Second Loss in the 72nd year of the New Order
Aurora ay Elysia watched the fight down in the courtyard with mostly detached interest even if a tiny, albeit growing, part of her wondered what had happened.
Just some time earlier, several cloaked newcomers had arrived in the Maidenhold, but unlike normally, the responsible handmaiden hadn’t ordered the silent sisters to jump the newcomers with chains, but with weapons instead. This had caused the veiled people to retaliate with arms and magic of their own. A fight had then ensued, one that appeared to be terribly one-sided if the growing number of dying silent sisters was any indication.
Unwanted emotions of curiosity and something she couldn’t place briefly surged inside her mind, yet she suppressed them right away as fear of punishment took over.
She had just spent an entire month in solitary confinement because Aurora had dared to show interest in some of the fine arts that the other maidens-to-be learned, had dared to show any kind of emotion when so far, her entire life revolved around not showing any.
The thought on this subject alone briefly caused even more unwanted emotions to rush in and unlike just a few years earlier, Aurora found them increasingly hard to get rid of despite her jailer’s ever more cruel methods in expelling them.
Once more, she tried to suppress the feeling, but it only caused a new one to join in, one of irritation, annoyance at her own behavior.
The next moment, she had clicked her tongue in frustration and Aurora realized that she might need to spend another month in confinement before the handmaidens or the abbess herself decided to go for bodily correction next. She had heard the screams of some of the other maidens-in-waiting who had behaved unseemly, who had dared to question their betters in some minuscule way.
The mere thought sent a shiver down her spine, which was acceptable.
Fear and dread were the only states of mind that the wardens didn’t outright sanction, for it helped to mold them. In light of this, the action made sense: a warning to all the other girls here at the Maidenhold, this keep in the middle of a sea in some mist-ridden place. The name alluded to its purpose, for unruly young ladies entered and harmonious maidens exited a few years later.
Well, that was true for the maidens-in-waiting, while Aurora was one of the few ‘evermaidens’, those whose families had no interest in ever getting their offspring back.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth, which was one of the less-desirable sentiments that became increasingly hard to keep in check, for Aurora had often wondered during the last month just how long she was supposed to stay here?
She had kind of lost track of time, but it had to be more than ten years at this point, give or take a few… would she really remain here forever, just because her elder sister couldn’t face her given that Aurora was responsible for their mother’s death?
If that was the case, then why hadn’t she been smothered as an infant? Why had she been sent here to be…
At this point, her frustration had become palpable while the last remaining silent sisters down in the courtyard had surrendered if the way they threw up her hands were any indication.
Aurora could not hear given the way her cell had been enchanted, but she mused whether they were crying like the maidens-to-be usually cried when they dragged them off to be punished.
That thought gave rise to an emotion that felt good, even if she couldn’t quite place it in the spectrum and for the briefest moment, Aurora wondered whether today might actually bring about some change.
This group of cloaked people had to have come here with a purpose, after all.
Maybe it was a rescue squad like Esmera ya Isabel ay Elysia liked to fantasize about when she thought that no one was listening. That maiden-to-be seemed convinced that she had been brought here by some kind of mistake, when her story matched that of so many others: an unwanted scion of a prestigious clan, one who had the potential to become a source of disharmony.
Here, in the Maidenhold, such girls were made pliable so that when they returned, they would become an element of harmony instead, one that wouldn’t even think about challenging the established power structure.
This was one of the first things that the abbess told every newcomer – that coming here was a gesture of love and compassion, for the alternative was death.
One time, Aurora had wondered whether death would’ve been preferable in her situation. When the abbess had found out during her weekly examination, Aurora had been given ‘enhanced treatment’.
Odd, that this line of thought would surface now when she hadn’t gone down that road for these past three years or whenever that event had happened.
Time had long since begun to blur.
Her heart skipped a beat when down there in the courtyard, the newcomers didn’t accept the surviving silent sisters’ surrender. They just cut them down.
At first, she felt kind of surprised because it went against everything she had learned thus far, but then she realized that the silent sisters were neither maidens nor ladies.
In light of that, their surrender seemed short-sighted.
Most of the cloaked people began to spread out while two remained behind. These two commenced in checking the bodies while beneath them, several puddles of blood had begun to form into one large pool, its crimson looking oddly fitting with the white marble below.
