First Hope in the 73rd year of the New Order

Aurora ay Elysia lazily roused herself from slumber, her limbs feeling just a little bit too heavy to start the day. Even now, nearly an entire year later, she still couldn’t quite believe that she could do that… just lie in bed despite having woken up already.

Occasionally, she still jolted up, expecting the abbess to come in and drag her off to the confinement chamber or worse, have her undergo an 'examination'. But with every night she slept through, she seemed more accustomed to the fact that such things appeared to truly be a thing of the past. Lately, she hadn’t gotten up once in the middle of the night.

Snuggling herself just a little deeper into her soft blankets, she turned around and drowsily reached for her room’s lighting crystal. Her champion had personally procured it after realizing that she had been afraid of the dark for a few months after having arrived here in this little section of a circular building.

As soon as her finger touched the cool surface, the polished cut gem hummed to life. It gave off a steady, expanding light that would fully light the room in an hour’s time. That’s how much time she usually allowed herself to lie about before getting up in order to prepare for the day.

And then she recalled her champion’s words on the eve of yesterday… something along the lines of showing her around, for she had been confined to a rather small portion of Master Arakiel’s domain thus far – a security precaution, he had claimed.

She didn’t mind it since he had treated her exceedingly well so far… much, much better than the abbess and her crones would’ve ever done, just like he had promised. If anything, Master Arakiel and his countenance didn’t stop occupying her mind even when he left to take care of business and whenever he returned, she was overjoyed – another feeling she was growing accustomed to, although she doubted she’d ever get tired of it.

Taking heart, Aurora roused herself for good and got upright in bed after which she used her feet to search for her slippers and when she didn’t find them right away, she leaned forward and saw that she must’ve tossed them someplace else yesterday.

She had been so nervous that it had taken a little longer than usual to fall asleep, for she truly wondered what exactly Master Arakiel intended to show her today? He had been vague, only hinting that it’d undoubtedly be to her liking and so far, he hadn’t erred whenever he made that claim.

The beige-colored carpet beneath her feet was a littler harder than back in her cell, but she really didn’t mind it given that everything else was just so much better.

Her bed was wide enough for her to fully spread her legs and even her arms while still having enough space left. Her pieces of furniture were elaborate and held clothes for all kinds of occasions, leaving her to ponder each and every day how she could best put a smile on Arakiel’s face and it was mainly because of him that she overcame her distaste for white. He did like it when she put on white, claiming that it was a wonderful contrast to her golden hair and eyes, something Aurora agreed with at this point.

On her way over towards the bathroom which was connected to her sleeping chamber, she tossed aside her nightgown and reached for the little, crystalline plate that had been strapped to the wall.

As soon as she touched the cool, thoroughly smooth surface, it lit up briefly in a soft golden gleam and when she then opened the door towards the bathroom, steaming hot water had already begun to fill the pristine white ceramic bathtub while a soft melody began to play in the background, easing her into the morning.

She slipped beneath the crystal-clear water without second thought and then reached for one of the ceramic bottles which held scented oils.

Given Master Arakiel’s love of vanilla, she put a healthy dose in the water and began to let it soak for a good long time, giving her limbs a well-earned rest from the strenuous exertion just a moment ago.

She leaned backwards and just took in the warm, wet air while the hot water did its magic. Her mind went blank in an attempt to not think too much about the upcoming day.

It kind of worked, but not really, for her curiosity got the better of her and she turned all giddy thinking about what it could be that he intended to show her?

By now, laughing felt no longer foreign and alien to her. In fact, it was something she loved to do quite often and whenever she was happy, a smile hushed across Master Arakiel’s lips.

Once she felt soaked enough, she slipped out of the bath, pressing another slip of translucent glass next to it. These little sheets of naara-coated glass were tied to a specific purpose – in this specific case pulling the plug and the accompanying mechanisms to let the water return to the reservoir, where it’d be cleansed and prepared to be used again.

Aurora stopped in front of the large silver standing mirror and briefly looked herself over in the nude. She had gained a bit of weight all over her body during the past year. Most importantly, however, she had finally begun to bud, however little.

Feeling quite content with her minuscule but notable progress at becoming a proper girl, she headed over towards the sink and began to brush her teeth. When that part of the morning ritual was done, she briefly went to heed nature’s call and then began to properly take care of her hair and face.

She was usually quite adventurous when it came to makeup or other 'beauty products' as Arakiel called them, but today she opted for what she knew worked.

A bit of red on her lips, a touch of black on her inner eyelids and just a tiny amount of rose blush on her cheeks. She then carefully combed her wavy, golden hair and when her gaze fell inevitably on the golden collar around her neck, she found herself blushing just a little too much, for it always reminded her of Master Arakiel and his claim to her life.

The thought alone made her feel flustered.

