Her head was throbbing so much that she could see stars around her , but still she could hear his voice calling for her. If she could bare the pain a little longer until he came than maybe she could tell him what happened , she could tell him how they tricked her into eating the food wich contained the poison of the Angel's Trumpet .
By her experience she knew that she had only half an hour left before she was dead . The decorative marks on her wrist were burning away and she knew that it wasn't a hallucination the marks her mother had drew on her wrist were keeping her alive they were fighting the poison but soon they would be gone and she would be dead.
"Aiyana, Aiyana I'm coming " Alliard kept calling to her. Ohh but she knew ,she knew he would come to her even if it meant his own death, she wished that she could have said goodbye to her mother and sister she wished she could see the daylight once more, the beautiful flowers blooming,she wished she could at least die in his arms watching his face for the last time....
The door opened, Alliard came in, he rushed to her and took her in his arms. Something was terribly wrong her face had lost its color , her skin was cold and her eyes looked so blank. "What did they do to you ? " he asked with his voice trembling. "Angel's Trumpet " she said and a smile spread across her face , "Don't let me go " and her eyes closed ...
Aiyana woke up early that morning, she got up from her bed and went into the bathroom, her hair was a big mess so she washed her face and brushed her hair but when she came back into her room her sister was waiting for her in her bed.
"Good morning, Sapphire " she said to her sister while she was looking for something to wear in her closet. "Good morning Anna , are you going somewhere ? " "You know what, I was thinking to go for a walk into the forest today it's been a month since the last time I was there so which one should I wear ? " and she showed her sister the two dresses she was holding in her hands a black one a blue one.
"Are you crazy ?? You remember your last walk right, you know how mad mom will get if you come home like that again??" She remembered her last walk she had been deep in the forest hunting a deer and her dress had caught on a bush, she had tripped into a puddle of mud and her dress had been ripped by the bushes. Her mother had been so mad at her saying her that ladies did not go to the forest to hunt that she should not forget who she was or who she would be in the future so she had stayed a month inside the house sketching suitable dresses for hunting that would be practical but also beautiful.
"Yeah , I know Sapphire and that's why I made these dresses right, to be practical for hunting but also very modern and I won't be listening another word about mom , I have waited a month and I'm gonna go out today. " "Okay than,but don't tell me later that I didn't warn you " - and Sapphire got out of her room with a smirk on her face.
Aiyana wore the black dress as well as her knee high boots and got out of her house. She started walking into the forest , she had missed so much the fresh air , the birds song, the trees, everything here was like a second house to her . She didn't want to use any enchantment today so she decided to go deeper into the forest to find some bigger animals when she heard a noise, a young man who was riding a horse came out from some close trees , he stopped when he saw Aiyana and asked her
"Miss, have you lost your way home ? , What are you doing into the forest ?" Aiyana looked at him he was wearing the royal guards uniform so that could mean only one thing the king was hunting today. "Thanks for your help officer but I'm quite capable of returning home , you should get back to work " He was glancing at her dress , it was a very long dress, in the upper part it was made from leather and it had a low decollete the dress didn't had much ornaments except at the bottom where it was decorated with some small butterflies but still it emphasized her curves very good.
"You know miss I could accompany you home the forest it's not a safe place for such a beautiful girl as you are. " Aiyana knew what he meant by that he was trying to flirt with her but she was going to teach him a lesson , she didn't even needed to use magic she was going to carve a very beautiful mark at his face with her moon knife so that everyone could see who he really was. "I think you have far more important things to do officer" she told him and started walking toward her house. The officer came down from the horse and when he was walking toward Aiyana another young man came out from the forest .
"Is everything all right , why are you delaying officer ? " the young man asked the officer . "Yeah sir , I was just in my way to come there when I saw this young woman into the forest ,I thought she was lost and offered her my help." the officer said . "The commander is waiting you should better get there now. " "Ok, sir" and the officer walked away.