With nothing else to do given the lock on her cell’s door, Aurora focused on truly bringing her emotions in line once more and soon enough, she apathetically watched the cloaked people pile the lifeless bodies of the silent sisters high, but not before having stripped them of their clothes and gear.
And then, she suddenly heard a loud sound of shattering glass, causing her to flinch and swirl around towards her cell’s door that had burst open through sheer force alone.
Once again, her heart briefly skipped a beat but when fear took proper hold of her, her subconscious began to move her body in the appropriate manner.
Aurora snapped to attention like she had done countless times. She neatly folded her hands in the front so that her inspector could examine her fingernails while her body straightened enough to show that it wasn’t limp and she wasn’t lazing around. Lastly, she cast down her gaze so that she couldn’t make eye contact with the examiner lest she be scolded and punished.
With the sound-seal broken, she heard the figure’s soft steps as it approached her across the thick carpet that had been laid out in her entire cell. The person had to be rather heavy.
A few moments later, she saw snippets of dark boots peeking out from beneath the grey cloak and a strong scent of salty air rushed into the room and up her nostrils. It was certainly a change from the soft smell of roses that usually lingered around in the maidens’ domiciles, but Aurora admitted that she wasn’t in favor of this kind of change. She much preferred the roses compared to this new, almost biting odor.
The boots stopped while a shadow had begun to envelop her, indicating that this cloaked person was much taller and most likely broader than her, even if the source of light lay behind it.
And then she heard a low grunt and someone cleared a throat before a deep, far too deep voice spoke up right in front of her. Aurora had heard that men’s voices were deep, but this caught her off-guard nonetheless, causing her to once again wince.
“Be a good little Elysian and come along, unless you want me to hurt you.” The man ordered and although her first instinct was to comply, reason once again prevailed.
“Forgive me, but the abbess ordered that I remain in my cell unless summoned,” Aurora explained meekly, half-expecting to get hit for not complying with the command.
She had never defied an order before, but had heard others do; The results hadn’t been pretty.
But instead of that, the person chuckled briefly, noting in what seemed to be mild if disinterested approval. “Well-bred, good. You’ll fetch a nice price.”
She repeated the words in her mind and found them comforting. It had been a while since someone complimented her, but the person’s next statement surprised her when it really shouldn’t have.
“Your abbess is dead, Elysian. You’re a prisoner of war now, so come along and be quiet!”
“As you command,” she returned instinctively in a polite manner while her mind had gone into a brief state of turmoil, yet she began to sort it out while following her new captor. She knew the term and the implication, had learned of it not too long ago when the abbess had deemed her old enough. It basically boiled down to a change in her guardianship by manner of force.
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw three other maidens-in-waiting that their new captor must’ve collected already and by the time he led them into the Maidenhold’s central courtyard, they were eight in total. The process had become refined by the end, with the man merely announcing the abbess’ death and since there was no evidence to suggest otherwise, every detainee took him by his word.
Aurora and the others arrived not as the first nor the last and sometime later, she and the twenty-eight other maidens-in-waiting had lined up in front of the watermaiden’s statue that lay in the eastern portion of the courtyard, right in front of the chapel of the Transcended.
Whether their captors – for there were nearly a dozen cloaked people in total – had chosen this place so that the prisoners didn’t witness the pile of bodies near the entrance gate, or whether it was just more convenient to stand in the shadow, Aurora couldn’t say.
Despite the activity in the courtyard and beyond, she felt calm, something that not every other maiden-to-be managed, although the four that had begun to cry had just arrived a few months ago.
Meanwhile, their captors communicated in a foreign language, one that sounded similar to the Elysian tongue, but the words held no meaning. Esmera had whispered something about ‘Kalanite’, but when one of the cloaked men scolded her harshly, she had become overly obedient, ensuring proper posture at all times.
It should’ve been expected. After all, she had been here for three years already, but it seemed as though Aurora wasn’t the only one that struggled with the teachings, which was another comforting thought in and of itself.
When roughly half an hour had gone by, a group of thirteen cloaked people began to line up opposite of the twenty-five maidens-to-be and the four evermaidens.
