„You never cease to impress me, child", Aren praised as he examined the progress of his diligent pupil. Iris had been practising relentlessly, sometimes almost exceeding the limits of her own body. But Aren would not allow her to go further. The consequences, he feared, would be too dire. For both of them. She was making more than good progress anyway.
Aren, Daray and Iris sat together at a small table in Aren's study. It was a high room, situated in one of the more slender towers, spanning three stories in height, sheltered by a pointy roof with a single window in it. A large telescope stood in the middle of the round room, the brass it was coated with shimmering in warm colours as hundreds of candles cast their light onto its surface. The rest of the furniture seemed to orbit around the telescope that pointed towards the skylight. Everything was in motion: Swarms of notched wheels buzzed and ticked, hands and needles spinned, glass clinked. Around the small group, countless instruments and clocks hummed and waltzed in endless circles. Gold, paper and stone shimmered in warm colours, adorned with vibrant colours everywhere. Iris could not see any of it, but she quite enjoyed the steady movement and shifting rhythms surrounding her as Aren taught her his art. In a way the metallic tunes resembled the voices in the woods she so loved and missed. The earth, her flora and fauna were far from this room, so far below that its song could not reach her ear, as much as she pricked it.
„You're soaking this up like a sponge", the Master laughed. „But you must not forget that this will take its toll on your health, if you overdo it. No more practice with the bird once you leave this room, do you understand?"
Iris grinned apologetically. The large crow that throned on her shoulder croaked and shook its body to refresh itself. His soft feathers rustled and tickled her ear.
„Daray!" Iris laughed. The morning had turned into the afternoon all too quickly again, her body felt heavy, but her mind was still wide awake.
„I know I am straining myself", she admitted. „But how can I not be fascinated by everything I see? How can I not want to regain my freedom as soon as possible? I cannot help myself, Master Aren."
„You'll see your beloved fiancé chop off my poor head if you don't take it easy today, my dear", Aren scolded. Making his words sound like nothing but a joke was more of a struggle than he would have liked.
"I'll be good", Iris consented.
"Very well", Aren said and rose to his tiny feet again. His small, light body and fox paws allowed him to move without provoking much sound. „You make sure for me, Daray", he demanded and yawned dramatically. "Time to get some rest", he concluded, making a few steps towards one of the ticking clocks to see its hands better.
Iris remained seated, wringing her hands somewhat nervously.
„Master?"
„Darling?"
"There is something I've been meaning to ask for quite a while now. I am sure you must have noticed."
"Hm, indeed", Aren nodded and tapped the face of the hall clock twice. "The minute hand seems to be stuck...", he mumbled in an uninvolved manner.
"Master, I wish to learn about the affairs of this country. About our allies and enemies. About its history. About him."
Aren turned to her again.
"And you will in due time. But not from me. I am only here to teach you the things I myself am concerned with. Our king would not like me disclosing my views to you. He clearly stated he would limit my influence on you to the utmost necessary. The consequence of me exceeding my competence is something neither you nor I would want to experience."
Iris' squeezed her own hands so tightly, her pointed nails dug into her flesh painfully. She let her head sink. She kept forgetting, but the gentle Nyx she knew did not exist outside of their chambers. He was cold and menacing, always at the ready to compete in a fight, and even to shed blood. Killing, after all, was an integral part of the reign. So much that it was not even considered a sin in the case of the king.
Iris shuddered. From now on she would have to be careful with the way she treated the people around her. Even in this very moment, she was putting Aren in danger.
"You are right. Please excuse my naivety. I should leave you now."
Aren sighed gently and put his tiny claw on her hands for a moment.
"Do not take it to heart, child. It has always been like this."
He took his staff from a nearby shelf and walked through the room. A rope was pulled and a small window opened with a shrill creak.
"You can go tell his majesty that we will be on our way now", Aren addressed Daray, who immediately spread his wings and was gone in an instant. Iris now rose as well and took her black hooded cloak from a hook beside the door. It had not taken her much time to roughly memorize Aren's room and the way they had taken quite a few times by now. The soft velvet would keep her warm on their way through the still chilly halls of the early evening. The chambermaids she had been introduced to over the past couple of days had insisted she disguised her identity as best as possible at all times. Nyx had also made her promise to always think of her safety before finally letting her go to the Master's rooms. She had subdued the impulse to question whether this level of precaution was really necessary, since she was always accompanied or watched over by the numerous guards anyway, but feeling that abiding by these rules might ease Nyx' constant worry at least a little, she had chosen to simply obey.
"Come now, child", Aren urged to make her finally turn the door knob her empty stare had rested on for a minute. "If we stay another minute, he'll come for you."
The dark, undefined feelings that she had managed to put to sleep over the course of the years seemed to be awakened by something inside these walls, and Iris was beginning to understand what it was that impeded their slumber. Pushing the thought aside proved more difficult by the day, but there were two things inside this castle that managed to drive them away:The sensation of Nyx' presence that grew stronger with every step made, and the things she saw on the way.
With every day, her darkness was filled with more light.
Everything that was alive, every plant and every small creature, emitted a light of their own. Tiny stars and shards of jewels adorned the walls, the floor, the ceiling, shimmering in such an abundance of colours, Iris had no name for all of them. They glowed in the darkness and merged into surfaces, forms and even moving beings. The muscular men that stood guard in the hallways cast the brightest lights, Iris could almost guess the faces they were making.
"Child", she heard Aren's voice inside her mind. "Remember what you promised me. Give yourself some rest and just follow in my step."
YOU ARE READING
Without Words, Without Sight
Fantasy"And in the distance between these eyes that did not see, and this voice that did not resound, he put the flowers and fruit he had picked to describe the scent she had to him. As he put them all into her arms, she understood with a graceful smile. P...
