A/n: Well, I'm back!! Did you miss me? Soz about the big delay, but the end of this story is in the distance *sob*. And as the school hols are about to commence, you may find the ending sooner than you would think, although there are going to be at least three more chapters before that happens, so never fear!
Anna did her job well, as Aria new she would. She carefully sauntered from stall to stall at the market, just lingering slightly longer to talk to people when they greeted her. Most she talked to were shocked, but kept their composure, ensuring as little attention should be drawn upon them from the watching elves. Eventually, when Tom ran out of jobs that had to be done, he went in search of Aria. He knew she was hiding something, he knew she was upset. And that frightened him. He could only help her if she told him how to, and at the moment that information didn't seem to be forthcoming. He spied her sitting on the edge of a well, staring at the ground, lost in her thoughts. He gently ran a hand down her back.
"Little have I seen of you this morning, Aria. Where are the children if Anna isn't looking after them?" He wanted to draw her into a conversation, light and pleasant. Then maybe he could ease her into her troubles and alleviate them for her. There had never been a problem that they hadn't solved together. But when she turned her head towards his to reply, and he caught sight of the raw emotions swirling in them, he found that he was hard pressed to contemplate talking again. Swiftly he pulled her against his chest and held her whilst she silently sobbed.
"Tell me. I know you've been concealing something form me for a while. Can't I help?"
Aria shook her head. "Not this time, Tom."
He lifted her chin with a finger of his, looking assertively yet not unkindly into her eyes. "Tell me."
~*~
The afternoon changed all too swiftly into early evening for Aria's liking. Many people had already escaped, on the pretence of going on picnics and bathing in the nearby rivers. But still there was a number of things left for Aria to do, one of which she was dreading the most. She had to talk to the king, her father, and plead to give permission for the rest of the villagers to leave the settlement. After all, she had only so much authority – she could not exactly permit a full-scale evacuation without the consent of the king. So it was, in all perspectives, life-threatening if she didn't get his permission.
She had good reason to have great trepidation before this confrontation; her father was not known for his kindness, even towards his own daughters. Barely since their mother died and the princesses went to live with the villagers had Aria seen him, and when she did there had always been a tension, as if he were sizing her up, judging her at every decision she made. It was not a nice atmosphere to be subjected to, and he had been most displeased when she and her sister had left the Royal Court for good. He had practically disowned them and found a new pleasure in punishing petty criminals and wrong doers most violently.
The walk to the Royal Court was actually very pleasant. The most direct route wound its way through the more affluent areas of the village, and many open spaces that were often filled with the laughter of children as the sun beat down upon their small backs. But there was no glee now, no infants crawling or trying to take first steps. Just a strange silence that was unused to being heard.
A door warden greeted her at the oppressive and gothic gates, bowing then straightening up respectively.
"M'lady, can I aid your errand?"
"I am here to see my father. Let him know. It is most urgent."
Another bow was shortly followed by a sharp whistle. A boy ran up to answer the summons.
"Inform the King of Princess Aria's arrival. Tell him of the gravity of the matter." The boy ran off whilst the pair stood at the gates in silence. It was disrespectful to talk to the royals without them initiating it, so as Aria was feeling rather pensive at the moment she was quite glad of this restriction on idle talk.
"The king says that he will see his daughter, but only because nothing more pressing is at hand." The boy ran back to his station.
Taking a deep breath, Aria allowed the door warden to open the gate for her, adjusted her posture and strode into the royal quarter with a far more confident expression on her face than she actually felt inside. She found her father sitting beneath the shade of a tall oak tree, lazily resting in the cool of the evening. When she was duly announced and another chair was brought for her comfort, the slaves were dismissed and her father opened his eyes with a displeased countenance.
"You make no prior arrangements to visit me on this day. Why should I even consent to see you?"
Aria felt like crying already. 'Not a good start' she thought glumly. He always seemed to know the right word to make her feel like armour with holes in - totally and utterly useless.
"I must apologise for my impertinence. But a grave matter has come to my attention…" her sentence halted as the king started to laugh.
"A woman? Know what is important? What's the matter, run out of balm to bath in?"
'Come to mention it' she thought sarcastically 'I could do with a bit more…'
"No, father. I fear that the encampment is going to be attacked by elves at dawn."
The king stared at her in shock. "I see. I understand."
"You do? Then we must organise arms, draw up battle plans…" There was a saying that was if something difficult suddenly appeared to be far easier than it should be, you've been screwed with. Aria suddenly wondered whether this was the case.
"Yes, I understand. You feel like you no longer fit in here. You are no lady – behaving not as is fitting for a woman, taking up arms and riding all through the forest! But you also do not fit in with the men, as you cannot fight with them during battles. So you are looking for a new role…Watchman, perhaps? Shaming our own people who are supremely adequate to do the job themselves, whom I chose for that post by making up ridiculous fabrications that only a fool would believe. I am no fool Aria."
