The Elemental Trials

Aurora

Aurora Roushel was a nine year old girl living in the city of London. The tall, elegant brunette had grown up living a privileged life, the kind that many young girls her age could only dream about. Her family lived in isolation, in a rural area of the city where Aurora's father had bought some land and decided to build a mansion with all the money he had. Her mother and father both came from extremely wealthy families, and thus their riches grew tenfold when they became a married couple. The truth was neither of them were in love with the other, but as long as they had money in their pockets, both were willing to throw away their chance of ever finding true love. Aurora's father had always been an extremely strict and commanding man, and his wife, despite constantly pushing her daughter past her limits, was never truly pleased with anything Aurora managed to do. The young girl was absolutely nothing like her parents. Despite only ever being taught how to live like a princess, she always wanted to see what more there was other than her home. However, her parents refused to let her go anywhere outside their boundaries. She had been homeschooled all her life by a tutor her parents had hired, she was never allowed to come in contact with anyone else in the city, she was forced to follow a strict timetable every day, usually including things like school, horse riding lessons, time at the library, meals, and swordplay classes. There were many people who worked at the mansion, chefs, servants, butlers, but they hardly ever, if not never, conversed with Aurora, since they were all far too busy with their jobs trying to earn a decent amount of money. Aurora's life was filled with misery, and despite her many attempts to try and reason with her parents about the tight hold they had on her, she never managed to prevail, with her father constantly claiming he couldn't risk letting her be distracted by things that would stop her from becoming the woman he wanted her to be. Although you might think living a glamorous life like Aurora's would be amazing, it was actually the exact opposite for her. Quite frankly, Aurora hated her life, and hated her parents for forcing her into it almost as much. Eventually though, when Aurora was roughly nine years old, and had all but accepted the life she despised, something finally changed. The man who had previously tended to the horses in the stables had grown old, and it had started to effect his ability to do his job, so Aurora's father finally decided to let him go. A few days later, his replacements showed up. Aurora remembered seeing them for the first time whilst peering out the window of the room she was supposed to be studying in. A man and a boy, presumably his son, stood on the front steps, being greeted by Aurora's father. Despite having an unimaginable amount of wealth, Aurora's father never liked to spend money he didn't have to, and could even be considered relatively stingy at times, which is why he hired such a poor man and his son to tend to the stables. They were good at their job, and since the man had agreed that both he and his son would be working for one man's salary, Aurora's father couldn't disagree. Since they had nowhere else to go, he allowed them to sleep in the stables, figuring that it would mean they'd spend more time working than wasting time travelling all the way to the mansion. The man's son had immediately caught Aurora's eye. She didn't even have to guess that he was homeless, his entire demeanour screamed poverty stricken, as did his father's. He had long, black hair, similar to his father's although his was cut much shorter, and both people's clothes were hardly in a good enough state to be called so. Aurora should've been repulsed by him, and most likely would've been if it wasn't for one thing. He was the same age as her. After living her entire life with the most contact with the outside world she'd had being occasionally introducing herself to guests during one of her parents' social gatherings, finally seeing someone even relatively close to her age had seemed pretty much impossible to her. She couldn't take her eyes off him as she stared out the window, and suddenly horse riding lessons couldn't possibly come too soon. However, Aurora's father was very aware of the fact that she would be drawn to the young stable boy, so made sure to tell his father that if the boy came into the slightest of contact with Aurora then he would fire them both and send them off without a single hesitation. Every day for the next week, whenever horse riding would come along, Aurora would attempt to talk to or even just gain the attention of the young boy during the five minute break she got from her timetable to put her horse away in the stable before moving on to swordplay. Every time without fail, the boy acted as though Aurora didn't exist, simply tying up her horse for her and removing its riding gear while she grew more and more irritated with him. More days went by, and Aurora hadn't made the slightest bit of progress with the young stable boy. Some days his father would be nearby, watching Aurora's attempts without uttering a word to either of them. Eventually, Aurora decided to use extreme measures to talk to the boy. It was late at night, when all the workers in the mansion had either gone home back to their families or gone to sleep in one of the many many bedrooms there were. Aurora was lying in bed under her covers, with her head resting on her pillow and her eyes shut, although she had absolutely no intention of sleeping that night. Her father came into her bedroom at eleven o'clock, like he always did, and in assuming she was fast asleep, left without a second thought. Aurora stayed in the position she was in even after her father had left, waiting until she was completely certain there was no chance of anyone witnessing what she was about to do. Although having no clue about what her father said to the boy's father regarding interaction with