Elizabeth came running to her husband's side, bringing a couple of burly servants along with her, and had them take Thorn from him. She had seen Thorn's condition from the window and had known without being told that Edwin would need help. She ordered them to carry him up to a bedroom, removed from that of the children, in case he was sick with something contagious. She then had him laid on the bed, where he groaned and woke.
Thorn managed to stay consciousness long enough to weakly grab Edwin by the arm as he croaked. "Aura is gone, disappeared. I have no idea how or where. Need you to watch for her in case she comes here. I love her Edwin, I cannot live without her." He passed out again and Edwin exchanged a look with his wife from across the bed.
"He is out of his mind with whatever ails him. We shall see to him then find out what really happened. Aura must be leading him a merry chase. I have a hard time believing that she would leave him sick like this. She is a healer. She would never desert anyone who was sick. It is not in her nature to do so."
"Well I think that rather than leaving him to go haring back to his place, we should wait until his fever breaks and he wakes. Perhaps he will make more sense after he has rested." Elizabeth suggested.
Edwin nodded his agreement and sighed. Elizabeth was generally right in things like this and was often noted as the more levelheaded of the two of them. Thorn had made great sport of teasing him about it in the past.
Thorn's fever raged for almost a week and both Edwin and Elizabeth wondered what he was raving about in his delirium. Had Aura left him? If she had how had the wolf managed to get left behind? The questions raced through Edwin's mind and he waited for his brother to wake with great impatience.
The wolf proved to be a godsend. He had made short work of many of the rats that lived nearby, which Elizabeth was grateful for. He spent most of his time in his master's room, guarding him. Despite everything, Elizabeth found she could not seem to bring herself to overcome her fear of the animal. He was, after all, a wolf.
"Is he here again?" Elizabeth asked her husband as she pointed to the wolf and entered the room.
"You are safe to come in. He knows that you are a friend."
"That much I have already figured out for myself. How could Thorn's wife have managed to come upon such a strange pet?"
"Aura said she raised him from a pup. You should see them together. It is almost unbelievable what he will do for her and she loves him dearly."
"I find it strange then that if she went somewhere that she would not have taken him with her."
"I have had a lot of time to think about that. The only thing I have come up with is that she must have gone somewhere he could not follow."
"Got any ideas where that might be?" Elizabeth questioned.
Edwin shook his head as he answered: "I will have a better idea when Thorn wakes and he had better be coherent."
Thorn did wake and he was lucid, as was hoped, although nothing he said seemed to make any sense. Aura was gone, but he did not know where to, or how she could have left. She could not have left on her own or Wolf would have gone with her. He repeated his theories over. She could not have been taken by force. Wolf had been with her before she had disappeared. To get to Aura, kidnappers would have had to kill Wolf. He had no theories as to how she could have disappeared. There was no one to make him believe that she might be dead and he felt a strong sense that she lived. Nothing made any sense.
It was another week before Edwin and Elizabeth would let Thorn travel onwards to Vernon's. Elizabeth had insisted they travel together so Edwin could keep an eye on his brother. Thorn, in their opinion, was not fit to make the trip, especially not alone. There was, however, no keeping him. Thorn traveled with the bleak hope that Aura would be with Vernon when he arrived, but deep in his heart he feared she would not.
Vernon was very surprised to see the two brothers. He had been given no warning of any trouble in the land and he wondered if his spies had missed something. Was the neighboring King, by some obscure chance, plotting against them again? He went out to greet his guests in person, only to have Thorn cut his intended greeting with a curt question.
"Have you see Aura lately Vernon?"
Vernon laughed, not knowing the full situation, and asked. "Why? Has Aura managed to give you the slip Thorn? I thought you would have held on to her tighter than that."
"She did not run away Vernon." Thorn growled. "Wolf also searches for her."
Vernon's brow furrowed as he looked at the wolf by Thorn's side. He then bent down to the animal and asked. "Where is Aura? Wolf, find your mistress."
Wolf gave a pitiful whimper then raised his head to give a mournful howl. Vernon gave Thorn a hasty look then bit out at him verbally.
"I gave you Aura believing that you would take care of her. What have you done Thorn?"
Thorn gave Vernon a bleak look and almost whispered his answer. "Nothing. I have done nothing. She went off on her own to be alone for a few minutes, or so I thought. As she seemed to need this time I left her. After all, she was on my lands, and would be safe. Everyone knows there is no danger on my lands due to the rules and laws I have laid down and enforced. But where I have been successful with everyone else I seem to have failed with my own wife for she never returned."
"Wolf would never leave her go on her own. His being here means that she did not walk off, or ride off and she was not kidnapped." Vernon’s mind followed the same thoughts that both brothers had already covered, over and over again.
