Without Words, Without Sight

11: A Flicker of Light

Master Aren, are we going back now? Iris had deemed it safer to ask him secretly.

"Not yet, child", he replied. "There is still something I need you to see."
See?
Was he going to do that again? Iris shuddered.
"Don't worry", he said. "Now follow me, and be quick."

They hurried down hallway after hallway, some flooded with warm light, others much colder. Iris had given up. She had no idea how far they had gone, or how many stairs they had put between them and the only safe place she knew in this whole castle. But Aren appeared to be a person of authority to everyone they came across, and although at a high age, he still moved about with ease, carrying that heavystick. She had come to understand that it was not meant as an aid to suspend him while walking. It had other uses.

An unexpected sensation pulled her from her thoughts. She stopped immediately and turned to a gate. It was so heavy, so massive that, although not living, it had a powerful presence of its own. But it was not what had brought her to a halt.

"Nyx", Iris whispered.

"Oh, very well done! What a promising pupil you are!" Aren could not disguise his excitement.
"Want to enter?", he encouraged.
"May I?"

"Who, if not you?"

After Aren had hit the door rather forcefully a few times, which again seemed like a secret code, the gates swung open, the airflow almost pulled them inside.

"Get in, get in", ushered Aren, for the gates were already closing again.

"Two guards by the doors, large guys", Iris heard Aren say, but her attention was already elsewhere. There were two people, moving swiftly through the room, agile and so fast, she could not keep up. The traces of their presences overlapped, sometimes indiscernible. Metal clinked and claws scratched on the stone ground and walls of the extensive room. They were fighting.

"This is one of the rooms where combat is trained. There are high walls and poles to jump around on everywhere, so make no further step or you will fall off the platform." Aren was again speaking inside her mind.
Understood, she assured.

There were no sounds but the fierce clashes of sharp metal and hard punches. She was sure that any of these blows would have sufficed to kill her at once. But Nyx, he was clearly having fun.

She could feel it with every fibre, more distinct than ever: His presence filled the whole room. He brimmed with confidence and oozed a fierceness and love for combat that was completely different from the sides she knew of him. He was enjoying this fight to the fullest, his laughter resounded in her ears. How long had they been fighting like this, clashing wildly and without mercy for each other? It had been three hours since he had left.

"What do you see, child?", asked the old Master.

Iris concentrated a little more. Nyx, she called out to him in her heart. And really, there was something.

Iris' eyes widened.

"Tell me", said Aren.

I see...a flicker of light, moving they way he is moving, she thought.

"Perfect", they said. "You see, child, what I have shown you before was a vision of my own. I am the seer and the soothsayer of this court, responsible for all the good and the bad news. I knew about your arrival for quite some time, but our young King here would not consult me. I cannot say I resent him for it, I was the one to announce his father's death, after all", Aren mumbled.

Iris made a bitter face. She had sensed before how much his loss pained Nyx. If she was the only one he could confide in, then she had to become stronger soon, too.

What will you teach me, Master Aren?

"Well", he began. "You were born under an arbitrary star, child. It deprives one of a lot and what it gives in return is not easy to find. Many never notice and spend their lives pitying themselves. But to those who know how to search, it grants so much more than it has taken."

Aren glanced at the young woman next to him. She was indeed beautiful, but appeared slender and fragile. Traits that would not be welcomed by all of the people. Queens as their Kings were supposed to be strong in order to protect. She would have to show her worth more than most before her.

"You will never again be able to see like you did as a small child, or in the vision I showed you before", Aren explained further."Your eyesight has been sacrificed in return for something else."

Nyx' voice.

"Indeed, his voice", repeated Aren.

So you can hear it, too?

"Sorry if that disappoints you", laughed Aren. Iris sighed. It did, a little at least. But it was also quite the relief.

"But I see and hear much more than that", he continued. "And you will, too."

Iris flinched.

"Do you have an idea, child, why you were able to hear his voice from the beginning?"

Iris started to wonder how much of her mind this man had actually already read.

She shook her head slightly.

"It's because you were deeply in love with him from the very first moment. You have opened your heart to him completely, not fearing him for one second."

Iris nodded, trying to trace his movements. They were still fighting at the same pace, their weapons' howls filling the whole room.

"When we are done with your training, you will be able to read even the thoughts of your enemies. You will be of great help to him", he added. This incentive definitely worked on her. Even her usually dead eyes sparkled.

Then came a gust of wind and a loud thud on the gate behind them. Nyx jumped back into the room in a high arch, clashed with his opponent in mid-air in close proximity, making Iris' ears ring. She could even feel a wave of the force released when the two men had crashed into each other. She gasped, the sudden palpitation of her heart had startled her. How unbelievably strong he was! Her heart fluttered like a bird.

"Would you look at this", laughed the old Master. "He's showing off to you."