2. Flowers, Feelings
Aeris smiled down at her flourishing garden in satisfaction. She had poured her heart and spirit into the flowers and now in the blooming of the plot, her place of peace was complete. The small section of the backyard was a paradise filled with multicolored bursts of blossoms and there was a whole quarter of the garden dedicated to the rose, her favorite flower of all; particularly the delicate purple 'Goddesses Blessing'.
She had begun the garden six months after she met Leon and she came there to escape the man's dark yet fascinating charm. Aeris did not want to be drawn to the mysterious fighter; he aroused inexplicable feelings in her that she didn't know she had, every time she came across him, no matter what she was occupied with doing at the time, even if she was elbow deep in dishes, all she wanted to do was feel her body pressed up against his, run her hands over his muscled chest and hold him close. She did not want to feel this way. As long as she could remember, Aeris had been attracted to women but with Leon's entrance into her life, her thoughts were confused and her heart seemed to be telling her something that could not be. As well as her preference of women, her feelings had something else to contend with; Leon was gay.
Yanking out a weed, Aeris cast her mind back to happier, simple times. Her life had not always been such a tumult of confusing emotions and dark moods.
The beautiful blossoms on the low-hanging tree dropped into the calm blue pool one by one. One fell into the lap of the young woman who sat sobbing by the deep water. She ignored the beauty around her, her mind turned totally inward.
It was only two days before that Filone, the youngest child in her care, had passed into Kalharoth, suffering from a mysterious illness. When Aeris had taken the child to Eldai the healer, he had laid the child down on his table and sat cross-legged holding his hands palm upward in the traditional appeal to the wisdom of the goddess Starmarda. After an hour of impassioned communication with his goddess he told her with great sorrow that the malady was the result of hostile magic and that his holy magic was not strong enough to counter the evil that infested his small body. The compassion in his face pierced her heart like a knife and she broke down into tears.
In the course of his prayers, Eldai had told Aeris of the specialized magic used to bring death to the boy and he had sadly mentioned that if the sickness had struck even a week later it would not have taken hold to such a degree. In four days Filone was to turn seven; a holy number to those who followed the way of the Starmardi, and any person in their seventh year could not be touched by this style of unholy sorcery. That Filone could survive for so long and be so close to the age that magic could not touch, the injustice of it was unbelievable.
Leaving the healers hut, Aeris cradled the feather-light boy closely to her chest. His uneven breathing and labored heartbeat fuelled her tears and she moved faster to get back to the small dwelling in which she cared for orphaned children that found their way to her. The charges she took care of were her reason for living and every time one left her house of sanctuary she lost a piece of her spirit, though she received one in return.
Once she reached the security of the shelter, and expertly negotiated the complex web of hallways that riddled the modest house she had found and repaired into a decent shelter for homeless children, she carefully laid Filone on his bed, and sat on the floor next to him. It was then she realized that she could no longer hear the sound of his strained breathing. He had passed into the eternal keeping of Kalharoth, Land of the Dead and could feel no more pain.
Aeris looked up when she heard a tentative footstep on the brittle flowers that littered the floor of the forest glen, pulling her from her melancholy reverie. It was Kess, another testament to Aeris' compassion. The teenage girl sat down gracefully next to Aeris and put her arms around the distraught woman. Neither knew how it happened but they were in each other's arms and their lips met softly. The two women lost their sorrow in their delicate exploration of the sensations that coursed through their bodies draining away their tears and replacing them with breathless, unexpected arousal.
Aeris sucked in a quick breath as Kess reached down shyly and took one of her firm breasts in her hand. They guiltily, yet reluctantly, broke apart as they heard loud footsteps clattering down the gravel path interrupting their private tryst next to the crystalline depths of the serene pool.
Aeris dragged herself out of her memories. Times with Kess were uncomplicated and she had never felt any ambivalence in the young woman's adoring devotion. Kess was the one person who never asked anything of her, the one person who she could confide in completely. But Kess was gone. Killed by the silver haired Assassin that had slain all the children in his bid to destroy her.
Aeris brushed away the single tear that spilled down her cheek. There was no point in lingering in old memories and crying over the past, even though she knew that she would never find another like Kess. They had escaped the Assassin; there would be no more running, no more death.
