Aurora

Before the last light of the day faded, a cart came pulling into Lunarenstein. A dark figure jumped out, joined by three others who carried unknown objects around the side of the castle. I watched, peering into the darkness as I stood in the foyer. "You do not remember Nikolae?" came a voice beside me. When I turned, I saw it was Magdalena. I shook my head at the unfamiliar name. "He is the archery teacher, and also sometimes grooms the horses. He stays in the lodge with the other men." There were very few men who worked at Lunarenstein, but I did remember that they all lived together in the Hunting Lodge that was located a little ways from the castle. "He came just before you...disappeared. He was quite worried about you the entire time you left. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, he had to go the city for supplies."

Hearing those words jolted a memory back into me, of men taking the cart and two of the workhorses into the city to buy seeds to plant summer vegetables with, grain, cloth..."I don't remember him at all," I replied, shrugging. "Is he nice?" It seemed like a silly thing to ask.

Magdalena smiled. "Before you disappeared, he seemed to have taken an interest in you. Maybe your relationship will pick back up. He works at Lunarenstein, certainly he cannot mind staying here. And Delphine absolutely adores him, he's one of the few men she actually likes." I nodded absently at that, but my heart quickened. I tried to pass it off as maybe a memory of our apparent relationship, but the feeling was nothing good, only troubling.

The front door opened and in came a tall, handsome young man who I could only assume was the absent Nikolae. His eyebrows shot up when he saw me, and as he stepped closer, I noticed his dark brown eyes were full of concern. "Aurora! You're home! We've been so worried about you...we feared the worst."

I attempted a smile that faltered. Magdalena took a step in front of me, almost protecting me from my lack of memory, or maybe protecting me from him. "Nikolae, Aurora has no memory of anything that happened. She doesn't even remember you. And we have just been visited by the wolves who have informed us that they will launch an attack against us tonight at Midnight. They claim we have the Princess of the Moon, whatever that means. It is a bit of a trying time around here. You may want to speak with Delphine about what is to be done about tonight."

At this, I spoke up. Just because I couldn't remember the past few months did not mean that I did not remember my place. "We already know what is to be done about tonight," I informed them both. They seemed to have almost forgotten about me, as soon as Magdalena had brought up the wolves, Nikolae had become tense, his face strained. As Magdalena had informed Nikolae about what was happening here, it was as if I became the strange invalid once more. It couldn't be like that, though. I had a duty. "I will speak to Delphine. We will gather all the girls of fighting age, and," I turned to Nikolae with shy eyes, "you, of course, if you can spare yourself. We will do our best to hold our own against the wolves. Tell them somehow that we just do not have this Princess. Hope they will believe us. Maybe...maybe we can end this fight once and for all. Maybe if I get rid of their king..."

"No." Nikolae shook his head. "Not the king, the king is useless. The creatures of the forest distrust and dislike him. That much I know. It is the son, the Prince of Wolves that we must look out for. Adrian, that is his name. If we kill him - if you kill him, Aurora, then they may surrender."

Nikolae did not even need to tell me who Adrian was or what he looked like. I already knew the Prince of Wolves was the one who had made me feel nauseated and weak kneed. I swallowed. "I should go to Delphine."

"You may be the heiress to Lunarenstein, Aurora," Magdalena said, shaking her head, "but you do not need to go alone. We will come with you. Tonight...tonight is the end, then."

Yes, I thought, looking out the window to the moonless sky, tonight is the end.

I could feel the end in my veins a few hours later as we stood in the snow, my clean hair gleaming in the faint light of the stars. Something had told me not to douse in charcoal, the way I usually did. Our faces, too, were clean. We were bright eyed but not optimistic, something quivered in my body, telling me that this really would be the end. That something was going to happen tonight that would change everything. Maybe tonight I would die. Strangely the thought didn't even bother me. The same anxiety that consumed me at night was creeping up again. I could feel its soft tendrils ensnaring me, pulling me down. I closed my eyes, turned my face to the sky and looked up.

Somehow my eyes picked out a constellation that looked like a man. The stars twinkled unexpectedly, I looked down and took a deep breath. When I exhaled, I exhaled white. My body shook, my heart beat rapidly against my chest, in my bones. Under my skin I felt something pounding, clawing; trying to escape the walls I'd caged it in.

