by Talia Jager
I hurried over to her and took her arm. “Can we talk?”
Her eyes widened. “Okay.”
“Where can we go that’s private?”
Aurora studied me for a moment and then led me to the Winter side of the falls. “I’m sorry. I know this is uncomfortable for you, but it’s the best place. Most of the faeries won’t venture over here because it’s so cold right now.”
“It’s fine. Anywhere with you is fine.” I swept a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I need to tell you something.” I hesitated as my throat felt like it was swelling up. I looked down at my sweaty hands and wiped them on my clothes.
“What?” she asked, placing her cold hand on my face.
I swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and said, “I can’t let another second pass without telling you how I feel. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Thoughts of you keep me up at night, and when I finally do fall asleep, I dream about you. I can’t get you out of my mind. You’re always there. I think about the next time I’m going to see you. I daydream about what it would be like to be with you.”
“Sorin…please…don’t do this…” She backed away like something was about to hurt her.
“It’s you, Aurora. You make my heart leap. I love you. I don’t want to walk away again without you knowing that.”
She stopped moving and bit down on her lip. “You and I, we can never be.”
“I know how insane this is, but I can’t deny it any longer, Aurora. I don’t want there to be secrets between us. Now you know how I feel. How do you feel about me?”
She looked around as if making sure nobody lurked nearby. Tears brimmed her eyes as she said, “I’m in love with you. I don’t know how this happened. Or why. All I know is that it did. And I don’t know what do about it because my heart feels like…” She gulped down a sob. “Feels like it’s either going to explode with love or sadness because we can’t act on these feelings. I don’t know what to do, so I just keep pushing them down.”
I reached out and took her trembling hands and held them steady in mine. “What happens if you stop pushing and just let yourself feel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try it.”
She stood there, facing me, looking like she was on the verge of a breakdown with the tears streaking down her face. I almost felt guilty for forcing her to deal with her feelings. She didn’t say anything before taking a step toward me. Her lips touched mine, soft at first as if she were hesitating, not sure of herself, and then she pulled me toward her, and her lips moved faster as if they couldn’t get enough.
I wrapped my hands around her. My mouth kept up with hers, and then I kissed her neck and in back of her ear. A soft moan escaped her lips, and then my mouth found hers again.
“I love you, Aurora.”
She smiled through her tears. “I love when you say my name.”
“Aurora,” I said again.
“Why do you call me by my full name?”
Cupping her face in my hands, I answered, “Because whether it’s night or day, you’re the bright spot in the sky for me.”
Her cheeks warmed. “That’s the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me. I love you too, Sorin. I hate that we have to go our separate ways.”
“I don’t know how, but we will find a way to be together.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I had no intention of breaking any promises. There had to be a way we could be together.
“How can this be so wrong when it feels so good?” she asked, resting her head against my chest. I wondered if she could feel how fast my heart was pounding.
“I don’t know, Aurora. All I know is that I love you.” I stroked her hair. “Do you think we could sneak away every week? Just the two of us? We could meet up here and spend an hour or two.”
She was quiet for a minute. “It’d have to be late like this when everyone else is asleep.”
“That’s fine.”
She looked up at me. “Then I think it’s possible, but we shouldn’t tell anyone, not even Raina and Keir. Nobody can know.”
“Okay, so one week from tonight.”
“I’ll be here.”
“We should probably get back to the others,” I suggested.
“Do we have to?”
“No.”
I kissed her neck under her ear, and she clutched my shirt, holding me close. Pressing her back against the rock, I reclaimed her mouth and let the kiss deepen. I felt her body shudder against mine.
After a few more minutes, I pulled back. “We really should go.”
We rejoined the rest of our friends at the fire pit. Raina shot Aurora a look, but Aurora ignored her. The basket of berries had already been passed around and was sitting on the ground next to Raina. Aurora plopped down next to Raina and grabbed a few berries.
“The Winter Solstice was awesome, Rory,” Jora said.
She grinned. “I’m glad you liked it.”
“You skate beautifully. What you showed us here was nothing compared to what you can do.”
Pink filled her cheeks. “Thanks.”
“Winter Fae have it pretty good,” Linden said. “They can change water to snow or ice and ice to water or snow. It’s not just one thing. I never really thought about it before the celebration. I’m jealous. I can make the earth go up or down, rumble, and even open up, but it’s just the ground.” He glanced at me. “And don’t get me started on Elementals getting all those talents.”
I laughed, and we all talked until it was time to go. When we were saying good-bye, I leaned in to kiss Aurora, but she pulled back. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I don’t want to cause a scene.”
“We’ve kissed in front of them before.”
“But things have changed, Sorin. Then it was just random kissing, flirting, having some forbidden fun. Now it’s more, so much more. Now it’s love, and they’ll see that. I know we can trust them not to say anything, but I don’t want them to feel like they’re keeping secrets. We must protect our friends.”
