When the previous domicile had been adequate, then the Djinnum Palace’s guest wing was exuberant to the point of being ridiculous.

They were given their very own courtyard with three spacious sleeping chambers, an adjacent little kitchen, an open-air bath and three other rooms which could be assigned to work, pleasure and relaxation.

The interior was a small but extremely romantic garden, with a little pond fed by a small stream from a little layered fountain of marble. The grass was exceptionally green and lush, the sand white as snow and so fine that Aurora wanted to sleep in it and that one large palm tree offered a nice patch of shadow to lie down and ponder.

The terrace that lined the courtyard was made from some type of cypress while the rooms were kept in marble, with the color denoting the purpose. Pink for sleeping, blue for bathing, white for relaxation and green for work while a deeper red was kept for pleasure.

After their arrival and introductory tour, the thoroughly dark-clad veiled woman wished them a pleasant afternoon after which she left right away, noting that should they require anything, they need but ring the bell at their isolated wing’s exit.

As soon as the woman was gone, Arakiel and Ezekiel both had their seraphims’ soul retreat back into their body, after which they slurped over towards the white-marbled room, where they sank into a sea of pillows in front of the relatively low table.

Aurora could practically feel the tension falling off of both men from one moment to another, leaving them thoroughly exhausted. She motioned for their servants to find something to drink while Selene and her sat down beside their Lord where she allow Arakiel to rest his head on her shoulders for a change. His reddish eyes with a slight amber undertone looked weary in the warm light of the orange-colored lightning crystal.

It was Lady Mellia who spoke up first, although her voice sounded also fairly fatigued. “I daresay our fortune remains steadfast. That sultan is… he is very, very powerful. Be careful, o brother mine.”

Ezekiel chuckled lightly. It sounded almost bitter. “We’ve been had, though.”

“How so?” Aurora queried, not sure what he was alluding to.

“Sultan Zimraan has just taken over my plan,” Arakiel said with a hint of remorse. “It was a risk and this time, we lost.”

“Do not despair,” Lady Mellia warned right away. “We are alive and unharmed, nothing is set is stone just yet.”

“It’s not, Mellia. But all we do from now on now is in Zimraan’s name. I am to conquer this plane for him, in his name, on his terms.” Arakiel explained and sighed.

“But you will conquer it, my love.” Aurora pointed in a soft, soothing words as she began to softly stroke her Lord’s hair and cheeks. He seemed so very exhausted, as though he ready to fall asleep at a moment’s notice. “You will be out there while he sits in his palace.”

“Exactly, he ordered me and I have to comply. A trueblood Kalanite doing some minor akh’s bidding.” Arakiel noted with some irritation.

“Akh?” Ezekiel questioned. “What’s an akh?”

“They’re mortal descendants of immortal djinn. They have an excellent ancestry and even have their own major plane, Akh Karab. I’m not sure how one of them ended up here, but it explains quite a bit and why the desert dwellers’ culture is so similar to that plane. Jinnum are thin-blooded akh, barely able to manifest their yellow flame without the help of the Class System.” Arakiel explained and let out another sigh which was actually a yawn. He seemed a little dejected, or maybe the fatigue just caught up with him for good.

Either way, Aurora just wanted to cuddle and spoil him right now. He had done so well, after all.

“Arakiel,” Lady Mellia began to say softly. “Do not despair. Thine evaluation doth contain merit, yet thou should not forget that thou, Lord Ezekiel and even myself will grow from the tribulations while Sultan Zimraan will stagnate.”

“You mean to say a planeswalker’s work is never truly done?” Arakiel asked in a low and slightly curious tone.

“Precisely,” Lady Mellia affirmed. She pulled back her hood, gifting her elder brother a most charming smile that once again left Aurora speechless. The true embodiment of a maiden, but one with heart and soul, not like what the abbess and her cronies had raised.

“O sister mine,” Arakiel began in a slightly sonorous voice. Lady Mellia’s smile took a slight crack while her cheeks blushed in a lovely manner. She was very easy to tease, Aurora had often witnessed, but Lady Mellia did not actually dislike it. She just played her cards exceptionally well. “Rest assured that I am not giving up, nor will I give in to despair.”

“I am pleased,” Lady Mellia returned right as Nyanna and her sisters returned with some carafes and crystalline goblets that held different kinds of liquid. One was slightly amber in color, the other had a deep red one and the last was clear and translucent.

