A lost connection

Aurelia

There was nothing around me this time, the darkness was everything. I held my hand up and I couldn't see it, like I was becoming the darkness myself. What had happened? I couldn't remember anything after being chased by that Saira’s brother through the Academy.

Did he catch me? I don't remember being caught. I remember making it to a room and then we made it to the balcony, I know that. For a moment I hesitate, do I want to remember? Maybe I should stay like this, there's nothing here that can hurt me. The Darkness feels, comfortable.

"You can't stay here." A voice whispered in the darkness.

"Who's there?" I shouted; fear started to rise within me.

There was no answer so I continued to shout the same thing over and over. My only answer was my side suddenly started to burn, what had happened there? I struggled to remember but I think I was hit with something. My mind felt so sluggish, the memories were there I could feel them.

I remembered being in the air after jumping off the balcony. Saira's brother threw some kind of spell at us. It was going to hit Saira but I let it hit me instead. The last thing I remember is hitting the ground. I had to have been hurt really bad and who knew what that spell was doing to me. I needed to wake up, this was a dream just like the other ones. It finally caught me, all that time running and trying to figure out that room with the blue fire.

There was no way I could stay here, I had to get back to Kairios. He became everything in my mind, his lips, his touch, the way he smelled. The more I thought about him the stronger I felt. I opened my eyes. When I saw that I was in a cave I started to panic, thinking I was back in my cave.

"She's awake." Kairios voice was like honey to my ears. At least I wasn't alone.

"You're safe here, this is my place. We have a lot to talk about but first you should drink this water and have something to eat. You're very lucky to be alive, if that spell had hit anyone else, they would have died instantly."

"Who are you?" She somehow seemed familiar to me, like I met her before somewhere.

"Drink this while I tell you." She said as she passed me a cup.

I took the cup of water from her and took a small sip. I was so thirsty I drank the rest in one gulp.

"Years ago, a little girl was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Her Mother and Father loved her so much and they grew more and more despaired as the days went on without her return. They did everything they could to find her. The Father was killed and the Mother found out that her sister was at fault. Her life was in grave danger. So, she fled from the castle with the help of a trusted friend who was very resourceful, she helped the Mother get to a safe place. For years the Mother waited for news of her daughter and one day her waiting paid off.

She was found somehow and saved. She saw her daughter flying through the sky, and then she saw her fall from being hit by spell. I searched the woods and came upon this young man. The little girl was not so little any more but a beautiful grown woman. She was brought to her mother's cave. And now here they are finally together again."

I didn't say anything for a while. It was a lot to take in, if I were to believe her story than she would be my Mother. I looked at her closely now; her hair was long and red. A lighter shade than mine and had streaks of grey through it. Her skin was tanned and dry, she must spend most of her days outside. The years had been hard on her but when I looked into your eyes, they felt familiar.

"So, you've been here this whole time?" Hiding while I suffered?

"Yes. I had nowhere else to go; my husband was dead, my sister betrayed me and I had lost you."

I could tell she wanted me to forgive her, to understand why she did this. There was no way I was going to give into that. I spent my whole life in a cave against my will and she chose to stay in one to hide in safety, and she didn't look for me.

"I wasn't lost. I was held in a cage beaten, starved and afraid. I wished every day that my family would find me, that my mother would save me. That never happened. No one saved me, I saved myself. So, thank you for helping me now but we will leave tomorrow."

"Aurelia please, give me a chance to make it up to you. I know what you're doing, I can help you. I know the capital and I know the castle. I can help you stop my sister. I know how she thinks." She was almost begging me...

"If you really knew her then none of this would have happened!" It wasn't my intention to yell but I was so angry, I couldn't help it.

"I'm tired, please leave me alone. If you want to help me then make me some maps or something that can help and that can get me into the castle." She turned and left leaving Kairios and I alone. I wasn't actually tired I just want the conversation over.

"Aurelia, I know this is upsetting," Kairios began but I didn’t want to hear how rude I knew I had been.

"Stop Kairios. I know what I said hurt her and that I was mean. I don't trust her and I don't want to get to know her. It's too much right now, we have too much to do."

"Okay, I promise to stand by you. What do you need? Food or more water?"

"Can you just stay and sit with me? We need to leave soon and I need to get my strength up."

"Of course. I was really worried about you. I had no idea how to help you. I'm so glad you're awake. Why did you let that spell hit you?"

"I'm sorry all I could think of was I have to keep Saira safe. She and I have this connection and after seeing her brother and the way she's been treated; we are the same." I admitted to him.

"Please don't ever put yourself in danger like that again." His voice was a bit harsh but his eyes were worried.

"I wish I could promise you that but with what we have to do, it's already dangerous. We could die at any moment." The truth was hard to swallow now that we had experienced a taste of it.

"I love you Kairios."

I hadn't said this to him before, it feels so good to tell him now. He seems happy as well. He has a smile on his face as he leans in to kiss me. It was a marvelous kiss filled with love and hope. When our kiss ended, he said,

"I love you Aurelia. From the moment you stumbled into my life, I will always be with you and keep you safe."

We didn't say anything else after that. We sat in silence while I rested. Kairios fell asleep and started to snore slightly, the sound of his breathing lulled me back to sleep.

Thankfully my dreams were free of nightmares. I dreamed of Kairios and I living in a small cabin by a lake. We had no worries and only each other to pass the time. It was the most wonderous place I had ever seen. It was so full of happiness and love that I could have stayed there forever.

When I woke, I felt my strength was coming back. I was ready to leave these lands and get back on track with our previous plans. When we were out of this place and away from my Mother, I had questions for Saira about the book I almost died for.

"Here are the maps. I hope they help you and I hope that one day we will meet again and we can try to have a friendship at least." Her words made me feel guilty so I grabbed the maps and made my way outside without a word of thank you.

Kairios came out with Saira a few minutes after, I wasn’t able to look at the after my behavior and waited for a while before speaking. We had walked down the slope in silence thankfully and when we finally made it back to the woods, I turned to Saira.

"What did you learn from that book?" I asked her suddenly.

"We have a lot to talk about."