She stood up abruptly, fuming. "You are, my liege, if you ignore this warning. By dawn tomorrow none in this village will be left alive." She stormed off to tell Anna what had happened, and to see whether Tom had had any progress in persuading the men to be attentive in the early hours. If so, then maybe, just maybe a few more of her people could escape to the nearest village and seek aid there…But if not…It didn't bear thinking about. Besides, she and her family had to leave as quickly as possible, with as few questions asked. She rubbed at her temple, trying to ease her pounding headache. Why was her father such an ignorant fool? He was all but ordering a death sentence in his apathy! But even with his wrong attitudes, his words had still hit a nerve. Aria had long known that she didn't fit in with the villagers, didn't have ideas to conform to. Not a lady, but not a man either. It was difficult. Still, she didn't regret her decisions to learn the art of the sword. A plan was beginning to form in her head, and her abilities might just help her carry it off. Might.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around, quick reflexes sending her grasping for a weapon of some sort.
"Its just me." Her sister's delicate features swam into view, eyes slightly red. "How did it go?"
"How do you know I talked to *him*?"
"I have seen that expression on your face too many times before after you have spoken to our father. A sort of unhappy determination, I suppose."
"It didn't go well."
"I guessed not. Come, we must ready ourselves for a long journey."
"And leave all these people behind to face a slaughter in their beds? Abandon them? I would rather be dead than betray those who chose to stay, uninformed!"
"Everyone knows. Tom did well. He can be very persuasive at times as I am sure you well know. But now is not a time to think about that – your family needs you to lead them to safety. Think about your responsibilities as a mother, not just a princess. That is what I am doing. It is not cowardice. Your time will come soon enough to prove that you are worthy of your title. But it is not that time now."
Aria nodded and felt her sister's hand running up and down her back in a comforting gesture. She rested her head on the elder's shoulder. "But my children have already left with other villagers…"
"They still need you to go to them alive. Come" she said softly "we must prepare to leave."
They walked in silence to their own houses that just a day or two had seemed so safe and comforting to return to. Now they felt exposed, the walls no protection or sanctuary from the outside world. Aria sighed. Even with her sister's words, she still felt that she should try and do more to protect her village. Could she talk to the elves? Make them understand that humans weren't uneducated and savage? She sincerely doubted it. After all, she was one lone girl being ruthlessly swept around by the hurricane of war. It wasn't like she could put a stop to it. No. The war would have to be fought. But she would not abstain from the final stand of her people. In the end, she would fight even if it was certain that death would befall her. These thoughts alone comforted her in the midst of an uncertain fate, whilst the only world that she had ever known was being turned upside down.
A hand tracing an icy pattern down her spine made her jump for a second time that day. But she hardly had to glimpse who it was before she flung herself into Thomas's arms. He held her close for a while, then, not unkindly, held her by her forearms and looked seriously into Aria's eyes.
"I have almost finished packing. We can leave soon."
Tom shook his head. "Nay. You must leave, and take the younglings with you. But I cannot come."
Aria had almost suspected this. "Please" she whispered, "just follow us? Won't you?"
"I have to fight. To protect the people. Stand up for my allegiances."
"Are you not allied to your family?"
"Don't, Aria. I do not wish for my last conversation with you to be one I regret. You would fight, if you could. You must understand."
The canvass door to the hut was swept aside as Anna briskly walked in. "We must be leaving Aria—" she stopped short when she saw the expressions on their faces. Tom, deathly pale yet resolved, her sister fragile and distressed. "Oh, I'm so sorry…"
Tom shook his head. "Go now. I will see you off. Where are the children?"
Anna answered for her. Aria was glad; she wasn't sure whether she could have said anything. "Other women with no children themselves offered to take them, so that we may make better progress. It was very kind of them."
Tom nodded and Aria placed a travelling sack over her shoulders. Silently her only lover intertwined her fingers with his own, walking in silence to the gates of the village. A few tears had started to fall from her eyes.
"Don't, Aria. Please."
"Tell me you will follow us."
"What? You know that I--"
"No, when the battle is over. Tell me that this won't be the last time I can ever look at you apart from in haunting dreams. Tell me Tom."
Tears were now slipping from his own eyes. He drew her into a tender embrace, then delicately descended his lips to her own, feeling her pliant beneath his lips.
"God be my witness, Aria, this shall not be the last time you see me. I promise. I will find you, and then we never shall be parted." He whispered so low that she hardly caught the words.
Nodding, Aria moved out of his loving grip and pushed the great gates aside, the barriers that would separate her from her beloved. Anna walked beside her, knowing that the quiet between them didn't have to be filled with meaningless words.
"Goodbye Tom."
A/N: you know the score by now…review and let me know what you think! It was quite a hard chapter to keep moving and un-clichéd, so all comments would be highly appreciated.
