Rielen's POV
Rielen was staring at the stone wall again, wondering why it was always so cold near them.
The winter had picked up, and for the first time in her life, she hated snow.
It blanketed everything. She could hardly feel the surrounding nature.
Everything was cold and stiff, like her heart. The wind was blowing hard tonight. If it blows hard enough, will the window blow open?
She began imagining how she could make it down the wall, slicked with ice from the rain and snowfall the previous night.
A slight snore came from across the room. 'At least one of us can sleep,'
She couldn't hate Hyla. Hyla was her only companion most days. The girls had been split up for advanced training.
The only contact Rielen had now been her instructors and Hyla.
Hyla was kind, but she would not talk much. She was a kind woman, always trying to cheer her up, but she never discussed herself.
Rielen knew nothing about her, other than the fact she enjoyed the cherries that Rielen hated.
She could light a candle and read. Books became the only things she looked forward to most days.
However, learning another thing to cram in her head was not appealing.
'What would Eon do to cheer me up?'
She knew it was foolish to be this in love with him. How easily he could crush her heart.
She gave it to him all the same. So many stories she had read of foolishly falling in love and destroying a young person's life.
It was almost like those were the only stories she could find in the library these days.
Hyla turned over in her deep sleep. Rielen sighed. No sleep was to be had tonight. She looked for patterns in the stone until dawn.
Hyla frowned at the dark circles and the awake charge she had woken to. She learned long ago that scolding Rielen did not get anywhere.
This was simply something that happened from time to time.
She worked quietly through her morning chores and helped Rielen get ready.
'I am never gonna be at peace here,' Rielen thought to herself.
She had become helpless, letting Hyla dress her and take care of her. She felt lifeless and depressed.
She worked hard on her studies, because it was the only way she could see a way out of this miserable life.
Breakfast. Study. Combat Practice. Lunch. Individual Classes. Dinner. Bedtime Study. Desperation for sleep. Day after day.
It wasn't even the same lessons. Their new lessons, new knowledge, and spells. It didn't interest her anymore.
With a fit of frustration, Rielen slammed her book down, and a purple flash erupted from her body.
Alfred, startled while enjoying his tea, exclaimed, "That wasn't nature magic!"
In fact, purple was not a common color. Rielen picked up the book and threw it down again.
She had so much frustration built up inside her that she couldn't help it. Her days were so monotonous. She was so controlled.
Everything around her swirled with a deep purple mist. It never ends!
'I cannot even speak to my childhood friend.' She was oblivious to the surrounding magic.
She banged her fist on the desk.
'When will it end?!. '
Suddenly, she was not in the classroom anymore. She was surrounded by a familiar forest. The smells of spring filled her nose.
'How did I get here?' She was on her rock, and it looked as if the stream had just melted, getting ready for the warmer months.
She listened to the calming trickle of the flow of water. Her seat was cold, but not unbearable.
Thankfully, she was dressed warmly today. Birds chirped around her. The scenery energized her like she hadn't been in months.
"I am free!" A blissful feeling filled her chest.
She danced around the clearing around her rock. She giggled and laughed.
She breathed deeply, taking in the pine smell. Sneezing after she took her second big gulp of air.
She ran her hand along the rough bark of the tree.
"Oh, a real tree. Oh, how I have missed this."
She ran up the path but stopped just short of her house.
Laughter was coming from inside. Her heart ached to see her parents, but she knew that she couldn't reveal herself, less she put them in danger.
Somehow, even though she had escaped, she was still a prisoner to the King. Eon's parents walked out hand in hand from Rielen's house.
She could only catch snippets of conversation.
"I bet they are having a blast at the Capital," his Father said. "If I know my boy, he probably has already proposed to her."
Suddenly, her heart ached fiercely. Proposed? Does that mean..? No, she couldn't even imagine it.
'Could he love me back?' Her heart skipped a beat. She felt breathless.
'I have to go back.' Just as she thought it, the new purple mist power came back, and this time she was aware of what was happening.
She slipped into the mist and was suddenly in the dining hall right behind Eon. She must have lost track of time in the forest. It was already dinner.
"Eon?" The boy in front of her resembled him, but this boy had muscles that Eon did not possess previously.
His face seemed set in a permanent frown. When he heard her faint voice, he turned to her.
Suddenly, his arms were around her. She could hear his heartbeat.
She did not notice how the entire cafeteria had grown silent, and the boys were all staring at the girl, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"How? I have tried so many times. How did you get out?" All of his words came stumbling out at once.
He had her in a tight hug, afraid of letting her go.
"I don't know," she told him. "I was angry, and then I was in our clearing, and now I am here." Rielen cried into his chest, and he rubbed her back.
Suddenly, they were pulled apart. A worried looking Alfred was suddenly before her, checking her for injuries.
"Are you all right?!" She couldn't understand the desperation in his voice.
She also failed to notice the number of new bruises over his body.
She was escorted, rather roughly, back to the East Wing.
Instead of going to her room, however, she was taken up farther than what the girls were previously allowed to travel.
The already luxuriously decorated castle began to show a whole new level of wealth and power.
Gold was everywhere. Hanging from the walls, and woven into the tapestries. It was so bright that Rielen wanted to avert her eyes.
How does all this wealth do anyone any good if all you can do is admire it? It made her sick.
So many struggling people across this nation, and this is what the King does with taxes everyone works so hard to pay?
She was led into a large office. Clearly, someone important did business here.
A middle-aged man sat at a desk big enough to fit three normal side desks in its space. Was this big of a desk really necessary?
The man's face was stern, and did not show any other emotions. He looked as if he was greatly displeased.
The guards that had been pulling her now pushed her down into a large chair opposite the man at the desk.
The guards then abruptly left the room and closed the door behind them.
Eon's POV
He had her in his arms. The familiar scent of her hair filled his nostrils.
He asked her how, but he was so excited that it all came tumbling out of his mouth. She didn't know how.
What magic is this?
He felt himself swell with pride that she had mastered such an awesome power.
However, it did not last. Guards immediately took her away.
His frustration showed on his face. Everyone knew not to mess with him in a mood.
They had had enough this morning with the increased physical training.
No one had the energy to make a fuss other than to gawk at her, anyway.
Whispers ring out in the usually loud dining hall.
What did it mean that one of the girls had been given this power?
Their teachers had just glossed over this magic in class.
It was considered a myth, told to excite young mages who thought they could do anything with their magic.
It was like tension had left his body the moment he had touched her. He felt a smack on his back. He didn't need to look back to see who dared.
Tam exclaimed, "Look at you. One hug from your goddess and it's like you're a new man."
He dodged out of Eon's reach as he took a swing at him.
Laughing, Tam pranced to the other side of the room, and sat with some other boys.
Tam was the only one not afraid of Eon. For one thing, he was too fast to be caught in his reinforcement magic.
Another thing was his chipper attitude. Eon hadn't even seen the boy frown!
Even after they were forced to run ten miles in the snow!
'There is something seriously and mentally wrong with him, Why did he always try to cheer me up?'
Everyone had given up long ago. They stayed out of his way, and left him to his own devices.
The only time they paid him any attention was when they were silently praying they wouldn't be his sparring partner.
A lot of the guards had left for a skirmish at the border, so Eon was sparring more frequently with the rest of the boys.
Eon was beginning to feel like physical training was a waste of time. His magic made it easier for him. He was secretly proud, though.
He remembered how he used to have trouble keeping up with Rielen in the woods.
The smell of her hair lingered in his mind. He cataloged every moment he had been given.
It was short, but it filled his soul. He left early from dinner and spent the rest of the evening daydreaming of the girl who he left everything for.
******
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