Aria pov
The homesickness crept up on me like a tabby cat behind a mouse today.
Peter and I have a day where we will be meeting all the staff and doing a ride through the village, not in a car but on my new, pure bread mare with a shining coat and not a hair out of place.
Ben and I have done everything together for our whole lives and have never really been apart for more than a few days and there seems to be no constant in my life anymore.
Our horses are led out and just like that I'm plunged into this new life once again beside the cheery boy beside me.
"Hey Aria, what did the doctor say to the pony when he went in for a sore throat?" I look to Peter with a start, to find the blonde shining a smile down at me as he pats his shining stallion,
"I don't know Peter, what did he say." I humour him as we wait for the entourage to get ready.
"Don't worry, you're just a little horse." His eyebrows raise, waiting.
Normally I wouldn't laugh at that, but something in the glint of Peters eye and the tilt of his lips sets me off.
Soon we're both cackling on our horses, not necessarily at the joke but mainly at the randomness of it. I catch his eye and the smile he gives me is so genuine and...boyish that a twin one is plaster onto my own face.
After we calm down enough, the horses trot on and all traces of humour are drained away from both our faces.
The crowds cheer, wave and sing the anthem as we walk through Main Street and I spot the café me, Lilliana, Ben, Rory, Roman and Elliott went to on the day of our choosing. That day seems like decades ago now- like my first day of school.
Elliott looks up at me then, from where he walks beside a noisily walking Crea, as if he could read my mind. Our eyes lock for a split second, but my attention nabs on something else— the way the crowds think out as we enter the south side of the city.
We pass by the slums and as we meander past not one person waves a flag. No one cheers or sings the anthem.
A whistle, consisting of five notes peirces out through the noise of the parade. Out of the corner of my eye I see a flicker of flame and then a man- muscled but not without a look of hunger in his hollow eyes- ignites with flames. A Blaze, like my mother.
I tug back on my reigns and the mare comes to a halt, stopping the parade in its place.
The man's whistle is echoed across the slums and reverberates in my bones.
Those tired eyes stare directly into mine as they glow red above dark circles as his flames flare, followed by four men and women who ignite as well. They drop to one knee, bowing.
"For Teragon. And their—."
The man is drenched in water, extinguishing his flames completely as an Aquamari guard flanked by three others pins the man's struggling arms behind is back as he gets him into handcuffs.
"Your first and final warning Blaze." An older guard growls into his ear.
The older man's now blazing eyes stay on mine. Strong and brave, this man appears to be both. But what is his message?
"Help us Au—"
His head hits the floor before he can finish that last word, those eyes now peering into the ground as they dim back to a strange light green, purple mix.
A girl about my ages scream splits through the silence in the slums, as the crowd parts and reveals a blonde-headed lithe girl, with eyes of sharp violet as tears stream down her face. Somehow I recognise her. Her eyes flash a strong pulse of purple light, before they flick to me, inclining her head slightly, before another round of sobs wracks her body.
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The Shadow of Royalty
الخيال (فانتازيا)"I don't know if I should kiss you or stab you." - Aurelia Cartozen Aria was chosen. There was no denying it and certainly no escaping it. She was chosen for the sacred role as a Regalas, forced into the deadly ranks of the elite royals, and she has...
