CHAPTER TWENTY | THE SERPENT AND THE SNAKE
THE WORLD WAS A DARK AND SCARY PLACE, ESPECIALLY FOR A YOUNG GIRL WHP HAD BEEN HIDDEN AWAY FROM IT FOR SO LONG. At least now, she had chosen to be there. She had chosen to stay in the tower while, hundreds of feet below her window, thousands of towns people trained under Leon's instruction.
Those who could not fight constructed armour. Any materials they could find were melted down to their bare bones and crafted into swords and weapons. Wood was harvested to make bows and arrows, fallen feathers used for the ends. They would be the best hand-made army the Kingdom had ever seen.
And yet, a pit was forming in Aerona's stomach. A dragon sat on her chest, heaving and spurting fire everywhere, her breath captured in the smoke. She was suffocating. A seer with nothing to see and nowhere to go. A girl trapped in a life she never chose.
Except, she did choose, didn't she? She chose to rescue James; she chose to follow him knowing it would lead to meeting her sister.
And she chose to stay and help them fight the war.
No matter what her heart said, this is what she truly wanted. It was just difficult to see it that way, sometimes.
"They look good out there, huh?"
Aerona ripped her gaze away from the window, whipping around the face James. "You scared me," she muttered, holding a hand to her chest as she let out a deep breath. "Why aren't you out there training with the others?"
"I guess I just don't want to be their puppet anymore," he admitted. "They want us to be warriors and we're not. We're just normal people."
"Normal people who hope to win a war," Aerona corrected. "And, around here, that counts for a lot more than you think."
Letting out a sigh, James lay down on the floor, his head resting on a velvet cushion. A small smile on her face, Aerona joined him, looking up at the painted stars on the ceiling. Even though they were made of solid white paint, they seemed to glimmer and gleam in the room.
"I've always loved star-gazing," James muttered. "Though, I didn't know it was possible to do so from inside."
"Perhaps some of the witches wished to study the stars," Aerona replied. "I've heard of Astronomy used in prophecies by those who could not see the future. It's probably more common than you think. They would look to the stars for answers when spells gave them none."
"Aerona?" James asked. She turned her head on the pillow, looking him directly in the eye.
"Yes?"
"Did you see this in your future?" She bit her bottom lip, staring back up at the ceiling before answering.
"That's a very complicated answer, James. I will admit, I didn't predict a battle or an army or even weapons. But when I saw you – when I truly saw you – I somehow knew something was coming. That getting you out of the castle wouldn't be the end of my worries and it wouldn't prevent Caron's death but, rather, escalate it. And yet, when I looked into your eyes, your soul piercing mine, I saw safety. So, I have to believe this will lead us somewhere good."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then I guess we can all just runaway. After all, you and Caron did it once, right?"
"It's not that easy," he said, propping himself up on his elbows and turning to face her. "You have to constantly be on the lookout, waiting for the inevitable to come back to you. Anything remarkable or special about you, you have to hide. You pray that someone may not notice that food has disappeared from their table. It's not a life. It's torture."
"But we could do it," Aerona said, sitting up and looking at James. "We could all do it together – you, me, Caron, Leon, Piper and Alaw. We could manage it."
But she really looked at him. Deep into his broken brown eyes, the crumbling façade that he had tried so hard to fake. She could see every bit of him that was falling apart yet trying so hard to put himself back together. And his usual solid rock – his Caron – was slipping from his fingers.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, looking down at her hands, "forget I said anything."
"No, it's okay." He grabbed her hands, enveloping them in his own. He drew circles around her thumb, all the unsaid things floating around their heads.
And it was different then with Caron. He had to make her feel brave, had to hold back his own thoughts so that she wouldn't lash out at him. With Aerona, everything was easy and smooth. Words were easy to come by; thoughts shared so easily between them. They didn't have to hold back or be scared to ask questions. Everything was simple and easy and joyous. It all somehow made sense.
