All That Bleeds has been rewritten. Please read the first chapter or else you will be confused (07/31/18)
Enjoy ^^
Rory walked down the dark path ahead of her, being careful to listen for anything suspicious that could possibly be occurring around her. The wind rattled the trees around her softly, and the moon kept perfect company. Hopefully she would arrive in the town just in time to catch the height of the night life. Red towns were so incredibly fascinating to the girl, though reds had so little, they had such strong wills, such strong personalities and something about it drew her in.
The red town was about a twenty minute walk from the Melanthios mansion, quietly she took in the feeling of the night air in her singularity.
Lights were beginning to light up the streets where she was headed to.
It was silent except for the sound of cicada chirping in the darkness, a familiar sound to a familiar journey. Passing on into the paths of dirt, kicking silently as she went.
A sound had begun to crawl from the distance, that of voices.
She had finally arrived in town, walking into the soft street lights that lit the pathway just enough for her to see the pavement. Despite the late hour there were still people wandering around. Many going in the same direction she herself was headed.
A small little red bar lay on the corner of the street, one she often came to when she left her home. Staring at the building in front of her, she pulled her hood a little higher and tied her coin purse a little tighter to her hip.
Stepping into the dimly lit building she could hear the merry laughs of drunk men billowing throughout the walls. The scent of alcohol drifted in the air, as men clashed glasses together and spilled whatever was in their mugs onto the floor below.
It seemed to her that whether you were the highest of silvers or the lowest of reds, alcohol was always the merry remedy to everything. This was a place people came to forget their troubles, just as she had found herself doing, despite drinking very little, if at all.
She found herself a seat at her usual cornerstone at the front bar. The bartender, a familiar man with graying hair and an extended belly nodded to her.
"Hello again little lady." His voice was fairly deep, it calmed her in some ways.
"Good evening good sir, I would just like some water as usual." Her voice was as gentle as she could muster, and she tried to keep her face as low as possible. Despite being in disguise, she still worried over the chance of recognition. Everyone here was familiar with her family, they were after all the presiding overseers of this district.
"You know I've always found it strange, you come all the way in here, to sit with sweaty, drunk men, just to get a glass of water." He looked her up and down as he handed her the cup.
"It's nothing strange, sir. Just trying to get a breather from my family is all."She nodded to him as he handed her the glass and took a sip.
"Ah, well, we all need that from time to time don't we." he took a sly glance at the woman Aurora had come to know as his wife, and smirked. Rory let out a small giggle at the comment, as the older man nodded to her .He walked away to clean some of the dirty glasses still lying about the countertops.
Rory went to take another sip of her water as she watched him leave, when she heard the scuffing of feet beside her. Turning her head slightly in the direction of the sound, she found a rather tall figure standing next to her.
Rory's face paled when she realised just who it was.
Cal stood next to her, in a cape similar to her own. Her heart stopped for a moment.
She turned quickly, pulling her hood even further down her face, hoping, praying he didn't recognize her.
'shit'
"A water for me too, Sir" He nodded to the old bartender, his voice a familiar sound to Rory's ears. She tried her hardest not to glance at him as he took a seat next to her. A million thoughts swarming inside of her head as he did.
'What the hell is he doing here? Did Aidan send him out? Why would he come all the way out to some dinky red bar? He's a prince.' maybe for the same reason she came here.
Shaking her head, she almost missed the fact that Cal had begun to speak with her. Her heart raced even faster in fear that she might have been caught.
"And what's a young lady like you doing in a place like this." His voice chimed out, softer than she thought any Silver could speak when they thought they were talking to a Red. Despite her hopes of being ignored she knew he was speaking to her.
"You know, I could say the same to you, Sir. You seem too high priced a man to be sitting in a bar like this." She tried raising the tone of her voice to be as soft as possible and as far away from her natural voice as she could get.
To her surprise he let out a soft chuckle.
" Just trying to get away whenever I can, I live a pretty suffocating life where I'm from."
So he was like her, sneaking out to get a breath of fresh air from courtly life, what a surprise. Even prince's got tired of the theatrics it seemed.
"Then we are similar you and I." Her voice chimed as her fingers rubbed the side of her glass, she took a glance at his face as it twisted into slight confusion.
"You know, you sound really familiar, do I know you from somewhere?" His voice questioned as he leaned forward slightly to take a glance at her face. She leaned farther forward as her fingers began to rub the glass so hard she was certain it would shatter.
"No, I don't think we've ever met before, Good sir." Her voice was even higher in tone then before, betraying the nervousness that had begun to rise into her chest.
