Bloods Of Power

10

Aranya stayed in her room and even after she woke up from her deep slumber, she wasn’t strong enough to roam around the market place or visit somewhere in Elara. She wanted to meet those young men even for once before she left Elara. She wasn’t going to kill them, of course, because even without knowing, Lorcán had saved them without knowing he did. She smiled when she thought of him, ‘You can go to hell.’ She knew she was supposed to be angry with him because of what he had been doing to her, but somehow, the fear of her being hurt she saw swarming in his eyes made it nearly impossible to keep on being angry with him.

What would happen if he knew that scary howl came from her? The howl that shook him and had him running to see if she was fine? She shook her head lightly as if to show herself that nothing would happen. Because nothing would happen indeed, for he wouldn’t know she wasn’t the mortal he thought she was. The fairy he referred to her as. He saw her as a fairy, right? That struck her heart. 

When she looked through the window, she saw as the cold darkness surrounded the whole of Elara and from where she sat on her bed, she could spot the moon, which looked so beautiful that she wished she could lift her hand and catch it within her palms. She heard the birds chirping, not just a bird, but Portia. The chirp was so soothing that she wished she could hear this every day in Zinambra. Whenever she went out for a hunt, she found other interesting things about living amidst thousands. 

Portia chirped beautifully, she concluded and closed her eyes to relish on the soothing sound. 

“Portia?” She called out absentmindedly when the chirp suddenly stopped and in a second, Portia was flying into her room before she instantly changed to her beautiful body. 

“You called me, Verene.” Aranya didn’t miss the quiver that came when she called her name.

“I heard the way you chirp, it’s so beautiful. Why did you stop?” She asked, smiling at the way Portia was smiling appreciatively at the compliment. 

“A master came and asked whether you’re up to so they can send you dinner, it’s from the restaurant, and I remembered that if you were still sleeping, I might disturb you so I stopped.” The mention of food had Aranya placing her hand on her stomach and she felt as it is shrunken. She had to be taking care of herself, for two days she hadn’t taken proper meals.

“I think I need food more than anything now, I’ll freshen up before you bring it, okay?” Portia nodded her head and when she wanted to walk to the door, Aranya chuckled, “So, you’ve decided to stop showing me your wings, Portia?” She asked, and Portia shyly smiled before she transformed and Aranya watched her flew out of the window with a contented smile.

She moved to the bathroom and freshened up, staring at how her face looked like something it always looked whenever Betla knew she had found her hunt. She made her look so beautiful and flawless that whenever it happened, Aranya found it so hard to stop staring at her face. But this time, something shook in her, remembering that that hunt Betla thought she found wasn’t the one she intended to take to Zinambra, this was someone she could feel the urge to protect, and no matter how she wanted to deny that, she knew she wanted to protect Lorcán from her mother.

She didn’t know how she will take care of this, but she will find a way, surely. She went out of the bathroom and was running a comb through her hair when Portia walked in with a tray filled with a scrumptious meal and Aranya smiled when the aroma wafted into her nose. “Thank you, Portia, I’ll call you when I need something.” And she wanted her flew out of the window.

She ate her food as silently as she thought about the way out for this. She didn’t know what she would do and with each passing day, her days in Elara were numbered and she didn’t know when Jaromir was going to come back. What would she do if he didn’t come back and she would have to take Lorcán to Zinambra? Not take him, lure him to Zinambra. Because from the way she saw things, she knew with a little smile from her, exuding her softness and giving him a single pleasure, he would dance at her whims. Just that, a part of her told her he wouldn’t, for her wasn’t like every other man out there.

What would she do? She silently wished that Jaromir came back as early as he could so she could have everything done. Take him to Zinambra and go back to her usual life without an inch of guilt. After she was done eating her food, she flipped back the churn of hair that had covered her left bosom to her back and silently walked out of the suite. She sat on a steep and stared up at the moon. 

It wasn’t as dark as scary as it was in the riverside, that was what she noticed first and she appreciated the subtleness it had today. She pulled her knees under her chin and wrapped her hands around them, thinking. No matter how smart she thought she was, Betla had surpassed her in that aspect and she wouldn’t be easily fooled, at least not after that howl that scared everyone including the man she thought was strong enough. 

But he was scared for her, she reminded herself and that brought out a sigh on her lips and she closed her eyes momentarily to be able to take everything lightly. “What should I do now?” She asked herself softly and her voice came out as though a slip of a feather on the skin. But what scared her the most was, she didn’t know what she should do or shouldn’t.