And, in some other life, maybe this could have been forever.
Aerona left out a small cough, moving her hands away from James. His still hung in the air, not yet used to being deprived of his touch. "Perhaps you would like to work on your telekinesis," she said, standing up and grabbing a small ball from the other side of the room. "I assume you haven't been practicing on your own."
"No," James admitted. "In fact, I'd been hoping you could teach me a few tricks."
"I'm surprised," Aerona muttered, standing up and grabbing a pillow off the floor, "that you have not asked Caron. Especially considering she is the one with more...experience in the matter. I've never felt the power flow through me or moved an object just by thinking about it."
"Well, as you know, Caron hasn't been herself lately. I'm just not sure if I could trust her with such a task."
"You shouldn't lose faith so easily." Without warning, Aerona threw the pillow at James, hitting him square in the chest. "What's the point in telekinesis if you can't even defend yourself," she muttered, mostly to herself.
"I wasn't ready."
"In battle, you will never be ready," Aerona said, grabbing a second pillow. "Just be thankful I chose something soft to throw at you. At this point, all I need from you is for you to stop it. At least then, I will know that a spear won't be coming your way anytime soon. Now, try again."
Pulling her arm back as far as she could, she heaved the pillow in his direction. For a moment, it hovered in thin air, James' face contorting as the pressure took him over. With a soft thud, the pillow fell to the floor.
"Better," Aerona said. "Not only did you stop the motion, but you also made sure it fell in a safe place. That's good."
"Will you be joining us on the battlefield next time?" Aerona bit on the inside of her cheek, grabbing another pillow before answering the question.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I understand why people would want to keep me safe but...I can look after myself, you know? And I'm good with a bow so I don't have to be up in all the action. But a part of me wants to hide away where it's safe. I can't help thinking we'd all be better off if I was hidden in a tower."
"No one should be hidden in a tower." She met his eyes before glancing away quickly, wiping a fallen tear from her pale cheek.
"But a princess doesn't belong in a battle, let alone a war. And even though I know what my father is done and how evil and cruel he is, I can't help but think I should be on his side."
James nodded. "I understand. Really, I do. I can't imagine that it must be easy to defy the one person who has brought you protection and safety all your life."
"No," Aerona said, hurling the pillow she was holding in James' direction. "But joining him isn't an option either. Not only because he's a bad person and an even worse ruler but because...because..."
"Because your family is here," James muttered, staring at her and not at the pillow floating inches from his face. "Because as much as you loved him, you love Caron more. And even your mother is worth getting to know."
"Yeah." The word was so simple yet it seemed to be an unspoken bond – an unspoken promise held between the two much like the pillow held gracefully in the air.
And though James had only Piper left – though he could not imagine what she must be feeling – he seemed to understand it all. Because he was facing divided loyalties too, wasn't he? His heart was full of guilt too and all his insides wanted him to be anywhere but here.
All the signs told him he was meant to stay with Caron. That she was his childhood friend who would see him to greatness and happiness. Everything said she was the one and that he would one day rule by her side.
But there was the prophecy, too. A death held in the minds of all, a future that may never be rewritten,
And there was Aerona.
Aerona.
Her name was a melody upon his lips and pain and suffering vanished under her command. She was everything even if he had only known her a few days. Even though she was Caron's sister.
Even though she didn't seem to feel the same way.
She was the promise of sunlight on a rainy day, a rainbow hidden behind grey storm clouds. She was a gold coin in a stack of silvers, baby's breath hidden amongst Bells of Ireland. She was a fighter skilled in archery, a warrior of the future and a teller of dreams.
She was a young girl in a white dress in a dirty dungeon who would help a young boy escape. She was ice and fire all at once and she held him captive in her heart. She was the moon and the stars.
She was everything pure and bright, a promise of a better day. A promiseof safety. And though he loved Caron, he couldn't help loving Aerona too.