January Free Fiction: Aurora Blooms (part 1): Aurora's World: 2121 words

[k_a_webb]

This story was written for meeks.

Aurora stared into the flames, wondering how other people felt on their eighteenth birthday. It was a day that would define the rest of their lives but no one ever talked about it. She knew why. Talking about it would make the possibility of it happening more real. Being a user of magic could be a death sentence and that was enough to terrify everyone. Parents dreaded the thought of losing their child while her generation was worried that they would never fulfil their potential. They all had plans for their future, which was something she'd never been able to do. After spending several days poring over the family trees of everyone in town she knew that she was the only person who had two magic users for parents. Her fate was inevitable.

 

Sighing, she sipped her tea. For the first time she wished she had something alcoholic in the house. Her low wage meant that she could only just afford the rent on her cottage and food to eat, so alcohol was out of the question. Then came the knock on the door. She'd been expecting it, even though she hoped he wouldn't. Moments later the door swung open because Harrison had his own key and she knew there was no possibility that he would ever leave her to deal with something as important as her eighteenth birthday alone. He didn't say anything until he'd closed the front door, locked it behind him, and hung up his cloak.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, crossing the living area so he was stood in front of her.

“Like I could do with something stronger,” she replied. “You didn't have to come.”

“I wanted to.”

“When my powers bloom you'll be in just as much trouble for harbouring a magic user as I will for being one.”

He shrugged. “Then we'll just make sure no one finds out if your powers bloom.”

“I'm not having this debate with you again. There's absolutely no point because you don't listen.”

“I listen to everything you say. I just disagree with you and there's just as little point in arguing with you because you're stubborn.”

“That's because I'm right.”

“If you want some I brought a bottle of elderflower vodka,” he said, and Aurora knew that he just wanted to change the subject. “There was nothing else available.”

Smiling gently at him, she accepted the change of subject. “I'll have to borrow some absinthe next time I visit Father.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“It can be.”

She watched as he got the glasses out of her cupboard. Sometimes she thought that he probably knew her house better than she did, because there were days when she couldn't remember where she kept the glasses. It was either that or she was losing her memory and she knew which option she preferred. He poured what could be called a drizzle of vodka into both their glasses before giving her one. Elderflower vodka wasn't her favourite drink in the world so she just stared at it.

“Why are you really here?” she asked, keeping her eyes locked on her drink.

Her diverted attention didn't stop her from feeling him stare at her. “I want to look after you if your powers blossom, Aurora.”

“It's dangerous. I could kill both of us.”

Thoughtfully she sipped the vodka and then winced. If anything it tasted worse than it had the last time she'd drunk some. Really, when she stopped to think about it, drinking any form of alcohol wasn't a good idea if she wanted to keep control over her powers, but part of her really didn't care. That was the part she normally ignored.

“If I die then I die. I can't think of any place I'd rather be.”

“I can,” she muttered, looking between the mostly full bottle of vodka and her glass.

“Where would you rather be then?”

“There are a couple of places. One of them is a clearing between here and the mountains. It's where I meet your brother.” She glanced at him to make sure the mention of Griffin hadn't been too difficult for him. “Then there's the library.”

He smiled at her, which didn't quite hide the pain in his eyes. “Only you would rather be in the library.”

She shrugged. “I feel safe there. Books don't expect anything more than you can give and they don't expect you to sit down for a chat every time you're feeling down.” Smiling, she sipped her drink again. “They remind me of you.”

“You give the strangest compliments, Aurora.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “I'm glad I make you feel safe though.”

Their eyes locked. It was easy to be herself when she was with him, which was something she was grateful for. She knew if he hadn't been there for her during the bad times then she probably would have hidden away in the library for the rest of her life. Instead he'd coaxed her into living her life in a way she never would have even thought about doing.

“Remembering will be one of my powers, so if there's anything you want to tell me then now would be a good time to do it.”

“I tripped over your foot on purpose.”

Her only reply was a raised eyebrow. She hadn't been expecting a confession from him and she wasn't entirely sure what to think or feel. He looked down at his drink, which made her feel guilty because she'd made him upset.

“I was young and stupid. When I saw you for the first time I wanted to do something to get your attention because...” He sighed. “I knew who you were. Everyone knew who you were. That first time I saw you I knew I wanted to get to know you as a person. Part of it probably was the fact you were the daughter of two magic users. Maybe you can tell me if you ever Remember that day. The main reason was simply because I thought you would be the one person who could understand the feeling of being alone even when you're surrounded by people.”

“We were both different,” she said, understanding the young man who had done everything he could to convince her that he did truly want to be friends with her. “You were the crown prince and I was the outsider.” When he looked at her she smiled at him. “I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your position.”

“You would have been much more suave,” he replied, smiling back. “I'm sure there was something better I could have done to get your attention.”

“Something less painful would have sufficed. The blood was not nice.”

He rubbed his nose with his free hand. “Father was angry that I'd broken my nose because he thought it was going to put off all my potential brides.”

“Which you followed up by inviting me back to yours for tea.”

