Chapter 8
1269 Words
She ran, she ran in a direction that could’ve been back home or further. All she knew is she had to run, run as far away from Gruó as possible. He had to be safe, she put his life in danger, she—
She sat down, surrounded by darkness and trees. Sounds of birds which scavenged the night, sounds of owls which marked their territories. She sat on a rock, her skin covered with saltwater. She sniffed, sulked, and just wanted to go home.
At that moment she wished she hadn’t left, but she would’ve never met Gruó, or had bacon and eggs, or that lovely liquid that made her so happy on the inside. She wouldn’t have tasted those delicious berries, and even as she cursed going to town, she loved the atmosphere. If only she were normal, why couldn’t she be normal?
That made her angry, because of her father she was the devil. She thought about her sister Arga who had done so much to protect her, from singing to her. All those angel songs, all those sweet words were nothing but ashes in the night.
Her life was a hunt and she was the prey. She wiped her tears, she had to find somewhere deep in the forest where she could rest, somewhere that seemed safe. She walked and walked, it seemed so far away so endless yet everything looked the same.
She finally found a spot, with grass where the moon shimmered its pure whiteness. She lay her head down and fell asleep instantly.
Woken up by an uproar, she looked up and saw a sword to her neck. A man stood above her, covered in metal armor. More men stood around her.
“ She’s awake!!!” He said, his voice deep and muffled in the armor.
They all took their swords out and pointed in her direction.
“ You little girl, why are you here?” He asked her, she looked at him with eyes of fear.
“ Please, I just needed to rest.” She put her hands in surrender, instinct she guessed.
She spots a young boy who walks towards her, his hair danced along with the direction of the wind. He wore a silver crown, his eyes a dark yet bright green. They reminded her of Arga’s, they gave her a sense of security and belonging.
“ put down your swords.” He ordered, and they did as told. The one guard turned to face him and whispered something to him,
“ The devil we have heard about...” the rest age could not hear, but she heard being called the devil loud and clear. She had been hearing that a lot, more than she should’ve liked lately.
The boy walked slowly towards her and looked straight into her eyes.
“ Why are you here, these are royal grounds.” His voice was sharp and to the point.
“ I didn’t know...” she replied softly, bowing her head.
“ Help her up.” He signaled, crossing his arms.
The one guard stormed towards her and yanked her to her feet,
“ There’s no need to pull her up like that. Let her go.”
He walked towards her,
“ Prince Helien, and who might you be?” He stood closer now, so close she saw every little detail on his smooth skin. A beauty spot right above his lips and one right by his eyebrow.
“ Aurora.” She replied.
“ You didn’t say why you’re here Aurora.”
She looked around at all these guards who surrounded her, then back at Prince Helien.
“ I was lost and I needed rest.”
He looked at her, said nothing for a while. His face looked young and friendly. He ensured to frown, maybe because that made him look a little more intimidating.
“ and did you rest enough?” He arched an eyebrow.
“ not really, it will have to do.”
He turned to look at the guards, “ leave us.”
They bowed down and left, the one who had a sword to her neck was hesitant. Removing the helmet. He had a very scary face with a scar on his left eye, his aura screamed hatred. She looked at him, squinted as he looked at her in disgust before turning and leaving.
She looked back and Helien, and he looked down at her as he was a few inches taller.
She smiled slightly and looked down putting her hair behind her ear.
“ You want to return home with me for a hot meal?”
She looked back up, remembered this had happened and Gruó almost died.
“ No that’s okay, I wouldn’t want—“
“ It wouldn’t be a problem, I assure you.”
She looked at him, released a heavy sigh.
“I couldn’t, it...
I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“ And what could hurt me?” He asked her, his ego shining brighter than the sun itself.
“ People. Bad people.”
“ Bad people are after you and you’re all alone. Yet you still expect me to leave you alone.”
“ Yes.”
He looked at her, blinked in disbelief before signaling for her to follow him with his head.
She hesitated, but when she looked around at how foreign everything looked she knew that she wouldn’t even know where to go.
She cleared her throat and followed behind him and stopped at the sight of a huge castle. How had she missed it?
she walked with him and watched him as he got onto a horse, giving his hand for to take. She had never been on a horse before, taking his hand and pulling up her dress before climbing.
The horse started to move, she held his waist tightly and closed her eyes. Her hair blew, she opened her eyes and held freedom. She smiled, with her head pressed against Heliens back.
The ride was short lived as they arrived at the entrance hall shortly, jumping off. She saw a huge garden, huge grounds with people all around.
She looked down, it seemed that whatever people were afraid of they saw in her eyes.
She followed the prince in a room with a huge table where there was food. She saw things she’s never seen before, things she’d never ate. Her stomach growled, either from excitement or hunger or maybe a bit of both.
Shortly more people started walking in, she felt awkward more than anything.
“ Father, mother this is Aurora. She’ll be joining us for lunch.”
“ Oh Helien, you’ve yet brought another stray.” Her mother snapped, fixing her long dress before sitting down. “ You need to stop, it’s absurd.”
“ She is not a stray, please.”
“ Hmm. Take her to go and clean up at least.” His father said, “ we will wait.”
“ Heleyna, May you please help Aurora get dressed and cleaned up.”
Heleyna ran over and called Aurora before she walked in front of her. She followed her into a huge room with a massive bed.
“ Please quickly get cleaned up miss, you’ll take it all in later. You don’t want to keep them waiting during lunch.”
- Writer