“Thank you. You may leave now,” Aurora said and politely dismissed them right away, after which she began to briefly examine the three different liquids.

In the end, she opted for the sweet amber one while Selene chose the deep red carafe.

“You are in luck we are in company,” Aurora whispered towards her Lord as she guided the goblet to his mouth. “I would administer it to you in a slightly different manner were it so.”

“Then I guess I’m lucky there’s other people here my little insatiable aurea,” Arakiel teased a little dryly, which made her steal a kiss before she let him taste the sweet nectar.

He drank it, let out a content sigh and then closed his eyes.

Just a little later, he seemed to have drifted off to sleep in her arms.

“Thou have become quite harmonious,” Lady Mellia remarked with a smile. “It is most pleasant to behold.”

Aurora beamed a smile at her Lord’s little sister, remarking in a slightly sheepish tone. “We are bound together, after all… my Lord and I.”

To her surprise, Selene suddenly spoke up from the side, Ezekiel also having fallen asleep on the table, not her arms.

“You are a disgrace to your Master, Aurora.” The silver-haired accused, stated in a disappointed manner.

Aurora looked to the side, meeting the other seraphim’s gaze on equal terms. “Really?” She asked while her lips formed a slightly mocking voice. “From where I’m standing, I think you are a disgrace, Selene.”

“Me? A disgrace?” Selene repeated as though she hadn’t heard correctly. “How could you possibly say that you shameless, undisciplined disgrace of an aurea!?”

“Have you caught the dawn or anything else for your Lord?” Aurora immediately asked, knowing full well the answer.

“My lord?” Selene repeated with confusion, not even acknowledging her utter failure. “My Master is Ezekiel. I have no lord.”

“Oh you poor girl,” Aurora remarked with an exaggerated tone, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t even deepen your covenant yet?”

“Covenant?” Selene returned perplexed once again. “What are you talking about?”

Aurora began to giggle heartily, almost too heartily as she had to quickly cover her mouth lest she wake Arakiel up.

“Ignorance suits you well, Selene ast Rhea,” She then jibed, recalling well all the times how the Selenyean princess had treated her like dirt or air.

“I have no idea what you are talking about, but your lack of discipline reflects poorly on your Master.” Selene repeated, falling back into habit. “He should’ve reprimanded you harshly for your little stunt in front of the Sultan.”

“I can see why you’re just an argent.” Aurora saw the need to point out, feeling very vindicated right now. “Don’t even presume to understand the bond that connects my Lord and I. It is entirely different from the leash that you are wearing.”

Selene shook her head slightly, seemingly thoroughly disillusioned with Aurora’s behavior. “I will inform your master of this transgression. I can only hope he can reign you in in time.”

“I pity Ezekiel,” Aurora returned a bit too venomously, yet she couldn’t stop the words from leaving her mouth. “Having to shoulder this entire burden by himself. I can only hope he remains as strong of mind as he seems to be.”

“You will not slander my Master, you little venomous dove!” Selene shot back, her eyes gaining a glint of anger.

“I’m praising him you airheaded pigeon!” Aurora retorted in irritation, feeling utterly misrepresented.

“Don’t you dare compare my plumage to such a… filthy–” Selene barked, her voice having turned louder as well until Lady Mellia suddenly chimed in, reprimanding both in a low but sharp tone.

“Ladies,” Arakiel’s sister began, causing both seraphim to look her way. “If thou wishes to sling mud everywhere, pray do head outside and let thy wardens rest in peace!”

“Look what you did!” Selene whispered, accused, but Aurora harrumphed at her comment, after which she demonstratively looked away while Lady Mellia rolled her eyes and then announced her retreat.

As soon as she left, Selene and Aurora occasionally glimpsed towards one another only to immediately look away as though they hadn’t just done that.

Sometime later, when both had had quite a bit of time to listen to the soothing, quietly streaming water in the outside garden, Aurora felt a little bit embarrassed about her outburst.

She turned half-sideways, offering a slight apology while maintaining moral superiority – an antic Selene picked up on and they both silently agreed to disagree without holding too much a grudge.

Then, Aurora felt her legs beginning to grow numb after which she let herself and her Lord fall into the pillows behind them.

From the side, she noticed Selene doing something fairly similar.

In the end, they both went to rest in their respective champion’s arms.

Aurora awoke an unknown amount of time later and felt horribly drained and tired, as though all the fatigue she had staved off for the past weeks was now catching it up to her.