Once finished with the hairdo and makeup, she went back into her room and put on a set of white underwear above which she decided to wear a white dress that had a gilded, floral pattern winding up the right side, like a vine of some kind. More importantly, however, this particular dress had a very low cut that left her shoulders exposed to give special attention to her neck’s adornment.

Aurora still struggled with this whole makeup process and given the extra care she put in today, it took quite a bit longer to finish her morning routine.

She later headed up the circular set of stone stairs that led into the kitchen of her little world which lay just two stories higher, since the majority of this building was off-limits to her, not that she particularly minded.

The few openings in the outer walls let her peek at stoic, monochrome grey stonework that hadn’t changed one bit over the past year and judging by faint sounds that occasionally reached her, there were people somewhere around here. Not once had she heard anything from behind the sizable oaken door that marked the upper end of her current residence.

Inside the kitchen, she headed over towards the wooden piece of furniture that radiated a constant, pleasant cold – a large, upright box with shelves, inscribed with a symbol of frost or ice. Arakiel had once called it a fridge which seemed weird. It wasn’t that cold inside, so chillge or chiller felt like a more appropriate name as the box just chilled food, not turned it frigid. But as with many things that she didn’t quite understand, she deferred to Master Arakiel’s wisdom and he had been kind and patient enough to explain many of the more exotic terms she read in her novels.

In the Maidenhold, such questions would’ve been punished right away, for the abbess had placed no value on superficial knowledge. If the question didn’t ask how to best serve, it wasn’t worth asking.

Initially, Aurora had tried to forget everything she had learned thus far… until she had seen how Master Arakiel reacted to the very question when she had asked him for advice on this topic.

He had praised her, encouraged her even to explore this avenue further and in light of this, Aurora had learned a lot, both from him and the books.

She procured several pieces of glazed, honeyed tart from inside the fridge, her favorites. It reminded her of this very topic, for a piece of honeyed tart had been her reward for figuring out that emotions and service weren’t mutually exclusive like the abbess would’ve liked her to believe.

No, it was quite the opposite, actually – and she still felt proud for noticing it even now, over half a year later. Esmera had been the clue and her novels had done nothing but confirm her theories. Servitude and happiness weren’t exclusive, they were symbiotic – the latter fueled the former.

Aurora had grown to love sweets, just as she had begun to find happiness in serving her champion whenever he came to visit and with regards to this, it made perfect sense that he had adorned her neck. Slaves were highly-prized and coveted possessions, especially when a female enslaved a male or the other way around. It spoke of a special bond, a special connection just like honey and sweet dough.

For breakfast, she ate three little slices and then added some milk, ham and cheese alongside two pieces of hard yet savory bread.

How else could she interpret Master Arakiel’s care for her? He had given her a luxurious home, gave her food, drinks and most importantly, sweets – he had even helped her find a purpose, a goal to pursue. And… he had taught her emotions weren’t a bad thing at all… quite the opposite.

He had kept his promise, for Aurora had never felt better in her entire life and whenever she did feel afraid, it was because of herself, not because of him.

If anything, his presence always drove the bad thoughts away and caused new, good and pleasant thoughts to form.

She giggled happily as she fondly touched the piece of metal around her neck. It was so very warm, just like she felt all over right now.

Aurora eventually left her daydream, realizing that she still had one or perhaps even two hours before the sun even rose properly. In order to pass the time, she returned to her chamber of fine arts one level down below, where all kinds of book lay scattered about. Her gaze briefly fell onto a pile in the corner, a bit of dust having set atop the thick, leather bindings. It were books about learning the fine arts, the kind she had requested first for she thought them to be the most important… how naive she had been back then. It brought a smile to her face and a bit of disappointment in herself. The former far overshadowed the latter, however.

As it turned out, it was quite hard to learn any art all by herself and although she understood the message that the texts or pictures were trying to convey, she often couldn’t quite put them into action no matter how often she tried.

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In the early months, she had learned a bit of everything and nothing of importance, really. The few notes on the harp, the small steps and body posture for a proper dance – it was all superficial. Without proper guidance, she’d go nowhere no matter how hard she tried.

And so, she had quickly taken to another kind of lecture, for the one thing she had in abundance were books… the kind that held fictitious stories in them.

That had been her calling.

From then on, Aurora devoured the stories about planeswalkers, about love and revenge, about personally attaining near-infinite power or helping someone attain it, whether voluntarily or by force. Some – very well written – tales even focused on mixing it all together into a stimulating, captivating read that made her experience an entire palette of emotions, some of which she hadn’t even known existed. By now, it had all blurred into a wondrous mishmash of little snippets that enticed her into longing for this wonderful world that awaited outside.

