Aurora

There were many times in our journey that it was easy to forget just how strange the forest was. As we traveled onward the morning after The Liche Queen's army of dead attacked us, I almost thought that day might be one of those days where the forest was still save for the occasional chirp of bird or rustle in the bushes. However, the forest reminded me quite quickly of just how strange it was, when we seemed to pass through an invisible wall and were suddenly standing in forest in the midst of a warm summer. As I looked back, I saw that the way we'd come was just as sunny, but when I retreated a few steps I was once again plunged into winter. It seemed that Adrian was as well, but when I met up with him it was sunny.

"What happened?" I questioned, pulling out the map. There was no specific place on the Gate Keeper's map that told us we would be entering a summer glade. Adrian glanced over my shoulder and frowned for a moment, studied the map and then broke out into a laugh. "What is it?" I asked, my voice sharp. Could this be a trap laid by a malevolent creature of the forest? We hadn't met any of those yet. They lived alone, Adrian explained, away from all the other spirits. Could this be the home of one of them?

Adrian pointed to the map. "We've entered the Fairy and Trickster Realm. This is where the nymphs live."

"...Nymphs? As in the little creatures from myth?"

"Yes." Adrian smirked. "You of all people should know by now that nothing here is too wild to be true. Nymphs live here and they are tricky creatures indeed." We continued forward, albeit with more caution in our step. "They have the power to bewitch men who are not strong enough to stay out of their grasp. They can call even mortals into the forest. I have heard of mortal men who have been pulled by some strange desire to go into the forest and have been driven mad with lust by them. Fortunately, I have not heard of any of my brothers who have done the same."

"And because I am female, I am safe?" Something told me the answer was no.

"Nymphs are jealous creatures. Let's just hope we don't run into one." Even when I asked him what he meant, Adrian only flushed and did not answer. Eventually I was able to surmise what he had meant. If we met a nymph, they might believe Adrian and I to be lovers and vie for Adrian's full attention. When I realized that must have been what he meant, my face flushed as well. We would need to convince them that our relationship was nothing, but how could I do that when I felt our connection growing stronger each day? I could not deny that there were times when Adrian and I would catch eyes and we would share something so strangely private that I was glad no one was around. It was as if we were acknowledging what the other felt without words, but I knew nothing would ever happen until those acknowledgments came to light. At first I considered myself crazy and told myself that I was imagining things...now, though, I was not so sure. Could it be that Adrian felt for me what I did for him?

But what did I feel for Adrian? It was nothing like how I'd felt with Gregori or Stefan or even Nikolae. Then I'd only felt awkward and nervous. Now I felt awkward, nervous, wretched and wonderful all at the same time. I recalled my words to dog. If this is love then I want no part of it. Was this love? Who had the stupid idea to make this awful and uncontrollable feeling love? Why couldn't love feel not as lonely or sad? Then I thought of the poets I'd read when I was younger. Was this feeling the one they all lamented about? Could this be the feeling that inspired novels? Could this be the feeling that started the Trojan War?

Those same questions bothered me as we traveled through the sunny forest. Sunlight streamed in through the trees and dappled the ground. The leaves were full and green and the ancient evergreens gave off a fresh, dewey scent. I was sweating through my clothes but refused to make us stop. I did not want to meet a nymph either. I wished to get through this part of the forest and return to the cold where everything made sense. Here everything seemed like a dream. Each time I looked at Adrian I could swear he was looking at me.

Near midday we came upon a small stream. Checking the map, I saw that a tiny blue line ran through this part of the forest and it flowed in the direction we were heading. We walked along the brook, listening as its small waters rushed and bubbled beside us. "The sound is pleasant," Adrian mused after we'd been walking by the stream for a bit. "Sometimes, in the deepest parts of winter I forget what running water sounds like. It makes me sad, as ridiculous as that sounds."

I shook my head. "That doesn't sound ridiculous at all. I feel the same way, too...but usually what I miss is the way the earth smells after a thunderstorm. Sometimes, after a terrible rain, I will open my window and just put my head out and smell the world. It smells so raw and new, and the sky looks dark in a way I can't even begin to explain. It casts a golden light over everything." I laughed. "Walking through this part does remind me of how much I miss Spring."