Somewhere not very far off, a wolf howled.

I answered the call with a howl of my own, sending out my own beast into the night. I clutched my bow to my skin, and looked at my sisters. Ileana and Lise looked so serious; so serious and different than their usual dreaminess. A small, crooked, satisfied smile was painted on Niamh's face - a smile that made me falter. Her eyes turned to mine, she winked once and then looked ahead. My gaze slid to Magdalena. She nodded once to me, took my hand and squeezed it. On my other side stood Nikolae, hunger glinting in his dark eyes.

I started into the forest first, my girls trailing behind me. We would not survive tonight, but we must.

The forest was dark, but somehow I felt comfortable the moment I broke into the trees. My heart slowed down to a normal - at least, normal at running - speed, and I could not escape the strange word that kept flitting through my mind. Home. And yet, I didn't understand. How could the forest be home? Lunarenstein was home. Still, the anxiety fled the moment I stepped into the trees. I did not want to leave. For a strange reason, a laugh escaped through my lips and I felt free.

Through the trees went a flash of white. A wolf. Not the Prince of Wolves, somehow I knew that immediately. Still, I chased the wolf as my reluctance once again set in, my enduring reluctance. I didn't want to kill any of the wolves. They felt sacred almost. The wolf was in sight of me now, it was fast - but so was I. It slowed down for a moment and became human. It was a she - the beautiful, terrifying woman I'd seen with the other wolves today. "It's so good to see you again, Aurora," she called as she darted away from me. I strung my bow. "We've missed you." She disappeared in the trees. I stopped. Looking around, I noticed I stood in a small circle of trees. "I've missed you." The voice was right by my ear.

"Who are you?" I questioned, flipping around so she was right in front of me. This must be a trap. She would distract me long enough so that one of her brothers or sisters would attack me. I tried to look over my shoulder while staying on my guard, however, this proved almost impossible. "How do you know my name?"

The woman smiled, a razor-sharp smile that did not meet her cold eyes. "How can I not know the woman who almost stole everything from me?" She cocked her head and laughed. "But now you are a lost, alone little frightened girl and I once again have everything. You are a fool, Aurora. And you will not kill me." He smile turned into a grin. "Good luck to you." Her words were, quite obviously, filled with false sincerity. But I was still reeling from the strange words she'd said to really care about what her tone was. She became a wolf again, and began to turn away when I heard more footsteps behind me.

Dammit, I'd been right. This was a trap. However, when I turned to the footsteps to see who was coming, I realized it was Niamh, holding a bow. One of my own. My eyes went back to the white wolf. Only a few moments passed but everything was crystal clear. Niamh let the bow flying, aiming to kill the white wolf. And then...and then my own arrow was flying, flying toward Niamh's. It hit hers directly on and both of the arrows shattered in mid-air. I turned back.The white wolf was already out of sight.

Niamh only shook her head. "Coward," she muttered. "The Prince went that way," she said, pointing into the darkness. "I was trailing him, but I know Delphine said you had to kill him. Don't know why, you couldn't kill anything if it was attacking you." Her eyes were dark, yet bright with anger. She spat on the ground next to me. "I'll never understand what she sees in you. You'll never truly be a daughter of Lunarenstein."

Her words ignited a strange feeling in me, and because I did not understand them, I interpreted them as anger. "As long as I am the daughter of Delphine, I am the daughter of Lunarenstein. I will find the Prince and I will kill him."

"I hope you do. My ultimatum still stands as it did before you disappeared. I don't care that you don't remember it. If you don't kill a wolf, I will tell Delphine, and she will abandon you." We stood for a moment, staring at each other, sizing each other up, before I ran off in the direction that she'd pointed in. I was sure that the Prince of Wolves - Adrian, Nikolae had said, and the name made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end - had gone off in some other direction, but I would find him. I did not want to be near Niamh any longer. Her words were knives, they cut me. For some reason, I did remember her ultimatum all of a sudden. The jolt of memory ran through me and I tried to remember other things, with no luck. I could just recall her cold words telling me to kill or be killed.

