Zethron 82 ~ Book 1: Solar Eclipse

Guide to Reincarnation [1]

“For what reason have you come, Juda?” her voice echoed.

An angel blocked the only entry on the other side of the room. His brown-furred body was draped with thick, white cloth. His fingertips gripped the book tightly, the edges dug into his skin.

Juda took a tentative step forward, he paused mid-stride, a dance of indecision. 

Aurelia held her gaze on the contents outside the window. However, the unfamiliar empty expression visible on her face provided silent temptation.

“Please, pray,” Aurelia demanded.

“I beg your pardon for any inconvenience, however…” Juda trailed off, he paused then finally closed the distance between them. 

Once beside her, he too could gaze upon the view outside the window: a buzzing city just outside the palace gates.

“I could not but observe a shift in your spirit as of late.”

Aurelia averted her eyes from Juda, her feet shuffled uncomfortably under the dark casing of her floor-touching gown. Her stature stood as proud and firm as ever, but her dove wings expressed otherwise. They sulked so lazily, that they could be mistaken for the ivory silk gown that cloaked her tall and slim body.

“I assure you, there is nothing to trouble yourself over.” 

The lack of emotion in her voice worried him further. Something she couldn’t pick up, as to her, she must have sounded perfectly fine.

“Verily, it is so! Thy smile appeared forced, laughter devoid of mirth, and thou dost withdraw even from thy companions. Pardon my persistence, Mistress, but I cannot abide seeing thee, my sovereign, in any state of distress!”

Juda was happy to relieve himself of the long-held pent-up concern.

Juda is her servant, it is his job to worry and keep his Guardian in order. That he did, putting all the effort he could muster into Aurelia’s comfort and safety.

His guardian’s silence indicated hesitance, unwilling to express whatever was indeed bothering her. Juda’s hopes that she’d tell would prove to be heard and granted.

  With a gulp, Aurelia finally gave in, “He has not returned in quite some time.” Her eyes fell just as her pride did, “With beasts like him, destruction often lurks nearby.”

Juda’s concerned look shifted to a breath of understanding, then cocked an eyebrow of confusion the further he thought on her words.

This ‘monster’ she spoke of referred to Malphus, a greatly feared demonic Guardian who ‘found joy in attacking her’ and ‘whining about something’ Aurelia never cared to pay attention to.

With this, she’d never been scared of him herself before; why now?

“What if I fail this time? To protect my people, to shield Zethron, to defend you?”

“What if you don’t?”

Her eyes swiftly locked onto his, her hand slightly raised from her side to protest. Instead, she was interrupted, to deflect whatever she could have thought to counter with.

“I’ve never seen you so upset about this prior, Mistress.”

Aurelia closed her eyes, a hand rested on her chest as if to ease whatever began to build in this uncomfortable conversation. “I am simply… considering alternative outcomes and pondering their implications.”

“Mistress…” Juda paused to set the book on the quartz tea table just behind her. His mind still couldn’t wrap around the words that she spoke so clearly. Aurelia was never much of an overthinker, she’d rather flash a smirk and ridicule as much as his mere existence. Boasting about her finer abilities could be considered a hobby at this point.