Aurora

The Moon Queen took me in her arms then. My mother took me in her arms then. She held me close against her. "I'm so sorry, Aurora, for not coming to you. There is still so much I have yet to explain to you." I shook my head and held onto her as tight as I could. It was so obvious now that I was in her arms. She shared my blonde hair, my blue eyes…we shared similar facial features and with each second we stood there, I realized one more thing about her that reminded me of myself. When she pulled away, she smiled, tears in her eyes. "Come, sit down with me. I will attempt to explain everything to you." She then turned to Adrian and offered him a small curtsy. "I thank you twice, Adrian, Prince of the Forest. Once, for protecting our creatures and twice for accompanying my daughter."

I turned my face towards Adrian, radiating a smile I hoped he would return. Instead, he looked ashen-face. White. "Are you all right?" I questioned, and put my hand out to him. Adrian nodded, swallowed and smiled, becoming himself once more. He grabbed my hand and my mother lead us to a small table near the large window. "Will you explain how I got to Lunarenstein? Will you tell me what happened to my father?" I questioned. Mother laughed and nodded. Then she waved a hand and we sat down. Almost immediately, invisible hands began to serve us from tureens and plates who had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"Come, eat. You must be starving," my mother - Selene, Queen of the Moon - implored. I still could only barely fathom what had happened, but there was no denying the truth I had known instantly. "Let me start from the beginning. Twenty five years ago, the forest was alight with colors, sounds, music…it was a harmonious time for us. The mortals in the human world did not bother us, we had peace between the creatures and the king of the land," Mother looked at Adrian, talking about his father, "was a wise, yet firm ruler."

Adrian laughed outright at that. "Your Highness, you cannot be speaking of my father. He is neither wise nor firm."

Mother simply raised an eyebrow. "There is much you do not know, young Adrian." She turned back to me. "I spent much of my time in my palace on the moon, but I loved living down in the forest and kept a palace here as well. Creatures from all over the forest were invited to my palace - oh, what balls we had! What dancing!" Her look was wistful. "But it was not to be so for long. On one night, I met the most beautiful man I'd ever encountered." Here, she gave me a warm, loving smile and cupped my chin. "Your father. His name was Endymion, and he was one of King Randulf's fiercest warriors and right-hand man. Of course, I knew exactly what he was the moment I saw him, and he knew what I was. You see, Aurora, while I loved this earth, I was not truly allowed to stay on it. Each day on Earth made me older, weaker…if I stayed for too long I would die a terrible death. I am of the moon, and am not destined to stay here forever. My home is the palace of the moon. And no creature of forest is allowed to step foot on moon, so Endymion could not join me."

Questions bubbled in my throat, but I silenced them. I was sure she would explain all. "Despite all we knew, Endymion and I fell madly in love. He swore to me that he would find a way to discard his wolf skin. He left the forest for the mortal world, taking up residence in Schloss Lunarenstein. He believed that if he lived in the mortal world for long enough, he would become mortal. After all, if a child lived too long in the mortal world, even if he or she was part wolf, they would never be able to change if they'd been human for too long. So we believed that soon we could be together and I could make him the King of the Moon."

"However, the Witch of Fear had other plans for me. The creatures were at peace with each other, there was a lack of fear in the forest, something that displeased her. She was useless and forgotten without fear. All her children, the malevolent creatures of the forest, were forgotten during this time. So they plotted and planned with each other and one day they snatched me away. The Witch of Fear placed me in this tower. Anyone else could come and go as they pleased, but I would never leave. She thought that within days I would be dead and the moon and all its purity would cease to exist. But I was smarter. I took the moon from the sky and placed it in myself. For four years she didn't notice, but then began to realize strange things about me - how I would sometimes glow, when I hadn't before. I tried to pretend it was because I was the Queen of the Moon. She continued to look for the moon until I knew that it was only a matter of time before she figured it out. Because I knew she would realize, I called Endymion to me." At this, she blushed. "Nine months later, you were born and I placed the moon inside of you."

"Wha-"

"No, please, Aurora, let me finish. I placed the moon inside of you and had Endymion take you away. He told me that Schloss Lunarenstein, the castle he was staying in, was run by a woman called Delphine, and she longed for a child. So Endymion gave you to Delphine to raise as her own. Endymion made her swear that she would never tell another soul about what you were. You would grow up, believing you were her own. I thought that it would be okay from then on. So long as the moon was on Earth, I could survive. I knew someday that you would grow up and I believed that you could save me. I thought that you would save me, that Endymion would be human enough to leave with me and one day we would return to the moon as a family."

She swallowed, then, tears returning to her eyes. "But The Witch found out what I'd done. Endymion came to me one night and the Witch felt his presence and came at once. She was about to kill him when I took him and threw him into the sky." Mother looked up at the sky then and pointed at a constellation directly above us. "And there he stays until you free me and find a way to defeat the Witch."

