Chapter 23: Wizards Home
It would take her a bit, roughly what felt like one to two hours, but eventually she spotted a modest one story home. She sighed relieved and continued, looking forward to putting him down. She approached, got the door open after jiggling the handle, and made her way over to the sofa. “Okay, now to drop him…down niiiiicely!” she screeched as her attempt to let him down first failed. This resulted in her falling with him and landing on top of the young man. Her cheeks shot red with the rest of her face. Yes, her body was angled off the sofa some but she still was laying on her back on top of his steady rising and falling chest. One thing she couldn’t remove from her mind was how someone, if they stepped in, might think of what may have or was happening. “I’m not a creep!” she squeaked out the reminder to herself under her breath, closing her eyes tightly as she did this as her heart began to race.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfRldnFbrm
When she got her heart calmed down as well as her thoughts, she proceeded to get her hands pulled free from under him. After she got up and turned to look at him, she felt bad as well as curious about what spell exactly his mother used. She hadn’t seen any color of magic show up as she heard was common and seen was common for those using spells. Shaking her head she went to look around a bit, taking in the simple sight. Dust lined shelves and surfaces not frequently used as well as the floor. His fridge had some items inside but not enough for her to much pick out something.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSNZdqAqfx
Stifling a yawn she made her way back over and kneeled by the sofa, looking at his sleeping face. She began to gently adjust his hair, not yet having taken notice of items wrapped and standing in a corner not covered in dust, the fabric with the royal insignia hand stitched on it. Eventually she dozed off with her head resting on the edge of the sofa as she listened to his breathing, that simple sound lulling her deeper into sleep by his side.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4VtcJ7nKu
Hours later on during the night Marenzo woke and moved to stretch, feeling one arm staying put due to the weight. He looked and smiled softly when seeing Alura resting peacefully as she used his arm for a pillow. Releasing a sigh, he softly shifted his body and managed to slip free of the girl. He stood and gently lifted Alura before quietly carrying her to the spare room. Carefully using his foot he pulled back the blankets before laying her down, and covered her up so she wouldn’t catch a chill. He watched her for a bit before turning and taking his leave, staying out of her dreams. Softly closing the door, he made his way back to the living room and over to the wrapped items. He picked up a small package, unwrapped it as it rested in his palm, and began to replace his once taken rings back onto each finger with a soft smirk. “Sorry mother, but you can’t make me be less than him.” He quietly muttered under his breath to himself.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEp4Qk0XgH
Back in the bedroom, Alura’s peaceful face began to twist with her peaceful dream slowly turning into a nightmare she wanted to wake from.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsN4tZpXmfg
In the dream she stood alone in darkness, turning to look around with nothing there until finally seeing a faint light and hearing the sound of people. Slowly she ran over to the light, pushing open an unseen door and found herself in the back of a crowd where she paused to gage her surroundings. Hearing muffled words she began to push and worm her way towards the front, wondering what everyone was gathered to see. What she saw though was not something she wanted to. Before her was a stage with a hanging noose and an executioner standing at the ready. Seeing a man with his eyes shadowed walking onto the stage with her mother, brought her to cover her mouth just as a sharp gasp escaped her.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYpFgFbeUR
She watched as her mother with her hands tied by rope behind her back, was brought on stage and marched into place with her head held high. The guard with a black mask covering his face stepped behind her in the center of the platform. He pulled down the noose and began to fit it snugly around her neck. “NO!” the teen screamed stepping forwards, “Mother!” Alura screamed again but her voice was not heard. The guard made his way back to the lever without even so much as a glance at Alura.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxY7cgCJWX
The voices speaking were muffled to her ears as she tried to move to rush the stage. “MOTHER!” was the last word to leave her lips in a desperate scream as her legs wouldn’t move and felt held down by lead weights. As she screamed for Sophia the lever was pulled, the trapdoor gave way which allowed for Sophia’s body to fall, the rope went taunt as a sickening sound echoed loudly in Alura’s ears. Tears began to fill then stream down her face at the sight of her mother’s neck snapped and corpse being dangled by a thick rope in front of a crowd. In the dream she screamed but the scream was silent as her body collapsed to the ground, sobbing and silently begging for it to not be real as the dream shot from darkening surroundings into bright white, signaling the dream was over.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpG7K25les
“MOTHER!!!!!!!!” Alura screamed out vocally with pain and terror while tears fell as she jolted up in bed. Sweat seemed to be pouring off her given the damp pillow and moisture to the sheets along with her sweaty hands and body. Her sweat and tears were mixing as her eyes wide in panic stared at nothing on the bed, her breathing broken and trembling along with the rest of her. Around her neck was no longer any necklace but on the floor beside the bed rested Sophia’s necklace, the blue gem held in the center was cracked.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBmAe2Uuc2
This could be explained easily as a result of the chain breaking, which the latch did appear to have given way, yet another could chalk it up to something more significant. “…Mother…” Alura whispered with her shaking breath and began to cry into her unsteady hands as she leaned forwards, resting her elbows on her knees as her legs bent to meet her upper body.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDYVYiclVT
Marenzo raced down the hall and into the room, wasting no time as he made his way over to, then sat, on the beds edge. He reached out and pulled her close into his side, rubbing her arm gently to try and comfort the sobbing girl. “Shhh, shh, you’re safe, you’re safe.” He whispered gently, pulling her in closer with his one arm around her upper arms behind her back. “Tell me what happened, please? Why are you crying?” he asked concerned for her but she didn’t answer right away, unable to as her body wanted to get some more tears out. “You can tell me.” He whispered softly after giving her a few moments of silence.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85h54juxw7
Alura started to calm down after a minute or so, sniffling and wiping her eyes with the back of one hand as the other she used to wipe her nose with her sleeve. “I-I had a-a nightmare.” She stammered before taking a deep breath. “My-my mother…she was k-k-killed.” She sobbed and he held her closer to start rubbing her back as she buried her face into his chest.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NdszKvS7r
He comforted her as best he could and shook his head, keeping silent his feeling of a bad omen about her dream as he observed the cracked stone in the metal on the floor in the dim light. He didn’t want to scare her further by telling her his suspicions that the ‘nightmare’ was more ‘vision’. “There, there. It was only a dream, don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.” He reassured her quietly before softly kissing the top of her head. He stayed put to let her cry it out, keeping her close and would let her decide when she had enough of the hug.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2hMwET4uw
Deep inside he hoped against hope it was nothing but a normal nightmare, yet a nagging feeling told him it was anything but that. This nagging in his gut brought him internal worry for how long her mother had left alive, if she was still alive that was. If she has anymore then I should worry. Marenzo thought silently, starting to close his eyes and laid down gently with Alura at his side to keep her company. Softly he stroked her hair with his hand that had been rubbing her arm and back.1051Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljmWjbmQZ3
Over a matter of minutes she began to doze back off and finally into a full sleep in his arms, his other and gained a soft blue glow with one ring as he softly wiped her cheeks to remove the tear stains. Someone so good hearted should not be stained by pain such as this. Were his last thoughts before ending his spell and he yawned, closing his eyes as he relaxed back, falling asleep as well for the remainder of the night.
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