The Rejected Queen

Chapter 9 - Aaden

Cold. That was the only thought on my mind. I was unbearably cold. The mountain leopard skin had seemed suffocatingly hot when I put it on at the bottom of the mountain pass, but now I felt as though I wasn't wearing anything. The inquisitor insisted that wearing the leopard skin was what would keep us alive and at the bottom of the mountain I could understand how but now I wasn't so sure. "If this is the temperature for the rest of the way, I'm afraid my fingers are going to drop off." I wasn't sure whether my brother was joking or not. The inquisitor spoke up,"We will soon be approaching the most difficult part of the walk." My brother and I grimaced at each other,"Bloody brilliant" whispered my brother."We haven't even reached the worst part of this blasted death walk yet" The inquisitor glared at him and continued,"You will soon begin to see hallucinations. They vary from person to person but they will try and draw you off the path. Do not go off the path. If you do, you will die. If you're someone else go off the path, you do not try to rescue them under any circumstance. You will also die." And with that cheerful talk, he began to walk on. We all followed, looking around suspiciously for the hallucination.

It was about ten minutes before the first of us saw a hallucination. One of the academics, a tall skinny man who I had never spoken to before the quest. He started to reach out for something in front of him, an invisible something. He almost stepped off the path until my brother whacked him round the head, tearing him out of his dreams. He looked back at us, embarrassed to be seen so weak. We all looked away, pretending we hadn't even noticed.

After another 10 minutes, I began to hear something. A voice on the wind. It was too quiet for me to make out what was being said. Shaking my head, I ignored it and continued walking. "Aaden" it whispered. "Aaden please" I ignored the sound again. Jonah shot a nervous look at me and I smiled, reassuring him that I had it under control. "Aaden please!" The voice was back and it sounded more agitated than before. I turned my head away and concentrated on the sounds of snow crunching under my feet. "I thought you loved me!" It cried out. I stopped dead, my heart frozen in my chest as I recognised her voice suddenly. The man behind me pushed my shoulder and I mumbled an apology before continuing to walk on. Suddenly, she was in front of me, wearing nothing but the dress she wore the day before the wedding. The last day I saw her. "Please!" She screamed at me, tears running down her face."Please! We can leave together. You don't love her, you love me! We can be together forever" I reach my hand out to her but it isn't enough. A cliff has appeared behind her but I'm so wrapped up in the past I don't notice that it wasn't there before. She takes a step back and snow crumbles off the edge and into an abyss far below. "Please Aaden." She whispers, quiet yet I could hear her perfectly. "Please, I can't live without you." She took another step back and half her foot was hanging off the cliff. I took in a sharp breath. "Wait, please I can-" She didn't let me finish. "I can't wait." She said sadly. She took another step back and with a sad smile on her face fell off the cliff. "No!" I screamed. I went to take a step forward but was dragged back and onto the floor by Jonah. "It was her wasn't it?" he asked,"She's gone, Aaden, You have to remember that. She's gone and there is nothing you can do about it." I shake my head and try to stand. "It was five years ago. It's over, Aaden." I nod silently and begin to walk forward, looking everywhere but the place the cliff was.