Dryads and Nymphs

Chapter 9-Azul's gone

They ran down the stairs laughing, and entered the kitchen and gasped. Every surface was covered with flour and bowls were scattered here and there. Amidst all the chaos stood Maryse's mother and Rose, covered from head to toe with flour as well. They looked like ghosts.

"What happened here?" Maryse asked astonished.

"Baking," her mother replied.

Maryse nodded as if it her response made everything clear all of a sudden.

"May, Ari," Rose appeared from behind the counter, grinning. Then she pointed to a bowl and said, "Make cake."

"Yes we can see that dear," Ariana said, ruffling her curls affectionately.

"How long will the cake take?" Maryse asked turning to her mother.

"Well maybe fifteen more minutes," her mother said, "You can go outside and wait."

Maryse and Ariana went out into the garden and sat near a tree, waiting for the cake to be ready. Ariana was preoccupied, wondering what Maryse meant and what had her father hidden about his past from her. Her father, when he wanted, could tell the most amazing stories about his adventures. Ariana knew that when her father had travelled a lot, going to places Ariana could scarcely comprehend. She knew that her grandfather had died when her father had been a year old, and his mother had died when he was about sixteen, a year younger than Ariana was now. Ariana imagined losing her mother and the pain it would cause her. Surely, she would die of the pain of loss. "How had her father survived?" she wondered.

Her mind flashed back to Salem, whose father had died when he was five. Salem was coming back home! Ariana felt excited but anxious at the same time. It had been so long since she had last seen him. They had been just children back then. She had almost forgotten how he used to look like. Ariana closed her eyes. She could see his face swimming behind her eyelids just out of reach, a little blurry, and when she tried to focus on him the face vanished completely. No matter how much she tried to catch it she could not: it felt like catching a pillar of smoke. She felt someone nudging her, and she opened her eyes to see Maryse peering anxiously at her.

"What is it?" Ariana asked.

"You have changed. You are more serious now. May I know what happened to you?"

Ariana considered the question before replying, "The uprising is on my nerves."

Maryse's pretty features relaxed into a confident smile.

"Don't worry. We will make it. Who knows, maybe we can live in the castle after the end. Imagine that," Maryse said, her eyes going out of focus at the end, as if she was daydreaming.

Ariana did not feel like daydreaming about living in a house after killing its tenants. She hadn't considered what would happen to the king's family, but of course, no one would take the chance of letting them live. They would probably lock them up or kill the first chance they got. Ariana's eyes widened. That would mean that Aron would be...

Ariana couldn't think any further. She leapt to her feet. She had to warn him. But should she betray her father and everyone? She did hate the idea of the uprising but could she stand being called a traitor for the rest of life. She had to save Aron but how could she. He might have forgotten about her already. And what would she say? That she was a commoner, a mere village girl who had come to save him? Unconsciously Ariana started to make her way to the outer gate, when she felt a hand on her arm, stopping her. She turned around to see Maryse looking genuinely worried.

"Ariana are you okay? You seem pale, and you are acting so strange."

Ariana opened her mouth to tell her what was bothering her but she stopped. Could she tell her? What would she say? Telling her the entire episode might take too long.