Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Fourteen

 ♕ The Aureums ♕

Aubrette sat on the edge of the marble staircase, feeling like there wasn't enough air in the world to fill her lungs and make the constant pressure inside her chest disappear. She had slept the majority of the day and had try to wake up every couple of hours. No matter how hard she'd tried to stay awake, her eyes had closed dragging her back into unconsciousness. Until the sky had turned into a comforting shade of deep blue and she finally felt able to walk out of the room.

Vereena and the rest of the golden warriors had been already suiting up in the throne room, and she had not felt like interrupting. So instead she'd sat down, watching how the tattoos on their skin shined brighter as the night grew darker.

"Pretty cool sight, right?" Said Taj, sitting next to her. Aubrette nodded.

They stood in the middle of the room, completely drawing all of the attention towards them. They looked like warriors but no one except her seemed to be conscious of exactly how dangerous they were. She had never seen something similar on her mother's guards. They were always the same, quiet, and reserved. Aubrette had spent most of her childhood thinking the only piece of them you could see life through were their eyes. Blackstone's guards were few, but all of them wore the mark of the star. And in her nineteen years of existence, Aubrette had not manage to get to know any of them. None but Mason.

Vereena and the rest of them on the other hand, all looked like they'd been working together for decades, but none looked more than five years older than her.

"Why do they shine?" Aubrette asked. Watching as one of them with very short blonde curly hair stepped out of the palace. Her skin shining through the glass brighter than it'd been inside.

"Their tattoos are made with stardust" Taj said. "Their skin glows with the dust of the sun, when the sun is not there to protect us"

"You don't seem to have them" Aubrette said, turning to watch him.

"No." he said, smiling. "Only the Aureums"

"The Aureums?"

"Yeah. That's what we call them." He said. "Their job is to protect the city. They'd die for it if needed" Aubrette smiled, knowing perfectly well what he meant. "The king trusts them with it above anyone else, even Asher"

"Yeah well I would too" Said Aubrette without thinking. Taj remained quiet.

The room looked different in the night, if it weren't for them, Aubrette would've thought it looked similar to Blackstone at daylight. The though of her home made her shiver.

"He has his reasons you know" Said Taj.

"For being a judgmental asshole?" Aubrette said, not caring if she sounded rude.

"Yeah" Taj said. "But he is a nice guy If you stick around long enough"

Aubrette shrugged, "Well if he stays out of my way I don't really care if he is nice"

"Ready?" Asher said behind them, and Aubrette felt the skin on her neck burn all the way up to her cheeks.

"Yeah" Said Taj, giving Aubrette a shy smile.

Asher did not turn to acknowledge her as they both made their way out the palace. Aubrette took a deep breath before trailing after them. Reminding herself that she had a right to say what she felt and not be ashamed of it, even if it wasn't all that nice.

Still, Aubrette made sure to not stand close to either of them, walking to stand next to Vereena instead.

If she were being honest with herself, the reason she had not been able to get out of bed all day was because she could not get the image of Layla and the grey lady out of her head. Their skin, so fragile that it felt that it'd fly away with a brush from the wind. The swift perfect cut in their throats. The drained color of their hair. The lack of blood.