From the corner of her drowsy eyes, she saw Arakiel lying close and right next to her while somewhere above and behind him, she felt as though she saw the outline of another figure, yet when she tried to open her eyes, they didn’t really yet have the strength to focus.

The blurry figure whose contours she couldn’t even make out began to move and then, when she had to blink, it was gone.

Unable to do anything other than yawning with exhaustion, she snuggled up to Arakiel just a little more and went to sleep and when she eventually felt his arms closing around her, she felt sheltered and protected.

Slumber came swiftly.

When next she awoke, it was just moments after sunrise. She only saw the faint outline of golden-reddish rays illuminating parts of the courtyard, but something urged her to go out and fulfill her duty to greet the dawn. She had felt this inexplicable compulsion for the past two and a half weeks, but never in this intensity.

Freeing herself from her Lord’s embrace, she got up and stumbled towards the room’s exit, then onto the wooden veranda and finally, into the small courtyard where she found out that no sun reached her here.

Above, on the gilded domes and towers, she saw it, but now down here.

It irritated her.

She was to greet the dawn.

She had to greet the dawn.

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Aurora felt her soulfire, the essence of her very self, escape her core and spread all throughout her inside body and as it did, any fatigue or drowsiness that remained was purged away.

Up there, on the roof, she witnessed the sun’s earliest rays and she was not there to receive them, to guide them.

Aurora found it an intolerable state of affairs – a thorough disregard of her duties.

It could not stand.

She lightly clutched her chest and wished for a way to do her duties and though it, she felt how her fire rushed out of her, fully engulfing her skin in a soft, fiery aura.

Feeling emboldened and full of confidence, Aurora went to her knees and then jumped to the skies and by some miracle, she found herself rising higher and higher until the sun’s warmth began to greet her from the east.

There, beyond the dunes of the desert, a golden sun was heralding the dawn and it was her duty to answer its call.

Aurora held out both hands as she seemed suspended mid-air, but her entire focus was on the sun, its rays and the warmth, the gentle warmth that heralded a new beginning, a new chance.

She felt the golden light beginning to gather in both of her hands, heeding her greeting call, following her guidance.

At first, only a few tiny motes appeared but soon enough, two swirling vortices of golden light converged in her palms while the soft morning wind breezed through her airy gossamer dress, caressing her skin and plumes.

Her plumes.

Her… feathers?

The realization ripped her from her trance and when she looked around, she beheld her wondrously white wings which were also wreathed in a golden, fiery aura flapping in quick and strained movements to keep her afloat mid-air.

Something inside her mind short-circuited at the realization and she suddenly panicked and with it, her additional limbs’ rhythm was lost and she… plummeted towards the ground and unlike those times in the Eternal City of Kalanaar, there was no Traveler Arakiel holding her to blink her elsewhere.

Aurora began to frantically scream as she tried to move her body, tried to get her wings to do ANYTHING, but the damned things did NOTHING, almost as though they were sulking because she was so shocked that they could indeed fly!

The grassy ground swiftly came closer and just when Aurora thought everything was over, she saw a streak of color rushing out from somewhere, towards her position.

In the next moment, she suddenly felt someone grabbing and tackling her and then she was thrown to the side alongside someone else.

A splash followed by lots of cold liquid submerging her as she unceremoniously fell into the little pond alongside someone else.

The surprise and the impact only added to her overall panic, causing her to swallow lots of water and then someone grabbed her more forcefully, pulling her out of pond and onto the nearby grass.

“Aurora!” A familiar voice shouted above her, one that was vaguely familiar. No, not vaguely, intrinsically. It was her Lord’s, her champion’s voice.

He was concerned for her, but she felt robbed of most her senses.

Someone cursed above her and then she felt someone applying pressure to her chest, right after which warm lips pressed against hers.

And then they began to suck and something inside her chest and throat moved.

Aurora felt the overwhelming urge to let it out and as she ripped open her eyes, she began to cough bitterly as she spat out water while her soulfire began to stabilize her state of mind and body.

He was there, Arakiel. Right next of her, his eyes wide with fear and worry.

He reached out to her, softly embracing her as she kept coughing.

“Aurora, are you well? What happened!?”

From around, she heard another voice joining in, asking what exactly had happened.

She needed several minutes to calm herself and she was truly thankful for the curtain of wet hair that hid her countenance, because she was so very embarrassed right now.

