Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Fable universe or the characters it contains. The characters you do not recognize belong to me and were created for the purposes of this story. Thank you for reading and for the kind reviews which keep me motivated and keep the chapters coming! I really hope you enjoy the latest chapter! – Fallon.
Chapter Eleven
Signey moaned as she tried to open her eyes only to have them stung by the light of the room she found herself in. She brought her hand to her eyes to shield them and sat up. Once she was certain it wouldn't blind her, she surveyed her foreign surroundings.
The walls were made of a very simple stone, but she could faintly see the eroding carvings depicting suns, smiling and happy children and a vast ocean.
She swung her feet over the edge of the bed to get up and smiled when she spotted Ben sleeping in the corner of the small room. Signey pinched herself to make sure she was awake before approaching him.
Still not sure if she was dreaming or not, she caressed his cheek and laughed softly as her finger tips grazed his blond stubble before leaning in to place a kiss on his cheek. Her lips pressed to his warm skin, she felt him stir in his seat.
Still half asleep, Ben looked at her in surprise. He pushed aside his fatigue and quickly stood to embrace her. Standing on the tips of her toes, she smiled into the crook of his neck as he showered kisses on whatever inch of her flesh he could reach. "Signey..." He whispered between kisses.
"Where is Walter?" She asked.
Ben hurried to assure her he was alright. "The Aurorans are taking good care of him. He'll pull through; he's a tough old sod."
She pulled away just enough to look at him. "I thought I'd lost you Ben..."
He smiled his usual cocky, adventurous smile that Signey adored. "It would take more than hundred foot waves to keep me away from you."
He kissed her hard, pulling her close and boldly groping her ass. She smiled into the kiss and urged him back against the wall. She couldn't believe that not a day ago she thought she would never see him again. Now his lips were on hers' and his hands were trailing over her body. She was in heaven.
She slipped her hands down to his belt and hurried to discard the annoying strap of leather. A soft tap on the door brought them back to reality and Signey reluctantly stopped. An Auroran appeared to check on her and asked them to met Kalin in the main hall.
Signey looked back to Ben as the Auroran left. "Who is Kalin?"
"She is the leader of the Aurorans; her people fished me out of the local harbour and helped me find you and Walter." He answered.
Signey leaned her head against his chest and sighed. Ben could feel her warm breath through the thin fabric of his shirt. He kissed the top of her head. "What's wrong?"
She looked up at him and he noticed a faint blush across her cheeks. "I love you and I want to make love to you..." Her voice trailed off as the blush grew more noticeable on her cheeks. She was more than frustrated. Signey wanted him badly and was getting tired of being interrupted and having to put their love making off further.
Ben smiled, her sweet voice made only sweeter by her words. "I'm not going anywhere love, unless you tell me to. And if you did, I'd leave, even though it would break my heart."
She squeezed his arms and shook her head. "I don't want you to leave Ben, I need you and I love you dearly." His smile made her feel amazing and she knew when he leaned in to kiss her that he needed to hear that as badly as she needed to say it.
Ben followed her out of the small room and into the main hall of the temple. Kalin approached them, dressed in traditional Auroran garb that Signey found exotic and beautiful.
The Auroran leader bowed to her. "Welcome to Aurora, Princess. Ben Finn has told me much about you."
Signey glanced to Ben, smiled and then regarded the Auroran. "Thank you Kalin, your people saved my life and that of my mentor Walter; it is not something I will forget."
"Please come with me Princess, I would like you to see our city." She gestured to the large circular stone doorway and she followed her eagerly. Her brother had always said that there was nothing left in Aurora, but knowing what she did now, she had no reason to believe her brothers' word.
The door rolled open and she gasped at the dilapidated city before her. Under the sand and rubble, she could faintly see the remains of a formerly beautiful city; but that was a long time ago.
They followed Kalin to a large platform overlooking the deathly silent streets. Signey glanced to Ben at her side and saw a sad frown on his lips; she knew he had seen enough of the city. Stepping forward toward Kalin, Signey brushed her fingers across Ben's arm before approaching the tanned, reserved woman. Ben smirked and watched her closely.
"The Crawler did this." Kalin explained. "It appeared five years ago, bringing death and pain to my people. Thousands have died, and our city is but a shadow of its former glory."
"How could this happen?" Signey said mournfully.
Kalin shrugged sadly. "We do not know where it came from, but we have been living in fear for years and we are stretched to the breaking point." She touched Signey's shoulder. "Go into our streets and speak to our people, learn what we have been forced to endure."
Signey nodded, turning back to Ben. He shook his head. "I've seen enough Signey, if it is alright I'll check on Walter."
"Of course, I'll return." She said before quickly hurrying down the sandy stairs with Icarus close behind her.
The sandy streets were dead silent; the only people she saw at first were the rotting bodies of long dead Aurorans. She strode past a dead woman and gasped sadly when she saw a dead child under the woman. Clearly the woman had succumbed to the darkness in a failed attempt to save her child. Thoughts of her parents and brother began to seep into her mind, but she boldly pushed them away to turn her attention to a praying man.
He didn't seem frightened of the death around him and as she approached, he didn't jump as she greeted him. He twisted a beaded necklace in his hands as he regarded her. "You are the one who survived the desert night."
"Yes." Signey said. "Why are you not hiding?"
The Auroran man chuckled. "I do not fear the darkness; I welcome the chance to see my wife and daughter again."
Signey noticed the tattered parchment on the shrine where the man was praying. "What is that?"
"A memorial for my lost family, there are others around the city. You are free to read them and learn our tales." He extended his hand to her, offering her the old beads he was twisting in his fingers not minutes ago.
Signey raised her hand. "I can not take from you sir, you have lost too much already."
