6. Aura

CHAPTER 6

Aura

" W hat?" Kyeria stood shocked, eyes wide and mouth hanging open after Aura announced she had a new mission. The library's fire was lit and burning dimly, providing a cozy light in the room where Kyeria and Esmeralda were when Aura entered.

"I know it's a lot, but I need to keep myself busy." Aura sighed.

"I understand that," Kyeria said gently, her eyes soft, "and I am glad it is happening. They've been trapped there too long, but how are you even going to get them out?"

"I don't exactly have the whole thing figured out, I'll run it by Nox." Aura shrugged. Esmeralda looked between the two.

"So—" Esmeralda dragged on the word and barely concealed her giggle. Aura shot her a glare in response.

"Come on—tell us!" Kyeria poked. Aura crossed her arms, a frown embedded into her expression.

"It's nothing—like I said, it's just letting off steam." She rolled her eyes and busied her hands. "I still hate him." Aura concluded, nodding as if convincing herself instead of the others.

Wasn't that what she was doing? She thought to herself.

"We just thought—" Emeralda spoke up.

"Listen, I know you—" Aura points towards Kyeria, "are madly in love or whatever, and you—" she points to Esmeralda, "are a baby."

"Am not!" Esmeralda chided, Mittens curled up in her lap. She swore the little cat glared at her.

"Forget it." Aura threw her arms down with a huff and turned on her heel. She heard Kyeria and Esmerlda calling after her, but she didn't want to be questioned about something that she herself was so tangled up about. It was supposed to be nothing.

But her recurring nightmares of Nox dying, and her screaming into the nothingness, were steering her towards the fact that there might be feelings there. Aura, however, did not have time for that. So she shoved down the thoughts, deep into a little box in the back of her mind. Locked it shut and forced her mind to focus on her new task.

Rescuing the magic wielders who were currently intrapped by the Mad King.

By the time Aura was walking into the barracks training grounds, she was armored in her favorite training clothes, a sword strapped to her back, and four daggers hidden in her clothes or strapped to her thigh. She was ready to fight off some of these tremulous feelings.

"Your Highness!" Someone greeted her from behind. She threw a quick glance, recognizing the guard, Lucas. He was friends with Nox, she recalled.

He would do.

"Pick a weapon, we're sparring." There was no question in her words, only a command. And while Lucas looked slightly bewildered at the announcement, he picked up a sword and followed her into an empty ring.

"First blood," she announced. Lucas' eyes went wide,

"Your highness—" His brows creased.

"I said—first blood, or we can change that to who passes out first, and it won't be me." She seethed. Her emotions were wafting off of her. Rolling through waves of rage, which tended to be where her emotions spiraled into. She knew it well, was comfortable here, with her rage.

"Sword up, soldier."

Lucas did as he was told, she watched the emotions drain from him, watched him transform into just that—a soldier.

She did the same, and let her body be a weapon.

He attacked first, and that was when she decided she rather respected Lucas. She blocked his attack, let him make a few more to wear him down before striking out herself. He was faster than she expected. He was leaner than Nox, but just as tall. He slightly resembled a green bean, now that she thought of it.

"You can do better than that!" Aura shouted, wiping the sweat from her forehead. A small crowd had formed, gathering around the edges of the rings that was encircled with a wooden fence.

"Come on Lucas!" Someone shouted in the crowd. Aura smiled, wickedly. She threw out a fake attack and he blocked exactly how she expected him to. As she always did, she used her small size to her advantage, and ducked under his swing, rolled behind him and held her sword out, just barely dusting his shoulder. Crimson red bloomed at the shallow cut.

"I win." She smirked. Lucas whirled around, and swiped at his shoulder, revealing small trickles of blood on his fingers. He cursed and kicked at the dirt.

"Who's next?" She called out to the small crowd. Another man laughed and pushed out a smaller soldier. One she did not recognize. When the soldier lifted their head, the short black docked hair belonged to a woman. Young, maybe the same age as Esmeralda. Aura assumed she must be a first year recruit. She smiled.

