An unfortunate find

Aurelia

There wasn't much more I wanted to say. I had intended to have a good conversation about what had changed for me today. I saw the real person that I should have anger towards. My Aunt was responsible for all of this darkness in us and all the other people of these lands. I felt ready to forgive my Mother for not finding me, there was no way she could have if she walked every day and looked in every corner. However, I wasn’t happy or forgiving that I was left with this huge responsibility to fix these people’s problems.

Now that my anger had gotten the better of me, I wanted to end this conversation. I got up and walked over to the window to look down the deserted street.

“When it’s dark out, I want to go check out the city some more. I don’t like to be stuck in the house. I miss the woods, the fresh air and the freedom. I also want to see more of what I’m supposed to save. You can come with me, if you like.” I left the room without waiting for her say if she would come or not.

All I was interested in doing now is blowing off some of this anger in the backyard. I went upstairs to my room to change into more appropriate clothing. I tied my hair back to keep it out of my eyes and on my way out I grabbed my sword and bow.

Having my weapons in my hands made me feel stronger. My body was buzzing with the excitement of slipping into something that I enjoyed. At times the weight of all the expectation became too much and this was the best outlet for it. I saw Kairios in the hallway so I stopped in front of him.

"Shall I join you?"

I laughed at the fact that he felt the need to ask.

"You're still my teacher, aren't you?" I asked.

I didn't let him respond before planting a small kiss on his lips before side-stepping around him. Before I made it to the stairs I turned around and met his gaze and soft smile.

"I won't be long." He said with a similar soft smile.

Kairios turned towards his room as I made my way downstairs and outback. Lyanna had been kind enough to set us up with some targets and two straw figures. Deciding I wanted to start with my bow I pulled my quiver over my back. I stood as far back from the targets as possible and began.

I was getting better. Each of my arrows were on the circular target and many of them surrounded the circle’s center. I went to collect my arrows and repeated the practice three more times. The muscles in my arms were warm and my fingers that were pulling the bow string felt nice and loose.

I wanted to try shooting while on the move so I arranged some obstacles in the way of the target. To get a clear shot at the center, I would have to roll and tumble around my small course. Again, I started at the farthest point. Behind a tree I started my run. Staying as low as possible and trying to make little noise aside from the arrows rattling in my quiver.

My next obstacle to get behind was a chair and it was close enough that I could roll behind it. I repeated the roll a few times as I went along my course, making it to my target without losing an arrow or knocking anything over. My shot landed dead center and I swelled with self-confidence.

"I thoroughly enjoyed watching that. You are becoming a formidable warrior." The pride in his voice boosted me to levels of excitement that I never knew existed.

He walked closer to me keeping eye contact, I put my bow down. When he was close enough, I drew my sword as quickly as its length would allow. He took a step back simultaneously drawing his sword. Our blades rang as they clashed together sending vibrations down my hand and up my arm. He smiled at me and then advanced an attack. I blocked each swing, even jumping back from one before advancing my own attack on him.

We danced around like this for a long time, both of us unwilling to accept defeat from the other. After sometime I was able to hook his foot and tripped him, as he fell, I discarded my sword and free fell on him. I landed on him a bit too hard but we both laughed. I laid on top of him for a while allowing us to catch our breath. He kept his strong arms wrapped around me and gave soft kisses to my hair, neck and forehead.

"It's impressive to see how far you have come so quickly. Soon you'll be the one training me in any attempt to keep up. But for now," he tensed up and rolled me over onto my back and was now pinning me down.

"I can still win like this."

I laughed and tried to wrestle my way back on top. We rolled around on the grass for a bit playing our little game. The day had started to shift into night and we laid on our backs watching the stars. I fell asleep for a bit and had a very confusing dream.

I was in a dark room again, unlike before there was a small light coming from a distant doorway. I ran to it unsure of what I would find on the other side. It was a small door that I just fit through. I walked into the small round room, the walls seemed to be made of the same darkness, which was odd because there were some oil lamps hanging intermittently around the room.