Aiyana looked at the boy he was at least 19 years old very young to have such an important post that the officer ran away from him. He was tall and muscular with blonde hair and blue eyes she had to admit it , he was very handsome. "Well , miss could you tell me what are you doing in the forest all alone ?" he asked her. He had a very beautiful voice so charming she looked at him he was wearing royal clothes just like the officer but at the handle of his sword she could see a small carving off the royal family symbol so he must be the king but how had she not noticed it before his eyes his hair he looked just like his father he was king Aillard of Elsyan the youngest king the kingdom had ever had before.
After six of the royal knights had murdered his father for having a forbidden relationship with a woman who was one of the seven royal knights he was crowned king of Elsyan when he turned 14 year old. . " I have come here to hunt sir" he didn't told her he was the king so why should she call him like that but his reaction caught her by surprise he was laughing at her and she couldn't believe that , she didn't care that he was the king she was going to kill him , she was going to kill that stupid spoiled brat.
"You are very funny miss what's your name ?" "My name is Aiyana and I was not joking but like always man underestimate woman besides that what else could I have expected from you ? " "I'm so sorry for that Aiyana it's just that I have never seen a woman hunting before and I couldn't contain myself, by the way my name is Aillard so please don't call me sir anymore" she couldn't help thinking how spoiled he was besides who asked him for his name. "I didn't ask for you name but anyway I need to go now!" and she started walking towards her house , what a bad day after a long month she was out from her house and she didn't have any chance to enjoy that , all because the king was bored in his palace and wanted to go out for a walk ... in her forest.. she couldn't stand him.
"Hey Aiyana could you come back tomorrow to show me if you really can hunt , I will have quite a story to tell to my friends. " he called behind her .
So he didn't believe that she could really hunt well she was going to show him quite a show tomorrow being the daughter of one of the seven royal knights she was capable of doing more things than that , hunting was just for fun but she wouldn't tell him who she really was at least the element of surprise would be on her side as she knew who he was.
"Of course I will come Aillard but don't take all those friends with you tomorrow I don't want you to be embarrassed in front of them when I show you that I'm more good at hunting than you are." She got out from the forest ,well she must prepare herself today because tomorrow she was going to make the king pay for laughing at her.
Aillard stood still looking at her when she left , he hadn't expected to find a young woman into the forest today. A stubborn but very beautiful woman and he had realised that , the moment he saw how one of his officers was looking at her, after all he was a man and he had realised the officer's intentions against that beautiful young girl. But he was sure that she had understood that too but still she had been looking so calm and peaceful and for a moment he thought about the look in her eyes , she had the eyes off a predator that was waiting for the prey to walk into his trap which made her very dangerous . He wondered if she would have invited him for a competition tomorrow if she knew he was the king , that didn't matter he needed to be prepared even why he had laughed at her , he had a feeling that she was hiding something, something that made her different from the other girls.
*** When Aiyana returned home she was very angry she found her mother waiting for her in the front door of their house. Aiyana's mother was a woman in her late 40s but she looked very young, she had long blonde hair and green eyes her sister Sapphire looked just like their mother how bad that Aiyana was going to be the heir to their family she was going to sit in her mother's place at the table of the seven royal knights.
Her mother looked at her as trying to understand what had made her so angry. "You're home early " she said looking at Aiyana "and you didn't hunt today " she talked with a smooth voice trying to make her comfortable. "I told Sapphire I was going out for a walk and that's what I did but tomorrow I'm gonna go hunting "she said and her lips turned into a smile at the think off the other day. "Good , then come inside we need to talk" Aiyana walked slowly in, wondering about what would she talk with her mother.
She opened the door of her mother's office and set at one off the chairs that was in front off her mother's desk. Her mother's office was big it had a big library that covered one side off the wall , the windows were huge made from thick but clean glass and everywhere you would find plants, flowers trees planted in big vases she often thought that it looked more like a greenhouse than an office. Her mother sat in front off her.