“I see your point.” I smiled. “We’ll make up for it next time.”
“Yes, we will.”
Before I turned to go, I whispered in her ear, “Always.”
“What?”
“I’ll always love you.”
Before breakfast the next morning, I peeked at the snowflake Aurora made for me the first day I met her. I wished it smelled like her so I could keep her scent with me. I thought about putting it in my pocket to keep a part of her with me during the day, but I worried it would get lost or broken.
I closed the box and put it back. I had to focus on other things and not think about Aurora. I threw myself into training and playing games of hurling. When I found myself with downtime after dinner, I went out and gathered Keir, Calder, and Theros to hang with. It was hard not telling Keir of my plans to see Aurora every week, but he was better off not knowing.
One day, after lunch, I exited the castle to go to my training with Berilo. “Sorin!” Skye called from the gardens.
I strolled over to where she was. “What can I do for you?”
“Look! It’s my very first watermelon.” Skye excitedly pointed to a small, green ball.
“Good job, Skye!”
“I planted it myself and helped it grow.”
“I can’t wait to eat it!”
“Me either.” She studied me. “Where are you going?”
“I have to see my teacher.”
“Oh! You should go then. Mother doesn’t like when we’re late to things.” Her bright pink wings fluttered behind her.
“I’ll see you later, sister.”
“Bye!”
Berilo waited for me on the hillside between Spring and Summer Land.
“I want to finish up resistance,” Berilo said, holding his hands in front of his body. “Instead of meeting in the middle and holding there, I want you to push harder until it reaches me.”
I ra
ised my hands and met his push of air with my own. It fluctuated in the middle. Grounding my feet, I pushed harder until suddenly, Berilo stumbled backward.
Dropping my hands, I asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Very well done.” He waved his hand in the air. “I’ve asked a few friends to come today because I want you to get a handle on air attacks.”
Five faeries dressed in armor came into view. “Is the armor necessary?” I asked.
“Possibly. If your attacks are strong, I don’t want them to get hurt.” Berilo stood next to me. He placed his feet apart and put his hands back up, one closer to his body than the other.
I copied him.
“I’ve taught you short air bursts and long ones, soft and strong. Use your judgment, and knock each of them down before they reach you.”
I let out a deep breath. “Let’s go!”
Berilo waved again, and the five faeries came toward me. I focused on the fastest one and sent a short blast his way, knocking him back but not down. I went harder at the next one, succeeding in knocking him to the ground. Two of the other ones were getting closer, so I hit them with short bursts to push them backward and went after the two on the sides with stronger ones, knocking them down at the same time. The two left came toward me even faster. I let out two of my strongest bursts at them, and they joined the others on the ground.
My arm started to tingle, and I raised my arm to see why and realized it was my Elemental marking. I watched in awe as the air symbol started to transform. The simple black outline was disappearing, and a white one was replacing it. Once the white outline was finished, the air symbol started to take on lifelike features. It looked like a little piece of wind flowing on my arm. A ball of wind floated above my arm and settled into the skin of my air-marking. Once the wind completely disappeared into the marking, the outline glowed a vibrant white with glowing highlights throughout the rest of the air-marking.
I would always be amazed at how lifelike the markings became once my training for each element was complete. It looked as though I had fire, earth, and now air right there on my arm.
I looked up at Berilo, who actually had a smile on his face. “You have finished your air training. Congratulations.”
Completing the air bending meant I could start water training with Aurora. “Thank you, Berilo. I appreciate all of your time and patience.”
“You’re welcome, young Sorin. Use the skills well.”
“I will.”
The whole way home, all I could think about was telling Aurora. It sucked that I couldn’t go to her now to tell her my news. I hated having to wait until our next meeting at the falls…even if it was the next day.
“Mother?” I walked into the great hall as soon as I returned home.
“Sorin. You look well.”
“I have completed the air elemental training,” I told her and showed her the marking.
“Excellent! I’m very proud of you, Sorin. I will send a messenger to the Winter Fae to set up the next training.”
“Thank you.” I turned to go.
“Sorin?”
I faced her again. “Yes, Mother?”
“Any prospects yet?”
Prospects? Why did marriage have to be such a formal arrangement to her? “I’m still working on it.”
“You must pick, son.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
She sighed. “No.”
I walked outside and saw Dune talking to friends. “Dune!” I called to my brother.
He turned. “Yeah?”
“Want to go to the training fields?”
His eyebrows scrunched up. “Why?”
“I thought maybe I could give you some pointers.”
“You want to give me pointers on how to beat you?” He closed the space between us.
“I want to help you improve.” I reworded his statement.
“Um…okay. You feeling all right?”