"Really? I swear I just heard your voice somewhere recently, where are you from?" He began to lean closer than Rory could take and before she realised what she was doing she shot up from her seat.
"Oh my would you look at the time, my family is certainly wondering where I am by now, I must be headed out now but it was nice meeting you." Quickly she laid a few coins on the counter for the old man and swiftly led herself to the direction of the door.
She didn't know what she had been expecting, that Cal would just leave her be after an exit like that? Persistence was set in his bones.
"Please wait miss, I can walk you back where ever it is you're headed to." He called to her quickly catching up, his legs several inches longer than hers.
" No thank you." She had to shake him, there was no way she could let him find out who she was. Pulling on her hood a little more she sped up.
"I insist." He went to grab her hand, and stopped her from moving. She turned back to look at him, faster than she had meant to. Her hood was caught by the midnight wind and unfortunately drifted away from her face, no longer protecting her precious identity.
Cal's eyes widened as he realised the face that was now infront of him.
"Aurora?" His voice was higher pitched in the moment than Rory had ever imagined possible from a man so big. She glanced around the area they stood in, some patrons had stopped to look at them and that was the last thing either of them needed. If rumors started spreading that a daughter of Melanthios was spotted at a red bar, her mother would kill her.
" Keep your voice down would you? The last thing I need is word getting to my mother that I'm out here." She hushed him as she put a hand on his chest pushing him out of the way to keep moving forward. His hold on her arm, however stayed as firm as ever.
"Does Aidan know you're out here?" He whispered looking at her with confusion in his eyes.
"No, you think my brother would let me out here by myself?" She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and tried to wrench her wrist from his arm.
"What are you even doing out here, why would you be here this late?" He asked trying to make sense of the situation around him.
"I could ask the same to you." She reached up her arm, putting her hand on his shoulder. He stared at her confused for a moment before she added pressure to one particular spot. He yelped in slight pain as she squeezed a pressure point, causing him to release her arm. Turning away she left him there rubbing his shoulder for a moment before he once again caught up to her.
"Look I'm not going to tell anyone you're out here, but I can't let you wander around by yourself like this." His eyes were trained on Aurora, irritation swelled through her body at his statement.
"Right like I haven't done this a million times before, Thanks but no thanks Cal, I can take care of myself, I don't need a babysitter." She grumbled trying to walk as fast as she could, but there was only so much faster her shorter legs could go before he caught up again. She wasn't short by any means but in this moment she couldn't help but wish for just a few more inches.
"Well then let's just walk and talk, friends hanging out. We can go wherever you want." He tried to reason with her, and she could sense his feeling of obligation in watching after her.
She couldn't help but scoff when she heard the word 'friend'.
"You and I are not friends, You and Aidan are friends. Just because I'm his sister does not automatically make you my friend."
Cal's face drew into a frown when he heard her words, something about them had certainly unsettled him, but it hardly bothered Aurora. If he couldn't handle the truth than he would never stand to make a good king.
"Well, whether you consider me a friend or not, I still consider you a friend and I'm not about to let you walk around by yourself this late." His voice was as steadfast as ever, his mind wasn't changing anytime soon and Aurora had little energy to spare trying to fight him tonight.
"Whatever, do what you want, I'm not your nanny." she sighed, glancing at him before once again looking at the path in front of her.
The trees were much more intimidating in the dark, especially when the wind was blowing. The moon still shone brightly on the path giving just enough light to see a few feet in front of them. They both moved in silence for a long while, Cal following along wherever Rory had planned in her head to go.
She prefered it like this, hoping that it would continue on in silence. She was too awkward at social interactions to hold conversations with people she hardly knew. However, Cal seemed to have other ideas.
"You know, you surprised me tonight. You're a lot more rude than I thought you were. You're always so polite and kind in front of everyone." At first Aurora didn't know how to respond, unsure if she had actually bruised the prince's ego tonight. When she looked at his face though, a big smirk was resting on it. For some reason the idea of him joking with her made her feel even more upset.
She knew he was a kind person, his interactions with her family and others around her proved that. Yet she resented him, resented everything he symbolized and everything her life had turned out to be because of him. It was much easier to do so when she could pretend he was just as bad as the rest of those at court, but moments like this reminded her that he was just a kid like she was. Forced into this by people whose noses were stuck ten feet into traditions they refused to let go, including her parents.
She clenched her fist tightly at the thought, before relaxing again.
"Yeah well maybe you don't know me as well as you seem to think you do." she folded her arms with a frown drooping her lips, eyebrows furrowed. Cal's smirk fell from his face as he sighed.
"You know, we've known each other for nineteen years and grew up together. I think I know you fairly well. I was just trying to lighten the mood." He stood shoulder to shoulder with Rory, looking down at her, his eyes carefully observing the movements she made.
