Aurora

28

The next morning, Aurora hurtled to the closet and grabbed one of the dresses Jack had selected for her and wore it on,

For a while, she struggled with the ruffles and laces but finally got it right. Then leaving the room, she headed downstairs and bumped into puna on the way.

"Come on."

They walked together and joined the kids having breakfast, Edward and Jack were not among them.

"Where's jack?" She asked, taking a chair.

"The men are visiting tenants, inspecting fences, mending wagons...generally enjoying themselves..have some bread, dear?"

"Thank you." She smiled and began eating.

After breakfast and while the men went about their business. Aurora and Puna spent the day in the parlour. Talking,

Aurora found out she, loved poetry, so they exchanged some of their favorites, while Puna stitched,

Aurora winded up the yarns; sorting them by color, whilst enjoying the sunlight that shone through the windows.

Aurora's poems were obviously not the ones puna was used to, but she seemed to enjoy them, eventually the conversation runs on causal lines,

"How long have you and Edward been married?"

"5 years." She replies.

"That must be nice." Aurora smiled.

"Tell me, have you set a date for the wedding?" She asked and Aurora took some time to recall the lie, they were so many, she was constantly losing track of them.

"No, we haven't had the time." She managed.

"I'm sure, it would be lovely." Puna assured and Aurora forced a smile, "Jack says you are from the upper east." She says, not looking up from her stitching. "But he didn't mention where?"

"Dublin." Aurora lied sharply,

"Hmm, people say that's where the Queen came from...God bless her soul."

Aurora faltered, but remained still,

"The queen?" She stuttered.

Puna shook her head sadly,

"The king's new bride, she's dead. I also heard it was to send a message to the king and his council, her name was Sarah, people around here didn't get the chance to meet her, but the once did meet her, said she was a very good person, her only curse was marrying a man like Jonathan, he's a prude man, worse a king." She sighed in irritation,

"He is." Aurora kept busy and tried not to give anything from her demeanor,

"So how long have you and Jack been betrothed?"

"Not long." She managed.

"I never thought a day would come where Jack Hyde would find himself a lass and settle down like a proper gentleman."

They both laughed and as the clock stroke five,

Puna yawns and stretches herself, the garment she had been mending slides down her rounded belly onto the floor.

She begins clumsily to reach for it,

"Let me." Aurora drops to her knees beside her and picks it for her.

"Thank you." She smiled at me, "I'm sure Jack as returned to the stables--"

They were interrupted by Nana, one of the maids, asking whether they had seen James, her son. With a sigh Puna lays aside her sewing.

"Got away again, has he? No worries, he's likely gone to the barn. Come on, let's go look for him. Lady Aurora, we will finish sewing later."

Aurora smiled and got up to find Jack in the stables, where they treated the horses and chatted their day with laughter, she was beginning to enjoy the strange world.

Later that night the villagers gathered at a meadow and so did Aurora and Puna, with the rest of the family.

Jack stepped out to address the anxious crowd.

There was a war approaching and the people were unaware of what befell them.

Jack lit up a fire on a stake and raised it to the sky, everyone became quiet.

"In the other islands when a chief sets himself to war they burn the fiery cross sending a sign to the land of it's clan. A signal for its men to gather their weapons and prepare for a battle...." He paused and glanced at each one of them, "Here we are not a clan and I'm not your chief, but we are friends, neighbors, countrymen.."

As Jack addressed the people, Aurora couldn't help but compare him to Jonathan. Jack was a natural leader and he would make a fair king, she thought.

"I hope that as the day comes you will stand by my side, we cannot say what might befall us on this day, but we must not only be willing to make sacrifices to our wives and loved ones." He looked briefly at Aurora, then the crowds, "but to brothers and friends in this new country."

He stretched out his hand,

"Stand by my hand if you agree with me."

The crowd went cold, looking at one another,

"I'm just one man, I cannot go into battle alone, I need my brothers and friends to stand my hand."

Slowly and reluctantly, the men began to fall out of the crowd, making their allegiance,

"I will stand by your side Jack Hyde and I swear by the cross of Jesus Christ and by this stake of fire, that If ever I rebel against you or my own, I ask that our enemies have my head in battle."

Jack shook hands with the men who agreed to fight by his side,

"To the new country!" Someone in the crowd roared having everyone shouting in unison,

"To the new country."

"To the new country!!!"

"To the new country!!"

"To the new country!!!" Aurora joined the people to tell at the top of her voice. She felt so happy to be part of something so liberating,

As Aurora and the crowd cheered for their freedom, Jack stood, all six-foot-three of him, smiling at Aurora, cheering.

He got to her, and lifting her in his arms, he spurned her around and kissed her.