"Me too," Adrian answered, his voice quiet. We walked for a few minutes more before the stream became a small pond, swirled around in the middle and then continued onward. There was a large, jutting rock here that formed a cave and a place to jump in the water. "Ah, we should stop. You must be growing quite hot under all this armor - I know I am. Let's stop for a moment and bathe." I hesitated. I did not wish to meet any of the natives here. "We'll be quick. I just have to wash off for a moment."

"Ah...okay. You're right. If we continue onward and sweat even more, the moment we return to the winter part of the forest, we'll freeze to death." We wandered to the rock.

"You go first. I'll check around to see if there's anything to eat around here. I mean, it is summer here. Surely something must be growing." Adrian set down his back, bow and arrow, nodded to me and then walked off in the opposite direction. I almost told him to be careful, but then stopped. I was being silly and anxious. He was a wolf, not some foolish mortal. The nymphs could not get to him. I put my things down next to Adrian's and carefully undressed, leaving my clothes out on the sunny rock to dry and grabbing a cake of the luxurious soap Lady Joy's attendings had bathed me in. They had insisted I take some with me and it smelled wonderful, like no flowers I could name.

The water was warm from the sun and felt like silk on my skin. Still, I felt an unknown anxiety ripple through me and washed my hair and body as quick as I could. I swam around for a moment and then got out of the pond. I looked around for Adrian, half hoping with a sick, guilty pleasure in my stomach that he'd come back earlier and was spying on me. I laughed to myself under my breath and dried my hair. After waiting a few minutes I dressed myself again, however, I left my surcoat off. I folded it up and thought I would at least be able to half stuff it into my pack, however, I was able to fit the entire coat in and when I picked up the pack, it felt no heavier than it had when I'd had it on earlier. I sat on the rock, amused, until the novelty wore off and the anxiety sat in once more.

Relief spread through to my fingertips as I saw Adrian coming back, his arms full of something...something that I recognized as strawberries as he came closer. I laughed. "For some reason, I thought you might have been stolen away by the nymphs."

Adrian flashed me a crooked smile. "I have more important things to take care of than being stolen by some silly nymphs." He climbed up to the rock with me and put down a white cloth covered in strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and a few other berries I couldn't name. "Have you noticed that these packs seem to hold a great deal more than I thought they might? I only noticed that now, when I found a white cloth in my pack I was sure I didn't put in." He laughed. "Anyway, let's eat. I'll bathe after." We ate in silence for quite awhile before my eyes traveled to Adrian's face. His lips were stained red from the strawberries and I found myself wanting to lick the juice away. My face burned at my awful thoughts. Adrian's face was set in a serious manner, as if he were thinking of something. "I meant to tell you this earlier, but...didn't. Yesterday I told you that I did not know of any of my brothers who ran away from our kingdom to live with the mortals. That isn't true. When I was 10, my father told me that six years earlier, one of our kind left the wolves to live in the mortal world. It was rumored that he lived at Schloss Lunarenstein."

"My father, then."

"Yes."

"So I am one of you."

"Yes."

"Do you think I could ever..."

"No. You have been human for too long." When our eyes met, I saw that there was a sadness in Adrian's gaze that surprised me. How could he be feeling the exact same thing as I did? "At least...at least it explains some things for you. I am sorry I did not tell you earlier. I swear to you, I simply did not remember the story."

I shook my head, my throat blocked by an invisible force. When I trusted my voice, I swallowed. "No, it is okay. You're right, though. It does explain things. It explains why I never could kill you, or why I never wanted to. It explains why I always felt different from the other girls, and it explains why I always wished to be one of you. Most of all, it explains why Delphine did not tell me. It wasn't that she didn't know who my father was. It was that she was ashamed of him." Adrian did not say anything to this. "Ah well. I wonder what became of him." Again, silence. We finished the berries. "Thank you for telling me this, Adrian. I'm glad to know. I will let you bathe in peace." I gathered up the cloth, now dotted with pink, purple and blue, when Adrian touched my shoulder.

"I wish..." He didn't finish, but somehow the bond between us made it easy to guess what he'd been trying to say. I wish you were truly one of us. I wish you were a wolf. His words pleased me in a small, bizarre way.

