They had left Oceria in a rush, not even saying goodbye to the others as they packed, hopped on their horses, and rode into the night. The tension in the group only rose as the city lights faded from Oceria, and Aurelia knew better than to ask if they could stop to rest.
They did not stumble on any attackers in the forest, which Aurelia mostly attributed to the anger that radiated from Elowyn’s body, as if anything that touched her would turn to ash.
Aurelia understood – the Council was the key to protecting Calathis. She didn’t think anyone expected the plea to be turned down, never mind so harshly and without any leeway. It seemed they had to find another plan – one that Aurelia was pretty sure they didn’t have.
They finally made it to Calathis around midnight the next day, the familiar drawbridge lowering at the sight of Elowyn and the horses.
As everyone was fast asleep, the town square was as quiet as Aurelia had ever seen it. She wondered what her grandmother was going to say to the people of Calathis – that the other kingdoms had refused to help them? That they had no way of preventing the attacks that had plagued the safety Calathis once offered? There was no good way of framing it – they were at the whim of the evil Damaris king.
Once they arrived at the castle stables, Elowyn stormed off the moment she hopped off her horse, not even waiting for Aurelia. She presumed it was to consult her most trusted advisors, no longer having any time to spare to protect the kingdom she loved so dearly. It was almost as if they all could feel the time they had left ticking down before chaos ensued.
Dinevra then helped Aurelia down and took her horse inside, ushering Aurelia towards the castle to get some sleep. Like their journey to Oceria, they had ridden nonstop, anxious to return to the safety of the Calathian walls. She could feel her feet dragging as she made her way up to the castle and through its corridors to make it to her room, Brina and Calandra not far behind.
They collapsed into bed, relieved to be somewhere familiar and their own, sleeping for hours on end.
Aurelia eventually awoke to the sun shining in through the windows. She sat up and stretched her arms, feeling as if she had awoken from the dead.
Brina and Calandra still were deep asleep despite the late afternoon hour, certainly close to dinner time. She smiled at the sunlight – Oceria was beautiful, indeed, but they had nothing on the Calathis sun.
She stood out of bed, stretching, before getting dressed in her fighting leathers and making her way to the training corridor. Though the sleep had done wonders for her, the anxiety that had awoken since they had made the trip back had only grown since returning.
It felt as if everything was just piling on top of each other – the danger Calathis was in, the refusal of the Council, the never-ending dread of Aurelia's that she would never be able to piece herself together again. It was exhausting, and thus Aurelia dealt with it the only way she knew how – by training until she could no longer feel her arms, fighting away the darkness that threatened to overtake her.
It seemed the entire castle was asleep – she hardly ran into anyone on the way down, and those she did seemed to be doing light work like picking flowers from the garden and preparing dinner. The training corridors were empty when she arrived, allowing her to have the peace and quiet she so desperately desired.
Aurelia began sparring with the dummy, her blood thrumming beneath her fingertips as she wielded her sword against her imaginary enemy. On and on she attacked, left, right, left again, until the dummy was nothing but shreds of cloth on the floor.
She dropped her sword and began using her fists, ducking the next dummy’s invisible attacks, using her foot to slam it to the floor. She stood above it out of breath, her hair now loose from her braid.
“Your fighting skills have improved exponentially,” A voice said gently behind her.
Aurelia, her chest heaving from exertion, turned to see Rehema, her hair curled to perfection and dressed once more in Calathis attire with a long, flowy skirt and embroidered bodice. “Shall we see how your solar magic skills have fared?”
Aurelia shrugged. Rehema moved towards the center of the room, her eyes shining as she took the spot directly in front of Aurelia. “Go on. Do your best."
Aurelia closed her eyes, tugging on the golden strand she had grown fond of finding within her mind. She pulled it to the surface summoning its power to flow out of her fingertips as deep red flames. Opening her eyes, Aurelia played with the fire to form a large ball before pitching it towards Rehema, who easily deflected it with a wall of fire of her own, raising her eyebrows as if goading her.