"As you know the boundaries that protect us from the human world are very weak right now" her mother said with a tiredness in her voice. "And I need you help so that we can seal the boundaries again " Aiyana knew that the boundaries were weak because the power that had once sealed them was gone the seventh royal knight the most powerful of them all had been dead for 19 years and since then the 6th remaining royal knights had found it very difficult sealing the boundaries even with all their powers combined. But what could she do to help them??
"How can I help "asked Aiyana "Our powers are faiding, we need new sorts of powers in our aid the other knights have decided that we all should take our children to help us they think that if we all combine our powers than we might seal the boundaries for a long time" "You know that whatever you do anything can't compare to Diana's powers right?" she asked her mother the knights had been trying for years to find another source of magic that could replace Diana's but failed if she could have had a heir that would inherit her powers than they would replace her but Diana had been so young when she had killed herself and nobody knew about another relationship of hers except the one with the king and from that she didn't have any kids.
"You think that I wanted that, you think that I wanted to kill the king or that I wanted my bestfriend to kill herself because of sorrow and grief? I didn't asked for this Aiyana " was all her mother said. And Aiyana knew that but she only felt bad for Diana , because of the other royal knights had killed her love forcing her to end her life too but she knew that the innocent people shouldn't pay for that ,it wasn't their fault and of course she would do everything to protect her home from the human world.
"I know that mother and I'm sorry of course I will help you to seal the boundaries but for now I need to go and get some rest " and she smiled to her mother. "Good , you can go to rest now and thanks for accepting my request to help me Aiyana".
She got out of her mother's office and went upstairs in her room , tomorrow was going to be a big day so she needed to prepare. She looked in her closet tomorrow she was going to wear something more different than today but first she needed to prepare her weapons. After watching her arsenal with the beautiful weapons she decided not to take something very big only some moon daggers and some flying blades .
She felt asleep because today she was exhausted and not because of the walk but the encounter with the king it had been as if he had been draining her energy. When Aiyana woke up she looked at the clock hanging in the wall in front of her , it was still early only 7am so she decided to go back to sleep and if the king had come early into the forest she could make him wate for a while after all he was the one who tempted her. After she woke up at 11am she walked towards her closet ,she had chosen the perfect clothes for today the king wasn't the only one with beautiful and fine clothes
Aillard had come to the forest, he probably early or women really tend to come late at meetings and considering her beauty she must be preparing to come here. He was looking around the forest for any animals to hunt when the contesting begins, he had his family sword and his favourite bow with him, he was still looking looking around when he saw her coming.
Wow she was stunning. Aiyana was wearing a leather tank top with spaghetti straps combined with a pair of leather leggings and knee high boots all in black. Her hair were like silk they looked black but if you could see carefully they were just dark brown same as her eyes , her lips red as blood. She was like a goddess but now that he looked carefully she held no weapons a mistake that would cost her a lot today.
He decided to talk to her. "I don't think that beauty is a weapon to hunt" She gave him a smile. "Than you're not as smart as I think you are , I have already begun hunting and you are the first that fell in my trap" Her words struck him , he was right that day when he that she was as deadly as she was beautiful. "So what are we hunting "
She looked around and that's when she saw the white peacock close there, it was a very beautiful animal but it was a magical animal which made him almost impossible to catch but not for her. "We're hunting that ". He looked at the peacock and she saw the doubt cross his face . Good he was doubting his skills. "A white peacock, are you sure that's a magical animal you know "
"It makes no difference to me but if you're doubting yourself than we go hunt something else" These words gave her what she expected, she knew that a man would never pull back from those words and especially a king and that's why she'd said it.
"It's settled than , we hunt the white peacock, we meet back here after 3 hours is it enough " She could kill that peacock within 20 minutes, 3 hours were more than enough but she wanted to see what he was capable off. "I think it's more than enough" and she started going towards the place where the peacock had been and that's when he said "Good luck, Aiyana "
she smiled "Thanks , good luck to you too Aillard " as if she needed any of that. They went their separate ways trying to hunt down the white peacock. Aiyana saw each move of him , Aillard was damn good but she was the best and she knew this forest and everything that lived in it.
