12: Caius
1046 Words
Before the young woman left me again, she said a single word; I guessed that it was her name.
The way she threw her name out so casually when we had just given in to desire so completely only made me more determined to learn who she was. She reminded me of myself.
I was still thinking about how intense our encounter had been as I finally tried to stand up, but I crashed back to reality in an instant the moment I sensed my daughter was close to me.
The woman - Saga - had mentioned that her brother had gone to find Talia and Aurelia, but he had been gone for less than a day, and I had been expecting to spend the next few weeks in blissful isolation with a beautiful young woman catering to my every whim.
But now... now I was about to see my daughter again, and I had no idea how much time had passed, or what state I was in; I grabbed the fabric that was draped over the bed and wrapped it around my waist before the door opened.
It was really her - her hair was styled differently and her clothes were bizarre to my eyes, but it was her.
"Baby?"
She looked terrified, and I brought my hands to my face, afraid that maybe there was something wrong after all. She remained frozen on the spot, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted.
"It's really you..." she whispered.
I nodded, and a moment later, her arms were around me, crushing me in a hug. I didn't know what to say; there were no words for a situation like this, and the way she was clinging to me as if I might disappear again made me think that words were unnecessary, anyway.
"Baby girl..." I rubbed her back softly when I realized that she was crying.
I didn't know anything about her - she probably had children of her own by now, and she had clearly been alive for longer than I could comprehend - but I still thought of her as my little girl. Nothing could change that.
She stepped away, and wiped her eyes clumsily with the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I've missed you...you've been gone for a long time, daddy."
"I know," I sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I don't know how long I've been gone, or why I'm back now, or what is going on. I'm just... I'm lucky I still have you."
Aurelia looked down at her feet, but I still wasn't strong enough to read her thoughts, and I wasn't sure what was making her act that way.
"We're both lucky - if they hadn't found you when they did, this might have been more complicated."
"Her," I corrected Aurelia without thinking. "The woman is the one who found me, I've never seen her brother."
There was a flash of understanding in her eyes - apparently, something about that made sense to her, and the fact I had never seen the woman's brother put her at ease; he was probably a White Wolf, too.
"What do you remember? Robin told me his sister found you in the forest."
I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.
"I woke up in the forest as a wolf. My memory was so hazy I could barely remember anything about who I was, but she was there, and she helped me without hesitation. It has been a little difficult to communicate, but she understands me well enough that she was able to send her brother to find you."
"She...the White Wolf? She understands you?"
Why did Aurelia sound so surprised by that?
"We've been able to make our intentions known - I'll admit it hasn't been the most engaging conversation I have ever had, but that isn't her fault. I have barely been conscious. It won't take her long to improve if...Aurelia?"
She was shaking her head, and I wanted to hug her again, but she raised her hands to stop me when I stood up.
"Daddy, she isn't the one who needs to learn. You have been gone for two thousand years; people don't speak our language anymore."
My chest tightened, and I swallowed nervously.
Two thousand years... two thousand years. But she barely looked a day older than she had on the day I died.
"It seems I have a lot to learn," I murmured.
Her words had been a shock, but they had been humbling more than anything, and I was prepared for whatever she was about to tell me.
"I don't think you're ready to learn everything there is to know," she sighed. "I don't even know where to start."
She may not have known, but I did.
"Talia... your mother... is she still alive?"
Aurelia looked so uncomfortable that I wished I hadn't asked.
"She's alive."
"Is she alone?" I asked, hoping the broad question would be revealing.
"She hasn't been in a meaningful relationship for a long time."
"I take it you don't have any siblings, then."
Aurelia's cheeks turned crimson almost immediately and there was no need for me to continue that needlessly personal line of questioning. There were no siblings, and no children of her own, either.
"It took a long time for Talia to recover from your death. She never found a man she considered her equal after you."
My heart ached.
Talia had spent two thousand years without me, she had never found anybody she considered comparable to me, and I had just f****d the first pretty young woman I laid my eyes on when I woke up.
"Do you think she will want to see me again?" I asked, nervous that she would laugh or tell me I didn't deserve to see her mother again.
"I don't know where she is, daddy. She was in the city with me for a few days, but... something happened, and she left. I don't know how to find her."
"We can look for her together," I said, taking her hand and squeezing it softly.
She smiled sadly, and pulled her hand back from me.
"You know what she's like. She'll find us herself when she's ready."
- Writer