Aurelia accepted the challenge, summoning earth instead of fire. She focused on growing vines – thick, impenetrable vines, and then set her focus on Rehema’s feet, similar to what she had done in the woods. Vines began to grow up Rehema’s legs, sticking them to the spot.
Rehema responded by setting them on fire, burning them off of her, but Aurelia teleported behind her and sent a blast of fire that knocked her off of her feet.
As she fell, Aurelia quickly rushed forward and held out her hand to pull Rehema to her feet. Rehema nodded her approval. “You've been practicing.” She shrugged. “You’re not half-bad.”
Aurelia rolled her eyes. “What are you doing down here, anyway?"
Rehema’s lips perked up into a smile. “I've come to fetch you."
“For?"
“The advisory meeting your grandmother called. They've been up all night and day formulating. Your grandmother thought it was about time for you to join them.” Rehema answered slowly, a smirk forming on her lips.
Aurelia’s surprise was clear on her face. She had always wanted to be involved in the decisions, but she had practically given up on her grandmother including her after the recent events. “Really?” Aurelia asked in disbelief, dropping her dagger.
“Really,” Rehema said with a grin. “It's about time we use your knowledge for our gain. You're ready.”
Aurelia grinned, a warmth spreading through her body as she followed Rehema up to a room she had never been in before, desperately trying to fix her disheveled appearance before their arrival.
They stopped at what could only be her grandmother’s study. It by far had the most beautiful view of the castle, with the windows overlooking both the valley and the village below, a large bookcase taking up the other side of the room, on the top a glass box with Elowyn’s most majestic Calathis crown protected within. There was a large wooden table where Elowyn, Nesrin, Sigrid, Anwyn, and Clodovea already sat, clearly deep in a discussion, the table covered with pieces of parchment and books open to specific pages. They paused their conversation as Rehema and Aurelia stepped into the room.
“Everyone, I would like you to meet my newest advisor,” Elowyn said with a smile as she stood and walked to place an arm around Aurelia’s shoulders. “Who better than the smartest woman I know who also is a fresh pair of eyes?”
Nesrin, at the far end of the table, grinned. “It's about time."
Aurelia smiled back at the librarian she had grown close to as she motioned for Aurelia to join her in the empty seat next to her. “Where were we?”
Elowyn returned to her place at the head of the table. “Absolutely nowhere, that’s what.” She turned to Aurelia. “Please tell me you have some form of an idea of what the hell to do now.”
Aurelia glanced at the pages of parchment and open books across the table before looking back up at her grandmother. “What have you shut down already?”
Elowyn looked around the table. “We can’t afford to increase security around the perimeters. We’re already stretched tight as it is with patrols throughout the kingdom checking each village.”
She paused for a moment, thinking. “Our protective enchantments are the best they’ve ever been, but because of the strength of the magic, it can’t be easily extended to the entire kingdom, only to the city. The entire kingdom would require, once again, stretching too thin. It’s too risky.”
“Why not bring everyone into the city?” Aurelia offered. The entire table flinched.
“We’ve never allowed men into the capital of Calathis,” Elowyn answered quickly. “It’s what makes this a safe place for women to learn and grow. None of that patriarchy bullshit.”
Aurelia frowned. “You said it yourself. A safe place. I’m not sure you have another option. Here, you can unite your entire kingdom, give them a temporary place to live, give them work by training them into warriors or building supplies for the impending war – because let’s face it, one way or another there will be war – and then you will have your people, and they will be ready.”
“But what of the villages they will abandon?” Rehema questioned. “Dorian will burn them down with no hesitation. What will people do when they have no home to return to? Calathis’ history will be forever ruined. It will no longer be a safe haven for women, it will just be another kingdom, but one with solar magic.”