"We have already ascertained that much Vernon." Edwin growled in a dry disgusted tone.
"I am sure Thorn has covered more ground than that Edwin." Vernon growled back.
"You are right, I have. There was no trail away from where she had been, nor were there any signs of a struggle. It was just as if she had disappeared into thin air." Thorn reported.
"Do not be absurd Thorn." Vernon snapped, his temper short. "People just do not disappear into thin air. It is not humanly possible."
"Where do you think she is Vernon?" Edwin sneered, feeling he was being deliberately ignorant, not that he believed that she had disappeared any more than Vernon did. He had no more answers than anyone else.
Vernon did not allow the slur against him to bother him as he shrugged a shoulder and replied. "I have no idea. The best I can suggest at this time is that we all return to our homes and wait for her to show up. In the meantime, I would suggest you join Chatelaine and myself for a meal and get some rest. You both look tired unto death."
The brothers dismounted and followed him into the house, while stable boys took care of their horses. Wolf went with Thorn, as the animal never let him out of his sight any more, almost as if he were afraid of losing him as well.
Signi had been visiting with Chatelaine and ran to meet her brothers as they entered the room she was in. Her expression expressed the pleasure she derived from seeing them again.
"Edwin! Thorn! What drives you back to court so soon?" Signi greeted them as she threw herself into Thorn’s arms to give him a welcoming hug.
"Aura." Thorn answered shortly.
"Really?" She teased with a bright smile. "Come to gloat about getting her pregnant so soon?"
"No Signi," Edwin answered for his brother. "Aura has disappeared under mysterious circumstances."
Signi's smile disappeared as she asked, in her concern. "What happened?" Signi's affection for her friend had been genuine and she did not want to lose her.
"We have no idea what happened Signi. Nothing makes any sense. She made changes to the village and the surrounding territory that were astounding. She has won the admiration, respect and loyalty of all who dwell within my lands and under my protection. I would bet they would fight even me to protect her.”
Edwin asked: "How did she manage to accomplish so much in so little time?"
"From what I could tell, she overwhelmed them with her enthusiasm. She was so willing to help the people change the conditions they were living in that they were carried a
way. They all worked so hard implementing her ideas on how to improve their lives. It was good to see everyone work together like that. We were disturbed early, on the morning of her disappearance, by someone pounding on our door. One of the local women was having an extremely hard time delivering her child. They turned to Aura for help. She ran to the woman's aide, although it normally would not have been our concern. You know Aura. Turning from any problem was not her way. She would have felt hurt if they wouldn’t have come to her.
She saved the life of not only the mother, but the two male children she bore as well. When they asked her what they could do to repay her, she told them they could help by raising their children to be loyal to their Lord Thorn. She left after that, wanting to be alone for a while. That was the last time anyone ever saw her."
"You let her go on her own?" Signi asked, shocked that her brother would do so.
"You know as well as I do, Signi, that there is no place on my lands that is not safe. You also know that Aura often slipped off to be on her own, usually to bathe. Covered with blood from the birth as she was when she left she did need to wash. She seems to have an obsession towards cleanliness. I would not have expected for her to act otherwise."
Signi nodded in silent agreement and Vernon put a comforting arm about her shoulders, speaking as he led them into the dining room.
"For now you and your brothers will join us for a meal. Thorn and Edwin will return home, after they have rested. We will all watch for signs of Aura. If she returns it will be the duty of the one who finds her to let the rest know of her reappearance.”
Signi could not seem to take it all in, it had happened so fast. She could only begin to imagine how Thorn was feeling. He had been so very taken with Aura. He did not look it at the moment but she knew he was feeling a great loss. Despite Vernon’s suggestion that they rest, Signi bet Thorn would be gone by morning light, in hopes that his wife would be home by the time he returned.
CHAPTER XXIII
Aura sat across the desk from the man who would determine her immediate future and blinked in surprise at her lack of involvement. She had expected to feel intimidated by his power over her. She had even thought she might be fearful or nervous. She felt nothing. Had she gotten so used to real power, she wondered, that this man's pretense to it failed to impress her?
"Young lady, give me one good reason why we should think that after three years of absence from any scholastic endeavors you are serious about returning to school. Why have you suddenly decided to study to be a doctor now?" The director of the faculty asked.
"Over the last three years I have been dwelling in very primitive surroundings and, although I have always held an interest in medicine, I doubt now whether I would have had the maturity three years ago to have done justice to the course. I am not saying that I would not have done well in class. In fact I might have excelled in the field. I just would not have been as ready for the responsibility."
“I presume that you are saying that you think you have grown more equipped to deal with the real world?" The director replied with interest, despite the skeptical tone he used to question Aura with.
"Yes, I am. Unless I get proper training I am unfit to help anyone in a professional manner." Aura responded firmly.
