Part two! yay-Lulai

Chapter Twenty: Aiden's return

"Aiden!" Danni called. "Aiden, where did you go?" She began to rise, but the little glowing orb on her arm began chattering furiously. It seemed to be telling her to be calm, but she did not want to be calm.

A thread of panic was winding its way into her mind.

"Where is he?" she demanded of the little ball on her arm, fully aware that even if the orb answered, she wouldn't be to understand its answer. The light flicked out.

She began to swear fiercely, knowing that if she let her anger down for a second, she would start to cry.

"Is," she said tightly. The light turned back on. The little yellow globe meandered its way to her forehead, where it sat, chittering. A calming feeling flowed through her, relieving the pressure behind her eyes and throat. She didn't even feel very angry anymore.

"Thank you," she said to the little orb. It winded its way back down to her arm and glowed a little brighter. "So, where, uh, would Aiden be? Do you know?"

The little orb glittered, and a brief image of Aiden in a dark room, surrounded by people? in glowing auras? appeared in her mind.

"But he's safe, right?" she asked. The orb chittered in a definite affirmative answer, and a surge of relief swept through her.

"Good," she said, sitting back down by the stream and dipping her sore feet back in. "I don't want anything to happen to him." It was strangely comforting to talk to the little creature. "We've been through a lot together."

She leaned in close to her arm, as if someone would overhear her. "Don't tell anybody," she whispered, "but I think I might love him." She sighed and leaned back. "It would never work, because, well, he's a prince, and I'm not even a servant anymore. I lost my job." She gave a half-grin. "Actually, I quit. But, either way, it will never be, so I'm trying to not to complicate things."

The little orb chittered a question. Without realizing it, she was beginning to understand the glowing ball. "I don't know," she responded. "I think he likes me, but we've been friends for sometime now. Besides, if we ever finish this quest, he'll have his choice of beautiful princesses for a wife. As long as he doesn't choose that horrible Amanda person, I'll be happy for him."

Her eyes smarted again. "Maybe he could help me find another stable to work in. I certainly can't work in the stable in Drewery. I couldn't bear being that close to him and not be able to touch him."

She leaned in towards the ball again. "He's kissed me, you know. Three times, in fact! Well, the second time might not count because he didn't really know that it was me, but still." Her eyebrows drew together. "I still haven't gotten my answer about that one," she mused. "I'll have to ask him."

The orb chittered.

"Of course it was nice!" Danni exclaimed. "How could it not be nice? It was Aiden!" A slow smile spread over her lips. "He kissed me yesterday. Right after he told me that he couldn't bear it if I died. Or was it before? It's all quite a blur. But what do you think? Do you think that sounds like he cares about me?"

Her toes were becoming a little numb by that point so she pulled them out of the water and brought her knees up to her chin.

"He's been in there an awfully long time," she said.

The little orb chittered indignantly.

"No way," Danni scoffed. "He's been in there longer than five minutes." The orb made no sound, but she could almost feel its amusement. She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well," she said simply. She rather suspected that the little orb was right and 'well' seemed the only thing she could say without embarrassing herself more.

She sat there for several minutes, but between the boredom and her worry about Aiden, she was sure she was going to go out of her mind. She stood up, ignoring the orb's protestations.

Her feet hurt, but not as much as before, and she really wanted to see where Aiden had gone. She walked over to where Aiden had disappeared, the wall of glowing orbs. She put her hand on out to push through as Aiden did when suddenly she was flat on her back.

"Danni!" Aiden said sternly from on top of her. "I thought I told you to stay put beside that stream."

"I'm sorry I was worrying about you," she said sarcastically, pushing him off of her.

Aiden rose to his feet, and helped Danni to hers. She looked past his shoulder. The glowing rectangle had dissipated into the little orbs again that swooped and swirled around their heads.

"Is that the sword?" she asked, excitedly, pointing to the object in his hand. The light went out. Danni let out an irritated sigh.

"Yes, it is," Aiden answered, turning the light back on again. He held the sword up for her to inspect. The hilt was plain silver. The blade was grey, but silver lines snaked through the blade like a spider web. The edge was sharpened almost to translucency.

"Wow," Danni breathed. She looked at him. "Where did you go?" she asked. "I nearly had an apoplexy when you disappeared."

He took out his sword and sheathed the new one as he pondered her question.

"I'm not quite sure," he said softly. "I stepped through the curtain and found myself in a pitch black room surrounded by these glowing figures. One of them approached me and gave me the sword." He shook his head. "I can't really explain it any better. Then he gave me a shove and I ended back here, on top of you."

"You have a bad habit of landing on me," Danni grumbled.

Aiden just grinned at her. Then, before she could protest again, he lifted her in his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked, outraged. "How many times to I have to tell you to put me down?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not letting you walk on those feet until I at least have them bandaged?" Aiden retorted.

The little orbs began to get excited. They swirled around her feet, touching them lightly, then lifting off again. As Aiden and Danni stopped and stared, three of them landed on her feet, and a cooling rush swept through them.

Her feet were whole and pink and felt better than ever. She was reminded of the time that Lark had healed her face.

"Thank you," she whispered to the glowing orbs. They whirled about her and Aiden once, then flew off to do flit around with the butterflies again.

"You can set me down now, Aiden," she said with a raised eyebrow. Being this close to him, she could feel his heat pulling at her, and she had to resist with all her might to just lean into him.

"Of course," Aiden said, dropping her feet to the floor. They paused for a long moment, his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck. Something happened in those few seconds that neither of them could explain.

"We should get back to the castle," Aiden said finally, removing his arms from her waist.

"Yes," Danni said, stepping away from him. He started walking up the incline. As soon as his back was turned, she shivered. It was a good thing that he had broken off when he did. She was an instant from throwing herself into his arms and damning the consequences.

He's not for me, she reminded herself, hugging her stomach. She marched resolutely up the incline and pulled on her socks. Aiden waited quietly as she pulled on her boots.

They walked silently out of the cave with a final look back.

"Is," Aiden said quietly. The light turned off.

"They will save him," the little yellow orb said, growing into a beautiful woman. The spring lit up with a soft glow, like that of a single candle.

"I know, daughter," another orb said, growing into a handsome man with a short blonde beard.

"My brother was silly enough to get caught anyway," She-Who's-Hair-Is-The-Colour-Between-The-Stars stated calmly, holding her father's arm.

He patted her hand with his. "He was only there to watch over them. He has a strange affinity for the humans." He-With-The-Voice-To-Move-Mountains tapped his chin. "But you are right. They will save him."

"If they can get past their own problems," she smiled. He smiled back at her, and they both turned back into the orbs and the room was again dark.