Awkwardly, I stepped into Mira's house, sliding through the little red door, the one Elian had pointed out to me. Once inside, a lady rushed forth and engulfed me in an embrace.
"Aria!" she exclaimed, relief flooding her voice. "Where were you? You know, thank God you came after two hours."
"What happened?" I asked, somewhat awkwardly, as I still wasn't sure who this stranger was.
"The emperor's soldiers have come to find you!" she exclaimed, glancing nervously toward the windows. "But I didn't tell them anything. You know, I told them very strictly that I don't know you."
I sighed with relief for my unknown benefactor. "But how would the emperor know to look for me here?" was the question that gnawed at me.
"That's what I'm wondering," Mira said, putting her eyebrows down.
I turned to Elian, who was now swinging back and forth in a wooden chair. "Elian, you said only your father knows about this place other than us?"
"Yes, yes!" Elian assured.
Mira's eyes bulged. "Then the emperor has captured your husband?" she whispered.
"I- don't know," I said awkwardly, still trying to find my footing in the knowledge that in this world, I apparently had a husband.
"What will we do? If we go about like this, then we will be putting your husband in danger. He can be executed by that tyrant," Mira was ringing her hands.
"But I don't even know who my husband is," I said stupidly.
"What?" Mira asked, not quite catching my hasty confession.
"Never mind. I think I should surrender for whatever reason he is searching for me," I said, not spotting any other option.
"No, no, no, you can't do that," Mira insisted. "I know he will think of something to save himself from the tyrant. But you've got to think of a way to escape from the tyrant."
She began pacing the small room and suddenly stopped. "I think I have a way," she said with a gleam in her eyes. "I think you should leave this empire and go to my aunt's home. There you'll be safe—and anytime your husband comes looking for you, I'll send him there."
I gazed at Elian, who was still watching me with those innocent trusting eyes. "I suppose that's the only option left for me," I said, realizing that I had slight hope of keeping us both safe.
While I sat with Elian, feeding him from a plate of bread and cheese Mira had given him, Mira darted around the small house, stuffing a well-worn leather bag with essentials. He was wolfing down food as if he'd not had anything to eat decently in days.
"Yeah, now hurry and go. Just a little away from here, you will find the carriage," Mira said, handing me a packed bag.
"I owe you a lot," I said with gratitude, even though she was a stranger to me-or at least I had no memory of knowing her prior to today.
"Well then, quickly, start running," she said, nudging us toward the back.
I realized I needed to find the carriage quickly now before they got here, I said while running in the direction that Mira had indicated. But then I saw the soldiers coming from that direction, marching in formation as if escorting someone important.
Wait a minute, Emperor. So if the soldiers were talking about him, does that mean the Emperor is with them now? I muttered and hastily withdrew to a corner, shielding Elian behind me.
I crouched down low and said, "Elian; no sound, okay?" He only nodded his head cutely.
I took a piece of cloth from the luggage that Mira had packed for me and wrapped it around us, so I didn't have to carry him. The makeshift sling kept him snugly against my back, so my hands were free.
"No sound, okay?" I reiterated.
"Yes, Mom." He whispered.
Then I sped toward the rear. I hit the crowd and tried to bypass the soldiers, but suddenly squeezing through the throng, I felt the touch of someone clasp my hand, and an electric wave jolted through my body. I didn't linger to find out who it was, but pushed forward and finally spotted a carriage.
I rushed toward it and got inside without hesitation. "Hey, drive fast!" I told the driver.
"But where to?" the driver asked, staring at me suspiciously.
"Moonvale," I said, naming the first place that came to mind. "Just hurry; it's urgent."
"Mom, are you alright? Should I call, father?" Elian asked adorably, clutching the fault of my dress for support during the violent jolts of the carriage.
"No, Baby!" I answered quickly. "But would you mind telling me one thing?"
"Oh yes! Yes!" he nodded eagerly. Always the one to oblige.
I paused for a time trying to figure out how I would put my question in such a way as not to frighten him. "Could you tell me where's your father?" I finally asked, hoping that some of his innocent childishness would fill a gap in my own remembering.
Elian's face suddenly assumed a very grave expression, and his eyes seemed to take on an air of being mysteriously old in contrast with his baby-like forehead. "Oh, mom, forgot it? Never mind," he nestled against me as the rattling carriage continued down cobblestone streets. "Let me tell you."
"I think one day father went for a hunt and never came back," he calmly stated and simply as any child would. "I don't know. You were crying that day. I think father is gone from us even if you never told me anything about him leaving us, but I know." His little face suddenly became insistent. "So don't worry. I won't ever talk about, father again, so you don't have to worry and cry."
And then, like a bang, a stabbing pain in my head engulfed me. I bent over, holding my temples with fingers praying for it to ease. It was not just pain; it was memories fighting their way back into consciousness.
"Where are you, Darius? How could you just leave us like that?" I said all this, but in a strange way, it felt like it was from another person, some other time. "You said you love me. You said you wanted to have a family with me. Then where are you now? Is it because Elian has been born, and you no longer want to deal with a woman who has already given birth and no longer looks attractive to you?"
The kind of vision I could view vividly-I could picture myself all huddled up from the country cottage wearing a simple brown dress, tears on my face while a much younger Elian crawled across the wooden floor, totally oblivious to my state.
"Who are you, Darius? How dare you leave Aria like this?" I said, mumbling in disgust, the pain now settling in hard at the base of my skull.
"Mom? Mommy!" Elian's frightened voice brought me back to the here and now as his tiny hands anxiously patted my face. "Are you sick? You're crying!"
I blinked rapidly, returning to the carriage and into focus with Elian's expression of concern. I wiped my cheeks dry of tears I hadn't realized I shed and attempted an encouraging smile.
"I'm okay, sweetheart. Just a headache," I said, pulling him closer. "I'm feeling better now."
But I definitely was not better. Deeply shaken was I by that vision, memory, or whatever it was. Was this really my past in this world? Had I been cast away by someone named Darius who said he would love me? If yes, then why would a ruthless emperor seemingly be searching for me so intently?
Still, nothing made sense; however, the pain in my head and the tears on my cheeks were so real that I could not deny them.
The carriage continued its journey toward Moonvale, with every bump in the wheel taking us further away from soldiers of the emperor but not away from the strange things within my mind that were unraveling.
"Mom, I will protect you," he declared with immense resolve in his little face patting on my palm. "Big now. I could take care of both of us."
Tears threatening to fall were now rendered to a smile, which was pretty much satisfied for the bravery of fighting for this child, and I said, "We'll take care of each other," holding him as the scenery flowed outside the window.
Whatever was in Moonvale, whatever truth lay in my fractured memories, there was one thing I knew with absolute certainty-I would protect this child with everything I had, even if it meant facing an emperor himself to do it.