Chapter - VII Aralyn's Story

Chapter VII - Aralyn’s story

When I hear footsteps stumbling down the hall, I quickly fold the paper with the picture of the boy and shove it between the belts of my skirt.

“Good, you’re still here.” Rory says as he enters the room. 

“You did tell me to wait.” I smile, hoping that this erases any suspicion about what I might have been doing. “You said you wanted to show me something.”

Rory smiles back, then walks over to the desk and opens a large drawer with a golden handle, and pulls out a black satin box. “My father is going to present this to you at your party.” He opens the box revealing the most beautiful silver necklace I have ever seen. 

“This is gorgeous, but, why would your father give such a thing to me? I hardly know him.”  I ask, admiring the shining object before me.

“You mean, you don’t know?” He asks in return. I shake my head. “On every girl’s eighteenth birthday she is presented with a gift by the host of her party if not by her parents.” He continues. I shut the box, remembering that my parents hope to send me as far away as possible.

“Thank you for showing me.” I turn and head back to my room.

I turn my thoughts back to the picture of the boy. Why was his picture on the desk? Who is he? Who are the other people in those pictures? I wonder.

The next few days pass and I’m eighteen before I know it.

“Time to get up Apple Bomb. There is much to do before your party tonight. Oh, and happy birthday to you!” Says Uncle Berke peeking his head through the door in my room then exiting. I slowly climb out of bed and prepare myself for the day. Due to the fact that it’s my birthday, I am free from any of today’s meetings. The first half of the day walking around in the garden avoiding stressful thoughts. Then, I am called up to my room so that I can begin getting ready for my party. I sit at the vanity while Aralyn begins to fix my hair into multiple swirls on the back of my head. She then lines my eyes with black, brushes a plum color onto my lids, and coats my lips in a deep red color. After this, she walks over to the closet and pulls out a large silver box and places it on my bed with the implication that I should open it. I walk over and lift the lid. Inside is the most beautiful pale green, ball gown. After we are both dressed, we go down to the golden room.

The room has been thoroughly decorated for my party. I notice that a stone staircase has been added leading up to a balcony on the midway section of the giant room. 

“Hello girls. You two look lovely.” Says Uncle Berke as he moves over towards us. By his side is Callum, who I almost didn’t recognize. His brown hair is nicely combed to the side, and he is wearing a stunning blue-black suit complete with a light blue tie. “Don’t they look lovely, Callum?” Berke continues.

“Uh-well -uh- yeah.” He stutters, staring at me, catching flies. I smile.

The night continues on with dancing, laughing and countless birthday wishes from strangers. Unlike the past few weeks, however, I actually have fun.

“Olivia, can I steal you away for a moment?” Callum whispers in my ear as I take a sip of my drink. I nod, put down my drink and follow him up the stairs and through a door which opens up onto another balcony that looks out into the night sky. Aralyn is here too. Callum closes and locks the door behind us.

“What’s going on?” I ask. Aralyn looks at me and then at Callum.

“That’s just what I was wondering.” He says.

“I need to tell you two something. Olivia, I found this in your room while you were getting ready.” She pulls the paper with the Dark-haired-Boy on it out of her purse. Callum takes the paper.

“What is this?” He asks. I go on to tell him about my dreams and how the boy is in them.

“Is that all you wanted to tell us, Aralyn?”

“No.” She starts. “There’s more.” She takes a deep breath. “When I was eighteen, Mother and Father found me a husband. We met in secret at his house the first few times, just like every arrangement in Elatus. One day, I was walking home when I realized I left my hat. So, I went back. I knocked on the door, no one was home. So, I walked around to the back to see if I could get a response.” Tears start running down her cheeks. “But, when I got there, I saw a girl. Her eyes, hair and skin were dark just like that boy’s. She was no older than I was at the time. She only had one arm, and it wasn’t of much use. She barely had any meat on her body.” She lets out a sob. “She looked so afraid of me. I couldn’t even imagine how that could have happened to her.” By this point I am also crying and I can tell that Callum is fighting back his own tears. Aralyn continues. “She just stared at me with longing eyes. My first thought was to take her to the patch of forest where we live and maybe save her. She slept there for six days without wake, and when she did I brought her food. She became healthy, we became friends. One day, my husband-to-be followed me to her hiding place. I told her to wait while I went back to the house to get more food. I wasn’t half way there when I heard a scream. I immediately turned back. He was pointing a gun at her when I got there. He looked at me and said ‘You’ve caused a great deal of trouble for me, Aralyn Netherly. I can’t kill you for this, but I can kill her.’ He pulled the trigger before I could even try and stop him. She was dead, and he told everyone that I was a bothersome thief.” Aralyn pauses. “She wasn’t able to tell me much about how she reached her poor condition. She said it was safer that I didn’t know. However, she did tell me about her brother. She said his name is Elias and he escaped. Just like it says there on the paper.” She points at Callum’s hands. “She also said that there is a colony of their people living in the Lower-Flat-Lands. Olivia, I didn’t want to admit it before, but I think you’re having these dreams for a reason. I think you’re supposed to find Elias.”

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