I swallowed, ducked my head to hide a smile and climbed off the rock. "I will leave you to your bath," I told him, my voice low. I turned away from the rock and stood, my back facing the pond, my eyes towards the leafy forest. It was beautiful but somehow seemed so fake and unnatural. I missed the snow and ice. I missed winter. It seemed poisoned here, like a candied apple left too long in the sun. Something flashed through the trees but it was gone before I had time to really see it. I turned towards the rock ever so slightly and could hear the churning of water, and, if I listened close enough, the sound of soap against skin. For some reason, my feet crept around the back of the rock and I peaked out behind it, my entire body convulsing with my heartbeats. This is wrong! I yelled to myself. Stop looking! For the split second before my eyes could see him, my body was ravaged with a horrible, painful, hot feeling. I leaned forward even more until I saw the curve of his olive shoulder. Then, a little farther, I could see the hills and ravines of his back. And then he turned towards me just enough so I could see...everything. I pulled back immediately, disgusted and sort of pleased with myself. Well, at least you've finally seen a man nude. Even if I was spying on him, at least now I knew what they were talking about in all those novels. It looked nothing like how it usually did in art. I'd seen paintings before, I'd thought that was enough. This was different. This was real.

I sat against the rock and closed my eyes, but no matter how long I sat or what I tried to think of, my head always came back to Adrian's naked form standing thigh deep in the water. Holding my breath, I scooted towards the edge again and looked to the pond. He was chin deep now, with his head turned away. Nothing. Damn.

Delphine had told us about this, of course, she'd spoken from strictly a scientific point of view. We are all animals, she'd explained, This is how things work in the animal world. This is how we reproduce. The girls, though, the older ones...they'd been the ones to tell me stories. And my fateful encounters with Rosalyn and her midnight partners had left me with little wonder as to what happened. The older girls had seemed so knowledgeable back then. This is what happens when you become a woman. You start to feel certain urges from members of the opposite sex. It's perfectly natural, they'd tell us, pretending to sound mature. Even Magdalena had never seemed to embarrassed. She'd always been discreet about her personal life, however.

Well, then, what was I to do? I'd never felt these hot, grown up feelings for anyone before and no matter what the girls said, it felt unnatural. It was the same with the strange warmth I felt whenever Adrian was near. It left me feeling lonely and empty. Like I was standing in the cold, watching through a window a warm fire and a happy family. I sat like that for quite awhile, hugging my knees and staring at nothing in particular.

Adrian came around the other side of the rock fully dressed, his hair tied back. He looked at me, cocked his head and grinned. "I saw you."

For a moment I didn't know what he meant, but when it dawned on me my stomach dropped out and I covered my face with my hands. "Oh dear Gods, don't tell me that. I'm so sorry." My voice was muffled. I heard him lean down beside me, I felt him remove my hands from my face.

He wasn't grinning anymore. And the painful, hot feeling invaded every single space in my body. "Don't apologize, I'm not mad." He licked his lips. "Aurora, there's something I've been meaning to say to you."

I nodded, not trusting my words.

"I..."

Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes. Adrian dropped my hands, stood up and put his hand to his sword. The hot feeling evaporated instantly and I, too, stood up, my hands on my bow. From the forest emerged seven beautiful young women with long hair dotted with flowers and berries. Their complexions ranged from the palest milk to the deepest cocoa, however, their most evident shared trait was their devastating beauty. Adrian tensed beside me. "Ah, what do we have here?" One with cream skin and slashing black hair and brows said in a soft voice. "Two lovers caught in a tryst?"

I swallowed. "We are not lovers. Travelers...we seek the tower of the Moon Queen."

"You would dare the Impossible Task?" This came from the darkest skin one with hypnotizing black eyes. I looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

Adrian stepped forward. The women, nymphs, I had assumed, looked at him with unabashed interest. "I am Adrian, Prince of Wolves." The nymphs giggled. "My companion is Aurora of the Forest. She was called on by the Moon Queen herself and the Liche Queen as well to travel to the tower. Many have tried the so-called Impossible Task, but only we will succeed."

One with hazelnut skin and fawn hair danced around her companions. "Yes, yes, Adrian of the Land, we have seen you many times. You have run by our small forest retreat and we have watched you. We have long admired your skill in hunting and your speed when running, but never did we know that you would be so handsome." This one bowed to me, but I found there was no respect in it. "I thank you, good Aurora of the Forest, for bringing him to us. And let us thank the gods he is not your lover." Her words seemed ominous and Adrian and I glanced at each other. "Come, you must come with us. We are the Nymphs of the Northern Woods and you shall stay with us tonight."