"And what, may I ask, brought you to this astounding conclusion?" The director asked.
Aura, in answering the professor's question, explained. "I was left in a position where I had to help a woman deliver twins. She was having a hard time with the birth, one of the babies was breach and I had to turn it so it could come naturally. There had been no other alternative, nothing else I could have done. Conditions were such that I think anything else might have resulted in the death of not only the mother but also the twins. Nothing had prepared me for such an experience. I found myself at a loss for what to do. I lucked out and everything went well. I never want to be that scared or feel that helpless again. I want to know what my chances are of doing the right thing. I do not want to look at another dead face thinking, I might have been able to helped that person, if I only knew how."
The man stared at Aura for a while then cleared his throat. She was sincere! She actually meant what she had been telling him! He also had no doubt that her story was the truth.
"I have only one more question for you. If we were to train you to become a fully fledged doctor, would you go back?" There was always need for medical personnel in remote areas of the world. If this potential student was serious, she could be invaluable to the system, especially is she was as talented as he thought she might be. He usually had a feeling for these things, and right now his instincts were telling him that he should be rushing her through the doorway, and into the closest classroom he could find.
Aura was quiet for a moment as she considered the matter. It would be impossible to go back to where she had been, but there were other places just as in need of medical skills today. Without delay she answered: "If there was a way, yes, I think I would. I am needed there more than you could begin to realize."
The man stood up and extended his hand. "I am going to recommend that you be allowed to join the classes. They start next week. That is not too soon for you, is it?"
"No, in fact the sooner the better, thank you." Aura smiled as she rose to shake the offered hand.
She left the office to tell her stepfather the good news and to make arrangements for a room at the university. To celebrate, her stepfather took her out for lunch then left her home alone with her packages, while he went to play a game of golf. A man could only spend so much time with a stepdaughter and she had a lot to get ready for.
Aura watched her stepfather drive away from the yard through her bedroom window, and when she felt she would no longer be disturbed she unbraided her hair and combed it out for her fashion show. It did not bother her that she was alone. In fact she preferred it that way.
She tried on the black velvet gown first and it fit like a glove. She smiled to herself as she ran her hands down the sides of it and touched the gold scrolls on the collar. It was perfect, understated elegance with enough sex appeal to knock any man's socks off.
She held the white gown in her hand, feeling as if she could scarcely breathe. How would she ever find the nerve to wear it? She would have to be practically naked for it to look right. Well, she decided, she would have to at least make the effort. She screwed up enough courage, with this thought, to at least try it on in private. After all, nobody was here to see her but herself. She stripped herself down to her silk panties and donned the gown.
Pure white French satin emerged, somehow, from a top of lace, sequins, and pearls, which crossed over her breasts and were held in place by thin straps of twisted beads and more sequins. She looked at herself in the mirror and was astonished at what she saw. The dress did things to her, made her look like a total stranger, giving her the appearance of a movie star. She smiled at her reflection as she turned to see what she looked like in the mirror from different angles. Moving in an unconscious manner, which was deeply sensuous, she ran a hand down from her shoulder to her abdomen and almost moaned at the feelings the soft satin incited.
The caress brought memories that she thought would have been best forgotten and she felt a slight melting in her bones. “If Thorn ever saw me dressed like this it would drive him mad,” she thought to herself as she gave a smile of satisfaction. She then closed her eyes as she sighed in regret. Thorn would never see her again, nor would she see him.
"Thorn." She whispered softly in husky tones. She could almost feel his touch and her body quivered in anticipation. Her pulse quickened and she had to make an effort to pull herself out of her half aroused dream state. Hoping to calm her fevered body and inflamed desires she made a quick change into everyday clothing. She then sat on the bed and fingered the white dress while she thought about what she had just experienced, speaking aloud to herself as she did.
"I miss him, Lord help me, I still want him. I want his touch and the sound of his voice
whispering in my ear. How could I have fallen in love with someone who died centuries before I was even born!" She then admitted, as she heaved a sigh of resignation. "I never realized how much I cared, and now I need to find a way back. What was it that he had said that he had done to get her there? Pray? It was not possible, was it?" She decided she had to find someone to ask about it, someone who should know about a faith that strong. She wondered where to begin to look.
As soon as the thought hit her she lost her nerve. How could she ever hope to convince anyone that her story might be true? The whole thing was too incredible. Why she hardly believed it had happened herself most of the time. Only the ring remained of her time with Thorn, to remind her of the truth of the past three years. Then, before she began to lapse back into dangerous memories, she cleaned up the mess around herself, hanging up her new clothing and gathering the wrappings for disposal. The effort caused her to remember where she was and not to dwell on whom she had left in the past. She knew that she would never forget him and given the chance she would not hesitate to return to his side.
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