"It is a gift, Princess. Remember the pain your brother allowed to continue..." He urged the beads into her hand and closed her fingers over the beads with his hand.
"My brother?" Signey asked. What did Logan have to do with the darkness the Crawler brought?
"He came here four years ago and fought the Crawler. Logan barely survived, but we drew the darkness from his soul. Our leader Kalin had him promise to return with an army to save us, but we never saw him again." The man sighed. "We could not draw all the darkness from his soul it seems..."
Signey was speechless; her brother left these people to their dark fate? Truly he was crueler than she had dared to realize.
The Auroran man smiled. "My daughter would be nine years old if she had survived the darkness; I ask that you remember her when I die."
Signey clenched her fingers around the beads. Each bead felt different in her hand and she was eager to examine them further when she was alone. "What was her name?"
"Raina." He said proudly, like in just saying her name it was bringing her back.
"I will remember her; I can promise you that, mister?" She was ashamed that she hadn't asked the man his name during their conversation.
"My name doesn't matter, only hers' does; Raina, my sweet Raina."
Signey watched him walk away from the shrine. The Auroran started toward a long, sandy slope that lead to large doors cut out of a wall of stone.
Her heart sank as she realized he was walking into his death, the desert. She didn't move to stop him though, she recognized a dead man when she saw one and nothing she could have said would have changed his mind.
She looked from the doomed man to the beads in her hand. Each one had been carved from a different piece of stone or wood. There were flowers of dark wood and other symbols she guessed were Auroran carved into smooth sections of stone. Looking up again, she saw that the man was gone. She squeezed the beads in her hand until the edges threatened to break skin, whispering a prayer to the man under her breath.
How could her brother have allowed these people to suffer and done nothing? After they had saved his life no less! She leaned against a building and slumped down into the sand. Icarus calmly sat next to her.
Her head in her hands, she wasn't sure what she could do for these people. She was now in the same spot her brother had been in four years ago. The Aurorans saved her life, and there would come a day when she would be asked to do something for them. And truly they deserved it, but what had made her brother betray them? What if she was forced to do the same?
There were too many questions, too many unknowns.
She knew that Walter would tell her to worry about what was happening now and deal with everything else as it came up. But Walter was clinging to life in the temple...
"Signey?"
She looked up and saw Ben. He sat down beside her. "What's wrong, love?"
She sadly smirked at him. "I thought you had seen enough of the city?"
"Yes." He conceded, leaning his head on her shoulder. "But I haven't seen enough of you."
She chuckled. "Such the charmer..."
He sighed. "Only for you love, now what is bothering you?"
"I can't get anything past you can't I?" She rested her chin on her knees. "My brother was here Ben, the Aurorans saved him and in return he promised to return with an army to save them. He left them to suffer..."
Ben looked up at her. "And you think you'll be forced to do the same?"
He was right. She shrugged. "What if I can't help them?"
"I'm sure anything you could do to help them would be better than nothing." He thought out loud. "They do not seem to be a greedy or demanding people, they simply want to exist in peace and be able to thrive."
"Peace..." She muttered. "The very thing my brother has denied the whole of Albion...and Aurora."
"He'll have to face the consequences of his choices someday Signey, there is little you could do to change that." He touched her hand and noticed the beads. "Where did you get those?"
"An Auroran man gave them to me before he walked out into the desert..." She shook her head and opened her hand to show Ben the beads. "The darkness took his wife and daughter, Ben."
Ben kissed her hands. "And their blood is on Logan's hands, not yours Signey. Do not blame yourself for what the Crawler did just because you survived an encounter with it when others did not."
"How can I not..." She whispered.
Ben slipped his fingers under her chin and had her look at him. She smiled as he kissed her, disappointed when he broke the kiss sooner than she would have liked. "Because I have faith in you, I believe in you."
She smiled and pressed her lips to his. Ben gasped as she gently nibbled his lower lip before pulling away. "What would I do without you Benjamin Finn..."
Ben smirked. "Don't think too hard about it Princess, you may realize I'm a rather large pain in the arse."
Signey stood and brushed the sand from her skirt. "I wouldn't go that far Ben." She smiled down at him. "You are a pain, but a beautiful one."
Signey accepted Kalin's outstretched hand. "I promise."
"Good, than you have the unwavering support of our people Princess." The Auroran leader said happily.
Walter stumbled out of the main hall in the temple with the help of an Auroran priest. Signey smiled and rushed to his side. "Walter! You're alright!"
He grunted as she hugged him. "You sods can't get rid of me that easily."
Ben chuckled. "Stubborn as always Wally, glad to see your brush with death hasn't changed you in the slightest."
Walter huffed. "Shut up Ben."
Ben crossed his arms over his chest and gave an exaggerated pout. Walter looked at Signey. "Did I hear that we have the Aurorans support?"
Signey and Kalin nodded simultaneously.
"The Princess has our full support Sir Walter." Kalin said, bowing slightly to Signey. "I hope that you are feeling much better."
Walter nodded. "Thank you Kalin, you saved the both of us." He gestured to Signey with a nod of his head. "We are very grateful."
She smiled. "You are welcome Sir Walter."
A group of Aurorans hurried past them, all carrying shovels and all laughing loudly. Walter asked Kalin where they were going.
"They will begin clearing away the rubble near the harbour. We will need to prepare our ships to get us to Albion." She answered.
Signey stepped forward to follow the men. Ben asked where she was going.
"To help." She said simply before hurrying off to aid the workers, the carved beads around her neck bouncing on her chest as she went.
Note: I am VERY excited to write the next chapter! I've already got a good start on it, so don't worry about having to wait too long. I have a rough idea of where to take the story; there are some things that still need to be hashed out a little more before I feel confident about it but I'm excited to work on it. Thank you all very much for reading and your kind reviews! – Fallon.