I hesitated and gave them a tentative smile. "Ah that is quite kind of you, however, we must be continuing onward."

The darkest skinned one stared at me with her piercing gaze. I found myself recoiling from it. "You will stay." And in that way, it was decided. We followed the nymphs through the forest, keeping close to each other but not close enough so they would think anything of our relationship. I found each of the young women stealing glances at Adrian, who was decidedly looking forward. I thought of his words, how the nymphs would try and trick men to stay with them, how they would drive these men mad with lust, how they were jealous of women they saw with these men...I did not envy him. A lesser man would probably have already fallen to their charms and wicked smiles. I knew enough to see behind their angelic facades. They reminded me of Rosalyn, but unlike Rosalyn, I doubted these creatures had a vulnerable side. They were not human. And I also feared for myself. What would they do to me if they found out my feelings for Adrian? I would have to do my best to stuff them away, claim ambivalence.

Their home was farther along the stream where it expanded into an even larger pool. More rocks had sprung up around it. It was quite like the pool from earlier, except the cave here was much larger. We followed them inside as the sun drifted farther towards the horizon. Night fell early here, strange for summer. Then, of course, I realized that this must be an illusion. I remembered the cold and the snow. I longed for it, longed for the normality. My body rebelled against the warmth.

They nymphs built a great fire in their cave with help of Adrian. We ate a fine supper and drank sweet dandelion wine, still, Adrian and I were on edge. The nymphs danced and we hung back. We did not risk speaking to each other. We would simply have to wait out the night and escape as early as we could in the morning. After some time, the nymphs grew tired and collapsed into giggles around the fire. I hid a frown. I did not like their giggling. It was a charmingly grating sound that spoke of honey lies and sugar secrets. The palest one with stark blonde hair stared at Adrian. "Now, dear prince, please tell me that awful rumor of you being engaged is not true."

Adrian tensed and froze, as did I. We seemed to have forgotten something out here. The fact that after all this was over, Adrian would go back to Lourdes. He was not for me. "It is true, my friends. I must apologize."

One with a pink complexion and strawberry blonde locks leaned dangerously close to my prince. "Oh but I'm sure she would not mind if you kissed another woman...surely she cannot be as beautiful as I." The others giggled again and scooted closer to Adrian I shifted farther away feeling like an awkward boulder against these petite birds. The others made protestations as well, they all wished to have a kiss from Adrian.

Adrian shifted his head and gave a lopsided smile. "She cannot compare to your beauty, that is for sure. It is an arranged marriage. Neither of us have had any say in the matter. It has been decided by our parents and is solely a political match."

The strawberry blonde one leaned even closer and put her hand blatantly between Adrian's legs. My entire body flushed an I averted my eyes. The nymphs laughed low, under their breath. Were they doing this to torture me? Because oh gods, it was working. I didn't see but could hear as Adrian moved her hand away. "I propose a little game," the nymph said, her voice deep. I glanced back to them. The nymph had not moved away but her hand had been. I watched as removed a small deer hide canteen from her side. She uncorked it and poured out a little of its contents into her hand. It was silvery, glittery powder. "One little kiss, my dear Adrian, that is all you must endure. I will sprinkle this powder into the fire, and whomever's name its smoke says, that is who you must kiss." She stared at Adrian. "Do you agree?" Something in her eyes must have unsettled Adrian, for he nodded.

"Aurora will be included as well?"

The strawberry blonde nymph glanced at me and grinned. "Of course," she answered in a lazy tone and then sprinkled the glittery powder into the fire.

We all sat, breathless, around the fire. I did not dare look at Adrian, for I was sure all I would see was the picture of him earlier that felt tattooed to my eyelids. My insides screamed for my name to be the one the smoke said. The fire crackled and the nymphs giggled nervously around the fire. Their eyes kept darting to each other and I realized they were all envious of each other as well. What a sad existence. Of course, I doubted they felt the same as I did. All of a sudden, it was as if the smoke had become fingers. It began to form a name. A... my heart spiked. E it fell. GINA. I looked around the fire to see who that was. I wasn't surprise when I realized the strawberry blonde was grinning like the cat that got into the cream. "Aegina," she pronounced. "Why, that's me."

