Dryads and Nymphs

Chapter 1-A New Hope

She had nightmares again. It started out like usual; she was riding Silver, but she went nowhere, she could feel she was moving, the trees went by in a blur but nothing happened. She was afraid to look back and see something chasing her.

She finally broke through an opening through an opening and suddenly she was in the tent with her father. He placed a hand on her cheek and she felt her eyes well up.

“Father, don’t go,” she said.

“You look just like your mother,” he said, his voice just a rasp.

She put her hand around his on her cheek. It was ice cold and she woke up with a start.

It took her a minute to get her bearings, disoriented as she was, and then she felt a hand on her cheek, just like in the dream. She tried focusing on the person and saw amber colored eyes staring back at her filled with concern, their jet-black eyebrows furrowed together in worry.

“Ariana,” Aron said, removing his hand and sitting up straight.

She tried to gather her thoughts. How many days had it been? She could not remember. She had stayed in bed and slept trying to avoid the overwhelming thoughts but her dreams were filled with scenes from the rebellion.

Her mother was in shock and Maryse’s mother was taking care of Rose, keeping her away from the sadness that had settled over the house like a cloud.

Salem was not faring much better than Ariana or her mother. He kept blaming himself and although Ariana had tried to tell him that it was not his fault and he could not hold himself responsible for what had happened, and that no one blamed him, he didn’t listen. Maryse was heart-broken over Salem’s misery and she was trying her best to cheer him up, but without much outcome.

She was lost in thought but Aron’s voice brought her back to the present. “Sorry, what did you say?” she said.

“I said I want to talk to you. Shall we go for a walk?” he said, gently.

She nodded absently. “I’ll meet you outside, in a moment.”

Aron got up, closing the door behind him and she turned away to let a single tear escape before getting up.

*  *  *

The walk in the gardens seemed surreal. The sun was out as usual, and the garden was green with splashes of red and white. Aron and she walked amongst the flowers, slowly and aimlessly. It would have been a good day, if it had not been for the sadness inside her. It weighed her down like a rock, and she felt as if she couldn’t breathe because of it. It felt like drowning while a boulder weighed you down.

“What did you want to talk about?” Ariana asked him quietly.

“Why don’t we sit down first?” Aron proposed.

She frowned. Why was he acting so nervous? She had never seen him that nervous, but she sat down on a bench where she had told Rose the story about the phoenix so long ago. That memory felt like a lifetime ago.

Aron sat beside her and reached for her hand. “Ariana how are you?”

She turned her head to stare into his eyes. They glowed with warmth, concern and worry. She wanted to say she was fine, but looking in his eyes something held her back from lying. He knew she wasn’t fine and she didn’t know how long she would be this way.

“I don’t know,” she said at last. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

Aron pressed his lips into a thin line as if her answer pained him, but he knew it was the truth. “I’m sorry, Ariana. I’m so sorry.”