"I'll go easy on you!" Aura shouted out to the woman. "What's your name, soldier?"

"Lia," she replied, walking forward, no sword in hand, no weapons to be seen at all. But she strode into the ring after ducking under the fence.

"Alright Lia, you pick the weapon." Aura nodded to her.

"Daggers," Lia replied quickly. Aura smirked and held out her sword to Lucas who stood just behind the fence to her right. Lucas took it and leaned against the fence, ready to watch.

"Do you need to get any?" Aura asked.

"I have them," Lia replied. Her face was stone. No obvious emotions lay there. Aura simply nodded, it would be nice to spare with someone new, she was getting tired of beating all the boys.

"Ready?" Aura called out.

Lia nodded and an onlooking soldier shouted, "Begin!"

Lia was shockingly fast, almost as fast as Aura herself. It was exhilarating. They danced around each other, Lia pulling daggers from hidden compartments on her person. It had been some time since Aura had fought in closer combat. Usually leaning on her sword instead of her daggers. Lia's daggers were silver, engraved at the hilt, with what looked like runes. Aura's daggers all held a golden stone at the hilt, specific to the heir's royal weapons. The blade was made of the strongest metal, forged from these very lands. Each of her daggers had different hilts, some golden, some bronze, some silver. She adored each and every one of them. They had all been specially crafted for her, as was her sword and armor. A perk of being the unimportant heir, she thought.

"Lia!" a familiar voice boomed. Lia froze and Aura had to pivot so her attack did not slice through Lia's stomach. Aura cursed and regained her footing.

"You're ruining my fun, Captain." Aura glared at Nox. She focused all her energy on that glare because he was standing right in front of a beam of sunlight. His dark hair was not tied back but loose, his blue eyes bright. Nox was not wearing armor, no, he was wearing a simple linen shirt and trousers. And Aura swore to all the gods and goddesses, he had never been more painfully attractive.

"Lia, you are on the west gate as of two minutes ago." Nox ignored Aura, giving out orders. Lia scrambled out of the fenced ring, muttering a sorry and scurrying off towards the west gate. Other soldiers chided and grumbled at Nox for ruining the fun. But silence fell over them, with Nox's scowl.

"Everyone, back to work," he commanded. All the soldiers dispersed rather quickly. Like field mice.

"That was rude." Aura glared. Nox stalked towards her, feet pounding into the dirt ground, he was angry. Her heart beat faster as he grew nearer. He leaned over the fence to her.

"We need to talk."

Just like that the excitement drained from her. He seemed mad, not the fake playing their game type, but the real kind. Nox was actually rather terrifying when mad. She nodded and sheathed her daggers, Issac walked up to them, handing Aura back her sword before walking off to busy himself far from the angry Captain of the Guard who still held her gaze.

"Come on." Nox jutted out his chin to her, and began walking towards a weapons room across the way. She followed on his heels, her curiosity winning out beyond her usual stubbornness.

"We have a problem." Nox sighed as they entered the building. It was wooden and cool, tables lined an open space, weapons hung on the walls in a chaotic but organized fashion. Daggers went with daggers and swords with swords. Bows and arrows were scattered along a table, other various odd weapons strewn along the walls. She knew they trained with every available weapon, so that anyone could pick up any weapon and be ready.

"Just let me finish first, before you jump in," Nox said, making Aura's curiosity soar and heart pound. Something was wrong, that much she could see.

"First—Kellian knows," Nox said, his eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that silenced her.

Aura's casual lean against the table snapped into a rigid posture. "What—" she began, but Nox raised a hand, effectively cutting her off. Her mouth snapped shut, and she watched him expectantly.

"He knows because I had to report to him that someone was in your rooms," Nox continued, his voice steady and unyielding.

"No one was in my room," Aura said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"There was, Issac reported your doors unlocked and open. He saw someone in a hooded cloak escape out the window, followed them but lost them past the gates."

Aura stood wide eyed, feeling an unease wash over her.

"Kellian demanded to know where you were, and where I was that night."

