Nocturne

☼ Chapter Twenty-Two ~ Aurora ☼

Aurora paced her 'room', caged as surely as her friends. She was technically allowed to leave, but she refused to see the sun until she could find a way to help Nocturne and Asa.

But what could she do?

If she rescued them she would surely be caught and hanged for high treason. Asa and Nocturne could live free in Artemis, but Aurora... somehow, she knew she'd be no happier there than Nocturne had been in Apollo as Diurne.

So she needed something that they couldn't trace back to her.

But who would free them? No one could, much less would, free the two rebels guilty of an attack on the king!

No one.

But perhaps...?

Aurora flung open the door and rushed outside, remembering to compose herself just in time for the guards posted outside the door. She hid a grin, watching them. They'd have followed her inside, but the house wouldn't let them in.

One of them raised a hand to stop her. "Where are you going, my lady?"

Aurora stopped and turned to him. She studied him for a moment, her yellow eyes searching through his green ones. And then she spoke. "What's your name?" she asked. Not a demand or a threat, just a question, friendly as could be.

The guard looked surprised.

Aurora noticed in that moment that he was young, no older than eighteen. Almost a child. His partner didn't seem much older.

"Jacques, my lady."

"Nice to meet you, Jacques," she said, meeting his eyes with a smile. She turned to the other guard.

"And you?"

The girl blinked and rubbed her armour. "Emmie, m'lady."

"Nice to meet you, Emmie. And please," she added with a grin, 'Call me Aurora."

The girl bowed. "Yes, my la- Aurora," she corrected herself.

Aurora turned back to Jacques. "Same goes to you, Jacques. Got it? My name is Aurora."

Jacques bowed his head. "Yes, Lady Aurora."

Aurora sat down, smoothing her skirt. "Now that's settled, Jacques, Emmie, I need to tell you something."

Emmie looked curious, but wary. Aurora wondered why she was a guard. It seemed too violent and ordered a profession for the gentle girl trying to keep herself from asking questions. Though she was doing an excellent job.

Jacques, on the other hand, just looked wary. "What is it?"

Aurora sighed. "The king has been lying to you. To us all, really."

Emmie took a step back. She looked about to protest, lips parting slightly. But she didn't, instead turning away with a sigh. An odd reaction. Aurora didn't really know what to make of it.

Jacques was much more predictable. He growled and stepped forwards. "No wonder we're supposed to keep you here! You're a traitor! And probably a blasphemer as well." With a wet thock, he spat at her feet.

Aurora wanted to leap up and shout at him, to deny his allegations, to scream her truth to the sun and sky. As it was, she whirled upwards and towards him. She reached out her hand and concentrated, and in that moment fire blazed from her palm, making Emmie and Jacques step back. It was small, and composed of nothing but the heat of her anger, but the shadow was enough to convince them.

"Don't. You. DARE. Call. Me. A. Blasphemer!" she snarled, forcing her voice down into a quiet hiss. "I am the reincarnated Aditya, the reborn Hemera, the Apollo this city was named for and by and I am crafted by Sol himself so you do not call me Blasphemer."

She was pretty sure they thought she was crazy, but the curved sword in her hand was hard to argue with.

Jacques broke eye contact. "Fine," he muttered. "Just traitor, then."

Aurora wanted to snap back at him, although by his definition the claim was true.

"Fine. Sure, I'm a traitor. I'm a traitor in supporting my friends, because my friends are right... and they don't want to hurt anyone."

"You mean those friends that attempted to assassinate the king?"

"They never did any such thing! King Arun tried to mess with something he knew better than to touch, and it bit him back."

"Mmmm."

"It's true. I happened to be there, which you were not- nor was your source, I'm pretty sure."

"Hmmph!"

"Anyway, Asa and Nocturne are trying to restore the fallen city of Artemis, the city destroyed by us, the citizens of Apollo, one hundred years ago."

Emmie spoke for the first time, green eyes widening slightly. "Artemis?" Her voice was deep for a woman. 

Aurora nodded. "In that god-forsaken war, the Queen of Light, Arun's mother, committed a terrible crime, for which we were punished by forgetting- forgetting our past, forgetting our birth, forgetting everything. Save two groups- the Lineage of Priests and the Royal Bloodline. The high priests of the past mourned and wish to repent and repair our relationship with the gods, which so many don't even know has been damaged.

"But the Royal family stands by their pride, by their mistake. Or Arun does- he had enough shame to neglect from informing his son. And so when Asa declared her allegiance to the Goddess Luna and Nocturne changed her name and asked for help reviving their ancestral homeland, he grew furious, and that is why Nocturne and Asa are fated to die in three days time."

Jacques seemed skeptical, but Emmie's eyes were wide as if a truth she'd felt for a long time was finally unwinding. Or possibly she was just confused. Aurora had spoken pretty quickly.

"So what do you want us to do?" asked Jacques, folding his arms.

Aurora smiled. "I want you to know the truth. And if you would be so kind... help others know it too. Perhaps someday the curse will be lifted. Perhaps someday the people with learn the truth from the gods themselves. But we cannot wait until that day. I need you to know, and know now, that perhaps Nocturne can be saved."

She watched them, trying not to let on how much she needed them to agree.

Emmie seemed hesitant, afraid and guilty. She twirled a strand of mousy brown hair with her finger and wouldn't meet Aurora's eyes.

Even less comfort came from Jacques, who's words stood for them both, who's voice was cold and calculation as he spoke.

"We'll think about it."