Two hours had passed and she thought that , now was the time to kill the peacock, Aillard had had enough time now it was her turn. He came towards her his bow in his hands. "I almost hit him last time, looks like you're not even bothering to shoot him or have you given up"
She looked at him , last time he had used an enchanted arrow to kill the peacock but the peacock was very fast and hard to catch. Now that he had used magic she could use it too. "I'll kill that peacock within 10 minutes" How was that possible, she was so determined to kill it and now she claimed she would kill it within 10 minutes when he had been struggling for 2 hours to kill it . "Amuse me than" .
She went towards the peacock and took a dagger out from her boots, she couldn't be serious, she could not kill that peacock with a dagger but what she did surprised him. She cut her palm and blood started dropping in the ground, than she said some words in a low voice , a small flower blossomed from the earth it had such a nice smell and than she came towards him.
"Don't say anything....not yet" After two minutes the white peacock came rushing towards the flower and than she was a blur of movements. She lowered her hand towards the earth and pulled a dagger from it than in a quick move she threw it towards the peacock stabbing him right through his heart.
He understood what she was but of course only royal knights could pull weapons from earth, only the royal knights had the decorative bracelets of marks on their hands. She was young so she must've been the daughter of one of the royal knights. "You're one of the royal knights children " she smiled at him. "Ok, I killed a white peacock and this is the first thing that you say, and why I'm surprised that it took you so long to figure it out you majesty " He was shocked, Aiyana knew he was the king not only beautiful and deadly but also very smart.
"You're not wearing your silver medallion " he asked her about the royal knights family heirloom "And you're not wearing your crown " "I can't have fun if I wear it , but how did you find out about that?" he was really curious about her , she knew who he was and still she had ivited him into a competition , which she had won.
" I knew it was you since the first day we meet and you're right I can't have any fun when people know I'm belong to royal knight family so I make things more interesting by trying to keep a low profile.'' Aiyana than went to take the white peacock from the pool of his blood.
"And you call this a low profile by inviting the king into a competition" he said to her still shocked. than she turned towards him . "I don't usually do this but I think that you needed someone to show you what a woman is capable off and I think you're glad you didn't took your friends with you today or you would have been very embarrassed than" and she gave a smirk at him. But she was right he would be more than embarrassed if his officers would have been with him.
"By the way congratulations , you won the contests" she hadn't had any doubts that she would win but the fact that he congratulated her , it caught her by surprise. "Thanks, so can you come with me I want to show you something " she didn't even bother to call him your majesty or something it was useless. He looked at her doubtfully perhaps he was wondering if she would kill him. "I'm not that crazy you know , I won't kill you so now move your feet " she ordered him . " If you say soo" and he started walking with her, there was something about him that made her feel very safe, and it made her wanting to tell him all of her secrets in fact it made her wishing to show him everything about her.
This was so stupid , she should stop this so she started walking faster , she was almost running to go to her secret place desperate for the distraction she would find there. Aiyana and Aillard were almost there when she caught him glancing at her,it made her wonder what if he felt the same thing as she did...............................
Aiyana was so glad that they had finally arrived in her secret place. Aillard was just behind her when he stopped to admire the beauty of this place. But of course he would admire it even a spoiled king like him would be jealous of this place, she had decorated everything here.
Her mother had her this place 12 years ago .. it was deep in the woods, she remembered how it had looked back than a beautiful small lake in the middle of the woods with only a white rose nearby. So Aiyana had decided to turn this place into her own personal space, she had built a small house with her mother , had put her beloved books in the library of this house, she had put her violin and her piano on the music room, had planted a lot of flowers on the garden.