"And you couldn't have lied?" Aura spat, her fury bubbling up like molten lava, scorching her insides and flushing her cheeks. Her rage was a roar in her ears, the kind that made her want to hurl a scream at Nox. The last thing she had wanted was for anyone, least of all her brother, to know about them.

"No," Nox replied with a dispassionate calm. The simplicity of his answer only stoked the flames of her anger. Aura shook her head. She knew it was that straightforward—Nox was bound by duty as Kellian's Captain to report and protect the family.

They stood in the thick silence that followed, the minutes stretching out painfully. Aura's mind was a cacophony of thoughts, each tangled and indistinguishable from the next, creating a deafening noise in her head.

"Listen—" Nox said, "what if you stay with me for a few nights?" Aura opened her mouth to argue.

"Hear me out." He stepped towards her. "Issac and Lucas will be on guard in and out of your rooms, so if someone tries again, they will catch them." His hand reached out to take her shoulder. "It could be nothing but?—"

Aura saw it then, the crack in the clear blue eyes. He was worried, really and truly worried. Seeing that emotion plainly on him, then his touch, it soothed any fire in her, all the rage simmered and died. She nodded, shocking both herself and Nox.

"Alright," she said so quietly it was nearly inaudible. Nox nodded as well, squeezed her shoulder and leaned back on the edge of the counter behind him. Letting his body go slack, he rubbed a hand over his face slowly, then pushed the hair out of his face.

"I also wanted to talk to you about something," Aura spoke up sitting at a table. Nox walked over in one stride and sat across from her.

"I am going on a mission," she announced.

"Gods above," Nox muttered, dropping his hands on top of his forehead.

"And I want you to come with me."

The silence was deafening. Aura felt herself grow nervous at the lack of response. She hadn't exactly prepared to approach this topic in this way, but what was done was done. So the announcement that she was going on a mission and wanted him with her floated in the air between them.

"Where?" Nox asked after what felt like forever. Aura let out a sigh and began to explain. When she was finished, Nox was again resting his forehead on his hands.

"And Kellian approved all of this?" Nox asked.

"Yes."

"He expected you to escort me," she says, snarling at the last word. She didn't need anyone to escort her, but she could admit that having Nox with her would be extremely helpful.

"I'm sure you loved that." Nox smirked. Aura let herself feel relieved for a moment, at Nox being himself again, easy smiles and flirtatious comments.

"It makes sense," she shrugged, "and two other people."

"Two other people?"

"Yup." Aura propped her own cheek on her hand. "Any ideas?"

Nox groaned again. "It's getting late, let's do this tomorrow." Aura looked around, realizing that only candles lit the space, that no light drifted in from the sun as it had long since dropped far below the mountains. They walked outside, the moons were high in the sky, lighting their way. Aura was always so fascinated with the moons. There were two main moons in the realm. One was seen all year long, and a smaller one was seen to its side only in the summer nights. The second moon was smaller, but just as bright. While Kellian studied the sky and the stars, Aura had spent her time reading about the moons. The centuries old tales about two lovers, one bound to the sky only one season out of the year, the other forced to every night. And only in the summer could they be together. It was a tragic tale actually, about how the lovers had been cursed even in death. To not enter the shadowfold, where souls go to death. That they were cursed to never find rest, and burdened to light the sky every night for an eternity.

Aura trailed behind Nox to his home, which perched above his workshop. They climbed the stairs at a leisurely pace, and Aura found herself wishing for something more comfortable as they reached his bedroom. Nox disappeared into the washroom, leaving Aura to remove her boots and place them neatly by the door, beside his own.

When he reentered the bedchamber, she was yawning, so big her eyes were glued shut. When she opened them however, she was met with a bare chest. Defined muscles carved into his stomach, and down into a deep V shape that disappeared behind a towel he had wrapped around himself. His hair was damp, and his eyes clear. He reached into a dresser finding a dark brown linen shirt and pulled one out, tossing it to her. Aura caught it easily, and nodded thanks. Shaking off the lust consuming her, she walked past him into the washroom, closing the door behind her.

