Everthine
After a few more days at the Tower, greyhound decided that it would be a good idea to return back to the city.
Everthine, the city was a two hour carriage ride from the tower. It was a lot of work getting all the equipment and necessities but it had to be done.
This was a six months long trip. For medicine and research mostly. The only ones that remained at tower were the guards who were stationed there.
The ride back was not a quiet one. The entire carriage was full of chatter. One that Rowan did not care for.
As soon as the carriage enters the castle gates, relief washes over Rowan. He felt this way every time he arrived home.
His mother greets him as soon as she sights his on steps to the upper floor.
" Rowan." She kisses his cheeks before patting them aggressively.
He groans, and kisses her back on the forehead. " Hello, mother."
" Have you greeted your father yet?"
" I thought he might be busy... I'll greet him tomorrow—"
She turns him to down the stairs. " Don't be ridiculous. Greet your father quickly. I'll ask the servants to run you a bath right after."
He keeps his groans to himself, and just does as he is told.
The king was in the thrown room having a discussion with the greyhound. It seemed serious.
" Rowan, come here." He meets him halfway and pulls him into a tight hug.
Hugging him back, he watch Brandon. His face was serious. Fuck. He told him already.
He pulls out from the hug. " Brandon tells me you spent a night in the woods. Are you well?"
" I was knocked out by something, but I'm fine, father. I was checked at the infirmary already." The first half of he said was the story he decided on telling anyone that asked. He didn't want researchers going in to look for Auro.
Not that he cared.
" Alright then, just don't tell your mother yet. You know how she can get." He pats his shoulder. " I'll speak with you more after you've had your rest."
The king and the greyhound continue their discussion as they were before.
He spent the next few days resting and reading in his room. The servants came in regularly to change bring him food and snacks. Surprisingly, no came to bother him all that time. Not even his mother.
After, five days of being lazy. He resumed exercise with the soldiers and studying with the healers.
Everything was still far from normal.
Rowan couldn't shake off the thought of the woman he had encountered in the Everglades. There was something captivating about her that lingered in his mind, and he found himself unexpectedly thinking about her. Sometimes, he would experience an inexplicable surge of emotion that seemed to come from her. Emotions of extreme sadness.
" Are you alright, son? You don't look too well. " His mother, had the look of concern written on her face.
Helen had dropped by at his quarters for a cup of tea and conversation. which was usual for her in the evenings when her ladies in waiting weren't around. Except right now he was dealing with a horrid pain in his arm.
He winces, " I'm alright mother. It's just a bad cramp."
She puts down her tea cup and watches him closely. " Are you sure your up for all this? It might be too soon for you to get back to your schedule." She folds her hands. " Especially not after the incident in the woods."
He smirks and sips a bit of tea. His father told her already.
" I really am fine."
" How's your magic, do you need me to look at you?"
His mother was a trained healer, which meant that he was hovered over by her his entire childhood. She tried not to be so involved since he reached adulthood but her concern for his wellbeing was still overbearing at times.
" Mother I'm truly I'm fine." He demonstrates how fine he was by moving the tea sets around in the air. Orange hues swirling around them. " The pain will fade."
It didn't.
The pain didn't go away. It lingered so long that his arm was starting to feel numb. He worked through the whole of the next day. Then at night it stopped.
He knew why he was feeling the pain. Someone was hurting one of the spirit beings. He had come to terms with it. Despite that, he couldn't keep living like this. He needed to cut off this link with her.
Rowan drifted into sleep, the world blurring into a soft haze of leaves and light. Auro appeared, floating on the branch of an ancient tree, her glass skin glowing faintly against the dark. She sang—a low, haunting melody that stirred something deep in him, as if the song was meant only for him, drawing him closer.
Her frame floats over to him, dangerously close. She traces the outlines of his face with her fingers. He could almost feel the coldness against his skin.
Then, suddenly, her voice broke. She says something inaudibly. A single tear slipped down her cheeks.
He jolts awake. No.
Lying in bed, he palms his face with his hands. He mumbles a few curses under his breath.
He understood he was linked to her but the dreams. He had never had that before, especially one so vivid and clear. It actually felt like she was calling to him for real.
Was she calling to him, or was she was she hurt? He didn't know.
What bothers him the most is how badly it hurt to see her cry. He set up his mind.
He was going back. And he would find a way to cut her off for good.