I sat in total, shocked silence and then hugged myself. "I am the moon?" I asked, my voice far away. Mother put her hand on my cheek and nodded. What if I don't want to be the moon? I wanted to ask. What if I don't want to return to the moon with you? What if I want to stay here? What if I cannot defeat the Witch of Fear? How am I supposed to do such a thing anyway? I didn't know why these questions weren't tumbling out of me. Instead I looked at my mother with sharp eyes. "Why didn't the Witch of Fear kill me when she had the chance? She knew where I was…what had happened…"

Mother shook her head. "I do not know. There are things I will never understand." Her gaze shifted to my head and she touched my flowers. "These are the symbol of the Moon. Moon Flowers. Only humans and the purest of forest creatures can touch them." Her tone was far-off. I followed her gaze - she was looking at Adrian as if reading his thoughts. He turned his head from her. "I suppose you two must be exhausted from your journey."

"What will happen now?" I question, my voice thick.

Mother stared again at the sky, at the constellation, at my father. "You may stay here. The Witch of Fear does visit me. I do not live in poverty, as you may have noticed. When she comes, you must challenge her. I cannot. I have survived because the moon is here on Earth, but because it is not in its proper place and I have not lived here, my powers are all but gone."

"But I have no powers. All I have is my bow and arrow. And a sword."

The Queen of the Moon shook her head and kissed my forehead. "No, what you have is far greater. You have courage, Aurora. Courage, intelligence and resourcefulness. I am sure you will know what to do when the time comes. At our darkest moments, that is when we find our strength." She smiled and stood up. "Come, I will show you to your rooms."

We followed her down the spiral staircase to the open hall we'd come across earlier. Mother went down the hall and I noticed that on either side there was a door. She motioned to the one of the left. "This one is your room, Aurora." Then, she motioned to the one on the right. "And this, Prince, is yours." She whirled to me and embraced me tightly. "I will see you in the morning, my darling daughter. I will tell you all I can tomorrow about the moon. It is your home now, Aurora. I know you have longed for a family. Now you know you always had one." She kissed my cheek and disappeared again up the stairs. Adrian and I watched her leave, and I stared after her long after she was gone, until Adrian moved to go into his room.

"Wait." The words left my mouth before I could censor them. I had promised myself this morning that I would tell him how I felt about it, but now that the time was upon me, I didn't think I had the nerve. Still, I couldn't take back the words after I'd spoken them. The only lights came from wall sconces and Adrian's face was bathed in orange firelight. He stared at me, unspeaking. "Can I come in for a moment? I just need a minute to process all of this and I…don't want to be alone right now." It sounded silly the moment I said it, but again…I couldn't take it back.

Adrian nodded and opened the door. He cleared his throat. "Yes, yes of course." I followed him into his room. It was large enough…bigger than some of the trees we'd slept beneath. It was well decorated, but quite unlike Lady Joy's rooms that were decorated with gold and silver, all of the furnishings in this room were dark. There was a large fire burning in the hearth, however, something that lit up the entire room. Adrian threw down his weapons and his pack and collapsed on the bed and I sat down next to him.

"You were quiet all that time," I found myself muttering. I took off all my things, placed them carefully on the floor and laid back beside him. "What were you thinking?"

Adrian looked at me. "What were you thinking?"

For a moment I thought he would kiss me then. His eyes were quiet and soft, it made me feel bleary. I'd been drunk once before; when I'd turned fifteen the older girls had snuck a couple of bottles of wine into the tower and we'd all gotten drunk. I remembered that now for some reason, or at least, I remembered that feeling of softness and a lightness in my head. The way he was looking at me almost made me delirious. For a moment I was tempted to just reach up and kiss him, kiss him the way I'd always wanted, but instead I just shook my head. "I don't know. All sorts of things. That I didn't want to go with her. That I didn't want to be the moon." I took a deep breath. "Why is it I spent this entire time wanting a family, looking for a place to belong and now that I've finally got one," a bitter laugh escaped me. "Now that I've finally got one, I don't want it." We were quiet. "Now you have to tell me what you were thinking about. Why were you so quiet?" Now Adrian sat up a little bit, just enough to rest himself on his elbow. He looked up at the ceiling, his handsome face so serious and sad.

"I was just thinking about what she said." He saw my confused look and swallowed. "How she and Endymion couldn't be together because she was of the moon and he was of the Earth." My heart leapt into my throat. I'd thought of that too. "And I was thinking that I must have always known you were the moon, because of the way you glowed. But most of all, I was thinking about those days when I would stand at the edge of the forest and watch you." He laughed. "I must sound mad to you, Aurora. Or I must sound…I don't know how I sound. You want to know what I was thinking of? I will tell you, because I have been wanting for so long to tell you. I was thinking of you. It is not something new, I promise you that. I have thought you everyday since I first saw you."

He leaned over me and brushed my hair from my face. "Wait," I whispered for the second time that night. My voice cracked. My mind was trying to understand what he was saying, but something continued to block my reasoning. It was almost like I didn't want to believe he loved me. "Wait don't say anything. I promised myself I would tell you this morning. I can no longer keep it buried inside me any longer. I don't want to be the moon. I don't want to be…whatever I am. I want to be with you. I know, I know it's impossible. I don't care. I want to be with you. I want to hold you, the way Lourdes is allowed. I want to touch your face, I want to know you're mine when I say your name. I want to kiss your lips…I want to love you, Adrian. Because I do love you and I can no longer keep my love for you silent."