Stripping off her own clothes and letting them sit in a pile, she threw cold water over her face and changed into the shirt. Nox's shirt smelled like warmth and pine trees, old wood and an open fire. She let herself indulge in it, for only a moment. The shirt fell down mid thigh on her small frame, slightly consuming her. She pulled the ties on her hair and began undoing the meticulous braids. Her hair was left wavy, falling to her hips. She always loved her hair, never cutting it, unless forced by a hovering lady's maid who insisted on ‘just a trim'. Her mother's hair had been long, or so she had seen in paintings. Aura loved to share a feature with her mother, she wished so deeply to have known her more, and for longer. But keeping her hair long, and in braids, was her own way of keeping her late mother close to her.

When Aura stepped out of the washroom, she found Nox propped up in bed, his head resting on the pillow as he flipped through the pages of a book by the soft glow of a candle. The scene was striking: his bare chest gleamed in the dim light, his formidable frame sprawled across the bed, and the delicate leather-bound book seemed almost swallowed by his large hands.

"Is this all an elaborate scheme to get me to stay the nights with you?" Aura's eyebrow arched with the question, her tone light. Nox peered up from his book lazily. He smirked at the image in front of him, her in his shirt and nothing else.

"Perhaps," Nox said simply and went back to his book. Aura bristled at the lack of attention. Part of her knew he was doing it on purpose, but she didn't like to be ignored; hated it.

She strode over to him, and climbed onto the soft mattress, past the extra blankets she knew he kept for her when they mysteriously began appearing after they would sneak in late night trysts. She crawled to him, and his brows arched, peering over to her without moving his head.

"Is that interesting?" She purred, and threw a leg over his hips, straddling him.

"Painfully boring, actually." Nox snapped the book closed, blindly setting it on his nightstand, keeping his eyes on her instead.

"Aura," He began, his heated expression melted away, replaced with a serious one. His hand went to her waist, out of habit. He lazily pulled his hands up her curves, then back down, stopping at the lowest point of her hips. They rested there as she waited.

"You really want to go on this mission." His voice was unusually soft, the way it had been when she felt she couldn't breath and after the shadow beast ordeal. She felt cut wide open by it. By the gentle manner in which his hands held her, it made her heart fray, coming apart at the seams.

"I-I" she stuttered. "Don't pretend like you care," she said instead, her tone coming out harsher than she meant it. Nox looked slightly taken aback at first, but recovered quickly,

"Of course I care," he said sternly, squeezing his hands around her, "gods don't ever think I do not." He shook his head, brows creased. The room felt so dark under only two candlelights. It made his dark hair the color of onyx, his blue eyes like a night sky instead of the open sea.

Aura took a steadying breath, "I just mean, we don't do that."

"Do what?" Nox muttered, looking hurt.

"This, soft touches, caring about the other on why they are doing something." She pushed herself off of him, needed a physical space between them. His touch muddied her brain, made her too soft.

" Princess ," he said sternly, turning to face her now that she sat next to him instead of on top of him. "I do care, as much as you want to ignore that fact, I do." He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I get that you can't do more than this, I do. I am not asking for more. But I do care, if you are okay. This last week has been more than people in this land experience in a lifetime, and you want to jump into another mission. One that goes outside of The Hollow, which you have never done." Aura opened up her mouth to speak but Nox held a hand up. "Hear me out, please?" he asked gently. It was the tone that made her pause. His eyes were clear, he wanted to speak his mind. And Aura knew it would only cause more confusion for her emotions, but she didn't have it in her to stop it. "You are also a magic wielder, something that is illegal in the realm, the dangers on the road, they are untold, and while I know you are able to take on anything you put your mind to, I need you to understand that I care if you are okay. Because jumping into this—if something happens"—he paused again, looking her in the eyes, with such a severe sincerity it took the breath from Aura's lungs"I couldn't live with myself. So I will ask once, are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, reaching out a hand to take hers. She was jolted by the touch, because it made her melt. Made her hardened self, her lock on her emotions falter. But she sat upright, and nodded.

"I am sure."

Nox nodded seriously. "Then we go together."