•

She lifted her fingers and began to calculate the remaining days for her. Just four days and Jaromir was nowhere to be seen. The worse part of everything was, she hadn’t seen Lorcán seen the howling incident to say she had made some progress with him that would make him believe her and make him do whatever she wanted. Maybe if she saw that she had no other chance-because she knew she couldn’t go back to Zinambra without her hunt-she might consider taking him and live with the guilt for a few years.

What bothered her was how she had missed his presence around her. She thought he disturbed her? Irked her even? But not seeing him, his commanding orders, that sultry and smug smile on his face, she missed everything about him. Even the way he annoyed her. But that wouldn’t stop her from being who she was, doing what she used to do.

She brushed her shoulders through the market street and momentarily closed her eyes to the blinding ray of the sun. She got tired of staying in the inn with nothing to do but what for Jaromir as she stared at the moon every night without finding a solution to any of her problems. She came out today, under the broad daylight and she knew she wouldn’t have to go back to her suite without finding either a solution to her problem or a new man to be her hunt. A decision would be better, she silently corrected herself.

She saw a stack of flowers on a bench as the seller conversed with some men and she silently waited until she was done before she moved forward. “How much is the flower? I just need one to stick beside my ear, it will look good on me, right?” Adding a few charms wouldn’t hurt, she thought and smiled at the woman.

Instead of an answer, the woman smiled at her and kept staring at her until Aranya softly knocked on the table and she apologized briskly. “It will be two fins.” Gold fins, she thought and brought out the said amount. She pinned the flower above her ear and smiled at the woman as if asking her if it had looked good on her.

“It looks good on you, beautiful even.” Aranya was about to thank her for the compliment when she noticed that the demeanour of the woman had changed to something scary if Aranya wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t be hurt easily. “What are you? I could sense a very strong aura around you. And when one looks closely, fire runs through your blood even though it has been covered meticulously, a very good job if I may add.”

Aranya tightened her gaze, “What are you?” She turned back the question because she didn’t expect anyone to notice what she had in just a few minutes she had stood in front of her shop. No one was allowed to notice, Betla made sure of that.”

The woman chuckled, and she didn’t look as dangerous anymore. “I’m a Durush, and I know whoever exudes such a powerful aura must’ve known that only two Durushs were left, the entire clan was killed. Those two are my husband and me, and I haven’t seen him in nearly twenty-five thousand years. I know he’s alive because I could still feel him within, but I need to find him.” The Durushs, Betla once mentioned something about them.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’m sorry but I’ll have to leave now.” She walked away from the shop but she caught the last thing the woman had uttered to her.

“I’m sure you do, and you’ll come here to find me someday.” Aranya didn’t look back, but maybe what she had said would happen, if Betla happened to need a Durush someday, she will surely come back to look for this woman. 

Her mind was in chaos, thinking of a possible solution and what that woman had said hadn’t left her mind. She suddenly felt down spirited and wished she could go back to the inn if she hadn’t come this far. But she kept on walking, buying a few things that caught her attention. When she saw a bangle on a stall, her thoughts immediately ran back to Betla, even though she had never seen her worn an ornament before, Aranya knew she would have to buy this for her. 

She bought it and moved through the street as she moved it around her hand, it was a black bangle with touches of fire and some intricate designs that looked like a tail, she loved it and wondered if Betla would too. Looking up to see above her, she found him there. Standing with him hands wrapped around his chest as he stared at her without moving a bit and it looked to her as though he had paused the whole market from moving. For she could see him even though tenths of shoulders moved passed the both of them.

An involuntarily smile broke her lips and she felt as her legs ran toward him until she came to an abrupt stop in front of him, not knowing what to do next or say, she was just smiling, even though all she wanted was to stop herself from smiling and showing how she was so happy she had seen him. Was this the intensity at which she missed him?

She calmed him, soothed him even. And as he said, she didn’t have to be wearing her red gown for she was wearing a black one today but he recognized her hair that turned to brunette whenever the sun cast its rays on it. He smiled at her, softly and widened his hands. “Didn’t you want to hug me?” He asked, and Aranya damned the consequences as she moved into his strong arms, smiling when she placed her head on that broad chest she had always missed at night and closed her eyes when she felt as he tightly hugged her back. She had missed him, terribly, and right now, she had made her decision, she wasn’t going to take Lorcán to Zinambra, at least not for the half-yearly sacrifice.