I plunged deeper into the forest, but still no fear came. At least, not until I saw a dark figure - darker than the night, even - standing between the trees. This was him. Somehow, I just knew. As I got closer, I could see him more clearly, standing in a large treeless area. He stood in the middle, still, silent, his eyes staring at me. I stopped at the edge of the trees.

"Aurora." His words were the same as the voice in my head has been earlier. The wrist with the strange golden tattoo went to my chest. Adrian, Prince of Wolves, caught my motion. Aurora. His voice whispered through my thoughts.

"Adrian," I answered, licking my lips. The name sounded strange on my tongue. Not because it was unfamiliar...on the contrary. Because it felt so right in my mouth.

"You're here to kill me," he informed me, not questioning what I was about to do.

I nodded. Something inside me, definitely anger this time, was screaming at me to shoot him. There was some hurt, angry side of me that was irrationally upset at this man I did not even know. "If I do not, you will kill me. And if I do not, I will be abandoned. And if I do not, the Queen of the Moon will never be freed and you will never be stopped and..." I swallowed. "And maybe if I kill you, I can kill this strange feeling in my chest. This strange haunting in my chest."

Adrian laughed. "Then by all means, kill me." I lifted my bow. "Oh no. Not with that." I let it drop. He unhitched something from his belt. A...sword? "A bow is too easy. I know you would not miss my heart if that was where you were aiming. You would not miss at all. And I know you really do mean to kill me. So I will let you. But you have to use this." He stepped towards me and handed me the sword. I took it after a moment and let the metal warm almost instantly in my hands. I hooked my bow to my back and unsheathed the sword.

"I assure you will have the upper hand in this fight, Your Highness." Again, he laughed. "Do you find me funny, Your Highness?" Adrian took a few steps towards me, and although I tensed, I did not back away. Even that hurt, angry part of me trusted him, blindly trusted him. When I was close enough, I could see that his almost were blank. No...not blank. So sad they almost looked numb. I pulled away at that for a moment. "I..." I wanted to say something, to comfort him, but no words came to me. I shook away the sympathy, or whatever the feeling was, and stared at the man in front of me whose death meant everything to me. Or everything I needed, yet did not want. I did not want the life at Lunarenstein, but I needed it. So I would fight for it. My bitterness towards this man spiked once more. "I am sorry for whatever pain has been done to you to make your eyes so blank, however, I must kill you now."

"Do not apologize. It was nothing you did." Adrian pulled his sword from his sheath and put it out in front of him. Automatically, my hands went to cross his sword with mine. The feeling was so natural I almost wondered for a moment if I wasn't holding a bow. He glanced up at me, nodded once, and thrust towards me. Instantly, I parried. "I betrayed the trust of someone I love very dearly," Adrian explained as we fought against each other in that clearing.

"A family member?" I questioned.

"She might have been, had I not hurt her," he answered.

"Oh, I see. A lover, then." When I looked at him, he nodded, meeting his sad gaze with mine. I blocked an advance and stepped away, the beastly part of me roaring against my chest. "Stop. Please. You cannot make me feel sympathy for you or I will never be able to kill you. And I must. I must kill you."

"Would you feel remorse if you did?"

I looked at the night sky and sighed. "I do not know, Prince. I would, yes, of course I would, because you are beautiful and beauty like yours should not die. But I have no home but the castle, and if I do not, one of my sisters will tell my mother that I cannot kill a wolf. And she will abandon me, because I am not fit to carry on the legacy of Lunarenstein. And although my body aches each night I lie in that god forsaken place, it is the only home I will ever have, so you tell me, Prince, you tell me - what would you have me do?"

He looked at me for so long after that and the way he looked at me almost made want to give up and cry. "Then let us fight. And let us be silent. And let one of us die."

This time it was me who thrust against him, forcing the tears away, and him who parried against me. We fought silently now, clashing against each other. The movements of the sword were fluid and instinctual to me. I'd always felt at ease with the bow - maybe a gift of weaponry was something my father passed on to me, whoever he was. We advanced into the trees, stepping over rocks and low-lying branches, our feet never straying too far, our arms always in front of us, always keeping an eye on each other, always blocking whatever the other was doing. I didn't think I'd had much experience in swordplay but he was an excellent swordsman - then again, for some reason, so was I. At one moment Adrian turned and ran from me. I thought he was trying to run away and followed, close on his heels, but then he whipped around, hoping to surprise me. It did not work. I was ready for his attack.