The only difference in their appearance lay in their silhouette, with some being taller and broader while a few others were slimmer and smaller – yet each and everyone of them was taller than any prisoner by a decent margin if Aurora had to take a guess.
She had followed the proceedings more or less apathetically so far, her mind instead focused on pondering the issue on the abbess. Should she celebrate the occasion? Should she weep and mourn? Should she feel apathetic?
She actually couldn’t answer these questions, which in turn made her irritated and angry at the lack of education and training she had received, given that it’d be of vital importance now. Prisoners of war were assessed on three factors: background, appearance and skills. Aurora was lacking in all three as far as she knew, which was a little bit of a concern.
Sometime later, the cloaked figure in the middle spoke up, his voice being one of the less deep ones, yet it still held audible, almost palpable authority. This man spoke like the abbess, like someone who was used to having their orders followed.
“Young Ladies, as you have undoubtedly already realized, your time at the Maidenhold is drawing to a close, but the manner in which you leave is yet to be determined and while my heart bleeds for announcing this, we do not have space for all of you.”
The man briefly paused while a notable wave of tension went through the maidens-to-be, one that didn’t leave Aurora cold as well.
He continued with a heavy heart, saying. “Over the coming seven days, you will be given the opportunity to provide for me and my men and it is up to their discretion whether they find one of you worthy or not.”
The words hit their mark right away given how many of Aurora’s fellow prisoners began to have minor adjustments in their demeanor, one that hinted at being less passive.
Right afterwards, the central cloaked man stepped forward and turned around, announcing. “Men, each of you can bring two at most. You are to keep it civil and in your pants until you’ve collared them, we are not a band of marauding rapists. If there’s a conflict over a girl, you will fight it out. If there’s several, there’ll be a little tournament up to the second blood. Lastly, you are to execute any Elysian that isn’t wearing a collar by the end of the allocated time. Have I made myself clear?”
The twelve other cloaked men saluted all at once, clicking their heels while thumping their right fist down on their chest.
“Any questions?” The leader queried and when none came, he declared open season.
It didn’t take long for the first argument to start. In fact, it happened almost right away when half a dozen men approached Emyli ya Anastasia ay Elysia, who was widely seen as one of the most beautiful maidens-in-waiting. In addition, she had only aroused the abbess’ ire once during her entire stay.
She, like all the prisoners, had a proper surname whereas Aurora had none, for she had sinned against her parents, her mother in particular.
Four other cloaked people began an argument over María ya Corsin ay Elysia while two more people had shown interest in Lilié ya Saliyeh ay Elysia.
The only remaining person that happened to be the leader immediately aimed for Esmera, who began to shake visibly as she realized that the man went for her. When he greeted her with the words ‘and thus, a promise fulfilled’, the blonde maiden-to-be gasped audibly and then jumped at him with arms wide, exclaiming happily. “I knew it! It’s you… finally!”
The two embraced one another in a way that would’ve earned Esmera several weeks of correction, never mind the outburst of emotion, yet this event caused to break some sort of hesitancy that many of her fellow prisoners appeared to have, but when they were about to approach men on their own, the leader suddenly raised his voice once more, barking in an antagonistic manner.
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“Stay put you filthy Elysians! You will be chosen, not the other way around!”
The statement buried any semblance of drive some of the other maidens-to-be might’ve had and soon enough, they fell back in line alongside Aurora while the leader fastened a slim, golden collar around Esmera’s neck before he carried her off to the Maidenhold’s main keep.
Meanwhile, the remaining twelve men began to form three groups and a little later, rules were established, weapons drawn and when the men called over the remaining maidens-to-be, the leader’s earlier order was executed.
With the first clash of weapons among their captors, the fight for the ‘Elysian game’ had begun.
Before the first day was even over, every single foreigner had picked one of the girls based on beauty and age alone if Aurora’s fellow captives could be believed and given how often the men had fought each other in order to secure the ‘next best pick’, she had to agree. So far, only the oldest and most beautiful had been picked, had been fought over, often several times.
This, however, posed a problem, for it meant that those who had been herded into a hastily-arranged makeshift sleeping hall had been found wanting in comparison and when the second and third day went by without any other girl being collared despite having been in attendance for most of the day, the group of sixteen began to collectively grow anxious, although none grew as fearful as Aurora and the two other girls that had barely begun to flower given their age which resulted in the men basically ignoring them.
