The Curse of Adelaide

FIVE

"Although, she knew that her aunts were hiding something from her, she didn't bring up the subject again. One thing you need to know about Adelaide is that she had a pure heart. She always put others first."

"And that is why she didn't ask her aunts about their conversation. She knew that they wanted to keep whatever it was that she overheard a secret, she respected them and waited for them to tell it rather than to ask them about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How come that you never left the forest?" Philip asked me.

We were at the clearing again, sitting on the grass while talking about random topics.

"What do you mean?" I asked him while biting into an apple.

"Don't you want to know what's out there?"

I swallowed down the apple and thought about his question. "I asked my aunts if I could visit a village."

"And what did they say?"

"Well, they said, that they would think about it and in about two weeks they would give me the answer," I told him. "For how long will you stay in the Kingdom of Gilion?"

"Three more days," he said while running a hand through his hair. I could tell that he was upset.

"Will you come back?" I asked while staring at him.

He looked at me for a moment and then answered. "I will be gone for a week, there are some things I have to take care of. But I will come back, I promise."

I nodded and looked ahead. "I will be here," I told him with a slight smile.

"So," I said, changing the subject. "Do you have siblings?"

"No, I don't. My mother died shortly after giving birth to me."

"Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't know." Now I felt bad for asking him such a question.

"No, it's fine," he assured me.

"My mother died while giving birth to me." I didn't know why I told him this. For some unknown reason I trusted him enough to tell him about my past.

"I am sorry to hear that," he said, a sincere look in eyes.

"It's fine. My aunts say that I look just like her," I added after a while.

"Is that why your father never visits you?"

I looked at him, surprised by his question. "No, he's just very busy with all the traveling."

We stayed quiet for a while, watching as Ray flew above our heads. It was a warm day, the sun hadn't reached its highest stake yet. Soon I would have to return back home. I wished that I could stay here longer, but if I wasn't back in time my aunts would worry about me.

I let out a sigh and looked up to the sky. Only a few clouds could be seen, it was a beautiful day. A thought suddenly crossed my mind. I jumped up and looked around to see which tree was the highest.

"What are you doing?" Philip asked me as I started to climb up a tree.

"I want to see the towers that you talked about."

"But you can't just climb up a tree! You could fall down and hurt yourself!"

"I know what I am doing, don't worry," I told him as I climbed higher and higher.

The higher I climbed, the more excited I became. I had climbed hundreds of trees when I was younger, but never did I reach to their top. It had been a while since I last did something like that, but it felt so natural to me. My body knew exactly what to do, where to put my feet, which branch not to use.