With a jerk Elu threw her body into a sitting position, terror lined her eyes as a blood-curling scream left her lips. Her gold eyes searched her new surroundings desperately for a clue as to where she is. It didn't help her vision kept blurring in and out from her tears. A soft sob is the only noise in the dimly lit room making it seem so much scarier. She reached her hands up and rubbed her eyes and then she froze. She stared at her hands, they were so much smaller and chubbier than she remembered them being. In fact, her entire body felt so much smaller and lighter. She gently ran her fingers over her nightgown, it was a faded lilac color with small holes and stretched in some places.
She remembered this nightgown from when she was very little, four or five to be more exact. She glanced around the room more thoroughly now and picked out a lot more things she didn't notice before. The more she looked around the more the room held no resemblance to the spot she once was.
This was no audience chamber, in fact, the dingy run-down room reminded her of a very fond but faraway memory. The faint smell of mildew and rust filled her lungs and she felt like she could breathe for the first time in a long time.
She sucked in a deep breath and slowly started to relax; she was able to breathe comfortably now and nothing hurt anymore. The fear was slowly leaving her body and she let out a strangled chuckle.
'It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream?' She tried to comfort herself; what she had seen was definitely a dream there was no other way to explain what had happened. Just a horrible dream
Her entire body froze when she heard a loud creaking noise followed by soft footsteps. The door that was already slightly ajar swung open with a firm push from an unknown person. Elu licked her lips nervously she blinked her eyes furiously to try and make out who the person that entered the room was.
"What's wrong my love?" A taller woman moved into Elu's field of vision.
Her brown and cream-colored hair was tied up in a messy bun. She had sharp blue eyes that softened almost immediately after connecting to Elu's own shocked gold eyes.
Elu froze her heart throbbed painfully and more tears began to fill her eyes. She prayed with everything in her that this was reality, and everything she had seen was nothing more than a horrible dream.
"M..mom?" Her voice sounded so painful and broken even to her own ears.
"Love." She gracefully moved to sit at the edge of the bed next to Elu, she stretched out a delicate finger and wiped her tears away. "I'm here"
Elu felt more sobs claw at her throat. This is reality. No, this has to be reality, everything feels so real to her that there is no possible way it isn't. Although she couldn't quite figure out why she couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness. She shook her head and desperately pushed away all the negative thoughts to focus on the good standing right in front of her.
For the moment she is safe. She is home. She is with Polaris her adopted mother. A lovely spirit contract mage, and the woman who cared for her and loved her for 8 years of her life. Eight long years before she and her husband Lennox, dangled her in front of the king and abandoned her. No, she immediately corrected herself. That's what happened in the dream, it wasn't real. Polaris would never do something like that she loved her very dearly.
Elu tried to force everything from the dream away which only seemed to worry her mother more, she placed a finger on her forehead and smoothed out the frown lines.
"do you want to talk about it?" Her soft voice lulled Elu into a false sense of security.
She hiccuped as she stopped crying, a small part of her wanted so desperately to hate the woman sitting in front of her. But not a single part of her could hate the woman who always looked at her with nothing but love in her eyes.
"I'm scared." Elu's voice was soft almost a whisper.
Polaris gave her a gentle smile and moved to lie down next to her, she outstretched her arms and let Elu cuddle up next to her.
"It's ok to be scared, my love. Everyone gets scared sometimes, even me. but I'm right here, if it's too dark I can light a candle." Polaris hummed a lullaby, her fingers combed through Elu's hair to further soothe her back to sleep.
Elu snuggled further into her and shut her eyes tightly, she took in a deep breath. Her mother had a very distinct smell; the fresh and warm smell of the woods, from a smooth oak moss to the sweet smell of amber. With those familiar scents, she drifted off back to a peaceful sleep.
When she woke up her mother was nowhere in sight, something told her to go to her parent's room. She got up and as quietly but as quickly as she could she left her room and made her way across the dining area to the small room that was her parent's room.
As she approached she heard hushed whispers arguing,
"I'm not letting you do that."
Elu could make that out as her mother's voice, she stiffened up when she heard her father continue to argue.
"Dear, you said you've always wanted your own kids. If we do this and return her to the royal family don't you think they'll reward us? We could ask them to fix your fertility and we could have children of our very own. Isn't that worth it? Elu is just a random child she's not our flesh or blood we have no ties to her." He quietly countered.
"How could you say that? She is my daughter. I raised her with everything I had as a parent." She hissed.
"Think about it. Really and truly would you love ELu more or our child? A little boy or girl with your hair and my eyes, or my hair and your eyes. Would you really love a stranger's child over your own flesh and blood? That was our plan from the beginning, don't back out now when we're so close to achieving our dream of a family of our own."
Elu's head spun she didn't want to listen to what her mother said her heart couldn't take it, she walked aimlessly as her thoughts consumed her. As much as she wished it wasn't her dream wasn't a dream. She wasn't sure why she was back here or why she was being given a second chance if this was a second chance.
She found herself standing outside in the small garden behind her house, the place she always came to when she felt overwhelmed. She felt a dim glow of light dance around her as if reminding her of what she is capable of.
With her newfound determination and strength, she swore to save the ones she couldn't in her previous life. In this life she would not succumb to the royal family, they would not treat her like an outsider. They would respect her and walk on equal ground as her and if they didn't she found fight back.
As for Kaene, he would be the first royal she tamed, as long as she could control him and have Daliar on her side she should have no trouble climbing the ranks and reaching the top. A smirk lit up her face as she prepared to put her plan In motion starting with her adoptive family. She knew what she would have to do, her heart ached slightly at the thought of betraying them. Her head however reminded her that they betrayed her first and an eye for an eye is the only way to win a single battle in a war.
With A new path pathed she could feel a new adventure unfolding.