Neither of the three had been called upon once thus far, not even to make or serve food or anything like that. They might as well have been invisible to the men’s eyes who constantly and critically assessed the others, but not them. The worst part about that was that they weren’t even allowed to raise attention to them in any way, shape or form.
On the fourth day, their captors had everyone perform various fine arts, such as dancing, singing or music which proved disastrous for Aurora as she had no skills to call upon and when she witnessed the other two unflowered girls proudly presenting their golden adornment on the following day, she became crestfallen. The two had been picked because of their excellent performance last evening, indicating that they had a large range of musicals skills to call upon.
Aurora had nothing, for she had never been trained in anything – had never been allowed to do anything other than reading and writing.
The fifth day saw the remaining girls perform in a more private environment and on the sixth day, only three more captors had a second pick while six maidens-to-be remained without collar.
Aurora was the only evermaiden left, while the other five had been here for various times, but none longer than two years. She couldn’t understand it – was she truly this hideous when her fellow maidens-to-be had told her year after year that she’d grow into a gorgeous woman in time given her wavy, golden hair and eyes?
She compared herself to the remaining prisoners that had been put on display in the central courtyard in broad daylight, stripped of clothes as the three bulky men examined them closely while everyone else watched, offering snide and teasing remarks.
Of course, Aurora had been spared that fate since she had nothing to display, but that didn't help her at all when there was no collar around her neck by the end of tomorrow. In the eyes of those that had already been chosen, she saw a wide range of emotions: some showed gleeful superiority while those that had been collared first were the embodiment of a demure, obedient maiden... much to the delight of their new guardians.
Those whose fate had hung in the balance the longest were mostly relieved that it wasn't them and only few offered Aurora gazes of pity – none, however, spoke up for her. They sympathized with her plight, but made no steps to change it.
Granted, they weren’t allowed to, yet that did little to ease Aurora’s bitterness. From what she had witnessed, their new caretakers kept them on a tight leash, although none appeared to have suffered any beatings thus far. A welcome change of pace for them, undoubtedly. In fact, given the way their cheeks were flushed in the evenings after having imbibed all sorts of drinks, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Now that was certainly a novel feeling.
Aurora could barely sleep at this point, fear having taken complete and utter hold of her, for she knew that the chances of her being picked amounted to basically nothing at this point.
She might as well have not existed for these men given her lack of feminine assets and since their captors didn’t seem to care about their background, she only had her complete and utter absence of any skills to show for.
The leader’s order to his group began to take up an ever increasing amount of space in her mind, the order of her imminent demise.
Aurora did not want to die.
In fact, she kind of wished that she was among those who had been put on display right now, to have one of the remaining men examine every fiber of her nude body for something to find an interest in, for this at least held a chance that she might survive the day after tomorrow.
And when two of the five girls in the courtyard were deemed suitable for ‘domestication’, Aurora’s hope dimmed to the point where she nearly gave up.
By now, only the leader of the group hadn’t picked a second girl despite being the first to collar Esmera, who had undergone an almost impossible change. The once shy and demure maiden-to-be had turned into a lively, shameless bundle of scantily clad energy that constantly orbited the black-haired leader whom she served with a passion that bordered on mania.
Yet given the positive reactions she drew from the leader and his men with her actions, Aurora kind of wished to have been more like Esmera, who had happily, eagerly and above all skillfully danced the leader and his two trusted aides into a mood during the first night, the night in which she and her two fellow ‘sisters’ had been turned into ‘proper concubines’ as she had later proclaimed quite proudly.
From the second day onward, Esmera had dressed very sparsely while inviting the leader to ‘explore’ her in full view of his men, something that had always lightened the mood and even inspired some of the other men to do likewise.
Alas, none of that helped Aurora in any way since men had no interest in her by appearance alone, never even giving her the chance to prove them wrong – not that she had any idea what to do if such an event were to happen.
The four remaining girls wept over the course of the night and well into the dawn of the seventh day, trying to console each other, yet no matter what anyone said, none had any comfort to offer and no alternative to pursue. In the end, the three remaining maidens-to-be agreed to just give up and accept whatever came, but that vow wasn’t even worth the breath that they had used to utter it.
