Light Eyes; DarK Eyes

Aurora opened her eyes, blinking blearily at the light streaming through the small window. With a moan, she turned away, burying her face in what she’d been using as a pillow. After all, it was warm. ‘Warm?’ she wondered, pulling away again, just enough to see what—who—she was lying on. Aiden. The fact that Aiden was sleeping in her bed didn’t bother her terribly much. It probably should’ve bothered her more than it did, actually. But, he did have a fever, which did worry her. He was pale, making his hair look even darker than normal. It reminded her of the second time they had met, a few months ago. ‘But he hasn’t been anywhere near iron…’ she thought, wincing from the pounding headache that hammered at her temples. She was sore, as though she’d been hit by a cart.
Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep. Losing that battle with herself, she opened her eyes again. Aiden stirred next to her when she moved, his body twisting a bit, making him grimace. He went still again, and his face relaxed some. He still looked uncomfortable though.
Pulling the bedclothes back around him, she got up, happy to find that the pain from yesterday—was it yesterday?—was gone. She stretched and walked into the sitting room. Her father was there, having just come in.
“Aurora. You’re up.” He sounded relieved, and a bit surprised. “How do you feel?”
“I’m a little sore, and I have a headache; but pretty much fine.” She said, smiling to reassure him. He nodded, letting a smile creep onto his own face.
“I’m glad you feel better. You gave us all quite a scare.” He told her.
“I’m sorry. What was it, anyway?” Aurora asked, wondering what had been wrong with her. Her healing expertise lay in wounds and injuries, not illnesses.
“Iron poisoning, actually.” The king said.
“Iron? But, it doesn’t have any effect on us. Does it?” She asked, rather astounded. That explained the soreness. Aiden had said something about being sore after contact with iron, too. He’d likened it to being run over by an elephant, if she wasn’t mistaken.
“You had a lot of iron in your body, apparently. A blocking agent was causing the build up.” She blinked.
“How on earth did you manage to figure that out? I’ve never heard of iron building up like that, even with an implanted block.” She said, amazed.
“Well…” Celadon wasn’t sure how to say it. “Your Aiden was framed. Someone; we’re not sure who, yet; tried to kill you with a Darric assassination technique.” There was more to the story, and Aurora could tell that her father was reluctant to tell her.
“And? What happened?” She asked, eyes narrowing. The king pursed his lips together, trying to organize a sentence that wouldn’t make it sound quite as dire as it had looked.
“Uh…He told me what was wrong with you when our healers couldn’t help.” He was still trying to keep something quiet.
“Father, what are you trying to say?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. He sighed.
“More or less, he got the iron out of your bloodstream.” He said quickly, not looking her in the eyes.
“How?” Aurora asked, although a certain horrible theory was looming in her mind.
“I believe he…absorbed most of it, pulling it out of you.” The king said, still not looking at his daughter, whose theory had been correct.
“What? But that’s suicide!” She said, horrified.
“It was his choice.” Celadon said, his words coming out a little more coldly than he’d intended them to.
“Father, what insane choice did you give him this time?” She demanded, anger growing at Aiden’s stupidity. Her father raised his hands, trying to calm her down a little. He was firmly in the belief that she shouldn’t be riled so soon after a healing.
“I didn’t force him to do it. He did it entirely of his own will.” He said, telling the truth. Aurora gritted her teeth.
“I don’t understand, why did he—? He knows what iron does to him.” She was bewildered. Aiden wasn’t suicidal. Why would he go to such lengths to keep her alive?
“He was being framed for your poisoning. Whoever did it knew about Darric assassination. He said that it was a pretty gruesome way to kill someone. They wanted you dead, and him to be killed for killing you.” The king said, relaying the information. That made more sense. He wasn’t going to take the blame for that, even if it killed him to prove that he was innocent.
“Do you know if there’s anyway to counteract it?” She asked, trying to remember everything she could, which was very little.
“No, I don’t…One of the healers might know something.” He added, trying to be helpful. He owed that Darric too much at this point not to. And besides, his daughter had some small affection for the boy.