C H A P T E R 7 - Aurora.
1368 Words
“If I haven’t mistaken myself, she seems to have no memory or recollection of what happened when she met Marcel, which may prove to be a roadblock in your plans.”
I had managed to make it back to the palace in the neck of time, and that was how I now found myself sitting in the throne room, with the palace doctor standing in front of me. He was more than eager to share the seemingly minimal conversation that he had managed to have with the human girl.
“You’re speaking past your limits. I haven’t planned anything, yet. But it doesn’t make any difference to me whether she remembers him or not. It won’t make a difference to anyone else either. They are bound to cross paths again, and if seeing him again prompts the memory to return, then it will be Marcel who will need to explain to her why he left her behind. Not me. Not you. Not anyone else.”
“How could you possibly expect her to know who Marcel is to her? He won’t need to explain anything, because she does not know anything. The concept of having a mate, is as foreign to her as her unadvanced abilities are to us. She will have no idea what it is that she is feeling. It will all be pointless, and in vain.”
I had no idea why I was feeling this sudden surge of irritation towards him—or perhaps it was directed to what he was saying. I couldn’t help but feel like he was being quite negative about this situation, despite the fact that he had seemed so optimistic when he had been treating her earlier. Was it possible that the girl had said something that had changed his opinion on her? Why else could he be thinking of problems instead of solutions?
One would have guessed that he would be willing to guess what people wanted to hear, what they needed to hear—especially since he acted as the palace counsellor too. Perhaps he was more unfit for the rob than I had assumed…
But I didn’t allow myself to dwell on those thoughts, for they didn’t really matter.
I would do my best to make sure that Hera knew more than just who Marcel was—I would make sure that she knew who he was meant to be to her, too. If I could help it, there would be no lies between the Human and I. And that was the way that it would be, as there was too much at stake, too much at risk, for us to be anything but honest with one another—I just prayed that she would see my honesty as sincere, that she would trust me.
“You’re welcome to have your own opinion on the matter, but I will not lie to you and say that I share your viewpoints. I will do everything in my power to prepare her for his arrival. You were the one who had said that the Moon Goddess will not bring mates together unless they can stay together. You still believed that she doesn’t make any mistakes. So, do me a favour and stop contradicting yourself. You are dismissed. You may leave.”
It was easy for me to see that he wasn’t the only one that was irritated, except that he was most probably irritated with the way that I had just dismissed him, unlike I, who was irritated with him. The muscle in his jaw was visibly tightening as a show thereof. It took a while for him to turn around, for him to stop staring at me, before he turned around, his footsteps echoing loudly as he made his way down a corridor, one that I knew would lead him to a back entrance to the palace. In all the time that I had known him, he had chosen to use it instead of the main palace entrance.
I sat there for quite some time after he left, simply allowing myself to process everything that had happened today. If I hadn’t lived through every second of it myself, I wouldn’t have believed that it had all happened in one day. But you know what they say; when it rains, it pours. Was it possible that the sun simply hadn’t set in a few days, that we had lost track of time?
I knew that the concept was practically impossible.
“I hope that I am correct in assuming that all of you understand what happened here today.”
I allowed my focus to stray from the palace doors, to move to the guards that were lined up on either of the walls to the side of me, each and every one of them staring straight ahead, making eye contact with the guard that happened to be across from them. Many times before, many times such as now, I wondered whether or not they were uncomfortable. But I couldn’t afford not to have them around—especially with Marcels’ first-class temper.
“Yes, your majesty.”
They spoke in a chorus, spoke as one, their voices succeeding in merging with one another. It was a chilling experience, no matter how many times I heard them do it. I still found myself thinking that it was strange that they managed to do it every time, for none of them spoke to one another verbally while they were on duty. And none of them had grown up together either, all of them coming from different backgrounds, which meant that the only explanation was that there was something in their training.
“Good. That means that you are all aware of the fact that you now have the responsibility of protecting more than just one individual in this palace. Hera’s safety is just as important as mine, if not more. We have no idea what the consequences could be if something were to happen to Alpha Marcels’ mate, and I do not fancy ever being in the position of finding out.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
I nodded, standing up, wondering if it would be appropriate for me to return to the girls’ chambers, to finally meet her. I was curious to know whether or not her personality matched Marcels’ and I was even more curious as to what her reaction to our kind would be.
I would have sent her home after our initial meeting if I found that she shared some of the views that most of the humans did, for there was no room in my kingdom for any such hostility—but now, that was no longer an option.
I took a moment to remind myself of the fact that I was the Queen, and that there was no reason for me to fear meeting a human girl. Admittedly, she was one who would change our lives—especially if she was the girl whom the moon goddess had been referring to. And as if the fact that she was human didn’t make it bad enough, she had no idea how important she was.
I made my way down the corridor in a daze, finding myself heading straight towards her chambers at the speed of light. It became apparent to me that I was a lot more eager, more excited, than I had initially thought I would be.
It wasn’t until I found myself standing outside of her chambers that I started to question what I was doing, started to wonder whether or not it was wise of me to be meeting her alone. But I wouldn’t allow myself to stop, for my reservations wouldn’t put my curiosity to sleep. The only thing that I hoped for, that I prayed for, was that she wasn’t a Marcel…
Or, in the worst-case scenario, a Ryder…
- Writer
