revealed, don’t meet a Durush. Do everything you can in your power not to meet a Durush for the rest of your life.

He knew she knew who he was, so lying wouldn’t be anything. “I will agree to everything if you will truthfully answer my questions,” they could be conniving as well, known for fooling people. “But first, what is your name?” He knew they hated to tell their names, for they could lie of anything but their names and when you know their names, you could just read the book about the Durush, search for their clan and you would know who they are. And almost every powerful creature had the book about the Durush.

She eyed him sharply, as though contemplating whether to trust him with her name or not. But that shouldn’t be her worry, it wasn’t like she had any other thing to hide anymore. She had to look for her husband, find him wherever he was because she knew he was alive, she could feel him everyday. “My name is Desdemona and I’ll make sure you die before you look for my secret if you don’t fulfill your promise.” He nodded his head, as much as he knew from now that she wouldn’t lie to him, he wouldn’t dare do that to

•

Aranya turned to see the way Jaromir was looking at the entire building of their kingdom. She smiled at him and lightly squeezed his hand, “One would think that you’ve never seen something as magnificent as this, when in the actual truth, you’re a dragon prince and your clan is known to be the richest amongst the entire dragon clans.”

He shook his head, his smile widening. “The building of this kingdom is exquisite, Verena. One could tell from a single glance that it has been abandoned for so long, but that as well didn’t hide the magnificence of it.” She smiled and nodded her head, there was no point in arguing with something she knew for so long. He felt the cold ambiance, the dark aura that surrounded the kingdom before he turned to look at her, whoever used to reside in this kingdom used to be so powerful, so rich. “Can we go in?” She nodded her head and with one swift of her index finger, the huge royal door was opened and they walked inside.

It was a very long hall that Jaromir knew if he would have to take a look at everything the was in the hall, it would have to be after a few days, for he couldn’t be comfortable enough to take a look of everything at his first time being here. He felt as she released her hold on his hand and like it had always been, Aranya moved further into the hall and he watched as she bowed down.

“I’m back, Betla.” He heard the echo fo her voice on all the walls and there was a smoke of fire that engulfed the already dark and scary hall before a woman appeared. Not just a woman, a beautiful yet cruel woman. One could tell she was merciless with a single glance at her, she was filled with darkness but that didn’t make her beauty unnoticeable either. She was indeed Verena’s mother, for the beauty she had was unmistakably gotten from this powerful woman.

Betla moved toward Aranya and she lifted her face, “You’re back, Aranya. How was your journey?” Aranya could feel the way Betla’s fingers dived into her shoulders and she didn’t have to be told that she knew. Betla always knew everything.

“It was fruitful, Betla. I’m here with the hunt, like I always do.” She didn’t have to worry about Jaromir over hearing their conversation, there was a reasonable distance between them. And from the way Betla was silently speaking, if she wasn’t her daughter, she would have already known that this woman didn’t want her to live for the next minute, but she knew she would be the last person Betla would kill. She couldn’t say she cannot kill her, she can, but it had to be the only thing left for her to get the revenge she lived her entire life for.

“And your hunt?” She knew what this question meant, she didn’t have to ask for clarification.

“His name is Jaromir, the Dragon prince of Gantrick.”

Something changed in Betla’s eyes, but she was so fast at masking it up. “I’ll see him and then, take him to his suite. I’ll meet you in your room tonight. Tomorrow would be the day, make sure you don’t make a mistake, Aranya.”

Aranya leveled her gaze up to her mother’s, “I’ve never made a mistake, Betla, and this wouldn’t be the first time.”

She smiled. Betla smiled as she took a step forward until she was standing shoulder by shoulder to Aranya, and without staring at her, she spoke with an enigmatic voice, “We aren’t sure of that yet, Aranya. I’ll see you later.”

She felt as a chill went down to her spine but like Betla, Aranya had mastered the art of keeping her emotions to herself. She thought of Lorcán, and as she watched her mother and the man she was supposed to be in love with shook hands and exchanged pleasantries while everything about Betla exuded darkness, fear and cruelty, she thought of the man standing over yonder to be him. What would she have felt, if it was Lorcán instead of Jaromir? Would she have cried and screamed at Betla knowing so well he wouldn’t live past tomorrow? How terrible must she have felt to know that she would be the one to dive the magic sword into his chest knowing so well it didn’t matter how powerful or what type of creature you are, the sword killed everyone, Betla included.

She clenched her eyes shut, shaking her head as though to get rid of the thoughts roaming through her mind. How could she be thinking about Lorcán when she was far away from him and she knew she would never see him again? She waited until Betla vanished into a thin air before she held Jaromir’s hand and they silently walked through the stairs until they got to the room she had always kept her hunt. And like always, Betla made sure everywhere screamed of comfort, of peace, of light, of liveness an exact opposite of what was going to happen to whoever entered the room.

Jaromir excitedly closed the door behind them and he took Aranya’s two hands into his. When she looked into his eyes, the excitement she saw there was so real and for once she was forced to believe that maybe, apart from the chunk of lust that had filled his heart, her love might have been blooming silently without any of them noticing.

“She has agreed to let me marry you, Verena! She told me we can get married tomorrow at night, how amazing does that sound?” If she wasn’t careful of the words she chose to hear from him, she would’ve said he gigged excitedly.

Pathetic, she thought. He didn’t know that the time he was so looking for would be the time for his death, did he? And before she wrapped her hands around the thought of not feeling guilty for what she had been doing since she came to the age of adulthood, she felt as Jaromir hugged her tightly, chanting about how happy he was. And without wanting to, she wrapped her hands around him and hugged him back, because if for anything, he deserved sincerity even for once from her. And for the time she spent in Elara, Jaromir had been so good to her, he had been a friend even.