her, she definitely didn't want to be caught. She was a smart girl, and she knew the risk she would be taking with the plan she had. Around three o'clock, when it was still pitch black outside and no one in the mansion had made a noise for hours, Aurora decided to make her move. She silently slipped out of bed and made her way to her bedroom window. She was on the second floor, but she had been planning this for a while, so she knew exactly how to climb down. She opened the window and climbed out, gripping the window ledge as she lowered her feet down, until they rested on the pipe running along the wall right below her. She continued making her way down quietly, before jumping off the wall and landing elegantly on the grass below. She took another glance around the mansion just to be safe, before beginning to creep over towards the stables. Once there, she quietly opened the door and stepped inside, before shutting it behind her. There was a single candle hanging at the opposite end of the stable, which was the only source of light. Aurora carefully made her way towards it, trying not to awaken any of the horses as she passed. When she made it to the candle, there were two horseless stables either side of her. She peeked over the one on the right and spotted the boy's father asleep on the floor, not even a sheet covering him. Yet again being careful not to wake anything, she moved over to the left stable and pushed open to gate, walking inside. She immediately saw what she had come for, and froze when she did so. The young boy was curled up on the ground, his mouth open slightly as he quietly slept. Aurora was almost hesitant to move any closer, but she had come this far, and was definitely not planning on backing down. She slowly moved beside him, then lowered herself until she was on her knees. She placed a hand gently over his mouth, then shook his shoulder violently. The boy awoken with a jolt and immediately tried to question what was happening, but Aurora's hand made it impossible for her to tell what he was saying. She placed a finger to her lips and looked into his eyes, a serious expression on her face. The boy slowly calmed down, pushing himself up into a sitting position without taking his eyes off of Aurora. As soon as she pulled her hand away, he spoke in a panicked whisper "You can't be here! You need to get away!" The way he spoke surprised Aurora greatly, so much so that she was almost too stunned to talk. She had never heard anyone speak in such a way. Everyone she had ever encountered spoke in the same posh Londoner accent she did, but this boy's voice sounded almost...Scottish? She couldn't exactly tell, only vaguely remembering the one Scottish visitor that had ever been at their house, but despite her shock she quickly responded. "No one knows I'm here, I made sure of it." She said in a hushed voice. "Why are you here?!" The boy asked with wide eyes, frantically looking around the stable as though the police force would burst in, trying to take him and his father away at any minute. "You won't talk to me during my lessons, so I had to find some other way to get you to." Aurora said, pouting slightly. "What the hell is wrong with you?! If anyone caught us right now your Dad would fire mine and we'd go back to living on the streets!" This was news to Aurora. She stared at the boy for a few seconds, unsure what she could say as a response. She didn't doubt for a second that her father meant what he said, and now it suddenly became clear why the boy wouldn't have anything to do with her during her lessons. "I was careful, don't worry." She said eventually "No one saw me. I just wanted to talk to you." The boy looked up at Aurora, studying her face with a puzzled expression, as though trying to figure her out. He let out a small sigh, relaxing a little and shaking his head slightly "Why? What's so special about talking to me?" Aurora chewed on the inside of her lip as she glanced away from the boy "I've never even seen anyone my age, never mind spoken to them. I just...wanted to. Even just a little." The boy looked slightly surprised in hearing this, and immediately felt sympathetic towards Aurora. When he first arrived at the mansion he thought she had everything, and was even jealous of her because of it. But now he was starting to think that maybe there was more to the story. "If it were up to me it might be different. But it isn't, so we can't ever do this again. You need to go back to your room and pretend it never happened, before your father finds out." The boy said, his voice sounding almost apologetic. "I can't. Please, you don't understand. It's horrible, I hate it so much, I just want to-" "Alright! Alright..." Aurora stopped talking at the boy's words, realising that her eyes were quickly beginning to water and her hands were shaking slightly. She hated herself for getting so worked up, but the thought of going on like nothing happened while the boy was still within her reach pained her more than she could've imagined. "Maybe-...maybe we can do something. But no one can know. Not my father, not any of your workers, and especially not your parents." The boy said, rubbing his forehead. Aurora's mouth fell open very slightly in surprise, but she managed to give a small nod "No one will know. I'll be extra careful, I promise. We'll probably have to meet at night so...just do what you usually do and I'll come to you." Aurora's thoughts were already racing, although she was aware the boy could change his mind at any moment. After staying silent for a few seconds, he gave a nod of agreement "Okay. Lets do it. But right now you need to go." Aurora's face lit up, and a smile appeared on her face "Yes. Thank you, this means so much more than you know." She said, standing up and giving the boy a grateful bow. "I don't even know why I'm doing this. But you better not ruin either of our chances." He said, looking at her seriously. "You can trust me, don't worry." Aurora said sincerely, before turning to face the stable gate. Just