For example, during the past two weeks, she had taken to reading a tale about a group of planeswalkers that had been there in the beginning of the New Order over seventy years ago. It was a story about ambition, treachery, revenge and the love and satisfaction found in the many amenities that followed in the wake of achieving and exerting power. It was a classic theme, a classic tale and one that still happened nowadays – quite often even – for the planes offered nigh infinite opportunities, as Master Arakiel had claimed thrice.

Aurora assumed that he was a planeswalker, but she actually didn’t know.

Back then, in the Maidenhold, he had been with a group of planeswalkers, but they had parted right in the Transcended’s chapel when he created a portal directly into this little tower. She assumed to be on another plane, but she didn’t actually know.

Granted, she had never asked.

Aurora picked up the leather-bound book and flipped to the page she had left off, but she soon grew restless, unable to focus on the plot and given that the planeswalking party was currently in a rather hairy situation, she didn’t want to skip or miss anything.

So she just put the book down and decided to combat her restlessness by walking around aimlessly as her mind kept coming up with new ideas of what exactly her champion might have in store for her and then, finally – finally – she heard the heavy mechanism on the oaken door grind into gears.

Aurora nearly tripped as she hurried towards the sound and when the following footsteps were just around the circular corner, she stopped right next to the kitchen where she took on a proper attendant’s posture. It came easy to her and it was one of the few remnants of the Maidenhold that she was kind of glad to have.

“Good morning, Master Arakiel!” She greeted politely just as he descended the grey steps and when her eyes beheld the handsome man that had taken care of her all this time, her heart skipped several beats while she became more than a little flustered on the inside. Not enough to break her posture, but it did make her tip her toes a little.

He paused and looked her over, his reddish eyes wandering upwards. Given the smile that formed on his lips, he seemed pleased with her appearance, which in turn made her quite pleased as well.

Master Arakiel looked especially dashing today. He had even shaved his beard – maybe because she said that she disliked the stubble? Not only that, he had even grown his hair a little which all but confirmed her theory. Just a month ago, she had wondered aloud how he’d look with longer hair.

His choice of clothes was impeccable as well, with a dark green doublet made from some kind of thick velvet or brocade alongside a pair of elegant, matching, trousers in a darkened green. The attire’s overall cut outlined his body’s physique quite well, enough to make her blush just a little.

His dark leather boots shone with care and the belt’s golden girdle built a nice contrast to the rest of his attire, especially since Arakiel had pulled a portion of his green-reddish cloak back, the cloak of his House if she understood correctly – not that he had ever said which House he belonged to – or what a House even was. In the stories, a House denoted an extended, powerful family and their sphere of influence.

On the belt, he wore a silver sword with an intricately-decorated hilt and a color-changing gem worked into the pommel. Right now, it shared his eyes’ red.

“You’re turning more beautiful by the day, little seraphim.” Master Arakiel praised, once again using that term. He occasionally did, even if he had yet to explain what exactly it entailed.

By now, Aurora was convinced that she was a seraphim, but she had no idea what that meant. It probably related to her parents, but her infancy years were a blur, even more so after she had left the Maidenhold. All that was left were the colors crimson, white and gold – in that order.

Never minding that, however, she lightly jumped up and down at his praise and then, unable to keep her affection in check, she clung to him, letting his deeply sweet scent envelop her in full. There was the tiniest note of freshness beneath, which made it even better.

He returned her embrace and began to softly stroke her hair, as he liked to do whenever he was particularly pleased with her efforts to please him. The more he did, the less she jolted up in the middle of the night.

“I need to apologize for keeping you confined for so long, little seraphim,” he then whispered softly, adding. “But despite your nature, you are an Elysian still and our cities are supposed to be allied. However, I can now say with certainty that our diversion worked which means that I can now bring you to my actual home.”

“Diversion?” She found herself asking, only to immediately blush in shame. Of all the things she could’ve said, this might’ve been the worst.

Yet, to her surprise, he gave her an answer, saying. “Remember the other girls at the Maidenhold? Many of them were rather high profile, so the Elysians are trying to track them down, even though most have already been brought far beyond their reach.”

He loosened the embrace a little and looked down at her, grinning. “They snooped around for almost an entire year, thinking the perpetrators to be citizens of Kalanaar – and they were right. They just couldn’t prove it.”

Arakiel chuckled and repeated his earlier gesture while summarizing. “This means that I no longer need to hide you.”

She lightly tilted her head and put out another question, even if she couldn’t exactly say why she did it. “But… why would you attack when you’re allies?”

In the stories, allies were working together, not against one another.

He frowned a little, noting with a little indignity. “No proper Kalanite could ever tolerate the Elysian’s conduct!”

She gave him a puzzled look.

He went on with some irritation. “Elysians openly consort with immortals, have even put them on the Golden Chrysanthemum! They’re mocking us and the Transcended with their vile pacts and it is every Kalanite’s duty to oppose such frivolous, dangerous behavior!”