There was no way she could admit what had just happened.

“Aurora?” Her champion eventually asked in a soft, concerned tone. “Are you okay… what happened?”

Seeing no other way out, she chose offense.

Being more or less aware of his position, she jumped him, knocking him over and before he could ask anything further, she kissed him ardently while her hands explored his body as a means to somehow divert everyone’s attention.

She could not admit to her blunder. There was no way!

From the side, she heard Ezekiel mutter words of disbelief before he said. “Selene, don’t ever do this. If you want my attention, just tell me. No need to jump off of a roof and scream.”

“Of course, Master. Unlike that dove, I am well behaved.” Selene jabbed and it… it stung a little.

But she wasn’t out of this pretty pickle just yet.

Alas, Arakiel did quickly push her away and although most of her wet golden hair blocked the view, she could tell that he seemed slightly irritated but also extremely relieved.

“What happened?” He asked more pointed.

“You came to my rescue is what happened!” Aurora returned hastily, once again attempting to arouse and divert his attention. But he blocked her, saying.

“I’m serious, Aurora – what happened?” He sounded concerned.

“I will tell you if you order me to…” Aurora responded in an embarrassed manner. She whispered the last words. “… but I’d rather you not.”

She suddenly found her body growing limp as she fell on the side first, and then he lifted her up, having taken nearly all of her flame.

“Do you want to see the sun?” He asked in an affectionate manner and when she only managed to offer a whimpering noise of affirmation due to feeling so embarrassed, he chuckled lightly and, holding one of her dawnshards, he drew upon the white in order to jump onto the roof first by using one of the heavy wooden beams as a springboard. Up from the terrance’s roof, he moved further upwards until they reached a smaller, flat roof whose railings were broad enough to sit atop. Here, he sat down with Aurora on his lap. Both were fully drenched, but she didn’t mind now. It only made him feel closer to her.

From up here, one had a wondrous view of not only the rising sun, but also some other parts of the Djinnum Palace, most notably a large garden complex around what seemed to be another smaller oasis.

He brushed wet strands of her hair aside and then let out a small, content sigh.

Aurora grew a bit flustered, but in a good way. She had never greeted the dawn when he held her, but today seemed as good a day as any… and she always found incredible joy and satisfaction in the act.

Here, on this little flat rooftop, Aurora caught the dawn while Arakiel held her close, but not in a constricting manner, but in one that made her feel so terribly cherished.

This time, she didn’t go on her knees. Instead, she leaned back a little and looked up at him, his wondrously green eyes looking her over with tender, intimate affection.

“Arakiel, my beloved Lord, my champion…” Aurora whispered in barely audible words as she touched the tri-colored shard of crystallized light tightly. “I guided the dawn’s light for you… can we share it?”

A thin smile formed on his lips. “I don’t see why not,” her champion affirmed softly, causing something different in Aurora to bloom.

With his permission, Aurora drew upon the gold inside her shard, feeding the light into herself not as a means to cast a spell, but to nourish her.

Her own soul’s fire greedily reached for the motes of golden light that she drew into herself and as soon as they touched, it began to consume them – and with it, Aurora became ecstatic as her body and wings winded under several, excessively intense waves of pure and utter bliss. The sensation utterly ravaged her body and mind.

Meanwhile, she began to glow in a soft golden light that ceased with every second until nothing of her dawnshard remained. Even the white and red portions began to crumble to dust although Aurora didn’t recall drawing them in.

It hadn’t even lasted for a minute, but while Aurora had never felt so vividly alive, its sudden loss left her feeling exceptionally vulnerable.

“Interesting, could you always do that?” Her champion asked in a curious tone, but she barely heard him. Instead, she turned around and began to cling to him tightly as her entire body started to tremble and only when she found immediate and absolute shelter in his arms did her terror abate, albeit slowly.

He noticed right away and worriedly asked what had happened, but she couldn’t explain it properly, only mumbling something about feeling lost and alone without him.

She needed a while to calm down and when she did, she felt better than before, but the experience left her slightly puzzled and a little afraid.

Whatever she had done, she should never attempt it when he wasn’t around while Arakiel’s expression was one of worry altogether.

Eventually, they descended back down into the courtyard.

They arrived to a small buffet that had been arranged in the meantime and over the course of the morning, Aurora learned that their stay in the Djinnum Palace would undoubtedly be the coziest and most comfortable one by far and just perhaps, their most fruitful one as well.