The other nymphs glanced each other with squinted eyes but did not do anything. I wondered what might happen to Aegina after we had left. That is, if we could leave. Aegina leaned once again to Adrian and placed her hand once more between his legs and her mouth on his. For a moment I remembered how Lourdes had kissed him, but this was altogether different. This was hot and cold at the same time. It was the kind of thing I wanted to look away from but couldn't. The hand between his legs moved and briefly, idiotically, I wondered why she would do such a thing. Then I remembered what the older girls had said and really did look away this time. The other nymphs had already gotten up, bored with their game now that they had lost. I didn't bother to break Adrian away from Aegina. Gods, I didn't even want to look. It sickened me. I heard her breathing behind me and retreated farther into the cave with the rest of the nymphs.

The darkest skinned one gave me a cold smirk. "She's the show off of all of us." Her tone was matter of fact. "It doesn't matter, tomorrow night he will be mine."

"We are leaving in the morning."

The nymph grinned, revealing sharp canines. "You are. Adrian is not."

And finally, I did what I should have done the moment we encountered the nymphs. I pulled my bow from my back and slung it with an arrow. "No. We are leaving and we are leaving now." The nymphs face went slack. "Adrian and I have been bonded by an oath of the wolves and that is not one that can be broken so lightly. It cannot be broken by danger or fear or doubt or jealousy. It is not one that can be broken by anything."

The dark skinned nymph laughed. "Yes, but can it be broken by duty? Your love will marry another. Best to leave him to us, where at least he will find pleasure."

"You sicken me."

"And yet you watched him as he bathed. You feel the same as we do. You wish to possess him the way we might."

"Damn you. I will kill you if you do not let us leave!" The nymph frowned and stared at me. This time, even though her gaze frightened me, I did not look away. We stood our ground. I did not look back to see what was happening with Adrian and Aegina. I did not want to know, did not care. Jealousy could not break the bond we had. No other woman could, either. It did not matter if the other woman was one of the lust-starved nymphs or Lourdes. We had something no one could take away and that gave me strength. "Yes I feel that way. But you and I...we are different. You wish to posses his body. I wish to possess all of him. His body, his heart, his mind, his soul. I love him, and that is the truth. And you can never know that. You will never know love. I pity you for that."

The nymph broke her gaze and looked behind my shoulder. "Go and claim your prince, then. Aegina is finished with him." She turned away and retreated into the darkest part of the cave. I turned around to see Adrian standing away from the mussed Aegina, who looked satisfied by the dying fire. For a moment I feared he'd heard me, but then I realized we were much to far away for them to know what we were talking of.

I pointed my bow and arrow straight at Aegina, her eyes glassy and her lips lust-swollen. "Thank you for your hospitality, but we can stay no longer. Let us leave or I will not hesitate to shoot." I looked to Adrian, who looked confused to the point of buffoonery. He looked like some kind of clown.

"It doesn't matter, we cannot be killed." Aegina laughed. "Besides, you wouldn't dare. We can see into your heart of hearts, Aurora of the Forest. You are nothing but a foolish human coward."

I let the arrow fly from the bow and it landed, just as I knew it would, in Aegina's shoulder. Just enough to wound her, and indeed it did. She yelped in pain and scrambled away. Making sure my packs were securely tied around me, I ran to Adrian, grabbed his wrist and pulled him from the cave, one hand around him and one hand on my bow. Behind us I heard Aegina crying in pain and the noises of false pity from the other nymphs. Why I had not done this sooner? If I had just threatened them earlier, if I had just hurt one of them earlier I would have not had to deal with the pain of seeing Adrian belong to someone else, if only for a moment.

However...

As we ran through the forest, Adrian slowly regaining consciousness with each step, I realized what I'd said to the dark skinned nymph. I love him, and that is the truth. I could not deny it anymore. I loved Adrian.

We ran and ran through the summer forest, and my feet pounded to the rhythm of the fact that I loved him. Once again, one moment we stood in summer and the next we stood in winter. We had survived the Fairy and Trickster Realm. We did not stop running, however.

It was then that I realized that Adrian had shifted. I was no longer holding onto his wrist, instead, I
was holding his hand, and our fingers were entwined, like lovers.