before she left, she glanced back at the boy. "I almost forgot...what's your name?" "Henrik." The boy replied, giving her the tiniest hint of a smile "I already know yours, Aurora. Your father told us when we first arrived. I like it." Aurora's smile grew wider at the words, and she gave him one final thank you nod before leaving the stables and making her way back to her room. From then on, Aurora carefully planned out every meeting she had with Henrik, and although they were scarce, both enjoyed them thoroughly. It continued for two years, and the two had never been caught a single time. That was until one day. They were both sitting in the stables, quietly talking to each other about anything and everything, when Aurora's father suddenly stormed in, followed by her mother and a maid. Her father yelled the stables down, waking up every single horse, along with Henrik's father. Aurora tried her very best to plead with her father, but to no prevail. He forced Henrik and his father off his land while Aurora followed, screaming and crying and even lashing out at her father occasionally. Nothing worked, and once the two stable workers were far out of sight, Aurora's father grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her back to the mansion. She came to find out that a lone maid who had woken up to go to the bathroom managed to spot Aurora through a window as she snuck out towards the stables. Her father was immediately alerted and the rest was history. After a few weeks, Aurora received a letter in the mail from an unknown person. Upon inspecting it, she found that it was from Henrik, and hope sparked inside of her. In the letter he expressed his sorrow that it had to end so suddenly, but revealed that deep down he always knew it was inevitable. He explained that he and his father were now back on the streets, so the apparatus required to actually send a letter was very hard to come by, but that he would try his very best to send them as frequently as possible, despite knowing he would never get a response. Every once in a while for the next few months, Aurora received another one of Henrik's letters in the mail. She treasured every one of them, and had read them all over numerous times, sometimes picturing it was actually Henrik telling her all the things he had written in person. Much to her sorrow, Henrik's letters stopped coming after a while. When Aurora was twelve, coming on thirteen, and heard the news that her mother was pregnant, enough was finally enough. She packed a small bag of her things, stole her mother's purse, and set off on a mission to find Henrik. In his most recent letters, he had detailed exactly where on the streets he and his father had been living. Since the letters weren't frequent, he always tried to cram as much information about his current thought as he possibly could. Aurora didn't hesitate to head to exactly where he had told her he was living. Although she probably should've been nervous about leaving her home for good, she was much more excited about finally getting to see Henrik again. The money she had from her mother's purse was far more than she needed to take with her, and she knew she would be extremely well off even taking to the streets. Eventually, she arrived at the area Henrik told her about. It was a small alleyway, in the main area of the city. After searching around, and even calling out Henrik's name, Aurora came face to face with the boy's father. Despite probably being justified to hold a vendetta against the girl, Henrik's father actually spoke softly, and was extremely kind towards her. He didn't waste time, instead cutting right to the chase. He explained to Aurora that Henrik had fallen extremely ill, and that with not enough income they had no way of buying the proper medicine for him. He had passed away a week before she arrived. The news hit her like a truck, and Aurora completely broke down in that exact moment. She experienced pure loneliness like no other, and in that moment it felt like a hole had been created in her heart, which would never be filled. It was soon dark, and despite her reluctance to, Aurora knew she would have to move on at some point. She gave Henrik's father half the money she had, then parted ways with him, leaving to be on her own from that moment forward. Exactly a year later, after spending most of her nights in hotels or hostels and practically all her days travelling in order to see as many new places as she could, Aurora found herself at the edge of a cliff in the middle of the night with her feet dangling over the water below. She began reminiscing about the events years ago, and finally had her breakdown when thinking back to precisely one year before, when she first heard the news. She had managed to cope with it much better than she expected. Her visits with Henrik were scarce and short, as were the letters she received from him, and she had began to wonder if the two of them were actually really friends. She felt like she hardly knew him. But she grieved for him all the same. It was on that night that she met the man who offered her the chance to live her life to the fullest, and create even stronger bonds than the one she had with Henrik. The tears were streaming down her cheeks, and despite her many attempts to wipe them away, she couldn't possibly stop them from falling down off her chin and landing on the hem on her dress. She heard a footstep behind her, and her head suddenly spun round to see what it was that was trying to creep up on her. Standing in the middle of the open area behind her was a tall, cloaked man, his messy brown hair flowing slightly in the wind. Despite the suddenness of his appearance, Aurora didn't feel threatened or alarmed by the man's presence. Only curious. "What do you want...?" She asked quietly, trying to sound the slightest bit confident, but failing. "Aurora Roushel." The man said, a slight smile creeping up his face "I'm Alexander Wright. And all I want, is the chance to explain something to you."