The Angel's Awakening

First Awakening

Chapter 1

                It was the evening after my 17th birthday. I was relaxing in our garden after a long day of looking at potential marriage candidates. While they seemed like nice people, none of them seemed fit to be husband and thus the future king.  As I lay back in the grass, I started to drift off until suddenly I felt a familiar presence.  As I opened my eyes I saw my dear childhood friend, Alexander leaning over me with a smile on his face.

                “Sleeping in a garden isn’t fit for a princess, my lady.”  He chuckled.

                “Alex, really we’ve been friends for 12 years now.  How many times do I have to tell you?  Just call me Seraphina, not my ‘my lady’.  It makes me feel like my mother.” I said as I pulled myself into a sitting position.  Alex laughed as he plopped down beside me.  We fell silent for a moment as we stared at a game of croquet between my brother Jay and his friends.  We continued to sit in comfortable silence until Alex cleared his throat.

                “Um, so...Seraphina, I heard that you were looking at marriage candidates today?” he asked as he looked at me with a weird look in his eye.

                “Oh, yeah.  They seemed like really nice guys, especially that one fellow from Igilea.  Not only has he managed to successfully turn his country into a strong economic power, he even managed to spill his wine all over my new dress.  How lovely, right?  Oh, but the best was the prince from Nathori! Oh yes! I really want to marry the guy that can single handedly cause me to want to barf into the nearest plant.  I mean really, I love a guy who speaks as lewdly as he does.” Alex and I laughed together as I told him the horrible stories from earlier that day.

                “Well, actually there was one guy…” I said out loud to myself.  Alex jumps a little and gives me a startled look. “Oh, haha, really?” he stuttered.

                “Yeah, he was a really great guy.  He showered me with flowers and chocolates from the far reaches of Asglo.  He even offered to buy me a puppy! What else could a girl want?” Alex looked as if he was being stabbed by some invisible force.  “However, he was only eight years old.” I giggled to myself as I looked at him.  He still looked extremely sad and distraught.  His reaction only made me laugh harder.  “Really, Alex. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten that day!” I smiled as the realization of what I was saying dawned on him.  We laughed together and then fell silent as we both thought back on the day when Alex had innocently proposed to me when he was only eight years old.  As I turned to speak to Alex, we heard someone yell “Seraphina!” right as I felt a sharp pain shoot through my head.  I could hear distant voices as darkness began to cloud over my eyes.

                As I swam in the darkness, I could hear a voice calling out my name.  As I opened my eyes I saw a familiar scene of Alex leaning over me.  Only this time instead of his blue eyes twinkling with laughter, they were filled with fear and worry.  “Seraphina!” he calls my name again as he softly brushes my hair away from my face.  “Alex?” I blinked as I tried to fully regain my consciousness.  His face slightly relaxes as he sees me slowly begin to sit up.  When I sway from dizziness, he helps to hold me still.  I hold onto his arm that was grasping mine as I tried to steady myself. 

                “Seraphina are you ok? I’m so sorry! We were playing too roughly. We didn’t think it would go flying like that!”  I gasped as I realized that Alex wasn’t the only one with me.  I was completely surrounded by my brother and his friends.  My brother looked as if he was going to cry or throw up. Or both.  “Please, I’m so sorry but, just please-don’t tell mom and dad!” 

                I laughed at my brother as his face changed into one of pure terror from the thought of what our mother and father would do if they found out.  Everyone sighed in relief once they realized that I was okay.  Alex still held my arm as I stood up and began to dust myself off.  I grinned at everyone as they all laughed in relief.  I waved goodbye to Jay and his friends as they took their leave from the garden.

                “Thank you, Alex.” I turned to him and gave him a slight smile as the embarrassment started to sink in.

                “I’m just glad you’re okay, Seraphina.” He smiled gently down at me.  It was at that moment that I realized he was still holding onto my arm.  I could feel my cheeks turning pink as I began to see just how close we were.  Yet for some reason, I didn’t want to move.  As we stare into each other’s eyes, I start feeling emotions swelling in me that I had never felt before.  As Alex tenderly gripped my arm, I became aware of our situation and pulled away from him.

                “I’m sorry but it seems I’m still sort of dizzy. I think I’ll retire to my room now.” I say as I avoid his gaze.

                “Of course, but at least allow me to guide you back to your room.” He says as he holds out his arm for me to grasp.  I hesitate for a moment, and then place my hand on his outstretched arm.  As we walk back towards my quarters, we stretch into an easy silence.  We reached my room faster than I expected, and I found myself not wanting to let go of his arm and leave his presence.  I looked up at him and saw that he still had that worried look in his eyes.

                “I’m alright, Alex.  I promise.” I hold out my pinky to him, just as we always did when we were children.  He locked his pinky with mine and truly smiled for the first time since my accident.

                “I’ll check back with you in the morning.  Make sure you get plenty of rest, my lady.  Oh, sorry…Seraphina.”

                I grinned at him and nodded my head.  “Of course, kind sir.” I jokingly teased.  I let my hand slip from his arm and slowly backed into my room.  “Goodnight, Alexander.”

                “Goodnight, Seraphina.”