"You haven't known me since we were ten, your stupid Queenstrial made sure of that." She growled and moved away from him again. To that Cal had no answer and for awhile they stayed quiet.
The truth in her words was heavy and they both knew it. They had been best friends once but that was a long time ago now.
It was ironic, she thought, Queenstrial was supposed to be what brought them together in matrimony. And yet all it had been good for was driving the two apart when they were younger. Drove her away from everyone. She could only hope that it would all be worth it in the end.
The summer air was surprisingly cold that night. It was mid- July and yet somehow fate had decided it be freezing that particular day. She couldn't help but curse at whatever creature was in charge of such things because it wasn't long until she found herself shivering as the night continued on. A precious quiet had blanketed over top of them, and it had finally stayed that way for more than five minutes.
She tried to keep her distance from the young man walking next to her as best she could, but despite her best efforts to keep him from noticing her shivering it wasn't long before he figured her out.
He drew closer to her again, the natural heat his body seemed to constantly produce following. While she reveled in the heat, she wasn't too fond of what it required.
Silently Cal began to unclasp the hook on his cloak, he took it and wrapped it around her, overtop of the one already on her body. She clenched the cloak in her fists.
"I don't need your stupid cloak." She whispered, trying to stop the shaking in her bones.
"Yeah, that's why your shivering. Just take it and stop complaining. I don't really get cold so it's not like I need it." Cal mumbled back, few words being exchanged between the two.
All though she tried her best, she couldn't help but inhale the scent clinging to the robe on her. It smelt like him, nicer than she would have liked to admit. A sort of woodsy smell, along with the scent of ash and smoke, things she didn't actually mind. She pulled the cloak tighter on her body and resigned herself to his gesture.
"Thank you."
Cal blinked at her, surprised by her gratitude. She had been so abrasive towards him the entire night, it was a welcomed change.
"Yeah, of course, no problem."
She stared along his face, and along his strong features. The thick black hair, the large eyebrows, his broad shoulders and prominent jaw. He was handsome in every way imaginable and it was no wonder women swooned over him, even without him being a prince. And of course there was nothing better than his eyes, which even now seemed to glow with an almost golden flame. If she had the luxury of being a normal teenager she was certain she would be gushing over him. But that wasn't the case, and it most likely never would be.
Shaking her head she cleared her thoughts away.
"Well, it's getting close to dawn. We should probably start headed back to the mansion." She announced to him, Cal simply nodding in agreement.
They continued back down the path they had been wandering, and when the forke came they took the side that led straight back towards the Melanthios household. It was a silent twenty minute walk back to her home, and yet Aurora couldn't help but be a little happy for the silence.
She didn't know what she would say to Cal anymore, and her brain was much too tired to think.
When they finally laid their feet back onto the soil of the estate, the both of them paused for a moment. Blinking at the large peaks of her house, she stared at the window that was her own, thinking impatiently of the sweet bed sitting in waiting for her.
Cal's voice spoke up from beside her.
"Well I guess this is it." He looked over to the door and began moving forward. Rory took steps behind him and followed as he walked. When they got to the front door they stopped again, Cal's hand wrapped around the door handle. This time Aurora spoke, softly to him as they entered the main hall.
"Thanks for tonight I guess, Cal. It was nice of you to walk with me and give me your cloak.
I just want to say goodnight." Her voice was gentle, for the first time tonight since they left the bar. Cal stared at her before nodding.
"Yeah, no, it was my pleasure. I'm glad I got to hang out with you tonight, even if you were rude." The end of his sentence had a slight teasing tone to it. She let out a little huff and went to move towards her room.
"Hey and Aurora?"Cal called out again, stopping her.
"Yes Cal?" She turned to watch his face as he spoke.
"We should do this again sometime. Hang out, just you and me, I mean. Like old times." Despite the resentment that had burned so deeply in the pit of her stomach, Aurora nodded her head at the boy. He had a spark in his eye she just couldn't say not to.
"Yeah, I'd like that." She nodded to him, looking to the floor.
"Goodnight." and with that Cal waved goodbye and moved back towards the guest room that was his.
Rory nodded her head in this direction and slowly turned back towards the door.
When she laid in bed that night, thoughts swarmed around like a busy hive of bees.
This night ,of course, did not mean that they were friends. But at the very least, if she learn to be civil perhaps they would both be better for it.
She could learn in time, to let go of the resentment sitting on her heart.
Turning over, she silenced her thoughts. Slowly her mind crept into sleep, to grasp on to the few hours she had before the next day brought new trouble.