Our battle lead us closer and closer to the edge of the woods - I could feel my anxiety rising again, for some reason. My anxiety and anger and hurt and shame...they mounted and mounted into a dizzying crescendo that I unleashed on this man, this man I did not know or could not remember but something was shouting at me to remember, a piece of myself that I wanted more than anything, a piece of myself that I could not lose, a piece of myself that was hidden.

Suddenly we broke out of the trees and were fighting in the grass behind Lunarenstein. I stopped as soon as I left the comfort of the forest, anxiousness and nerves crippling me. Adrian let his sword drop and came to my side, but I pushed him away, doubling over. This beast, this horrible monster inside of me was killing me, ravaging me. I ran back into the forest, not even picking up my sword again, not even thinking about my sword, but this time the anxiety wouldn't go away. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned around, my arm around, attempting - quite poorly - to fend off any attackers. Thankfully, it was just Magdalena, with Ileana and Lise following close on her heels. My sisters were still alive.

"Aurora!" Magdalena grabbed onto me and dragged me back out of the forest, where Adrian, Prince of Wolves, still stood. "What did you do to her, wolf," Magdalena spat. "We have not killed any of yours, and you must know that Aurora would never kill you - so why?" Then, all of a sudden, Magdalena straightened up. I fell against her, trying to calm myself. "Oh gods...you are the one who saved her. You told me she was safe at the palace of the wolves...why did I forget that? Why did I never tell anyone? And why is it just coming back to me?"

"It would have been dangerous for you to remember." A new voice came from behind us. We all turned around and saw the ugliest, strangest person I'd ever seen. A tall woman of skin and bones stood before us in purple robes, clutching a bowl. The sound of running feet all of a sudden came from all different directions and all at once we were joined by Niamh, the white wolf - now human - the king of the wolves, Nikolae, and, to my surprise, Delphine.

"Do not listen to her, my daughters, this is the Liche Queen, Queen of the Dead, Queen of the Damned! She is the one who imprisoned our Moon Queen! She is our enemy! Do not lose sight of our goal, my daughters!" Delphine's voice was tight, and the anxiety in my chest was lessening now; I stood up on my own. Delphine came and clasped me to her.

The Queen of the Dead turned to us...namely, me. "Aurora, you alone of your sisters know the truth about what happened to the Moon Queen. And you cannot remember, can you?" I shook my head. She sighed. "The Queen of the Moon was stolen by the Witch of Fear and was locked away into her tower by the Witch as well. The Witch also stole the Princess of the Moon. Aurora."

I shook my head. "You are mistaken, I cannot be the Princess of the Moon. I am the daughter of Delphine." I looked to Delphine, whose eyes were a blank stare. "Am I?" I questioned.

Adrian, Prince of Wolves took a step towards me and took my hand, the hand with the strange golden tattoo and held it within his own. "You must remember, Aurora. You must remember everything. You must know that I never meant to hurt you, that I only agreed to their plans because I wanted to be with you. It was so selfish, but I never told them anything, you must believe me...I never even learned anything! I just wanted to be with you, wanted to be close to you, but I knew the only way I could do that was if I was Dog because you would never trust me...not me as me." Tears were falling from Adrian's face as he kissed my palm, and then my wrist. I did not pull away, the bitterness and anger fading from my heart. "Please, Aurora, remember."

"It would be good if you remembered now, Aurora." The Liche Queen spoke again, and everyone looked at her. "For the Witch of Fear stands among us now. Her and her children, Jealousy and Greed."

"Wha-?"

Aurora, a new voice whispered in my thoughts. It was not Adrian's, but a soft, feminine voice. You are stronger than this, I know you are. Then, like the breeze, the voice was gone. I looked up at Adrian. He lifted my wrist to his own, where a glittering golden tattoo sat. He put our wrists against each other, put his other hand against my head, pulled me to him and kissed me so soft on the lips that I thought it might not have even happened.

And I woke up.

