The Pieces Adorned

Moonlight Guidance

Aurora and Aphaca entered the expansive dining hall. The table was already set up with everything and overflowing with copious amounts of food. It was only butlers and chefs walking around. Aphaca walked over to the table, a butler pulled out her chair as she sat down and looked over at Aurora as he pulled out a chair for her as well.

Hesitantly, Aurora sat down but unlike Aphaca who was already drinking out of a wine glass and snacking on some of the fruits, Aurora sat stiff with her hands in her lap. She never in all of her life had ever sat at anything this grand or with this much food displayed. She thought the Inn in the forest had a lot of food, this was that but times a hundred.

"Something to drink ma'am?" A fawn butler came up with a tray of many different types of drinks, most smelling strongly of alcohol.

"No thank you,"

Aphaca was chatting away with a few of the butlers while Aurora kept her head down.

"Where is the King? What exactly is he wanting to discuss? I mean I know he'll want to talk about me trying to find these...materials? Pieces? I don't even know what to call them anymore."

As these thoughts ran through Aurora's head, the King walked in and everyone bowed their heads at him. One of the butlers nudged her and she quickly followed in suit.

"Thank you, everyone, for preparing this wonderful feast for our esteemed guest, Aurora, and thank you Aphaca for guiding her here and joining us. Let us eat and drink before we begin our discussion. Please eat to your heart's content." Once the King ended his mini-speech, he sat down and the butlers and chefs went about their work. A few other people had joined but they were further down the table just eating and chatting amongst themselves.

Aurora sat there just looking around before taking a sip of water and grabbing just a few pieces of food. She knew that she should eat much more before setting off to find these pieces but her stomach felt like it was flipping around making the thought of eating nauseating.

As she nibbled on some fruits and vegetables, the King was watching her just taking notes. He knew she would grow up to look so similar to both Meredith and Her but it still felt like he was being thrown to another time just seeing her here. He let out a deep sigh before taking a drink of wine and began to eat.

~~~

Dinner was coming to a close and most of the other guests had already left. The few who were left were at the very far end of the table in their own conversation. Aphaca was softly chattering with a maid who was cleaning away plates and refilling glasses of wine and water. Aurora, who barely just finished her dinner, was still quiet just sipping on her water. The King sat back allowing everything to settle down and looked around the room. He cleared his throat and the last remaining guests left so it was just the three of them left while the maids and butlers cleaned up around them.

"Let us begin our discussion of what is needed to be done to gather these pieces." Aurora looked over at The King with a sigh and a nod.

"Can I ask something first?" She asked and with a nod, The King granted her request.

"What exactly was that thing that was following Aphaca and I. I know it goes by the name Void but why did it try to attack?" Aurora asked while fiddling with the end of her sleeve.

"As you said, the creature is called Void. He was in a way, the brother of Solis, Luna, and Stellae. He had grown jealous of our world and how much the sisters adored and paid attention to their creation. There has never been much written about him but from what has been gathered, when the sisters went to sleep Void declared that he would do everything to keep us from ever gathering the pieces so that the sisters would never abandon him again."