The center of the room was surrounded by rounded columns. There was a step down to a small platform, in the center was a thin square pedestal. It stood up to the shoulder of a hooded figure standing in front of it. The figure stood still as it stared at the crystal ball that rested on the plush pillow. There were flashes in the crystal ball.

I wanted to see what they were, so I moved closer, the hooded figure continued to stare at the images and didn't react to my approach. The flashes in the crystal ball were faces! Most of the faces were my friends and some people I met along the way. They were mixed in with my enemies faces as well. My Aunt, Saira's brother and a few other faces I didn't know the names to. I stared at it as it continued its repeated loop, trying to decipher the message it held.

I was shaken awake and the scene dissolved. My eyes opened to the same night sky with the addition of my mother's face.

"Are you still wanting to go out and see some of the city?"

I turned my head to see that Kairios was awake as well. I did want to go and was grateful that she woke me up. I looked at her closer and saw she was dressed in dark clothing and had to dark cloaks on her arm.

"Yes, thank you."

We put our weapons back in our rooms and met at the door. When we left, we could see there wasn't a lot of people out. The majority of the people were seen hunched over or laying in their vomit. There were hardly any lights burning and the only place fully lit and full of patrons was the tavern. The smells that came out that establishment have my stomach rolling. Saira's lands smelled better than this mess!

I had to turn and walk away from it. I could feel the fire burning up my chest from the desire to burn it all down. Everywhere I went built on my desire. The thought that the biggest benefit for this Kingdom would be to burn it all away and start anew.

After a while, I found that we were along the pier. There were a few ships tied to the dock and the sails were rolled up and tied down. The sounds of men laughing filled the salty air. The sights of the beautiful ships had me feeling a bit better. My mind started to wonder as I thought about the places than men saw on their travels. It had to be nice to be free enough to do whatever they wanted in any place they wanted.

"It's a wonderful idea to see the world one day." My mother said as she walked up beside me.

"It would be a dream come true. One day we could see it together."

"How long are you going to wait, or is that why you are at the docks so late at night, Lady Nihola." Captain Galorian said as he came from behind me.

I tensed up and turned to meet his eyes. In my periphery I saw my mother move to stand behind Kairios.

"I just was curious to see the warships Her Majesty mentioned. I have never seen such a sight and thought it would be a benefit to my career to witness it."

"These are not the warships my lady, these are trading ships. If you'll permit me, I can show you?"

Captain Galorian was dressed as extravagant as the last time I saw him. This time however he wasn't alone and had an almost empty bottle in his hand. His companion was very interesting, I had never seen anything like him.

His skin tone was so dark that it appeared black in the night. He was taller than each of us here and built with enough muscle for at least five men. His clothing was minimal, only wearing a printed animal skin around his waist.

"I see you're interested in my friend here; he is very interesting indeed. He comes from a land so far away that no one in this Kingdom has ever seen it, aside for me of course."

"Does your friend have a name?" Kairios was blunt in his wording. When I looked at him, he had a slight frown on his face.

"He does, Hakizimana. But I call him Mana. It's easier for me, he also doesn't talk. Our language is far too foreign to them and he's too hard to understand when he tries our language." He said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

This man seemed to be the most frightening sight I've seen in this city.

"Shall we continue on our way My Lady?" He stretched his arm out for me to take as we walked to the warships. He was too close to me, his body warm and reeking of whatever came out of that bottle.

I felt guilty walking like this in front of Kairios. He walked closely behind me; he was very nervous about our position, I could guess. I hoped my position as Lyanna's Protege afforded us a deal of protection. We didn't have to walk far before we got to the ship yard.

It was guarded behind a small wall and had the sounds of hammers and incoherent shouting. When we got past the guard at the main gate, with some convincing from Galorian, I was truly horrified by what the Queen had done.