I stared at Adrian, my lover, my best friend, my everything for a moment. Then I pulled away from him and looked at all the people around me. They were waiting on me. They did not know. I closed my eyes, thinking of all that had happened to me in the past months...the gate keeper who had made me Aurora of the Forest - she'd said I would be anxious for every night I tried to return to my old life. Charon, the ferry driver who'd driven the boat through the lake where I'd first received the tattoo, the trees Adrian and I had slept in, the fighting, our conversations, the nymphs, the Karnivale of the Nighte, the Moon Queen - my mother...Adrian's slick body against my own...Delphine's lies...Delphine's lies...

I turned to Delphine and it was as if I'd always known. Keep those flowers, Dog - Adrian - and the Liche Queen had told me. They will be your greatest weapon.

I took the crown from my head and, looking up into the cold eyes of the woman I'd never felt a daughter of, I threw the crown onto her head. I knew I would not miss, I knew I would not be too slow. She had taught me how to fight, she had taught me how to kill. Those moments were crystal clear. And now I knew that I was never meant to use my gifts against the wolves. I was always meant to use my gifts against the woman who had given them to me.

The moments that followed those crystal seconds were explosions. Adrian pulled me against him as Delphine tried to claw the crown off of her head. It was no use. For a moment she was Delphine; the Delphine I always knew, but then she was something different. She was a monster in a moment, a bird-like, snake-like monster writhing beneath a crown of pristine flowers. The Witch of Fear. And when I placed the crown on her head, Niamh and Nikolae began to writhe as well, until they too were creatures. Jealousy and Greed. I should have known. They were so like their personalities. Niamh had been jealous of me...jealous that Delphine treated me more like a daughter than she ever did of her, and Nikolae had wanted everything...Rosalyn's heart and my own...I understood now, I understood perfectly. The changing eyes, the strange behavior. It all made sense.

And then the Liche Queen came up to the Witch of Fear. "Oh, Lady Fear, how I have longed to do this..." she smiled. ”Although I cannot truly kill you, I can at least imprison you now, now that you are trapped in the halo of the flowers. And although fear will still go through the land, at least your physical embodiment can no longer hurt anyone..." She touched the forehead of Delphine...no, the Witch of Fear. In an instant, they were gone.

"Where did they go?" I asked. Everything was strangely quiet as we all stood - a motley crew of former enemies, now not sure what to call each other. I caught Lourdes' eye for a moment, but she looked down, ashamed to meet my gaze. For better or for worse, I did save her life. And then, in another moment, a new figure appeared among us. A shining, silvery figure smiling at me. Mother. I ran towards her and embraced her. "How are you here? What happened?"

The Queen of the Moon, my mother, laughed and embraced me back. The Liche Queen stepped up to us, her cataract filled eyes looking almost kind. "As soon as you imprisoned them in your flowers, they bent to your will. Those flowers obeyed you...do you remember how they first stung you when you touched them? But after time they came to call you their master. So they would do what you wanted them to. So when you trapped Lady Fear, she became under your command. I simply sent her to the tower she trapped my sister, Selene, in. And she could no longer hold onto the enchantment she had on Selene."

"But how did you know all of this?" I questioned.

The Liche Queen laughed, a truly kind laugh, taking my face in her hands. "Death sees all, Aurora. I told you this."

My eyes, filled with tears of joy, turned to Adrian, who smiled and nodded. "Come now, Aurora. You have something I need," my mother said. I turned a confused look to her. She took my hand and placed it over my heart, putting hers over it. Smiling, she pressed our hands against my heart until I saw a glowing light leave my body until it was safe in the hands of my mother. It was a glowing ball that she held...the moon. I laughed as she lifted her hands to the sky and blew the moon away. It floated through the air until it landed between a patch of stars and became one with the background. Suddenly, the clearing was bathed in light. I stared at the moon, suppressing the urge to laugh.

Many things had to be sorted out still, I knew that. But for right now...the moon's beauty entranced me. I felt a hand against my own and, without looking, I knew it was Adrian.

"Aurora," a new voice said, completely unfamiliar, but with a ring of knowing on it. I turned around, still holding Adrian's hand.

And there, standing with my mother, stood a dark haired, olive skinned man grinning at me. My father.