When the invader’s leader called upon them just half an hour later by name, all three jumped on the occasion and hurried after him, leaving Aurora all alone in the makeshift sleeping hall that had once been the room of contemplation.
Here, in this room, Aurora had often been chastised, had been belittled and threatened. Here, in this room, she had been left bound and robbed of her senses in order to contemplate her many mistakes, mistakes that had happened more often the older she grew.
She hated this room, hated the abbess and the handmaidens that had abused her for years and years without teaching her anything of value. What good did demure obedience do when all it did was prevent her from drawing attention to her!?
Unlike all the days before, Aurora no longer suppressed her emotions for it obviously served no purpose anymore. As soon as the morning came, she’d be killed because no one had seen her worthy enough to be collared.
Why?
Hadn’t she done everything as ordered!?
Was it really because she just hadn’t flowered yet!?
No, no – that wasn’t it. The other two had been picked, after all.
No, she had in fact not done everything as ordered.
She had been ordered to perform, but had no skills to draw from, for no one had ever taught her about singing, about dancing or anything really.
Any interest she might’ve had had been smothered as soon as the abbess and her damned lackeys found out, all to keep her docile and…
What even!?
She got up and began to wander around restlessly for she couldn’t contain her emotions any longer. Yes, she hadn’t performed as was expected, but how could she when she had never been taught!?
The fault lay with the abbess, the damned abbess and her ugly hags that called themselves maidens despite having wrinkled, ugly faces.
In that brief moment, she took some satisfaction from their deaths, only to realize that she would soon follow them. Anger gave way to fear and she returned to the simple mattress that had served as her makeshift bed for the past days.
Hugging her knees, she began to cry at the injustice.
How come she wasn’t beautiful enough?
How come she wasn’t important enough?
How come she was found wanting in so many aspects?
How come that no one had given her a chance at all?
But she had been given a chance, hadn’t she?
She had just squandered it.
Aurora sobbed and wept bitterly, no longer caring about anything.
If she was to die, then she at least wanted to let her emotions run wild one final time.
This one decision, at least, she had made for herself.
And then, when she had barely any more tears to spare, a thought crossed her mind out of the blue.
Would her elder sister even notice?
Would she weep for her… or would she be relieved that the murderer of their mother had finally died?
Her elder sister… what was her name again?
Aurora got up and then stared empty-eyed at the marbled wall that had no decorations whatsoever.
“Sister…” she muttered in a feeble voice, addressing no one in particular. “Why…?”
Whatever anger she might’ve had, it was replaced by the sole desire to know, a question that she formed, a question that she had to ask even if there was no one to answer it.
Let it be her last words. Perhaps that’d cause some sort of reaction.
“Aren’t you lonely as well…? It’s just the two of us… isn’t it?”
In that moment, Aurora felt something cold touch her neck while a quiet, clicking noise resounded just next to her.
She yelped in surprise and jumped up from the bed, thoroughly startled and as she swirled around frantically, she heard a man’s voice speak, a voice that she had never heard before. It sounded smooth as velvet and had a nice, calming undertone.
“Aurora ay Elysia.”
Opposite of her bed stood a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a monochrome grey, hooded cloak not unlike the ones worn by the other captors. It concealed most of his clothes, yet she could clearly see a golden chain leading from her neck to his right, gloved hand.
And then, as he began to pull back his hood, the man addressed her directly, speaking in an authoritative-yet-kind tone. “Come greet your champion, Arakiel il Kalanaar!”
His countenance left her speechless, or maybe it was just the entire situation right now, for her mind couldn’t compute what had just happened.
She never seen this man before.
Arakiel il Kalanaar had reddish eyes that looked her over with a mixture of curiosity, relief and something she couldn’t place. His face was roughly square-shaped and he looked younger than most of the other captors, even though she found it hard to gauge men’s ages on their faces alone. The lower portion of his face held a dark stubble while his similarly-colored, unkempt hair had been cut short. The nose was prominent, but not overly so while his thick but groomed eyebrows gave him a regal look. It reminded her of the statue of the Transcended in the little chapel.
When his brows knitted to a frown, Aurora realized her boundless rudeness but instead of following her rationale, her instincts took over, forcing her to act.
