Chapter Eight
Decisions, Decisions...
Richard didn't think he would have been able to get any sleep that night with everything that had happened, and everything that was on his mind, but he was surprised when he suddenly woke up the next morning. He had fallen asleep on the small couch, and when he woke up he had a bad pain in his neck and his body was even worse off than it had been the day before. It was his mind that was in the worst condition though, and he was honestly surprised he was competent enough to change out of his clothes from the previous night without getting his head stuck in a sleeve.
Not even sure what time it was, and feeling completely out of sorts, Richard wasn't all that keen on heading down to the dining room for breakfast; despite how hungry he was from everything he had done the day before. So he was pleasantly surprised when his food came to him, and even more surprised to find that Aura was the one that delivered it.
About thirty minutes after waking up and just sitting on the edge of his bed trying to figure out what to do with himself, there was a soft knock on his door and Aura let herself in. She was carrying a tray of food, and as she entered she placed it on the small table that sat near the couches and fireplace. She didn't seem to think that he would be awake yet, so when she looked over and saw him sitting there on the edge of his bed a look of surprise filled her face; but a smile touched the sides of her lips and lit up her eyes a bit.
“So you are awake,” she said softly and then waved him over to get his food while sitting down at the table. “I honestly didn't expect you to be up for another few hours after the kind of day you just had. Come, eat.”
Richard stood up and stretched his sore muscles as he walked slowly towards the table, his stomach grumbling with each step. At first he didn't say anything, and instead sat down and investigated the meal before him. Once more he was a little surprised to find that there was actually meat sitting on the plate, the steam rising into the air as a nice smell filled his nose and made him drool a little bit.
“So, how are you feeling?” his mother now asked as he quickly dug into the sausage on his plate, revelling in the taste and texture.
“Mentally or physically?” he asked, and now Aura chuckled softly at his response.
“Both.”
“Well, it hurts to breath,” he sighed into his meal, but got the feeling that Aura wasn't overly concerned about that side of the question. Sure, she was probably worried, but she knew that he would live and it was only a little bit of pain that would last for a bit longer. What she was really asking was how he was doing with everything that he had learned the previous day, and the decision that had been left to him and Daiya. “As for mentally... well let's just say that I'm surprised I haven't gone completely insane.”
“That's understandable. Everything you know about yourself changed yesterday, so it would be odd if you weren't feeling a little overwhelmed. Don't put too much stock into that woman's story though; we don't know if what she said is true or not. At least not entirely.”
“What? Oh... no, that's not it,” Richard said and realized he hadn't even really thought about what May had told him all that much. “That's nuts and all, but that's not really what I'm struggling with. It's this whole marriage thing that's got my head spinning right now.”
Now Aura smiled wide at him, a loud chuckle bubbling at her lips as she sat back against her wooden chair and simply looked at him for a long moment. It wasn't exactly the reaction he had expected from her, but he should have. From the first time he had met her, Richard had known that Aura liked to be entertained by strange things; and to her, he was the strangest thing of them all. She also enjoyed being surprised by the things he said and did.