They grinned at each other. Remembering the good times they'd had always made Aurora feel better about everything. Her life had been difficult, in ways that it was hard for someone like Harrison to understand, but there had always been happy moments to make up for the bad things that had happened.

“Father was never going to like any of the friends I made at school. If it had been up to him I would never have gone, but Mother thought it would be good for me to get to know the people that I'd end up ruling.”

“Your mother's a good person.”

Even though the King had made it plain that he didn't like her she'd never had any problems with Harrison's mother. Like Aurora she had once been the girl living in town who was friends with the crown prince and it made her more understanding. Occasionally she would visit the cottage by herself or drop into the library to check on Aurora, which was something it was hard not to appreciate, but then the Queen saw the whole kingdom as a family that needed looking after.

“I think so.” He poured a tiny bit more vodka into his glass. “Sometimes I wonder why Mother married Father when they're obviously such different people.”

“It would be hard to say no to the crown prince if he asked to marry you.”

He smiled at her. “What would you do if I asked you to marry me?”

“I have no idea, but I hope that if you did I could be gracious about saying no.” She sipped her drink and winced again. “You're my best friend and I love you in a way that I can't explain to anyone, but there's no way I would ever marry you. The thought of being Queen fills me with a dread that I have never felt before.”

“I feel exactly the same way about being King.”

Aurora squeezed Harrison's hand. “You'll be a good King.”

“I hope I will. Even if you won't marry me I'd appreciate it if you'd be one of my advisers.” He smiled at her. “I think you probably know more about my kingdom than I do. People talk to you.”

“I'm a librarian, Harrison. When I talk to people it's about where the book is that they need.”

He looked at her, putting his glass down on the table. “The last thing I want you to do is to betray any confidences.” For a moment he was silent, staring thoughtfully at her. “No one would ever know what it is that you're talking about, but I've been watching and I know that you're someone people trust. Sometimes I actually get special gifts from people because I'm your friend and that makes me less of an enemy than the King.”

“If they give you special gifts it's because you're the crown prince. Everyone wants you to remember them when you've taken the throne.”

He shook his head. “I don't believe you.”

“If you travel anywhere in the kingdom you will be given gifts by people. It's what they do when there's a crown prince.”

“Father's suggested I take a trip around the kingdom now that I'm eighteen.”

“That will be good for you. There's more to the kingdom than this town.”

“I don't want to leave you here alone. Father may take the chance to get rid of you while I'm gone.”

“He wouldn't do something stupid. If I go missing then people will notice, even if it is just the library staff.”

“You could come with me.”

“I couldn't afford to. I'm only just paying my bills as it is and I think that taking time off work to travel round the kingdom with you would lose me my cottage.”

“If that happens you could move in with me.”

Aurora stared at him. “I'm sure your father would love that.” She shook her head. “Until you become King I'm going to stay in this cottage. When you get crowned I might move in, but I like having my own place. I like being able to cook what I want and fill my cottage with books.”

“That's why I like visiting. I've never felt like the castle was home. This place...” He looked around with a smile. “It's the only place that's ever felt like home to me and I don't know what I'd do if you had to move out.”

“You could pay my rent.”

“How much is it?”

“I was joking.”

“Aurora, I spend as much time as you do here so it's only fair that I go halves at least. Father gives me a generous allowance that I can spend on whatever I want.”

“Until he takes it away because you've been spending it on my rent.”

“He can't do that. It's something the crown prince always receives and to stop it would mean passing a new law that none of his advisers would ever let him write.”

“I'm glad, but you're still not paying any of my rent.” She smiled at him. “Fancy a cup of tea?”

The look he gave her made it obvious that the conversation wasn't over. “Anything would be better than this. Who ever thought that elderflower vodka was a nice drink?”

She shrugged. “I don't know.”

Yawning, she glanced out of the window at the moon. There was no definite time when she would bloom so it was just a case of waiting until it happened. Her older brother had bloomed at about midday, at least that's what they told her, but she wanted hers to happen earlier than that. Once her powers had bloomed she wouldn't have to hide away in her cottage.

© K A Jones 2011

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/49131.html. It currently has comments.

Comments

Feedback

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>After spending several days poring over the family trees of everyone in town she knew that she was the only person who had two magic users for parents. Her fate was inevitable.<<

Do we know whether magic is a dominant or recessive trait, or something more complex?

>>She'd been expecting it, even though she hoped he wouldn't.<<

That's a non sequitur. You need to specify who this is and how she knows him.

>>He rubbed his nose with his free hand. “Father was angry that I'd broken my nose because he thought it was going to put off all my potential brides.”
“Which you followed up by inviting me back to yours for tea.”<<

I think that should say "your place" above, or something like that.

Re: Feedback

[natalief.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I liked the sentence that you call a 'non sequitur' (the second word of which seems to be a misspelling according to my mac). It was soon explained in subsequent sentences and gave an air of, "Oh no, here we go again," that comes with familiarity and so I knew that he was a long-time friend or relative of some kind.

Also, the use of "yours" like that is more standard in the UK than "your place".

Just my opinions.