“Yes!” I put my arm around him and together we walked to the fields. I handed him a sword and stood behind him, watching to see how he held it. “Hold this arm just a tad higher. Then when you swing through…” I guided his arm. “You go all the way.” I grabbed my sword and demonstrated a few times. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
The clang of metal against metal filled the air as our swords met. “Faster!” I shouted. “Follow through.” We fought for a while. I still beat him, but he had definitely improved, and he knew it.
“Thanks, Sorin.”
“We could do it again in a few days, if you want.”
A smile spread across his face. “I’d like that.”
“Good.”
“Doesn’t mean I’ll stop challenging you every morning.”
I laughed. “I didn’t think it would.”
The next night, the yard was dark and quiet. I crept downstairs and hid behind a pole, watching to make sure everything was clear. When I was sure, I ran to where the horses were, jumped on, and took off, not wanting to waste another moment.
As soon as I arrived, I looked around but didn’t see her, so I stood at the falls and watched the water. Suddenly a snowball hit me in the neck. I turned to see Aurora standing in the snow, wearing a light blue dress that was longer in the back than the front, giggling. I crossed over to Winter Land.
Finally alone, completely alone, I took her in my arms…gently, but firmly. As my gazed dropped from her ice-blue eyes to her mouth, my lips crashed down on hers with a passion I didn’t know existed. I felt her body mold in my arms as if she were made to fit against me.
“Wait,” I said.
“What is it?”
“I need to see you. I feel like I’ve been stealing glances here and there, never truly allowed to look at you. But now we’re alone, and I can take a minute to look at how beautiful you are.” Her skin was flushed pink, and she nibbled on her pale blue lip. “I can kiss each snowflake…” I bent my head forward and kissed the markings on her body. “And I can take a minute to smell your hair.” I did just that, inhaling her roasted chestnut scent. “And then I can stare into your eyes, knowing how we feel about each other.” Gazing in her eyes, I could see the love she had for me. All this was like nothing I’d ever felt before, and something I never ever wanted to lose.
Our lips collided again, moving intensely together. Blood pounded through me as the world faded away. There was nothing but her and me. Desire built up, and something in the back of my mind sprang forward and told me to slow down. I brought the kiss to a gentle end and pulled away. She leaned her head back, eyes closed, trying to catch her breath.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, worried.
“Yes.” Her eyes popped open. “That was the most amazing I have ever felt.”
“Me too.” I smiled. “Oh, I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
I held up my arm and pulled up my sleeves so she could see my Elemental markings.
“You did it! You passed the air element!”
“Did you doubt me?”
“No! I’m just thrilled. That means…” Her eyes lit up. “We’ll get to see each other without having to sneak off.”
“That’s right. My parents are going to send a messenger to yours asking when training can start.”
“I can’t wait.” Her mouth curved upward into a wide, beaming smile. “We can start tomorrow.”
“We could, but my parents are going to have to wait for the official word from yours.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and kissed me again. “So tell me how you found out you were an Elemental.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “It was several months ago. I was rock climbing with Dune when something above happened. He slipped and ended up hanging onto the rope, and rocks came tumbling down at us. I used my free hand to try and shoot fire at them and knock the rocks out of the way, but instead the rocks froze in midair. I was able to move them and put them down on the ground.”
“Wow…”
“Yup. I’m just your typical everyday hero.”
Laughing, she said, “You’re my hero.”
As we cuddled next to the fire, I ran my fingers up and down her arm.
“Why are you worried?” I asked after feeling a change in her emotions.
“I’m worried about us. We have these feelings for each other, and we’re not supposed to. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. But for tonight, let’s stop worrying and just be together, at least this once.”
“Okay.” She smiled and relaxed.
The night went by too fast for my liking, and I found myself wishing it would never end.
Chapter Seventeen
Aurora
My feelings for Sorin were stronger than ever. He had made me acknowledge them, forced them to come to the surface and, boy, did they! I hated being away from him, hated knowing I couldn’t act on how I felt. I tried to shove my emotions down to hide them while going about my day. I was getting better at masking my emotions, so hopefully nobody else picked up on them.
“Rory!” my father called later that afternoon.
“Yes, Father?” I walked into the great hall.
“We received word that the Elemental, Prince Sorin, has passed air bending and needs to be trained in water bending now. Do you have anything three days from now that would prevent you from starting this training?”
“No.”
“You shall meet him at lunchtime then just over the border to his land.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Do you need a guard to accompany you?”
“No.” I started to leave but then turned back around. “Father? Do you think we would ever be permitted to practice elements with the other fae?”
My father put down his map and leaned back in the chair. “What exactly do you mean?”
“We practice with our water element all the time, but to be truly ready for an Iron Fae attack, we should practice against others. Water and fire. Water and air. We should know how each element responds to us so that we can change our attacks or defense if needed.”
Stroking his chin, he was quiet for a minute. “That’s an interesting idea. I will give it some thought, but remember that even if I were to agree it doesn’t mean the others would.”