“At least you’ll have people to rebuild the villages. Doing nothing you won’t have any people in the first place.” Aurelia responded grimly. “I know I’m still new and cannot even begin to grasp the magnitude of this proposition. But it still needs to be considered nonetheless.”
Nesrin shrugged. “She could have a point.”
Elowyn shook her head. “My mother did not risk her entire life – her long life – to throw it away because the damn Council can’t recognize a threat from its ass,” Elowyn said angrily, slamming her hands down on the table. “Why must it be us that has to risk it all and put lives down?”
Aurelia was the only one that did not flinch at her outburst. She was used to them, for her
grandmother had always carried the world on her shoulders with a passion for justice unlike anyone she had known. It was one of the things she loved the most about her grandmother.
“We can figure out something,” Aurelia offered reassuringly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “How many enchantresses do you have in the city as of now?”
Elowyn shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know, capable of performing magic without Rehema over their shoulder? About a hundred.”
“What if we sent them throughout the kingdom to guard the villages?” Aurelia proposed.
“Instead of the warriors?” Clodovea asked.
“You said yourself there aren’t enough warriors, not even close,” Aurelia responded. “What if the enchantresses helped?”
Rehema vehemently shook her head. “Absolutely not. They are nowhere near prepared for battle with those terrible creatures Damaris keeps sending. You would be sending them to their death.”
Aurelia pondered her response for a moment. “What of sending one warrior and one enchantress to each village to guard? Then they would be protected on both fronts. Perhaps these enchantresses can work on their protective enchantments while the warrior is prepared for battle in case they stumble upon danger.”
Clodovea and Rehema shook their heads at the same time. “No,” they responded.
Aurelia rolled her eyes. “Then where the hell are all of your ideas? You can’t shoot down every single one and expect to find a solution. Eventually, you’re going to have to sacrifice something.”
Elowyn gave her a look. “As long as it’s not my damn people.”
Quiet fell upon the table as they all glanced to no avail at the papers in front of them. They ranged from things of lunar magic and a map of Damaris to details regarding each village in Calathis. It was true, there were a lot of people that made up the villages in the kingdom, but they were easy targets for one of Damaris’ creatures, most especially if they weren’t protected nor knew how to defeat them.
Elowyn sighed deeply. “We need rest, and we need food. We’ll reconvene in the morning. Let your brains rest, and we’ll tackle it in the morning. We will find something. I know we can.” The women stood and dispersed, but Elowyn grabbed Aurelia’s arm before she could leave the room.
“Thank you,” She whispered quietly and pulled her into a tight embrace. Aurelia hugged her back, resting her head on her grandmother’s shoulder just like they used to.
“You’re right,” She said in Aurelia’s ear. “I should’ve listened to you all along. Your ideas are spectacular. It’s just too hard for me to make the sacrifices.” Elowyn pulled away, placing a gentle kiss on Aurelia’s forehead. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
I didn’t know what to do without you either, and I survived. Barely, she thought to herself, and the thought made her pull her grandmother into a hug once more. It was times like these that reminded her of who her Nonna was – and how much she loved her, even though the circumstances were so drastically different.
“Come. Let’s go to bed. It’s dark and we haven’t had enough sleep in days.” Gently, Elowyn led her back to familiar corridors, bringing her to the corridor before her bedroom. “Goodnight, darling. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Aurelia smiled, watching as her grandmother went into her own corridors and shut the door. She slowly walked to her room, pausing in the bridge before the bedroom to take in the moon and stars, shining bright in the cloudless sky.
“There you are,”
Aurelia turned to face Ilaria, who had crept up on her for what felt like the millionth time.
“Oh, what did you want?” Aurelia said shortly as she walked towards her door. She didn’t have the patience to deal with Ilaria in the middle of the night, especially after everything with the Council and the advisory meeting.
“Just you,” Ilaria responded sweetly before moving as fast as light and placing a thick piece of cloth over Aurelia’s mouth that smelled sweet – too sweet.
It was the last thing Aurelia remembered before she passed out.
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