Adrian moved closer to me and touched my lips with his fingers. "Aurora, I loved you before I knew what love was and I have loved you everyday since. And tonight I am not scared."

I didn't know what he meant by that but I didn't care. The moment he touched put his lips against mine I realized I didn't care about anything in the world except the feeling. He was like butter against me, warm and smooth, but his lips tasted almost sweet. He kissed me over and over again, until my lips felt almost numb. Adrian's arms came around me, he pulled me close to him and I felt my hands wander into his hair. It was a strange feeling, almost like being separate from myself. My heart beat in my throat, my body felt more alive than I could ever explain. Adrian's hand moved to cup the back of my head and he pressed deeper into me, opening my mouth with his own. He tasted slightly of toffee and of happiness. Pure, streaming happiness. And a soft heat that was beginning to flow through me.

Adrian pressed his body closer to me and slipped off the surcoat I was still wearing. I realized then how hot I was and began to take off his coat for him. For a moment, a terrible, blinding fear surged its way through my body and I pulled away. But his eyes said everything I knew I wanted to hear, as silly as I knew that must be. He nodded, once, and kissed my temple, my cheek, my jawline and my lips once more. His hands came once again to my clothes. He struggled to pull them off. I pulled again, but this time I said very quietly, "Stop."

He stopped immediately, his eyes looking hazy at me, his hair mussed in his face. "I'm sor-" he started, but I shook my head, a smile creeping over my face. Nervousness, the sweet cousin of fear, tingled through my body. Exhilaration, anticipation…for a moment, when I blinked I saw Rosalyn and her lovers behind my eyes. But when I looked at Adrian, I realized what he'd said was true. Tonight, I wasn't scared. Because we couldn't be together. He had Lourdes and he was the prince of Earth and the Wolves and all the Land and I was the daughter of the Moon Queen. Princess, I suppose. Nervousness still plagued my body, but now I began to pull my clothes off myself. Adrian made a surprised sort of noise in the back of his throat and followed my movements. Soon we both sat, entirely naked on his bed. I did my best to look at just his face, but what did it matter? I'd already seen everything.

I swallowed. "Have you…?"

Adrian gathered me in his lean, dark arms. "No."

"But you will…with Lourdes…on your wedding night."

He looked at me straight in the eyes and took my face between his hands. "No. I will…again…with you…on our wedding night." For some reason, I felt tears in my eyes. I wanted to tell him that it was impossible. "I want to be your home, Aurora. I want to be your family. I want you to know that you belong somewhere. It's with me. Because I belong nowhere but with you. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, I will be there. You have my heart, Aurora, and because of that, wherever you go, I go."

He did not let me speak after that, and began to kiss me again. He laid me down and covered both of us with the quilts piled on the bed. He kissed me all over my body, whispering strange words in a language I did not recognize. Still, his voice rumbling against my skin lit my soul on fire and I felt my entire body tremble and sigh.

In the dark, Adrian and I possessed all of each other. Once, when we were moving against each other, our skin slick, I lifted an arm and realized that I was glowing. It was only the tiniest of things, only noticeable to someone who was really looking. I wasn't allowed too much time to take stock of this strange new discovery. Adrian pulled me once again against him and made me forget everything except him.

I'd never felt more beautiful in my entire life.

In the morning when I awoke, Adrian had me pressed against his chest. The hazy sun was streaming through the open window. In the daylight, the room looked sad, but not even the depressing furnishings could make me feel less than perfect. And for a moment I was a bit confused. Adrian and I often slept close together. Why did I feel so happy? Why did I feel so perfect indeed? Then I realized my lack of clothes and laughed softly to myself. I leaned up and stole a glance at Adrian. The quilts were not covering his torso, exposing his lean chest. Bending over him, I kissed his shoulder softly, smelling him. He smelled musky, and of pine trees and sap. I liked the smell. He smelled of the forest, he smelled of home - not a place, but a feeling. I ached in a happy way as I kissed him.

I felt him move beneath me and his hands came to my waist. I looked at his face as he blinked his eyes open. "Good morning," he muttered. He sat up and kissed my neck. "How are you?"

"Happy. Good. Sore."

"I apologize for that."

"Please don't." I grinned at him. Adrian met my gaze and I saw that his eyes were nervous. "What? Are you all right?"

He shook his head. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"About what happens now. Thinking about what must happen for this to end the right way. Trying to figure out a way to make you mine. Permanently." I nodded and put my arms around his neck and hugged him close. "No matter what, Aurora, I want you to know…I will not give up on you. And no matter what happens, please know that my love for you isn't some fleeting fancy."

I pulled away. "Then you should know mine isn't either, Adrian. I love you and I know in my heart of hearts that that will never change."

"No matter what happens, I will always love you." I hugged him again, the happiness of the night giving way to a near exhaustion. What would we do now? How would we overcome this?

No matter what happens, he'd said. No matter what happened. No matter what.