Not only had the Monarch ordered his staff to eventually fashion them garments and equipment befitting their new roles, he further intended to prepare Arakiel for his role as Lord Executor through lessons both written and by manner of advisors and while Aurora had no interest in all the strategical talk, she did have her own preparations to do for something she could not quite explain, yet today’s events forced her hand.

At some point in time, she eventually wondered just how many months had come and gone since they arrived here?

Truly, how long had she been on this world already? Or rather, how short.

So much had happened in all this time it almost made her head spin, but then she focused onto her champion and how he kept his promise to let her accompany him. Unlike Marianka, Aurora would support him – against his wishes if need be – all to see him, to see them succeed at whatever challenged them.

But for that, she needed clarity. In fact, her very soul demanded it.

When evening came, she had nearly prepared everything and as the planeswalkers began their evening meal, Aurora quietly and stealthily got up from the table and headed over towards the side, right next to a small, barely lit crystal of light.

There, she picked up the violin, the maestro’s gift, and her bow. She did not start to play right away and so far, none had noticed her absence yet.

Aurora called on her soulfire and wished upon her soul to deliver a performance worthy of…

Worthy of what?

She hesitated only briefly for the answer had already formed in her mind: of them; of her, Aurora li Arakiel, an Aspect of the Seraphim of Dawn and of her Lord, Champion and Conqueror, Arakiel il Kalanaar of House Alexandrite.

Closing her eyes, Aurora set the bow onto the violin and began to follow her instincts, her soul’s guidance. Her hands began to move on their own and soon enough, her body followed.

It started slow, hesitant, portraying a girl struggling with her own mind, her own emotions. Apathy, fear, loss.

A shift.

Another darker and slightly faster melody depicted a young man struggling to find his way after having stumbled, fallen. Broken pride, humiliation, denial.

Acceleration.

The melody now told the story of a young man with ambition ignited by delusion in search of acceptance, of vindication and a means to undo the mistakes of the past.

Change.

Two melodies afar, yet on collision: one of kindled hope, one of apathetic despair.

Clash.

Two melodies on top of one another, one of suppressed hatred, one of fearful longing.

Slowly, but surely, the two melodies she wove became closer to one another, yet whenever the meek, longing one attempted to resonate with the other one, it recoiled and clad itself in protective, hidden hatred.

A cut.

One melody died inside and through it, the other began to rise and blossom for it needed to resound for two; but with it came yearning. It turned too fast.

A solo!

But then, slowly, the dead melody took on aspects of the louder, lively one. It did not copy them, but it used it to regain its own melody which was different than before, but it was a melody.

Collision.

The melodies clashed against one another, each one vying for dominance, vying for the correct path forward.

Confusion.

There was no need to overtake one another, for both melodies had different goals, different aims.

Acceptance.

One led, the other followed, supported. It was just a matter of how.

Harmony.

Both melodies formed a whole for when one would falter, the other was there to support it.

Resonance.

Yet only question remained. What kind of resonance did the darker melody wish for?

Just before she finished, Aurora opened her eyes and saw golden motes of light swirling around her as she slowly danced through the dining hall. She was drawing them in, like a soft, slowly moving whirlwind that drew its colors not only from her own soul, but that of Arakiel and all the dawnshards she had created for him.

When she played the last note, the color stopped, froze – and then dispersed into even tinier motes of light, little sparks that soon flickered out, leaving her and her beloved Lord with nothing but a wisp of soul… and yet, Aurora had never felt so happy in her entire life, even if she couldn’t exactly pinpoint why.

She was crying tears of joy, but she wasn’t the only one. Arakiel was crying as well and even Ezekiel, Selene, Lady Mellia and the three servants who were in attendance had tears in their eyes.

Silence set in and through it, Aurora hushed on bare feet and soft steps towards her chosen.

Stopping in front of him, she lightly bend forward and looked straight into his deep red eyes that held a thin undertone of amber.

Aurora beamed a smile at him, speaking in a voice that came from the core of her very soul. “Arakiel, Lord of mine. By the time we next deepen our bond, you will need to define its nature. Think long and hard for once it is done, the covenant cannot ever be changed again.”

A thin golden halo formed around his irises’ edges and he only nodded once, at which point Aurora collapsed on the spot.

The words had been said, the challenge issued, the question asked.

Now, it was up to her to guide him to a proper answer.