As the opposing schools of thought fought for the proper way forward, she ended up doing both things wrong: instead of remaining still and greeting him properly, she stumbled forward while babbling minced scraps that were neither words of greeting or gratitude.
It resulted in her tripping over herself and stumbling forward… right into his arms as he caught her while calling her out to be careful.
The next moment, when she felt his massive arms closing in around her, she began to wince and tremble, expecting for pain to visit her soon.
When no pain came, her mind began to catch up with her blunder while her body had gone limp.
Any moment now, he’d hurt her any moment now.
But instead of pain, she heard him whispering soft words of soothing while he gently pulled her close, fully embracing her now.
A pungent-yet-slightly-sweet scent began to envelop her, making her ailing mind all fuzzy. And then the warmth of this stranger’s embrace began to rub off on her and she found her body not trembling further, but quite the opposite. It caused some sort of feeling to swell inside her – a feeling that was neither pain nor fear, but one of… something good?
Aurora had never been held before, for such actions were indecent, inadequate and downright unseemly… yet the abbess and her crones were gone and there was no one who could chastise her, none but the person who held her.
But he did not. He did not scold her, did not insult her, did not cause her pain.
Instead, he quietly shared his warmth and what wondrous warmth it was…!
Tears began to flow freely, tears she didn’t even know she had still and when he noticed her sobs, he pressed her just a gentle bit tighter, whispering. “Hush now, little seraphim. All is well – let it all out.”
She felt something warm touch her head, causing her to briefly flinch yet again. But then the feeling started to travel downwards.
“Such beautiful hair,” the man noted quietly, sounding almost absent-minded.
And then she realized… he stroked her hair – an action a parent did to their child in order to give warmth, comfort and shelter. She had read about it once… and had been punished harshly for the query.
So this was it, this was how it felt… how it felt to no longer be lonely?
More tears flowed and she started to weep and wail freely, her throat occasionally cramping up as she let it all out for she just couldn’t keep it bottled up any longer.
Aurora lost track of time, but Arakiel did never let go of her even once and when she had nothing but icky snot and salty tears to give, he merely helped her over into a bathroom so that she could wash her face.
There, in the small mirror’s reflection, she saw herself with reddened, flushed cheeks alongside welled-up eyes and as she slowly calmed down, she felt ashamed for her lack of self-control.
Her eyes ended up on the golden ring that had been strapped around her neck, its long, delicate chain still leading all the way to Arakiel’s right hand while his left hand softly tapped her head. He looked her in the eyes through the mirror and offered her a slight, kind smile.
In the reflection, his red eyes had a soft, underlying green touch to them, as though his irises were made from a cut gemstone.
She found it beautiful, captivating – much more beautiful than her own golden irises that were flanked by streaks of red from having cried so much.
“Why… why did you choose me?” She eventually found herself asking timidly with a sore throat while her eyes locked onto his through the mirror. Such a wondrous, mesmerizing mixture of colors.
She had never seen anything like it.
His smile broadened and he lightly ruffled her hair as he stated his intention. “Because I am destined to become your champion, Aurora. And unlike the Transcended, I won’t be leaving anything to chance.”
“I don’t understand…” She muttered and apologized.
“You say that, but you’ve already made some promising first steps.” He replied, his words ripe with compliment while he further ruffled her hair ever so lightly, making her do some odd noises in response, almost like she was… chuckling?
The little bit of laughing she had done in-between her answer counted as that, right? Chuckling?
“I… I did?”
She couldn’t recall ever doing that… or laughing in general.
The edge of his lips inverted and his eyes glistened with something that made her so very curious. “Indeed. You just laughed, didn’t you? As your champion, I should be able to put a smile on your lips – and the best way to do so is to make you laugh. I say we’re off to a good start!”
“You… you saved my life.” Aurora found herself replying, not giving him a proper answer at all. Granted, her mind was a mess and she really didn’t understand anything right now. She just was so incredibly glad to wear that collar, for it meant that she would live to see the morrow.
He approvingly patted her head once more, stating matter-of-factly. “Exactly. That means I own it – and by extension, you. But don’t worry, I will take good care of you, much better care than these people here ever did.”
Given that she had already felt much better with him than all the years before, she didn’t doubt his words for a second.
Perhaps, just perhaps, she wouldn’t be lonely anymore.