Nocturne

☼ Chapter Twelve ~ Aurora ☼

"You have the book, do you not, my dear?"

"Of course. You made me take it."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you still had it." Elios winked, a friendly gesture that made him seem half a century younger.

Aurora looked at him as she set it down on the wooden coffee table. "...What do you want me to do with it?"

The old priest smiled, but there was a sadness to it. "I want you to read it."

"But it's blank!" Aurora flipped the book open to a random page near the end. The thick parchment was blanker than a newborn's memory. "See?"

"Remember what I said? It's not empty. It just looks that way. You see?"

Aurora frowned. "No. I don't see. That's the point."

Elios sighed with a soft grin. "Ah, little one... You haven't looked."

Aurora groaned and leaned back in her chair. Strange, she noted distantly. She could have sworn it was dusty and hard when she had sat down. But it was clearly soft and luxurious now. She must have been imagining things.

"If I haven't looked, then what am I looking for, pray tell?"

"Memories."

Blinking, Aurora cocked her head to look at the old man. "...Explain?"

Weathered fingers pushed the book towards her. "Try it. Touch the pages. Listen to what they have to tell you."

"Alright then, fine." Closing her eyes, Aurora ran her fingers over the pages.

Nothing. What did she expect, really? A visio-

Warm air brushed against Aurora's skin, but it felt more ominous and biting than the chillest of winter winds. Her feet beat out a slow rhythm like the song of a warrior's drums, and a familiar pressure pressed against her hip. She couldn't move, couldn't look around, but even without sight she knew what it was.

Her body stared ahead of her, and the room she walked the length of was familiar, yet so different. The hangings were different, but all bore the same insignia. A tall woman sat upon the throne that waited at the end of the hall. Her eyes were brown, her hair shining yellow, her brow adorned with rubies.

Mirrors flanked the queen's throne, and in them Aurora saw a face that was not her own, with round features, jagged-cut black hair, and angular eyes that glowed the same bright yellow as her own. They seemed filled with something hidden, something hurt. Anger, blazing bright, and hatred that could scorch the earth. Aurora's stomach twisted, and her heart pulsed erratically.

The woman in the mirror wore robes of yellow and a belt of gold, a curved gold sword hanging from her hip, her muscles tight and distinct. Her hand drifted to the blade as the woman on the throne began to speak.

"Here at last, Aditya?"

"I came exactly when you ordered, my queen."

"Hmmph. Surely you knew this was important enough to be here early?"

"No, I did not." Her words were biting, edging a line between disrespect and pride so thin it could slice through tree and axe alike. "After all," the woman- Aditya- continued. "You neglected to tell me why I am here on a day that would be better served helping my apprentice."

The queen only scoffed, her eyes narrow. "Well, I couldn't trust a mere courier to tell you everything, could I now? You see, I have a task for you." She leaned forwards, running her fingers over her brass axe heads with a hungry pleasure.

Aditya scowled. "We've been over this, my queen. I cannot and will-not bend gold into a more blade-suitable structure for you." She gestured to the glittering axe blades. "Is the diamond on your blades not enough?"

Reclining backwards, the queen growled her displeasure. "That's not what I want, you insolent-!" She took a deep breath, stole back a sliver of her composure.

"You know how the Lunars are."

Aditya nodded warily.

"They are arrogant, needy! They strut about in their obsidian palaces and silk robes and tell us, we who actually work, what to do! The children of Darkness have grown so cocky, and they forget who builds the elegant homes that they design, who grows the crops they gorge themselves upon, who composes the guards that keep both cities safe! We don't need them, Aditya. And we both know we could destroy them so easily. In their hubris, they would never see it coming."

Almost to Aurora's surprise, Aditya made no move to either agree or contest her queen's statements. "Mmm. And what do you want me to do about it?"

The queen leaned forwards, and the hunger in her eyes chilled Aurora's soul. "I want you to kill Neoma."

The air was still.

"No."

"You dare-?"

"Yes."

"Come on, Aditya. Can't you see my point? How many times have you felt made lesser? How many times have you been ignored? How many times have your words and worse, your strength, passed over for something more Lunar?"

The golden light in the woman's eyes- so like Aurora's own- vanished from the mirror as she closed her eyes. "I will not."

"Why not?"

"Because I love her!"

They both seemed taken aback at those words, and Aurora watched as her eyes opened again, the fire in them renewed. "Because I love her," she repeated, softer this time, the rage and hate in the golden flames that were her eyes fading.

The queen's eyes however, did not change.

"Do you really love her, or is it just because you have to?"

"I-"

She pressed on, a sickening smile spreading over her features, only weakly veiled by a mask of concern. "And who do you love more, your girlfriend, or your people?"

Aditya seemed frozen. Lost, unsure.

Aurora hated it, more than she'd ever hated anything in her (short) memory.

"So what will it be, Lady Aditya?" the tone was mocking and cruel. "Will you betray your own people or run to a woman who's never loved you as you deserve?"

"..."

Aditya bowed her head. "I..."

She knelt, her forehead brushing the warm fabric over her knee. Every sensation was amplified, every colour intense, every sound so loud she could have heard the beats of a butterfly's wings. But the only thing she- that Aurora and Aditya heard- was mocking laughter, echoing like a memory.

"I will do what you demand. My queen."

Then, without another word, she turned and left the hall.