This was her small paradise, that she had not shared with anyone before but she was showing it to the king. Remind yourself that this is only to make him jealous she kept saying herself. She took of her boots and entered the house, Aillard right after her. Aiyana had missed this place so much, she had missed her home. Her house was big and it was decorated by very fine and expensive furniture and ornaments. Everything in here smelt like her, smelled like roses.
He was very shocked, this place was amazing, he could see her taste at everything he could describe her only by looking at the small details of this house and it smelled damn good in here like he was on a garden full of roses. He finally decided to say somethin "This place is amazing, have you built it "With some help from my mom and of course by using magic " and than she walked towards the kitchen "Good, so you're welcoming me with a cup of tea" he said to tease her "Don't you even think of that, I'm going upstairs to change meanwhile prepare us some food" This girl must've been really brave because in his entire life nobody had had the courage to talk to him like that. It looked like she didn't even care that he was the king "Why not your highness" he said a little bit irritated.
Aiyana went upstairs to change her clothes. She took a shower and changed her clothes, she wore a simple green dress. With her hair still wet she went downstairs to Aillard. She was surprised when she saw that he had prepared two sandwiches for both of them, when she had told him to prepare something she had been joking but she guessed that it was better because she was starving. Another thing she learned today for the spoiled king , he could cook which was a good thing because he could not starve himself. "The king knows how to cook, wow this is a big surprise " "Will you come eat or will you stay there commenting about my skills " she was amused
"Your skills???Yeah I can stay all day commenting about you skills but you can write a book commenting on my skills " "Don't overestimate yourself, you were lucky today " "I don't know why I recall it differently, we had a competition and I won fair and square plus I'm not overestimating myself, I just love telling the truth about me" and she sat beside him on the sofa, they both finished their sandwiches so they went outside to sit on the shore of the lake. They were looking at the clear water when Aillard said "How old are you Aiyana" "I'm 19 years old what about you" "I'm 19 too"
"So how's life as a king" "It's terrifying and beautiful at the same time but I guess you know that because already because it must be the same for you" it was almost the same for her "I wish I could freeze time and stay here forever in this house by the lake with no duty to fulfill , nothing just her in this peaceful place.
He looked like she had said aloud his most desperate wish but she had for both of them , this was their life and they couldn't escape this . "I wish that too but it's impossible, so when I entered I saw the magic border around who has put it in " oh she had forgotten about the magic border at all. "I have putted it , 9 years ago so that nobody could enter here without my permission" "It was so strong I felt it when we entered" "Yeah and now let's talk about the competition, I was amazing right"
"Of course you were, I made a big mistake by underestimating you that day" good he was starting to accept it. "Yes you did and you thought that only because I'm a woman I couldn't hunt but considering how spoiled you are it's a good thing that you accept your mistakes" "I'm not spoiled, I was forced to take a very big responsibility in a very young age but these words come out from the mouth of the girl who oy knows how to praise herself" "Whatever you say" and they stood staring at the water for a long time without talking
"The next year you're going to be a royal knight right" it was true she was going to be and no more free time for her no more hunting no more lake she would be forced to serve her kingdom her entire life she would be forced to serve him
"That's true I will be a slave soon" he looked into her eyes like he wanted to say to her that he understood, that he was a slave too. "Just so you know Aiyana if it would be in my hands I would never let them do this to you " but how could he say this of course it was in his hands, the royal knights served to him , anyway she wasn't going to ask anything from him. "Ok, than I have to go home now"and she stood up. "I wanted to ask you if I can come again sometimes here" he said almost in a whisper "You can come whenever you want " she told him but why did she do this , this was her safe heaven her heaven she shouldn't be sharing it with someone else especially with him.
"Thanks and I hope I'll see you again soon Aiyana" he said to her. "Nahh you had the luxury to see me two days in a row and that's a lot even for the king of Elsyan don't expect more from me , some people had not had your luck to see me even once " and she went away. Aillard was wondering if her arrogance ever ended. "Than I must thank God that I had the luck to see you that day" "That's not a bad idea actually, if you're grateful perhaps God can give one more chance to see me " and she smiled at him