Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
★★★
CHAPTER FOURTY-SIX:
GRIEF AND TIDES
★ ★ ★
The castle was too quiet. A day had passed since Magnolia's death, but the silence felt like it had stretched for years.
The walls, usually alive with footsteps and laughter, now seemed hollow, swallowing every sound before it could take shape. Even the wind outside had stilled, as if the entire world knew of her mother's passing. Everyone had been in their rooms after the long, terrible hours of yesterday, doors shut, voices hushed.
Aurora hadn't eaten yet, nor had she really slept. Her body begged for both, but she denied it without even meaning to. Her throat was raw from crying, her eyes swollen and hot, her head pounding from the weight of what had happened.
She lay on her side, eyes wide open in the dark, staring at the faint outlines of the canopy above her bed. Beside her, Luke had fallen asleep, exhaustion finally claiming him at last after hours of refusing to leave her side. He slept close, one arm resting near her own.
Aurora tried to close her eyes again, but each time her lids grew heavy, the images returned. The snap of bones, the torrent of wind, her mother's body breaking apart under the curse, and Sirius' desperate hands catching what was left. She pressed her face into the pillow, clutching the fabric tight in her hands.
Aurora let out a trembling breath, her lips barely moving. "Please come back..." she whispered quietly, hoping somewhere inside her magic would be enough to bring her mother back. "Please just appear."
Aurora's whisper faded into the darkness, and when she opened her eyes there was no one there. She waited, half in desperation, half in denial, for something to stir.
After another long stretch of staring at the canopy, she pushed herself upright, her movements slow, heavy with exhaustion.
The shift made Luke stir. He blinked awake almost immediately, his instincts sharper than rest. His eyes, bleary but alert, found her hand in the dark. "Aurora? Are you okay?"
She froze for a moment, guilt twisting in her chest. He'd fought so hard to stay awake for her the past couple of hours, to keep watch as though his presence alone could shield her from the grief suffocating her.
"I'm fine really," she whispered, though her voice cracked on the word. "Go back to sleep, Luke. Please. You need it. I'm just going to get a drink."