“Immortals?” She repeated as she racked her brain on the matter. Some stories featured these obscenely powerful beings that had lived for centuries, beings that were usually evil and devious. Many stories ended with an immortal’s death or enslavement.

For the briefest of moments, he paused and then seemingly thought of something else, answering. “They’re the oppressors of old, the reason we mortals lived in slavery until the Transcended gave us the means to free ourselves. The Elysians spit on our heritage with their very way of life!”

The answer surprised her, for she hadn’t read anything about this. What worried her was the fact that he sounded genuinely upset now and Aurora didn’t know how to deal with it, so she tried to drop the matter.

Arakiel, however, kept speaking as though his ire having been roused. It was a first from her experience. “There are only two types of immortals that a Kalanite will tolerate: the dead or the domesticated kind, with the former being the much safer option!”

So it was just like the stories after all.

“You sound like you hate them,” Aurora heard herself say and then immediately apologized. “Forgive me, Master Arakiel. I did not mean to–”

He interrupted her mid-sentence, his words carrying an odd tone. “It’s alright, little seraphim. I got carried away as well…”

A sigh left his lips and he went on while Aurora put a hand to her lips to stop her from embarrassing herself. “It’s just that me and my House have a bad history with immortals so I will take every chance I can get to get payback at those who consort with immortals.” He laid out, which made sense. Real men strove to achieve vengeance for grievances on their own merit.

“Master Arakiel,” Aurora whispered as she slowly winded her way out of his embrace, feeling as though it was her turn to make him comfortable. He did look a little uncomfortable right now.

“Let us speak of more festive matters,” she suggested with a deep apologetic curtsy. “I did not mean to upset you.”

“I am well aware, little seraphim. You are coming along nicely, very nicely indeed.” He praised and then lifted her chin a little. His hand was warm and she felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment. Sometimes, it was really hard to look in his wondrous eyes.

“Now, allow me to reintroduce myself properly since you will move in with me from this day forward.” He announced, causing a jolt of energy to rush throughout her.

“Will I!?” She exclaimed immediately, wanting him to reaffirm it.

He nodded curtly and smiled. “Yes… you’re about to enter a critical phase in your development and it is imperative that I guide you every step of the way.” He explained and then leaned forward just a little bit, adding in a softer tone. “Besides… every moment I don’t spend with you, I feel uneasy, perhaps even restless.”

“I am the same, Master Arakiel!” Aurora returned full of conviction, feeling so very glad to hear him say it. In her fervor, she quoted a line from one the story she had read last month, one whose plot still stuck with her. “Please, show me how to serve you properly, not only in the morning or the evening… but all the time!”

He chuckled lightly and tapped her left cheek, smiling. “Your initiative is laudable, but such things need to be done properly and with sufficient preparation.”

Arakiel cleared his throat a little, whispering. “Besides… you haven’t bled yet, have you?”

“I… I have not,” she admitted abashedly.

In the story, the man had responded quite differently.

“You are still a bud, Aurora. Give it time. I am sure you will blossom into a wonderful maiden in no time.” He placated soothingly.

“But… aren’t you unhappy with this?” She queried while her cheeks began to burn hot, even if she couldn’t exactly say why. For some reason, the image of the dancing Esmera flashed in her mind – and more importantly, the way her man had looked at her. If the many novels she had studied thus far spoke true, then it must’ve been desire – an all-consuming feeling that enabled people to make the impossible possible.

He lightly tilted his head and uttered a word in confusion. “Huh?”

“Don’t you desire me?” She asked straight away, causing him to frown and then chuckle.

“No, no I do not desire you, Aurora.” He stated flat-out and the answer hit her straight through the gut, leaving her staring at him with mouth agape.

“But…” she began to mutter in disbelief.

Didn’t desire her? He didn’t… want her? Like a man wanted a woman?

Something heavy began to wrap around her heart.

She certainly desired him – it had to be this feeling she felt whenever she looked at him. This little tingling sensation in her stomach, the one that made her all flustered. It intensified with every week, growing more notable… especially when he was around.

Arakiel once again patted her on the head, only to then ruffle her hair a little. The feeling in her stomach grew stronger.

“Aurora, it’s a bit too early to be talking about desire and the like. Give it a few years, then you’ll notice that I’ll look at you in a different way, because I’m sure you’ll be very desirable once you’ve grown a little more.” He said, placated… promised.

The terrible feeling vanished from one moment to another and she once again beamed a smile at him, asking to affirm. “It is a promise, then?”

“I don’t make promises to my slaves, Aurora,” Master Arakiel stated indignantly and she realized that she had once again overstepped her authority. His voice then softened notably, saying. “But you can be certain that I’ll watch your growth meticulously, so I’ll know when you’re ready.”

He then put his hand around her waist and motioned at the staircase leading upstairs. “Now… come along. It’s time I show you where I really live, the Eternal City of Kalanaar!”